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ASRock Rack C2750D4I Review: A Storage Motherboard with Managementby Ian Cutress on 4/29/2014 9:00 AM EST
- Posted in
- Storage
- Atom
- ASRock
- Motherboards
- Silvermont
- Enterprise
- server
- Avoton
85 Comments
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A5 - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkFor HTPC, I'd think you would probably want to get a small GPU for decode help anyway, so that would be where your audio comes from as well. Reply
bernstein - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkyeah it's a shame this doesn't come with a hdmi connector... then i'd be sold. even though i wouldn't use any of the sata plugs and just hook a sas controller+expander up to it...
hdmi + ecc + pcie x8 capability cpu+mobo for $400 would be a steal Reply
slayernine - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkQNAP's Intel Atom models have HDMI. Reply
bernstein - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkyeah if only they had fanless 10+ bay models for less than $1000. Reply
bernstein - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkoh and one that runs zfs Reply
Gralgrathor - Thursday, May 21, 2015 - link10+ disks without cooling? They won't last a day... And why would you need a hdmi-connector on a server mobo? Reply
DanNeely - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkAt $400 it's priced out of the core HTPC market; it's clearly intended as an entry level large storage server. As pointed out below, the spaghetti explosion from wiring a dozen drives with individual cables makes it unsuitable for most enterprise use (or prosumers who know better). Reply
Samus - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - linkFor $400 you could put together a better HTPC/NAS combo solution with an AMD AM1 ITX system and an Areca SAS RAID card in a PCIe slot. You'd get a superior onboard GPU with HDMI, native USB 3.0, and a better RAID card, not some Marvell crap.
Athlon 5350 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
ASUS AM1 ITX http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
Areca PCIe 8-port SAS http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
This motherboard is interesting and ASRock is a solid consumer OEM, but it's a little premature of them to be getting into rack space. Reply
UpSpin - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - linkYou don't have to buy the overpriced octa core board, but could buy the identical quad core version ASRock C2550D4I for $280.
Your mainboard doesn't support ECC RAM and your SAS Controller only supports 8 SATA drives without further expanders. Together with the two SATA connectors on the mainboard you got only 10.
The quad core has an even lower TDP of 14W vs. 20W of the octa version. The C2750 has a faster CPU compared to your Athlon 5350.
The only disadvantage is the poor IGP. Considering that this is more a storage/server board, less a HTPC (who wants 12 noisy hard drives in the living room?) and the unbeatable price, it's a very interesting porduct in my opinion. Reply
Samus - Friday, May 02, 2014 - linkWell, UpSpin, that would be why I said 'htpc/nas'
If you purely want a NAS, there are probably better solutions than what I outlined, but for a hybrid (and who is to say the NAS wont be SSD's or 2.5" 2TB drives that are dead silent) this board, like Ian pointed out, is kind of a joke for an HTPC solution. It is VERY market specific, and virtually ALL AT readers aren't part of that market. This board is grossly overpriced, especially for something with ASRocks name on it. Even cold-storage servers should have USB 3.0 or eSATA. and quality products don't use some buggy $3.00 Marvell chipset that wipes arrays at random. Reply
mars2k - Saturday, May 31, 2014 - linkI'm with you Up, how did this get sidetrac'd into HTPC, I'm looking for an alternative to some of the stock Qnap and Synology geer for use in my home. Want NAS box with lots of tru put. Not clear on why Ian says no NAS. Whats up with configuring as a NAS? Any other suggestions Reply
samueldes - Thursday, November 27, 2014 - linkBefore you buy: the Areca PCIe X8 card won't fit in the ASUS AM1 board with only one PCIe X4 slot. Reply
Ammohunt - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - linkAvoton supports intels visualization extensions with 64GB of RAM and 8 cores it could be a decent low powered KVM server sliced up in many different ways. Reply
stoatwblr - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - linkI have to say I'm surprised they didn't go with minisas connectors instead of a fistful of satas. Supermicro have done the same thing and it simply doesn't make sense. Reply
Samus - Friday, May 02, 2014 - linkyeah they could have saved a ton of real estate using mini plugs. Even full sized servers like HP's ML310 series use mini plugs to keep the board clean. Even more important on an ITX board. This board has a lot of oversights, which ASRock will learn is unacceptable in the market they're targeting it at. Reply
ericloewe - Friday, May 02, 2014 - linkBad idea in this case, since they're using SATA instead of SAS. Someone would inevitably try to use this with an SAS expander...
But I agree with Supermicro having made an odd choice. Their LSI2308-equipped motherboards would be perfectly equipped with SAS connectors. Reply
speculatrix - Sunday, May 04, 2014 - linkif you're looking more for a media player you can plug into your TV, then one of the many other Baytrail-D motherboards would be suitable... there's a useful list and discussion of them here:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php... Reply
bernstein - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linki'm probably one of the core target prosumers for this, as for a few years now i've been running something similar at home...
namely a sandybridge itx board, 35 Watt i3, ecc ram, supermicro low profile (lsi) sas controller, supermicro 24x (lsi) sas expander backplane, 400w passive psu, passive cpu cooler, 18 sata 2.5" hdds (5200rpm - WD scorpio blue / hitachi travelstar)
and while this board fits my requirements wonderfully while being cheap there is just one dealbreaker... 12x sata? wtf? no-one sane will run so many hdds without a backplane. it's just unmanageable.
the most simple backplane with 12 sata plugs + some power plugs & 12 correctly spaced hdd plugs woud do. and could be manufactured & sold very cheaply. but there is no such thing... (step up asrock :) Reply
bernstein - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkto the point: give me such a backplane for below $100 and im sold. else thanks but no thanks. Reply
ZeDestructor - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkWith 18 drives, you might want to consider a BackBlaze pod with room for 45 drives, especially now that we have 32 and 40 disk controllers. That with some ZFS would be quite an excellent NAS IMO, and I am heading that way, slowly. Reply
bernstein - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linknot when you want to run it next to your tv in a 100m2 appartment :) Reply
ZeDestructor - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkI have a 48-port switch in my bdroom.. I fail to see your point :P
In your place, I'd run it under the TV, straight off the floor, with some quiet fans... 120mm fans are always quiet. Reply
Guspaz - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - link100 square metres is a pretty huge apartment, but the idea behind a storage server isn't to put it next to your TV or projector anyhow. I'm moving from a 34sqm apartment to a 65 sqm apartment, and I've got a 15-drive (18 drive if you include the boot/cache SSDs) ZFS file server for all my media. But it's a headless system, and even though it's pretty quiet (I've used nothing but low-power drives), it doesn't need to be anywhere near the home theatre setup. It's going to go in a closet somewhere. The only connection it needs to my home theatre is not an HDMI cable, but a Cat6 cable :)
Of course, I don't have a dedicated HTPC either; my main desktop (an SFF system) will be in the same room as my home theatre, connected to my HDMI matrix switch. It can access files on the giant file server in the closet, while taking up very little space itself. If for some reason my desktop couldn't be near my home theatre, I'd probably just buy an NUC-like system for that. Reply
bernstein - Thursday, May 01, 2014 - linktrue it doesn't need to be near the tv... but at least my appartment doesn't have a closet. so its either bath, kitchen, living room or one of the sleeping rooms. or the cellar... 5 floors down. installing network cabling there is north of $5000... and wlan through multiple concrete thats just not going to do it. Reply
bernstein - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkyeah wouldn't have anything else than zfs Reply
extide - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - linkYou can always buy reverse breakout SFF-8087 cables Reply
hasseb64 - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - link10W less in IDLE compared to a standard/high performance Z87 MB and Haswell top CPU?
I'll pass! Reply
jwcalla - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkIs there a Z87 MB that supports ECC ram? Reply
bernstein - Thursday, May 01, 2014 - linkno Reply
Marquis - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkThe article states there are 4 fan headers, but there are actually 6. The aforementioned four next to the CPU socket and two more in the corner near the cluster of SATA ports that are all-white. Reply
Marquis - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkNevermind, reading comprehension FTW. The other two are mentioned later.... Reply
bombshelter - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkYour comment about the reason for using the PLX switch is wrong. First, the PEX8608 is an 8-lane switch and they are using it in a x4 (from CPU) to 4 x1s (to PCIe end-points) topology. The Avoton CPU actually has a total of 16 PCIe lanes, but can only bifurcate to 4 controllers. So the real reason they are using the PLX switch is to be able to have more than 4 PCIe end-points connected to the CPU. There will be no performance degradation or sharing of bandwidth due to the presence of the PLX switch since there is an equal number of lanes going into it from the CPU as as there are end-points connected on the downstream side. Reply
Ian Cutress - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkAha, yes my interpretation of the chipset diagram was a little off. Going to update the review. Reply
chang3d - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkSupermicro has two similar board with a few differences of SO-DIMM, USB 3, 4 NICs, and 6 sata headers. It's also cheaper. I think the features of this board is much better than this ASRock board.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8... Reply
ddriver - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkIs it just me or was this review an extremely bad match to that product? What about NAS performance, which undoubtedly will be one of the major selling points? Instead we get gaming on a product as far from gaming as it gets. And content creation? Reply
Ian Cutress - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkAccording to users on several forums, this board has been the focus of many different types of build. I've done a brief analysis here of usability and interface, but Ganesh is our storage guru and has all the equipment for storage related tests, so I'd rather leave that in his court for a follow-up review rather than fumble through them myself. Reply
ddriver - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - linkNo offense, but you have reviewed a rake as a back scratcher :)
With such massive storage capacity, dual gigabit onboard, up to 64 GB of ECC ram - computational performance is irrelevant, this product is all about throughput. While it may be viewed as somewhat beneficial to get concrete numbers, yet after all the numbers only confirm this product ain't neither about gaming nor about content creation, so if anything the review is useful at proving its uselessness, which makes it technically useful - which is quite a nice paradox ;) Reply
LastQuark - Monday, May 05, 2014 - linkIt's not you. This is perfect to me for what this board is intended for - virtualization, NAS, home web server, backup, even good enough for a Plex or XMBC server. The review made it seem like it is for HTPC and gaming which it is not. Reply
DuckieHo - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkDrop the AST2300 for management.
Drop BMC/SMB.
Drop IPMB.
Drop TPM.
Drop COM port.
Reduce fan ports (6 PWM to 4 PWM).
Drop a SATA controller (12 ports to 8 or 10).
Increase the size of the heatsink and/or add a fan.
Drop the price in half for a consumer version please! Reply
Rick83 - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkThere's a quad-core version of the same board at 3/4 the price. That should be enough for most home users. It's also a 14W part, so has less cooling needs. Reply
S.D.Leary - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkActually, for the SMB/Home version I was thinking more along the lines of keeping all the management, but dropping the TPM.
Dropping BOTH extra SATA switches. (No real need for these on a home Media Server, and honestly for many/most SMB, four 6TB drives would be more than enough)
Updating USB to 3.1 status
A digital video output.
Dropping the COM port
Thunderbolt 2 for external expansion (that way a SMB that was growing could add a storage chassis if needed)
And for Silverstone, a chassis with similar capabilities to the DS380, but with the following changes...
Drop 3.5" support. Ideally 4 Hot Swap 2.5" external bays, and one or two internal 2.5" bays.
An option for a Slim Optical drive.
Preferably a horizontal orientation to fit into an A/V setting.
Support for double wide normal graphics cards. This would probably necessitate a riser and horizontal orientation of the card.
Ian! A question for you. Do you have something that could test real time transcoding of Audio and Video? Both with and without a GPU?
SDLeary Reply
Computer Bottleneck - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkI like the idea of the consumer version as well.
Make mine a C2550 and no additional SATA controllers. (SOC has six native SATA). Reply
LastQuark - Monday, May 05, 2014 - linkYou're looking at the wrong board. Check Bay Trail solutions. It will be perfect for your needs. Reply
swizeus - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkInteresting as how Anandtech includes gaming benchmark for a storage centric motherboard, and with a decent card, it still be able to cope. What can you expect from a 25W CPU though Reply
LastQuark - Monday, May 05, 2014 - link+1. It was a gross oversight of what this board is intended for. Reply
-=Hulk=- - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - link1. All recent Atoms (including Avaton's) support hardware AES acceleration:
2. 43W idle for the 5350??? What the hell??? I think your values are totally wrong....
50W for the C2758??? Look at that test with a similar Supermicro Mini-ITX motherboard:
http://www.servethehome.com/intel-avoton-rangeley-... Reply
Ian Cutress - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkValues aren't wrong, but the PSU is inefficient. Those values are also a full system build. I have to keep the same power supply across reviews for meaningful comparisons on the same efficiency curve, which I mention in the blurb above the power readings. I also mention that due to that fact, it's more a qualitative comparison than a quantitative. Reply
DanNeely - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkI understand why you're using the same PSU for all your tests. But for really small/low power systems I'd suggest adding a second power test with a much smaller PSU, similar to how the old cast thermal tests for small enclosures were often done with both a big high power GPU and a small lower power one. The 1250W monster would allow for direct comparison with high power gaming systems; a second number from a ~250W PSU would provide a second number that would be more inline with typical use. Reply
watersb - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkWow! Thanks for writing about this one! I build small-office storage servers, and this might be exactly what we need! Reply
watersb - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - link"Users have been reporting that in Linux and FreeBSD, high intensity read/write workloads cause the controller to reset and elements to any software array are lost."
Hmm. Not good. I see this with Sil3132 controllers, too. The PCIe x8 slot would let me install a modest controller like the old Intel/LSI SASUCI8, but that push the system price back into SuperMicro territory. Reply
chekk - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkYes, for that price and target market, they should have gone with an LSI chip. You don't see Supermicro or Tyan boards in that price range using Marvell. Reply
cen - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkI know it was said that the actual storage review is coming in the future but I think this article is a complete waste of time. You should simply let the storage review happen and not bother with this at all. More than half of the benchmarks are useless, the only ones of value might be encryption and compression.
What we actually want to see is FreeNAS thrown in there with a 16TB ZFS zpool and some IO benchmarks. :) Reply
Calista - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkCould be perfect for anyone wishing to build a tiny box for virtualization, a task in which many a NIC, plenty of RAM and a multicore processor is most helpful. Reply
RandomUsername3245 - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkI've wondered how one of these Avoton boards would compare to a Supermicro C2xx + Pentum G3430 (which supports ECC). This is the cheaper option if you don't need lots of ports, but once you add $100 for a sata card from Ebay, these options are similarly priced. Reply
Calista - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkCould you please measure power consumption without the 770 as well? I have a HP Elite 8200 with a quad i5, SSD + 2.5" HDD, 32 GB RAM and an extra NIC as a makeshift box for ESXi and with 6-8 virtual machines running it draw less than 30 watt. It would be interesting to know how low this machine could go since any machine running 24/7 will add substantially to the power bill. Reply
Guspaz - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkIf I was using this in my home file server, I'd make a few changes to the board. The number of SATA ports is fine, because even though I've got 18 drives in mine, that PCIe slot lets you put in a SAS/SATA controller to get the total up as high as needed (16 port cards aren't hard to find, higher is available).
However, I'd change a few things:
1) Replace the CPU. Home file servers can often be bottlenecked by individual CPU core performance, because not all filesystem operations on ZFS are multithreaded (although it's far better these days). For the ~25W TDP, I would much rather have a Haswell part, even if it meant fewer cores. For that TDP, you could get a ~3GHz dual-core part, or a ~2GHz quad-core part. Either of those would be better suited.
2) Add digital video output. HDMI, DVI, DisplayPort, any of them. I'm not suggesting using this thing for HTPC use, but many monitors these days are digital-only, and nothing is more annoying than trying to diagnose problems with a headless system when your motherboard is VGA-only and all you have is digital-only monitors.
3) Drop two of the RAM slots, and use them for another PCIe slot. Four slots is excessive for anything but enterprise use. Two slots cheaply gets you 16GB of RAM, or 32GB if you're desperate, either of which is more than enough for a home file server. A second PCIe slot, on the other hand, could enable a variety of other options, be they multiple SAS/SATA cards, a discrete video card if you really do want to use the thing as an HTPC, a video capture card (this board in that Silverstone case would probably make a decent HD-SDI recording box), etc.
4) More USB ports, prefereably 3.0. If extra space is needed for the ports, ditch one of the three GigE ports; two is plenty.
5) An mSATA slot for a boot drive could be useful, although it would probably increase board complexity by requiring some of the board components to move to the rear. Reply
stoatwblr - Thursday, May 01, 2014 - link"Two slots cheaply gets you 16GB of RAM, or 32GB if you're desperate"
My ZFS media rig has 19 drives (21 including the ZIL and l2arc), plus boot media and at 36Tb it _needs_ 32Gb of ram to work efficiently. It kept bottlenecking at 16Gb. The next round of storage will push well past the 32Gb requirement.
+1 on the video output, +1 on usb3 - but I don't think it needs more ports. That's not a good fit for the target, which is a storage controller. Ditto on the mSATA.
If you need fewer cores there's a quad-core version which is cheaper.
I'd prefer that they placed a lsi sas controller onboard and dumped the sata ports for minisas (an expander cable is cheap, tidy and positively locks into place to ensure no problems.) The downside is that a decent sas controller would add at least $100 and a port multiplexer as much again.
If I was designing, I'd think about 10Gb copper, but that adds 15W to the power consumption and $150 to the price.
This thing is expensive for prosumers and limited for enterprise, but compromises are always like that. Supermicro's version has similar issues and the fact that they don't use minisas makes me think that perhaps Intel have placed restrictions on what can be used. Reply
bernstein - Thursday, May 01, 2014 - linkwell my zfs rig has 20 2.5" 2tb sata hdds (2x 16tb raidz2). no ZIL. no L2ARC.
runs on a single 8GB ecc ddr2 dimm on a sandy bridge i3-2100T.
as a home fileserver this system rocks. it might be ram "bottlenecked" for high i/o tasks, but all i can see is that it performs at least as well as a single USB3 hdd... and it outperforms any consumer nas. Reply
Daniel Egger - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkFor a NAS or SAN build this seriously lacks 10GbE and USB 3 ports. All in all this board seems like a pretty strange amalgamation of random features, as there're better choices for about any possible use case around. Reply
Gunbuster - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - link14000 RPM Delta fans? No Thanks!
I would have called it the AssRack. Sorry I couldn't resist! Reply
samsp99 - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkAgreed on the comments that this is a strange configuration of hardware. Would it have been better to incorporate either 3 4 Channel SAS controllers, or one controller and an SAS expander so you don't need to have 12 cables for the drives. It would then allow for better configurability for RAID.
A USB3 header on the MB would be useful either with a separate hub, or for use with a flash drive for OS installation or as a boot drive. Reply
lagozit - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - linkPardon my ignorance, but what is "cold storage"? Reply
DuckieHo - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - linkWrite once, read few. Reply
OCedHrt - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - linkSince I just got my hands on this board, I do want to point out a discrepancy.
The C2750 has very different BIOS options than the screenshots here from the C2550 (much less, in fact).
I'm also wondering if you would be able to test a Sil3132 card in the PCI-E slot. I can't get the board to detect it. Reply
iwod - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - link$400 for a MB like this....... Reply
Calista - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - linkWell, the CPU is almost $200 itself, another $200 for a small run design doesn't seem unreasonable. Reply
hallary - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - linkI found it quiet interesting ,Thank you for posting the great content on topic <a href="http://www.experttexting.com/sms-gateway/">... SMS Gateway</a>…I was looking for something like this…, hopefully you will keep posting such blogs… Reply
KermitBMendoza - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - linkAt $400 it's priced out of the core HTPC market; it's clearly intended as an entry level large storage server. As pointed out below, the spaghetti explosion from wiring a dozen drives with individual cables makes it unsuitable for most enterprise use (or prosumers who know better). http://sn.im/28v3ntg Reply
SuperSpy00bob - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - linkNo ECC support? Reply
jwcalla - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - linkOf course it has ECC support. It'd be useless without it. Reply
SuperSpy00bob - Monday, May 05, 2014 - linkOops. I it's only mentioned in the spec chart, not in the article itself. It seemed like a glaring omission. Reply
JBVertexx - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - linkFor home use, I don't know why you would pay so much for such a low-end processor. For $40 more you can have this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8... plus a Xeon E3-1230v3.
I'm running a home server on an E3-1230v2 (even cheaper), and it handles storage, Plex transcoding to everyone's devices, offloaded Blu-Ray Rip transcoding, and hosts several VMs running minecraft servers for the kids. No way you could do all that with this board. Reply
djb61 - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - linkI've actually built a storage box recently using a fairly similar setup for a home NAS. I used the supermicro C2750 board however and added an IBM M1015 SAS card flashed to an IT mode LSI 9211-8i firmware for the disks. Then I have 8x4TB WD Reds in the Silverstone DS380.
I'm still doing initial stress testing to make sure there are no dodgy disks etc currently so I can't comment about actual day to day use of such a system yet.
One thing I did notice with the DS380 is there appears to be a minor design flaw in the trays/backplane which is visible in the pictures here also.
The HDD trays have a clear perspex light guide built into the right side of them which allows an activity LED for the port on the backplane to illuminate to the front of the tray. This is the little square notch visible on the right hand side of the trays in the pictures here. However the activity light for the 4th bay from the top (5th from the bottom) doesn't illuminate on the tray properly despite it clearly lighting up on the backplane board. If you look at the picture of the backplane board and note the component labelled LED5 and its position relevant to the connector SATA13 and compare this to all the other LED and SATA components. The relative positioning on this bay is different and therefore is not aligned with the light guide on the HDD tray. I'm not quite sure how they managed to let that slip through the design stage but maybe Anandtech could feed it back to Silverstone. Reply
azazel1024 - Thursday, May 01, 2014 - linkWhy would you test power consumption in that config? It tells you nothing as it isn't remotely comparable to what it actually uses by itself or how you'd normally be using it. Reply
jwcalla - Thursday, May 01, 2014 - linkPeople are reporting that ASRock is pretty much treating this as a Windows-only board. If you have problems on other OSes, don't expect support from them.
And with a Marvell controller... we can expect problems. Reply
Krautmaster - Friday, May 02, 2014 - linkwell, be bechmarks are a mess for a server board like this. Why not any VM benches or Storage Benches ...
I used that board for Storage Tiering in Server 2013 R2 with 3x4Tb + 4x2 TB + 2x256GB SSDs see here http://www.computerbase.de/forum/showthread.php?t=... Reply
Bronek - Sunday, May 04, 2014 - linkIt's worth saying that this motherboard supports up to 64GB of ECC memory. Thanks Ian, I think you just identified parts I will need for my FreeNAS build :) Reply
copilusntil0p@ - Monday, May 05, 2014 - link1. It's interesting how the used the PLX chipset givint tha fact that the Avoton is a SoC ant tha NICs ar integrated in it. 2. To those yelling "drop BMC": this board is not for you; don't judge it for what is not. 3. I've been in the situation to chose between this board and a Supermicro A1SRi-2758F for a home server. I've choose the latter and paired it with an HP P400 with 512MB cache and BBU (50$ on e-bay). So now I have a preety decent box with 5 gigabit interfeces, IPMI via AST2400 and 14 SATA ports (6 onboard from the SoC and eight SAS-to-SATA from the HP controller backed-up by 512MB of DDR2 cache). I've attached one Samsung 840 Pro SSD to one of the SATA 3 ports for SSD caching on ESXi. An givving the fact that the board comes from a manufacturer with greater experience in the server market, has an upgraded BMC controller, management software, wider accessory range (cases, controllers etc), has all LAN ports available, four USB 3 ports (one is directly attached to the board). Reply
LastQuark - Monday, May 05, 2014 - linkInteresting build. I thought about this route as well and since I will be using KVM, the ASRock solution is good enough for me while keeping the part count as a minimal. Have I gone to ESXi and need more ethernet ports, that Supermicro + HP solution is the way to go with only a slight penalty in power savings. Reply
dzezik - Thursday, May 08, 2014 - linkWhat a stupid review. Find nothing about storage performance. You used storage motherboard and stroge enclosure to test gaming performance. Who is using his NAS server for gaming? Reply
SallyannePaoloniuic - Saturday, May 10, 2014 - linkReply
Snayperskaya - Monday, May 12, 2014 - linkI know someone probably pointed this out, but running a default benchmark test against a system that is optimized to work on a dedicated role is a bit pointless. What about some data I/O tests on this one? I didn't see the test you guys take on HDDs/SSDs. Reply
trampsvondepalz - Monday, May 12, 2014 - linkI guess the main reason for this product launch is to attack the almost identically featured Supermicro Atom boards (like the A1SRi-2758F) at a somewhat lower pricepoint (which does not necessarily mean "cheap" ! ;-)
Supermicro had almost no competitors in this very special segment before - or am I wrong there ?
Let´s wait and see if reliability and software support catch up with the grandmaster of storage & Server boards ! :-)
http://www.supermicro.nl/products/motherboard/Atom... Reply
S.D.Leary - Tuesday, March 03, 2015 - linkI may have missed it, but did Ganesh ever test this board?
SDLeary Reply
NilamBhate - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - linkWhat is the 1U rack mount case - make and model you used here ? Reply


