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When I first heard about the Hansons Marathon Method (HMM from here on out), I thought it sounded too good to be true. The longest run was 16 miles? Sign me up!
When training for my first marathon, I used Hal Higdon's Novice Program. I'd used several of his programs for other races, and I liked them, so I figured it would be a good fit. Unfortunately, after my long run was up over 15 miles, I injured my right knee. Rather than taking time off of running to let it heal, I continued to run through the pain. It got so bad that eventually, I had to start giving myself walk breaks when the pain got unbearable.
My first marathon experience was miserable for a number of reasons, but a big factor was my injured knee. I walked a LOT during the last three miles of the race. The injury, plus the heat (the heat index was over 100 that day), and stomach issues made a bad race experience, and my finish time was 5:26:14.
I was determined to redeem myself, and have a GOOD marathon experience, so I immediately registered for a fall marathon--the Detroit Free Press Marathon in October 2012. This time, I figured less running would be better to prevent injury, so I chose to do a three-days-per-week program that focuses on three good quality runs per week.
My right knee managed to heal, but once again, when my long run got up to about 15 miles, I injured my left knee. I had a very hard time with my training, but a better race. The weather was great, which made a huge difference. But once I hit mile 18 or 19, my legs just didn't want to run anymore. It was everything I could do to keep going. My legs just weren't prepared, and I had to keep stopping to stretch for a minute or two at a time.
I finished in 4:51:51, below my goal of 5 hours, but I wasn't happy that I wasn't able to power through and run the whole thing. I had to keep stopping to stretch for the last 10K or so, because my legs cramped up so badly. But I was happy enough with the time that I just decided I was done with marathons.
Jerry had to pull my pants on for me, because I couldn't move! |
Then my friend Andrea mentioned running her first marathon, and in the excitement of being
I found the running schedule online, and started following that. But because it was SO different from everything I'd learned, I decided to buy the book to hopefully understand it better. The book was mind-blowing. It explained the science behind the whole method, and it made so much sense. Over the next few months, I ran hundreds of miles; I was running six days a week, 5+ miles each day.
I followed the schedule right to the letter. With the way the HMM works, you can't skip workouts or even swap your runs around. They have to be done in order for a reason. I just trusted the program, and to my surprise, I felt better than ever. I remained uninjured, yet I was running more miles than ever before (50-ish miles per week).
I started to second guess the training when "everyone else" was doing 20-milers, and I "only" had 16. But again, I trusted the program. I figured the worst that could happen was that I'd have a bad race. During the last week before the marathon, I felt like I was in the best shape of my life. I felt more prepared than I had for the previous two, and I wasn't even nervous about running the race.
To keep from being redundant, you can read my Chicago Marathon race report here.
My thoughts, now that the race is over? I think I found a winning program! My legs felt FANTASTIC through the whole race. If it weren't for my stomach issues, which I think was from eating too much during the race, I'm sure I would have finished in around 4:10; and that wasn't even pushing the pace. I felt like I could have gone faster through the first half of the race, but because I didn't have a time goal, I kept my pace on the conservative side to feel my best.
I didn't even start to feel remotely tired until about mile 19, when my legs were still going strong, but I started to feel the effects of all those miles. I'm disappointed that my stomach caused me problems for the last 10K, but I am really happy that I powered through and finished strong, even though I had to slow my pace to keep from vomiting on the side of the road ;)
The thing that has been most amazing to me is my recovery. I am so shocked at how quickly my legs recovered! About an hour after I finished, I speed-walked/ran the two miles to my hotel. I never could have done that after my previous marathons! I didn't have to take any ibuprofen, and by the next morning, the only thing that was a little sore were my hips. But I was up and moving around all day, and my legs felt great. Today, I feel 100% back to normal. (I'm still taking the Hansons' recommended 1-2 weeks off, though!)
Some things of note about the Hansons Marathon Method:
It's very important to follow the program as-written. The runs are in a particular order for a reason, so you can't skip or swap runs.
This program was NOT easy. It first appealed to me because of the 16-mile long run, and I thought the program would be a piece of cake. As it turned out, this was the hardest training I've ever done!
I don't think I would recommend this program for beginners/first time marathoners, unless you are running 30+ miles per week, consistently. I ran over 200 miles in August and again in September on the Hansons Marathon Method beginner plan. That's a lot of miles!
I would highly recommend reading the book before you start the program, because it explains in detail WHY the program is written the way it is. (Here is an Amazon link to the book, Hansons Marathon Method; if you are planning to buy it anyway, and you buy it through the link, then I get a small commission).
It's very important to follow the pacing recommendations in the plan. If it says to do an easy run, then keep your pace easy. Again, there is a reason for this. If you do the easy runs too quickly, you won't be able to hit your paces on your faster runs; you are also risking injury. When I did my easy pace, I felt like I was going SO slow, but I just trusted the program.
The downside of the program is that it takes a lot of time. I'm a stay at home mom, so I was able to be flexible with the times I could head out for a run; but for someone with a full-time job AND a family, it would be hard to juggle everything.
So, my overall opinion of the Hansons Marathon Method is that it's a very smart way to train. I was obviously injury-prone going into this training, but doing this program kept me injury-free through all of training and the race itself. I felt very prepared going into the race. My legs never gave up on me during the race, and I didn't "hit the wall". I also managed a 35-minute personal record!
If I was to ever do another marathon (I'm not saying I am!!), I would definitely do this plan again.


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Investor Alert Keeping Your Account Secure: Tips for Protecting Your Financial Information
Your brokerage firm has an obligation to safeguard your personal financial information. And every investor should take time to understand their firm's cybersecurity procedures.
But even the best procedures cannot prevent all instances of identity theft—especially if the vulnerability lies with you, the customer. Here are critical steps you can take to safeguard your financial accounts and help prevent identity theft.
How Does Identity Theft Occur?
A host of ways. Some identity thieves use keystroke-logging software to capture usernames and passwords, disseminating these programs through instant messages, emails, or freeware. Others "phish" for sensitive information by sending phony emails that purport to come from a legitimate financial institution but which ask for information your firm would never request through email—such as confirmation of an account number, password, credit card number, or Social Security number. Still others use the old-fashioned method of "dumpster-diving" to recover your discarded account statements or other records that haven't been properly shredded.
How Can I Protect Myself?
Take the following steps to secure your brokerage accounts and your personal financial information:
Use Strong Passwords and PINs and Keep Them Secret. Use strong passwords and PINs that contain both numbers and letters and, if allowed, symbols. Do not share your passwords or PINs with others, and do not store them on your computer. If you need to write them down, store your list in a secure, private place. You should change your passwords and PINs regularly and use a different password and PIN for each of your accounts.
Maintain Your Computer Security. Personal firewalls and security software packages (with anti-virus, anti-spam, and spyware detection features) are a must if you engage in online financial transactions. Make sure your computer has up-to-date security software, including security patches, that the software is configured for automatic updates, and that the software is always turned on. For laptops, be sure to use encryption software. Computer hardware and software providers also maintain security pages on their websites with tips for checking and improving the security of your system.
Use Your Own Computer. It is generally safer to access your brokerage account from your own computer or device. Avoid using public computers to access your brokerage account. Public computers may contain software that captures passwords and PINs, providing that information to others at your expense. If you do use another computer, be sure to delete your "Temporary Internet Files" or "Cache" and clear all of your "History" after you log off your account. You should occasionally check to make sure that no one else has attached any device or added programs to your computer without your knowledge or consent. Consult the Help function on your browser and operating system to learn how to delete this information.
Log Out Completely. Always click the "log out" button to terminate your access to your brokerage firm's website. Access may not be terminated if you simply close or minimize your browser or type in a new Web address when you're done using your online account. Other users of the computer might be able to re-enter the site and have access to your account online if you do not properly log out. You also potentially expose yourself to "session stealing" if you have multiple Web pages open while logged on to your brokerage account. Avoid multi-tasking on multiple Web pages when checking your financial accounts online—or, if you must visit another site, use a different type of browser rather than opening another window.
Be Prudent When Using Wireless Connections. Unsecured wi-fi connections do not provide as much security as either wired Internet connections, encrypted wireless networks or your mobile carrier's cellular data connections. Many hotspots—wireless networks in public areas like airports, hotels, and restaurants—reduce their security settings so it is easier for individuals to access and use these wireless networks. This increases the possibility that someone may intercept your information. You may decide that accessing your online brokerage account through a wireless connection is not worth the security risk. If you use your own wireless network, make certain you secure the network with wireless encryption.
Use Apps Wisely. If you use apps on mobile devices to access your financial accounts, be sure to password-protect your device—and make sure you select the highest security setting that the app offers.
Check for Secure Websites. When you access your brokerage account online, check to ensure that the log in page indicates that it is a secure site. The address of a secure website connection starts with "https" instead of just "http" and has a key or closed padlock in the status bar (which typically appears in the lower right-hand corner of your screen). When you click on the padlock, the security certificate should confirm the identity of the site you are visiting. In Microsoft Internet Explorer 7, look for the address bar to turn green.
Be Careful Downloading. When you download a program or file from an unknown source, you risk loading malicious software programs on your computer. Download software only from sites you know. Be wary of free software because it can be accompanied by other software such as spyware. Do not install software unless you know what it is and what it does and do not click on links in pop-up windows. Using anti-spyware software helps protect you from such programs.
Don't Respond to Emails Requesting Personal Information. Legitimate companies will not ask you to provide or verify sensitive information through email. If your financial institution actually needs personal information from you or your statement, call the company yourself—using the number in your files or on your statement, not the one the email provides! Do not respond to emails, such as "phishing" emails, seeking your password, PIN, or other personal information.
Read Your Statements. Read all your monthly account statements (bank, brokerage, credit card, etc.) thoroughly as soon as they arrive to make sure that all transactions shown are ones that you actually made or authorized. Check to see whether all of the transactions that you thought you made appear as well. Be sure that your brokerage firm has current contact information for you, including your mailing address and email address. If you see a mistake on your statement or do not receive a statement, contact your financial institution or credit card issuer immediately and follow-up in writing, where necessary.
Secure Your Confidential Documents. Keep all your financial documents in a secure place, and be careful how you dispose of any documents with financial or other confidential information. Shred documents that have confidential financial or identification information before throwing them away.Using the Cloud? If you are considering storing your personal financial information in the cloud, here are some additional considerations:
Research the provider – Just as you are careful to choose a reputable broker or investment advisor, look into the reputation of the cloud provider for positive or negative comments in press coverage or social media. In addition, review their security policies; do they appear thorough and understandable?
Compare costs – Be sure to understand all fees, including whether you will be charged more if you increase your storage.
Look for Two-Step or Two-Factor Authentication – Also known as multi-factor authentication, two-step or two-factor authentication is a strong approach to controlling access and is effective at preventing account theft. In addition to username and password, you may need to enter a code received via text message or a one-time password generated by a small device.
Ensure encryption – Verify whether your data will be encrypted while stored in the cloud.
Read the Terms – Thoroughly read any terms of service before signing an agreement or clicking an "I Agree" box online. And ask about any terms or conditions you don't understand.
Safeguard Your Social Security Number. Do not use your Social Security number as a username, password or PIN, and make sure that it does not appear on your printed checks. If your Social Security number appears on your driver's license, be sure to ask your state's Department of Motor Vehicles whether it can use an alternative number. Keep your Social Security card in a safe place and avoid carrying it with you. You should also be sure to safeguard the social security numbers of any dependents.
Do a Periodic "Identity Theft" Check. Reviewing your credit report may alert you to inaccuracies and unauthorized activity. You can obtain a free credit report every 12 months from three different credit bureaus by contacting the Annual Credit Report Request Service at AnnualCreditReport.com. This is the only authorized online source for you to get a free credit report under federal law. Be aware that you will have to disclose your Social Security number to obtain this report.
What Should I Do If My Identity Has Been Compromised?
If you think that your personal information has been stolen, immediately contact your brokerage firm and other financial institutions, including credit card issuers, to notify them of the problem. You should also notify the credit bureaus to put a fraud alert on your file.
If you detect unauthorized transactions in or withdrawals from your brokerage account, ask the firm to investigate. Be aware that your firm will need time to determine what happened and may need your help in identifying family members or others who might have access to your account. In the meantime, be sure to change your username, password and PIN for the account.
Additional Resources
To obtain your free annual credit report:
For more information on identify theft, including how to file a complaint:
For more information on phishing, spyware, and other online threats:
For more information on smart investing:
To receive the latest Investor Alerts and other important investor information sign up for Investor News.
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subset: commoncrawl


