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This past Monday I passed the CCIE Data Center Lab Exam in San Jose CA, making me four time Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) #8593 in Routing & Switching, Service Provider, Security, and Data Center, as well as Cisco Certified Design Expert (CCDE) #20130013. This was my first – and thankfully last – attempt at the DC lab exam, and also my first experience in the San Jose CCIE Lab location. In this post I'm going to outline my preparation process for CCIE Data Center, as well as to talk about my experience with the actual day of the lab.
The Initial Commitment
When the new CCIE Data Center track was first announced last year, it was a no-brainer that I was going to pursue it. As I already had 15+ years of experience in Enterprise networking, with a large focus on campus LAN switching, IGP and BGP routing, plus some minor exposure to the Nexus platforms, I thought it would be a cinch. After all, Nexus is just a fancy Catalyst 6500, right? The major hurdle for the track however was not the technologies, but procuring the equipment. After debating back and forth for quite a while, Brian Dennis and I decided that INE would hold off on the company Ferraris, and instead invest in the equipment for CCIE Data Center. One of our deciding factors to invest in the track was the sheer volume of customers at our CCIE Candidate Party at Cisco Live 2012 that kept asking us all night long, "when are you guys going to do Nexus training!" As they say, ask and you shall receive… or was it if you build it, they will come?
Coincidentally, our initial build plans for DC started in early July 2012, which makes it almost one year to the day from when we committed to the track until when I finally had a chance to take the lab exam.
Originally I had planned to try to get the very first available slot for the DC lab exam, but as always life happened and a few things got in the way, such as the birth of my daughter, as well as a short pit stop along the way to pick up the Cisco Certified Design Expert (CCDE). Anyways, onto my preparation…
Once our equipment build was finalized, which by the way was the most grueling and complicated build of my 15+ year career, Mark Snow and I decided to implement a divide and conquer approach to the blueprint, where we would split the Nexus topics, I would take Storage, he would take Unified Computing System (UCS), and then we'd come back and meet in the middle. Nexus I assumed would be simple, since I had some experience using it as a basic 10GigE aggregation switch, but none of the advanced DC specific topics (e.g. vPC, FabricPath, OTV, FCoE, etc.) In hindsight, yes Nexus is just a glorified Cat6k, however there are caveats, caveats, and more caveats galore. Did I mention Nexus has a lot of caveats?
Recommended Reading or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Documentation
Since a lot of the DC specific technologies are so new, there's not many traditional books that are out there that can help you, unlike something like OSPF that is over 20 years old. With Nexus the topics are so cutting edge, the NX-OS software team is literally pushing out hotfixes and new features as we speak. Therefore the only main resource that is available for reading about a lot of these technologies is the Cisco Documentation. I can already hear the collective groan from the audience about reading the documentation, but I can't stress this enough, you must read the Nexus documentation if you are serious about these technologies and about passing the CCIE DC Lab Exam.
Personally the way I did this was to download every single configuration guide for Nexus 7K, 5K, and 2K in PDF format, and then load them on my iPad. Starting with Nexus 7K I worked from basic system administration up to interfaces, layer 2 switching, layer 3 routing, SAN switching, etc. Don't count on having access to the PDF versions of the documentation in the actual lab exam, but for preparation purposes these are much more convenient than clicking through every section of the documentation in HTML format.
Note that for MDS you don't need to read through as much, since the SAN switching syntax is essentially the same between the Nexus 7K, 5K, and MDS, as they all run NX-OS. The sections of MDS documentation that I did read end-to-end however are the Cisco MDS 9000 Family NX-OS Interfaces Configuration Guide and the Cisco MDS 9000 Family NX-OS IP Services Configuration Guide. Both of these sections are key, as some topics such as FC Trunking and Port Channeling work differently in MDS than they do in Nexus, and then the IP Storage features such as FCIP and iSCSI are unique to MDS and are not supported in Nexus.
Another key point about the documentation for Data Center, just like for other CCIE tracks and other technologies in general, is that once you know how to use the documentation and where things are located you don't need to worry about the default values for features, or other inane details about syntax. For example there was a discussion recently on the CCIE DC Facebook group about how to create a mnemonic device (e.g. All People Seem To Need Data Processing / Please Do Not Throw Sausage Pizza Away) in order to remember in which features higher values are better and in which features lower values are better, e.g. LACP system-priority, vPC role priority, FabricPath root tree priority, etc. I responded, who cares? Why waste time remembering default values that likely will change between versions anyways? Instead, your time would be better spent making sure that you know the manual navigation path for all features that you will be tested on in the exam.
Another point to consider is that in the actual Lab Exam, access to the documentation web pages is not very fast. I'm assuming this is due to the strict content filtering that all the pages have to go through before they show up on your desktop. Regardless as to the reason, if you need to use the documentation in the exam and you don't already know exactly where the page you want is located, you're gonna have a bad time.
Additionally, don't limit your reading of the documentation to just the configuration guides. There are a number of other very useful portions of the documentation that you should read – again, end-to-end, there are no shortcuts here – such as the white papers, design guides, and troubleshooting guides.
This is especially true since some of the verification and troubleshooting syntax for Nexus is just out of this world. I swear whoever works on the actual syntax parser for the NX-OS software team must get paid based on the number of characters that the commands contain. Did you say that your Fibre Channel over Ethernet isn't working to your Nexus 2232PP Fabric Extenders that have multiple parent Nexus 5548UP switches paired in Enhanced Virtual Port Channel? I hope you remember how to troubleshoot them with the command show system internal dcbx info interface ethernet 101/1/1! Err… how about we just know where to find it in the FCoE troubleshooting guide instead then.
The real point of using the documentation is as follows: you must understand, in detail, the design caveats and hardware caveats that the Nexus, MDS, and UCS platforms have as they relate to the DC technologies.Design Considerations for Classical Ethernet Integration of the Cisco Nexus 7000 M1 and F1 Modules
Recommended Books
Beyond the documentation, there are a select few regular books that I used during my studies. The vast majority of them are either available on the Safari Online site, or in the case of the IBM Redbooks, free in PDF form direct from IBM's website. These books, in no particular order are:
- NX-OS and Cisco Nexus Switching: Next-Generation Data Center Architectures
- Cisco Storage Networking Cookbook
- Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) (Data Center): A Complete Reference Guide to the Cisco Data Center Virtualization Server Architecture
- Storage Networks Explained: Basics and Application of Fibre Channel SAN, NAS, iSCSI, InfiniBand and FCoE
- IBM Redbooks – Introduction to Storage Area Networks and System Networking
Cisco Live 365
For those of you that have never heard of Cisco Live 365 before, you're welcome. This is where all the video recordings and PDFs of slide decks are from the different Cisco Live (i.e. Cisco Networkers) conventions that have occurred in the past few years, from multiple locations. A lot of these sessions are used to talk about the introduction of new products, e.g. the new Nexus 7700 that was just announced at Cisco Live 2013 Orlando, while others are technical deep-dives into topics. In the case of CCIE Data Center there are a lot of really good presentations that I would recommend looking at during your preparation. You don't need to have physically attended Cisco Live in the past to get access, just sign up for an account for free and you can search all the content. The Data Center sessions generally start with "BRKDCT" (Breakout Data Center Technologies), so that's a good place to start your search. Notable ones that I personally thought are worth looking at are in no particular order as follows:
- BRKDCT-2204 – Nexus 7000/5000/2000/1000v Deployment Case Studies
- BRKDCT-2237 – Versatile architecture of using Nexus 7000 with F1 and M-series I/O modules to deliver FEX, FabricPath edge and Multihop FCoE all at the same time
- BRKCRS-3145 – Troubleshooting Cisco Nexus 5000 / 2000 Series Switches
- BRKDCT-2048 – Deploying Virtual Port Channel in NXOS
- BRKCRS-3146 – Advanced VPC operation and troubleshooting
- BRKDCT-2081 – Cisco FabricPath Technology and Design
- BRKDCT-2202 – FabricPath Migration Use Case
- BRKDCT-1044 – FCoE for the IP Network Engineer
- BRKSAN-2047 – FCoE – Design, Operations and Management Best Practices
- BRKCOM-2002 – UCS Supported Storage Architectures and Best Practices with Storage
- BRKVIR-3013 – Deploying and Troubleshooting the Nexus 1000v virtual switch
- BRKRST-2930 – Implementing QoS with Nexus and NX-OS
- BRKCOM-2005 – UCS and Nexus Fabric and VM's – Extending FEX direct to VM's in UCS and Nexus 5500
- BRKCOM-2003 – UCS Networking – Deep Dive
INE's Videos, Workbooks, & Classes
Now in my personal case, when I am learning a new technology, I know that I have truly absorbed and understood the topics when I can explain it to someone else in a clear and concise manner, hence my day job, author and instructor at INE. From the culmination of reading these books, reading the documentation, and testing essentially every feature that the platforms have to offer, Mark Snow and I developed INE's Nexus, Storage, and UCS classes, as well as the associated workbook labs and the live Bootcamp classes for these technologies.
As I've done many write-ups before on these offerings, and without getting too much into a sales pitch, you can find more information here about INE's CCIE Data Center Video Series, here about INE's CCIE Data Center Workbook, here about our CCIE Data Center 10-Day Bootcamp, and here about our CCIE Data Center Rack Rentals. Note that we are currently adding more capacity to rack rentals and adding more Bootcamp classes to the schedule, both of which I'll be posting separate announcements about shortly.
