text:
- Introduction
- Southern Africa before the 15th century
- European and African interaction from the 15th through the 18th century
- European and African interaction in the 19th century
- Southern Africa, 1899–1945
- Independence and decolonization in Southern Africa
Southern Africa, southernmost region of the African continent, comprising the countries of Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The island nation of Madagascar is excluded because of its distinct language and cultural heritage.
The interior of Southern Africa consists of a series of undulating plateaus that cover most of South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana and extend into central Angola. Contiguous with this are uplands in Zambia and Zimbabwe. Coastal mountains and escarpments, flanking the high ground, are found in northern Mozambique, South Africa, Namibia, Angola, and along the Mozambique-Zimbabwe border. Coastal plains abut the Indian Ocean in Mozambique and the Atlantic in Angola and Namibia.
The Kalahari desert forms the central depression of the Southern African plateau. Its elevation rises to the Great Escarpment, which flanks the plateau in an almost unbroken line from the Zambezi River to Angola. Southern Zimbabwe and much of South Africa are within a region of scrublands and grasslands known as the veld. To the southeast of the veld is the Drakensberg range, which includes the region's highest peak—Lesotho's Mount Ntlenyana, at 11,424 feet (3,482 metres). In Namibia the coastal margin includes the extremely dry Namib desert, which, in the south, merges eastward into the great sandy expanse of the Kalahari.
The region is generally drained eastward toward the Indian Ocean, a pattern exemplified by the largest rivers, the Zambezi and Limpopo. The Zambezi is the longest river in the region, and its catchment includes much of Angola, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The only major river flowing into the Atlantic Ocean is the Orange, which drains parts of South Africa, Lesotho, and Namibia.
Southern African climates are seasonal, ranging from arid to semiarid and from temperate to tropical. The seasonality is an important control on plant growth and a regulator of river flows. Droughts are common in much of the region. Four main types of vegetation are found: savanna woodlands (known as miombo forest) in the north, a series of dry woodlands to the south of these, arid and semiarid grassland, scrubland, and bushland in the Namib and Kalahari deserts and their environs, and Mediterranean vegetation along the southern coast.
The semiarid plains and plateaus that cover much of the region contain animals commonly associated with the East African plains—e.g., antelopes, gazelles, zebras, elephants, and the big cats. However, different animals are found in the coastal woodlands of South Africa and in the desert regions to the north and northwest. Many habitats have been extensively modified by agriculture, thus restricting the ranges of certain species that were formerly more widespread. There are some two dozen large national parks and game reserves in the area as well as many smaller ones, most located in the open or partially wooded plains. At the beginning of the 21st century, several transfrontier parks were opening, including Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, the first transnational park, and the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, among the largest parks in the world.
The black peoples of Southern Africa—the overwhelming majority of the region's population—can be divided into speakers of two language families, Khoisan and Bantu. Khoisan speakers, who have inhabited the region for millennia, have now been displaced in many areas by Bantu speakers. People of European ancestry began migrating to the region in the mid-17th century; they now constitute a sizable minority in South Africa and a much smaller population in Zimbabwe.
The history of Southern Africa cannot be written as a single narrative. Shifting geographic and political boundaries and changing historiographical perspectives render this impossible. Research into local history in the late 20th and early 21st century has presented fragmented historical knowledge, and older generalizations have given way to a complex polyphony of voices as new subfields of history—gender and sexuality, health, and the environment, to name but a few—have developed. Archaeological and historical inquiry has been extremely uneven in the countries of the Southern African subcontinent, with Namibia the least and South Africa the most intensely studied. Divided societies produce divided histories, and there is hardly an episode in the region's history that is not now open to debate. This is as true of prehistory as of the more recent past.
The uncertainties of evidence for the long preliterate past—where a bone or potsherd can undermine previous interpretations and where recent research has subverted even terminology—are matched by conflicting representations of the colonial and postcolonial periods. In Southern Africa, history is not a set of neutrally observed and agreed-upon facts: present concerns colour interpretations of even the remote past. For all the contestants in contemporary Southern Africa there has been a conscious struggle to control the past in order to legitimate the present and lay claim to the future. Who is telling what history for which Africa is a question that needs constantly to be addressed.
This article covers the history of the region from the prehistoric period to the end of the colonial period in the 20th century. Coverage of the region's physical and human geography can be found in the article Africa. For discussion of the physical and human geography of individual countries in the region and of their postcolonial history, see Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Area 2,314,764 square miles (5,995,215 square km). Pop. (2005 est.) 121,111,000.
Southern Africa before the 15th century
Early humans and Stone Age society
The controversies in Southern African history begin with the discovery of a fossilized hominin skull in a limestone cave at Taung near the Harts River north of Kimberley in 1924, followed in 1936 by discoveries in similar caves in the Transvaal (now Limpopo and Gauteng provinces) and Northern Cape province, in South Africa. Other significant hominin finds were made in the Sterkfontein Valley (in Gauteng province) beginning in the 1940s. For some time the significance of these finds and their relationship to the evolution of early humans were unappreciated, perhaps because the finds could not be dated, and stone tools—long regarded as the defining characteristic of early humans—had not been found with them. Since that time, similar but datable discoveries in eastern Africa as well as discoveries in the Makapansgat Valley in South Africa have made it possible to place the South African remains in sequence and identify them as australopithecines, upright-walking creatures who are the earliest human ancestors. The australopithecines who roamed the highland savanna plains of Southern Africa date from about three million to one million years ago. There can be little doubt that for hundreds of thousands of years Southern Africa, like eastern Africa, was in the forefront of human development and technological innovation.
Controversies remain, however. The connections between australopithecines and earlier potentially hominin forms remain unclear, while a number of species of australopithecines have been identified. Their evolution into the species Homo habilis and then into the species Homo erectus—which displayed the larger brain, upright posture, teeth, and hands resembling those of modern humans and from whom Homo sapiens almost certainly evolved—is still fiercely debated. Homo erectus appears to have roamed the open savanna lands of eastern and Southern Africa, collecting fruits and berries—and perhaps roots—and either scavenging or hunting. Acheulean industry appeared during the Early Stone Age (c. 2,500,000 to 150,000 years ago) and was characterized by the use of simple stone hand axes, choppers, and cleavers. First evident about 1,500,000 years ago, it seems to have spread from eastern Africa throughout the continent and also to Europe and Asia during the Middle Pleistocene Epoch, reaching Southern Africa about 1,000,000 years ago; Acheulean industry remained dominant for more than 1,000,000 years.
During this time early humans also developed those social, cognitive, and linguistic traits that distinguish Homo sapiens. Some of the earliest fossils associated with Homo sapiens, dated from about 120,000 to 80,000 years ago, have been found in South Africa at the Klasies River Mouth Cave in Eastern Cape, while at Border Cave on the South Africa–Swaziland border a date of about 90,000 years ago has been claimed for similar Middle Stone Age (150,000 to 30,000 years ago) skeletal remains.
With the emergence of Homo sapiens, experimentation and regional diversification displaced the undifferentiated Acheulean tool kit, and a far more efficient small blade (also called microlithic) technology evolved. Through the controlled use of fire, denser, more mobile populations could move for the first time into heavily wooded areas and caves. Wood, bark, and leather were used for tools and clothing, while vegetable foods were also probably more important than their archaeological survival suggests.
Some scholars believe that the addition of organized hunting to gathering and scavenging transformed human society. The large number of distinctive Late Stone Age (30,000 to 2,000 years ago) industries that emerged reflect increasing specialization as hunter-gatherers exploited different environments, often moving seasonally between them, and developed different subsistence strategies. As in many parts of the world, changes in technology seem to mark a shift to the consumption of smaller game, fish, invertebrates, and plants. Late Stone Age peoples used bows and arrows and a variety of snares and traps for hunting, as well as grindstones and digging sticks for gathering plant food; with hooks, barbed spears, and wicker baskets they also were able to catch fish and thus exploit rivers, lakeshores, and seacoasts more effectively.
Despite the ever-increasing number of radiocarbon dates available for the many Late Stone Age sites excavated in Southern Africa, the reasons for changed consumption patterns and variations in technology are poorly understood. Until the 1960s, population explosion and migration were the common explanations; subsequent explanations have stressed adaptation. Yet the reasons for adaptation are equally unclear and the model equally controversial. Environmental changes do not seem to have been directly responsible, while the evidence for social change is elusive. Nevertheless, the appearance of cave art, careful burials, and ostrich-eggshell beads for adornment suggests more sophisticated behaviour and new patterns of culture. These developments apparently are associated with the emergence between 20,000 and 15,000 bce of the earliest of the historically recognizable populations of Southern Africa: the Pygmy, San, and Khoekhoe peoples, who were probably genetically related to the ancient population that h evolved in the African subcontinent.
Although many scholars attempt to deduce the nature of Late Stone Age societies by examining contemporary hunter-gatherer societies, this method is fraught with difficulties. Evidence from Botswana and Namibia suggests that many contemporary hunter-gatherers recently have been dispossessed and that their present way of life, far from being the result of thousands of years of stagnation and isolation, has resulted from their integration into the modern world economy; this hardly provides an adequate model for reconstructions of earlier societies.
During historic times hunter-gatherers were organized in loosely knit bands, of which the family was the basic unit, although wider alliances with neighbouring bands were essential for survival. Each group had its own territory, in which special importance was attached to natural resources, and in many instances bands moved seasonally from small to large camping sites, following water, game, and vegetation. Labour was allocated by gender, with men responsible for hunting game, women for snaring small animals, collecting plant foods, and undertaking domestic chores. These patterns are also evident in the recent archaeological record, but it is unclear how far they can be safely projected back.
Contrary to the popular view that the hunter-gatherer way of life was impoverished and brutish, Late Stone Age people were highly skilled and had a good deal of leisure and a rich spiritual life, as their cave paintings and rock engravings show. While exact dating of cave paintings is problematic, paintings at the Apollo 11 Cave in southern Namibia appear to be some 26,000 to 28,000 years old. Whereas the art in the northern woodlands is stylized and schematic, that of the savanna and coastlands seems more naturalistic, showing scenes of hunting and fishing, of ritual and celebration; it vividly portrays the Late Stone Age cosmology and way of life. The motives of the artists remain obscure, but many paintings appear linked to the trance experiences of medicine men, in which the antelope (eland) was a key symbol. In later rock paintings there is also the first hint of the advent of new groups of herders and farmers.