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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Permanent alimony is one step closer to being a thing of the past in Florida.
The Senate approved a measure that places guidelines for alimony based on the length of marriages. It could be taken up by the House as early as next week.
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One local man says he pays his ex-wife alimony and hopes the bill passes.
"I didn't want her to leave," said William Bauer, who was married to his wife for 28 years. "I wasn't mean to her. Why should I have to pay for her decisions that she wanted to leave and live with another guy."
Others say they hope the bill doesn't pass in the House.
Facebook user Chelsea Turner says, "My dad was in the Army, so we moved all the time and (my mom) took care of everything, including four kids, for 30-plus years. And my dad decided he didn't want to be married to her anymore. She definitely deserves alimony for at least the 30 years she put up with him."
Women can also pay alimony, depending on the couple's income and circumstances. The changes would not alter the current structure of child support payments.
Copyright 2013 by News4Jax.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Science of Sound .:May 06 09:.
More Melodic than CliffsNotes .:May 06 09:.
Last Friday my boss asked me last minute to deliver something
Downtown. I had a few minutes to spare before heading back to the
office and ran into the homie DJ Style AKA Question.
I've looked up to this brotha and his skills since the 90s. Dude used
to kill it at Blow Pop in OB back in the day with the A# Drop Squad.
He also murdered it a few times at our Crossroads gigs, down at the
Juke Joint and Hollywood Star (remember those venues?!)
Mark did alot for the Hip Hop Community then, and he is still contributing, but on a worldwide level now. Check out his latest project with Freddie Joachim:
STUDY GUIDE a dope collection of jazzy beats
Study Guide is available now on iTunes, and the CD will be officially released in the U.S. on July 1st. SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL DJ/PRODUCERS!
oh yeah, i am currently bumpin' one of his mixes SOUL SCHEME which you can find, along with other sick mixes on Myspace.
Big up and Congrats, Mark!
- Bojo