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"For ground-breaking contributions to developing and applying hybrid plasma models that have advanced the fundamental understanding of the chemistry, surface kinetics, and energy transport in low temperature plasmas."
Background:Mark J. Kushner received the BS in Nuclear Engineering and the BA in Astronomy from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1976; and the MS and Ph.D. in Applied Physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1977 and 1979. He served on the technical staffs of Sandia National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory before joining Spectra Technology where he was Director of Electron, Atomic, and Molecular Physics. In 1986, Dr. Kushner joined the faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he was the Founder Professor of Engineering in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering while also serving in many administrative roles. In January 2005, Dr. Kushner became Dean of Engineering and the Melsa Professor of Engineering at Iowa State University where he established the Engineering Policy and Leadership Institute and initiated the 2050 Challenge to focus education, research and outreach on addressing the most pressing of societal issues. Prof. Kushner joined the University of Michigan as founding director of the Michigan Institute for Plasma Science and Engineering and George I. Haddad Collegiate Professor in September 2008. Prof. Kushner's research area is low temperature plasmas, their fundamental properties and technological applications, ranging from lasers to material processing. He is a Fellow of the APS, IEEE, Optical Society of America, American Vacuum Society and Institute of Physics. He is on the editorial boards of several journals and editor-in-chief of Plasma Sources Science and Technology. Prof. Kushner has received the Semiconductor Research Corp. Technical Excellence Award, the Tegal Thinker Award for Plasma Etch Technology, the AVS Plasma Science and Technology Award, IEEE Plasma Science and Applications Award and the Semiconductor Industry Association University Researcher Award.
Michael Brunger, Chair, D. Dubin, K. Kulander, R. Flannery, V. Donnelly


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The situation in the Ukraine is more or less calm right now, and this might be the time to step back from the flow of daily reports and look at the deeper, underlying currents. The question I want to raise today is one I will readily admit not having an answer to. What I want to ask is this: could it be that one of the key factors motivating the West's apparently illogical and self-defeating desire to constantly confront Russia is simply revanchism for WWII?
We are, of course, talking about perceptions here so it is hard to establish anything for sure, but I wonder if the Stalin's victory against Hitler was really perceived as such by the western elites, or if it was perceived as a victory against somebody FDR could also have called "our son of a bitch". After all, there is plenty of evidence that both the US and the UK were key backers of Hitler's rise to power (read Starikov about that) and that most (continental) Europeans were rather sympathetic to Herr Hitler. Then, of course and as it often happens, Hitler turned against his masters or, at least, his supporters, and they had to fight against him. But there is strictly nothing new about that. This is also what happened with Saddam, Noriega, Gaddafi, al-Qaeda and so many other "bad guy" who began their careers as the AngloZionists' "good guys". Is it that unreasonable to ask whether the western elites were truly happy when the USSR beat Nazi Germany, or if they were rather horrified by what Stalin had done to what was at that time the single most powerful western military – Germany's?
A few days ago I saw this picture on Colonel Cassad's blog:
Looking at that photo I thought that for the western elites, to see these men must have been rather frightening, especially considering that they must have known that their entire war effort was, at most, 20% of what it took to defeat Nazi Germany and that those who had shouldered 80%+ were of an ideology diametrically opposed to capitalism.
Is there any evidence of that fear?
I think there is and I already mentioned them in the past:
Plan Totality (1945): earmarked 20 Soviet cities for obliteration in a first strike: Moscow, Gorki, Kuybyshev, Sverdlovsk, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Saratov, Kazan, Leningrad, Baku, Tashkent, Chelyabinsk, Nizhny Tagil, Magnitogorsk, Molotov, Tbilisi, Stalinsk, Grozny, Irkutsk, and Yaroslavl.
Operation Unthinkable (1945) assumed a surprise attack by up to 47 British and American divisions in the area of Dresden, in the middle of Soviet lines.This represented almost a half of roughly 100 divisions (ca. 2.5 million men) available to the British, American and Canadian headquarters at that time. (…) The majority of any offensive operation would have been undertaken by American and British forces, as well as Polish forces and up to 100,000 German Wehrmacht soldiers.
Operation Dropshot (1949): included mission profiles that would have used 300 nuclear bombs and 29,000 high-explosive bombs on 200 targets in 100 cities and towns to wipe out 85% of the Soviet Union's industrial potential at a single stroke. Between 75 and 100 of the 300 nuclear weapons were targeted to destroy Soviet combat aircraft on the ground.
But the biggest proof is, I think, the fact that none of these plans was executed, even though at the time the Anglosphere was safely hidden behind its monopoly on nuclear weapons (and have Hiroshima and Nagasaki not been destroyed in part to "scare the Russians"?).
And is it not true that the Anglos did engage in secret negotiations with Hitler's envoys on several occasions? (The notion of uniting forces against the "Soviet threat" was in fact contemplated by both Nazi and Anglo officials, but they did not find a way to make that happen.)
So could it be that Hitler was, really, their "son of a bitch"?
More proof? Okay.
Hitler was most definitely not a Christian. If anything, he and Himmler were pagans with a strong satanic bend to their dark cult of ancestor worship (Ahnenerbe). But what about Hitler's allies such as Petain, Franco, Pavelic – where they not defenders of what they would call the "Christian West"? Is it not a fact that 70 years after the fall of the Third Reich those who admire Petain, Franco and Pavelic *still* speak of the need to defend the "Christian West", but this time against the "Islamic threat"?
Furthermore, if the Nazi regime represented an existential threat to European Jewry, a quick survey or articles written by Jewish authors in the US and British press during much of the 20th century clearly shows that most Jews had little to no sympathy not only for pre-Revolutionary Russia, but also for the post-Trotsky USSR and that even though the USSR fully supported the creation of the state of Israel, many if not most US and European Jews felt that the Soviet Union was also a threat to their interests.
I believe that the rabid russophobia (phobia in both the sense of "hate" and "fear") of the AngloZionist Empire cannot be only explained by pragmatic reasons of great power competition or a struggle of political systems. The constant propaganda about the "Russian threat" is not only a political tool to dumb down the western people by keeping them in a state of constant fear (of Russia or Islam), but it is also the expression of a deep fear really felt by the 1% plutocracy which rules over the western world.
Finally, the fear of Russia is also a fear of the Russian leaders. When they are like Eltsin (a drunken imbecile) or his Foreign Minister Kozyrev (the ultimate "yes" man) western politicians feel appropriately superior. But remember that even mediocre personalities like Krushchev or Brezhnev truly frightened them. So it is no wonder that strong and smart leaders (like Stalin or Putin) would absolutely terrify them and make them feel inadequate. The infantile way in which Obama has tried to show that he was smarter and stronger than Putin is a clear indication of how inferior he really felt face to face. The same, of course, also goes for Kerry and Lavrov.
Everything I have written above fully applies to East European leaders too, only with even more intensity. We are talking about countries which sometimes had a rather glorious past and who during WWII had no other purpose then being the furniture in the room where the two Big Guys slugged it out. Worse, they more or less kept that same passive role during the Cold War and now they have hardly become more relevant. In part, I would argue that this is their own fault, instead of finally making use of their new found freedom to develop some kind of meaningful political identity, all they did was to engage in a brown-nosing competition to see who would become Uncle Sam's favorite pet (Hungary under Orban being the sole exception to this sad rule).
It is really no wonder that when the Americans overthrew Yanukovich the Europeans felt that now, finally, their "hour had come" and they would show those disrespectful Russians who "is boss" on the Old Continent. And every time the Russians warned the Eurocretins in Brussels that there were issues linked to the Ukraine which required urgent consultations they were told "that is none of your business, there is nothing to discuss". The problem was, of course, that the West European leader had forgotten that in the real world they were just the administrators of the USA's "EU colony" and that the US leaders truly did not give a damn about them (as Mrs Nuland so lyrically put it in simple words). As for East European leaders, their irrelevance is simply painful to look at, I almost feel sorry for them and their trampled egos.
I personally think that contrary to the official narrative, there is a strong case to be made that the end of WWII left a lot of people very, very unhappy and that all those who felt wronged or frightened by the Soviet victory in 1945 did join forces in an attempt to correct the wrongs of the outcome of that war. At the very least, the question of the importance of russophobia and revanchism has to be asked.
It just not make sense to explain away the apparently crazy behavior of the western leaders during the entire Ukrainian crisis by saying that they are simply stupid, naive or ill informed. What they are doing may appear stupid, naive or ill informed to us, but that does not mean that there is no deep rationale behind the actions of these "elites".
Most people in the West want to live in peace and are completely unaware of these undercurrents of the war in the Ukraine. What I describe above is only relevant to various minority groups. The problem is that taken together and when they act in unison, these minorities end of wielding a lot of power and influence. The best way to stop them, is to shed a strong light on them and their real motives.
The Saker


