text:
Brace yourselves.
If you have small children, and a house full of stuff, then I am going to share with you the kind of blindingly obvious storage solution that could change your life.
Hooks. Lovely, useful, cheap, wonderful hooks. I never met a door that I didn't want to hang hooks on the back of. The lack of hooks on the back of the doors of cheap hotels and bed and breakfasts is a major bugbear of mine. Where are you supposed to hang your dressing gown (your hat, your coat, and your carrier bag of stuff) if there isn't a hook on the back of the door? That is not a rhetorical question. I mean it. Where?!
So it's not surprising to find that many, if not in fact all of the doors in our house have hooks lovingly screwed into the back of them. Hooks on our bedroom door for – obviously – dressing gowns, and scarves and the like. Hooks on the back of the study door for Rosa's bike helmet, the camera, the bag of 'car toys' etc. Hooks on the back of the girls' door for their dressing gowns, and other sundries. Hooks on the back of the kitchen door for the carrier bag holder, the girls' aprons, umbrellas, and a bag of bibs.
But. But but but. There was something a little dis-satisfying about all this hookery. And the dis-satisfyingness was twofold. It started in the kitchen. Not only were the hooks on the back of the door so full of stuff that it was hard to squeeze through the door (especially in the latter half of last year, if you were pregnant and the size of a small planet. Ahem.) But it was also really deeply irritating that the girls couldn't reach their dressing gowns in their bedroom. In fact, the fact that they couldn't reach them at all, and didn't have a hope of reaching them, made the row of hooks look rather foolish. Decorative. Hopelessly unfunctional.
It was then that I realised the answer to all this was staring me in the face. Or, perhaps more literally, the answer was staring me in the waist.
Remember the post rack in the hall? We're still very much in love. But below said lovely post rack is one of my proudest innovations. The half-height coat hooks.
They are a set of multi-coloured 'ball' style hooks from GLTC, and I think they have much to commend them. They take some of the coat 'load' off our adult hooks. They look pretty damn cute. And it means that the girls can hang up and retrieve their own coats, under their own steam.
I put up a small row of pictures above them, which are just framed greetings cards from the Museum of Childhood, when they had their Judith Kerr exhibition. Mog and the Tiger who came to tea are perennial favourites over here, and if someone were asked, on pain of death, whether the under 5s or me get more pleasure out of those pictures… well, it would be a pretty close run thing.
So: of course. I kicked myself for being so foolishly slow, even as I congratulated myself on solving another small house dilemma. Half height hooks. Why not have more of them? A quick trip to Homebase was all it took.
The girls' room was first on my list. Try to ignore, if you can, the glaring orange of the knotty pine of their door, and instead note that there is now a set of hooks at the top of the door, and also halfway down it, where their dressing gowns reside. This means that if, say, it's a bit nippy, and I'm feeding Persephone, Rosa can run upstairs and get her own dressing gown, and sometimes even be prevailed upon to fetch her sister's, too. This is what I call a result. Maternal laziness combined with some vague notion of 'fostering independence.'
The kitchen was next on my list. This time you have to ignore both the garish wood, and also the bare plasterwork on the left hand wall. Once you get past that, the hooks are pleasing, aren't they? This time they've got the girls' cooking aprons on them, their umbrellas, and their Little Life backpacks. Perfect.
So there you have it. Half height hooks. Blindingly, stupidly obvious, but nonetheless new to me. Doubling the storage space that the back of your door offers, and making it accessible to littlies, to boot. In a very uninformed way, I have these kind of hooks in my head as being 'a little bit Montessori', too. I have no real basis for this, save that when I read this blog entry about a Montessori teacher's room for her (then unborn) baby boy, I was so blown away by the whole thing, and so torn between wanting to deride her and wanting to BE HER, that the only thing I really took away from it was how striking it was that everything in the room was so low-level. It had genuinely been put together with a small person in mind.
While we are on hooks, I may step on my soap box for a moment to share my view that it is pointless investing money in really expensive hooks. There are some lovely ones out there, but it's really not worth it. Just get a good quality, sturdy set. For a start, any hooks you do get may well be hidden on the back of your door. But also, they will be largely hidden by whatever you hang on them. My gorgeous GLTC hooks I make an honourable exception for, since their brightly coloured loveliness sometimes pokes through the mountains of coats, and brightens things up a bit. I also think that the rainbow-ness of them nicely compliments the jolly, bright colours that dominate my children's coats. But for elsewhere, well, it's all very well magazine articles showing us a beautiful set of designer hooks fashioned from driftwood and vintage porcelain,with a hand-knitted woollen cream scarf draped on one hook, and a slate-blue velvet fitted jacket on a padded hanger swinging wistfully from another…
That is not what hooks will look like in a real house. They will be covered in mounds of coats, jackets, bags, rainwear, scarves, and more. They will be almost invisible. But they will still be brilliantly, wonderfully useful.


text:
Well, this isn't the only time that Kevin Millwood has escaped the first inning without the opposition scoring, but it sure feels that way.
Millwood had given up at least two runs in the opening frame in 11 of his last 12 starts - and a total of 34 runs. He kept dumping the team in an early hole. He kept getting beat because of it.
Not tonight. Millwood walked the leadoff hitter, Juan Pierre, but he retired Omar Vizquel on a pop up, Alex Rios on a fly ball and Paul Konerko on a grounder to third.
Nineteen pitches, and Millwood was back in the dugout with the game scoreless.
Must be the Buck Showalter influence again.
Update: Here's the first Orioles lead of the game, courtesy of Adam Jones' 16 home run. The ball traveled 394 feet to left-center field.
Nice way to follow up last night's walk-off single.
That's the first home run that Gavin Floyd has allowed since June 2, a span of 77 1/3 innings.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The NYT ran a column by Topher Spiro which defended the medical device tax. The column neglected to give the main rationale for the tax, it will recoup some of the excess profits that the industry will accrue as a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
The logic here is fairly straightforward, medical devices are like prescription drugs, they can cost a lot to develop, but are cheap to produce. Companies get back their research costs by charging prices that are far above their production costs, which they are able to do as a result of patent monopolies.
To take a simple example, suppose a medical device company has a new screening device that it sells for $1 million. It cost $100,000 to manufacture, so it will make $900,000 from each device it sells. Before the ACA it had expected to sell 1000 copies of this screening device. That would gross it $1 billion, or $900 million in excess of its production costs.
As a result of the ACA more people will have access to health care and therefore demand for the screening device will increase. Suppose it were to rise by 10 percent. In this case the industry's revenue would rise to $1.1 billion and the profit over production costs will increase to $990 million.
Since the industry had not anticipated the ACA when it developed the screener, and had not expected these extra sales, this additional $90 million is pure gravy in the form of unanticipated profits. The logic of the tax is to take away this gravy to limit the windfall that device manufacturers enjoy as a result of the ACA.
It is also worth noting that the corruption cited in Spiro's column is the predictable result of a situation in which a product sells at price far above its marginal cost as a result of government protection. This is the same problem that we see in the prescription drug industry.
The economist's solution would be to devise a mechanism for funding research that would allow drugs and medical equipment to be sold in a free market. However because of the power of the affected industries and the dominance of protectionists in national politics, the efficiency of patent protection in these sectors is rarely discussed.


text:
Don't hold your breath but the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens could be the only Canadian-based NHL teams to make this spring's post-season.
Heading into Thursday's action, the Leafs (78 points) and Habs (77) sat second and third, respectively, in the Atlantic Division.
With roughly 15 games left in each NHL team's schedule, the five other Canadian squads are either out of playoff contention entirely -- the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames -- or struggling to stay in the hunt. The Vancouver Canucks (four points out of eighth in the West), Ottawa Senators (five points out in the East), and Winnipeg Jets (five points out in the West) fall into the latter category.
Interestingly, Toronto and Montreal would be first-round opponents if the season were to end today.
So, with the possibility of there being just one Canadian franchise to cheer for as early as Round 2, which bandwagon does one jump on?
Let's look at the options.
Here's five American-based playoff-bound teams with the highest percentage of Canadians on their roster (as of Thursday):
- 73% Canadian: Colorado Avalanche -- 26 players on roster, 19 Canadians (13 forwards, 5 defencemen, one goalie)
- 61%: Dallas Stars -- 23 players, 14 Canadians (9 F, 5 D, 0 G)
- 61%: L.A. Kings -- 23 players, 14 Canadians (10 F, 3 D, 1 G)
- 60%: Philadelphia Flyers -- 25 players, 15 Canadians (9 F, 4 D, 2 G)
- 58%: Boston Bruins -- 26 players, 15 Canadians (11 F, 3 F, 1 G)
And here's the bottom three:
- 35%: New Jersey Devils (two points out in East)
- 31%: Tampa Bay Lightning
- 27%: Detroit Red Wings (two points out in East)
The Leafs lead the way in terms of percentage of Canadians on its roster at 75%, with the Flames second at 70%.
The Senators aren't too far behind at 64%.
From there, it goes the Oilers (57%), Canadiens (52%), Jets (50%) and Canucks (46%).