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NEW YORK - Jazz composer and pianist Dave Brubeck, whose pioneering style in pieces such as "Take Five" caught listeners' ears with exotic, challenging rhythms, has died. He was 91.
"We couldn't keep his heart going"
Gloyd told NBC News that Brubeck's son noticed that something was wrong with his father on the way to the doctor's appointment, called 911 while en route, and the two were met by medical personnel at the hospital.
"We couldn't keep his heart going," doctors told Brubeck's son.
Gloyd noted that prior to Brubeck's death, "He was getting tired; he was getting old. (But) he still had a great sense of humor."
Brubeck would have turned 92 on Thursday.
WATCH: Dave Brubeck performs 'Take 5'
Brubeck and his wife, Iola, had five sons and a daughter. Four of his sons — Chris on trombone and electric bass, Dan on drums, Darius on keyboards and Matthew on cello — played with the London Symphony Orchestra in a birthday tribute to Brubeck in December 2000.
"I think music has always been a good communication tool"
"We never had a rift," Chris Brubeck once said of living and playing with his father. "I think music has always been a good communication tool, so we didn't have a rift. We've always had music in common."
Copyright 2012 by ClickOnDetroit.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Corn futures reacted weakly to bearish developments Monday. Sizeable equity market losses and U.S. dollar strength apparently undercut several commodity sectors in early trading, with grain prices being a prime example. Talk of improving crop conditions and favorable weather forecasts also appeared to trigger widespread selling. July corn futures sank 8.5 cents to $6.5325/bushel by late Monday afternoon, while December lost 9.75 cents to $5.465.
The soy complex ended Monday in decidedly mixed fashion. The legume markets had declined in concert with corn and wheat Sunday night, but the tight old crop situation apparently boosted nearby beans and meal and offset the bearish downdraft. Meanwhile, ongoing vegetable oil weakness depressed soyoil, as did the simple fact that aggressive crushing for meal could produce excess supplies of oil. July soybean futures jumped 18.75 cents to $15.12/bushel as pit trading ended Monday, while July soyoil dropped 0.37 cents to 47.65 cents/pound, and July soymeal rallied $4.8 to $452.5/ton.
Harvest results reportedly depressed wheat futures Monday morning. Early reports indicated that winter wheat harvesting over the weekend yielded surprisingly good results in Kansas, which exerted considerable downward pressure upon the Chicago and Kansas City markets. Declining equity values, the rising dollar and forecasts for favorable weather over spring wheat fields in the northern Plains apparently weighed upon the Minneapolis market. July CBOT wheat plunged 19 cents to $6.79/bushel at its Monday settlement, and July KCBT wheat dove 21.25 cent to $7.1525, while July MGE futures sagged 2.75 cents to $8.1125.
Cattle futures started the week on a down beat. The bearish nature of the monthly USDA Cattle on Feed report last Friday probably weighed upon prices. Traders also seemed to turn away from the big gains posted last Friday, due in part to steady-lower country prices at that time, as well as the wholesale slippage seen at noon today. August cattle closed 0.42 cents lower at 121.17 cents/pound, while December dropped 0.40 cents to 126.70. Meanwhile, diving corn futures boosted feeder prices. The August yearling contract surged 0.75 cents to 147.67 cents/pound and November rose 0.85 to 152.85.
Hog futures exhibited considerable strength Monday. Although the cash and wholesale markets have a history of turning decisively lower from June highs, the discounts already built into summer futures may have given them room to rally over the short-term. The large rise in pork cutout last Friday also seemed quite supportive. July hog futures surged 1.20 cents to 100.95 cents/pound at the Monday settlement, and the December contract added 0.57 cents to 82.87.