Read, Test, Rinse, and Repeat
While learning and developing the content for Data Center I followed the same methodology that Brian Dennis and I have been personally using and have been teaching for the past 10 years (yes, I can't believe it's been that long). This methodology is essentially a four step process of learning and testing incrementally. This is also the same methodology that has helped Brian Dennis obtain five CCIEs, and for me to obtain four CCIEs and the CCDE, so trust me when I say that it works.
The methodology is a basic four step process as follows:
- Gain a basic understanding of the technologies
- Gain basic hands-on experience to reinforce and expand your understanding
- Gain an expert level of understanding
- Gain an expert level of hands-on experience
It might seem self-explanatory that you need to start at the bottom and work your way up, i.e. A then B then C then D, however over the years we've seen so many CCIE candidates try to shortcut this process and try to go from A directly to D. Traditionally these are the candidates that end up taking the lab exam 5, 6, 7 times before passing, essentially trying to brute force their way through the lab. Believe it or not, we have had customers in the past that have attempted the CCIE Lab Exam in the same track 10 or more times before passing. Coincidentally, these are also usually the customers that don't want to hear that they don't know something or that their methodology is wrong. Go figure.
At least for me personally, obtaining a CCIE is more about the journey than it is the destination. I feel that I would have cheated myself coming out of the process without truly being an expert at the technologies covered, so I made sure to really take the time and be meticulous about going through everything.
The CCIE Data Center Written Exam
Before scheduling the Lab Exam, I of course had to tackle the necessary evil that is the CCIE Data Center Written Exam. In my opinion this exam should be renamed the "how many stupid facts can I memorize about the Nexus and UCS platforms exam." I didn't pass the DC written exam on my first attempt, or on my second attempt. I'm not going to say exactly how many times I took the the DC written exam, but let's just say that it's somewhere more than two and somewhere less than infinity, and that I likely have seen every question in the test pool multiple times.
For those of you have passed this exam on your first try, more power to you. With me on the other hand I try not to memorize any facts that I can quickly look up instead. While whoever wrote the CCIE DC Written Exam may think it's important that the UCS B420 M3 Blade Server has a Matrox G200e video controller with integrated 2D graphics core with hardware acceleration and supports all display resolutions up to 1920 x 1200 x 16 bpp resolution at 60 Hz with a 24-bit color depth for all resolutions less than 1600×1200 and up to 256 MB video memory, I do not, but I digress.
Scheduling the CCIE Data Center Lab Exam
One of the biggest hurdles in obtaining the CCIE DC that I had not initially planned for was the availability, or lack thereof, of lab dates open for scheduling. I'm not normally one to complain about this, because when I took the CCIE R&S Lab Exam back in January 2002 I believe that I scheduled the date somewhere around July of 2001. Back then it was the norm to have a 6 month wait for dates, so when you went to the lab you had better be really prepared for it, otherwise you had a long 6 months ahead of you afterwards trying to think of what you did wrong. With Data Center though, this was a completely different ballgame.
By the time I got around to being ready to schedule a date, there was literally not a single date open on the schedule for any location. Mark Snow had even scheduled a lab date in Brussels Belgium, and was going to fly from Los Angeles in order to take the lab because that was literally his only option. Luckily right around that time the CCIE Program added new dates on the schedule, and he was able to move his lab attempt to San Jose, where he ended up passing.
Anyways once these new dates were added to the schedule I knew that I had to act fast, or risk having to wait until 2015 (not really, but that's what it felt like). Unfortunately the date that I took was only a week after Cisco Live 2013 Orlando, so I couldn't help but feel while we were partying it up at the conference I should have been at home studying instead. Also I would have much preferred to go to RTP over San Jose, since RTP is much closer to Chicago and I'm much more familiar with the area. In hindsight SJC was probably a better choice anyways, since I have lots of friends in RTP which means there would have been more distractions.
Traveling To San Jose
I scheduled my exam purposely on a Monday, which meant that I could get to San Jose either Friday or Saturday and then leisurely spend the rest of the weekend doing some last minute review and relaxing in the hotel without any distractions. This is the first time I've done it this way, and if you have the option to this is the approach that I would recommend.
Having had all my attempts in RTP in the past I was never worried about travel time, since it's only about two hours from Chicago. Normally I would fly in the day before the lab in the afternoon, and then immediately go to the airport after the exam to fly home. Worst case scenario I could drive from to Chicago to RTP, which I actually have done in the past. I remember one time when teaching a class at Cisco's RTP office I left the campus at about 5:30 on a Friday, drove to RDU and parked my car, bought a ticket at the desk, and still had time to make a 6:15 Southwest flight back to Chicago. I could only dream that Chicago O'Hare or Midway was as delay-free as RDU.
SJC on the other hand doesn't have as many flights to Chicago, so I wanted to play it safe and arrive more than one day early. Luckily I did plan it this way, otherwise with the Asiana Flight 214 incident at SFO this past weekend I might not be writing this post at all right now; the moral or the story being that if you have the option to travel an extra day early before the exam, take that option.
For the hotel I stayed at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara, which was nice. They have a nice outdoor pool area that I spent some time relaxing with my laptop at. It's fairly close to the Cisco campus, being about a 5 – 10 minute cab ride to the office in the morning, and then after the lab I walked back to the hotel which took about a half an hour or so. If you're familiar with the area it's directly next to the Techmart and the Santa Clara Convention Center.
The Day of the Lab
San Jose's lab starts at 8:15am, so I scheduled a cab from the hotel at 7:20am. I figured this way even if the cab didn't show up I'd still have time to walk over to the office. Admittedly I did arrive much too early to the office, but it's always better to be early than late. If you've ever had a class with Brian Dennis you've probably heard the same joke he's been telling for the last 10 years: "I've been both early for the CCIE Lab Exam and I've been late for the CCIE Lab Exam. The preferred method is to be early."
Since it was only about 7:30am when I got there I walked around the campus for a while just to try to calm my nerves. Ultimately I checked in with the receptionist, and made some small talk with some of the other candidates. I was hoping to go incognito for the day, but immediately the first guy I said hi to said "aren't you Brian McGahan from INE?" Oh well… that's the price of being nerd famous.
The proctor Tong Ma came out to the lobby around 8:15am or so to collect us all and check IDs, and then did his spiel about the logistics of the lab location (e.g. where the bathroom was, the breakroom, lunch time, etc.). 8:30am was our official start time, so I sharpened my colored pencils, sat down at my terminal, logged in, and prepared for the fun.
Immediately all around me I heard the other candidates furiously pounding away on their keyboards. This is what I like to call the "panic approach". I on the other hand started with a different approach that had already worked for me three times in the past. I took my first sheet of scratch paper, and started a quick drawing of the diagram I was presented with. This was my first lab attempt using the new lab delivery system where everything is electronic, but regardless in past attempts you couldn't draw on their diagrams anyways.
One point of drawing out the diagram for myself was to help me learn the topology, but more importantly so that I could take quick notes as to which technologies would need to be configured in which portions of the network, e.g. which devices were running vPC, FabricPath, OTV, FCoE, etc.
The next step was to read through the exam, to see what technologies were actually being tested on, and to plan my order of attack on how I was going to build the network. One thing that I have found with my past CCIE tracks is that the order that they give you the questions in isn't necessarily always the best order that you actually want to configure things. After all they're only grading the result at the end of the day, not the actual steps that you used to get there.
Once I had a basic understanding of what was covered, and had taken some notes on my diagram as to which features went where, I took my two other pieces of scratch paper (there were 3 total but you can always ask for more if you need), and drew out my two tables that I use to track my work. For those of you that have attended a live class with me in the past or watched any videos I've done on lab strategy you may be familiar with this, but for those of you that haven't seen this there's basically two tables that I use to track my work during the day. The first of which I use to track which sections that I have configured, how comfortable I am with the answer I gave, and which sections I skipped. Throughout the day this helps me to know what sections I need to go back to at a later time. Also at the end of the day this is the sheet I use to go back and check everything with a fine tooth comb. The end result looks something similar to the picture below, but this one is just something I made up now it's not from any real lab.
The way I read this at the end of the day is that all the tasks with a Check mark I'm 100% confident that the solution is correct. Tasks with a ? mean that I configured something, but I'm not 100% if it's correct or that I answered the question the way that they wanted. Anything that is blank, like section 2.3 that means that I completely skipped that task, and that I'll come back to it at a later time. Once I'm done with all the tasks, I then circle back around to the tasks that I completely skipped to see if I can answer them, then revisit the ones with a ? that I wasn't 100% sure about. Finally the "2nd" column is for my double checking, where I start all the way at the beginning of the lab and re-read each question, re-interpret it, verify my answer, and if satisfied check it off again and continue. In the case of the DC Lab Exam I ended up with two tasks with a question mark and one task with a blank at the end of the day. In other words by my count there was one task I definitely was getting wrong, two tasks I had completed but wasn't sure if I interpreted properly exactly what they wanted, and all other tasks I was 100% confident were correct.
The second of these scratch paper tables was to track my timing. After all if they gave you a week to configure the lab, most candidates would probably pass. With the 8 hour time limit ticking down though, not so much. This is why it's not only important to track your progress throughout the day to see which sections you're confident about your answer, but also how long it's taking you to configure them. The end result of this table looks something like this:
The "Time" column represents the hour of the day. The lab starts around 8 and ends around 5. Between 8am and 9am, I got zero points. The rest of the values in the table are made up, I don't remember what the point values of the sections in my attempt were, but the first row is actually true. From 8:30am to 9am I did not configure a single section, and I did not gain a single point. Why? Because I spent that half hour drawing the topology, reading through the tasks, and planning my attack. While most people take the "panic approach" and immediately begin configuring the lab blind, I knew that even though it would cost me time up front to draw and read, it would save me time in the long run. This did actually save time in the long run, because I finished about 95% of the exam by 2:30pm, which gave me a very relaxed two and half hours at the end of the day to double, triple, and quadruple check my work.