text:
I used a BackBerry from 2006 to 2011 and never had any problems making a phone call with my iPhone when I got it. It was the easiest phone I have ever owned. What an idiot. Hahahah. This explains why we have more dept then ever, and why the echonamy is STILL in a recession.
Dear President Obama, ask not how you can dial an iPhone, ask how iMore can help you dial!
U.S. President Obama seems to have had some problems using an iPhone -- the most usable phone in the world -- this week. He'd borrowed it to make some thank you calls, but couldn't get it to dial. Years of living with BlackBerry had apparently hard-coded hard keyboards into his muscle memory, and made capacitive touch a challenge. Dave Boyer from The Washington Times reports:
"It's not clear he knows how to dial on an iPhone," the reporter wrote in a pool report. Finally, Mr. Obama said, "Oh, I got to dial it in. Hold on, hold on. I can do this. See, I still have a BlackBerry."
Anyone who listens to the iMore show knows that I use the dialer almost exclusively to making calls and it works fantastically well. Clearly, all President Obama needs is an iPhone of his own, and a little time on iMore, particularly our iPhone help and how-to section and our iPhone help and discussion forums. They're friendly, fast-paced, fun, and guaranteed to get anyone from the chief executive of the United States to the chief media officer of Mobile Nations familiar with all the features of modern, mobile touchscreen computing in no time.
Source: The Washington Times
Have something to say about this story? Leave a comment! Need help with something else? Ask in our forums!
Reader comments
Dear President Obama, ask not how you can dial an iPhone, ask how iMore can help you dial!
Judging by the way you spell, (see "dept" and "echonamy"), you clearly have no idea what you are talking about. The US has been sinking in debt since the Great Depression. Go take a history lesson and English 101. But aside from that, this is a tech site. It's sad that Mr. President has been deprived of good technology. Hopefully he'll see the light and get himself an iPhone soon.
Thanks dublex.
Philbert , if you would pay more attention in school maybe just maybe you'd know more about what is really going on in the world.
This article was not meant for political discussion but of course we can always expect people like philbert to chime in and making a fool out of themselves.
Hahahahaha. Look how mad your getting. It's really funny.
I was using Siri. Lol
Stop embarrassing yourself.
On a side note it still amazes me that people do not have a spell checker add-on installed on their web-browser.
I am still learning english. I am from Brazil.
There is a difference between going into debt and the rate at which you do so. The US is in debt 16T$. 6 of that is from Obama in 3.5 years. You do the math!
Instead of telling others to take an "English 101" class, maybe you should watch the news and stop staring at the fading Obama "Hope and Change" poster in your basement bedroom.
Besides that, we all know that Obama uses a BB for security reasons. It's a custom and encrypted phone. I'm assuming that the features needed are not available for the iPhone. Not sure...
OMG. idiot :))
I guess using an iPhone is the same as creating Jobs. :(
Blackberry's ad slogan is, "It's how business get done." So I guess it is safe to say Obama is not using a Blackberry anymore because he isn't getting anything done.
The comments on the original article are so painful to read...
Washington Times is a Right-Wing rag owned by a religious cult. The least respected paper in America. They depend on private 'support' and can hardly give copies away.
Yeah cause the "other" news sites are neutral reporters. hahahah.
Really? Reposting 'news' from that partisan, so-called 'newspaper?'
Will you be quoting Fox News next?