text:
Browser does not support script.
Subjects taught at LSE | Services and divisions (administration)
All research groups | Research subject areas
The project looks at ways of integrating social scientific and philosophical/interpretative analyses, to gain a better understanding of objectivity claims in the social sciences and in social inquiry generally. In particular, it explores the empirical and methodological ways in which different contexts and forms of social scientific thinking and practice produce knowledge. The research started with an investigation of whether and how the pursuit of objective knowledge in social science might be possible by acknowledging, rather than excluding, value-related inquiry. It then moved to discussing the rational justification of knowledge claims. As of late it has taken on an inquiry into the meaning and uses of objective evidence.
Use of this website is subject to, and implies acceptance of, its Terms of use (including Copyright and intellectual property, Privacy and data protection and Accessibility). The London School of Economics and Political Science is a School of the University of London. It is a charity and is incorporated in England as a company limited by guarantee under the Companies Acts (Reg no. 70527).The registered office address of the School is: The London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, UK; Tel: +44 (0)20 7405 7686


text:
Athletic Bilbao coach Marcelo Bielsa has insisted that Fernando Llorente will not be allowed to leave the club in January.
The striker recently claimed that he would exit the Spanish club when his contract expires in the summer, but Bilbao have been rumoured to be keen on cashing in on the 27-year-old in the New Year.
"The situation is what it is," Bielsa told reporters. "Llorente leaving in January is something the club have rejected.
"There is already a fixed position, and his presence gives us something extra."
Juventus, Chelsea and Liverpool have all been linked with a move for the forward.