Getting back to the table above, between 9am and 10am, I completed – and was confident with the answers of – sections that were worth 2, 2, 3, 2, 4, 2, and 2 points. Basically each time I completed a task and it had a check mark in the other table, I wrote the point value down here. Each time I completed a section I also checked the clock on the wall to make sure I was writing the point value in the correct row. The logic of using this table is simple: the exam is broken down into sections totaling 100 points. Excluding your lunch break, you get 8 hours to configure the lab. This means at an absolute minimum you need to be averaging 10 points per hour in order to hit your goal of 80 points. Now ultimately the totals on the right should be consistently be reading above 10 points for the early portion of the day, because you don't want to configure exactly 80 points worth of sections with zero time left over at the end of the day to check your work. In this situation it's very likely that you're failing the exam. Instead you want to be consistently be hitting 14 points, 16 points, etc. especially early in the day, because then it makes you more relaxed that you're not as rushed for time. Remember that in the CCIE Lab Exam your biggest enemy is stress – well other than simply not knowing the technologies, that's kind of an issue too – so whatever you can do to help calm yourself down during the day, do it.
For me personally constantly tracking my timing is one of those methods that helps to relax me. When I hit about 1pm/2pm that day, I looked at my sheets that were tracking my work, sat back and said to myself "there's no possible way you're not passing this exam." Now of course I didn't really know for a fact that I was passing, ultimately only the score report can tell you that, but based on my point counts and how much time I had left to go back and double check I knew that I was golden. This brings us to my next point, which is that "golden moment".
The Golden Moment
Every CCIE Track and its associated CCIE Lab Exam has what has been commonly referred to as the "golden moment". This is basically the point in the exam that if you can reach, and you have everything working, your chances of passing are very high, i.e. you're "golden". In the case of CCIE R&S it's having full IP reachability everywhere. In Security it's when all your LAN to LAN and Remote Access VPNs work; in Service Provider it's when you can ping between all your L2VPN and L3VPN sites; in Voice it's when you can make all your phones ring, etc. In the case of CCIE Data Center, the golden moment is undoubtedly marked by one point: can you get your UCS blades to boot from the SAN.
The CCIE Data Center Lab Exam is very unique in my opinion based on the fact that essentially all tasks are cumulative and somehow interrelated in the exam. For example in the case of CCIE R&S, you could theoretically skip complete sections, such as IPv6, Multicast, QoS, etc. and still pass the exam, as long as you can gain enough points from all the other sections. For Data Center though, this is not the case. All tasks in the exam essentially are getting you to work towards the golden moment, which is to actually get your servers to boot their OS. All the technologies are so highly interrelated that the DC lab exam is a delicate house of cards. If one minor task is wrong, you've essentially bought yourself a $100 rack rental and a $1400 lunch for the day.
For example let's take a theoretical CCIE DC lab scenario, and look at how the most minor of mistakes can snowball, and cause you to have a very bad day. Suppose we have two Data Center sites, "DC-A" and "DC-B". In DC-A we have our UCS B series blade servers, while in DC-B we have our Fibre Channel SAN. Our ultimate goal is to get the blades in DC-A to boot from the SAN in DC-B. DC-A and DC-B have a Data Center Interconnect (DCI) provider between them that runs both IPv4 Unicast and IPv4 Multicast routing, and it's up to us to configure everything so that it functions properly. On one our our edge Nexus 7Ks though we forgot to enable jumbo MTU on the link to the DCI. Minor problem, right? Wrong, we just failed the exam! But why?
The UCS blade server was trying to boot to the Fibre Channel SAN. Fibre Channel doesn't natively run over the DCI though because it's a routed IP network. To fix this we first sent the FC traffic to our MDS 9200 switches. The MDS switches in DC-A and DC-B then encapsulated the Fibre Channel into a Fibre Channel over IP (FCIP) tunnel between each other. Additionally the MDSes were in the same IP subnet and VLAN in both DC-A and DC-B, so their FCIP traffic had to go over an Overlay Transport Virtualization (OTV) tunnel across the DCI. The OTV tunnel was up and working. The FCIP tunnel was up and working. Both the UCS blade and the FC SAN successfully FLOGI'd into the Fibre Channel Fabric. All of our Fibre Channel Zoning was configured properly. The UCS blade server's Service Profile associated properly. We clicked the "Boot Server" button, connected to the KVM console of the blade, crossed our fingers, and got this:
No! It didn't boot the VMware ESXi instance! This means that our Nexus 1000v didn't come up either! I just lost 22 points and failed the exam! Why did the CCIE Lab Exam Gods hate me!
Our OTV tunnel is actually Ethernet over MPLS over GRE over IP, or what is sometimes referred to as a Fancy GRE Tunnel. Our SAN traffic is SCSI over Fibre Channel over TCP over IP. FCIP frames can go up to about 2300 bytes in size, but our default Ethernet MTU was 1500 bytes. OTV doesn't support fragmentation, and sets the DF bit in its header. This means that since we forgot to type the single command mtu 9216 on the edge switch connected to the DCI, our SCSI over Fibre Channel over TCP over IP over Ethernet over MPLS over GRE over IP was dropped, and we had to do the walk of shame out of building C in San Jose as we knew the CCIE Lab Exam had defeated us that day.
This of course is just one of a thousand different possible examples of how the house of cards that is the Data Center Lab Exam fits together, but you get the idea. Luckily for me however, when I clicked the "Boot Server" button in UCSM this week, the results were closer to the output below.
In Conclusion
For those of you still reading I hope that you found this post both helpful and informative. If you're still on the fence about pursuing the CCIE Data Center Track I would definitely say that it's worth it. If you told me 12 years ago when I got out of server support that I'd be back in the server support market today I'd never have believed it, but without throwing around too many buzzwords like public/private cloud etc. this Data Center space is clearly here to stay, and will only continue to grow. Especially with how rapidly the market has been changing within the past few years with virtualization and an entire plethora of new technologies and design philosophies, it's more important than ever to try to differentiate your skill set in the market.
Thanks for all the well wishes, and good luck in your studies!
About Brian McGahan, CCIE #8593, CCDE #2013::13:
Brian McGahan was one of the youngest engineers in the world to obtain the CCIE, having achieved his first CCIE in Routing & Switching at the age of 20 in 2002. Brian has been teaching and developing CCIE training courses for over 10 years, and has assisted thousands of engineers in obtaining their CCIE certification. When not teaching or developing new products Brian consults with large ISPs and enterprise customers in the midwest region of the United States.
Find all posts by Brian McGahan, CCIE #8593, CCDE #2013::13 | Visit Website
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107 Responses to "How I Passed the CCIE Data Center Lab Exam"
Congrats, and a great write up! Knowing what you know, are you expecting any changes to what has already been posted in the INE DC curriculum? Changes to workbooks, etc?
Thanks a lot Brian for sharing your experience. Indeed it was informative as well as helpful.
excellent write up Brian – I am working speed for my R&S exam, and some of the reminders in this write-up will help. Congrats again!
Excellent read!! Great motivation to keep pushing..
Inspirational story, Brian! This will motivate me to take the lab exam next month. Thanks for your thought and sharing guide for preparing the CCIE DC lab exam. I always afraid for the tricky questions in the Cisco exam and when something not running as expected (like OTV adjacency, FCoE, etc), panic mode ON. Congratulation anyway for your new CCIE DC certification!
Whew! Wow, what a great read and inspiration to others! Congratulations and thank you for taking the time to write this experience to share!
Hey Brian
Thanks for the nice write up.I was waiting for it.
Congratulations again and thank you for sharing your journey. This will definitely make a difference.
Well done and great write up! I hope to join the DC ranks one day.
Aweome post Brian
I have a few comments :
I disagree when you say that CCIE Voice golden moment is when all the phones are up and able to dial each others… CCIE Voice lab is a nightmare and you can still fail the lab when the phones are up and running
You should re consider your sentence : I as not able to earn a single point from 8:30 am to 9pm should be 9am yeah I know minor typo but people are going to tell you anyway
Thanks again for this great post , I was waiting for something like this ….
You didn't mention your strategy about repetitions of the topics??
Congrats Brian ..
Amazing Writeup & heartiest congrats on passing Lab ! You always inspire me to reach out for heavens through hard work ! I wish my day will come too someday !!!
informative and helpful post ..thanks man ..:)
Simply Amazing……..
Congrats for the pass and thanks for the information provided!
When will be another CCIE DC bootcamp scheduled?
one word that can describe your post "Incredible"
you are mastering both the Detailed Technological part and also Lab Exam Strategy part, with this two pairs together, no wonder you could pass the exam in the first attempt.
I also use the same lab exam strategy from Brian Dennis back in the old R/S ATC, with the some changes on it, based on my own style.
Thank you for sharing the most incredible journey in the DC track Brian \(^0^)/
Very nice blog post !!
And very important: Congrats on the birth of your daughter!
one word "INSPIRING"
Hi Brian,
From your note, that you began the lab by drawing the topology first on half hour, it means that no troubleshooting session in the lab exam ?
Congrats Brian!!!!….super write up.
Thank you Brian for the detailed write-up of your experience! I am going to try and incorporate some of this into my lab preparation BTW congrats on the baby!
