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Main Site - :: Why Won't God Heal Amputees? ::
1413 Pilgr. Sowle (1483) v. xiv. 107 Ther is no body parfit withouten thre dymensions, that is breede, lengthe, and depnesse.
1858 W. Whewell Hist. Sci. Ideas ii. viii. §4–5 Time is conceived as a quantity of one dimension..Indeed the analogy between time, and space of one dimension, is so close, that the same terms are applied to both ideas.
1878 B. Stewart & P. G. Tait Unseen Universe vii. §220. 221 Suppose our (essentially three-dimensional) matter to be the mere skin or boundary of an Unseen whose matter has four dimensions.
suggested a six-dimensional Universe with the usual three spatial dimensions and three time-like dimensions that he called time, eternity and hyparxis. Time is the sequential chronological time that we are familiar with. The hypertime dimensions called eternity and hyparxis are said to have distinctive properties of their own. Eternity could be considered cosmological time or timeless time. Hyparxis is supposed to be characterised as an ableness-to-be and may be more noticeable in the realm of quantum processes. [Edit GB: or not.]While Bennett has put forward some curious speculation, his ideas stop at some subjective aspects of the perception of time which does not place them on a fully scientific basis. The question of measurement, how one would measure these hypothetical extra time-like dimensions, is left unaddressed.


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Guns, Ammo, Knives, RV's, ATV's, Etc. Buy, sell or trade here! NC only.
List all North Carolina Firearms, Ammunition, Optics, and Gun Accessories here.
List all rifles and carbines here!
List all ammo here, NO personal reloads!
List all holsters, lights, scopes, magazines, etc. here!
List all reloading gear here!
Dealer listings for Firearms, Ammunition, Optics, and Gun Accessories here.
Cars, Trucks and 4 Wheelers in Alabama here!
Harleys, campers and automobiles here!
RTV's, 4 wheelers, dune buggys go here!
Car mods here!
List all trailers except campers here!
North Carolina Hunting, Camping, Fishing & Archery!
List all hunting & camping gear here!
List all fishing related items here!
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Any knife, sword or blade here!
Boats, Wave Runners and parts/accessories here!
Conibears, cages and leg holds here!
List your random North Carolina stuff here!
Lawn mowers, tractors and farm implements!
List all your gold, silver, paper and coinage here!
Dogs, cats, goats, chickens, ex-wives, etc.
Sell you toy guns here!
As it says, list anything else that isn't covered by the other forums.

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Association statement on impact of nursing shortage
In just two short years, the first wave of baby boomers will begin to turn age 65 — the age of greatest risk for developing Alzheimer's disease. There are an estimated 5.2 million Americans living with this fatal, degenerative disease that today has no cure. With an aging baby boomer population, as many as 16 million people may have the disease by 2050. As the prevalence of Alzheimer's increases, so does the need for qualified nurses. We applaud the creation of the Champion Nursing Coalition, a broad spectrum of stakeholders who have come together to shed light on the grave threat the nursing shortage poses to the nation and the health care system.
Nurses serve as the bedrock of support for Alzheimer families throughout all stages of the disease. The need for more qualified nurses that can also meet the unique challenges of people living with dementia will become increasingly important with an aging society more at risk for cognitive impairment. Addressing the diminishing nursing workforce is absolutely essential to addressing the needs of this escalating Alzheimer population.
Approximately 70 percent of nursing home residents have some degree of cognitive impairment and 27 percent of older adults living in the community with severe disabilities are cognitively impaired. There is a consistent need for qualified, trained nurses to coordinate their care today — which will grow exponentially in the near future.
By 2010, there will be nearly a half million new cases of Alzheimer's develop each year and nurses will continue to play a crucial role in the lives of Alzheimer families. The Alzheimer's Association, the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer care, support and research, looks forward to working with the partners in the Champion Nursing Coalition to spotlight the vital role nurses play in providing quality health care and enhancing care coordination. The Alzheimer's Association urges lawmakers to enhance the recruitment, education and training of nursing professionals to meet future demands.
The Alzheimer's Association
The Alzheimer's Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer care, support and research. Our mission is to eliminate Alzheimer's disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. Our vision is a world without Alzheimer's. For more information, visit www.alz.org.