text:
Group Show Opens 15 May- 4th June
All works will be for sale and i am also open for commissions in any of the styles that you see.
May Update
Group Show Opens 15 May- 4th June
This year i am entering 3 small artworks into the Small Works Exhibition at Brunswick Street Gallery. The only stipulation is that the artworks are to be no more than 30cm x 30cm inc frame. Have entered this show several times over the years and have enjoyed it because there are so many artists who go into it (300+) and you really get to see how amazingly creative and talents artists are. So if you are in the area come check out the show.
Above is just a close up of one of the works i have entered into the show. The size of this work is 250mm x200mm x20mm. Mixed media on board. Really happy with how this work turned out, there are some really great things happening and some nice colours which have emerged.
Above is the 2nd artwork i have entered into the show and this piece is a marriage of vibrant colour and texture with natural earthy elements of rusty goodness. The size is also 250 mm x 200mm x 20mm. Mixed Media on board. A good combination of contrasting textures and colours and a feast for the eyes. Very satisfied with this piece.
This is the last piece in the show, the title for this one is 'Pouring my heart out'. Size is 250mm x200mm x40mm and is mixed media. This is probably the artwork i am most pleased with as there is a nice balance of textures, colour and contract.
All works will be for sale and i am also open for commissions in any of the styles that you see.
Other works in the pipeline
Above are some other works i am playing around with. Click on the images to enlarge.
August Update
August Youtube Update Video
Out of the Box Course
Small Works Exhibition 2014 (Brunswick Street Gallery)
New Works New Circular Direction
Customised Cushion and Products on Society 6
Awesome APP of the Month - TANGLED FX
There are so many awesome APPS coming out at the moment which I believe can really help an artist open themselves up to new and exciting ways to push their art.
Recently I came across an APP which I love using and so I thought I had to share it with you all. The APP is called Tangled FX and the effects it create are wonderful. I found the APP very easy to use and the results you can get with just a tap of a button are visually stunning and exciting. Tangled FX has 16 different effects but you can also customize the colour, contrast, gamma and Hue using a sliding scale. Yes the APP does cost $2 bucks but for me it will 2 bucks well spent.
Just click on the images below to see the before and after effects on a just 3 of the effects the APP offers.
New work in progress
I started working on a new painting this week and it is my plan to do a little everyday until it is complete. This piece is very intuitive and I am not sure how it will end up but I am happy with the direction it is taking. So i am putting down an under painting to start with and then I will come over the top and begin to change the layout and imagery. When I am starting out with the base painting it is all about getting to 'know' the painting. As I start to lay down imagery and colours it is like a first kiss, its unsure yet exciting and there is a need to explore and get to know the surface better. You could say each new painting is a new lover, every new painting is different, unique and you have something to learn as you explore your relationship with it. Sometimes that relationship ends suddenly and tragically with the 'painting over' or eradication of the image, OR you persist hoping that your relationship with it improves and deepens... to be continued
Merchandise and SOCIETY 6
A few months ago I decided that I wanted to put some of my designs onto functional products - Cups, pillows, t-shirts, plates etc. I had mentioned on Facebook that i was currently looking for a company who could take my designs and create a range of merchandise. As it happened someone mentioned Society6. So i checked the website out and I really liked the layout and how easy the site was to navigate. I uploaded high quality images of my art and hey presto, they do all the work. As the artist i get to keep copyright of my work, i get to decide how much i get from each sale and they do all the work. So if you want to see the variety of merchant click on the banner below.
To check out my very own range of merchandise click on the banner above to go to my shop at society6
So I end this blog with saying thankyou for your support, comments and emails. I wish you all the success and happiness in your own creative journey.
Name Change and plans for 2013
2012 and 2013
So 2012 was a big year for me. After leaving Norway in December 2011 I arrived in Melbourne. 7 years in Norway and I chose to walk away from a 7 year marriage with nothing but a broken heart and a suitcase. On the flip side I did bring with me a lot of experience, wisdom and a determination to succeed.
Admittedly the first few months were pretty tough but a combination of drinking, partying and meeting new people seemed to absorb some of the pain. 3 months thereafter i decided it was time to focus on getting a job as what money i had left was running out.
As luck would have it I landed the first job i applied for and that was working as a social worker for an aboriginal child welfare organisation. Within the same month i had secured an art studio space right in the arty area of Melbourne and also was invited to participate in a group show all about street and graffiti art.
Over the following months I took time to develop some new work, imagery and themes and as a result I now have around 25 new works which are in different stages of completion.
Hopefully I will have them up for sale in February.
First things first, 'THE NAME CHANGE'. So as a lot of people don't know, when i moved back to Australia in December 2011 I began calling myself Tobias. I had never liked 'Gary' and since i was moving to a new city (Melbourne) and only had 2 good friends there who knew me as 'gary', i decided it was the perfect opportunity to make the switch. Even when i applied for a job (Social worker for an aboriginal child welfare organisation) I told them my name was Tobias. Of course once I got the job i did tell them officially i was still Gary however once i had been living back in Oz I would change it legally. So from then on i introduced myself as Tobias.
HOWEVER, saying that I will be keeping my artist name the same only because i have built up a reputation and following under Gary Reef. However, I will be making a small change from that name and will be just referred to as Greef. It is simple, easy to remember. So i ask that if you mention me in any blogs, posts etc that you please refer to me as simply Greef from now on.
So WHAT NEXT for Greef?
WORKSHOPS WORKSHOPS AND MORE WORKSHOPS! That is right, this year is about making a comeback and focusing on teaching art techniques. I am busy applying to teach all over Australia and hopefully I will have a list of cities and towns where I will be teaching fairly soon.
I also will be starting up a new youtube channel so i can once again share my journey.
So that is it in a nutshell! I am looking forward to what this year holds and I want to thank you for your support, emails and kindness. May you always hold in your heart whatever it is your passionate about and take steps to make your passion become a reality.
Life Lessons
This month has been pretty busy for me in terms of getting settled and organised. The reality that I have to start earning a living from my art has finally sunk in! Being a self employed artist is not easy and for those of you who are brave enough to follow your passion and dreams, I applaud you! The road is long, the climb is a steep and for many of us, it will prove too much.
I believe the journey I am on is not just for me, and that is why I feel it is important that I share it. By documenting my story, my ups and downs in this coming year, I believe it will help many of you in different ways, more ways that I will probably every know!
All I hope, is that my journey inspires you to follow your own dreams!
I thrive on a challenge and I know I have the talent and ability to bring my dreams to fruition! You really have to believe in what you are doing 100% otherwise you will fail. You have to hold your passion in order to succeed, and take every opportunity which comes your way. Have faith in your abilty, hold your passion, be dedicated, committed and devoted to your calling! If you do all of that you , YOU WILL SUCCEED! I KNOW THAT! I BELIEVE IT!
Moving into my new Studio Space
So I finally moved into my new studio space. In this building there are 8 other artist studios , some are lockable and some are more open plan. I really like the space i have because it is pretty private and to look inside you really have to step into the space. I also love it because it has a huge window which always keeps the space pretty bright (something which i am not use to). It is a perfect size for me to start with and I should be able to produce a lot of work here! It has a great feel about the space, light, relaxed and airy. I also have 24 hour access and there is a 7 Eleven downstairs on the corner, so if i am painting late and need a coffee or something to eat then i don't have far to go. I am going to buy myself a kettle and a microwave too LOL
I picked up the keys on Saturday and started moving some of my stuff in, I still have another car load of materials and art to transport but that will happen this weekend hopefully. So now i can get cracking!
I would love to hear your thoughts :)
Upcoming Group Urban Art Show at the Brunswick Street Gallery
So my first group show in Melbourne Australia is coming up on the 16th of March, and it is going to be at the Brunswick Street Gallery (Just click the highlight to go to their website).
I have not decided how many works i will be putting into the show but hopefully will be around 10 artworks. I have until the 14th to finalise works, so I guess I will be burning the candle to get them resolved!
I am pretty happy with how the works are developing especially since i haven't really painted for the last few months (due to my moving to Australia) but so far so good!
The opening is on friday the 16th of March at 6pm, so if you are in Melbourne and can make it, I would appreciate the support :)
Stencil Store and New works for sale
So last week I finally got a chance to put up some artworks for sale! I also opened up a stencil store where you can purchase and download some of the many designs i have created over the last 7 years!
Thank you to those of you who have since purchased artworks and stencils, I really appreciate the support! It has allowed me to go out and buy more materials etc!
I will be adding more stencil designs over this coming year and if you have any suggestions please don't hesitate to contact me!
Also if you would like me to make a stencil portrait of either yourself or a family member/ pet then get in touch for a quote (firstname.lastname@example.com) All you need to do is send me a photograph and leave the rest to me! ;)
The Pulse of Mixed Media
_Seth Apter's book 'The Pulse of mixed Media: Secrets and Passions of 100 Artists Revealed' has now been offically released.
As many of you are aware I am one of the 31 lucky artists to be spotlighted in the book!
This month (march) on Seth's Blog 'The Altered Page' he is featuring daily the 31 invited/spotlighted artists from the book, so please check out his blog if you would like to find out more about the 31 spotlighted artists! I am scheduled for the 26th! So look out for my 2 cents worth!
So just click on the highted sites below to go directly to where you can purchase your copy. It is definitely a great book to get your hands on especially if you are a mixed media artist. It is now shipping from Amazon, North Light, and Barnes & Noble
Have a great week and remember to take your passion and make it happen!
Right place right time
I have always loved to critique art, i spend a lot of time looking at it whether it is online, in magazines or in galleries. I have a constant stream of email request to view art, critique it and give advice as to the direction an artist can take it. I am a 'pusher', I like to push people forward, it is what I do and what I enjoy. I have been fortunate enough to help many people start their creative journey whether it is through inspiring them with techniques, my philosphy on life and art or whether it is through sharing my own journey and art via youtube.
So an opportunity arose late last year to be a guest judge at St. Monica's Catholic School in Melbourne in March. I will be judging grades 8 till 12's and presenting awards etc.
_It was a great opportunity and an honor to be asked and I am really looking foward to the experience. So last week I met up with the co-ordinator of the Art Prize, Zion Mitchell, Curator Lucy Di Lerenzo and fellow art teacher Gerard Mahoney to have an informal meeting and to show my work. I took my little 'Works on Paper' folio to show them examples of the style of art i make. During the 'showing' (this took place in a restaurant in Fitzroy Brunswick area- The arty farty area of Melbourne) our
_waiter proceeded to say how much he really liked my work and that he was an Art Agent on the side and that he would like to give me his card. He went on to say he represents Mike Parr who is a performance artist who became 'known' when he proceeded to cut his arm off during a press conference (previous to the conference he strapped his real arm to his body and made a prosthetic arm and stuffed it with meat). Apparently it caused several members of the press to faint! So I took his business card and we shall see where that 'journey' takes me.
_After our meeting Gerard took us to his studio which was just around the corner from the restaurant on the top floor of a 2 story building. There were 8 artist spaces on the top floor and also an exhibition space to show potential clients artwork. When he was showing us around i was thinking OMG this space is perfect, it felt light and airy and each space was around 4m x 4m roughly. The spaces were manged by Brunswick Street Gallery and so i asked if there were any spaces available, Gerard said we should go over to the gallery and enquire. The spaces had such a great vibe, they were a perfect size and the location was amazing, right around the corner from the gallery and also in the heart of the art area. It felt like destiny. So we went over to the gallery and i met the Assistant Director Joanna Gould who was really lovely and friendly! She told me there were no spaces available but would put my name on the waiting list. I gave her my business card and being the self promoter that i am, i whipped out my small folio of works on paper and proceeded to show her my work. She was like 'your work looks like it would be perfect for the Urban Art show' we have coming up in March! So she said she would email me the details (And she did and i am currently making work for the group show). Anyway we all went on our merry ways and a few days later i recieved an email from Joanna to say that a studio space had become available and that she was putting my name down for it and that I could come and check it out next week. I was thinking OMG are you kidding, how perfect and great timing as i was thinking it might be a month or so before a space would become available! SO I HAVE A SPACE to create and I am really happy about that, and i said a little THANK YOU to whoever is watching over me:) Youtube video to follow showing you the space!
Street Mural
Walking around the Fitzroy/Brunswick area you can certainly tell it is an artist area. All the side streets are filled with graffiti, symbols and writing! I happened to be especially drawn to this mural of an Aboriginal child with some pretty interesting Mondrian style birds. The childs face was amazing and i am not quiet sure if it is a little boy or girl but the power in the eyes was extraordinary.
Private Workshop
So today Lucy and her daughter came over for a private class. We spent around 3 hours playing around just doing a bunch of drawing and painting exercises. Lucy did feel a little nervous and intimidated in the beginning, as she wasn't use to being taught by such a huge youtube celebrity artist LOL
The day was very casual and I just outlined a few ideas and techniques and also critiqued some of her work. Below are some pictures of the work she created during the class! Was fun and even though no masterpieces were created we all had a good time.
Poster design
So i designed a poster to advertise both my online courses and also my live workshop courses. I think it looks pretty good and i have to say it definitely represents all of the styles of art I like to teach and create myself.
So I am just waiting for the posters to come from the printers and i am still working on the website (so for those of you who try to access the website you will be met with a password protection until the site is ready)
My intention is to send these posters to several friends around Australia and get them to put them up on shopping centre notice boards, University notice boards, community centres and anywhere else they think they would be visable. People will then be able to find out more info and register for one of my classes. Once i get enough interest in a particular city in Oz I will then organise a workshop:) Well that is my plan!
So on that note I wish you all a fantastic creative week ahead! Peace to your sexy faces!!
Being HERE!
_One of the dangers for artists living in the city is the constant distraction of city living and life. Many an artist has succumb to drinking or partying away their talent due to being in such a busy environment with so much going on.
I know when I lived in London for several years early on in my artistic career, I hardly painted at all. Of course art is a permanent part of who I am NOW and although i am currently distracted by the city, I know I will buckle down and loose myself in my work once again.
One thing i have realised in this 'transition' phase is how important it is to keep focusing on your 'purpose'. I am always telling people to be consistant, dedicated and devoted to their art practice because it is only then you will make a difference and create an impact.
I revolve in many online circles partly because I don't want to be pulled into any one particular group and i also think it keeps you fresh, and there is sometimes that thing where being with one particular group of people for a long period of time...well it can become incesttuous, you know what I mean! So i think it is healthy for artists to constantly mix with new artists and form new associations.
So today this blog is about refocusing on 'your purpose', about being dedicated or preparing and allowing yourself to be dedicated. I have noticed in a couple of online artist cirles of late, there has been great motivation in doing a painting or drawing a day! The great thing about this excercise is that it gets you moving forward, it gets you 'DOING' rather than talking about it. My mantra for many years was ' Think less do more' because many of us spend too much time thinking about doing something, and we get so caught up in the process of thinking about it, that the physical doing doesn't actually happen OR we talk ourselves around it. I think as humans and as artists, the biggest danger for us is to over internalise everything. You really just have to get it out of you physically by painting, drawing or dancing or however you express yourself.
__And in fact i have always entertained the idea of being placed in an unmarked grave or just wrapped in a white cotton sheet and tossed into a ditch LOL (and i have had this conversation with many of you and had a good laugh but there was truth and honesty in that humour). And that is why i think this song has been an important reminder for me personally, because I AM HERE and one day it will be because 'I was HERE' and what is it that i have given forward to the next generation, what purpose has my life amounted to? Maybe i am becoming sentimental in my oldish age which is something i never wanted and still don't LOL but thank you Beyonce for this song, it is a constant reminder of my purpose! And I hope it reminds you of your own journey and purpose and why you are here!
Ghost in the City
Being in 'transition' is a strange feeling, i liken it to what it would feel like to being a ghost. As i ride the train into the city I feel completely detached from everything and everyone. I feel like i am floating, and i watch people as they go past me and they are all occupied with their routines and lives, and then there is me, in transition. It is a weird sensation, that feeling of not really being apart of anything in particular, not having any real responsibility or routine to my daily life. I wish i cared, but honestly i don't at this point, and maybe that is a good thing or a coping mechanism. I think it makes it easier to deal with change when you just 'let go'.
It is like jumping off a cliff and free falling, i am not ready to pull the shoot yet because there is a freedom in the unknown and in the 'falling'.
Being a ghost in the city is my new reality for the moment and I am ok with it. I know i can't drift forever, but when you have gone through such life altering 'stuff' as i have over the last few months, giving yourself time to be 'everywhere and nowhere' is a good move emotionally. I know there will come a time soon when i will be ready to pull the rip chord on the parchutte and step back into 'reality' and that ghostly feeling will be become a distant emotion, but for the 'now', i welcome it.
'Suck it up Reef'
_'Suck it up Reef' I say to myself as i come to the realisation that finding a studio space isn't going to be as straight forward or as easy as i had envisaged. The reality that paying for a studio space, rent, food and transport has been a wake up call, because now i have to actually view my art and everything which revolves around it 'in part' as a business.
It is a matter of survival now, i can't rely on a steady income from the cows anymore and the more i think about the huge wall which stands in front of me, and the more i examine the wall, the more i see it is going to take a lot of work and effort to lift myself up. I am looking for the small cracks and spaces to place my hands and feet because i am determined to climb this huge first big hurdle.
I do take comfort in the fact that I am one of those very fortunate people who seems to attract the right people into my life at the right time and over the years i have lost count of situations which 'had i not met a particular person' then I would not be where i am today.
I just have this unquestionable belief that everything I need will be provided in some way and that if i am truly meant to be an artist and follow this passion then 'life' will support me and offer up opportunities. And so far that has worked. I just want to add that i think it is a 'give and take' thing, just because i am meant to be an artist and opportunities are coming up, i still must play my part of 'giving' as much of my gift and of myself to 'serving' others as I can. The truth of the matter is the more you give and want for others, the more it comes back to you, so i am always aware of this fact and i try to serve others as best as i can.
_Currently I have no art supplies, no paints, canvases , paper etc but as fate would have it, the universe has brought a very special person into my life who happens to live in Melbourne and who happens to have a lot of used supplies AND has offered them to me. Ofcourse in return I will supply her with free private classes in anything she wants to learn, but it just goes to show you and show me that I am being watched over closely.
We are also going studio hunting this week as i need to start looking for a small space where i can work from and hopefully tutor a few students, so fingers crossed something comes of it. I have emailed a couple of places regarding studios but have not heard back, but that maybe because of the xmas new year period. I am anxious to get painting and creating again so hopefully something fantastic will appear soon!!
If there is anyone in Melbourne who has any advice or thoughts please get in touch 0452454294
Saying Goodbye
_I normally can't sleep on planes but i found myself being comforted by the noise of the aircraft, i felt so at peace and it was like i was being gently rocked to sleep. Finally leaving Norway after 7 years. Mentally i had released all of my fears about the future and any expectations i had placed on myself and i found so much comfort being just ' in the now'.
I keep saying that it is going to be 'hard' to begin with but i find Dr Wayne Dyer in my head saying you don't attract into your life what you want, you attract into your life 'what you are'. And you are what you think, so you have to be careful what you think because that becomes your reality. He goes on to beat another message into my head ' Don't believe everything you think'. Sounded weird when i first heard him say that, but the more i examined my thoughts and behaviors the more i realised that message to be true. So for example my thoughts on how my last day in Norway would be didn't really playout in reality. I thought it was going to be so difficult but in reality it wasn't as hard as i had thought. Maybe because i had baptised myself in enough tears over the last 3 months and had fully realised it was the 'END' and that my life would never be the same again.
So now whenever i think to myself that starting new isn't going to be easy, i tell myself that it is going to be easy regardless if it is actually true or not because i can choose to think positive or negative and i think positive!
What i am going through is nothing new, so many other people have done or are doing the same thing. I have this mental imagine in my mind and it is me as a boy and i have fallen over and hurt myself, instead of laying there crying i get up as fast as i can and even though my knee is bleeding i continue to walk and i still continue to cry...but i am moving forward. For me i think that is an important message that even if we are hurting and we have pain, we have to keep moving forward, we have to continue on our journey, sure you can cry along the way, but don't stop, don't pity yourself. You just have to get on with it. Maybe that is how i can deal with difficult situations and why i have been called 'so brave' on many occassions. I don't see it as being brave, i just see it as ' getting on with it'. I am reminded once again of a story Dr Wayne Dyer talked about in one of his lectures and it was about a zebra (or some wild animal in Africa) and it had just had its leg chewed off by a lion but it had managed to escape and it was just eating grass and getting on with its life. It wasn't complaining 'poor me or how could this happen to me', it was simply eating grass and getting on with life. Ofcourse we are much more complex and are aware of our mortality but i think that message was an important one for me, to remember to keep going on, to keep moving forward even if you have a huge chunk taken out of you. You have to do otherwise your finished. There is always going to be 'downs' but there are equally going to be 'ups'.
So i finish this entry unsure of my future or what will actuality become my new reality, but i stay positive in my 'unsurity' (if that is such a word) and just have faith to focus on the 'now' and my passion, the rest will playout as is planned and i will continue and walk forward, wounds will heal and a new day dawns.
Gary Reef
I am a mixed media artist specialising in texture and layering techniques and effects. I am also an Assemblage artist.
May 2016