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Amazing Hand Painting Art
Guido Daniele's amazing Hand Painting Art. Guido Daniele was born in Soverato (CZ - Italy) and now lives and works in Milan. Since 1964 until 1968 he attended Brera artistic High School and he graduated from Brera School of Arts (major in sculpturing) in 1972. In 1972 he started working as hyper-realistic illustrator, in co-operation with major editing and advertising companies, using and testing different painting techniques. In 1990 he added a new artistic experience to his previous ones: using the "body painting" technique he creates and paints models bodies for different situations such as advertising pictures and commercials, fashion events and exhibitions.
Official Home Page: guidodaniele.com


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First of all, regardless of how badly someone is playing, on stage in the middle of a gig is not the place to do this. You may think the guy is ruining your gig, but the fact of the matter is the audience may be blissfully unaware that anything is amiss. All gigging musicians have had nights when they thought they played poorly only to have fans tell them it was their best gig ever, so you just never know.
Secondly, you're there for the fans, and an action like this is terribly self-indulgent. Give the fans the show they paid for, and I don't mean something that's better suited more for Ultimate Fighting than music.
You wanna fire somebody? Great, do it after the gig. The stage is not the time or place. You can read more about the social media aspects of this over on my Music 3.0 music business blog, since both the band and the drummer replied with some videos that were very astute from a PR perspective.
You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.
Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.


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Community Catalyst Grant
- Career Level:
- Early Career
- Topic:
- Diversity
- Deadline:
Inspired by discussion during the Increasing Diversity and Inclusiveness symposium at the 2017 Convention, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology launched the Community Catalyst Grant Program.
SPSP members can apply to use these funds in their efforts to develop community and professional development among members of groups currently underrepresented in the field (including gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity and race, disability, and other underrepresented statuses).
"This retreat enriched me in so many ways—from a personal level, where I felt that my experiences are not exclusive to me alone, and on a professional level, where I got to learn first-hand how others have navigated their post-PhD career progression."


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Neal Bahrman built his own storage drawers and topped them with a diamond plate aluminum platform.
The story below was originally published in the March 2008 issue of JLC and is as relevant now as it was then. Bahrman later produced a video which can be found at the bottom of this page. Be sure to view the photos, which include shots that were not included in the original article and cannot be seen in the video.
Custom Truck Bed Storage
By Neal Bahrman
Like many tradespeople, I'd always lusted for a shiny new work truck with utility-bed locking boxes — plus a high-security shop-garage to park it in and a five-digit checking account that could bankroll the whole shebang. But instead I had a middle-aged half-ton pickup, an unfenced driveway, and a budget with about as much fat as a figure skater. So I took what I had and went to work.
I didn't need much: just a truck-bed tool-storage unit that would keep the weather out and my valuables locked up but readily available, their presence hidden from passersby — all with a minimum of disruption to my truck bed's hauling capacity.
The solution I settled on was a set of pullout drawers that deliver reach-and-grab accessibility. I built the plywood drawer case in three separate sections. The two side boxes had to fit around the wheel wells, so I installed them first, pushing them over to their respective sides and scribing them for a snug fit. I designed the center section to interlock with the sides via cleats, so the three sections function as an integral unit.
A sheet of diamond-plate aluminum protects the plywood storage case from weather and wear. The center section contains three deep, full-length drawers (left). The two narrow side compartments have full-length drawers on top (right) and shorter ones — which end at the wheel wells — underneath.
I assembled the sections with Titebond glue and Kreg pocket-screw joinery, then painted them with a durable alkyd-enamel. I covered the top of the case with diamond-plate sheet aluminum, screwed to the 3/4-inch plywood platform. And I added reinforcing wood strips (glued and screwed) along the top and bottom of the sides; they supply anchorage for my tie-down hooks. The drawers and lift-out trays have plywood sides and pine ends. I used butt joints, fastened with glue and countersunk screws, followed by several coats of marine spar varnish. To protect the contents from moisture I set the ends a couple of inches in from the handles. I also sealed the top edge of the platform with sponge-foam compression-type weather stripping, which keeps water intrusion to a minimum. Since the front end of the drawer case is boxed shut, there's little danger that water will get into the drawer area when it drains down between the case and the front of the bed.
To avoid paying for oversized drawer hardware, the author installed plastic furniture glides on the bottom back edges of the drawers (left inset) and at the front bottom of the openings (right inset). The drawers slide easily and are supported by the tailgate when open.
Everyone asks me the same question about my setup: Do the drawers slide easily? The boxes are heavy when full, no doubt about it. But I installed plastic furniture glides on the bottom back of the big drawers and at the front of their openings, and people are always surprised by how easy they are to operate.
Because the open tailgate supports the extended drawers, I didn't need to install any supporting drawer hardware. I prevent sticking and minimize friction by periodically rubbing the drawer bottoms with beeswax and polishing the sides with car wax.
For security, I added a simple aftermarket Pop & Lock tailgate lock. But the best security feature, in my opinion, is how well the drawers are hidden: A glance into the back of the truck reveals nothing to indicate the presence of valuable tools below deck.
When the tailgate is closed, there's no sign of the tool storage. A lock secures the tailgate.
I do have to admit that the whole time I was working on this project, a nagging inner voice kept asking, "Is this really going to be worth the time and trouble?" Once the drawers were finally finished and I'd begun using them every day, though, a new question took over: "Why didn't I do this a long time ago?"
Neal Bahrman is a GC and the owner of HP Construction of Bakersfield, Calif.