I love this part: "we are currently adding more capacity to rack rentals"
This is what is missing, the rest is excellent, the videos and the workbooks.
Enjoy your blog and watching your videos. I like to see INE put togther some sort of structured learning road map to go from CCNAx to CCIEx. While I have obtained my CCNA and CCSP(retired) it seems that I am always doing the two steps forward three steps back approach resulting in letting certs expire and starting over again.
congrats Brian .. this is pure awesomeness ..
and you a nerd famous ( yes absolutely ) , educating so many people across the globe is a talent in itself
hope to get a DC cert as well myself, sooner or later
I wouldn't say the golden moment in the DC CCIE is booting your UCS servers. I was able to boot the server and get the OS to load but did not pass the test due to some misconfigurations in the other sections.
Based on my experience with the lab I'm not sure you can have a single golden moment but would rather have to break each section down and have a golden moment for that section then those individual moments would add up to the overall lab golden moment.
I'm retaking the lab next week and plan to apply some of your techniques mentioned here because I know for me the stress of the test is the main thing that caused me to fail so anything I can do to reduce the stress will help.
You have awaken the CCIE spirit inside me that went to sleep after passing the CCIE R&S last December. As with any long study track, you end up tired, but when you look back, you really say, it was worthy. I am starting the journey again, no matter how long it takes!
Congrats to you and Mark!
I'm betting that once you have a CCIE R/S the delta to getting a CCIE-DC isn't actually all that wide.
Glad to hear you passed!
What did you think of not being alongside the racks anymore (no white noise) and in a relatively small room? I thought that was going to be a lot more annoying than it actually was with the phones ringing and stuff.
Congrats! really it is great to know the comitment of you. I hope someday I have my magic number of CCIE. And begin the road like you…
One quick Question to you Sir Brian,
When do you find time to pick a rest, and to share some moments with your family ?
Congratulations Brian and, yes, I read through the write-up
Congrats Brian… & Mark Too
I remember when you guys announced DC material last year, you mentioned troubleshooting labs for DC.
DC Troubleshooting labs are going to be part of existing workbook or a separate one ? As it looks essential part of preparation and passing as you explained through your Jumbo MTU DCI problem causing SAN Boot failure.
Also DCNM is not covered in too much detail in storage vods. From real lab prospective how much DCNM LAN & SAN Manager we need to know. I know most people most likely would prefer CLI over DCNM but some of feedback I had was that many storage tasks would take far less time if we use DCNM SAN Manager.
Also what is good strategy to pass DC Written as I had same feedback from many friends that took DC Written that they might ask something like you mentioned in your post
And in last but not least. Can you kindly review latest Cisco Press arrival "Data Center Virtualization Fundamentals " and post your feedback
Congratulation Brian,
Thanks for sharing your experience. Your post is really well written and trasmit lot of motivation to the readers.
best regards
Great reading. Congrats for you and Mark.! You rock guys.!
Thanks for sharing and providing inspiration Brian! I really like the idea of keeping track of progress during the exam with check marks/questions/point values. I have also updated my Chrome with docs links!
Any plans to come up with Juniper or F5 LTM training this year ?
Also is JNCIE on your chart ?
Congratulation and thanks for sharing your experience , It gave the direction for Lab preparation.
Any update on addition of any Lab location or releasing of new dates ?
Congrats ! thanks for that insightful writeup , am greatly inspired.by the way, I want to start my DC journey, are there plans for a CCNA DC material ? Pls let me know.
congrtulations, to both of you. thank you for being honest with your written!..:) &, for the inspiration. what would be the proud dad's advice to new born little girlie..?
[...] MacGaham é instrutor no renomado, as vezes contestado INE. Neste post, ele pretende dar umas dicas de como conseguiu ser bem sucedido em obter a certificação CCIE Data [...]
Great post. Thanks for the insight. Definitely gave me a good method to try to tackle this lab exam.
You expect us to believe Brian used INE products to pass this exam? not a matrix type plug they have developed to connect to your brain and upload information?
Great work Brian. U have always inspired me to go to the next level .
Once again congratulations for being a daddy
From my experience, your chances of passing CCIE lab increases to the amount of spare time left to verify the configurations. When did you catch your golden moment? Like 7hra or 6hrs into the lab? How much time did you have left for verifying your configs? Or did you take it down to the wire?
Hi Brian I will like to congratulate you for a good job done. My questions is since ine haven't produce any video for the ccnp datacenter can you read the ccie datacenter materials to pass or go straight for the ccie datacenter please advise thank you.
So Brian, now you have 2 excellent milestones out of the way, will you look to go that bit further and maybe provide Wireless training?
[...] blog post (by Brian McGahan) is very good reading. http://blog.ine.com/2013/07/10/how-i-passed-the-ccie-data-center-lab-exam/ I'm using the information here to plan my [...]
hi Brian,
i personally liked this one "If one minor task is wrong, you've essentially bought yourself a $100 rack rental and a $1400 lunch for the day."
Brian McGahan. Self-defining.
Hi Brian,
Congratulations and many thanks for the sharing.
I'm trying to book a lab for next year, but just like you said here, the trouble is the lab availability. how often does Cisco renew their schedule dates?
Did Mark get it a month before in San Jose? and how about you?
Enjoy the success.
Hello Brian,
Congratulations on your success! Awesome blog. Just wanted to ask if ace is still a part of ccie dc?
Hearty congratulations Brian, you guys at INE put in so much work so that others lke me have at least a chance of passing. Keep up the good work, and looking forward to meeting you in Seattle in November.
BTW – Do you have plans to increase the number of full-scale labs available for DC track, currently only two?
Kind Regards
Hi, Brian.
Awesome exposition, as usual. Although I'm on the R&S track, it is really interesting for me to know about more experienced CCIE attackers' approaches and points of view regarding preparation and the exam itself. I'll take note of your auto-controlled approach, which I find absoultely brilliant. It gives you control about your progress and your completed/pending tasks and it lets you cross it over time, so you know at every moment how far or near you are of your goal. Really nice, I'll work it out.
Hopefully I'll apply it in my Lab assault on next Easter in Brussels. I'm sure that it will help me so much.
Congratulations for your success, and best of luck for your next challenges!!!
Congratulations Brian. Any idea on when are you going to add additional racks to DC ? at the moment, its bit difficult to book rack rentals.
Hey Brian,
As always, your blog posts are insightful and inspirational. Congratulations on the pass, sir!
Congrats Brian!
[...] McGahan of INE who also passed his CCIE Data Center lab exam making him a quintuple CCIE. In his blog post he talks about how he immersed himself in reading, reading all the documentation on the Cisco [...]
Hi Brian, how long did it take for DC results to come through after your test? few hrs? couple of days?
Oh well.. last year when I passed my CCIE SP lab, I promised myself that it would be the last.. just like I told myself 2 years ago when I passed the Security lab, you can see the trend
I decided a couple of days ago that I will be pursuing the DC track and came across your post. VERY INSPIRING !!! Congrats
I had a quick look at the DC rack rentals and boy aren't they popular… pretty much booked all the way.. Are you guys thinking of adding more DC racks at all ?
Brian M
Forget about my previous question about DC rack rentals, I just read Brian Dennis' post about doubling the current DC racks capacity
Congrats again on your 4th star.. or I should say 5th star, counting the CCDE
Hi Brian
First respect to you on pasning the DC.
Nice dok and How to.
Great read. I'd hate to study on the ACE though.
Great read Brian, many congratulations!
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Congratulation Brian,
From El Salvador Centro America
Congrats Brian….Well done!
Hi Brian, Mark,
First of all congratulations on this achievement!!!…..on the other hand, do you have an estimated launch date for the CCNA DC and CCNP DC courses?
Thanks in advance!
Congratulations…. Is there a page I can visit that outlines a little bit about how you study, how many hours a day, how many labs per week… etc? This is one of the most difficult issues for me is learning how to schedule my time. Do you have family, children, etc?
Congrats Brian… I have been moved from routing and switching to cloud computing in my job. So please suggest me which ccie track is relevant and suitable for my job?
Hi Brian,
Congratulations and a bunch of thanks for the sharing your Incredible experience for CCIE Data Center Lab. You have been my inspiration from the day one when I thought about my first CCIERS.
I checked your website, though I could see the CCIE Data Center stuff, however I couldn't see anything about CCNA DC and CCNP DC. I want to know about the procedure to start for CCIE DC.
As I know, we should start from CCNA then develop the concepts to CCNP and then proceed for CCIE. I am not able to see any book or documentation available. I want to use the material you are providing and I am sure that they require some homework should be done before I start using your material.
So I am getting confused that I should buy the workbooks from day one or I should study few thing first and then buy.
I hope you are able to understand what I am trying to say. I'll wait for your response on this.
Hi Brian
About how many TS errors should we expect in lab ??? For example, In R&S v4 there was 10 tickets + 2 or 3 faults in initial configs. About your comments i guess that errors in DC lab are within the initial configs but i don´t know the possible number of them.
Any help will be appreciated
Thanks Brian..
This is awesome run down. This helps me in so many ways you can even believe it. I appreciate all that you do keeping all of us motivated and believing in ourselves that we can do this.


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Ryan Trapp | Staff Writer
At 10-1, Clemson is in the hunt for a BCS at-large berth, but needs a win over arch-rival South Carolina to stay in consideration. Steve Spurrier and the Gamecocks are going for four in a row over the Tigers, and with a victory would secure consecutive 10-win seasons for the first time in school history. Here's a closer look at this week's matchup, as we highlight "The Battle of the Palmetto State" in this week's Orange Bowl Game of the Week.