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Plo Koon
Level-headed and unflappably calm, Jedi Master Plo Koon is among the wisest in the Jedi Order. Deeply concerned for life of every form, Plo Koon is especially devoted to protecting the clones under his command. Master Plo shares a special bond with Ahsoka Tano for finding her as a baby.
- Dorin,
- Male,
- Height: 1.88m ,
- Kel Dor,
- Jedi Starfighter,
Searching for Sing
Plo Koon and Ahsoka Tano descend into the Coruscant underworld looking for information that could lead them to the bounty hunter Aurra Sing.
Plo Koon Trapped
Plo Koon and Ahsoka track Aurra Sing to the planet Florrum. Finding her waiting for them in a saloon, Boba Fett emerges from the shadows with a ready Blaster Rifle.
In the Escape Pod
Trapped in an escape pod with a small group of clones and a Pod Hunter bearing down on them, Plo Koon braves the vacuum of space to save himself and his men.
Plo Koon to the Rescue
Mace Windu and Anakin Skywalker, trapped in the ruins of a ship on Vanqor, have nearly lost hope when a Republic gunship carrying Plo Koon, Ahsoka Tano and a squad of clone troopers arrives to rescue them.
Rescue in the Debris
Marooned in an escape pod, Plo Koon assures his clone comrades that their lives are worth saving, quashing their fears that clones are expendable.
Related //
Ahsoka Tano
Ahsoka Tano, a Togruta female, was the Padawan learner to Anakin Skywalker and a hero of the Clone Wars. Alongside Anakin, she grew from headstrong student into a mature leader. But her destiny laid along a different path than the Jedi.
A gargantuan heavy cruiser, the Malevolence is known for its immense ion cannons, which became a dire threat to the Republic fleet early in the Clone Wars. The cruiser's deadly two-step attack begins with knocking out the power systems of a target vessel with its primary weapon. Then the cruiser finishes off the defenseless spacecraft with blasts from its secondary laser cannons and turbolaser batteries.
Clone Troopers
At the time of their introduction, the Republic clone troopers represented the future of galactic warfare. Far superior to battle droids, the clone troopers formed the backbone of the Republic's new military that waged war against the forces of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. So symbolic were they of the times, the galaxy-wide conflict that saw their debut took its name from their ranks: the Clone Wars.
Republic Attack Cruiser
The Republic attack cruiser was not primarily a cargo transport, troop carrier or other replenishment or supply vessel; it was developed and honed for ship-to-ship combat. Its huge armored shape had an aggressive, dagger-like profile, studded with heavy weapons emplacements capable of punching through powerful shields and sturdy armor. The front half of the ship's spine contained a massive flight deck capable of scrambling the latest in Republic starfighters. The huge hangar doors opened to allow ships to land or takeoff from the deck; the vessel also had a smaller docking bay entrance on its lower side.
Jedi Temple
Instantly recognizable by its distinctive crown of five spires, the Jedi Temple was the home of the Jedi Order on Coruscant. Part school and part monastery, the Jedi Temple was the central hub for all Jedi activities in the galaxy. When Supreme Chancellor Palpatine enacted Order 66, clone troops led by the newly risen Darth Vader attacked the temple, massacring its inhabitants and leaving the structure badly damaged. With the Empire triumphant, the Jedi Temple's spires still rose into the Coruscant skies. But the building was now the Imperial Palace, home to the Sith Lord who had destroyed the Jedi.
Jedi Order
A noble order of protectors unified by their ability to tap into the power of the Force, the Jedi Order were the guardians of peace and justice in the Galactic Republic. The age of the Jedi would end, however, due to a nefarious plot by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious.


text:
Originally published on Tue April 24, 2012 5:18 am
A new rule that took effect this year in New York state is designed to stop the illegal sale of black bear parts for use in Asian medicine and cooking. While the sale of parts is still allowed, hunters will now have to document that they were taken legally.
The tiny village of Keene, N.Y., in the Adirondack Mountains is part of a trade network that supplies Asian apothecaries and restaurants from New York City to Seoul, South Korea.


text:
Can't wait to see my boy Leftwich pick that Ravens secondary apart tomorrow night lol!
If it was so obvious then the ref should of stopped in. He back of the head is the Mohawk area of the head. 3 shots at the most hit there. The others were right above the ear.
Never been dropped or rocked?! Ha torched his fucking ass.
There are many paths to freedom, not all are peaceful
Sorry on my phone if some things are spelled wrong.
There are many paths to freedom, not all are peaceful
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)


text:
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Dorchester School District Two made history recently when all twenty-one schools received recognition for general performance in the South Carolina Department of Education's Palmetto Gold and Silver Awards program. Nineteen schools received Palmetto Gold Awards and two received the Palmetto Silver Awards.
In addition, fourteen district schools earned a Palmetto Gold and Silver Award for Closing the Achievement Gap. Eight schools earned the Gold Award, and six earned the Silver Award in recognition of growth in academic achievement made in student subgroups.
The South Carolina Department of Education recognized 662 schools and career centers for general performance, closing the achievement gap, or qualifying in both categories. The Palmetto Gold and Silver Awards program (PGS) began with the Education Accountability Act of 1998, giving recognition to schools for high levels of academic achievement and high rates of improvement. The PGS recognizes schools based on the criteria in the statewide Accountability Manual approved by the Education Oversight Committee (EOC) for both general performance and working towards closing the achievement gap. Within those two categories, a school may be awarded either the gold or silver designation. The EOC revised the criteria for Palmetto Silver General Performance this year, reducing the number of eligible schools.
The nineteen schools receiving the 2013 Palmetto Gold Award include: Alston Middle, Ashley Ridge High, Beech Hill Elementary, DuBose Middle, Flowertown Elementary, Fort Dorchester Elementary, Fort Dorchester High, Gregg Middle, Joseph R. Pye Elementary, Knightsville Elementary, Newington Elementary, Oakbrook Elementary, Oakbrook Middle, Rollings Middle School of the Arts, Spann Elementary, Summerville Elementary, Summerville High, William M. Reeves, Jr. Elementary, and Windsor Hill Arts Infused Elementary. The Palmetto Silver Award went to Eagle Nest Elementary and River Oaks Middle.
Schools receiving the Palmetto Gold Award for Closing the Achievement Gap include: Flowertown Elementary, Fort Dorchester Elementary, Gregg Middle, Knightsville Elementary, Newington Elementary, Rollings Middle School of the Arts, Spann Elementary, and Windsor Hill Arts Infused Elementary. The following schools received Palmetto Silver Award for Closing the Achievement Gap: Beech Hill Elementary, DuBose Middle, Joseph R. Pye Elementary, Oakbrook Elementary, Oakbrook Middle, and William M. Reeves, Jr. Elementary.
The Journal Scene is pleased to offer readers the enhanced ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. We do not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not The Journal Scene.
If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "report abuse" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our website. Read our full terms and conditions.
© 2015 The Journal Scene an Evening Post Industries company. All Rights Reserved.
Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and Parental Consent Form.


text:
Combines the use of Adobe InDesign and Digital Publishing Suite to add an interactive web experience to your digital magazine.
"There are quite a few things that make lynda.com the best online learning platform. One of the greatest is that you guys listen and respond to your audience and I can't thank you enough for doing so." —Nathan
more from our members »


text:
Quick Links
Shop All Jewelry
RGZ10664 In Stock
You'll dazzle everyone when you wear this dazzling light blue and lavender Swarovski crystal flower ring! Filled with hand set sparkling blue, purple, and white swarovski crystals, this 1 inch flower ring also features a 3mm cz stone in the center. If you like funky and dazzling rings, then you will love this Swarovski crystal flower ring!
Eve's Addiction.com wants you to be a happy customer. We want you to be completely satisfied with the sterling silver jewelry that you receive from us, as we only sell high quality silver and cubic zirconia cz jewelry. We do understand that you may not like your purchase for some reason.
You may return or exchange your jewelry within 60 days of purchase if you are not satisfied with it. The jewelry must be returned in its original condition for a refund or exchange. Engraved, personalized, photo, monogram, name and initial, chocolate and clearance items are not returnable or exchangeable.