Alzheimer's Association
Media line: 312.335.4078
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Alcohol in the Atlantic
David Carey Jr.
Dating from the earliest times in Latin America, alcohol has played a crucial social, economic, political, and cultural role. Often reserved for politico-religious leaders, alcohol was a conduit through which power flowed in many pre-contact indigenous societies; indigenous drinkways (production, commerce, and consumption habits) were associated with communal ritual events and social prestige. Introduced to the Americas by Europeans, distillation profoundly altered the potency of alcoholic drinks for people who were accustomed to fermentation. Even as the social and cultural practices of alcohol consumption changed over time, alcohol continued to have political and economic implications in the colonial and national periods in Latin America. Fearing that inebriation bred disorder and recognizing that moonshining undercut their own revenues, colonial and national governments alike sought to regulate, if not control, the production, sale, and consumption of alcohol. In nations as diverse as Mexico, Bolivia, Peru, and Guatemala, indigenous women came to play integral roles in the (oftentimes illicit) sale and production of alcohol. A cash nexus for moving labor and land and a crucial component of the economic system by which (often unscrupulous) labor brokers recruited workers, alcohol was a currency of local economies. As a commodity of local, national, and international significance, alcohol shaped the fate of nation-states.
People's class, ethnic, race, and gender identities all played into their access to alcohol. Although a person's choice of libation could define their position, some of the more fascinating histories of alcohol are punctuated with women and men who used alcohol to disrupt social conventions. Through the consumption of alcohol, rituals and ceremonies created and reconstituted community both within and across ethnic groups. Imbibing could also divide people. Even while they sipped their cognacs and brandies, elites portrayed indigenous people, the poor, and other marginalized people getting drunk on moonshine to discount and denigrate them. Often associated with (particularly violent) crime, alcohol was seen as a vice by many and excoriated during temperance movements. Yet defendants across Latin America took advantage of judicial systems that considered alcohol a mitigating circumstance in many crimes. As 20th-century evangelical sects that preached abstinence as the route to wealth and marital bliss grew to unprecedented numbers, traditional healers and biomedical practitioners continued to tout alcohol's medicinal value. In short, alcohol was a marker of social position and cultural identity, a crucial component in community and state building, and a commodity around which different cultural traditions, healing practices, and policing policies developed and evolved.
Basques in the Atlantic World, 1450–1824
Xabier Lamikiz
Basques formed a minority ethnic group whose diaspora had a significant impact on the history of colonial Latin America. Basques from the four Spanish or peninsular Basque territories—the Lordship of Vizcaya, the provinces of Álava and Guipúzcoa, and the Kingdom of Navarra—migrated to the New World in significant numbers; the French Basques were also prominent in the Atlantic, particularly in the Newfoundland fisheries.
The population density of the Basque Atlantic valleys, which was the highest of any region in Spain, was an important factor that encouraged emigration. And, in response to demographic pressure, in the second half of the 15th century most villages and towns adopted an impartible inheritance system that compelled non-inheriting offspring to seek their fortunes outside the country. Castile was the immediate choice for the Basque émigré, but after 1492 America gradually became an attractive destination. Outside their home country, their unique language and sense of collective nobility (hidalguía universal) were to become two outstanding features of Basque cultural identity.
The Basques' share of total Spanish migration to the New World increased significantly in the second half of the 17th century. By the 18th century they were one of the largest and most influential peninsular regional groups in America. The typical Basque émigré was a young, single man aged between fifteen and thirty. In the New World they left their mark in economic activities that their countrymen had developed in their homeland for centuries: trade, navigation, shipbuilding, and mining. Furthermore, Basques' collective nobility and limpieza de sangre (blood purity) facilitated their access to important official positions.
Machu Picchu
Willie Hiatt
Machu Picchu is an Inca royal estate constructed in the mid-15th century in Peru's picturesque high jungle. As a seasonal retreat for celebrations, religious rituals, and administrative affairs when the Incas traveled beyond Cuzco, Machu Picchu was abandoned soon after Spanish conquistadors arrived in the Andes in 1531. The site was largely lost to the Western world until 1911, when a Yale University expedition led by Hiram Bingham lay claim to the scientific and historical "discovery" of the impressive complex of white-granite buildings and agricultural terraces. Contentious debates over cultural patrimony, conservation, indigenous rights, and neoliberal exploitation have enhanced Machu Picchu's allure as one of the most famous archaeological remains in the Western Hemisphere.