text:
how safe is fedora updates
Hi guys,
I'm using fedora 13 but i'll like to know how safe is the fedora updates, 'cos i have read some comments from people who have complained that they started having issues on their fedora box after doing an update;i'll like to update the OS and i presently do not have any problems but i want to avoid a situation where i'll start having issues after the updates.
Thanks for your comments
If you don't update, you don't get fixes (especially security-related), which on the other hand means that your system won't get new bugs, but on the other hand means you won't get current ones fixed, and keep potential security holes wide open. Therefore you should update. If you take backups often enough (depending on your own needs) you shouldn't have to worry, because you can pull them back if things get nasty. If you don't take backups, consider doing so. Lastly, if you're really that worried about updates screwing your system, you're using the wrong operating system/distribution; Fedora is known to be somewhat "bleeding-edge", which means it's not as stable/rock solid as some other distributions might be. Either accept it and keep backups as plan B, or switch your OS to something that you can update without fear.
I've been using fedora since fedora 10 and the only problems I've seen have been rpm dependency resolutions when running yum update or install. This has happened only a handful of times over the past two years. When it happens, you may be unable to install/update certain packages, but is usually resolved in a day or two and had no effect on using the existing programs.
I have yet to see something break due to an update, but as b0uncer mentioned, fedora tries to be at the forefront of development. So if stability is a major factor for you, perhaps something like centOS would be more appropriate.
I've seen a lot of complaints of the type "X stopped working after I updated Fedora." Personally, I've never done a full update (I've used Fedora since version 1) and I've never had any problems.
If you look at the updates on offer, they are divided into security fixes, bug fixes, and enhancements. Forget the enhancements; if you've done without it so far, you wait till the next version. Look at the bug fixes and ask yourself whether you have experienced the bug; if the answer is no, forget it. Finally, look at the security fixes. Do you actually use the software in question? If you never use ssh, it doesn't need fixing. What is the risk? If it's a possible denial of service attack, that's only a risk to a server.
You can have problems after updating, but you need to understand that Fedora is not, nor was it ever, intended to be a "stable" distribution. It has always been a Red Hat project to put together a completely FOSS distribution from applications very close to the "bleeding edge" of development. Some of the applications included are "beta" releases. The point is to expose some applications that are under consideration for inclusion in the commercial RHEL releases to more extensive usage than could be achieved in a test lab.
Fedora is a rapidly updated distribution, with new releases made about every six months, and support for any release is terminated after about a year. (See the "sticky" note at the head of the Fedora sub-forum for details. The one about the "unsupported version.")
If you use Fedora, you should be prepared to make frequent bug reports.
All that being said, I've been quite happy using Fedora. But I like trying to resolve bugs and glitches.
I run a full update about once a week on my systems. With locational problems. (I keep a copy of the smart update manager on my system for those times that yum gets in a huff about dependencies.)
|All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:32 AM.


text:
Enter your email address below to receive the latest news from Beagle Paws and the Building for Beagles campaign.
Beagle Store
All proceeds from the Beagle Store go towards the care of beagles in need. Click Here »
Sponsor A Beagle
You can HELP, Sponsor a Senior
or Special-needs Beagle.
Click Here »
Page of Shame
Visit our Page of Shame for photos of cruelty of Beagles in Newfoundland. Click Here »
- November 2017 (25)
- October 2017 (22)
- September 2017 (24)
- August 2017 (13)
- July 2017 (13)
- June 2017 (15)
- May 2017 (20)
- April 2017 (10)
- March 2017 (15)
- February 2017 (16)
- January 2017 (17)
- December 2016 (12)
- November 2016 (12)
- October 2016 (12)
- September 2016 (19)
- August 2016 (16)
- July 2016 (13)
- June 2016 (10)
- May 2016 (17)
- April 2016 (13)
- March 2016 (10)
- February 2016 (8)
- January 2016 (15)
- December 2015 (15)
Category Archives: Pet Memorials
Hershey (February 2009)
I'll never forget that night when we first met you, the beagle that would become our beautiful baby boy. You created such a fuss that night and I thought your dad was crazy to want to bring you home. He knew from the moment he saw you that you were the one, but I wasn't convinced. It took nearly a month for me to warm up to the idea of you being the one that would change our lives forever and I am so thankful that I fell in love with you.
You were such a unique boy and we loved you more and more each and every day. We loved hearing you squeak your football over and over again, despite it being so annoying at times. We would give anything to hear that squeak once again and to see your happy face when you got a new toy. Your love of toys was like no other we have seen before…..you simply couldn't get enough of them and I guess we were partly to blame. You were definitely a little spoiled when it came to getting a new toy every time we went to the store, but we couldn't resist seeing that face when you found it in the bag.
There are so many memories that we will never forget, memories that made you so special to us and everyone that met you. How could we ever forget how you loved to make a comfy bed in the clean laundry in the chair; how you had to check each and every bag when we came from the store to see if there was anything special in it for you, which in most cases there was; how you loved to sing for your mommy and daddy, especially when I played the recorder; how you were so mischievous and would steal a full bag of treats or anything that was in your reach when we weren't looking; how you would stomp your paws and try to "talk" to us when you wanted something or was excited; and how that little stumpy tail wagged like crazy all of the time.
I will be forever grateful that your dad fell in love with you the moment he met you that first night. You were a perfect match for our family, a family of three that will never be the same without you.
You are forever loved and missed more than anything in this world.
Mommy and Daddy
Patricia and Paul
Posted in Pet Memorials Comments Off on Hershey (February 2009)


text:
The stalemate between Gov. Christopher Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-West Deptford) over a Supreme Court nomination could mean unemployment for thirteen Superior Court Judges whose terms expire before Labor Day. Republicans suggest that Christie might not make any new judicial nominations until the Senate acts on his appointment of Anne Murray Patterson to replace New Jersey Supreme Court Associate Justice John Wallace. Sitting Judges who are not confirmed by the Senate before the expiration of their current term must leave the bench immediately.
Among the judges on the danger list is Joseph Charles, who spent 22 years representing Bayonne and part of Jersey City in the State Senate and General Assembly. Charles quit the Senate in 2003 to take a judgeship. His term expires on August 18.
Judge James Morley, who sits in Burlington County, might be on his way out anyway. Morley has been in trouble since last year for comments he made at the sentencing of a 45-year-old teacher's aide for having sex with a 16-year-old student and before dismissing animal cruelty charges against a former police officer for allegedly performing sex acts with calves.
During the sentencing of teacher's aide, Donna Goebel, Morley said "But for the defendant's status, there would be no crime here (because) the relationship was entirely consensual," according to the Courier-Post. He also noted that "It's possible she just wanted to be around someone who was nice to her and got caught up in something she shouldn't have."
Morley made national headlines when he threw out animal cruelty charges against suspended Moorestown Police Officer Robert Melia – who is facing much more serious charges of assaulting three young girls – because it was unclear if the sexual contact he engaged in with calves "tormented" or "puzzled" them.
"If the cow had the cognitive ability to form thought and speak, would it say, 'Where's the milk? I'm not getting any milk,'" he said, according to the Philadelphia Daily News.
Other judges in danger of getting caught in the middle of the Christie/Sweeney crossfire: Dennis Carey (Essex, 7/17); Frank Ciuffani (Middlesex, 6/30); Bernadette DeCastro (Hudson, 7/24); John Kennedy (Essex, 7/15); Honora O'Brien Kilgallen (Monmouth, 6/17); Julie Marino (Somerset, 6/27); Diane Pincus (Middlesex, 7/8); Joseph Rea (Middlesex, 6/25); Raymond Reddin (Passaic, 8/20); and Ramona Santiago (Essex, 6/17).
A judge whose term expires could be eventually reappointed to the bench, but would not have tenure unless the win a third reappointment seven years later.