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As manufacturing changes, it's time to take some risks
Futurist Jack Uldrich sees what's coming next, and encourages manufacturers to jump on the trends while presenting at the MFG Meeting in Phoenix.
The idea that manufacturing has changed in the last decade comes as no big surprise. What futurist Jack Uldrich pointed out at the opening session of the MFG Meeting in Phoenix on March 6 was that the change is just starting, and the pace of change is about to accelerate. "You focus like a laser on what your job is today, and it is not a criticism that you are not aware of these changes," Uldrich said to more than 600 manufacturing leaders, "but if we want to future-proof ourselves we're going to have to become aware of how little we're seeing of the world around us."
The MFG Meeting brings together industry leaders from the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT), the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA), and the National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA). Uldrich, whose title in his consultancy is "Founder and Chief Unlearning Officer" said the key to adapting to the rapid pace of change is the ability to step back and think about what is possible with new technology and new strategies. "We're going to have to unlearn some things we know about our business and our customers," said Uldrich. "Technological forces are doubling every year, but where we are today is at the lower end of the curve. Our challenges is to understand how we're growing exponentially."
Uldrich cited eight areas where manufacturing's future already has arrived:
1. Wearable Technology: Products such as Google Glass won't just be for casual visualization, but are already being used to connect end users with information and transmitting that information to third-party users around the world.
2. 3D manufacturing: Uldrich cited two examples: Nike already has produced a shoe using 3D printing with 80% less waste than through traditional production methods, while GE has made a fuel nozzle for a jet engine that reduced parts from 18 to one and is five times more durable. shoe made 80% less waste. "The types of materials used also are increasing," Uldrich said.
3. Nanotechnology: Uldrich said nano-enhanced materials could be a $100 billion industry by the end of the decade. "If you're in the copper and steel industry, this could affect you," he said.
4. Robotics: Uldrich said the rate of adoption for robotics will mean millions of robots in manufacturing. They will be robots that will not just make products, but learn assembly procedures and learn to make them more efficiently. As robot prices some down, they will be more available to small and mid-sized manufacturers, which Uldrich said will allow them to stay competitive in the global marketplace.
5. Sensors: This is another market growing rapidly. Uldrich cited a Cisco estimates there will be 50 billion sensors on physical objects by 2020. "The Internet of Things is this idea of connecting physical things to the Internet," Uldrich said. "In the not-too-distant future, if your materials, tools and equipment and not able to talk to the Internet, you'll be at a competitive disadvantage."
6. Computers: Computers of all sizes are going from billions to trillions, and they're getting smaller, faster and more flexible. Uldrich noted that the IBM Watson supercomputer that beat two human contestants on "Jeopardy!" could do 70 billion calculations a second. That was two years ago. Today IBM has a supercomputer that can perform 16 quadrillion calculations a second, and the Japanese are close to a supercomputer that can perform 1 quintillion calculations per second. "Our tools are getting exponentially more powerful," Uldrich said. "We're going to go from a world where we ask our devices questions to a world where our phones telling us things we need to know before we ask."
7. Big Data: Amazon doubling the efficiency of their plant simply by better collecting and evaluating data within its distribution centers. The rate of collecting, analyzing and acting on data is accelerating, which allows everyone real-time access to customer behaviors. That data is available to manufacturers of all sizes to utilize better service to customers and smarter manufacturing trends.
8. Collaborative consumption: Does everybody need one of everything? Customebehaviors also are changing, with concepts such as shared cars and shared rooms instead of rentals potentially impacting the construction of cars and hotels. Uldrich cited a company called Yertle, which suggests the idea that if neighbors shared items such as snowblowers and lawn mowers, American consumption might be reduced.
Navigating the rate of change has been difficult for many people, and Uldrich suggested that people need to change the way they think about change. "We all have to stay humble and understand that all things that were true are no longer true today," he said. "Your world is changing constantly, and you have to give yourself permission to read, to think about how world is changing. If you don't pick up on these changes, you're going to be locked up." Change happens, and it happens to all of us, and we have to have some humility about it," Uldrich added. "The riskiest thing to do is to play it safe. The safest thing to do is take risks."
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Kerry Stemler admits he had an unconventional start in the construction business: with the help of a community bank, he launched into home construction at 18. "I've only known one job and this is it," he says. At the age of 51, he has 33 years of hard-won construction experience.
After selling his first company to a partner, Stemler launched KM Stemler in 1981, writing down company goals on spare 2 x 4s. He credits persistence and focus with the fact the firm has grown from its garage start to a multi-million dollar company. "I believe in staying with your core business, and doing the things you're passionate about," he comments.
That doesn't mean that Stemler rejects diversification. Taking a look at his transportation costs, he started KM Stemler Trucking in 1996, which hauls industrial forklifts, machinery and heavy construction equipment in six states. The trucking company now has a variety of clients with specialized transport needs, including industrial plants and machinery movers. Its fleet consists of roll offs, triaxle dump trucks, roll backs, landolls and lowboys.
Since 2000, Stemler has also been involved with several commercial real estate property leasing and development firms in southern Indiana, which allow him to construct, lease, own and manage properties.
Cash in hand
Stemler maintains his current growth by paying attention to capital reserves. Cash on hand allows the company to resist pressures to take on projects with slim profit pictures. "Most small contractors really struggle with the business aspect," he comments. "You have to know how to do the work and also know how to be a good business person."
An early lesson: tightening up receivables. When he tried to establish a line of credit early on, a banker gave Stemler what he calls "a huge favor" and told him to focus on his receivables. After digging deeper, he found a major account that would likely have problems paying. So Stemler proceeded as if it wouldn't – which was almost the case since he only got about half of what was owed more than five years later.
"We now pursue customers that appreciate value and quality," Stemler says. This underlying philosophy even prompted him to downsize, cutting his firm's annual revenues in the late 1990s. The firm had grown to 100 employees, and mistakes were made, including leaving out a $200,000 concrete line item in a bid, an amount the firm had to absorb. "Build those cash reserves to carry you through when times aren't so good," he now instructs. "Financing's fine, but be cautious about how you use it."
Looking back, Stemler also critiques his own management mentoring abilities. "Building managers is a real talent and I didn't do the best job at the time," he says. Now the firm's managers are capable of doing the job of those under them. When needed, key superintendents jump in the ditch or put a steel beam in place.
Stemler is a hands-on manager, seldom seen in his office. "I do sweat the small stuff some," he admits. "I'm not the easiest guy to work for – I expect a lot." But building a construction firm isn't a 9-to-5 proposition. "You almost have to be willing to commit your life to working seven days a week if that's what it takes," he says.
Maintaining a professional image is foremost in Stemler's dealings. Appearance – whether the personal appearance of an employee or that of the company's equipment – requires detailed attention. All crew members receive a uniform. Stemler insists acting and looking like the professionals they are gives an owner confidence in the company's abilities.
His pickiness about appearance extends to jobsites. "At the end of the day, his guys clean up every piece of loose debris on the jobsite," says Bill Scott, president, Scott Funeral Home, Jeffersonville, Indiana, and a past client. "You just have to look at a jobsite and the condition it's in to know it's one of his."
Self-performing crews
KM Stemler self-performs the majority of trade work on its jobs, including excavation, concrete, steel fabrication and erection, rough and finish carpentry, electrical, drywall and finishes. Stemler believes this do-it-yourself philosophy helps him control his jobs, which are primarily private, commercial buildings.
Crews are divided into trade divisions, but employees are cross trained to work on several crews. "If you're careful about managing the work," Stemler says, "you should always be able to redirect your available labor when those rainy days come."
Stemler is cognizant his high-school education has made some avenues more difficult. "I can get the answers, but I have to work harder at it," he says. This makes him more determined to see that not only his people get training, but others get the skills they need to enter construction. "Construction is much more technical in nature now," he says. "It's not so much with our backs as with our brains." So Stemler has worked with Purdue University to help establish a construction technology degree in the Southern Indiana market and talks with students at the high-school based Prosser School of Technology.
There, Stemler goes over the four things he looks for in an employee (see sidebar on page 69) and then offers this example of how one of these traits – dependability – affects the all-important safety: Four guys are scheduled for a masonry crew, but only two guys show up. One of the crew members needs more material, and climbs down a scaffold because there is no one there to help him down with a man basket-equipped telehandler. As he climbs back up, holding the material, he misses the top rung and falls, shattering both heels. The real safety issue, Stemler insists, rests with the people who didn't show up – the worker never should have been in the situation where he had to climb holding materials.
Stemler calls workforce issues "the single greatest problem this industry faces. I wish I had the answer. You can really make a good living, but you're going to work hard." Stemler's efforts concentrate on what he calls "planting seeds." "We've got to demonstrate the value of a career in construction."
"For example, this company is a great opportunity," he says. "Any young person can come in here and prove themselves, and there would be nothing stopping them. At the end of the day, you've really created something you can be proud of in construction. I tell people, 'I'm not looking for you to come here for a job. I want you to come here for a career.'"
Fleet philosophy
Stemler's belief in self-sufficiency extends to his 25-plus machine fleet, which includes skid steers, tracked compact loaders, backhoes, telehandlers, excavators, compactors and dozers. The company's two mechanics do it all – only going outside the company for highly technical work or for equipment still under warranty.
And he primarily buys new equipment. "We buy to keep it," he says. "If you maintain it extremely well you can do that." Case in point: he still owns a 1990 truck and a 15-year-old backhoe. That doesn't mean, however, he doesn't replace units, but these older, well-maintained machines play backup if something goes down.
"The life expectancy on his equipment far exceeds that of other contractors," says Dave Heck, with local dealer Whayne/The Cat Rental Store. "We have seen a huge financial benefit from owning and operating our equipment with an eye toward retaining a higher market value at resale," Stemler says. This includes repairing before failure and oil sampling and changes at 100 hours. "If it's larger than a generator, we'll oil sample it," he says.
He expects his subs to maintain the same equipment philosophy – if a curbing contractor, for example, has a machine go down, Stemler expects him to have a backup machine ready to go. A few hours down is OK, but not two days. "He will have just cost himself another job, because I'll call another contractor," Stemler says.
Competitive environment
Stemler believes in having a great relationship with his competitors. While they bid fiercely against each other, they'll also work together. "As long as you do it fair and ethically," he says, "you'll always be able to work with them and have their respect, and they will have yours. Something may happen you're not going to like, but just get over it and go on to the next thing."
"He only hires contractors who have the same values as he does," says Scott. "He treats them well, pays them well and they stay with him. I don't think any of Stemler's competitors could say anything bad about him."
"When he takes on a project, he tries to make it the best possible job," says Ken Bell with Stock Lumber, Sellersburg, Indiana. "He's in the upper one or two percent of the contractors I work with. He's also one of the real leaders in our community. His conduct is one of utmost professionalism."
Stemler is a community involvement champion, serving on several economic development and bank boards, plus hospital and community foundations – work that both helps him give back to his community and stay in touch with local developments.
On to larger jobs
Stemler says his company has "served its apprenticeship" and knows how to do larger projects – which is where he wants to concentrate future efforts. For KM Stemler, that means projects in the $6 million and up range, where $2 to $3 million jobs used to be its maximum. This doesn't mean, however, the firm will not take on much smaller jobs.
"We really run lean," Stemler comments. "We have a very small office staff – including my wife Debbie who does accounting work – only five in all, counting myself. And these larger projects can be managed by basically the same people."
For a man who doesn't see himself ever retiring, he's still looking for the next generation of KM Stemler leadership. "But I really get a joy out of what I do," he says. "When our people are really clicking, I'm thinking, 'Man, this is so cool.'"
Asked which of his projects he would consider a signature job, Stemler pauses and then grins. "I don't know," he says. "We haven't built it yet."
Pride in performance
"Our people are trained to approach work as an exciting opportunity," Kerry Stemler says. And so he stresses to incoming employees the following characteristics as essential – factors that lead to an overall pride in performance. "And none of them have to do with their knowledge of the construction industry," he points out.
- Attitude
- Positive/enthusiastic
- Cooperative
- A team player
- Good interpersonal skills
- Good personal appearance
- Dependability – "I can't create a future with you if I can't depend on you to be here," Stemler says.
- Good attendance
- Punctual and reliable
- Self management
- Productivity – "You have to get something done," he says. "We're not here to just put in time."
- Are progress goals being met? Are you working smart? Does the project make money?
- Generating new and creative ideas to solve problems
- Applying learned knowledge/skills/techniques
- Accountability
- Avoid damage to equipment, tools, material and property.
- Avoid injuring yourself and others.
- Realize these types of incidents could make a difference in the company's success.
- Work every hour for which you expect to be paid.
- Exert a high level of effort towards goal attainment.
- Be honest and have integrity.