The Tigers' offense has been nothing short of prolific this season, particularly behind the exceptional play of quarterback Tahj Boyd (3,367 yards passing, 466 yards rushing and 41 touchdowns). The junior has quietly put together one of the best seasons of any quarterback in the nation, ranking second in passer efficiency, fourth in touchdown passes, eighth in passing yards and seventh in total offense. Making his job easier is the plethora of toys Clemson has on offense, particularly in receiver duo DeAndre Hopkins (1,171 yards, 15 touchdowns) and Sammy Watkins (671 yards, three touchdowns). Senior tight end Brandon Ford adds some significant depth to the receiving corps, and his eight touchdowns rank second in the country at his position. Senior tailback Andre Ellington is closing in on his second consecutive 1,000 yard season, and his 959 yards and eight touchdowns both rank second among ACC running backs. All around it's difficult to find a weak link in the Tigers' offense, which averages over 44 points per game and dropped 37 points on Florida State (which ranks first in the nation in total defense). Defense is another story. The Tigers have allowed over 400 yards and 24 points a game this season, coming off an outing where Mike Glennon and the N.C. State Wolfpack put up 48 on the co-ACC Atlantic Champs. However, the Clemson defense has shown marketable improvement since their week eight victory over Virginia Tech, holding opponents to 20 points or less in four of the five games since.
When Marcus Lattimore went down with a knee injury, so did any "wow factor" in South Carolina's offense. While it hasn't looked as explosive without their star running back, the team has done an efficient job controlling the clock and grinding out wins. Tailbacks Kenny Miles and Mike Davis have run for a combined 239 yards and two scores in Lattimore's absence, and quarterback Connor Shaw has shown throughout his career he can contribute on the ground (864 yards and 11 touchdowns over the past two seasons). The junior has also stepped up in the pocket as well, with 750 yards and six scores through the air over the past three games. With Clemson's ability to score at will, Shaw will need to bring every weapon in his arsenal to keep up on the scoreboard. Defensively, the Gamecocks are as deadly as ever. Defensive end and All-American candidate Jadeveon Clowney (8.5 sacks, 17 tackles for loss) returns after missing last week's contest with a foot injury, and he'll lead a Gamecocks' defense that averages over three sacks a game. On a whole, their defense leads the conference in sacks (34) and tackles for loss (88). They'll need to continue that trend of creating havoc in the backfield and pester Boyd all game if they hope to keep it manageable for the Gamecock offense. If Clowney is back to full strength South Carolina should be able to create enough pressure with the front four alone, giving the secondary a better chance to compete with Clemson's dynamic receiver tandem.
This is just the second time in this storied rivalry that the two have met while both ranked in the top 15, and it has the makings of a memorable matchup in this decade-long series. Clemson is one of the hotter teams in football, torching the fields on offense week in and week out. However, the Tigers' offense was lethal last season as well, and the stingy Gamecocks' defense held them to just 153 yards. The implications are huge for both teams, and there's no doubt the fans in Death Valley are in for a real treat this Saturday.
Back to All News

subset: commoncrawl


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Bergeron has been a bit of a favorite player of mine, playing on a line with Sidney Crosby on two occasions for Team Canada; the 2005 World Juniors (the dream team, I believe Cory Perry was the third man on that line) and in the 2006 World Championship Team (Brad Boyes was the extra man there).
Bergeron already has quite a few honours in his career: He was the first player ever to win a World Championship gold medal before winning a World Junior Championship gold, he was the tournament MVP for the juniors in 2005, and I'm almost certain that at one point he was the youngest player in the NHL (although I could be wrong here). One of my favourite Bergeron moments comes from 2005 when Ovechkin went to take Bergeron out with a solid check; Bergeron braced himself and hit back (Torres/Phaneuf style) and ended up injuring Ovechkin, taking him out of the game permanently. Pretty impressive.
The good news is that Bergeron is still impressive, really impressive. I was checking up on his desjardins today, and although the sample size is small, Bergeron looks like he's a difference maker.
Quality of Comp: 0.14 (7th)
Quality of Teammates: 0.35 (2nd)
PTS/60: 2.01(5th)
GFON/60: 3.51 (4th)
GAON/60 : 1.51 (9th)
Difference: 2 (4th)
And in regards to the difference, only one player above Bergeron (Sturm) was playing a higher competition - without looking at shift charts I'd guess the two are playing together and are driving each other's pleasant results. (As a side note, Andrew Ference is one of the three ahead of Bergeron in the difference category).
One also has to imagine that Bergeron results would be better if he didn't have a 3.33% shooting percentage. For all those that believe the extreme will tend back to the average over time, Bergeron is due for some god damn goals like Edmonton is due for snow. His NHL average shooting percentage is just above 10%.
Update: Well, it looks like Patrice is back on the scoreboard.


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By Richard Cowan and Thomas Ferraro
LEESBURG, Virginia (Reuters) - Facing government spending cuts that could delay air travelers, pare education programs for the poor and weaken military readiness, Democrats in the U.S. Congress this week sought to shift the deficit-reduction burden to the rich.
Without congressional action, about $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts are set to begin on March 1. If allowed to continue, they could slow economic growth this year, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
The savings, known in Washington as the "sequester," would cut into most military and domestic programs. Worse, they would be compressed into a short time frame of March 1-September 30, when Washington's fiscal year ends.
House Democrats have proposed substituting the $85 billion "meat-ax" approach to deficit reduction with a mix of spending cuts and tax hikes, although they acknowledge it is not clear if that will be embraced by President Barack Obama.
In a taunt to Republicans who oppose any tax increases to reduce deficits, Democrats are again aiming at squeezing more revenues out of the wealthy to help bring down the debt. It is a gambit they successfully deployed weeks ago when a "fiscal cliff" deal raised around $600 billion over 10 years by letting income tax rates rise on the highest earners.
"They (Republicans) have to tell the American people whether they care more about protecting special-interest tax breaks like those for big oil companies or whether they care about defense spending and economic growth," said Democratic Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. He spoke to Reuters on the sidelines of a three-day House Democratic retreat.
Most of the Democrats' savings ideas already have been floated in past legislative debates.
Van Hollen, the senior Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said that under their plan, tax deductions for the very wealthy would be limited by phasing in a 30 percent effective tax rate for those earning more than $1 million a year.
This minimum tax would be separate from the income tax hike that started on January 1 for households with incomes above $450,000 a year.
These added revenues for the Treasury, Van Hollen said, would be further augmented by eliminating a long-held tax break for the profitable oil and gas industry. And on the spending side, Democrats would end government payments to farmers that are largely enjoyed by big agricultural operations.
Asked whether he thought Obama would publicly embrace these savings to head off the "sequester" possibly next week in his State of the Union address to Congress, Van Hollen said: "We don't know exactly." He added, "There are other things that could be put into the mix" as well.
Those, he said, could include cutting the "carried interest" tax break enjoyed by investment managers. It allows mostly affluent individuals to pay a 20 percent capital gains tax rate on a big chunk of their income, rather than the top ordinary income tax rate of about 40 percent.
Another Obama move, Van Hollen said, could be ending a tax break for corporate jets, an idea that was kicked around in 2011 and at one point was supported by some key Republicans.
Obama told the meeting of Democrats earlier on Thursday that he is willing to agree to a "big deal" with Congress on spending cuts and tax reforms to end uncertainty over the U.S. budget deficit, but insisted that new revenues be part of the package.
Republicans, however, are arguing that the window for tax hikes closed after Democrats successfully raised rates on the rich at the start of the new year.
"My constituents in Kentucky and the American people," warned Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday, "will not accept another tax increase to put off a spending cut that the two parties have already agreed to. It's the definition of dysfunction."
McConnell of Kentucky faces a possible Republican primary challenge in 2014 from the more conservative wing of his party.
But after significant victories in last November's elections that saw Obama win a second term and his fellow Democrats pick up seats in the Senate and House, Democrats are trying to block the non-military spending cuts that they argue will hit mainly the poor and middle classes.
Ratcheting up a public relations campaign to warn of heavy federal government job cuts, Maryland Democratic Senator Ben Cardin was to visit the National Institutes of Health in suburban Washington on Friday to discuss "how the latest federal budget battles and looming sequestration may affect you."
The Energy Department has notified its employees that it may have to place workers on temporary furloughs and slash "vital programs" if the across-the-board budget cuts take place as scheduled in March.
"Given that less than one month remains until these cuts would take effect ... our senior leadership team is engaged in extensive planning efforts to determine how we would deal with sequestration," Deputy Secretary Daniel Poneman said in an internal letter to department employees obtained by Reuters.
A new Hart Research poll released by Americans For Tax Fairness found that two-thirds of those surveyed support higher taxes on the top 2 percent and corporations, and that a majority opposes the Republican spending-cut-only approach.
Buoyed by that kind of poll, Obama on Thursday told House Democrats who are gathered here that he welcomed a budget debate in the "court of public opinion."
While he gave passing mention to reforming large government programs that Republicans want to cut for major savings - and where long-term deficit-reduction might be most achievable - the president mainly talked about reining in favorable tax treatment for the rich.
"We sure as heck should be willing to ask those of us who are luckiest in this society to close a few loopholes and deductions that the average American doesn't get," Obama said.
Republicans have argued that doing so would slow economic growth.
Democrats here countered that argument with a recently released government report in which a slight contraction in the economy for the last three months of 2012 was partially blamed on slowing government spending.