text:
Skip Top Navigation Skip to Content
For more information, contact:
Planning Studies are conducted on state highway facilities and developed to identify deficiencies and propose solutions. These studies are part of the Washington State Department of Transportation's (WSDOT) long range planning program and are intended to support local jurisdictions in implementation of the Growth Management Act (GMA) Revised Codes of Washington (RCW) 36.70A.A set of activities performed at WSDOT regional planning offices and headquarters, as well as Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), Regional Transportation Planning Organizations (RTPOs), to identify transportation deficiencies and conceptual solutions. These studies are conducted at the statewide, regional, sub-area, corridor or route levels. It is important to realize that planning studies vary significantly in content and coverage, restricting the ability to more narrowly define the term. It is during this early project definition stage where a project is born. However, the planning study results in a concept that needs further scoping and design to develop into construction project ready for delivery. This early project definition affects later development elements such as programming and project development. It is important to note the relationship that exists between the various levels of plans and studies. Some studies are the direct result of a state or regional plan that highlights a deficiency within a particular area or corridor.Planning Studies List and Statewide Map of Studies
The Statewide map of studies currently online show individual counties where the user can select a county for more detail, or select a study off the statewide map.
The Corridor Planning Study process integrates various elements to produce an endorsed highway design solution. This process identifies transportation services desired by WSDOT customers, determines competing demands, and integrates the findings into a common vision for the entire transportation system, and supports investment decisions. The process involves the following phases:
As a guideline, endorsed Corridor Planning Studies provide the following:
Study Types Available
Corridor Management Plans provide analysis of a corridor over a 20+ year planning horizon. CMPs are developed in coordination with the USDOT/FHWA Scenic Byway program. These plans follow FHWA guidelines for a master planning process along a corridor, with a focus both within and outside of the highway right-of-way. These plans establish community-based goals and implementation strategies along a corridor and describe how to use community resources efficiently, how to conserve natural qualities of the corridor, and how to enhance its value to the community. more information...
The usual purpose of the corridor study is to determine the best way to serve existing and future travel demand. These studies define alignment, mode(s) and facilities between activity centers or other logical termini. Corridor planning is accomplished using a long-range outlook (at least 20 years, but sometimes longer). more information...
Design Analyses are conducted when the level of detail in a normal scoping process is not adequate to develop a solution and associated cost estimate for a specific situation. The design analysis provides a level of detail that identifies enough of the construction details to determine the feasibility of the solutions and to provide a close approximation for cost estimating purposes. Design analyses are usually done for projects that are expected to go to design in the upcoming biennium. But design analyses can also provide information for right-of-way preservation and for future projects. more information...Top
Route Development Plans (RDPs) are planning studies on state highway facilities, developed to identify deficiencies and propose solutions. These plans are part of the WSDOT long range planning program and are intended to support local jurisdictions in implementation of the Growth Management Act (GMA) Revised Codes of Washington (RCW) 36.70A. RDPs are now called "Corridor Planning Studies."
Environmental Assessments are used to evaluate a projects environmental impacts prior to construction. These studies may be a precursor to an Environmental Impact Study (EIS). Their purpose is to determine simple mitigation measures that may be employed to reduce these impacts. These studies terminate with findings at their completion of either no significant impact, or require the completion of an EIS to study the issues in more detail and to address environmental concerns.
An Environmental Impact Statement is environmental analysis required under the Federal National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and/or the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) when a project has probable significant adverse environmental impacts.
Border Crossing studies are conducted to explore transportation and related economic issues that may arise between the State of Washington and other adjacent jurisdictions such as British Columbia, Oregon and Idaho. Most studies in Washington have addressed freight and economic issues between Canada and the USA that have occurred because of the NAFTA agreements.
Alternate Route Analysis studies are conducted when an existing route may need realignment due to capacity or other constraints where further improvements of the route may be prohibitively expensive or impossible to construct. These studies generally explore the development of new state routes that would bypass urban congested areas.
Major Investment Studies were developed as part of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) Act of 1990. Their purpose was to explore a number of potential lower cost solutions to a highway transportation problem to determine if less expensive solutions could solve transportation problems in lieu of an expensive expansion construction program. The benefits of the lower cost improvements are compared with those of the more expensive construction solutions for cost effectiveness.
Other types of studies that are conducted for a special purpose but do not fall into the Corridor or Route Development Plan categories can be described as "special studies" and include:
This report is used to justify and document a new access point or access point revision on limited access facilities. WSDOT follows the FHWA policy on access to the interstate system, which was developed to ensure that new or modified accesses are properly reviewed and the highest level of service in terms of safety and mobility can be maintained. An interstate IJR is approved by FHWA, while a state route IJR is approved by WSDOT HQ.
These types of studies often come about through special legislative or political interest, or even through special operational funding. Select, targeted funding is provided to address specific problems or deficiencies, similar to feasibility studies. Often, spot studies address safety issues (due to conditions causing a high number of accidents), address intersection improvement, signalization, or traffic improvements with interconnects to the highway system. Spot or location studies may vary and results range from recommending a course of action, proposing a future solution coupled with immediate short-term delivery fixes, or even identifying an appropriate alternative solution.
The primary purpose of the sub-area study is to support investment decision making in a financially constrained environment. The study area is what can be described as a transit center where most travelers have more than one choice of travel route or mode of travel to connect to trip end points.Top
These studies may include such things as the economic benefits of building a new highway (for example - SR 504 Mount St Helens Highway Extension).PDF files on this site may require the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view.
Biennium - An accounting period of 25 months, used by WSDOT and the State, which starts July 1st of the odd year and ends on June 30th.Scoping - the first step taken in developing a project estimate. It is a detailed look at need for the project, possible environmental impacts, roadway design matters, and stakeholder issues.FHWA - FHWA became a component of the Department of Transportation in 1967 pursuant to the Department of Transportation Act (49 U.S.C. app. 1651 note). It administers the highway transportation programs of the Department of Transportation under pertinent legislation and the provisions of law cited in section 6a) of the act (49 U.S.C. 104) The Administration encompasses highway transportation in its broadest scope seeking to coordinate highways with other modes of transportation to achieve the most effective balance of transportation systems and facilities under cohesive Federal transportation policies pursuant to the act. The Administration administers the Federal-Aid Highway Program; is responsible for several highway-related safety programs; is authorized to establish and maintain a National Network for trucks; administers a coordinated Federal lands program; coordinates varied research, development and technology transfer activities; supports and participates in efforts to find research and technology abroad; plus a few additional programs.Growth Management Act - (RCW 36.70a and RCW 47.80). Adopted in 1990 and all associated amendments since that time. Passed by the state legislature in 1990, and amended in 1991, GMA addresses the negative consequences of unprecedented population growth and suburban sprawl in Washington. The GMA requires all cities and counties in the state to do some planning and has more extensive requirements for the largest and fastest-growing counties and cities in the state. Its requirements include guaranteeing the consistency of transportation and capital facilities plans with land use plans.Top


text:
Jon Sata
Phone: (847) 832-1940
Jon Sata joined the Wolves in September 2010 as vice president of partnerships. The Purdue graduate came to the Wolves after one season as sponsorship executive for the Professional Bull Riders (PBR).
Before that, the 36-year-old worked as director of corporate partnerships for NASCAR's Phoenix International Raceway and director of national sales/regional sales manager for Live Nation Motor Sports (currently Feld Entertainment).
Under Sata's direction, the Wolves won the American Hockey League's Sponsorship Sales Department of the Year award for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons.
Sata and his wife, Sarah, reside in Elmhurst with their son, Justin, daughter, Sonya, and dog, Chile.