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Beautiful Global Projections – Adding Custom Projections to QGIS
This year we are celebrating Gerardus Mercator's 500th birthday. We have all grown very accustomed to his Mercator projection but I want to take the chance to explore some alternatives:
Radical Cartography features an extensive projection reference compiled by Bill Rankin. One of the more exotic projections is "Van der Grinten I" by Alphons J. van der Grinten, 1898. It has a "pleasant balance of shape and scale distortion". The "boundary is a circle" and "all parallels and meridians are circular arcs (spacing of parallels is arbitrary)".
Using the name, we can try to find the projection definition on Spatialreference.org. One of the definitions that works well in QGIS is "ESRI:53029 Sphere Van der Grinten I" with the following proj4 string:
+proj=vandg +lon_0=0 +x_0=0 +y_0=0 +R_A +a=6371000 +b=6371000 +units=m +no_defs
In QGIS Settings – Custom CRS, we can add this projection to the list of available CRS:
- Press the "Star" button to add a new empty entry"
- Add the Name and proj4 string
- Press the "Save" button to make the changes permanent
Once this is done, "Van der Grinten I" can be selected for on-the-fly reprojection. I've been using NaturalEarth's land and ocean dataset. The result might not be a perfect circle (due to the coarseness of the dataset) but I find it very appealing:


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The incredible boxing journey for undefeated featherweight prospect Patrick "The Punisher" Hyland (27-0, 12 KOs) continues after his recent victory by eight-round unanimous decision (79-70, 79-71, 79-71) overdangerous Dominican Carlos "El Flaco" Fulgencio (19-8-1, 12 KOs) at Sahlen Stadium in Rochester, New York.
"I enjoyed the fight and was sharp," Dublin-native Hyland said about his fight with Fulgencio. "I dropped him at the end of the first and caught him again in the second. I didn't want to punch myself out, so I eased up and boxed the rest of the fight. My previous fight only lasted four rounds and I needed the rounds. He came to beat me and kept coming forward. We went toe-to-toe and he caught me with a few shots. He tested my chin. I'll be back in the gym later this week and want to be fighting again by the beginning of November, hopefully, in a 10 or 12 round fight."
Hyland has been following his dream to become world champion that developed when he was an amateur in Dublin. He and his brothers, middleweight Edward 16-2, 6 KOs) and super bantamweight Paul (21-2, 6 KOs), moved to Essex, England at the beginning of Patrick's pro career. The Hylands didn't get the opportunities there that they expected and 1 ½ years later they were released from their promotional contracts. With their father Patrick, Sr. as head trainer, like he was in the amateurs, the fighting Hyland brothers crossed the Atlantic Ocean to fight a few times in the United States. They went back and forth between Ireland and America until they hooked up with Final Round Promotions/Team Snooki Boxing, which includes television reality star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, for a fight this past January in Atlantic City.
Patrick made a decision to move alone to the U.S., not to cities like New York City or Boston like some of his Irish prizefighting predecessors, but to Marlboro, New York in Hudson Valley. Hyland has been working with two-time world champion Tracy Harris Patterson, son of former world heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson, and Patrick's father works his corner as an assistant coach.
"We tested the US market and I enjoyed it here with higher-caliber fighters," Hyland explained. "I jumped at the offer to come here to fight. Now, I'm used to living in America. I had to get use to driving on the opposite side of the road. I never saw woodchucks or coyotes before, but I've accustomed to living here, and I'm enjoying myself."
The 28-year-old Hyland is the World Boxing Federation ("WBF") featherweight champion. He is rated No. 4 by the North American Boxing Organization ("NABO") and United States Boxing Association (USBA), as well as No. 5 by the North American Boxing Federation (NABF).
With 27 consecutive victories to start his professional career, Hyland already holds that record for a Republic of Ireland fighter (the All-Ireland record of 30 is held by little known Northern Ireland fighter Billy Adamson, 1950-52).
Few active boxers have longer winning streaks (not unbeaten with draws) to start their professional careers than Hyland, including 43-0, Floyd Mayweather, Jr.; 36-0, David Rodriguez; 33-0, Mike Alvarado; 32-0, Vanes Martirosyan, Roman Gonzalez; 31, Denis Boytsov; 30, Ajose Olusegun; 29, Timothy Bradley; 28, Kell Brock, Mickey Garcia.
"Patrick has proven his dedication to winning a world championship by moving without his family halfway around the world," Final Round Promotions/Team Snooki Boxing Vice President Mike Pascale added. "That took a lot of guts. We're committed to doing everything in our power to help position him to reach his dream"
Hyland is proud of Team Ireland's recent performance at the Olympic Games, as he prepares for a regional title fight and, if everything goes according to plan, a world title shot in 2014.
"They were fantastic," Hyland spoke about the Irish Olympic boxers. "I'm so proud of them. Our superstar, Katie Taylor, I know and she's the best in the world.
"I want to keep fighting often because that's where you learn. I listen to my team and fight anybody they put in the ring with me. If I had a choice, I'd like to fight (IBF featherweight champion) Billy Dib (35-1, 21 KOs). He beat me in Australia when we were amateurs, so there's a history between us. He's world champion and I'd like a crack at him."


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Consumers Union Urges FDA To Require Safety Testing of Metal on Metal Hips and Other High Risk Implants
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Consumers Union urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration today to adopt a proposed rule requiring metal hip implants to be reviewed through the agency's premarket approval (PMA) process to prove that the devices are safe and effective.
In a comment letter to the FDA signed by more than 11,000 consumers, Consumers Union called on the agency to re-classify all high risk implantable medical devices under the PMA process so clinical evidence will be required to show their effectiveness and safety before the devices can be sold.
"Thousands of patients have been seriously injured by faulty metal on metal hip implants and other medical devices that were never properly tested before being cleared for sale," said Lisa McGiffert, Director of Consumers Union's Safe Patient Project (www.safePatientProject.org). "It's time to stop experimenting on patients and require more rigorous safety testing of all high risk implants to prevent flawed medical devices from reaching the market."
Contact: Michael McCauley, firstname.lastname@example.com or 415-431-6747, ext 126 or 415-902-9537 (cell)
A copy of Consumers Union's letter to the FDA follows:
April 18, 2013
Food and Drug Administration
Docket No. FDA-2011-N-0661
To Whom It May Concern:
Consumers Union and the more than 11,000 people signing this letter due to their concern about high-risk implants are in full support of the FDA proposal (Docket No. FDA-2011-N-0661) to require all metal on metal (MoM) hips to be reviewed through the agency's premarket approval (PMA) process. It is too late for thousands of people who have been harmed by these implants that were cleared for market through a loophole in the law that allowed them to be sold without thorough review by the FDA to assure safety, even though they were classified as "high risk."
We also strongly support the proposal's requirement for makers of hip implants in this category that are already on the market to provide critical safety information to the agency within 90 days. However, it is troublesome that MoM hips can continue to be commercially distributed up to 90 days after the FDA order.
This order will finally require manufacturers to demonstrate clinical testing for safety and effectiveness before approval of new metal on metal hips. But at this time we are skeptical that any metal on metal hip implant could be safe for patients. Because of that, we urge the FDA to push all manufacturers of metal-on-metal hips to remove their products from the market, because of the high failure rates and high numbers of adverse events, especially experienced by women.
While the FDA has issued an alert about possible adverse events to the public, this does not guarantee that all affected patients have been given advice on monitoring their metal hips for problems. As was done in the UK, all patients with these implants should be notified about their risks and advised to get yearly tests for cobalt poisoning. Unless the FDA confirms that each manufacturer has done due diligence to notify every patient with these MoM hips, the problem has not been properly addressed.
The New York Times recently reported that a MoM hip sold by Johnson and Johnson had a 40% failure rate but the company continued to sell the remainder of their inventory, despite the knowledge of the failure rate. This kind of irresponsible behavior must stop. Requiring a more thorough review up front, as the current order proposes, will help to keep flawed devices from the market.
In addition, we strongly encourage the FDA to review and re-classify to PMA status all Class III implantable medical devices. Other high risk implanted medical devices like surgical mesh should also be put into the PMA approval track, requiring more clinical information. Patients suffering from harm due to surgical mesh implants have reported debilitating side effects from punctured organs to autoimmune disorders. Many have undergone multiple surgeries to remove the mesh, which has broken apart and traveled to other parts of the body.
Please move quickly to bring metal on metal hips and all other high risk implants under the PMA process so clinical evidence will be required to show their effectiveness and safety.
Lisa McGiffert
Consumers Union Safe Patient Project
506 West 14th Street Suite A
Austin TX 78701