Rediscovering the Aztecs and Mayas: Field Exploration, Archaeological Exhibits, and National Museums
Kevin M. Gosner
In the last decades of the 18th century, with the visit in 1784 of José Antonio Calderón to the Maya ruins at Palenque and the discovery in 1790 of the statue of Coatlicue and the Stone of the Sun in the central plaza of Mexico City, the study of ancient Mexico entered a new era. In the century that followed, teams of field surveyors, mapmakers, graphic artists, and artifact collectors worked across central and southern Mexico as well as in Guatemala. Some were commissioned by the Spanish Crown or later by national governments; many arrived from England, France, Germany, and eventually the United States. Early on they worked side by side with geologists, geographers, and field biologists as part of natural history expeditions, accumulating collections of artifacts that would be displayed in curiosity cabinets and early museums alongside trays of colorful butterflies and stuffed tropical birds. And then, as foreign travel books won popular audiences in Europe and the United States, and as international investors arrived in Mexico and Central America, archaeology also was taken up by enthusiastic amateurs looking to sell books, build private collections, or organize international trade fairs.
For serious students of ancient history, field exploration and advances in archaeological record-keeping transformed a body of research and scientific speculation that since the 16th century had been dominated by theologians, historians, and philologists, who studied Spanish chronicles and native language annals but paid scant attention to the remnants of material culture. In the process, Aztecs and Maya were rediscovered as historical subjects, their histories disconnected from that of contemporary Indian peasants and recast as rivals to the great civilizations of the Old World. Ruins of monumental architecture, recovered artifacts in sculptured stone or finely crafted metals, and ancient texts inscribed on wooden lintels and bark cloth were reclaimed as part of national patrimonies to be protected by new state agencies and displayed in modern museums. On January 20, 1911, the International School for American Archaeology and Ethnology formally opened in Mexico City, and this formative period in the archaeological study of ancient peoples ended. Manuel Gamio introduced the study of stratigraphy to fieldwork practices in Mexico and the discipline was transformed once again.
The Spanish Caribbean, 1492–1550
Ida Altman
The arrival of Christopher Columbus in the northern Caribbean with three Spanish ships in October 1492 marked the beginning of continuing European contact with the Americas. With his second voyage of 1493 permanent European occupation of the Caribbean began, with enormous consequences for the peoples and ecology of the region. Failing to encounter the wealthy trading societies that Columbus had hoped to find by reaching Asia, Europeans in the Caribbean soon realized that they would have to involve themselves directly in organizing profitable enterprises. Gold mining in the northern islands and pearl fishing in the islands off the coast of Tierra Firme (present-day Venezuela) for some years proved enormously profitable but depended on Spaniards' ability to exploit indigenous labor on a large scale. The imposition of the Spanish encomienda system, which required indigenous communities to provide labor for mining and commercial agriculture, and the large-scale capture and transportation of Native Americans from one locale to another wrought havoc among the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean, resulting in high mortality and flight. Spaniards in the islands soon sought to supplement indigenous labor by importing African slaves who, in the early 16th century, became a significant if not always easily controlled presence in the region.
From the earliest years the Spanish Caribbean was a complex, dynamic, and volatile region characterized by extensive interaction and conflict among diverse groups of people and by rapid economic and institutional development. Although the islands became the launching grounds for subsequent Spanish moves to the nearby mainland, throughout the 16th century and beyond they played a crucial role in sustaining Spain's overseas empire and integrating it into the larger Atlantic system.


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96 Goose Hill Road
Huntington, New York, 11724
Commute to Downtown Huntington
Almost all errands require a car.
About your score
96 Goose Hill Road has a Walk Score of 8 out of 100. This location is a Car-Dependent neighborhood so almost all errands require a car.
This location is in Huntington. Nearby parks include Jennings Field, Fiske Bird Sanctuary and Coindre Hall Park.
Explore how far you can travel by car, bus, bike and foot from 96 Goose Hill Road.
View all Huntington apartments on a map.
Search for homes in Huntington or find a Huntington real estate agent who knows walkable neighborhoods. Links will open on our partner site Redfin.com.