text:
Who you got?
We know that Davis would be in danger standing with Glover, but he has really become a solid technical Muay Thai fighter over the years... Would Glover be able to stop Davis's takedowns?
I would put them in the same catagory at the moment, along with guys like Goose, Mo and Mousasi... Just below the elite


text:
We apologize but we are unable to process online orders at this time as we are building a better PetSupermarket.com. To purchase any of our products, please visit one of our retail locations or visit our Amazon store here. You can find your nearest Pet Supermarket by using our Store Locator
4 Products
Page 1 of 1
Living World Deluxe Habitat By Rolf C Hagen
Provides a safe, well ventilated and comfortable place for small pets.
Our Price
$89.99 - $129.99
Available In-Store


text:
Personal Papers, Photographs, Books...
The linchpins of local history collections are the personal artifacts of people in the community: family histories, photographs, and personal papers. These rare or unique materials are actively sought for the Maryland Room collection, where they can be preserved according to archival standards, and made available for scholarly and other research. When this type of material goes to dealers it is almost immediately placed out of reach of local history institutions, and as a consequence, almost all researchers.
We encourage you to make an investment in our history by donating your valuable historical documents, in original, or copied form, if appropriate. We seek written histories of houses and buildings, doctoral dissertations, family histories, and other similar local information to broaden our collection. The Maryland Room Manager will consult with individuals who wish to donate their family, personal, or institutional papers to the Maryland Room, or any other archival institution.
The Maryland Room, the Historical Society of Frederick County, and Mt. St. Mary's College Archives and Special Collections do not compete for collections. These institutions work collaboratively to ensure that collections relevant to the study of Frederick history and genealogy are deposited at the appropriate institution.
When you are interested in making a donation, consult A Guide for Donating Your Personal or Family Papers to a Repository. If you have the archives of a club or civic group in your care, consult A Guide to Donating Your Organizational Records to a Repository . These guides are published by the Society of American Archivists.
Family Histories
The Maryland Room actively collects family histories relating to Maryland, with special emphasis on Frederick and Western Maryland genealogy. These important sources are often only obtainable from the authors. Family histories not only add to our understanding about a particular family, but contribute to the collection of general knowledge that we have about our town, county and our region. Family histories and genealogies plays a part in the large collection that we maintain about this region and enhances the big picture for our researchers by giving us personal detail, facts and information that would otherwise be hidden to them.
All family histories added to the Maryland Room collection are included in a special finding aid dedicated to family histories -- The O'Donoghue Index. A work's inclusion in this heavily used finding aid increases the likelihood that it will be pulled by Maryland Room patrons searching the families covered. Frederick County Public Libraries is also part of the OCLC cataloging network, this means that book titles in the FCPL collection are searchable in WorldCat, a national database. Researchers throughout the world access WorldCat, therefore, a through researcher, no matter where they are located, will encounter any publication relating to a particular family in the Maryland Room collection.
Local Authors
The Maryland Room also collects fiction and poetry by local authors. These materials help to document the activities of Frederick's citizens and also will add to an understanding of our time by later historians
Monetary Gifts
The Maryland Room has the good fortune to be the benefactor of several funds administered by the Community Foundation of Frederick County, Inc. The first of these funds was the Josephine Etchison Memorial Fund. This Fund was established in 1998, by two cousins of Miss Etchison, Eleanor Pearre Abbot and Nancy Pearre Leasure. The Richard T. Lebherz Endowment Fund was provided for in the will of noted Frederick writer, and former Maryland Room volunteer, Richard Lebherz. The "Frances Delaplaine Randall Endowment Fund for Historic Research of Frederick County" supports activities at the both the Maryland Room at the Historical Society of Frederick County. The "Randall Family's Gift to the Maryland Room" provides a significant base to purchase, acquire and maintain materials and equipment for the Maryland Room. The Maryland Room is a gift of the Randall Family.
Other gifts to support the Maryland Room are welcome. Your gift can be designated for a special purpose, or can be undesignated. For more information about giving a gift, contact the Maryland Room Manager.


text:
Manchester University offers many ways for you to connect to your alma mater, old friends you made at MU and faculty who helped to shape who you are today.
Join former classmates and friends on LinkedIn and Facebook and share your experiences and news.
We also hope you'll share your latest news with us so that we can share with others who've been wondering about you! Read Manchester magazine to catch up on the latest alumni news and notes.
Summer Events - May 20--Aug. 7, 2015
Events for the whole family!
Just in - View photos from the 26th Annual Friends of Manchester Golf Outing!
Manchester University
604 E. College Ave.
North Manchester, IN 46962


text:
DAN Insurance Programs
Insurance exists to protect us against unpredictable expenses. We insure our cars, our homes, our health and our valuables. Doesn't it make sense to insure yourself against the unexpected while you enjoy your favorite recreational activity?
DAN provides access to different insurance plans to meet the individual needs of DAN Members.
Only DAN Members can get DAN insurance, so join today!


text:
Ways to get involved in promoting the Victorious Gospel
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
And before Him shall be gathered all nations, and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from his goats.
And so, these folks will be going off into an eonian pruning (a lopping-off which lasts for an undetermined length of time; an age-lasting correction; a pruning which has its source and character in the Age), yet the fair and just folks who are in right relationship and are in accord with the Way pointed out [go off] into eonian life (life which has it source and character in the Age; life pertaining to the Age). -- Jonathan Mitchell Translation-
[it] conveys the notion of punishment for the correction and bettering of the offender.
There is no crossing that gulf between wheat and tares.
Can anyone see that the following parables have the same deeper meaning as that of Lazuras and the rich man? ALL THE FOLLOWING SCRIPTURES/PARABLES ARE SAYING THE SAME THING!Isaiah 46:10Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:Genesis 1:4And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.Matthew 3:12Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.Matthew 13:30Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.Matthew 25:33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.Romans 9:22-23 (King James Version) 22What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 23And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,Matthew 13:47-49 (King James Version) 47Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: 48Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. 49So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,Do you believe What Christ said...???John 8:43-45 (King James Version) 43Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 44Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.Are you believing What Christ said...???Matthew 7:13Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:Are you believing What Christ said over any other source? If your not...why not???!!!!!!14Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.John 3:36He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.Are you believing What Christ said over any other source? If your not...why not???!!!!!!2 Corinthians 6:14Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?1 Corinthians 6:9Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,1 John 5:12He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.John 3:18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.Are you believing What Christ said over any other source? If your not...why not???!!!!!!Galatians 4:30Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.Romans 12:19Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.Galatians 5:21Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 (King James Version) 7And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 8In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 9Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;Now...Here are many scriptures that are all explaining much of the same thing...tares and wheat...sheep and goats...bondwoman and free...vessels fitted for destruction and vessels for honor...those in the straight gate and those in the wide....all the same deeper meaning...show me your scriptures in equal number and diversity backing your philosophy, to disprove what these scriptures say.If you can't, consider what Paul had to say...Colossians 2:8Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.Are you believing What Christ said over any other source? If your not...why not???!!!!!!John 14:6Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.2 Peter 2:2And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
These are the works spoken of that shall be burned. These works are what he believes in Christ. If one is not in Christ, he has no part in this burning,-- the Judgement seat of Christ.1 Corinthians 3:11For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.2 Corinthians 5:9Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
My effort is to tell the truth, with scriptures, to people who profess to want to know the truth. It is good news to all who are of God the Light. Terrible news to those who are not. They hate the truth, for it exposes them for what they are.
2 Peter 2 1But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
That Lord is the Light, the Glory of God. 2And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
When one says God makes no difference in the end between the children of the Light and the children of this world, isn't he calling Jesus a liar?.
David put it another way.Psalm 10:13Wherefore doth the wicked contemn [despise] God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require [investigate] it.
To me Willie, the good news is that through the destruction of the old, comes reconciliation. Destruction is a good thing. None of the old can be in the NEW.


text:
Quick Links
Shop All Jewelry
NLR10052 In Stock
Cross over to the Sterling Silver Gothic Style Cross Pendant. It comes with a Rolo Chain that is available in 16 inches, 18 inches, and 20 inches. This Sterling Silver Gothic Style Cross Pendant can be a small gift or a gift to yourself.
Eve's Addiction.com wants you to be a happy customer. We want you to be completely satisfied with the sterling silver jewelry that you receive from us, as we only sell high quality silver and cubic zirconia cz jewelry. We do understand that you may not like your purchase for some reason.
You may return or exchange your jewelry within 60 days of purchase if you are not satisfied with it. The jewelry must be returned in its original condition for a refund or exchange. Engraved, personalized, photo, monogram, name and initial, chocolate and clearance items are not returnable or exchangeable.