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Mount Sinai School of Medicine Offers First-Ever Course with Whole Genome Sequencing
PR Web(PRWEB) October 08, 2012
Mount Sinai School of Medicine announced the launch of a first-ever course where students have the option to sequence, analyze, and interpret their own complete genome using state-of-the-art whole genome sequencing.
The elective course, titled "Practical Analysis of Your Personal Genome," is designed to address a gap in today's medical and graduate school education: to teach students how to understand and apply the wealth of information now available via whole genome sequencing, a laboratory process that reveals the unique genomic profile of each individual performed in the Genomics Core Facility at Mount Sinai. This course is offered through the Genetics and Genomic Sciences training area within the Graduate School of Biological Sciences.
Specifically, whole genome sequencing refers to full elucidation of an organism's DNA, which involves more than 3 billion nucleotide bases known as A,T, C, and G. It is an important part of a new era in modern medicine—called precision medicine—where precise knowledge of the molecular mechanism behind a patient's condition would ultimately allow physicians to determine more individualized care. Recent technological advances have substantially lowered the cost of whole genome sequencing to where it can soon be applied in routine clinical care.
"For precision medicine to become a routine in the medical clinic, we need to train the next great generation of physicians to harness sequencing-driven medical genetics," explained Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs of The Mount Sinai Medical Center. "We believe that an approach tailored to each individual patient's diagnosis and treatment, informed by genomic information, will provide dramatic improvements in the quality of care. Practical Analysis of Your Personal Genome reflects Mount Sinai's commitment to revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of disease through the application of genomic information."
Andrew Kasarskis, PhD, Vice Chair, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, said, "Unlike other courses that use commercial services to provide students with only a small portion of their genetic data, we decided to offer students in the course the unprecedented opportunity to do whole genome sequencing to view, analyze and interpret their entire genome." Dr. Kasarskis is also Co-Director, Mount Sinai Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology at Mount Sinai.
Students have the option to either sequence their own personal genome or that of an anonymous reference genome. When analyzing a complete genome, students will find greater than 4 million variants, many with known clinical significance, yet many with unclear significance. Students may find variants in their chosen genome related to ancestry, response to medications, the risk of developing diseases such as diabetes or cancer, and carrier status for single-gene disorders.
Mount Sinai also is conducting a questionnaire-based study to explore the degree to which course students who analyze their own genome demonstrate greater knowledge, as well as their perceptions regarding the utility of whole genome sequencing, and the impact on psychological wellbeing. This research will help faculty to learn how best to help students to interpret and analyze the wealth and complexity of genomic data, including potentially difficult findings such as risks of disease and carrier status. The results of the research study will be available after the course concludes in December.
The 20 students in the course represent a diverse collection of MD and PhD students, medical residents, genetic counseling students, and junior faculty. "Though there was an emphasis on genetics, students were selected from a variety of backgrounds to reflect the interdisciplinary nature of applying genomic information to patient care," said Randi E. Zinberg, MS, CGC, Assistant Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science, and Director of the Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
"We expect that courses such as ours will soon become an integral part of the curriculum at all medical schools. We look forward to sharing our learning from this course with other medical schools and graduate schools worldwide to help advance the breadth and depth of medical genetics education," Ms. Zinberg said.
About The Mount Sinai Medical Center
The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses both The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Established in 1968, Mount Sinai School of Medicine is one of the leading medical schools in the United States. The Medical School is noted for innovation in education, biomedical research, clinical care delivery, and local and global community service. It has more than 3,400 faculty in 32 departments and 14 research institutes, and ranks among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and by U.S. News & World Report.
The Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is a 1,171-bed tertiary- and quaternary-care teaching facility and one of the nation's oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals. In 2012, U.S. News & World Report ranked The Mount Sinai Hospital 14th on its elite Honor Roll of the nation's top hospitals based on reputation, safety, and other patient-care factors. Mount Sinai is one of 12 integrated academic medical centers whose medical school ranks among the top 20 in NIH funding and by U.S. News & World Report and whose hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Nearly 60,000 people were treated at Mount Sinai as inpatients last year, and approximately 560,000 outpatient visits took place.
For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org/ . Find Mount Sinai on: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mountsinainyc Twitter @mountsinainyc YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/mountsinainy
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Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/10/prweb9990990.htm


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Gang-rape victim dies, India transfixed
A young Indian woman who was gang-raped and severely beaten on a bus in New Delhi died Saturday at a Singapore hospital, after her ordeal galvanized Indians to demand greater protection from sexual violence that impacts thousands of women daily, in homes, streets, and public transport, but which often goes unreported.
She "passed away peacefully" with her family and officials of the Indian embassy by her side," said Dr. Kevin Loh, the chief executive of Mount Elizabeth hospital where she had been treated since Thursday. "The Mount Elizabeth Hospital team of doctors, nurses and staff join her family in mourning her loss," he said in a statement.
He said the woman had remained in an extremely critical condition since Thursday when she was flown to Singapore from India.
"Despite all efforts by a team of eight specialists in Mount Elizabeth Hospital to keep her stable, her condition continued to deteriorate over these two days. She had suffered from severe organ failure following serious injuries to her body and brain. She was courageous in fighting for her life for so long against the odds but the trauma to her body was too severe for her to overcome."
The woman and a male friend, who have not been identified, were traveling in a public bus after watching a film on the evening of Dec. 16 when they were attacked by six men who took turns to rape her. They also beat the couple and inserted an iron rod into her body. Both of them were then stripped and thrown off the bus, according to police.
Indian police have arrested six people in connection with the attack, which left the victim with severe internal injuries.
Indian High Commissioner, or ambassador, T.C.A. Raghanvan told reporters that the scale of the injuries she suffered was "very grave" and in the end it "proved too much.
He said arrangements are being made to take her body back to India
The crime shocked Indians, who have come out in their thousands for almost daily demonstrations, demanding stronger protection for women and death penalty for rape, which is now punishable by a maximum life imprisonment.
(Read the Monitor's roundup of how the gang-rape started a national dialogue on women's safety)
But the tragedy has also forced India to confront the reality that sexually assaulted women are often blamed for the crime, which forces them to keep quiet and not report it to authorities for fear of exposing their families to ridicule. Also, police often refuse to accept complaints from those who are courageous enough to report the rapes and the rare prosecutions that reach courts drag on for years.
After 10 days at a New Delhi hospital, the victim was brought to the Mount Elizabeth hospital, which specializes in multi-organ transplant. But by late Friday, the young woman's condition had "taken a turn for the worse" and her vital signs had deteriorated. It was clear then that she would not survive long.
Indian attitudes toward rape are so entrenched that even politicians and opinion makers have often suggested that women should not go out at night or wear clothes that might be seen provocative.
Other politicians have come under fire for comments insulting the protesters and diminishing the crime.
On Friday, Abhijit Mukherjee, a national lawmaker and the son of India's president, apologized for calling the protesters "highly dented and painted" women, who go from discos to demonstrations.
"I tender my unconditional apology to all the people whose sentiments got hurt," he told NDTV news.
Separately, authorities in Punjab took action Thursday when an 18-year-old woman killed herself by drinking poison a month after she told police she was gang-raped.
State authorities suspended one police officer and fired two others on accusations they delayed investigating and taking action in the case. The three accused in the rape were only arrested Thursday night, a month after the crime was reported.
"This is a very sensitive crime, I have taken it very seriously," said Paramjit Singh Gill, a top police officer in the city of Patiala.
The Press Trust of India reported that the woman was raped Nov. 13 and reported the attack to police Nov. 27. But police harassed the girl, asked her embarrassing questions and took no action against the accused, PTI reported, citing police sources.
Authorities in the eastern state of Chhattisgarh also suspended a police officer on accusations he refused to register a rapecomplaint from a woman who said she had been attacked by a driver.
Associated Press writer Faris Mokhtar contributed to this report.