This location is in the city of Huntington, NY. Huntington has an average Walk Score of 37 and has 18,046 residents.Learn More About Huntington


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The National Weather Service has issued a freezing rain advisory for North Central Worcester County and nearby towns until 7 a.m. Saturday.
Pockets of light freezing rain and drizzle will continue tonight across North Central and Northwest Mass. and portions of southern New Hampshire, forecasters say.
A freezing rain advisory means that periods of frozen precipitation will likely cause travel difficulties. Drivers are urged to be prepared for slippery roads.
Meanwhile, the weather picture brightens considerably for Sunday.
Forecasters are predicting unseasonably mild weather for Sunday into Monday. In Foxboro, football fans who are going to the big New England Patriots playoff game Sunday afternoon can expect a sunny afternoon with temperatures in the low 50s.


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The "Ring of Fire" tribute began in 2003 in an effort to honor members of the Chicago Fire who have made the team a successful organization and who displayed the qualities the club embodies: leadership, dedication and integrity. The Fire's unique Hall of Fame – the first created by a Major League Soccer club – began in 2003, when Fire midfielder and captain Peter Nowak became the inaugural member. The Chicago Fire, in consultation with the current "Ring of Fire" members, select the next honoree
Nowak chose a hometown hero into the select group in 2004 by nominating Fire forward and Chicago native Frank Klopas. Former Fire defender Lubos Kubik was bestowed the honor in 2005, while in 2006 the award went full circle with the induction of Peter Wilt into the "Ring of Fire." In 2007, former head coach Bob Bradley was selected to join former Fire alumni in recognition for being the club's winningest coach of all time. In 2009, the Fire inducted MLS Original, 1998 MLS Cup Winner and seven-time MLS All-Star Chris Armas into the "Ring of Fire". In 2012, the Fire inducted the club's longest tenured player and winner of six domestic championships C.J. Brown.
In honor of each inductee, a banner with each member's name is emblazoned upon a large, jersey-style banner displayed on the east side of TOYOTA PARK.
Inductee: Peter Nowak
As the Fire's first-ever international player signing in December of 1997, big things were expected from Nowak, the fiery ex-captain of the Polish National Team and veteran of the German Bundesliga. Nowak exceeded all expectations in the club's inaugural season of 1998, leading by example with his intelligent and gritty play and natural leadership abilities. Nowak capped his incredible first season with the club by earning MVP honors in the Fire's 1998 MLS Cup victory and just days later capturing the "double" with a win over the Columbus Crew in the 1998 U.S. Open Cup. Nowak also led the Fire to another Open Cup title in 2000 before retiring in 2002.
INDUCTED: June 28, 2003 at Cardinal Stadium in Naperville, IL
Inductee: Frank Klopas
Klopas was signed by the Fire in 1998 and given a chance to end his professional career where it began – in his hometown. "Kid" Klopas played 40 games and scored 17 points on six goals and five assists for the "Men in Red" during the 1998 and 1999 seasons. Klopas ended the Fire's inaugural season in dramatic fashion with what still ranks as one of the club's most memorable moments on October 30, 1998, as his "golden goal" in overtime gave Chicago a 2-1 victory over the Columbus Crew in front of a rabid hometown crowd at Soldier Field.
INDUCTED: June 5, 2004 at Soldier Field - Chicago, IL
Inductee: Lubos Kubik
After success in some of Europe's top leagues and internationally for his native Czechoslovakia, Kubik brought his skills to the Fire when he was signed on February 19, 1998. The Czech's steady presence on the ball, lethal left foot and world-class marking ability made him an instant leader and one of the most skillful players to ever take the field in Major League Soccer. Kubik's remarkable 1998 season ended with the defender receiving several accolades, including the 1998 Fire Defender of the Year and 1998 BIC MLS Tough Defender of the Year awards and a spot on the 1998 MLS Best XI Team.