text:
Garden App
Now you can download the Garden app and use your iPhone or Android to help customize your experience at the Garden. The app includes trail guides, maps, garden tour, plant information and pictures, and a learning center that helps you care for your plants at home.
You can download the app through iTunes or Google Play for 99 cents.
The Garden app was developed by by Clarisoft & MuseumXP and Garden staff members.


text:
Charleston — Senate President Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall, and three other members of the state Senate, including Senate Finance Committee Chairman Roman Prezioso, D-Marion, introduced a bill last week that calls for a $1 per pack increase in the state cigarette tax.
If the bill were to pass, the current tax of 55 cents per pack would be increased to $1.55 per pack.
Sen. Ron Stollings, D-Boone, also is a sponsor of the bill. He said for every dollar states spend on Medicaid, the federal government provides three dollars.
So if the increased cigarette tax brings in $90 million of additional funding each year, the federal government would contribute an additional $270 million.
Delegate Don Perdue, D-Wayne, tried to get a boost in the cigarette tax last year but the House of Delegates refused to pass his proposal. He said last week he believes the current atmosphere at the Capitol may help sway opinion this year.
Major legislation requested by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin made significant advances during last week's sessions of the West Virginia Legislature including the two biggest items on his agenda—an overhaul of the state's public elementary and secondary school programs and an effort to cope with the state's crowded prisons that is a result of widespread drug abuse.
The House of Delegates passed SB359—the governor's overhaul of public schools—last Friday. It had already been approved by the state Senate without any changes so the measure now goes to the governor's office for his signature. The two sides conferred and agreed on some of the controversial items prior to passage in the Senate the previous week.
The vote in the House came after members defeated attempts by Republican delegates to add charter schools and alternative teacher evaluation process to the bill during a two-hour debate last Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Senate passed SB371 last Thursday that is intended to provide more options for handling adults who are being jailed for substance abuse. The bill is based on recommendations coming out of a 12-month study of overcrowded conditions in state prisons and regional jails conducted by the Justice Center of the Council of State Governments. The Senate vote was 33-0 with one member absent.
It's goal is to reduce recidivism by requiring post-release supervision for all prison inmates along with community corrections options for nonviolent offenders. The measure still has to be considered in the House of Delegates with less than three weeks now remaining in the 60-day regular legislative session.
Efforts to eliminate the current law that requires county boards of education to publish annual financial reports in the local newspaper (SB508) were stymied in the Senate Education Committee last Thursday. Sen. Clark Barnes, R-Randolph, led the fight to defeat the bill and Don Smith, executive director of the West Virginia Press Association agreed with Barnes.
"We're talking about West Virginia residents and taxpayers now," Smith told committee members. "All this bill would do is take information the public needs access to…and take it out of the public realm."
The committee adjourned without taking action on the bill which has the effect of killing the legislation. Sen. Robert Plymale, D-Wayne, is chairman of the committee and he said he plans to suggest this issue be studied during legislative interim committee meetings during the coming year.
Meanwhile, members of the House Health and Human Resources Committee heard from Michael B. Lacy, director of the division of probation services for the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, last week who told them it costs $7,100 a year to provide treatment for adults suffering from substance abuse rather than sentencing them to prison.
He said that figure is far cheaper than the $18,400 per year it costs when the individual is sent to a regional jail and $24,000 if the person is confined in a state prison.
Senate President Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall, said the alternative approach envisioned in SB371 will still cost about $20 million to $30 million but that's far better than spending as much as $200 million on another state prison.
Meanwhile, Acting Secretary Rocco Fucillo of the Department of Health and Human Resources told members of the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee last Tuesday that a health-care initiative will be launched in May with preventive care, chronic disease management and promoting healthy lifestyles as the top priorities.
The plan is to work with physicians, medical schools, hospitals and health-care providers to improve the quality of health for West Virginia residents but controlling the cost.
In other legislative developments last week:
— the House of Delegates passed HB2046 last Monday that requires wireless telecommunications companies to release location information of a missing person's cell phone in a timely manner, the "Kelsey Smith Act" by a 96-1 vote. The state becomes one of several to approve such legislation since the murder of Kansas 18-year-old Kelsey Smith. Cellphone signals helped lead police to her body four days after she was abducted from a Target store parking lot.
— Secretary of State Natalie Tennant expanded her campaign to defeat proposed legislation that would require voters to show photo identification by unveiling a Voting Rights Protection Coalition at her Capitol office last week after Republicans in both the House and Senate proposed legislation to require a photo ID to be eligible to vote.


text:
Click Here to Watch the Whole Video in HD at Frat Men
Fratmen TV - college jocks and naked straight men in hot streaming video and pics
Fratmen's Greatest Shots Volume 3.
Pixels: 320X240 | Bitrate: 350K
Pixels: 640X480 | Bitrate: 700K
hot cam show, u can find his cam at ChatterFlirt. com
Now if only I could all that cum in my mouth...we'd be set.
that was sexy!
What an awesome montage of gorgeous guys busting a nut!
that's what it's all about! :)
Their expression when they are about to bust a nut is fucking priceless!
Awesome idea!
it's very nice
What being a man is all about. Each of these guys was a stud and had a big dick that had to nut!
awesome! skype: swany43
Made my flag erect and -proud God Bless America
love this video iwant cock any one help ?
love it so much
nice cumpilation :) yummy ;p
21-Cum Salute!
All that cum needs to savored.
HOT compilation!!
funny AND hotnna winning combination
This is AWESOME!