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Theatre (sometimes theater in American English) is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event ...
Can there be any other form of live performance which present an imagined event and stock prices have the best day of the year?
That is the American Fiscal Cliff negotiations.
The best demonstration of the theatre of absurd that money can get you.
So do we have a deal or not? As per the latest headlines from the main stream media, we do not have any final deal yet. Why then the spectacular jump? Not that I mind it or really looking for any reason for it. That was the reason in my last post I said : Had this (sell) signal come 15 days back, I would have jumped on the short side. But today I would stand aside and let it pass. But at least it gives confirmation to the path that lies ahead.
Even in the answer to the comments I said that I do not expect any major selling yet. (Nah, not yet.)
So where do we go from here? While it would be unfair to the subscribers to spill the bean here, all I can say that cycles are about to bottom soon and I expect a bit of choppiness in the next few trading sessions. Does it mean that the markets will never correct meaningfully because central bankers will continue to pump money for ever? My take is, at some point, the unintended consequences of all the liquidity pumping will manifest in un-curable malignant cancers. When and how that will happen, is a matter of interpretation. At this point, let's just drive the car very carefully and take advantages wherever we can.
We cannot trade or invest this dysfunctional market with TA alone. We need some other quantifiable edge. But whatever is your edge, always have proper risk controls in place and never look for absurd yields. No system is always correct 100% of the time and if I say that my system is the best, I would be bulls**tting. But I try not to front run, I do not chase trades and I tell everybody to be patient. In 2012, I may have given up more trades than taken and looking back I am happy that it has helped in the preservation of capital. When people tell you that " No risk no gain" what they mean is that when you take big risk, chances are that if you are right, you will make big money but if you are wrong, you will also lose big time. And we will be wrong more times than right. That is the fact of life. So you decide what you want to be, an investor with a long term financial goal or a speculator?
It has been great sharing this space with you. While I have shared my trading/investment philosophy and systems with you, I have also learned so much more from you folks. I am thankful to those of you who have shown the faith and have signed up the subscription. I will work really hard to earn and keep your faith.
Happy New Year everyone


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The NFL thread
Thought I'd get us rolling. Everyone has started their practice camps and there are a few preseason games up soon. Just as a slightly comedy aside: http://youtube.com/watch?v=pJvTWmUYT...0dolphin%20rap |
Have a nasty feeling about this season for some reason from a Fins perspective.
Not sure Jason Taylor divorcing Zach Thomas's sister is a good way to start either. :( |
Having watched most of the practice camp videos, they appear to be getting one quite well with each other, both on and off the field.
Zach is still the uncle to Jason's child and as such, I'd hope that they'd get on. In this day and age, I'd hope for a professional on the field atmosphere anyway. Here's hoping. Someone said 21/2 to win the division. Optimistic but 10/11/12 wins should be happening |
Tougher schedule this year though. Same goes for Jacksonville who I think will struggle an almighty amount.
The Miami road schedule is pretty harsh. Home schedule (I think) was fairly easy from what I remember |
Re: NFL Season 2006-2007
Going to the Giants v Redskins game in October, can't wait. I imagine expectations for the Packers will not be too high this year either?
Feeling quite confident about the Seahawks for this season. Just hope we can change the trend of the losing superbowl teams!
Did the Seahawks lose the Super Bowl? I don't think it was mentioned in the off-season. :D
Is anyone running a prediction league like last season?
I need to get that organised, sorry for the wait with that.
Cool. Cheers for that.
Sky TV Schedules: Thu Sep 7 Miami v Pittsburgh SSX 6pm
Sun Sep 10 Carolina v Atlanta & Jacksonville v Dallas SSX 5.30pm Sun Sep 17 Miami v Buffalo & New York Jets v New England SSX 6pm Sun Sep 24 Pittsburgh v Cincinnati & Arizona v St Louis SSX 6pm Coolio!!! I like the old AFC East night on the 17th |
So gutted I know longer subscribe to sky sports. I miss the NFL more than the football, cricket and rugby.
Just been watching some of the Patriots vs Cardinals game on ESPN. Liz and I were thinking of going down to see it (you can get a train direct from Boston to Foxborough, which takes you back thirty minutes after the game finishes) but spent too long looking at witchy things in Salem.
Anyway, the long and the short of it is that Patriots have put out a full strength side despite it being pre-season and are looking shit hot. Late in the second half Tom Brady hit 7 out of 7 on an 80+ yard touchdown drive. Watching the game has given me a real urge to do so every week; might be time to invest in a spot of Setanta. Strath, we need to get some online Madden going fella. ;) |
I'm not sure that any game against the Cards should count.
However... they will be better this year |
Dude. Stream TV Now!!! Just accepted me as a member. 3 euros a month. They show loads of NFL. Just stream it from a computer. As long as you have broadband it's good. Currently watching a baseball game. www.streamtvnow.com |
Just when things looked to be heading in the right direction in Arizona:
http://www.deadspin.com/sports/nfl/m...ers-197418.php |
His career will be short, but then anyone behind the Cards O-Line will have a short career.
All times are GMT +1. The time now is 06:20 AM. |
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Tuesday marks the 20th anniversary of the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.
A noontime ceremony is planned to honor the six people who died in the 1993 blast in a garage below one of the twin towers. More than 1,000 people were injured.
A moment of silence will be observed at 12:18 — the moment when a truck bomb was detonated.
Six Islamic extremists were convicted of carrying out the bombing, including mastermind Ramzi Yousef.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly says the scale of the attack was the first dramatic demonstration that "terrorism is theater and New York is the biggest stage."
The ceremony is being held at the 9/11 memorial that honors more than 2,700 people who died in the 2001 attack at the World Trade Center.
Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.


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"For lasting contributions and leadership to the understanding of transition to turbulence in high-speed flows and non-homogeneous flows."
Eli Reshotko is Professor of Engineering in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He received his BME degree from The Cooper Union in 1950, an MME from Cornell University in 1951 and a PhD in Aeronautics and Physics from Caltech in 1960. He joined the NACA-Lewis Flight Propusion Laboratory, now the NASA-Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio in 1951 and worked in compressible boundary layer theory, aerodynamic heating and boundary layer transition before taking leave to complete his PhD. Upon rejoining NASA, he served as Chief of the Plasma Physics Branch until he left in 1964 to take a faculty position at Case Institute of Technology. Over the last 35 years, he has done extensive work in stability theory, its role in transition and the control of transition, and has served since 1970 as the Chairman of the U.S. Boundary Layer Transition Study Group. He is currently active in studies of transient growth as it relates to "bypass" transition, the study of ice accretion on swept wings, and MEMS applications in aeronautics.
Eli Reshotko was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1984. He is a Fellow of AIAA, ASME, APS, AAAS and the American Academy of Mechanics. He is Chair of the Division of Fluid Dynamics of APS in 2000, having been Chair-Elect in 1999. He received the AIAA Fluid and Plasmadynamics Award in 1980 and was the AIAA Dryden Lecturer in 1994.


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SF: San Tung Takes on Wings
The end of last year I visited San Francisco to take my aunt from Indonesia around. We were staying my a good friend of my cousin's and on my first night she took us to San Tung, a popular Chinese restaurant in the Inner Sunset district.
She said San Tung is supposed to have really good chicken wings and my aunt likes chicken.
Chinese=cheap. Chicken wings=sound good to me. I hesitated a bit because the friend is actually a vegetarian, so she wouldn't really know if the place was good. It had a good Yelp rating, so I wondered if it would be up to snuff.
A really spicy pickled cabbage that's served at every table.
My aunt and friend both liked it a lot. I didn't try it at all (didn't I just say it was supposedly really spicy?).
Because the friend is vegetarian, we also ordered some eggplant in garlic sauce ($7.50)
Generous portion and it packs a punch of flavor. The eggplants were sweet and tender and the sauce was a little spicy and very flavorful.
What we came for: The Original Dry Fried Chicken Wing ($9)
For my sake, we didn't get the hot ones that night. The wings had a nicely crispy skin, and a sticky sweet sauce. I preferred it to Bonchon/Kyochon in LA since it's not as sweet, the skin is crunchier than Kyochon (tho maybe not Bonchon), but mostly because it is CHEAPER. For $9 we get a whole plate of big chicken wings, not a small basket of tiny wings for $10. The value proposition is much higher.
Noodles in Black Bean Sauce ($8): SKIP.
Seems like a lot of Yelpers liked this dish, but I didn't. I usually really like the Korean-Chinese black bean noodle, jjangmyun, but here the homemade noodles were doughy and mushy, the black bean sauce was bland. The list of beef, shrimp, and calamari on the dish was tempting but I don't think it worked particularly well. It was a big bowl of bland starch to me.
San Tung for the most part serves a solid Chinese meal, but it's really the dry fried wings people come for and it isn't all just hype. The crispy wings were quite good and I'll pay for these over Kyochon any day. But then, would I otherwise drive so far and wait for a table for wings?
San Tung Chinese Restaurant
1031 Irving St
San Francisco, CA 94122
(415) 242-0828


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HBA Global Expo announces that it is now accepting nominations for its annual IPDA (International Package Design Awards) at www.hbaexpo.com/ipda. These awards honor the year's most innovative packaging in several categories—including cosmetics, fragrance, personal care, skin care and sustainability. Sampling/travel-size products and at-home devices and tools categories have also been added to the 2011 program.
Any size company can submit designs that are introduced for retail from June 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011. Submissions are accepted from suppliers, design firms and brand owners. Designs that have been refreshed, improved, or offer new features or technologies are also eligible to participate.
Finalists for the IPDA Awards are announced in early May and the Category Winners and the Grand Award are revealed during the HBA Global Expo & Conference, June 28–30, 2011 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York. The award finalists and winners are displayed in the IPDA Showcase at HBA.
"Packaging design is a key influencer in purchasing decisions," said Jill Birkett, brand director, beauty & wellness, HBA. "At HBA Global, we are proud to continually support and encourage creativity and engineering achievement and showcase the year's most stand-out beauty and personal care products."
Judging for the IPDA is done by a "Committee of 100" made up of industry professionals, designers, suppliers and members of the media. IPDA submissions are evaluated on the following: originality, design concept, creative use of new materials, components and decorating processes, technical competency and effective brand messaging.
The submission deadline is April 4, 2011. Nominations can be made through www.hbaexpo.com/ipda or by contacting Nicole Bullock at 1-609-759-7603 or [email protected].