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In basketball, there are defensive and offensive rebounds.
For the Williamstown Lady Demons softball team, they needed an "offensive rebound," after losing 10-0 against Grant County April 20 and they got it, defeating the Deming Lady Devils April 21.
"It was a game they needed," Coach T.J. West said. "Especially after the way the girls lost the Grant County game."
In the second game of the regular season April 20, fans and players witnessed junior pitcher Emma Harris get beaned in the side of the helmet in the bottom of the first inning.
"I couldn't hear at first," she said. "I have gotten hit before, so it wasn't new to me, I just couldn't hear and that is what scared me. I wasn't going to come out of the game."
The ball field grew quiet as Harris' dad, David hopped the fence to check on his daughter.
The Grant County High School track team hosted the Grant County All-Comers, April 19.
Eight schools were in attendance, including Williamstown.
The Grant County boys' track team lost to Holmes by 20 points in the standings.
Some highlights for the Braves boys' team, was sophomore Nathan Davis winning the 400 meter dash with a time of 55.58 seconds. Davis also won the high jump, reaching 6 feet even.
The boys 4x400m relay won by one second over Walton-Verona.
15 Years Ago
April 20, 1996
A traveling baseball team sponsored by Tom Duncan Real Estate, Arby's and Shoney's beat Rosebud Stables 14-1. Tyler Jones had two hits and three runs scored and Zack Yagle was 2-for-2 with two runs scored.
25 Years Ago
April 25, 1986
The Lady Squaws had to come from behind in the 7th inning to defeat Pendleton County 12-11, thanks to some clutch hitting.
Lady Braves take care of business over SK
When: April 18
Where: Simon Kenton High School
What: The Lady Braves bounced back from their loss to Oldham County, defeating the Lady Pioneers 4-3. Sophomore Samantha Perry had a home run to lead Grant County.
Upcoming: The Lady Braves will face Williamstown at 5:30 p.m. April 20 at Williamstown High School.
It has been a rollercoaster season for T.J. West and the Williamstown Lady Demons softball team.
After starting the season with a double-header sweep of Heritage Academy, the Lady Demons lost four consecutive games entering the 8th Region All "A" Classic April 14 against Eminence.
Junior starting pitcher Emma Harris threw a two-hit shutout to lead the Lady Demons to a 4-0 win over the Lady Warriors.
As Major League Baseball and UNICEF have come together to raise money for the efforts in the Japan Earthquake/Tsunami relief, Grant County High School took their own action April 14, as they held an art auction and sporting events.
One dollar of each gate entry, and the art auction raised $86, while teachers who wore jeans for a $1 raised $48 and the game admissions raised $77, for a total of $211.
"We hope to raise more by selling more artwork in school," Melissa Wallace, GCHS' media specialist, said.
15 Years Ago
April 17, 1996
The Grant County Squawsdefeated Owen County 10-7, after trailing 6-2 early in the game.
Juniors Sarah Hager and Shelly Dalton hit back-to-back home runs to lead Grant County.
25 Years Ago
April 23, 1986
The Grant County Squaws in their first season of competition, won four straight games to move their record to 4-5 on the season.
Copyright © 2017
The Grant County News is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Dry Ridge, KY and the surrounding area.