(Editing by Alistair Bell, Philip Barbara and Paul Simao)


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The Best and Worst Performances at the 2013 Grammys
Frank! Miguel! JT and more.
Awards-wise, the 2013 Grammys were as rock-leaning and vaguely unsatisfying as they are each year (congrats to Mumford & Sons, fun., The Black Keys, and Gotye, all of whom rode the Recording Academy's guitar enthusiasm to wins in the big categories.) The performances, though — they were an improvement! Or: At least no one was stuck in a sad, strobe-heavy EDM warehouse like last year. Let us now relive the highlights.
The Return of Justin Timberlake (Alternate Title: The First Trailer for Justin Timberlake's Upcoming Rat-Pack Movie)
The YouTube footage from Justin Timberlake's first comeback performance (in New Orleans last weekend) had an old-school, wannabe-Sinatra feel to it, like Justin Timberlake had written the soundtrack to an upcoming Rat Pack biopic starring Justin Timberlake. He brought the same act to the Grammys — tux and slick, super blonde (possibly dyed) hair and all — and then ran it through Instagram's black-and-white filter for good measure. "Pusher Girl" didn't seem like the best choice for an audience that just wants "Sexyback 2," but respect to JT for bringing the full band and the lounge-appropriate dance moves. In better news, Jay-Z's "Suit and Tie" verse does improve when he does it live. Watch:
Your Surprise Star of the Evening: Miguel!
The "Adorn" singer was forced to share a stage with Wiz Khalifa, and the Grammys producers made him sing the first verse among the plebes in the audience, but no matter: Miguel made it work, and then some. Just ask Kelly Clarkson. (Good news: they met backstage.)
Frank Ocean Continues to Hate Awards Shows
First, and most important, congrats to Frank Ocean, who won the horribly named Best Urban Contemporary Album Award and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "No Church in the Wild." (He deserved a few more by Vulture's count.) His performance, though, was a little understated (which is Frank's style) and a little off-key (which usually isn't). It wasn't his best, and it's the latest in a string of typically withdrawn awards-show performances that seem designed to alienate new audiences. Which is fine, if that's what Ocean wants to do; we just worry that it's working.
The Bob Marley Tribute: Unexpectedly Fun!
Maybe we are just scarred by years of awkward Grammy match-ups, but Rihanna + Bruno Mars + Sting = Bob Marley tribute album was not an equation that Vulture was looking forward to. We were wrong, though; Bruno Mars is the perfect Awards Show robot, and even Rihanna looked like she was enjoying herself. Also: The reaction shots on this one were priceless. Frank! Ellen! Sad Drake. Collect them all.
Taylor Swift and the White Rabbit
Was this performance a) an Alice and Wonderland homage b) an effort to give retired Carnies some much-needed work c) an audition for the Mardi Gras Grand Marshall gig? Pick one, and then please explain to us why Taylor decided to slow the tempo down to a crawl. This lasted for one million years. (The Harry Styles shade was pretty great, though.)
The Levon Helm Tribute, or Mavis Staples and All the Guitars
You had to feel a little bad for Alabama Shakes's Brittany Howard on that one. But "The Weight" will always be the Mavis show, if Mavis is on stage.
LL Cool J, Played Off At His Own Awards Show
After three hours of talking about hashtags, LL Cool J was finally allowed to do some actual rapping — and then the Grammys promptly cut to their corporate sponsors. Let LL live, Grammys!
And finally, Dr. John!
In the words of @netw3rk: "'Give me the mescaline and bring me a live owl.' - Dr. John 5-hours ago."


text:
To draw up or contract (the shoulders), especially by way of expressing dislike, dread, doubt, or the like.
Note: all packages are cumulative, so if you select the 'Cards' package, you receive the set of custom greeting cards, the frame-able print, the gold ink certificate & button, and the digital certificate of authenticity. For details on packages, click here.


text:
LAS VEGAS – The Deer & Deer Hunting crew is in attendance at the annual SHOT Show this week, looking for new products and story ideas. Check back frequently for updates, new stories and Deer Talk Now segments from the show.
Cyclops introduces the new REVO 700 and REVO 900 lumen rechargeable hand-held lights.
The REVO series feature two Hi-Power Luxeon M LED lights in the 900 and one Hi-Power Luxeon M LED light in the 700, both providing the ultimate in brightness and range. The REVO 700 and 900 are powered by a 6V 2.5Ah SLA battery and include a home and car charger so you never have to worry about losing power.
Both models have ergonomically designed rubberized grips with a trigger pulse switch that also features an Always 'on' lock switch. These durable, yet affordable, hand-held lights have vented housing that helps reduce heat.
REVO 700 Features: Hi-Power Luxeon M LED, vented housing, home and car charger included, ergonomically designed rubberized grip w/trigger pulse switch, always ON lock switch, burn time: 110 minutes, light output: 700 lumens. MSRP $99.99
REVO 900 Features: 2 Hi-Power Luxeon M LED, vented housing, home and car charger included, ergonomically designed rubberized grip w/trigger pulse switch, always ON lock switch, burn time: 68 minutes, light output: 935 lumens. MSRP $139.99
TerraLUX introduces a new line of hard-use tactical flashlights designed to meet the rigorous demands of law enforcement, military and personal defense needs.
These rugged, reliable lights are built to exacting standards. Leading the way is the TT-5, a 650 ANSI lumen powerhouse with three output settings, a dedicated strobe switch and 2.5 hours of full-power run time. TerraLUX's Optimized Digital Control technology delivers up to 43 percent longer run times and 30 percent more lumen output.
The TT-line of lights features a unique design that allows the user to access a separate, dedicated strobe switch. This ergonomically designed button allows the strobe to be quickly deployed in a dynamic critical incident, when time and fine motor skills are at a minimum. The disorientation from the variable- frequency strobe can buy users the critical seconds necessary to get away from an attacker.
CNC-machined from aircraft-grade 6061 aluminum, the TT-5 sports a Type III hard-coat anodize for long-lasting protection. Built to the demanding needs of military and law enforcement users, the TT-5 is designed for hard-use and always-ready durability.
"We've put everything we know about LED durability and power output into the TT line," said Wade Stevens, TerraLUX vice president of sales. "This is the most complete tactical flashlight on the market."
Unlike other manufacturers who anodize their light bodies before cutting threads, TerraLUX anodizes their light bodies after threads are cut. This additional step reduces thread fouling, environmental damage and battery discharge.
TerraLUX also features a double spring battery system. Where most companies use a single spring in the tail cap, TerraLUX installs a second spring in the light head, ensuring maximum contact with the battery and reduced chances of failure.
"We've built these lights to withstand almost anything you can throw at them," Stevens said. "When personal safety is at stake, be it a police officer on the street or a mother in her driveway, these lights have to work."
In addition to durable bodies, TerraLUX uses lenses made from tempered glass, not a composite that is more prone to scratching or damage.
Some other features of the TT-5:
High power – 650 lumens for 2.7 hours of runtime
Medium – 150 lumens for 7.3 hours
Low – 10 lumens 295 hours
Strobe – 650 lumens 4.4 hours
IPx8 water-proof for 4 hours at 2 meters depth; tempered glass lens with precision micro-textured reflector; removable crenelated strike bezel and grip ring; multi-function dual switch tail-cap with direct strobe access for single-hand operation; impact tested to 1.5 meters.
Streamlight Stinger Classic LED
is introducing the Stinger Classic LED, a rechargeable flashlight similar in size, shape and feel to the original Xenon Stinger but with a powerful LED.
"The Stinger Classic LED is an update to the standard flashlight used by law enforcement and other professionals the world over," said Ray Sharrah, Streamlight President and Chief Executive Officer. "It was designed in response to customers who appreciate the compact size and simpler functionality of the original Xenon Stinger model, but who also want the advantages of the latest in LED technology."
The updated model offers three microprocessor-controlled variable intensity modes and a strobe function. It delivers 390 lumens and 13,200 candela peak beam intensity on the high setting, 210 lumens and 6,500 candela on medium, and 100 lumens and 3,100 candela on low. Run times range from 6 hours and 45 minutes on low to 1 hour and 45 minutes on high.
The Stinger Classic LED features a C4 LED for extreme brightness that is impervious to shock with a 50,000 hour lifetime. The light's custom optic design provides a smooth beam with optimal peripheral illumination.
The new light is available with either a 3-cell, 3.6 volt Ni-Cd or Ni-MH sub-C battery, both of which are rechargeable up to 1,000 times. Fabricated from 6000 series machined aircraft aluminum with an anodized finish, the Stinger Classic LED also includes a multi-function, push-button switch, designed for extremely long life.
The new light measures 7.65 inches in length and weighs only 11.1 ounces. It fits all existing Stinger series charger-holders. The available steady charger fully recharges in 10 hours on 100 volt, 120 volt, 230 volt, or 240 volt AC or 12 volt DC. A 2.5 hour fast charger and a PiggyBack charger that allows for simultaneous charging of both the light and battery also are available.
The Stinger Classic LED is IPX4 rated for water-resistant operation and is impact resistance-tested to up one meter.
Available in black, the new light has an MSRP of $205 and comes with Streamlight's Limited Lifetime Warranty.


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Co-Curricular Art
The Art School is a vibrant, inspirational and engaging creative environment, where every pupil's individuality and potential to fully realise their artistic ambitions is highly valued.