text:
A method for tracking changes on a primary volume in a continuous data protection system writes data to the primary volume. A copy of the data is written to a secondary volume, the secondary volume including all writes made to the primary volume. Each write made to the secondary volume is mapped in a data structure, such that the data structure tracks changes on the primary volume between two different points in time.
1. A method comprising:
writing data from a host computer to a primary volume;
writing a copy of the data, from the host computer via a data protection system, to a secondary volume in consecutive physical locations, so that the secondary volume includes the data written to the primary volume; and
mapping each write made to the secondary volume in a data structure which tracks changes on the primary volume between two different points in time.
2. The method according to
3. The method according to
4. The method according to
5. The method according to
6. The method according to
7. The method according to
8. The method according to
9. A computer-readable storage medium storing a set of instructions for execution by a general purpose computer to track changes on a primary volume, the set of instructions comprising:
a first writing code segment for writing data from a host computer to the primary volume;
a second writing code segment for writing a copy of the data, from the host computer via a data protection system, to a secondary volume in consecutive physical locations, so that the secondary volume includes the data written to the primary volume; and
a mapping code segment for mapping each write made to the secondary volume in a data structure which tracks changes on the primary volume between two different points in time.
10. The computer-readable storage medium according to
a merging code segment for merging multiple data structures into a single merged data structure, whereby the multiple time periods protected by the multiple data structures are protected by the single merged data structure.
11. A system comprising:
a data protection system coupled to a host computer for protecting data written from the host computer, wherein the data includes a plurality of blocks;
a primary volume configured to write the data from the host computer;
a secondary volume configured to write a copy of the data from the host computer, via the data protection system, so that the plurality of blocks are in consecutive physical locations, wherein the data protection system is configured to map writes made to the secondary volume in a data structure which tracks changes made on the primary volume between two different points in time.
12. The system according to
13. The system according to
14. The system according to
15. The system according to
16. The system according to
17. The system according to
18. The system according to
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/771,613, filed Feb. 4, 2004, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/541,626 filed Feb. 4, 2004, which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
The present invention relates generally to continuous data protection, and more particularly, to storing data using a continuous data protection system.
Hardware redundancy schemes have traditionally been used in enterprise environments to protect against component failures. Redundant arrays of independent disks (RAID) have been implemented successfully to assure continued access to data even in the event of one or more media failures (depending on the RAID Level). Unfortunately, hardware redundancy schemes are very ineffective in dealing with logical data loss or corruption. For example, an accidental file deletion or virus infection is automatically replicated to all of the redundant hardware components and can neither be prevented nor recovered from by such technologies. To overcome this problem, backup technologies have traditionally been deployed to retain multiple versions of a production system over time. This allowed administrators to restore previous versions of data and to recover from data corruption.
Backup copies are generally policy-based, are tied to a periodic schedule, and reflect the state of a primary volume (i.e. a protected volume) at the particular point in time that is captured. Because backups are not made on a continuous basis, there will be some data loss during the restoration, resulting from a gap between the time when the backup was performed and the restore point that is required. This gap can be significant in typical environments where backups are only performed once per day. In a mission-critical setting, such a data loss can be catastrophic. Beyond the potential data loss, restoring a primary volume from a backup system, can be very complicated and often takes many hours to complete. This additional downtime further exacerbates the problems associated with a logical data loss.
The traditional process of backing up data to tape media is time driven and time dependent. That is, a backup process typically is run at regular intervals and covers a certain period of time. For example, a full system backup may be run once a week on a weekend, and incremental backups may be run every weekday during an overnight backup window that starts after the close of business and ends before the next business day. These individual backups are then saved for a predetermined period of time, according to a retention policy. In order to conserve tape media and storage space, older backups are gradually faded out and replaced by newer backups. Further to the above example, after a full weekly backup is completed, the daily incremental backups for the preceding week may be discarded, and each weekly backup may be maintained for a few months, to be replaced by monthly backups over time. It is noted that the daily backups would typically not all get discarded on the same day. Instead, the Monday backup set is overwritten on Monday, the Tuesday set is overwritten on Tuesday, etc. This ensures that a backup set is available that is within 8 business hours of any corruption that may have occurred in the past week.
Despite frequent hardware failures and the necessity of ongoing maintenance and tuning, the backup creation process can be automated, while restoring data from a backup remains a manual and time-critical process. First, the appropriate backup tapes need to be located, including the latest full backup and any incremental backups made since the last full backup. In the event that only a partial restoration is required, locating the appropriate backup tape can take just as long. Once the backup tapes are located, they must be restored to the primary volume. Even under the best of circumstances, this type of backup and restore process cannot guarantee high availability of data.
Another type of data protection involves creating point in time (PIT) copies of data. A first type of PIT copy is a hardware-based PIT copy, which is a mirror of the primary volume onto a secondary volume. The main drawbacks to a hardware-based PIT copy are that the data ages quickly and that each copy takes up as much disk space as the primary volume. A software-based PIT, typically called a "snapshot," is a "picture" of a volume at the block level or a file system at the operating system level. Various types of software-based PITs exist, and most are tied to a particular platform, operating system, or file system. These snapshots also have drawbacks, including occupying additional space on the primary volume, rapid aging, and possible dependencies on data stored on the primary volume wherein data corruption on the primary volume leads to corruption of the snapshot. In addition, snapshot systems generally do not offer the flexibility in scheduling and expiring snapshots that backup software provides.
While both hardware-based and software-based PIT techniques reduce the dependency on the backup window, they still require the traditional tape-based backup and restore process to move data from disk to tape media and to manage the different versions of data. This dependency on legacy backup applications and processes is a significant drawback of these technologies. Furthermore, like traditional tape-based backup and restore processes, PIT copies are made at discrete moments in time, thereby limiting any restores that are performed to the points in time at which PIT copies have been made.
A need therefore exists for a system that combines the advantages of tape-based systems with the advantages of snapshot systems and eliminates the limitations described above.
The present invention is a method and system where data is structured so that writes may be continuously duplicated and a protected volume may be restored to any particular point in time, as desired. Writes are continuously logged to a secondary volume in a sequential fashion and meta-data regarding the secondary volume is organized by using data structures. The data structures indicate which volume blocks were written during a particular time frame and point to the location of the actual modified data blocks that were written during the time frame.
A more detailed understanding of the invention may be had from the following description of a preferred embodiment, given by way of example, and to be understood in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:
In the present invention, data is backed up continuously, allowing system administrators to pause, rewind, and replay live enterprise data streams. This moves the traditional backup methodologies into a continuous background process in which policies automatically manage the lifecycle of many generations of restore images.
It is noted that the primary data volume 104 and the secondary data volume 108 can be any type of data storage, including, but not limited to, a single disk, a disk array (such as a RAID), or a storage area network (SAN). The main difference between the primary data volume 104 and the secondary data volume 108 lies in the structure of the data stored at each location, as will be explained in detail below. It is noted that there may also be differences in terms of the technologies that are used. The primary volume is typically an expensive, very fast, highly available storage subsystem, whereas the secondary volume is typically cost-effective, high capacity and comparatively slow (for example, ATA/SATA disks). Normally, the slower secondary volume cannot be used as a synchronous mirror to the high-performance primary volume. This is because the slow response time would have an adverse impact on the overall system performance. The disclosed data protection system, however, is optimized to keep up with high-performance primary volumes. These optimizations are described in more detail below. At a high level, random writes to the primary volume are processed sequentially on the secondary storage. Sequential writes improve both the cache behavior, as well as the actual volume performance of the secondary volume. In addition, it is possible to aggregate multiple sequential writes on the secondary volume, whereas this is not possible with the random writes to the primary volume. Also note that the present invention does not require writes to the data protection system to be synchronous. However, even in the case of an asynchronous mirror, minimizing latencies is important.
It is noted that the data protection system 106 operates in the same manner, regardless of the particular construction of the protected computer system 100, 120, 140. The major difference between these deployment options is the manner and place in which a copy of each write is obtained. To those skilled in the art it is evident that other embodiments, such as the cooperation between a switch platform and an external server, are also feasible.
In practice, certain applications require continuous data protection with a block-by-block granularity, for example, to rewind individual transactions. However, the period in which such fine granularity is required is, generally, relatively short (for example two days), which is why the system can be configured to fade out data over time. The present invention discloses data structures and methods to manage this process automatically.