INDUCTED: August 6, 2005 at Soldier Field - Chicago, IL
Inductee: Peter Wilt
Peter Wilt was the founding general manager and long time president of the Chicago Fire who set the standard for expansion franchises on and off the field in 1998. Under Wilt, the Fire earned a spot in seven domestic Cup Finals in the clubs first eight seasons. The Fire captured four championships (MLS Cup in 1998 and the U.S. Open Cup in 1998, 2000 and 2003), three division titles (2000, 2001 and 2003) and the Supporters Shield in 2003 during his tenure. Wilt guided the organization throughmoves from Soldier Field to Cardinal Stadium in Naperville and back to the renovated Soldier Field. He also led efforts to develop and design TOYOTA PARK in Bridgeview, Illinois, the first 100% publicly funded soccer stadium in Major League Soccer.
INDUCTED: July 22, 2006 at TOYOTA PARK - Bridgeview, IL
Inductee: Bob Bradley
Bradley patrolled the Fire sideline from the team's inaugural season in 1998 until 2002, posting an impressive record of 82-54-15 during the club's first five years. The former Fire boss also led the "Men in Red" to three championship victories in that time: the 1998 MLS Cup and the 1998 and 2000 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cups. With Bradley at the helm, Chicago also finished atop the Central Division in the 2000 and 2001 campaigns. While with the Fire, Bradley's 82 victories made him the winningest coach in MLS history, a title he still holds today with 124 MLS career wins overall through nine seasons, including stints with the MetroStars (2003-2005) and Chivas USA (2006).
INDUCTED: August 4 2007, at TOYOTA PARK - Bridgeview, IL
Inductee: Chris Armas
After playing two seasons with the Los Angeles Galaxy in 1996 and 1997, the Adelphi University alum was acquired by the Chicago Fire prior to the team's inaugural 1998 season. During his first season with the Fire, he helped the MLS expansion side win both the 1998 MLS Cup and the 1998 U.S. Open Cup to capture the coveted "Domestic Double". Through the next nine seasons as a player in Chicago, Armas led the Fire to three more U.S. Open Cup Championships (2000, 2003, 2006) and helped the Fire reach the MLS Cup Finals in 2000 and 2003. The seven-time MLS All-Star finished his decorated playing career in 2007 having tallied 12 goals and 48 assists through 214 games. Armas ranks in the top 5 on the Fire's all-time list with 42 assists (2nd), 13 game-winning assists (2nd), 19,018 minutes played (3rd), 214 games played (3rd), and 212 games started (2nd). In 2008, Armas joined the Chicago Fire coaching staff as an assistant coach under Denis Hamlett, helping the Fire reach the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals.
INDUCTED: October 22, 2009 at TOYOTA PARK - Bridgeview, IL
Inductee: C.J. Brown
The longest-serving member of the Chicago Fire, defender C.J. Brown won over the hearts of the club's supporters through his grit, hard work and dedication to always playing for the badge during his 13 seasons in the Windy City. The club's all-time leader in competitive (372), MLS regular season (296), MLS Cup playoff (35) and U.S. Open Cup (26) appearances, Brown retired in 2010 as the last remaining "Fire Original" from the inaugural 1998 double-winning side. Captain of the Fire from 2008-09, Brown joins fellow Ring member Chris Armas and goalkeeper Zach Thornton as the only three players to be part of all six of the club's domestic titles.
INDUCTED: May 9, 2012 at TOYOTA PARK in Bridgeview, IL
Inductee: Ante Razov
After a collegiate career at UCLA, Razov was chosen by the Galaxy in the third round of the 1996 MLS College Draft and joined the Fire prior to the start of the 1998 season. In his first year with the Men in Red, Razov appeared in 30 games and led the Fire in scoring with 10 goals. Over the course of seven seasons with the Fire, Razov appeared in 125 regular season matches, scoring a club-record 76 goals -- including 21 game-winners -- and adding 44 assists. He made 26 postseason appearances for the Men in Red, scoring 10 goals and adding nine assists, including six assists to lead the Fire a MLS Cup appearance in 2000. A 2003 MLS Best XI honoree, Razov won the 1998 MLS Cup and three U.S. Open Cup titles in his time with the Fire. Across all competitions, Razov scored 95 goals in 176 appearances.
INDUCTED: October 3, 2015 at TOYOTA PARK in Bridgeview, IL


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"SF looks towards an imaginary future, while fantasy, by and large, looks towards an imaginary past."
Compare the Rat Thing to the slamhound from William Gibson's 1986 novel Count Zero, and of course the mechanical hound from Ray Bradbury's 1953 classic Fahrenheit 451.