Innovative art can be created through an investigative outlook. Here pupils have the opportunity to explore and gain accomplishment in both contemporary and traditional art making techniques, via the exceptional teaching expertise and outstanding resources available.
Departmental Ethos
All year groups are encouraged to work with new and unfamiliar art materials, alongside approaches that are challenging, to extend the boundaries of their experiences and acquire new skills. This also helps to instill a progressive approach for all future studies.
Varied creative methods of tuition are practised, through art forms ranging from the core discipline of observational drawing to the use of digital media. From experimental printmaking, or ceramics, to sculpture and painting workshops, every pupils personal artistic process, knowledge and interests is enriched. This initiates a greater visual sensitivity to life in general and enables a more articulate visual dialogue within our pupils art.
The Art School not only endorses the structured teaching of examination criteria, but is also flexible in accommodating both group and individual pupil's creativity and aspirations. We nurture imaginative, critical thinking and provide opportunities to communicate creative initiatives, techniques and original ideas, all of which, contribute to an highly rewarding artistic life at Marlborough.
Art Staff
Our teaching team and technicians are all respected artists, who bring a complementary group of art specialisms to our pupils and collectively form a progressive centre for excellence. All staff are encouraged to develop personal schemes of work to enrich the curriculum, as some of the most demanding and exciting art by pupils, often emerges through inspiring teachers, working from their own specialisms.
Curriculum Enrichment
All pupils are welcome to work in the Art School during afternoons and at weekends, to pursue personal interests, utilise different media, or extend school projects. Photography, Film, Animation, Sculpture, Printmaking and Ceramics workshops are also available within the Shell and Remove Options Programme. Poster design; prop making; Art School and Gallery support and Film Making for Prep Schools are also offered. There are weekly Life Classes for the Sixth Form, held in the Art School throughout the Michaelmas and Lent Term.
Talks by visiting Artists are also held at the College, sometimes taking place in conjunction with their own exhibition. The interaction between pupil and visiting artist is regarded as invaluable for sharing knowledge, intentions and developing visual language.
The Art School has been instrumental in introducing and supporting the annual College Film and Photography Competitions. Open to pupils from all year groups, both competitions are well supported by the College community.
Gallery Events
All pupils, teachers, parents and the wider community are able to regularly view a diverse programme of curated exhibitions within the College gallery, the Mount House. The gallery is primarily an educational resource, providing valuable opportunities to experience an extensive range of artworks at first hand. Formal exhibitions of pupils' work are held in both venues, individual pupils' work is also shown around the Art School. Displays are frequently renewed within each boarding house and suitable College sites, further allowing pupils' work to be promoted.
The Mount House Gallery also hosts exhibitions by invited Artists. Painting, printmaking, sculpture, performance art, installation, ceramics and photography are all represented. The College grounds also provide key sites for large scale sculpture and artworks.


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Stockton, CA
Gertrude Zeller
April 24, 1914 - January 13, 2013
Beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother
Gertrude Zeller passed away peacefully at her home on January 13, 2013. She was born April 24, 1914 to Arthur and Rose Parker in Bakersfield. She married Charles Zeller September 7, 1936 and remained married for 60 years. Her daughters, Laura and Karen were both taken too soon by cancer. She is survived by her grandchildren: Karl and Andrew Benedict, Ryan and Colin Hayes, David, Jeremy and Elizabeth Krinitt. She will also be missed by her 6 great grandchildren. She was a 50 year member and past president of the Philomathean Club of Stockton. She was also an auxiliary member of Junior Aid of Stockton.
Condolences may be
sent to the family by visiting www.danerimortuary.com and signing the guest book.


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STARmeterSEE RANK
Down 68 this week
Scott Wilson (I)
One chillingly infamous screen role for Scott Wilson in 1967 set the tone for an actor who went on to prove himself an invaluable character player for the past five decades. The Georgia-born native (Atlanta born and raised) was awarded a basketball scholarship following high school at Georgia's Southern Tech University to study architecture. ... See full bio »
Born:in Atlanta, Georgia, USA
More at IMDbPro » Contact Info: View agent, publicist, legal on IMDbPro


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Following up from an earlier post
Almost everything by F. Scott FitzGerald
I read The Great Gatsby in Grade 12 English, because I had to.
The teacher was so bad, he pretty much killed my desire from pursuing this author any further.
Anything by Margaret Atwood
Ssshh…don't tell the Berkenstock-Wearing Granola-Crunching CBC Inteligentsia…they'll have my head!
The Harry Potter Series
I admit, I liked the movies. And I'd probably like the books.
But my brother just told me he read the entire series aloud to his son. He said it was over 1,000,000 words.
Ugh. A time committment like that frightens me.
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
Because I took the actual three-day course at work.
And it was the best training course I've ever had at my company.
By default.
Anything by Jane Austen
And I never will her, either.
No, wait. Let me qualify that.
If, for whatever reason, I was stuck somewhere on a desert island, or taken hostage and put in solitary confinement…and it was the only thing around, I might consider reading it.
(No…still…probably not).
Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre
See Jane Austen.
Moby Dick.
Let me guess. The whale did it.
I started reading it once, but had to quit. It made less sense than the movie.
If that's at all possible.
Which I didn't thias possible.
Better-Late-than-Never Category (*)
(*) Books I've enjoyed, but didn't get around to until well into my 30's and 40's.
– The Adventures of HuckleBerry Finn (Just read it last year….though I did read Tom Sawyer 30 years earlier)
– The Good Earth
– To Kill a MockingBird
– East of Eden
– 2001 Space Odyssey (A few months ago…Now I finally the last 20 incomprehensible minutes of the movie)
Those E-Books from the Cool Kid Bloggers.
They're supposed to be awesome. They're supposed to 'Change your life". They're supposed to make you weep with tears of self-awareness.
You know, if it was narrowed down to a few dozen, I'd be tempted.
But there are so many "Life Changing" E-books out there, that you can't click twice with your mouse without tripping over one. And each one claims to be the lastest, best thing.
So no thanks, I'll pass…
Sorry. Nothing personal.
I just have too many other books on the "must read" list that I need to get to first.
Like Jane Austen.


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Hasbro Reports Financial Results for the Second Quarter 2012Second Quarter Results Consistent with Company Strategy to Shift U.S. Shipments Later in the Year
- Net revenues of $811.5 million for the second quarter 2012 versus $908.5 million for the second quarter 2011; Second quarter net revenues declined 7% excluding a negative $34.4 million impact of foreign exchange;
- Net earnings of $43.4 million, or $0.33 per diluted share, compared to net earnings of $46.0 million or $0.33 per diluted share in 2011 (excluding a favorable tax adjustment and costs associated with establishing Hasbro's Gaming Center of Excellence); Second quarter 2011 net earnings were $58.1 million, or $0.42 per diluted share as reported;
- Operating profit at 10.6% of revenues versus 10.3% in 2011 (excluding the Gaming Center of Excellence costs) or 8.9% as reported a year ago;
- Second quarter 2012 operating profit increased in the U.S. and Canada and Entertainment and Licensing segments.
PAWTUCKET, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) today reported financial results for the second quarter 2012. Net revenues for the quarter were $811.5 million, a decrease of 11%, compared to $908.5 million in 2011. Second quarter 2012 net revenues declined 7% excluding a negative $34.4 million impact of foreign exchange. Net earnings for the second quarter 2012 were $43.4 million, or $0.33 per diluted share, versus $58.1 million, or $0.42 per diluted share, in 2011. Second quarter 2011 net earnings include a favorable tax adjustment of $20.5 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, and pre-tax expense of $13.1 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, related to costs associated with establishing Hasbro's Gaming Center of Excellence. Absent these items, second quarter 2011 net earnings were $46.0 million or $0.33 per share.
"2012 continues to develop in line with our expectations as we shift more of our shipments later in the year while improving profitability in the near term," said Brian Goldner, President and Chief Executive Officer. "In the U.S. and Canada, we have gained share and the teams are focused on returning to historical levels of operating profit as well as partnering with U.S. retailers to shift shipments closer to the peak consumer demand periods in the third and fourth quarters. Internationally, we continue our global expansion, leveraging investments in emerging markets, product innovation and entertainment to drive Hasbro brands globally. Finally, our television strategy is delivering growth within our Entertainment and Licensing segment and creating demand for our toys and games in global markets."
"As we enter the second half of the year, we have innovative brand initiatives across product categories and geographies," continued Goldner. "For the full year 2012, we continue to believe, absent the impact of foreign exchange, we will again grow revenues and earnings per share. As we have previously stated, we expect 2-4% more of our full-year revenues to occur in the second half of the year. Within this revenue shift, we also expect the fourth quarter to be greater than the third quarter in both revenues and earnings per share, similar to our historical international results."
"An important element of our full-year plan is returning the U.S. and Canada segment to historical levels of operating profit margin. In the second quarter, this segment's profitability, and Hasbro's overall profitability, improved through favorable product mix and higher quality inventory in the U.S. and Canada segment versus last year," said Deborah Thomas, Chief Financial Officer. "As we enter the second half of 2012, Hasbro is in a strong financial position with healthy cash flow and great initiatives for the holidays. A year ago, we made an investment in Games, establishing Hasbro's Gaming Center of Excellence. One year later we believe we are well positioned with innovative gaming products and strong marketing programs for the holiday season."
U.S. and Canada segment net revenues were $406.6 million, a decrease of 19%, compared to $505.0 million in 2011. The results reflect growth in the Preschool category offset by declines in the Boys, Girls and Games categories. The U.S. and Canada segment reported an operating profit of $60.9 million, up 6%, compared to $57.7 million in 2011.