Because data is continuously backed-up in the present invention, reversing each write to get to a particular point in time quickly becomes unfeasible where hundreds, thousands or more writes are logged every second. The amount of data simply becomes too large to scan in a linear fashion. The present invention therefore provides data structures (i.e. delta maps) so that such voluminous amounts of backup data may be efficiently tracked and accessed, as desired.
In typical recovery scenarios, it is necessary to examine how the primary volume looked like at multiple points in time before deciding which point to recover to. For example, consider a system that was infected by a virus. In order to recover from this virus, it is necessary to examine the primary volume as it was at different points in time in order to find the latest recovery point where the system was not yet infected by the virus. In order to efficiently compare multiple potential recovery points, additional data structures are needed. Delta maps provide a mechanism to efficiently recover the primary volume as it was at a particular point in time, without the need to replay the write log in its entirety, one write at a time. In particular, delta maps are data structures that keep track of data changes between two points in time. These data structures can then be used to selectively play back portions of the write log such that the resulting point-in-time image is the same as if the log were played back one write at a time, starting at the beginning of the log.
Referring now to
In a preferred embodiment, as explained above, each delta map contains a list of all blocks that were changed during the particular time period to which the delta map corresponds. That is, each delta map specifies a block region on the primary volume, the offset on the primary volume, and physical device information. This information can then be used to recreate the primary volume as it looked like at a previous point in time. For example, assume that a volume was brand new and that only the two writes in delta map 150 have been committed to it. The map thus contains a list of all modifications since the volume was in its original state. In order to recreate the volume as it was after these two writes (for example, after a failure of the primary volume), the system examines the first two entries in the delta map. These entries are sufficient to determine that a block of data had been written to region RO on the primary disk at offset 100 and that the length of this write was 20. In addition, fields 156 and 158 can be used to determine where the duplicate copy was written on the secondary volume. This process can then be repeated for each entry and an exact copy of the primary volume at that time can be recreated in this fashion. It is noted that other fields or a completely different mapping format may be used while still achieving the same functionality. For example, instead of dividing the primary volume into block regions, a bitmap could be kept, representing every block on the primary volume.
Referring now to
As explained above, each delta map includes information necessary to recreate the changes to the protected volume for a particular time window. For example, delta map 202 t0-t1 corresponds to the change of the protected volume between time zero and time one, delta map 202 t1-t2 corresponds to the change of the protected volume from time one to time two, and so forth. It is noted that these time windows do not necessarily need to be of equal size. If a primary volume is completely destroyed at time n+1, a full restore as of time n may be performed by simply using merged delta map 206 t0-tn. If a loss occurs at time three, and the primary volume needs to be restored, merged delta map 202 t0-0-t3 may be used. If a loss occurs at time five and the system needs to be restored to time four, merged delta map 204 t0-t3 and delta map 204 t3-t4 may be used.
As shown in
Referring now to
Delta map 450 includes the originating and terminating entries for writes 456 and 458 while delta map 452 includes originating and terminating entries for writes 460 and 462. In delta map 450, the two top entries are the originating and terminating entries for write 456 and the two bottom entries are the originating and terminating entries for write 458. Similarly, the two top entries in delta map 452 are the originating and terminating entries for write 460 and the two bottom entries are the originating and terminating entries for write 462. As explained above, the delta maps 450 and 452 include the specifics regarding each write that occurred during the time period covered by the particular delta map.
Delta maps 450 and 452 may be merged into a single merged map 454. One significant benefit of merging delta maps is a reduction in the number of entries that are required. Another, even more significant benefit, is a reduction in the number of blocks that need to be kept on the secondary volume once the lower-level maps are expired. It is noted, however, that this is only the case when a previous block was overwritten by a newer one. For example, in this particular scenario, it is possible to eliminate the terminating entry 468 of write 462 because writes 462 and 458 are adjacent to each other on the primary volume. That is, because there is a terminating entry 468 with the same offset (i.e. 240) as an originating offset 470, the terminating entry 468 may be eliminated in merged delta map 454. By way of further example, if a subsequent write was performed that entirely filled region two (i.e. R2), and the map containing that write was merged with map 454, all of the entries related to R2 would be replaced with the R2 originating and terminating entries for the subsequent write. In this case, it will also be possible to free up the blocks in this region once the delta maps are expired. The delta maps and the structures created by merging maps reduces the amount of overhead in maintaining the mapping between the primary and secondary volumes over time.
Referring now to
If writing to the primary volume is complete (step 308), the method proceeds to step 310 wherein the status (i.e., an indication that the primary volume write is complete) is sent to the host. It is important to note that a "good" status can be returned without regard to whether the data made it to the secondary volume in this embodiment. This is advantageous for performance reasons. However, a synchronous embodiment is also possible as described above. The method 300 then proceeds to step 312 to check for errors in the primary volume write. If an error has occurred, an additional entry is added to the write log in step 314 reflecting the fact that an error has occurred and then the method 300 proceeds to step 316. If no error has occurred, the method 300 proceeds directly from step 312 to step 316. In step 316, it is confirmed whether writing to the secondary volume is complete. Once the write is completed, the method 300 proceeds to step 318 to check for errors in the secondary volume write. If an error has occurred, an entry reflecting the fact that an error has occurred is added to the write log (step 320).
By way of further explanation, the sequence of events performed when a host computer performs a write to a primary volume is shown in
If the write is to a clean region, a synchronous update of the dirty region log(DRL) is performed 354. Then, both the primary and secondary writes are started 356, 358. Once the primary write is completed 360, the status is returned to the host 362. If a host-based volume manager is used, this happens independently of the secondary write. If an error occurred in the primary write, it is indicated in the write log by adding an additional entry. Of course, there are two possibilities with respect to the completion of the secondary write (i.e. the duplicate write made to a secondary volume). That is, the secondary write may be completed before 364 or after 366 the completion of the primary write 360. It is noted that whether the secondary write is completed before 364 or after 366 does not affect implementation of the present invention. As with completion of the primary write, if an error occurred in the secondary write, it is indicated in a write log by adding an additional entry to the write log.
Referring now to
By way of explanation, assuming the present invention is implemented to protect a system that is currently in production. Such a system already contains important data on the primary volume at time t0. Hence, if the system starts recording the changes from this point on, the volume cannot be reconstructed at a later time unless there is a copy of the volume as it was at time t0. The initial full copy does exactly this—it initializes the secondary volume to a state where the contents of each block at time t0 are known. It is noted that in the special case when the primary volume is empty or will be formatted anyway, users have the option to disable the initial full copy. This means, however, that if they want to restore the volume back to time t0, an empty volume will be presented. To provide further explanation, assume that the primary volume already contains important data. In that case, if blocks 5, 9, and 57 are overwritten at times t1, t2, and t3 respectively, it is not possible to present a complete volume image as it was at time t2. This is because it is not known what blocks 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, etc. looked like at that time without having taken a full copy snapshot first.
Referring again to
In step 410, a delta map is created by converting the time-ordered write log entries to a block-ordered delta map. Next, in step 412, it is determined whether pre-merge optimization will be performed. If so, delta maps are periodically merged to provide a greater granularity in the data on the secondary volume. It is noted that merging of delta maps can occur at any time and according to any desired policy. In the preferred embodiment, the merging algorithm looks for adjacent delta maps with the same expiration policy and merges those. This minimizes the number of merge operations that will be required upon expiration. In a different embodiment, pre-merging occurs automatically after a certain number of writes W or after a certain time period T. Additionally, the system is capable of storing full maps of the primary volume at various points in time. This significantly accelerates the merging process later because fewer maps need to be merged. Regardless of whether pre-merge optimization is performed, the method 400 cycles back to step 404.
Although the present invention has been described in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, and that various changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, which is defined by the attached claims.
Patent Citations
Non-Patent Citations
Referenced by
Legal Events
Original Image


text:
Silvester Ranard Brewer was sentenced June 20 to 20 years for one count of burglary, 10 years each for two counts theft by taking felony, and 12 months for driving while his license was suspended.
Count two is to run consecutive with count one and all other counts are to run consecutive for a total of 30 years, with the first three years to be served in confinement. The remainder of sentence may be served on probation.
The three years Brewer was sentenced to serve in prison was as a recidivist, which means he will not be eligible for parole until the full three years are served.
Assistant District Attorney Gregory Bushway said Brewer stole an axle and sold it for scrap metal. He said the owner of the axle noticed the theft and deputies found footprints at the scene of the crime belonging to Brewer.
For the full story, pick up a copy of this week's newspaper or subscribe to our e-Edition at http://ee.jcnews.com.