Thanks to Jerry for suggesting this item.
Thanks to Jerry for suggesting this item.
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Buick Verano Starter Replacement Cost
Know what price you should pay to get your vehicle fixed.
What is a starter?
The starter is an electric motor that spins the engine when the ignition key is turned to the start position. This allows the engine to "start" and begin running.
How does the starter work?
The starter solenoid receives power from the battery at all times. When the ignition is turned to the start position, the starter solenoid receives electrical power from the ignition, and allows battery power to move from the solenoid to the starter motor. This causes the starter motor to turn the engine flywheel by allowing the starter motor pinion gear to extend, contacting the flywheel ring gear. This action forces the engine crankshaft to turn until the engine begins running under its own power.
Find a Certified Mechanic
What are the symptoms related to a bad starter?
Starter motor failure produces one common symptom for all makes and models. When the key is turned, the starter solenoid will click, but the engine will not rotate. This may be due to a lack of continuity between the starter and starter solenoid, or internal failure of the starter motor. A whirring, or fast spinning noise may be heard when the key is turned, indicating the starter motor is actively working, but the pinion gear has failed to extend and contact the flywheel ring gear. In this case, the starter solenoid and starter should be inspected for failure.
Can I drive with a starter problem?
Vehicles with manual transmissions can be manually started by pushing the vehicle to considerable speed, and releasing the clutch quickly. This is commonly called push-starting, and is an effective method of manually starting the engine using the vehicle's transmission to turn the flywheel. This is a typical transmission type in many European sport coupes and performance sedans. Automatic transmissions will not be capable of push-starting.
How often do starters need to be replaced?
Starter motors for most vehicle's will fail during that vehicle's lifetime. Failure rates are negligible for the first 75,000 – 100,000 miles, but afterwards, the rate of failure increases dramatically, with the majority of failures occurring around the 125,000 mile mark. Vehicles that experience frequent starting and stopping, such as late model vehicles with automatic engine start and stop features are at a higher risk of premature failure since the starter motor is used extensively. Other factors that may influence premature failure are engine problems that cause unnecessarily long cranking, or repeated cranking to set the engine in motion.
Related Buick Verano Estimates
How are starter issues diagnosed?
Vehicles exhibiting the symptoms noted above will be connected to a starting and charging system test machine. This is an advanced device that will automatically test every part of the starting and charging system automatically by following onscreen instructions. The machine will display results, and indicate the possibility of starter failure, but may also require the servicing technician to complete visual inspections while testing is in progress. If the starter is found to be at fault, it will be removed, bench tested, and if necessary, replaced. It is important to note that the starter is tested externally, even if the technician has diagnosed the starter for failure. This ensures the customer complaint will not return with the new part installed, and that unnecessary replacement cost is not incurred by the customer.
How is a starter replaced?
Replacing a starter motor is simple on nearly every make and model of passenger vehicle. The battery is disconnected to prevent electrical shock or damage to sensitive electronic components, and then the starter motor is disconnected from all electrical connectors. Once disconnected, the starter, and any shims used, are removed from the vehicle with only a couple of bolts, and replaced in the opposite order of operations. The electrical connections must be placed on the correct terminals, also known as "posts", and the replacement starter should have the same number of posts as the original.
RepairPal Recommendations for starter issues
We recommend using a high-quality replacement starter motor and solenoid that conforms to the OEM starter specifications. In most instances, replacement with an OEM starter can reduce the risk of a second replacement at some point down the road.
What to look out for when dealing with starter issues
Failure of the starter to turn the engine may not be a result of starter motor failure, but can also be caused by a faulty ignition switch, blown fuse, or bad starter solenoid, among other conditions. The starting and charging system will need complete diagnosis before replacing the starter, and the starter should be bench tested, even after diagnosis, to ensure the customer complaint will be resolved. It is important to note that, in most situations, the electrical connectors for the starter can be installed in the wrong position, which will cause further unexpected symptoms once the vehicle's battery is reconnected. Many starters for the same vehicle make will fit many models mechanically, but the solenoid may not be of the same design. The appropriate part number must be used when ordering the new starter, or the starter motor may fail to function properly.
Can I replace the starter myself?