text:
There is a popular saying: On the Internet, the competition is only a mouse click away. It's a fundamental fact of the Internet that poor performance leads to dissatisfied users, and that dissatisfied users may abandon a Web site and never return to it again. Predicting how a particular Web site will respond to a specific load is a real challenge. Since Web sites are complex systems with hardware, software, and networking components-from many different vendors, and with widely different performance profiles-it's virtually impossible to predict how a given system will behave under load. The only reliable way to gain insight into a system's scalability is to perform a load test in which the volume and characteristics of the anticipated traffic are simulated as realistically as possible.
In this article, I will guide you through the three basic steps necessary to design highly realistic and accurate Web site load tests: understanding the nature of the load, estimating target load levels, and documenting your design.
Understanding the Nature of the Load
The first step in designing a Web site load test is to understand as accurately and as objectively as possible the nature of the load that must be generated.
Unfortunately, it is very easy-even for experienced, well-meaning, and hard-working test engineers-to design and develop load tests that don't even come close to matching real loads. I believe that the primary reason for this is that Internet load testing is a relatively new (and therefore poorly understood and documented) branch of testing. Even if we ignore the recently added Internet component, load testing has always been one of the more esoteric and less covered types of tests, with relatively few experts to go around. Considering the amount of learning and setup that it takes to plan and execute a Web site load test, and that most Internet-based projects have tremendous time pressures, most test engineers are happy to generate any load and get back any results.
However, I firmly believe that if you have already committed the significant time and expense required for load testing, the additional effort required to make it realistic is minor compared to the significant increase in confidence in the results. The first step toward realism is to understand and characterize the anticipated load as objectively and systematically as possible. For this task, your most important resource will be your Web site's log files, and your most valuable tool will be a log file analyzer.
Log Files and Log Analyzers
Log files are a real gold mine for load test design (See "Mining Gold from Server Logs" by Karen Johnson in the January/February 2001 issue of STQE for more on this topic). Every time a visitor comes to your Web site, the details of that visit are recorded (providing that the logging option is enabled on the server). Along with the IP address of the visitor, the log file records the date and time each file or page was accessed, the size of the file or page that was accessed, a code that indicates if the access was successful, and other information about the visitor's browser, operating system, search engine, etc. This gold mine of data, however, is stored in a machine-readable format that must be processed to extract the information you need. Fortunately, there are many public domain and commercially available log file analyzers currently available online; search for "log file analyzer" using your favorite search engine to see which analyzer best fits your needs and budget.
User Sessions
Most of the information you need to extract during log file analysis revolves around user sessions. The concept of the user session, which is defined as a sequence of related page views by a unique visitor, is central to Web site load testing, so let's look at it in some detail.
The typical Web site is visited by a wide range of users with a wide range of objectives. Of all the visitors to an e-commerce site, for example, some may be there to browse, some others to buy, and others to check the status of their order. Even when they share a common objective, like buying a book, different users will behave in different ways. Some will move from one page to another in rapid succession, barely taking any time to read the content; others will take their time with each page and move more slowly and deliberately. Some will browse and read reviews for several books before deciding to buy one, while others will go straight for the purchase page.
Understanding this wide range of actions and behaviors is critical for load test design, since a well-designed load test should replicate these actions and behaviors as accurately as possible. The best way to capture the nature of Web site load is to identify and track, using a log analyzer, a set of key user session variables that are applicable and relevant to your Web site traffic. Some of the variables that you should always track include:
In addition to these basic metrics, however, you also should track any variables that are likely to make a nontrivial difference in the load; use your intuition and talk to the people who developed the system to determine what these additional variables should be.
One can easily suspect that, for example, a seven-page session that results in a purchase is going to create more load on the Web site than a seven-page session that involves only browsing. A browsing session might only involve the serving of static pages, while a purchase session will involve a number of elements, including the inventory database, the customer database, a credit card transaction with verification going through a third-party system, and a notification email. A single purchase session might put as much load on some of the system's resources as twenty browsing sessions.
Similar reasoning may apply to purchases from new vs. returning users. A new user purchase might involve a significant amount of account setup and verification-something existing users don't require. The database load created by a single new user purchase may equal that of five purchases by existing users, so you should differentiate the two types of purchases.
Once you have determined what user session variables you need to track, use the log analyzer to find out the range and distribution of values for these variables. Most log analyzers will automatically report information on basic metrics (such as session length or session duration). For some of your custom metrics, however, you may need to supply your own interpretation of the data. In order to find out the number of sessions that result in a purchase, for example, you might need to leverage the fact that all sessions that result in a completed order include the page "order_confirmation.html." If the log file reveals that out of 5,500 sessions, the order confirmation page was invoked 220 times, you can deduce that 4% of sessions resulted in a purchase and factor that percentage into your test design.
For each of the session variables you decide to track you should, at the very least, know their average value-but it is worthwhile and often necessary to go well beyond that. The average number of pages per session, for example, may turn out to be 4.0, but since that average may be the result of 50% of the users just visiting the home page and 50% of the users visiting seven pages, a load test in which all sessions are four pages long would match the average-but it would not be realistic.
You could use statistical tools such as standard deviation, but I believe that the best way to characterize most Web load testing variables is to use a discrete distribution. In the case of pages per session, the distribution might look like this:
The amount of detail and precision with which you track these variables depends on the complexity of the Web site, as well as the time you have to design, develop, execute, and analyze the results. Due to space constraints, the examples used in this article are necessarily simple, but if you are dealing with a megasite like Amazon.com or Schwab.com you will probably need to track more variables, and track them even more accurately.
Page Request Distribution
One user session variable that deserves special consideration is the page request distribution. This critical metric tells you what pages are being requested, and in what proportions. Developing a page request distribution is a two-step process: first you define a set of page categories, and then you calculate the percentage of page requests in each category.
You need to define a set of discrete page categories-because for most Web sites you couldn't possibly list all the pages, and because in terms of load many pages are equivalent. If all product description pages, for example, contain a couple of pictures and several lines of text, the load they will present to the Web site will be very similar-even if the product they depict is very different.
By the same token, a home page and a purchase page are going to present very different loads. The home page may be a purely static page (and will probably be cached in memory), so it will take the server very little effort to respond to the request. The purchase page, on the other hand, will undoubtedly require database access and, possibly, communication with several other subsystems. A histogram, as shown at the top of Figure 1, is a great way to visualize and communicate page request distribution.
Figure 1, showing our histogram as well as three blocks of related data, is actually an example of my effort to integrate and keep all this information together. To do so, I coined the term and developed the concept of Web site Usage Signature and the (somewhat unfortunate but definitely memorable) acronym WUS. A WUS is a table that allows us to display all the key metrics and data related to Web site usage in a single easy-to-use form.
What to Do If You Don't Have Log Files
Every time I explain the concept and application of the WUS, most people nod their heads in violent agreement but, inevitably, somebody raises the question: "This is great if you have Web logs, but how do you use the WUS on a pre-launch site?"
This is an excellent question; and fortunately, there is a relatively simple answer that satisfies most people. Before you announce the site to the entire world, plan a much smaller beta test release and use the logs from those sessions to come up with a first approximation of your WUS. The WUS from a beta test with as few as 100-200 users will give you a pretty good idea of how people are going to use and navigate your site. Fortunately, most organizations are smart enough to plan alpha and beta tests for functionality and usability testing, so getting some log data should not be difficult.
Estimating Target Load Levels
The next step in designing the load test is to understand the volume patterns, and to determine what load levels your Web site might be subjected to (and must therefore be tested for). There are four key variables that must be understood in order to estimate target load levels:
My metric of choice for measuring load levels is user sessions per unit of time (e.g., user sessions per hour or user sessions per week). I prefer this metric to the many other options, such as concurrent users or page views. The concept of user sessions is easily understood by technical and nontechnical people at all levels of the organization and is tracked by most log file analyzers.
Estimating Overall Traffic Growth
Estimating the growth of the overall amount of anticipated traffic is important, because the magnitude of the peak levels is going to be proportional to the magnitude of the overall traffic. If an overall traffic of, say, 100,000 sessions per week results in a peak of 1,500 sessions per hour, you might expect that an overall traffic of 200,000 sessions per week would double that peak to 3,000 sessions per hour.
Overall traffic growth is typically derived from two sources: historical growth data and sales/marketing projections. In many cases, you'll use both of these components. To estimate this number, take the current weekly traffic (e.g., 100,000 sessions per week) and ask the appropriate people in your company (e.g., CEO, VP of Marketing, VP of Sales) what they anticipate in terms of month-to-month growth. Ask them, too, if they anticipate any unusually high volumes due to special sales/marketing events. From this conversation you might learn that the company anticipates a 20% month-to-month growth-and that a new product launch two months from now is expected to draw an additional 200,000 visitors to the Web site during the week of the launch. Combining this information, you can estimate that the Web site will have to handle a volume of approximately 350,000 visitors the week of the launch (144,000 by applying the 20% month-to-month growth for two months, and an additional 200,000 from the new product launch).
Estimating Peak Levels
Once you have an estimate of overall traffic growth, you'll need to estimate the peak level you might expect within that overall volume. This is necessary because Web traffic is rarely uniformly distributed, and most Web sites exhibit very noticeable peaks in their volume patterns. Fortunately, you can use the ratios between overall traffic and peak number of sessions to make educated guesses about target volume levels. Typically, there are a few points in time (one or two days out of the week, or a couple of hours each day) when the traffic to the Web site is highest. A weather information Web site, for example, may experience its highest traffic on Fridays and Saturdays, as people make plans for their weekend. An online trading site will usually experience its highest traffic around the market's opening and at the market's close.
Suppose you have traffic log data for all of 2000, and you want to estimate when the peak volumes will occur in 2001. The monthly levels will show if there is a clear seasonality in volume pattern (e.g., typical consumer e-commerce sites will peak in the October-December time frame, in preparation for the holidays). Weekly levels, on the other hand, will show if there is a pattern related to days of the week (e.g., online brokers might experience peak volumes on Mondays and Fridays). At the end of this analysis you should compile the data in a volume patterns table, as seen in Table 1.
This volume patterns table makes it pretty clear that for this site-if the volume patterns will be similar for the year 2001-peak volumes will be experienced on Saturdays between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. in the month of December. You can now use the ratio of peak to average volume to set target peak levels for your load test.
You might also think about tracking and recording lowest volume periods; that information would come in very handy for scheduling a load test on the production site. Running your load tests between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. on Tuesdays, for example, might allow you to run tests while causing the minimum amount of disruption to your users.
Estimating Peak Ramp-up and Sustain Time
Estimating how quickly target peak levels will be reached, and for how long they will be sustained, is almost as critical as estimating the magnitude of those levels. Let's look at design considerations for two different kinds of sites.
An online stock trading site will experience an extremely sharp peak in usage when triggered by certain timed events, like the opening of the stock market. In a matter of minutes this site could go from handling virtually no trades at all to juggling thousands of trades. A load test for such a site should be designed to ramp up to the target level extremely rapidly-say five to ten minutes. A more gradual ramp-up is not going to duplicate the stresses experienced under real load, and will result in overestimating the site's capacity.
An online clothing retailer, on the other hand, might experience a much more gradual buildup to a lunchtime peak, since its users' actions are not synchronized to a specific event. Load tests for this site will be different from our stock market site-these tests should be designed to ramp up over a period of one or two hours. A faster ramp-up will cause stress levels higher than what the site will experience under a real load, which will result in an underestimation of the site's capacity.
The duration of the peak is also very important-a Web site that may deal very well with a peak level for five or ten minutes may crumble if that same load level is sustained longer than that.
Documenting the Design
Once you have a good understanding of the nature and volumes of the anticipated load, you've already done the bulk of the work-and you can design the load test with ease, confidence, and lots of information to justify your decisions.
The key elements of a load test design are:
Remember that most people these days are too busy to read anything longer than a couple of pages, so you should try to make the design document as simple and direct as possible.
In the test objectives section you should explicitly mention what you are trying to accomplish with the load test, and what actions are going to be taken based on its results. For example:
Load Test Objective The objective of this load test is to determine if the Web site, as currently configured, will be able to handle the 12,000 sessions/hr peak load level anticipated for the coming holiday season. If the system fails to scale as anticipated, the results will be analyzed to identify the bottlenecks, and the test will be run again after the suspected bottlenecks have been addressed.
A test should have some predefined pass or fail criteria associated with it. Unfortunately, most load tests are executed without a clear understanding of what constitutes success or failure. Make sure that you, and everyone else in the organization, discuss what results will be acceptable and document the outcome of the discussion. For example:
Pass/Fail Criteria The load test will be considered a success if the Web site will handle the target load of 12,000 sessions/hr while maintaining the average page response times defined below. The page response time will be measured over T1 lines and will represent the elapsed time between a page request and the time the last byte is received:
Next, you should document the types of scripts you plan to use in the load test. The number of scripts you need will be determined by the complexity of the Web site and your work on the WUS. Since in most cases the user sessions follow just a few navigation patterns, you will not need hundreds of individual scripts to achieve realism-if you choose carefully, a dozen scripts will take care of most Web sites. But choosing them carefully requires some work, since you want this combination of scripts to be able to closely replicate the WUS, especially the page distribution.
The best way to arrive at the right combination of scripts and their relative frequencies is a two-step process. First, you'll make an educated guess about the number and types of scripts that will be needed. Second, you'll set up a spreadsheet to calculate page distributions and other key target variables-using an iterative process in which you adjust the various parameters and, if needed, create additional scripts until you get a distribution that matches your target.
For the first step, each script should be assigned a name and described in terms of how it will navigate the Web site. For example, the sequence Home-->Product Information(1)-->Product Information(2)-->Exit describes a three-page script that visits the home page, then two product information pages, and then terminates. The script names and their description should be listed in a script table for easy reference, as shown in Table 2.
For the second step, the sample spreadsheet shown in Table 3 can be used to calculate the target page distribution based on the types of pages hit by each script, and the relative frequency with which each script will be executed.
The first half of the spreadsheet lists each of the scripts, along with its relative frequency of execution and how many times the script will request each page type. In the second half, we calculate the relative number of page views that we will obtain if we execute this set of scripts with this relative frequency-and then compare that to our target page distribution. You should try to keep the difference between the resulting and target page distribution to 5% or less. For pages that will impose a particularly heavy load (e.g., order entry and credit card confirmation) you should aim for a difference of no more than 1% or 2%, since small percentage differences for these pages will have a major impact on the load.
Finally, scripts should be combined to describe a load testing scenario. A basic scenario includes the scripts that will be executed, the percentages in which those scripts will be executed, and a description of how the load will be ramped up. Table 4 shows a sample scenario for a load test with three script types and four load levels.
If you have the time and resources, you should plan and design multiple scenarios to simulate a range of different peak volumes your site might experience. Make sure that each scenario has its own clearly stated objectives and pass/fail criteria.
In order to be worth anything, I believe that Web site load tests should reproduce the anticipated loads as accurately and realistically as possible. In order to do that you will need to study previous load patterns and design test scenarios that closely recreate them. This is a task that will require a serious amount of hard work, intelligence, intuition, and communication skills. But the extra hours will pay off; this task will also force you to learn new technologies, tools, and ways of thinking that, in the end, will greatly expand your skill set and significantly increase your own marketability and career options.