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What Does "Mutawatir" Mean?
It is a fact agreed by almost all Islamic scholars that the hadiths reported regarding Hazrat Mahdi (as) are "mutawatir," or absolutely trustworthy. However, we first need to clarify just what "absolutely trustworthy" means. As we briefly described in the "Introduction" section, according to hadith scholars, if a report has been handed down by several people and if it is technically impossible because of their circumstances for these individuals to have come together to invent the account, then that account is known as "Mutawatir." Mutawatir accounts are known as "tawatur."
In one source the word "tawatur" is defined as follows:
"The meaning of the word 'tawatur' is 'powerful report, a report with no possibility of being false and based on a community of people'." (Hekimoglu Ismail, The Encyclopedic Ottoman Turkish-Turkish Great Dictionary, Turdav Publications p. 3003 [Büyük Lugat,Türdav Yayinları])
The meaning of the word "mutawatir" is set out as follows in various other sources:
"A hadith reported directly from the Prophet (saas) directly from the first community and independently by communities which rationally have not been able to combine in a falsehood. It is an expression of certainty. There is no possibility of asking, 'Was this hadith really uttered by the Prophet (saas)?'" (Omer Nasuhi Bilmen, Muvazzah alm al-Qalam, p. 53)
MUTAWATIR HADITH: A hadith regarding which a group of narrators could not have combined in a lie, which they have transmitted in every generation from a community like themselves, and based on something heard or seen.
It expresses certain information, its fulfillment is essential, its denial implies blasphemy, and it is beyond questioning or criticism.
Mutawatir in wording: A hadith whose words are the same in all accounts. They are "so few that they almost do not exist". An example is, "Man kadhaba alayya …" When one says, "mutawatir hadith" without being put down on record, it is perceived as "mutawatir according to the wording."
Mutawatir in meaning: Provisions expressed in different words but with a common point of agreement among them and narrated in such a way as to bear the conditions necessary to bear a "common meaning." One mutawatir form emerging from a hadith with up to 100 different verbal forms is that the Prophet of Allah (saas) "prayed while lifting his hands." (Ismail Lutfi Cakan, "Forms of the Hadith" [Hadis Usulü], IFAV, Istanbul 1993, p. 105-150)
The views of various scholars on this subject are set out below:
The existence of Hazrat Mahdi (as) and his appearance in the End Times, that he will be descended from the family of our Prophet (saas) and from the sons of Fatima (ra) are described in hadiths that attain the status of being tawatur, and it is meaningless to deny these hadiths … In true and clear hadiths that go beyond the degree of tawatur , it is proven that Hazrat Mahdi (as) will be descended from the line of Fatima, that he will appear before the world comes to an end, that he will bring justice and sovereignty to a world filled with cruelty and injustice, that the Prophet Jesus (as) will descend from the sky in his time and will perform the prayer under his leadership. (al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, p. 305)
May the mercy of Allah be upon you, there is no doubt about the existence of the Mahdi (as). It has been proven with three hundred hadiths and works, or even more. (Jasim al-Muhalhil, al-Burhan, Vol. I, p. 339)
Every Muslim must believe in and affirm the unseen knowledge imparted by the Prophet (saas), particularly the prognostication with regard to the appearance of Hazrat Mahdi (as) and the antichrist. In the face of the majority of the written proofs regarding Hazrat Mahdi (as) being true, it is impossible to consider these as inconsistent. Only the ignorant, those at war with the truth or those unable to examine their written proofs deny this. The fact is that affirming those hadiths is part of believing in our beloved Prophet (saas). Because accepting his words is a necessary part of believing in him. And the unseen belief in which Allah praises believers in the Qur'an (Surat Al-Baqara, 2-4) is the same as faith itself. (Dr. Abd al-Muhsin ibn Hamad al-Abbad, "Majallat al-Jamiah-al-Islamiyya, Year 1, No. 3, pp. 624-627)
The essence of the matter is that believing in Hazrat Mahdi (as) is a fundamental belief based on tawatur hadiths transmitted from the Prophet (saas), and belief in this is obligatory. Because under the decree of Allah (Surat Al-Baqara, 2-4), belief in the unseen revealed is a component of faith as one of the features of those having fear of Allah. None but the ignorant deny this. I beseech Allah to die in this belief, regarded as true in the Book and the Sunnah. (Muhammad Nasiruddin Al Albani, "Majallat al-Tamaddun al-Islami, No. 22, p. 646)
One of the greatest portents of the Day of Judgment is the appearance of an individual described in hadiths of a certainty exceeding the degree of tawatur. He is the last of the imams. In the same way that there will be no prophets after the Prophet (saas), so there will be no imam after him. This imam is descended from the sons of Fatima.
Many scholars of the hadiths have agreed that Hazrat Mahdi (as) will be descended from the Prophet (saas), and it is unseemly to turn one's back on such a mutawatir subject. According to the belief of the people of truth, Hazrat Mahdi (as) is independent of Jesus the Messiah. Hazrat Mahdi (as) will appear before the Messiah. This matter has become so widespread among scholars of the Sunnah as to be regarded as one of their beliefs. (Shamsuddin Muhammad ibn Ahmad Safarani, Lawami' al-Anwar al-Bahiyya,," Vol. 2, pp. 74, 76,86)
… There are so many hadiths concerning Hazrat Mahdi (as) that they have reached tawatur status and it is inappropriate to reject these… Were I not afraid it would be long, I would collect all the hadiths I know here. (Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Jafar Idrisi al-Katani, "Nadhem al- Mutanathir Fi al-Hadith al-Mutawatir," pp. 145 and 146)
… Belief in the appearance of Hazrat Mahdi (as) is obligatory, belief in this is essential to affirm the decree of the Prophet (saas). Indeed, this matter has been recorded and proven in the books of Alh al-Sunnah. (Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Ghumari, Ibraz al-Wahm al-Maknun, pp. 3, 4)
We advise Muslims to trust in reliable hadiths and fully believe that Hazrat Mahdi (as) will appear in the End Times. Because those who say the opposite in fact have no religious knowledge nor any belief in the hadiths. (Hasanayn Muhammad al-Makhluf al-Misri, "al-Syahid al-Basher Yatahadda al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar," Introduction to the book)
Hadiths relating the appearance of Hazrat Mahdi (as) have been reported from various narrators. These hadiths emphasize that Hazrat Mahdi (as) will be from the line of the Prophet (saas), will rule for seven years and fill the world with justice, that the Messiah will appear and help him eliminate the tribulation (fitnah) of the antichrist, and that as Hazrat Mahdi (as) leads the prayer (salat) the Prophet Jesus (as) will perform it behind him." (Abu Abdullah al-Qurtubi, at-Tadhkirah, p. 710)
… And believing that Jesus son of Maryam will descend from the sky, will eliminate the tribulation (fitnah) of the antichrist, and will perform the prayer behind Kaim, of the sons of Muhammad… (Qasim Muhalhil, al-Burhan, Vol. I, p. 426)
Researchers have shown no disagreement that in the End Times there will be a successor descended from the Prophet (saas). It is unanimously agreed by all that this leader will be none other than he who is known as the Mahdi (as). Accordingly, we believe in the successor [spiritual leader] with these features revealed as coming in the future and intend to be among his supporters when he manifests himself. We beseech Allah to assist us in this intent." (Prof. Said Hawwa, al-Aqaid al-Islamiya," Vol. 2, pp. 1021-1026)
… There is no doubt that these hadiths are mutawatir, provisions of the decree of the Prophet (saas). Because there can be no questioning this subject and individual opinions are invalid… Accordingly, since the accounts regarding the antichrist and the Messiah are mutawatir, so those regarding Hazrat Mahdi (as) are mutawatir. (Al-Muhib ibn Salih al-Buraim, "Iqdud Durar fi Akhbar al-Muntadhar," pp. 14 and 15)
The hadiths regarding Hazrat Mahdi (as) have passed the measure of being tawatur, and there is no significance in denying them. (Mashariq' al-Anwar, Vol. 2, p. 115)
The hadiths about Hazrat Mahdi (as) from the sons of Fatima are more than tawatur. They are to be found in the books "Sunan" and "Musnad" and "Mu'jam." (Qanuji, "al-Iza'a …," p. 94)
All the hadiths related by our Prophet (saas) about Hazrat Mahdi (as) stating that someone with matching name and personal traits will appear in the End Times and will fill the world with justice, are reliable. (Ibn Taymiyyah, Minhaj as-Sunnah an-Nabawiyyah, Vol. IV, p. 291)
In accounts relating that hadiths concerning Hazrat Mahdi (as), the antichrist and the Messiah have attained the degree of tawatur, there are no points giving rise to any doubt on the part of people with a knowledge of the hadiths. Some commentators have doubts about some hadiths on this subject, despite admitting that belief in the portents of the Judgment Day is obligatory. But this indicates that they do not possess deep knowledge of the science of the hadiths, and nothing else. (Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari, Nazrah `Aabirah fee Mazaa`im Man Yunkiru Nuzool `Isa Qabla al-Akhirah , p. 49)
In his work (Manaqib ash-Shafi) Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Hasnawi says: on the subject of the Mahdi, the hadiths narrated by our Prophet (saas) have tawatur status … It is stated that he will be descended from the Prophet… (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah)
Many Islamic scholars have emphasized the obligation to believe mutawatir hadiths and the importance in the faith of mutawatir reports. Below are cited the views of various Islamic scholars on this subject:
"Tawatur is not one of the subjects of the isnad (chain of transmission accompanying each hadith). Because the isnad reveals whether or not a hadith is true by examining the identity and qualities of the narrator. Yet the narrators of a mutawatir report are not to be questioned, and belief in a mutawatir hadith is obligatory, without questioning it." (Dr. Subhi Salih, Ulum al-hadith pp. 151 and 152)
"Know that a hadith narrated by a number of people whose truth is proven is 'mutawatir'. In other words, there is no possibility of these people cooperating to lie in all classes of narration… These hadiths must be adhered to without entering into debate concerning the narrators. (Muhammad Jamal Al-Din al-Qasimi al-Dimashqi, "Qawaid al-Tahdith, min Funun Mushthalah al-Hadith," p. 151)
"Conditions such as justice or truth sought in the narrators of Reliable or Fair hadiths are not sought in the narrators of "mutawatir" hadiths. Because the number of narrators of these hadiths is so great that it is not rationally possible for them to have come together to fabricate them. For that reason, hadith scholars do not take mutawatir hadiths as a subject for inquiry. In their view, the only subject for investigation is the truth or validity of a hadith. Yet there is no such need in the case of mutawatir hadiths… These narrators consist of so many people as to obtain absolute certainty. This is a natural and manifest phenomenon." ( Dr. Nur ad-Din Itr,, Manhaj al-Naqd fi Ulum al-Hadith, p. 405)
"A report the narrators of which cannot normally have cooperated in falsehood in the beginning, middle or end of which, is 'mutawatir.'… Hadith scholars do not insist that the narrators of mutawatir hadiths have integrity, or even be Muslim. In the same way that they need not be adult, have integrity or be Muslims, so there is no need for them to be living. It is lawful for them to be non-believers, impious or not to have reached adulthood. Neither is there any stipulation that they bear a specific title." (Katani, Nadhem al-Mutanathir Fi al-Hadith al-Mutwatir, pp. 5,6,9)
"There is no need for the narrator of mutawatir hadiths to have integrity or even be a Muslim. Because the criterion for the acceptability of mutawatir status is the large number of narrators. Indeed, if the population of a city report that an event took place, absolutely certain knowledge can be obtained from their words." (Dr. Abu's-Sadat Muhammad ibn Muhammad Abu Shahba, "al-Wasit fi Ulum wa Mustalah Al-Hadith, p. 190)
"There are two types of report: Mutawatir and Ahad … A mutawatir report is one transmitted from one group that cannot have combined in a lie to another group like itself, and the two sides (the first stratum and last stratum) and those in the middle (between the two) are equal. This crowd report something not imagined but perceived with the senses, and absolute certainty is attained through that report. The view on which the majority of investigators are agreed is that tawatur status cannot be restricted by a specific number." (Al-Jazairi, Tawjih an-Nazar, p. 33)
We have seen from the explanations given by Ahl al-Sunnah scholars we have been looking at that there are mutawatir hadiths regarding a holy individual known as Hazrat Mahdi (as) and descended from our Prophet (saas) who will appear in the End Times. We have also seen that it is obligatory to believe in these accounts, which cannot rationally or logically be groundless or lies.
That being the case, some Islamic scholars have stated that, because of their absolutely certain status, denying mutawatir hadiths is equivalent to denying the Prophet (saas) and have unequivocally ruled that this is blasphemy. Some accounts by such scholars read as follows:
Know that: As unanimously stated, whoever, by word or deed, denies [mutawatir hadiths] is a blasphemer, unless he knows proof, and leaves the sphere of Islam; they will be grouped with Jews, Christians and groups chosen by Allah. (Abdul al-Ghani al-Haq, "Hujjiyat al- Sunnah, p. 270, from The Key to Paradise)
"…Because as a requirement of the decision taken by scholars, after it has been proved that the hadiths transmitted from our Prophet (saas) are mutawatir, he who denies them is a blasphemer unless he can show an acceptable justification of his denial. (Abu al-Fadl Abd-Allah ibn Muhammad al-Idrisi, "The Awaited Mahdi," pp. 94, 95)
In hadiths reported by reliable narrators the Prophet (saas) has imparted the glad tidings that Hazrat Mahdi (as) will appear in the End Times, as well as his titles and the signs of his appearance… It is stated by the Prophet (saas) that whoever denies the promised Mahdi (as) or regards him as untrue is a blasphemer. (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir az-Zaman, Vol. 2, pp. 865-876)
The following two hadiths are of such a nature as to confirm the rule imposed by these scholars:
"He who denies the emergence of Hazrat Mahdi (as) denies the revelation to Muhammad…"
"…he who denies Hazrat Mahdi (as) is without doubt a blasphemer."
The Ahl-Al Sunnah sources that transmitted these hadiths are, in order:
1- Abu Baqir Ahmad ibn Muhammad Askafi (dec. H. 260), Fawaid al-Akhbar.
2- Abu Bakr ibn Haythami (dec. H. 279), Jam al-Ahadith al-Warida fi al-Mahdi.
3- Abu al Bakr Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Kalabazi Bukhari (dec. 380), Ma'ani al-Akhbar.
4- Abu Qasim Abdurrahman al-Suhayli (dec. 581), Ravd al-Anf, Sharh al-Sira, Vol. 2, p. 431. (narrated by Malik ibn Anas from Muhammad ibn Munkadir from Jabir).
5- Yusuf ibn Yahya Maqdisi al-Shafi (dec. 685), Iqd al-Durar fi Akhbar al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 157, al-Askafi, Fawaid al-Akhbar and Sharah al-Sirah from Abu al-Qasim al-Suhayli.
6- Sheikh Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Hamwini (dec. 730), Fara'id al-Simtayn, Vol. 2, p. 337, No. 585, Maani al-Akhbar from Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ibrahim.
7- Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (dec. 852), Lisan al-Mizan, Vol. 4, p. 147, Egyptian edition; p. 130, Haydarabad edition, Maan al-Akhbar.
8- As-Suyuti (dec. 911), al-Arf al-Wardi fi Akhbar al-Mahdi, p. 161, from Fawaid al-Akhbar.
9- Ibn Hajar al-Makki ash-Shafi (dec. 974), Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntazar, p. 56, copy in a manuscript in the Zahiriye Library in Damascus and in the Ayatullah Marashi Library in Qum, (transmitted from Fawaid al-Akhbar and Sharh as-Sira).
10- Ibn Hajar al-Makki, al-Fatawa al-Hadith, p. 37.
11- al-Muttaqi al-Hindi (dec. 975), Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir az-Zaman.
12- Sheikh Muhammad ibn Ahmad Saffarini al-Hanbali (dec. 1188), Lawami' al-Anwar al-Bahiyya, Vol. 2, chapter titled «al-Faidah al-Hamisa» concerning the Mahdi; from Hafiz Askafi. (The reliability of the narrator Jabir ibn Abdullah is praised.)
13- Sulayman al- Qunduzi (dec. 1294), Yanabi' al-Mawadda, Beginning of 78th chapter, transmitted from Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari.
14- Sayyid Muhammad Sıddiq Qanuji al-Bukhari (dec. 1307), al-Iza'a Li Ma Qâne wa Mâ Yaqun al-Bayna Yaday -as-Sa'eh, p. 137, from Jam al-Ahadith al-Warida fi al-Mahdi from Ibn Haythami and Fawaid al-Akhbar from Askafi.
15- Abu al-Fadl Abd Allah ibn Muhammad Siddiq (dec. 1308), Al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 94 and from Fawaid al-Akhbar.
Some Examples of Fatwas Issued on the Subject of Hazrat Mahdi (as)
As we have seen above, the hadiths regarding Hazrat Mahdi (as) possess a tawatur level of trustworthiness, leaving no room for doubt and revealing the obligation for belief on the matter. One fatwa on the subject issued by the «Rabitat al-Alam al-Islami« (Committee of the Islamic World) headed by Sheikh Muntasir al-Katani and signed by Sheikh Muhammad al-Qazzaz [dated 23 Shawwal 1396 (17.10.1976)] of the Islamic Law Board which is made up of eminent religious scholars reads:
"... Many companions have narrated hadiths from the Prophet (saas) regarding the Mahdi. I know some 20, such as Uthman ibn Affan, Ali ibn Abu Talib and Ummu Salama, and many other accounts have been narrated from them. In addition, there are decrees from companions with the force of the word of the Prophet (saas). There can be no interpretation and no different opinion on this subject. Such hadiths on this subject have been recorded in Sunan Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah and Ibn Asakir's Tarikh Dimashqi [History of Damascus] and other books.
Special books have also been written on the subject of the Mahdi (as): "Akhbar al-Mahdi," "The Book of Abu Nuaim," "al-Wahm al-Maknun" and others … Previous and contemporary eminent figures have agreed that hadiths regarding Hazrat Mahdi (as) enjoy tawatur status: as stated in al-Sakhawi's "Fath al-Mugeeth," Ibni Tamiyya's "Fatawa" and Abu al-Abbas al-Maghrib's "al-Wahm al-Maknun"…
Commentators and experts on the hadiths are agreed that hadiths about Hazrat Mahdi (as) enjoy tawatur status. In conclusion, belief that Hazrat Mahdi (as) will appear is obligatory. It is included among the beliefs of the community and people of the Sunnah. No other Muslim than those ignorant of the Sunnah and heretics can deny this belief." (Muhammad Mahdi al-Khorasan, "Introduction to al-Bayan fi Akhbar - Sahibuzzaman" pp. 76-79)
In the same way, Fatwa No. 2844 on Hazrat Mahdi (as) by scholars including Sheikh Abd al-Aziz ibn Baaz, Sheikh Abd ar-Razzaq Afishi, Sheikh Abdullah ibn Saud and Sheikh Abd Allah ibn Ghadyan from the "The Permanent Committee of Academic Research and Fatwa," which speaks on Islamic matters on a global scale, reads:
"The accounts proving that Hazrat Mahdi (as) will appear are many, and many leading hadith scholars have reported these in documents. Authorities such as Abu al-Hasan Al-Aburi, Allama Safarani and Allame ash-Shawkani have said that these hadiths are mutawatir according to the meaning. It is inappropriate to regard anyone else than the person the signs of whom have been set out in the decrees of the Prophet (saas) as the Mahdi (as)."