Replacing a starter, on most models, is a great DIY project that can be completed in short order. However, there is a risk of electrical shock and other electrical component failure if the battery is not disconnected prior to performing service. On many older vehicles, the starter motor is installed using shims to facilitate proper alignment of the starter motor pinion gear and the flywheel ring gear. If shimming is required, damage could be caused to the pinion gear, or flywheel. In this situation, a technician should be trusted with the repair.
- Repair shops in Pleasanton, CA
- Repair shops in San Ramon, CA
- Repair shops in Livermore, CA
- Repair shops in Danville, CA


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Warm applause greeted Jordan Adams as he sat down on UCLA's bench at Pauley Pavilion, leaving a blowout win with eight minutes left on the clock.
The sophomore guard could've easily topped his career high Saturday, but his Bruins already were well on their way to a 80-66 victory over Utah — one that featured another explosive second half for the team. Might as well give him some rest, even if he did briefly sub back in later.
Even without needing him for nearly the last quarter of the game, UCLA (20-5, 9-3) now sits just one game back of first-place Arizona, a former No. 1-ranked team that just suffered its second conference upset.
Adams finished with 24 points, made all three of his three-point attempts and shot 10 of 14 overall. It was his highest career point total against a Pac-12 opponent and the first time he finished with double-digit field goals since a November win over Morehead State.
The last time he scored at least 20 points was in the conference-opening win against USC, one in which he went 8 of 13 from the field. Through the next 10 games leading into this weekend, he shot just 36.2 percent.
"Not one time have we told Jordan Adams not to shoot the basketball," head coach Steve Alford said. "That's his role."
Adams' confidence never wavered. The difference, according to Alford, was Adams exercised more patience when moving without the ball.
"Sometimes he gets in a hurry," the first-year Bruins coach said. "We really tried to kind of slow him down with his cutting. He's done a nice job in practice. I thought he got in a good rhythm tonight."
The 6-foot-5 standout opened the second half with a jumper, then converted a 3-point play a few minutes later.
With his help the Bruins opened the second half with a 7-0 run that forced Utah to call a timeout at 16:28. The run eventually swelled to 12-0 until finally, the Utes made their first field goal since the break. More than five minutes already had ticked off the clock.
Utah (17-8, 6-7) had yet to lose by double digits this season and suffered its first seven losses by an average of 3.7 points.
"They put some heat on us in the second half and it kind of demoralized us," Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said.
It followed a rocky first half from his two stars.
Facing a defense intent on keeping him out of the lane, guard Delon Wright walked into the locker room with only four points and a field goal — one that counted only because freshman guard Zach LaVine reached up into the net and was called for goaltending. Forward Jordan Loveridge was scoreless.
The Utes' top duo had entered the game averaging 16.2 and 16.0 points, respectively, with Wright ranked as the fifth-most efficient offensive player in the conference. He finished with 16 points — as well as six rebounds and seven assists — but was the only Ute in double digits at the final buzzer.


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Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 15th Feb 2006 22:52 UTC, submitted by Jane Walker
Novell plans to release a beta for its Linux Desktop 10 including new features offering better interoperability with Microsoft Office and Open Office, said Ted Haeger, Novell's director of user communities, at the Southern California Linux Expo. The beta, tentatively scheduled for release next month, will include a new feature, dubbed Xgl. Haeger said Xgl will allow users to jump between screens and multiple desktops. Targeted to CAD software users, Xgl has a practical side that allows users to have better window- and file-sharing capabilities.
Permalink for comment 96330
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
RE: Support Novell
by DrillSgt on Thu 16th Feb 2006 17:19 UTC in reply to "Support Novell"
"Buy a copy of Novell Linux Desktop just to support Novell...."
Buy Suse Linux and do the same. Novell Linux Desktop is the business package, so if you are a business then maybe ues. Suse Linux is geared toward the home desktop more or less. Both are Novell products and support Novell if purchased.


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Spanish PM denies party ran slush fund
MADRID (AP) — Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told Parliament on Thursday that he was wrong to trust his former party financial chief for so many years, and repeated his vigorous denials of the ex-treasurer's allegations the party ran a slush fund.
Rajoy surprised many in a special appearance before lawmakers by saying he "was wrong to maintain confidence in someone we now know did not deserve it."