text:
I want to know how to report a tutor. I paid Success M to do 2 papers and
he gave them back and they were plagarized and he refuses to fix it or refund my money. Does anyone know how I can fix this? ive wrote him several times and he wont respond and it shows he is online. Thank you.
Tutor Answer
Brown University
1271 Tutors
California Institute of Technology
2131 Tutors
Carnegie Mellon University
982 Tutors
Columbia University
1256 Tutors
Dartmouth University
2113 Tutors
Emory University
2279 Tutors
Harvard University
599 Tutors
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2319 Tutors
New York University
1645 Tutors
Notre Dam University
1911 Tutors
Oklahoma University
2122 Tutors
Pennsylvania State University
932 Tutors
Princeton University
1211 Tutors
Stanford University
983 Tutors
University of California
1282 Tutors
Oxford University
123 Tutors
Yale University
2325 Tutors


text:
Sensors & Controls research activity supports the development of novel sensors critical to the implementation and optimization of advanced fossil fuel-based power generation systems, including new classes of sensors capable of monitoring key parameters (temperature, pressure, and gases) while operating in harsh environments. The sensor effort involves the development of innovative analytical techniques for on-line industrial use, in either an extractive or in-situ mode.
The controls development work centers around artificial and distributed intelligence for process control and decision making in networks. Improved process control allows for more efficient operation during transient conditions, providing for more stable operation, with tighter environmental control allowing fossil plants to cycle load more easily.
These new technologies are designed to benefit both existing and advanced power systems such that meaningful improvements can be made with respect to their efficiency and availability. As generational and transformational systems mature, sensors and controls will serve as an essential and enabling technology to operate these systems under conditions where optimal performance is balanced with reliability. Alongside the sensors and controls efforts, users need the ability to make and implement decisions and derived optimizations in real time. This capability will be attained by means of new computational tools capable of matching sensor data and analytical inputs to decision-making assistance and controls actuation resulting in desired outcomes.
The sensor and controls program will also evaluate other novel concepts that possess the potential for eliminating technology barriers in fossil energy systems: These concepts address high risk, high payoff technologies with the potential to eliminate technology barriers in fossil energy systems.
Explores a new classes of sensors and measurement tools that manage complexity; permit low-cost, robust monitoring; and enable real-time optimization of fully integrated, highly efficient power-generation systems can greatly enhance performance of existing and new power plants. Research is focused on sensors capable of monitoring key parameters (temperature, pressure, and gas compositions) while operating in harsh environments, and analytical sensors capable of online, real-time evaluation and measurement. New approaches not only to sensing technologies but also in advanced manufacturing (e.g., of smart parts) and utilization of sensor data (e.g., imaging/visualization) have the potential to be transformative.
Controls research is centered on self-organizing information networks and distributed intelligence for process control and decision making. The work includes the study of fundamental combustion and gasification chemistry to better represent rates and mechanisms affecting emissions behavior under combustion and gasification conditions.
Benefit Analyses
The Program is focused on the key benefit of increases in process efficiency and performance, reduction of environmental risk, and opportunities to lower cost with the introduction of new technologies improved efficiency, increased availability, improved systems performance, and advanced systems modeling. Table 1 presents a summary level set of benefits for the CRP program, however, benefit analysis is ongoing and updates to this area are part of an iterative program assessment effort.
Crosscutting Research Program Summary Level Benefits
Note: Analysis based on 2011 coal costs and 2011 coal-fired power plant fleet
1Source: Outage Data - NERC GADS Database 9/19/12 Accessed 1/9/13; $55.07 Avg. Wholesale Price Data – EIA http://www.eia.gov/electricity/wholesale/index.cfm Wholesale Market Data, PJM West, NEPOOL, ERCOT Wtg. Avg.
About This Site
Follow Us


text:
Yanks poised to feed off Tex's sizzling bat
Yanks poised to feed off Tex's sizzling bat
ANAHEIM -- Mark Teixeira's fourth home run in his last four games was a footnote in the Yankees' 9-8 loss to the Angels on Monday, but his contributions have made a major impact.
Teixeira is batting .480 (12-for-25) with eight runs scored, four doubles and 10 RBIs in his last seven games, catching fire after shaking off a nagging cough that sapped his energy level.
"He looks great at the plate," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "That's good to see. When we get guys hitting the way they're capable, we're able to put up big numbers."