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Something that really bothered me was when Thor struck Captain's shield with all his might and the sly fucker just took it.
I sat there in the cinema going "That's bullshit..."
Something that really bothered me was when Thor struck Captain's shield with all his might and the sly fucker just took it.
I sat there in the cinema going "That's bullshit..."
Read a prequel comic to this movie.
turns out the events in The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, and Thor all took place within a week. SHIELD was still searching for Cpt. America in that week, but after a year, they found him.
Thor's post-credits is directly before beginning of The Avengers.
The whole point in the shield is that it can absorb a massive amount of force. I'm pretty sure Captain America got knocked over aswell, he didn't just stand there.
I'm not sure who I like best.
Probably Thor because for years I've been really interested in Norse Mythology, Vikings and all that. So he's just perfect for my interests.
Obviously the Hulk because he makes me want to smash shit up and he's just awesome.
And I really like Iron Man, probably both because of the super hero himself and he looks pretty cool and also just because of how Downey plays him.
I kinda like Captain America because of the backstory and stuff but the patriotic American stuff makes me cringe, especially as a British person.
I did like Hawkeye and Black Widow too although they weren't 'as powerful' I thought they were cool characters and it was cool to watch them doing there thangggg.
There's a difference between "a massive amount of force" and all the combined might of Thor and Mjölnir.
I love Thor because he has the sexiest voice of the entire cast.
also i thought CA could wield mjolnir if he wanted, or was that a lie
also i want a clip of the hulk...meeting loki
sweet lord that was funny
I was sad when Coulson got stabbed and died
Iron Man is the brains.
Cap is the heart.
He's willing to sacrifice himself without hesitation. To me that's pretty special.
What would happen if "Thor smashed Cap's shiled" .
They're unstoppable force meets immoveable object.
Specially as we have a Captain Britain.
Don't know why you guys are arguing about it, I though that scene was fucking awesome.
And on Cap's superpower or whatever, I just think the whole patriotic vibe about him is what makes him special but I mean, his only real super power is above average physical condition.
those who wanted to see the new after credits scene
Did anyone else think the waitress that Captain America saved, who later talked about The Avengers on tv, saying they had saved her life, is related in some way to the Agent Carter from Captain America: The First Avenger?
I wanted to see more of the Hulk. Maybe a bit of inter fighting and everyone trying to control him or something. But the movie was awesome!
I have barely read any of the comics, so I know I am probably wrong, I just thought it odd that the movie seemed to really focus on her whenever she was in a scene.
Yeah, she looks like she had some significance. She kept on looking at Cap right after he saved the hostages if I recall correctly.
Yeah I thought she might be Sharon Carter because of the focus they put on her, but they never explicitly state anything.
I'm pretty sure she's there only to give that idea of "the avengers saved civilians just like you", someone you can relate to, or something. Just like that part when they show Captain America helping people leave the bus (I'm not sure, was it a school bus?), or pretty much whenever they show the Avengers saving someone, she's there simply for that
it's what I think, anyway
I honestly didn't expect Coulson's death to affect me as much as it did. Then I realized that he's appeared in almost every one of the other Avengers movies.
They needed someone to Avenge... :(
Here's some of the things that make Captain America one of the best superheroes of all time:
That said, Hulk is my favorite Avenger. Hulk is strongest there is.
Captain America stands for the american dream more than the country, from what i gather.
Speaking of Thor's hammer being heavy, I remember hearing about a comic where Red Hulk was able to lift Thor's hammer because Thor was holding it at the time.
One thing I don't like about the prequel comic, the only character who looks anything like their actor is Fury.
A more interesting movie would be a movie made of the Civil War arc from the comics.
At the end when some people were talking shit about the Avengers it could very well be Marvel planting some seeds that will eventually sprout into Civil war.
Probably wouldn't be Avengers 2 but more like Avengers 3. Though I think I'm getting a little ahead of myself here.
The argument scene where everyone was just blaming each other was just asking for a Civil War movie
Yeah I got a real civil war vibe. But you can't do civil war without Spider-Man. He was the character who was torn and then the dramatic reveal of his identity. He works as a perfect relation for the audience.
Plus you probably need a lot more heroes for that and it risks becoming crowded in a 2-3 hour movie.
I just want Disney to buy back X-men and Spider-Man. Not remake them, continue the already established actors etc (Garfield, Jackman, etc).


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|Forums: Index → Narutopedia Discussion → Akatsuki's first appearance?
Note: This topic has been unedited for 1971 days. It is considered archived - the discussion is over. Do not add to unless it really needs a response.
what episode in part one was all of akatsuki fully assembled, i seem to have missed it (somehow?)?
Akatsuki's first appearance
Well if your talking about when they were first all seen together, it was in episode 135 (part 1) at the very end of the episode, not for long though. The episode before hand showed Zetsu spying on the fight between Naruto and Sasuke (his first apperance) ---- Adott
right that was their first appearance together --Salil dabholkar (talk) 17:39, March 21, 2012 (UTC)


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USB-IF Announces USB 3.0 10 Gbps Development, Demos Power Delivery and Display Drivingby Brian Klug on 1/12/2013 10:37 PM EST
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Aikouka - Sunday, January 13, 2013 - linkAs I sat there reworking the cables behind my TV stand last night, I kept wondering why we don't attempt to consolidate cables more often. The HDMI spec supports an Ethernet channel, yet I'm still running CAT5e to all of my devices! Even if it's just removing a single type of cable, it would bring me one step closer to cleaning up the clutter! Imagine if I could run a single cable from my AVR to my XBOX that provided power and Ethernet while also serving the video/audio from the XBOX to the AVR! =) Reply
praeses - Sunday, January 13, 2013 - linkI think you have it a bit backwards, you would be better off running everything over cat 5e/6 instead (as the connectors, cables, etc are much cheaper/ubiquitous). There isn't much that can't be run over "ethernet" cable including: usb, vga, hdmi, dvi, power, sata, video cameras, alarms, phones, heck there's even pci-e over cat 6. Reply
toyotabedzrock - Sunday, January 13, 2013 - linkI think Displayport and HDMI are capable of much higher bandwidth. Remember they handle raw decoded data not an mp4 file. Reply
defter - Sunday, January 13, 2013 - linkThe latest version of HDMI supports 8.16Gbps of real bandwidth. Therefore 10Gbps Ethernet that works over cat 5e/6 is more than enough.
The only reason for HDMI is ripping off consumers and limiting competition (HDMI support requires license payments that small companies may not afford). Reply
Guspaz - Monday, January 14, 2013 - linkWhile Cat5e and Cat6 cables sort of support 10GigE, even the official standard limits their range to well below the normal levels, even in perfect conditions. Interference is a big enough problem that Cat5e cables often have trouble with regular gigabit ethernet, let alone 10GigE. It's unlikely that, shoving ethernet cables in the rats nest behind a TV, you're going to have success with anything less than Cat6a, which isn't cheap. Of course, there's also the issue of 10GigE NICs being way too expensive for consumer use...
You're also a bit off on the specs. 8.16 Gbps is the throughput after removing overhead. With overhead, they're at 10.2 Gbps, and HDMI 2.0 is expected to bump that up to 18 Gbps.
HDMI's ethernet support is also limited to 100 Mbps, which limits the usefulness somewhat. Reply
GTRagnarok - Sunday, January 13, 2013 - linkUSB powered laptops will be awesome. Reply
toyotabedzrock - Sunday, January 13, 2013 - linkYes I'm looking forward to all the broken connectors because it will be much easier to solder a USB port.
Why hasn't anyone created a magnetic or otherwise unbreakable solution for PCs yet?
I have several ideas on how to not violate their patents. Reply
Zink - Sunday, January 13, 2013 - linkI have my laptop down to three cables when I plug it in: USB hub, display, and power. This almost perfectly brings everything over one cable. The big downside is USB display lacking any graphics acceleration but most users wouldn't mind that. Thunderbolt is the technically superior solution to get high bandwidth and graphics acceleration but USB will hopefully be the cheap alternative. Reply
amb9800 - Sunday, January 13, 2013 - linkThe big advantage of Thunderbolt is that it actually passes video straight over the cable, whereas with USB you need a separate display adapter (here they're using DisplayLink). In the video, it seems the left monitor might have a DisplayLink controller built in, and the right monitor has a controller taped to the back.
DisplayLink has advanced quite a bit, but it's still not a native display connection. I'm actually driving a 27" 1440p LCD via DisplayPort from an HP USB 3.0 port replicator that has a DisplayLink chip inside (since HDMI 1.3 and MicroHDMI can't do more than 1080p). Performance is not bad with a high-end quad-core i7 laptop, but power users can tell that something's up-- and when connected to my i7 ultrabook (not exactly a $200 netbook), things start getting messy (feels like using an RDP connection to some PC).
It's a workable hack today (given so many PCs still lack DisplayPorts and are thus unable to drive >1080p displays), but not really comparable to a real video connection. Reply
NeBlackCat - Sunday, January 13, 2013 - linkIt blows my mind that USB hasn't been standardised as a native display interface yet.. Would be great for running headless low end servers, rescuing laptops with broken screens, etc. Just have a small USB connected monitor on hand. Better yet, imaging if you could boot into a laptop's BIOSm enable an "Act as Monitor mode" and use it as a monitor via a USB device port on the back. Lovely, and mainly a software effort. Reply
DanNeely - Sunday, January 13, 2013 - linkEven though USB3 has enough bandwidth to drive a monitor well (USB2 wasn't even close); as a low cost solution it still struggles due to a lack of QoS guarantees because it has to wait for the CPU to become available to do anything. Reply
toyotabedzrock - Sunday, January 13, 2013 - linkI'd prefer a network approach for all that. Reply
repoman27 - Monday, January 14, 2013 - linkWell perhaps USB hasn't been standardized as a native display interface because it isn't a native display interface, it's a general purpose serial bus. Also, due to protocol overhead, USB 3.0 SuperSpeed mode provides less usable bandwidth than single-link DVI or HDMI prior to version 1.3.
What baffles me is the statement that, "the newer revision enables 10 Gbps by using more efficient coding." This makes absolutely no sense seeing as advertised USB speeds have always been the physical layer gross bitrate. In which case using less efficient encoding would actually make it easier for them to hit their target. 4b10b would allow them to hit 10 Gbit/s in no time. Reply
jmardian - Saturday, July 27, 2013 - linkYes, yes,yes to "Act as Monitor mode." Reply
amb9800 - Sunday, January 13, 2013 - linkAny sense of how the USB-IF / OEMs plan to brand/market USB power solutions? How will consumers know which USB ports can provide power, which can take power, and how much (i.e. the different profiles)?
I see the spec no longer fixes power direction, but if I wanted to plug in, say, an extra backup battery to my laptop via USB (as are currently available for smartphones), that would presumably have to be plugged into the special power-input-enabled USB port, not just any port?
The site also says they envision things like printers (presumably small inkjets) being powered by USB-- but I assume they' mean USB ports in hubs / bricks, not laptops (will a laptop be able to output 36 or 60W?). So if someone markets a printer as being USB-powerable, how will one communicate the requirements?
This sounds really cool, and I'd love to consolidate power bricks- just wondering how they plan to avoid completely confusing consumers. Reply
epobirs - Sunday, January 13, 2013 - linkI assume the color coding scheme will be expanded beyond the blue for USB 3.0 ports and red on some boards for devices like the iPad that support higher power modes.
There will probably be a distinct set of features that are only active when on mains power rather than the battery. Only having to find one power outlet for everything would be convenient. Reply
KitsuneKnight - Sunday, January 13, 2013 - linkThere's USB:
Low Speed (1.5 Mb)
Full Speed (12 Mb)
High Speed (480 Mb)
Super Speed (5.0 Gb)
So what's this new one going to be called? Hyper Speed? Ultra Speed? And will the ports be colored differently, so you'll know what's 10 Gb vs 5 Gb vs USB 2/1.1? Reply
r3loaded - Sunday, January 13, 2013 - linkSuperDuper Speed obviously. Reply
IanCutress - Sunday, January 13, 2013 - linkNotice that High Speed is faster than Full Speed (!).
I hope they renumber the new spec to USB 3.1 or something. Make it easier to differentiate. Reply
MonkeyPaw - Sunday, January 13, 2013 - linkLudicrous speed. Reply
nathanddrews - Sunday, January 13, 2013 - linkThey've gone to plaid! Reply
Death666Angel - Sunday, January 13, 2013 - linkPro Extreme Speed, obviously. :P Reply
Metaluna - Sunday, January 13, 2013 - linkNeverGonnaBeFullyUtilized Speed? Reply
toyotabedzrock - Sunday, January 13, 2013 - linkPRSpin Speed Reply
toyotabedzrock - Sunday, January 13, 2013 - linkUsing USB to connect to the baseband might be why mobile networks have so much lag Reply
iwod - Monday, January 14, 2013 - linkIs this another case of worse is better?
Why Interconnect uses SSIC ? And not PCI-Express? Is it because it is cheaper?
When everything else are moving to PCI-Express ( Thunderbolt, SATA Express ), why USB? ( Fundamentally it is still a CPU hogging spec )
And i hate the design of all USB Port. Normal, Mini and Micro.
May be USB Spec will continue to get better, I just wish Apple would open up Lightning and use that with USB3.0 instead. Reply