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Smackdown (GTA A)
This page needs to be cleaned up to meet the standards of Grand Theft Wiki. |
Smackdown is a mission in Grand Theft Auto Advance.
Upon learning that King Courtney and his men are after him, Mike gets a car and he kills 10 Yardies around Shoreside Vale in 4 minutes to weaken the Yardies.
Mike: The Yardies are spread out all over the city getting ready to take me down. I'm going to hit them first before they're on to me.
(After Mike kills all the Yardies)
Mike: Good, I got them all before they could report back to King Courtney. Should make my strike on him easier. Hmmm, it doesn't look like the police appreciated my rampage.
(Mike goes to the Pay 'n' Spray)
The reward for completing this mission is $40,000 and unlocks the mission Assault Joint.
Video Walkthrough
GBA Version - GTASeriesVideos |
<youtube>Tj2iNW4WfF8</youtube> |


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This week is Premier John Horgan's first appearance at the B.C. Cabinet and First Nations Leaders' Gathering, an annual event established by former premier Christy Clark.
The province pays expenses to bring together representatives from across the province for meetings in Vancouver. It's commonly called the "all chiefs" meeting, including as many of B.C.'s 200-odd aboriginal communities as care to go.
There will be plenty to talk about this week, from wildfire losses to timber, ranching and other aboriginal business to the latest changes in Ottawa.
With the usual hugs and fanfare, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reorganized his cabinet, dividing the Indigenous Affairs ministry into two. There is now an Indigenous Services department to carry on the burden of providing for 600-odd federal reserve communities, and a new Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs ministry to focus on the broader relationship between Canada and its Inuit, Metis and First Nations people.
Yes, each will have its own deputy minister and staff, confirmed Carolyn Bennett, who moves to the new Crown-Indigenous role. "It's about de-colonizing," Bennett said. Right, by fattening the stagnant Ottawa bureaucracy that presides over a paralyzed B.C. treaty negotiation process that burns through millions a year.
Trudeau likes to strike poses in his buckskin jacket and make symbolic gestures, like renaming the Langevin Block on Parliament Hill to expunge the name of an architect of residential schools. That's easier than fixing water systems and failing schools in remote locations that will never host functional communities, no matter how much public money is thrown at them.
Bennett has been mostly in the news lately for the ongoing collapse of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls inquiry, an idea so naive and flawed it's a wonder even Trudeau's urban Liberals imagined it could work. One of the main obstacles to progress is Ottawa's refusal to reopen every old murder case across the country, or at least the ones in which the victims weren't Indigenous men or boys.
Mid Island-Pacific Rim MLA Scott Fraser has been handed B.C.'s Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation. I asked him about Ottawa's latest move.
"It's separating the service side of it, that's kind of the old colonial Indian Act stuff, from the meat and bones of where we're going in the future," Fraser said.
He'll be hitting all these politically correct talking points at the "all chiefs" meeting this week. Last year, federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould gave a long speech there in an attempt to explain how the United Nations declaration of "free, prior and informed consent" can't just be imposed on Canadian law. Fraser has orders from Horgan to reorganize the B.C. treaty process to reflect the UN declaration as well.
Skeena MLA Ellis Ross was elected for the B.C. Liberals in May after serving as chief councillor of the Haisla Nation, and trying to get liquefied natural gas development going. Ross is more concerned about the new NDP government's opposition to resource projects than the abstract "rights and title" discussion. He tuned that out while leading a northern community near Kitimat that struggled with unemployment, alcoholism and related social issues.
He said the NDP's last-minute intervention in a court case against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is a "well-known strategy" to delay and starve energy investment. In an urban society where only protesters get media attention, the rural aboriginal communities that support investment and jobs are mostly ignored.
The NDP is negotiating to offer them a small share of B.C.'s gambling revenues instead.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter
and columnist for Black Press.


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This article is more than 1 year old
AMD shoots low and wide with Opteron 4100s
The server limbo, Lisbon style
The x64 server chip refresh cycle may feel done, but there's still one more to go to finish the work that Intel and Advanced Micro Devices started in March. AMD is getting ready to launch its "Lisbon" Opteron 4100 processors, which are slated for delivery sometime in the third quarter.
When the twelve-core "Magny-Cours" Opteron 6100 processors were announced at the end of March, word leaked of impending machines, but not so with the Opteron 4100s. The Opteron 6100s were aimed at the belly of the market, which is two-socket or four-socket servers, and crammed two six-core processors in the same G34 socket to yield those dozen cores. These Magny-Cours processors have a big limitation in that they can only see up to 512 GB of main memory across a four-socket system - significantly less than Intel's "Nehalem-EX" Xeon 7500 processors for machine with 2, 4, 8, or more sockets.
But that said, AMD has put a G34 platform out that spans from 16 to 48 cores using the same chipset. In effect, AMD is offering Xeon 7500 and Itanium 9300 performance at Xeon 5600 prices, to over-simplify a little. AMD calls this removing the 4P tax, which El Reg discussed at length at the Opteron 6100 launch. Here's a pretty picture AMD put together to show this:
AMD is not careless with the data it releases, and it intentionally put the Opteron 4100 chips on this chart to show not only that the future Lisbon processors for single-socket and two-socket boxes would undercut whatever Xeons Intel would muster for similar machines, but that the Opteron 4100s would undercut AMD's prior generation of Rev F 1000 Series and 2000 Series quad-core processors.
The entry Lisbon part, presumably with four cores out of six working on the die, will cost a mere $99, and the top-end part, which has six cores and which AMD has confirmed will run at 2.8 GHz. According to the data from March, the top-end Opteron 4100 part will cost a mere $455. (Those are single-chip prices when customers buy in 1,000-unit trays, as is the standard for Intel and AMD pricing.) With the Opteron 4100s, AMD is basically removing the 2P tax and getting rid of having to make two different chips to support 1P or 2P servers.
The way AMD sees it, there are certain customers who want full-function, high-bandwidth, high capacity (in terms of memory capacity and core count) servers suitable for big jobs, like hosting lots of virtual machines or data bases, and then there are others who will want cheap 1P or 2P boxes and have more modest needs for bandwidth or capacity. The two chips that AMD is putting into the field do a better job of hitting the belly of the market (2P) and its fringes (1P and 4P) than the three Opteron flavors that were sold for the past seven years did. But AMD has ceded the 8P market and any fat memory 2P and 4P configurations to the Xeon 7500 until the "Bulldozer" core is done and slapped into Opterons next year.
There is very little talk from the server vendor community about what future Opteron 4100 server designs they are working on, and part of the problem there is that Sun Microsystems used to be the most vocal and enthusiastic supporter of the Opteron, but is, as El Reg previously reported, in the process of killing off its Opteron machines. (Something Oracle may even admit to publicly at some point).
IBM was also big on the Opterons for a couple of years, but has yet to field an Opteron 6100 machine, much less talk about a future Opteron 4100 box. Dell and Hewlett-Packard have put out a few Opteron 6100 boxes, and HP is getting ready to do a few more, as we told you last week. According to sources familiar with HP's plans, there are no Opteron 4100 machines in the works for June, but both Dell and HP, which have large custom server businesses, could be building machines for hyperscale data center customers and we wouldn't even know it.
Getting people at Dell's Data Center Solutions bespoke server unit to admit they have even built custom servers using AMD chips is like ripping out your own wisdom teeth, but El Reg got them to admit it back in March when they mainstreamed some of the custom boxes as the PowerEdge C series.
AMD is acutely aware that the Opteron 4100 is not going to get the same kind of splash that the Opteron 6100s did back in March, but Vlad Rozanovich, director of the enterprise and public sector business at AMD, says that the Lisbon chips are most definitely going to find homes in the data centers and data closets of the world, and probably under quite a few desks as well.
Rozanovich reiterated that the Opteron 4100 processor will come in standard, highly efficient (HE), and extremely efficient (EE) variants, with the latter two being low voltage and lower clockspeed parts that really cut back on the energy. The C32 platforms were designed predominantly for hyperscale data centers, where core count and memory bandwidth and capacity were not as important as having a low-power, small server form factor. While AMD has not yet divulged the feeds and speeds of the Opteron 4100s, Rozanovich said that at 5.3 watts per core, as gauged by AMD's ACP thermal ratings, quite a few customers are going to be very interested in the EE parts. (That works out to 32 watts ACP per chip).
AMD doesn't want to tip its hand ahead of the Opteron 4100 launch too much, but Rozanovich said the usual suspects in the motherboard crowd (with Super Micro no doubt leading the pack) are working on boards with either one or two sockets. And he added that there will be multiple tier one server makers getting boxes out the door using the chips, in both 1P and 2P setups - these will not just be white-box or bespoke machines.
Rozanovich said further that AMD expected twin server configurations (where two whole servers are crammed side-by-side in a single chassis) would be especially popular for hyperscale and HPC customers. And with that top-end 2.8 GHz clock speed, which is considerably higher than the 2.2 GHz of the dozen-core Opteron 6100 part and which draws closer to the six-core Xeon X5670 from Intel (which spins at 2.93 GHz and which is the fastest 95 watt (TDP, not ACP) part Intel sells, the Opteron 4100 will be popular among some HPC customers whose software licenses are priced based on the number of cores. Having fewer faster cores can be a lot less expensive on the software bill than lots of slower cores.
Given the very low price of the entry Lisbon processors, AMD is also expecting them to be very popular in emerging markets and among SMBs for entry tower servers, places where you might see an Intel Celeron, Pentium, or Core 2 Duo chip used in a box today. They will possibly end up in cheap rack boxes where customers are squeezing their budgets and can only afford bare-bones machines, or even in midrange workstations, but it is unlikely that Opteron 4100s will make it into standard blade servers from IBM, HP, Dell, or Fujitsu. But anything is possible. ®