text:
Well Being
7 Body Image Lessons From The Bearded Lady
Meet our new body image hero. We could all learn a lot from Harnaam Kaur, a 23-year-old woman who is growing out her beard and feeling great about it. Kaur has been growing facial hair since adolescence due to polycystic ovary syndrome. Though she's been through hell due to her condition, Kaur will no longer be shaving her facial her for religious reasons. Having facial hair may be atypical for a woman, but accepting it and growing it out is making this chick feel better about her appearance. We could all learn a lot about confidence, acceptance and our own perceived flaws from Harnaam Kaur.
Here are 8 body image lessons from this interview with the Bearded Lady:
- Confidence glows. "If you feel great about yourself, you'll probably look great too."I feel more feminine, more sexy and I think I look it too."
- Accept yourself."I've learned to love myself for who I am nothing can shake me now."
- You can overcome taunts and barbs from closed minded people. "I got bullied badly – at school I was called a 'beardo' and things like 'shemale' and 'sheman."
- Closed-minded people will be huge assholes and violent maniacs over anything even slightly different. Screw them. "I've had people telling me they're going to burn me and throw a brick at me – all sorts of things like that…"
- Some people are really cool and they matter way more than the jerks. ""But I've also had a lot of positive messages from women in the same situation as me."
- Adorn yourself however you like. Wear what you want to wear. "I wear skirts, dresses and jewellery and I like to get my nails done like every other girl."
- People find all sorts of stuff attractive. What makes you feel like a freak, might be beautiful to someone. "I've also had loads of nice comments from men all over the world – one even asked me to marry him!"
- Do your thing. "I want other women to find the strength that I have. If I had any message it would be to live the way you want – it's your journey and it's your life."
Right on! You can see images of Harnaam Kaur working it on The Daily Mirror.
Check out the video here:
via The Daily Mirror//Image is our own screencap


text:
Journey's Jonathan Cain admits the group was initially reluctant to make the a movie about their latest singer, Arnel Pineda. The keyboardist tells Billboard.com they were "kind of taken aback" by the project, because they've always been rather private about what they do. But he says Ramona Diaz, who wrote, directed, and produced "Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey," finally won them over.
He adds that the film "really is Ramona's baby," explaining that it's "Arnel's story and Journey cooperated, but it's her vision." Cain also praises her efforts. The rocker says Diaz "chased" the group around for nearly four years, which wasn't easy for her, and he's actually "most impressed" with "her commitment to this film." But Cain adds that Diaz "made this movie from the heart" and "really caught this story," which he describes as "the evolution of a rock star."
Arnel Pineda's story is one from rags to riches: Growing up very poor in the Philippines to fronting a Journey cover band to finally getting spotted on YouTube by Journey's Neal Schon.


text:
Is this hell?
Or is it Yellowstone?
That was my exact thought as I piloted a small, single engine airplane over the vast expanse of Yellowstone National Park in August of 1988, during the horrible fires that year.
Flying with me on that day was the late Larry Hastings, one of the best pilots and instructors in Wyoming history. Also along and helping take photos was the late Mike McClure, a legend in his own right, as a premier photographer.
Both men lived in Lander. We had been talking about making this flight for some time.
It was my bright idea. We had seen TV coverage of the fire but no one seemed to have a good aerial view. I always want to figure out a way to take a big picture in the easiest way possible and flying over the park seemed the best plan.
Hastings was aware of the altitude restrictions, which caused us to be quite high as we flew over the world's oldest national park while it was literally burning up.
The view was both impressive and unimpressive. It was impressive because as far as the eye could see was smoke. It was unimpressive because it was impossible to make out landmarks. Not even the mountains were very visible.
What was visible were a large number of hotspots where fire would shoot 200 feet in the air. It was hot down there. The park I loved was going to be changed forever.
Today marks the 25th anniversary of one of the hottest days of that fire scene.
That event two and half decades ago was unprecedented in the history of the National Park Service. There were contrasting programs of fire suppression and "controlled burns" in place, which caused the people responsible for the park's existence to be incapable of dealing with the conflagration.
Cities and towns in a wide circle around the park enjoyed the most colorful sunsets in history. Lander, which is a two-hour drive southeast from YNP, the evening views were unprecedented. It was an awful time for folks with respiratory problems. No wind and no rain could relieve these conditions.
Numbers do a good job of telling the Yellowstone Fire story. It covered some 800,000 acres or over one third of the park.
The park was overdue for a huge fire event. Extremely dry conditions (drier than ever measured before) plus controlled burns plus accidents plus mountain pine beetle tree kills plus lightning, well, the die was cast.
Some 250 different fires ignited between June and August in the park and the surrounding national forests. Seven fires caused 95 percent of the damage.
Fighting the fires in 1988 cost $120 million which is $230 million in today's dollars – almost a quarter of a billion dollars.
Biggest fire was the North Fork fire, which was started July 22 by a cigarette dropped by a man cutting timber in the neighboring Targhee National Forest. By the first week in August it was threatening Madison Junction and racing toward Norris. By Aug. 25, it was burning structures at Canyon Junction.
Aug. 20 was dubbed Black Sunday as more than 150,000 acres were consumed in a single day.
On that day one of the biggest fires, called the Huck Fire, started when a tree fell on a power line near Flagg Ranch. This fire burned in the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway and then crossed into Yellowstone on Aug. 30.
One of the most amazing scenes of this fire was when embers from it were sent airborne across the massive Lewis Lake by 80 mph winds setting new fires on the other side of the lake. Firefighters were hopeful the lake would provide a natural firebreak, but alas, it did not.
This complex of fires burned 140,000 acres and was finally extinguished when some welcome rains fell later that fall.
Stories about other parts of the park and the valiant effort of more than 13,000 firefighters, 120 helicopters and other aerial devices, plus National Guard and civilians detail bravery but were to no avail. Important structures like Old Faithful Inn and the Lake Hotel were saved but efforts to stop the fires proved to be impossible.
Mother Nature wanted that fire to burn and it did until she was ready to put it out.
And that day 25 years ago we were flying above a scene right out of Dante's Inferno. I experienced a memory that I would both like to forget and yet, always recall.
Check out Bill Sniffin's columns at www.billsniffin.com. He is a longtime Wyoming journalist from Lander who has written four books. His most recent book is "Wyoming's 7 Greatest Natural Wonders" which is available at www.wyomingwonders.com.


text:
(Dale) was a man worthy of emulation. His integrity was beyond reproach, he was upbeat, he loved life, ranching, basketball and people.
Before BYU basketball stars Jimmer Fredette and Danny Ainge graced the Marriott Center and television sets of the nation, another former player also caught the eye of America, except at Madison Square Garden.
Dale Brough Rex, a 6-foot-7, 200-pound center, and the rest of his BYU basketball team played a national tournament in New York City against Long Island University. Known as "Randy" on the court (nicknamed from his home town of Randolph, Utah), he not only was a talented athlete but a talented soldier, and he sacrificed his life during World War II.
His legacy lives on today in BYU athletics as each year the Cougar Club presents the Dale Rex Memorial Award. It is given to the individual selected by the Cougar Club to have contributed most to amateur athletics in the state. Past winners include Dave Rose, Steve Young, Danny Ainge, LaVell Edwards, Greg Marsden and Missy Marlowe.
"Each year, the BYU Cougar Club gives out the Dale Rex Memorial Award because Dale personified the whole package of a student athlete and his character shined through his reverence and vigor," said Robert Freeman, director of the "Saints at War" project. "As history played out, he answered his nation's call and ultimately paid the price of his life and sealed his legacy. All lamented that he didn't come home."
Rex was the fourth child of Samuel and Elizabeth Smith Rex and was born and raised on his family's ranch in Randolph. He graduated from South Rich High School in 1939 and went to BYU from 1939-1943, where he was a member of the basketball team. In his last two years, he was both an All-Western Division center and All-Conference Center (honorable mention).
His roommate in 1942, George C. Clark, wrote in the biography "Dale Rex Memorial Award: the Man, the Athlete, the World War II Hero" that "(Dale) was a man worthy of emulation. His integrity was beyond reproach, he was upbeat, he loved life, ranching, basketball and people. … These characteristics were also with him in the battlefield. His greatest desire was to protect the freedom of the United States for all of its citizens."
After graduating in secondary education in 1943, Rex was asked to be an athletic director for the Navy at Yelland Field, Nev. As his older sister, Barbara Rex Wade, writes in the biography, he set an example to the boys he was over by drinking milk at every meal and even drove the boys to Ely, Nev., for an LDS church service. Moving to Tyler, Texas, in an Army camp, Rex did missionary work with Asael Lyman in town when not on duty. Rex talked about serving a mission later in his life, but he was called to serve his country instead.
Rex served in the 5th Infantry Division in England, France and Germany. His family today remembers his legacy while fighting during World War II.
"Growing up, my dad would often tell me the story of his cousin, Dale Brough Rex," Dale Rex Law, a first cousin twice removed, said. "My favorite part of the story was when Dale swam across a cold German river four times in order to help the wounded and weary cross during a retreat. Amazingly, he had only learned to swim one year earlier. His example has helped inspire me to give to those around me on several occasions."
Rex received the Distinguished Service Cross from Maj. Gen. S. Leroy Irwin in Metz, France, for his efforts in fighting the Germans on the Moselle Bridgehead in France.
Less than a month after being promoted to sergeant at the end of November, he was killed in action on Dec. 18, 1944.
Wade wrote that before he died, he said, "I'm glad I had the chance to do my shooting on the basketball court. I believe every athlete would rather win a varsity letter than all the medals the generals can pin on him."
Rex was buried in Lorraine, France, in an American cemetery. Later on, his body was returned to Randolph, and his uncle, LDS Church President George Albert Smith, spoke at his graveside memorial service.
Throughout his war time, letters reflect Rex's moral character. For example, in a birthday letter he wrote to his grandmother, related in the biography, he wrote, "Even here upon this battlefield in France, I give thanks for the privilege I have of living upon the face of this earth, as without this opportunity of gaining a mortal body, all eternity would not be complete. Without you, Grandmother, I wouldn't have had the Priesthood of Jesus Christ. The testimony which I have grown within me since childhood, so your efforts have not been in vain. I pray my testimony may grow as the days go by, and that I will never do anything that will bring dishonor to my name."
Rex displayed characteristics that are still remembered and honored in his extended family.2 comments on this story
"Like all great heroes, he was more concerned about others than himself," Law said. "As the medic was treating his fatal wound, Dale chided him, insisting there were others in greater need of the attention. That is what made him so great. The amazing thing is that there are still soldiers and everyday heroes like Dale out there. His story has been well documented, but so many stories are lost before they are recorded."
Today, BYU honors Rex by naming the U.S. Army Reserve Center in Provo the Dale Rex Hall, in addition to the Dale Rex Memorial Award.
email: firstname.lastname@example.com. All biographical information about Dale Rex was compiled by Clark in his book, "Dale Rex Memorial Award: the Man, the Athlete, the World War II Hero." The book can be found in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections in the Harold B. Lee Library on the BYU campus.