Net revenues in the International segment grew 5% absent the negative $33.4 million impact of foreign exchange. Including the impact of foreign exchange, International segment net revenues were $360.5 million, down 4%, compared to $374.5 million in 2011. Revenue in the International segment reflects growth in Latin America offset by a decline in Europe and Asia Pacific. Additionally, the Preschool category contributed to growth, offset by declines in the Boys, Girls and Games categories. The International segment reported an operating profit of $29.9 million, compared to $33.8 million in 2011.
Entertainment and Licensing segment net revenues increased 59% to $43.2 million, compared to $27.2 million in 2011. The segment benefited from the sale of television content in all formats in the U.S. and internationally. The Entertainment and Licensing segment reported an operating profit of $8.2 million compared to $0.6 million in 2011.
For the second quarter 2012, net revenues in the Boys category decreased 16% to $389.1 million despite strong growth in MARVEL products which partially offset expected declines in TRANSFORMERS and BEYBLADE products.
Net revenues in the Games category declined 8% to $213.8 million with MAGIC: THE GATHERING, DUEL MASTERS and BATTLESHIP brands continuing to grow. Boys Action Gaming, including the STAR WARS FIGHTER PODS, TRANSFORMERS BOT SHOTS and the introduction of the MARVEL BONKAZONKS line, continued to perform well.
In the Girls Category, net revenues declined 13%. MY LITTLE PONY products continued to grow backed by television programming globally. In the second half 2012, new Girls initiatives include the launch of FURBY, 1D, the boy band product line, as well as feature holiday items including BABY BUTTERSCOTCH from FURREAL FRIENDS; BABY WANNA WALK from BABY ALIVE and television animation for LITTLEST PET SHOP products.
Net revenues in the Preschool category increased 6% to $103.4 million backed by continued growth in the PLAYSKOOL HEROES line, including MARVEL and TRANSFORMERS RESCUE BOTS products, as well as SESAME STREET products and initial shipments of the new KOOSH line.
Share Repurchase and Dividend
The Company repurchased a total of 139,734 shares of common stock during the second quarter 2012 at a total cost of $4.9 million and an average price of $35.21 per share. At quarter-end, $217.3 million remained available in the current share repurchase authorization. The Company paid $46.7 million in cash dividends to shareholders during the quarter.
Hasbro will webcast its second quarter 2012 earnings conference call at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time today. To listen to the live webcast, go to http://investor.hasbro.com. The replay of the call will be available on Hasbro's web site approximately 2 hours following completion of the call. Additionally, presentation slides associated with today's conference call are available on Hasbro's website at http://investor.hasbro.com.
About Hasbro
Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) is a branded play company providing children and families around the world with a wide-range of immersive entertainment offerings based on the Company's world class brand portfolio. From toys and games, to television programming, motion pictures, digital gaming and a comprehensive licensing program, Hasbro strives to delight its global customers with well-known and beloved brands such as TRANSFORMERS, LITTLEST PET SHOP, NERF, PLAYSKOOL, MY LITTLE PONY, G.I. JOE, MAGIC: THE GATHERING and MONOPOLY. The Company's Hasbro Studios develops and produces television programming for markets around the world. The Hub TV Network is part of a multi-platform joint venture between Hasbro and Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), in the U.S. Through the Company's deep commitment to corporate social responsibility, including philanthropy, Hasbro is helping to build a safe and sustainable world for future generations and to positively impact the lives of millions of children and families every year. It has been recognized for its efforts by being named one of the "World's Most Ethical Companies" and is ranked as one of Corporate Responsibility Magazine's "100 Best Corporate Citizens." Learn more at http://www.hasbro.com.
© 2012 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Share data from The NPD Group, through May 2012
Certain statements in this release contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include expectations concerning the Company's potential performance in 2012 and beyond, including with respect to its revenues and earnings per share, and the Company's ability to achieve its other financial and business goals and may be identified by the use of forward-looking words or phrases. The Company's actual actions or results may differ materially from those expected or anticipated in the forward-looking statements due to both known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Specific factors that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to: (i) the Company's ability to design, manufacture, source and ship new and continuing products on a timely and cost-effective basis, as well as interest in and purchase of those products by retail customers and consumers in quantities and at prices that will be sufficient to profitably recover the Company's development, manufacturing, marketing, royalty and other costs; (ii) global economic conditions, including recessions, credit crises or other economic shocks or downturns affecting the United States, Europe or any of the Company's other markets which can negatively impact the retail and/or credit markets, the financial health of the Company's retail customers and consumers, and consumer and business confidence, and which can result in lower employment levels, less consumer disposable income, and lower consumer spending, including lower spending on purchases of the Company's products; (iii) other factors which can lower discretionary consumer spending, such as higher costs for fuel and food, drops in the value of homes or other consumer assets, and high levels of consumer debt; (iv) other economic and public health conditions in the markets in which the Company and its customers and suppliers operate which impact the Company's ability and cost to manufacture and deliver products, such as higher fuel and other commodity prices, higher labor costs, higher transportation costs, outbreaks of disease which affect public health and the movement of people and goods, and other factors, including government regulations, which can create potential manufacturing and transportation delays or impact costs; (v) currency fluctuations, including movements in foreign exchange rates, which can lower the Company's net revenues and earnings, and significantly impact the Company's costs; (vi) the concentration of the Company's customers, potentially increasing the negative impact to the Company of difficulties experienced by any of the Company's customers or changes by the Company's customers in their purchasing or selling patterns; (vii) greater than expected costs, or unexpected delays or difficulties, associated with THE HUB TV Network, the Company's joint venture television network with Discovery Communications, LLC, Hasbro Studios, or the creation of new content to appear on THE HUB TV Network and elsewhere; (viii) consumer interest in and acceptance of THE HUB TV Network, and programming created by Hasbro Studios, and other factors impacting the financial performance of the network and Hasbro Studios; (ix) greater than expected costs or unexpected delays or difficulties associated with the creation of Hasbro's Gaming Center of Excellence and the execution of the Company's strategy for driving innovation and immersive play experiences in its gaming business; (x) unexpected delays or difficulties in the Company's execution of its plans to drive growth and increased profitability in its U.S. and Canada business; (xi) the inventory policies of the Company's retail customers, including retailers' potential decisions to lower the inventories they are willing to carry, even if it results in lost sales, as well as the concentration of the Company's revenues in the second half and fourth quarter of the year, which coupled with reliance by retailers on quick response inventory management techniques increases the risk of underproduction of popular items, overproduction of less popular items and failure to achieve tight and compressed shipping schedules; (xii) delays, increased costs or difficulties associated with any of our planned entertainment initiatives; (xiii) work stoppages, slowdowns or strikes, which may impact the Company's ability to manufacture or deliver product in a timely and cost-effective manner; (xiv) the bankruptcy or other lack of success of one of the Company's significant retailers which could negatively impact the Company's revenues or bad debt exposure; (xv) the impact of competition on revenues, margins and other aspects of the Company's business, including the ability to secure, maintain and renew popular licenses and the ability to attract and retain talented employees in a competitive environment; (xvi) concentration of manufacturing for many of the Company's products in the People's Republic of China and the associated impact to the Company of public health conditions and other factors affecting social and economic activity in China, affecting the movement of products into and out of China, and impacting the cost of producing products in China and exporting them to other countries; (xvii) the risk of product recalls or product liability suits and costs associated with product safety regulations; (xviii) other market conditions, third party actions or approvals and the impact of competition which could reduce demand for the Company's products or delay or increase the cost of implementation of the Company's programs or alter the Company's actions and reduce actual results; (xix) the risk that anticipated benefits of acquisitions may not occur or be delayed or reduced in their realization; and (xx) other risks and uncertainties as may be detailed from time to time in the Company's public announcements and Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") filings. The Company undertakes no obligation to make any revisions to the forward-looking statements contained in this release or to update them to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this release.
This press release includes a non-GAAP financial measure as defined under SEC rules, specifically EBITDA. EBITDA represents net earnings excluding interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization. As required by SEC rules, we have provided reconciliation on the attached schedule of this measure to the most directly comparable GAAP measure. Management believes that EBITDA is one of the appropriate measures for evaluating the operating performance of the Company because it reflects the resources available for strategic opportunities including, among others, to invest in the business, strengthen the balance sheet, and make strategic acquisitions. However, this measure should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, or superior to, net earnings or other measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP as more fully discussed in the Company's financial statements and filings with the SEC. As used herein, "GAAP" refers to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. This press release also includes the Company's Consolidated and International segment net revenues excluding the impact of changes in exchange rates. Management believes that the presentation of Consolidated and International segment net revenues minus the impact of exchange rate changes provides information that is helpful to an investor's understanding of the underlying business performance absent exchange rate fluctuations which are beyond the Company's control. Similarly, this presentation includes the Company's second quarter 2011 operating profit excluding certain expenses related to the reorganization of the Company's global games business as well as second quarter 2011 net earnings excluding certain discrete income tax benefits related to the settlement of a tax examination and certain expenses related to the reorganization of the Company's global games business. The Company provided the 2011 net earnings absent these amounts to assist investors in understanding the comparability of the Company's results.


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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner emerged from White House talks on Wednesday to say that President Barack Obama again refused to negotiate with them to end a government shutdown.
After more than an hour of talks between Obama and congressional leaders, the top Republican in Washington told reporters it was a polite conversation, but essentially made no progress.
(Reporting By Steve Holland and Jeff Mason; Editing by Stacey Joyce)