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A MOTHER and her young son had a narrow escape after a wayward delivery driver brought a wall tumbling down just feet away.
Sue Smith, aged 33, feared her 16-month-old son Anton could have been killed when the pavement to the rear of the Spar convenience store in Cranham Drive, Warndon, Worcester, was showered with bricks at about 11am on Wednesday.
The quick-thinking mother, who lives in Martindale Close, was able to get her child to safety as the store's delivery driver continued to reverse the lorry into the wall, causing a large section of it to collapse onto the street below.
Ms Smith said: "I went to go home - I walk past that wall every single day - when I saw the lorry reversing. I saw the wall bowing out, so I knew it was about to collapse.
"I thought, 'I'm not going to walk past because it will come down any second'. If we were to walk past that, and if I didn't think it would would collapse, we would have been badly hurt. My little boy would probably have died."
Ms Smith, who is a regular visitor to the store, says the area is usually busy with shoppers and young schoolchildren walking by at various times in the day.
Barry Davies, managing director of Spar wholesale distributor's Blakemore Logistics, said: "We are investigating an incident involving one of our vehicles colliding with a wall at our SPAR store at Cranham Drive, in Worcester.
"The company has already made arrangements for the wall to be repaired and are thankful that nobody was injured."
Ms Smith added: "I was pretty shaken knowing that could have had us both. I went back into the shop and because it still scared me - I have the visions in my head.
"When they started to clean it up one of the workmen said 'you are very lucky'."
After spending about 15 minutes inside the store to calm herself down and collect her thoughts, Ms Smith was able to safely walk to a friend's house nearby despite still feeling shaken up.


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Banana Coconut Chocolate Almond Bread
Breakfast, lunch, or dinner... this recipe is a winner! Imagine chocolate, banana, coconut, almond, bready goodness. Be sure to pour a tall cold glass of milk on the side with a delicious warm slice of this bread. This recipe comes to us from Barefoot & Chocolate, the company behind delicious chocolate spreads made with Fair Trade Certified ingredients!
Banana Coconut Chocolate Almond Bread
Recipe from Trent's Kitchen at Barefoot & Chocolate.
- 3 overly ripe Fair Trade Certified bananas
- 5 oz. Barefoot & Chocolate – Fair Trade Certified Almond Coconut Chocolate Spread
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup Fair Trade Certified sugar
- 1 egg
- 2/3 cup frozen shredded coconut (thawed)
- 1/3 cup slivered almonds
- 6 TBSP butter - melted
- 1 TSP baking soda
- 1 TSP Fair Trade Certified vanilla
- ¼ TSP sea salt
Preparation Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Mash up the bananas with a fork in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg, sugar, vanilla, salt, butter, shredded coconut, and almonds. Blend until well mixed. In a separate bowl mix the flour and baking soda. Add the flour mixture into the wet mixture in a few batches and mix until well blended.
Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the sides and bottom of a standard 4X8 bread pan. I like to leave the paper a little long so there is paper draping over the edges of the pan. This allows you to simply lift the loaf out of the pan once its cooled. Fit the parchment paper into the bread pan, creasing the paper to align with the seams of the pan. Butter the paper and the sides of the pan, lightly dust with flour. Pour in all the batter. Dollop Almond-Coconut Chocolate Spread along the top of the loaf. Use a skewer to swirl the spread into the banana bread mixture until the spread is mostly covered by the batter.
Place the bread into the center of the oven. Bake for approximately 1 hour at 350F. Test the bread to ensure doneness by inserting a clean knife into the center. Keep in mind it will continue to cook bit after you take it out of the oven.


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The Horse Memorial, Port Elizabeth
The hardy horses of southern Africa – be they the pioneering boerperd, the sure-footed Basotho pony or the imported Arab blends – have a proud history. For adventure travellers who see the world from a saddle, and for history lovers, the horse riding routes of South Africa are top quality. more
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape is known for its spectacular biodiversity and is a Big 7 destination, which means you can view lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, buffalo as well as whales and great white sharks. There are numerous malaria-free game reserves, ideal for Eastern Cape incentive tours. more
Cradock, Eastern Cape
Walk the Victorian-era streets of Cradock, enter the local hotel and be transported right back to 1850, when adventurers and explorers rubbed shoulders at the long bar. Or come to Cradock in October and do friendly battle with the Great Fish River in one of South Africa's premier kayak races. more
Graaff-Reinet, Eastern Cape
Set in a curl of the Sundays River, the Karoo town of Graaff-Reinet is the fourth oldest settlement in South Africa and has seen more than two centuries of travellers, adventurers and prospectors pass through its streets. Today it is a vibrant centre for tourism, game farming and traditional agriculture. more