text:
TripAdvisor, in case you didn't know, is the world's largest travel site with more than 200 million unique monthly visitors and over 100 million reviews and opinions covering more than 2.5 million accommodations, restaurants, and attractions. All this makes TripAdvisor a must-do in your online marketing strategy, but don't go rushing into it quite yet.
There are some tips to keep in mind when introducing/developing your presence on TripAdvisor, and we've compiled those practices into a nice, neat - and hopefully useful – to do list.
You want to encourage people to review your business on TripAdvisor, and one way to do that is to provide your customers with a "Please review us on Trip Advisor" reminder card as they are checking out or include the card with their receipts. You can also send out thank you emails to customers asking them to review their stay/experience.
In addition to these physical and direct reminders, there are also effective ways to encourage reviews by integrating TripAdvisor into your site.
TripAdvisor also provides several Web widgets in your TripAdvisor "Admin Panel" that can be embedded into your site to further encourage and promote reviews.
Once you've been given a review, it's important to honor those reviewers with a response. Whether the review is positive or negative, always respond to the posting – it does wonders for your brand image.
If it's a positive review, thank the reviewer for the kind words and the time it took to write it. If it's a negative review, apologize for the inconvenience. However, and this is really important, do NOT try to solve the issue in a public forum. Instead, ask the reviewer to contact you via email or phone and from there you can attempt to resolve the issue.
Another way to engage with customers using TripAdvisor is by sharing standout reviews on relevant pages on your website and on your social networks. Positive customer reviews accomplish two important things:
Like most profiles online, it's important to make sure all your information is up-to-date and relevant. The same goes for your TripAdvisor profile. Each month, make it a priority to check your listing and update it if needed.
Carefully select your photos. Think about the photos you would want to see when choosing a vacation destination, restaurant or lodging. That probably wouldn't be the hotel lobby or parking lot. While you can include photos of the lobby and parking lot, don't make them your leading shot. You want to entice!
©2017 Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism. All rights Reserved.
The Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism in compliance with the
Freedom of Information, Ar. Code Ann., S 25-19-101 et seq.
Web Services by Aristotle Web Design


text:
Members Only
Unlock all options today!
CLICK HERE to JOIN NOW! Fast, secure and private
Already a member? Please loginX
Unlock all options today!
CLICK HERE to JOIN NOW! Fast, secure and private
Already a member? Please loginX
Well, last week after having Chicago's own Damian Taylor give us a private strip, shower and stroke-off session, we couldn't help but have him back for more. Our members may have loved watching this chiseled morsel get all cleaned up; but this week we intend to watch him get all hot and sweaty. For those of you who missed his debut last week, Damian is 26 and a recent transplant to South Beach from the Midwest. Damian is in good hands this afternoon as we welcome back Dylan Roberts. Dylan is a familiar face to us here and this 23yo hottie is from Northern Cali. When it comes to hot men we asked these two to tell us their thoughts on where to find the most. 'For me, I recently moved here, Miami' says Dylan 'you have a big pool of different ethnicities and all exotic beauties both male and female. It's like a cesspool of Beautiful.' Can't say we've ever heard that before; but, we'll take it. Damian confirms Miami but also has to throw Chicago in the mix. There are definitely a lot of hotties in the Midwest. Both being melting pot cities, it affords them a large variety of features and 'things' to lust after. Well, today we have two hotties right here to lust after so...who wants to go first?
20:14 min
21:24 min
20:16 min
19:50 min
22:44 min
19:30 min
27:15 min
30:04 min
22:46 min
14:59 min
22:31 min
From: MenOver30.com
18:57 min
From: MenOver30.com
25:18 min
From: ExtraBigDicks.com
27:10 min
From: ExtraBigDicks.com
20:40 min
From: MenOver30.com
23:04 min
From: MenOver30.com
28:22 min
From: dylanlucas.com
27:06 min
From: MenOver30.com
28:32 min
From: MenOver30.com
16:35 min
From: ExtraBigDicks.com
25:41 min
From: ExtraBigDicks.com
29:46 min


text:
You may also want to look at the Washington state Long-Term Care Partnership Program, a new option to help consumers pay for long-term care costs and avoid spending down or transferring assets to qualify for Medicaid.
Why have long-term care prices been going up so much in recent years?
Long term care insurance is a fairly new product, with many companies not offering it until the early 1990s. As a result, they had little experience to base their prices on, and early policies were priced significantly lower than they should have been, based on how the cost of claims and the fact that — unlike life insurance, for example — few people cancel the policies. People get the policies, knowing they may well need them when they're older, and they tend to keep them.
As a result, most long-term care insurers have bumped up their premiums sharply in the past few years — in some cases 40 percent or more — angering customers who signed up for policies at relatively low cost years ago. This puts insurance regulators in a bind. Consumers are understandably unhappy. But if regulators reject the rate increases, the insurance carriers could run into financial trouble, leaving them unable to pay claims. And nationally, a number of insurers have simply gotten out of the business of issuing new long-term care policies, which leaves consumers with even fewer choices. (In Washington, there are still a large number of companies approved to sell the coverage. Here's a list.)


text:
Saints boss Mauricio Pochettino says Rickie Lambert is going nowhere after seeing the star striker inspire his side to an impressive comeback win over Turkish giants Besiktas.
Lambert, below, showed his importance to Saints, first cancelling out a stunning Muhammed Demirci opener and then setting up Emmanuel Mayuka for his first goal in Saints colours.
Youngster Lloyd Isgrove signed off his impressive pre-season with a last minute strike, also his first for the club, to seal the win.
But it was last season's top scorer Lambert who changed the game after coming on as a second-half substitute for Guly do Prado.
Amid reported interest from West Ham and Reading, Pochettino said: "We count on Rickie.
"We are happy with him. I didn't know there was any interest in him. This is a surprise for me."
The St Mary's boss also allayed fears £12m ace Gaston Ramirez, who again did not take any part in the match, will be leaving.
Pochettino said: "I just listen to Gaston. Not his agent. Gaston is happy here and we expect him to stay and to put a lot into the team."
The Argentine made eight changes from the side that lost against Schalke on Tuesday, with only Jos Hooiveld, Calum Chambers and Jay Rodriguez keeping their place.
With Nathaniel Clyne picking up a knock in training, rookie Chambers again started at right-back. First choice keeper Artur Boruc was back between the sticks and had to make a flying fingertip save to stop Hugo Almeida breaking the deadlock.
James Ward-Prowse came the closest to a Saints goal after 39 minutes with his low free-kick being tipped around the post as Saints ended the first half the strongest.
But it was Besiktas, the team who finished third in the Super Lig last year and managed by ex-West Ham star Slaven Bilic, who opened the scoring on the 62nd minute through Demirci's 30-yard wonder strike.
The introduction of Lambert, Luke Shaw and Victor Wanyama at half-time had given Saints new impetus and, after Jason Puncheon had been hacked down on the right wing, the equaliser came.
Jack Cork swung the free-kick into the box, where Lambert was on hand to chest down and rifle past Besiktas stopper Cenk Gonen after 75 minutes.
Three minutes later, Mayuka, who had earlier had a goal chalked off for offside, finally broke his Saints goal drought with a stunning 20 yard left-footed dipping volley after running on to a Lambert through ball.
Sensing a third, sub Steven Davis picked the ball up in his own centre circle with four minutes to go and ran unchallenged through the Besiktas half before seeing his subtle chipped effort come back off the bar.
It was Isgrove who rounded off the confident display with the last kick of the game, curling home left-footed after getting on the end of a Luke Shaw cross.