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By Renee Human
(I finally got off that airplane. And graded final project and papers for two undergrad and one grad class…and five independent studies and five practicums students. And did graduation and a birthday party and mother's day. And slept. Oh, sweet sleep! And then I got to this third and final post about MAX. You can read my two other blog posts about the social aspects of CC and Adobe's move to the subscription model if you missed them. Or not. I split this into three parts in case you want to read a la mode.)
The third aspect of MAX that I want to comment on as an educator and front-end developer is Adobe's very smart strategy to support some great open-source solutions, better web tools and a good direction for Flash.
In November, I did a talk at the Adobe Education Summit in Toronto that discussed the HTML5 v. Flash debate. I do both. I love both. It's tough to straddle both worlds and stay up-to-date, but when and because I do, my students get jobs. Not because I'm a great teacher that knows everything (but I am and I do). They get jobs because they not only know multiple solutions but how to evaluate and use the best solution for the challenge at hand.
Flash is not dead. It has, in many ways, the biggest and best support in the interactive arena. You can read the stats Adobe has out there on this. What's killing Flash is not the reality, but the fear. One instructional multimedia designer at a university with thousands of online students told me that even when he argues that the best content-delivery solution for a specific problem is Flash, administrators just turn off immediately and shut him down.
Nonetheless, Flash still has a place. There are many companies in the Cincinnati area, particularly large companies that do their in-house training using Flash. There are more jobs in Flash in Cincinnati right now than in HTML5. It's not easy for a large company to retrain their designers and front-end developers and rethink what's already and still working.
I did see there was a session at MAX on what's new in Flash Pro. I missed it because I was, ironically, at a PhoneGap/HTML5 session. One attendee told me it was all about Stage 3D, Adobe's answer to moving gaming performance to the GPU for a faster, better experience. This is a good thing that Adobe has been pushing for a year now, but this year, they made it better by coupling it with Feathers, Starling and Dragonbones. All are free-open source solutions. Feathers is a JS framework for button assets that anyone can read and use. Starling is a great JS framework for 2D gaming with so many gaming methods and classes readily available. Dragonbones is an open source sprite generator that works directly with your assets in Flash Pro. There's also Away 3D which brings to 3D what Starling brings to 2D. All are accessible. Under Michele Yaiser's session, we used Flash Builder to construct and compile a game for both web and iPad. With Tom Krcha, we built a platformer with Flash Pro, Flash Builder, Starling, Dragonbones and the Citrus Engine. With the performance boost and multiplatform capabilities, Flash should hold their own in gaming at least for a little bit.
What I found particularly interesting and exciting was Adobe's support of several free, open-source projects, namely CreateJS and PhoneGap Build. Never has Javascript, HTML5 and CSS3 been more creative. CreateJS offers four libraries and tools for a rich interactive experience on the web. EaselJS capitalizes on HTML5 canvas. TweenJS allows for animation and interactivity. SoundJS and PreloadJS improve on audio and preloading experiences, respectively.
Being a Flash developer, I got really excited when Grant Skinner, founder of CreateJS and CEO of gksinner.com, demoed a game he and his team were developing with CreateJS. When he showed us some of the code, it felt so right. While being true to JavaScript standards, it played on Flash's conventions. Additionally, unlike many open source projects, the documentation is excellent and there are tutorials and examples to spare.
I just finished teaching my Media Scripting for Interactivity course this week—Flash Actionscripting for gaming—and I'm looking ahead to next spring. While I haven't ruled out Flash, particularly in regards to jobs in the Cincinnati area as I mentioned above, I am considering the next wave of employer demands and I see frameworks like CreateJS at the forefront.
And, of course, there is PhoneGap Build. Accessible through Dreamweaver CS6, PhoneGap Build is also available online as an open source solution for compiling HTML5, CSS3 and Javascript assets into native applications for iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry, webOS and Symbian. I've played with PhoneGap with my responsive web students last fall and we had fun doing simple apps. This year, we'll expand on that by tackling the PhoneGap API and device features more deeply. While ultimately maybe not as powerful as native development, PhoneGap gives Media Informatics students who tend toward front-end development a great entrée into the development world, particularly when we share best practices in programming and development with them.
That said, Rainn Wilson may have given the developers a lot of crap during Sneak Peaks, but this is going to be the year of the front-end developer. Mark my words. Or don't. We'll talk more about this later.
My last MAX concession: I told Claire Erwin I would blog once a week this summer. I'd say this more than counts for my first week considering I'm only two days out of the semester. I'm taking requests: What is media informatics? What's in the media informatics curriculum at NKU? What should I do for my communication studies PhD dissertation since my committee keeps rejecting my ideas as too technical? (Seriously, help me out here…) Anyway, happy summer. It's all good when it begins with an exciting MAX.
Right on, Renee! Flash is not dead but rather is adapting to the current environment. Flash Professional CC is a rebirth of the application that started it all. Flash Player and AIR see continual updates and improvements. We have a variety of new targets in CreateJS and Dart(!) or all things, RAW HD video export from CC… and the platform continues to push the envelope in gaming and premium video. I look forward to what is coming next!


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Rode a Longboard 3 times in my life so dont know much about longboards. Looking to get in the water more often in the summer for those non-shortboardable days - read not-so-fun-on-a-shortboard-days - I plan to mostly use it on small days but will definitely experiment on bigger days here and there. Aside from dings and size (thinking 8'6-9'0) will the shape of the board make much of a difference? really know nothing about longbards so any info would be appreciate.
P.S. hit me up if your around Mo. County with a longboard for sale


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Six @ Six series to explore coal's impact on Northeastern Pennsylvania
Penn State Lehigh Valley Continuing Education's "Six @ Six" lecture series begins again in March with an in-depth look at the impact that the coal industry had on the people and culture of northeastern Pennsylvania. David Longenbach, instructor in history at Penn State Lehigh Valley, will present six lectures on "Old King Coal – Then and Now: Anthracite, Mining, Immigrants, Unrest, and Unions" at 6 p.m. beginning March 18 at the Lehigh Valley campus. The series is open to the public.


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R. Kelly's TRAPPED IN THE CLOSET Heading to Broadway?
The Associated Press reports that R & B star R. Kelly is currently working on plans to bring his IFC TV series TRAPPED IN THE CLOSET to the Broadway stage. The series returns to IFC with brand new chapters this Friday, November 23, following a Thanksgiving Day marathon of previous episodes.
Created, written by and starring R. Kelly as multiple cast members, Trapped in the Closet is an ongoing saga featuring the characters of Sylvester, Rufus, Cathy, Tina, Roxanne, Randolph, Rosie the Nosy Neighbor, Reverend Moseley, Twan and Pimp Lucius. The cast of misfits are described as being "interconnected by sexual exploits, quarreling lovers and a mysterious package."
Kelly announced yesterday that he has received an offer to bring the cult phenomenon to the Great White Way and may even appear in some of the show's performances. While unveiling the latest chapters of the series to an audience at the Sunshine Theater yesterday, Kelly revealed, "To transform it into a Broadway version, that's what I'm working on."
Referring to the "over-the-top" series which he often describes as an "alien", the singer shared, "I'm glad to be one of the astronauts to take this thing to the unknown." and added, "I'm just having a lot of fun. I don't have a job so I sit in the studio all day and think of stuff to do and this is just something stupid I've done that's been successful for me. I'm having a lot of fun with it."
While the latest installment of the series took five years to produce, Kelly assured the audience that the next chapters will be created in a much more efficient manner. "I want everybody to know I've got 85 chapters of 'Trapped in the Closet' waiting in the studio for y'all," and hinted, "The chapters that are coming—the show, we call it—is going to exceed every chapter that you have ever seen."


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I wanted to offer you a few pumpkin recipes that, in my opinion, would be a welcome addition to my dessert table at any time of the year, however, it seems like most folks gravitate to pumpkin in the fall. I did have a request for a taffy apple made with Eagle brand milk, which I included, plus a couple of other items that were sent in to me.
Taffy Apples
1 1/3 cups Eagle brand milk
1/2 cup butter
2 cups dark brown sugar
3/4 cup white corn syrup
Pinch of salt
Wash approximately 30 medium-size apples. Put a stick in each. Mix ingredients together and heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil 5 minutes and remove from heat. Dip each apple in caramel and then into ground nuts. Set apples in paper muffin cups or on wax paper.
Sopapilla Cheesecakes
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 3/4 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 8-ounce cans refrigerated crescent rolls
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup honey
Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare a 9-by-13-inch pan with cooking spray. Beat the cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar and the vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth. Unroll the cans of crescent roll dough and use a rolling pin to shape each piece into a 9-by-13-inch rectangle. Press one piece into the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch pan. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture into the baking dish then cover with the remaining piece of crescent dough. Stir together 3/4 cup sugar, cinnamon and butter. Dot the mixture over the top of the cheesecake. Bake in the preheated oven until the crescent dough has puffed and turned a golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and drizzle with honey. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 squares.
Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes
1 18 1/4-ounce package yellow cake mix
1 package (4 serving size) vanilla instant pudding mix
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup water
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Beat all ingredients with an electric mixer on low speed just until moistened. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Spoon batter into 24 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Frost cooled cupcakes.
Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 pound confectioner's sugar
Beat cream cheese, butter, vanilla and ground cloves until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioner's sugar until smooth.
Apple Salad
(Compliments of Beverly Grant, Wyanet)
1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple
1 small package instant vanilla pudding
3 large apples
1 8-ounce container Cool Whip
Chopped nuts, optional
Mix pineapple and vanilla pudding together. Peel apples (soak in lemon and water to keep from browning) and slice. Drain the apples good. Mix with pineapple and pudding mixture. Add Cool Whip. Can sprinkle chopped nuts on top.
Pumpkin Patch Bites
1 15-ounce box refrigerated pie crusts
6 ounces sliced Black Forest or Virginia Ham
8 ounces sliced extra sharp cheddar, Swiss or Gruyere cheese
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Heat oven to 425°. Line a rimmed baking sheet with nonstick foil. On work surface, unroll pie crust and cut each of the two crusts into 13 pumpkin shapes with a 3-inch pumpkin cookie cutter. Using a 2-inch round cutter, cut 24 rounds from the sliced ham and 24 rounds from the sliced cheddar. Put 2 slices each ham and cheddar in the center of each of 12 pumpkins. With a small brush, brush beaten egg around edges. Top with remaining pumpkins, carefully pressing on edges to seal. Using a spoon make ridges on pumpkins by pressing into tops in a few places. With a small knife pierce ridges in a couple of places to vent. Place on prepared pan. Brush top with beaten egg. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until light golden. Let cool on rack a couple of minutes before serving.
Streusel Pumpkin Bread
2 1/2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
Pumpkin Bread
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup raisins
Position rack in lower third of oven. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with butter, oil or spray. For streusel: In medium bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt. Cut in butter with pastry blender, your hands or two knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Reserve. For bread: In large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, pie spice, soda, salt and baking powder. Using rubber spatula, gently fold flour mixture into pumpkin mixture until just combined. Stir in raisins. Pour into pan. Sprinkle with streusel. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean and top is golden brown, 55 minutes to 1 hour. Cool on rack 10 minutes. Pop bread out of pan, cool completely.
Elegant Pumpkin Pie
1 14.1-ounce package refrigerated pie pastry
1 30-ounce can pumpkin pie filling
3/4 cup evaporated milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 24.3-ounce carton Philadelphia ready to serve cheesecake filling
2 cups whipped topping
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup glazed pecans
Unroll each sheet of pastry into a 9-inch pie plate. Flute edges. Beat the pie filling, milk and eggs until smooth in a large bowl, pour into crust. Cover edges loosely with foil. Bake at 425° for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°. Bake 35 to 40 minutes longer or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove foil. Cool on wire rack. Combine the cheesecake filling, whipped topping and salt in a large bowl. Spread over pies. Sprinkle with pecans. Refrigerate leftovers. Makes 2 pies.
Turtle Pumpkin Pie
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons caramel ice cream topping, divided
1 honey maid graham pie crust
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons pecan pieces, divided
1 cup cold milk
2 3.4-ounce packages vanilla instant pudding
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 8-ounce tub of Cool Whip, thawed and divided
Pour 1/4 cup caramel topping into crust. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup pecans. Beat milk, pudding mixes, pumpkin and spices with whisk until blended. Stir in 1 1/2 cups Cool Whip. Spread into crust. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. Top with remaining Cool Whip, caramel topping and pecans just before serving.
This will give you a few good and simple recipes to try for anytime you get an inkling for something different. If you need to reach me, you can email me at firstname.lastname@example.com or drop a line to my attention to the BCR, P.O. Box 340, Princeton, IL 61356.