"I was wrong, and I'm sorry about it, but it happened," Rajoy said of his decision to stand by Luis Barcenas, his long-standing political colleague. He admitted that the scandal had damaged the country's image.
The party financing scandal has dogged Rajoy since early this year, when allegations of irregularities emerged. The allegations, which have featured prominently in the media in recent months, have angered many Spaniards reeling from a 26.3 percent unemployment rate and debt-cutting austerity measures devised to heal the country's public finances.
Barcenas was allegedly the architect of the off-the-books payment scheme. He was the Popular Party's top financial official for nearly two decades until he resigned in 2009 after being named as a suspect in a related police investigation.
Barcenas was jailed in June after the National Court found he had held the 47 million euros ($62 million) in secret Swiss bank accounts. He faces possible trial on tax fraud and money-laundering charges
He told the judge investigating the slush fund allegations that he gave tens of thousands of euros in secret cash payments to Rajoy and party secretary general Maria Delores de Cospedal between 2008 and 2010 while they were opposition leaders. Other leading party members also allegedly received payments.
The Popular Party has in recent months turned against Barcenas. On Thursday Rajoy again denied the allegations and called his long-time friend "a delinquent." He claimed Barcenas's "best form of defense was to attack the party."
"You can ask me whether Barcenas's allegations are correct. I can tell you they are not," Rajoy said in a speech which earned a standing ovation from his party's lawmakers.
Opposition leader Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba and other opposition party leaders repeated calls for Rajoy to resign, saying the prime minister had lost his credibility.
"What authority do you have to tell Spaniards they must not evade taxes when you're party was doing just that?" Rubalcaba said.
Rajoy appeared before Parliament after opposition parties threatened to call a motion of no confidence in Rajoy.


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The title of the International Center of Photography's "Archive Fever: Uses of the Document in Contemporary Art" is, pace Derrida, somewhat of a cheat and bespeaks a certain anxiety about the premise of the show itself. An archive is, my Webster's tells me, a "place in which public records or historic documents are kept." As the show's introductory wall text admits, the term "evokes a dim, musty" locale. In contrast, a fever (Webster's, again) is an "excessive excitement of the passions in consequence of strong emotion." It's as if the curator, Okwui Enwezor, felt the need, from the start, to sex up what he feared might be a less-than-enticing project.
He needn't have worried. "Archive Fever" (on view through May 4) is a rambling, sometimes irritating, essentially incoherent show, and one in which the sum is decidedly less than its parts. It does not come to any sustained conclusions–or even introduce a sustained set of questions–about photography's relationship to archival documents. But the exhibit's individual elements are, often enough, moving, thought-provoking, unsettling–and even sometimes fascinating. "Archive Fever" is vastly imperfect yet well worth seeing.
The show encompasses an array of forms including installations, films, videos, silk-screens and photographs that range from high-art to documentary. (Surprisingly, though, there is nothing from the Internet, which is really one huge archive.) But what struck me, and surprised me, most about the show is its prevailing obsession: which is, quite simply, violence. Missing children, the Holocaust, gunshot victims, terrorism, jihadism, civil war: these are not the show's only themes, but they constitute, at least to this viewer, its critical mass. One can't come away from this show without concluding that we are, indeed, cursed to be living in interesting times.
Perhaps it's not surprising, then, that the show often weakens when it strays from news and history. Take, for instance, the twenty-two prints of Sherrie Levine's "appropriations" (that is, copies) of Walker Evans's Farm Security Administration photos. It may be, as Enwezor claims, that these photos, produced in 1981, were a "daring, seminal deconstruction of the modernist myths of originality." But the point has been made, over and again, and the imagery–or, rather, Levine's message–doesn't have much punch almost three decades later. (In contrast, Thomas Ruff's "Machines" C-prints–tinted, reworked photos from the brochure of a defunct German tool and machine company–are a true homage, though perhaps an unintended one, to Evans's sober photographs of farm implements.) In fact, Levine's work succeeds only in making me want to see a "real" Evans photo–though I realize that her triumph lies, precisely, in those quotation marks.
Another work of appropriation, Glenn Ligon's "Notes on the Margin of the Black Book" (1991-93), has drawbacks similar to Levine's. Taking up three whole walls, it consists of ninety-one photos in parallel double rows of sleek, muscular, sometimes naked black men that were originally shot by Robert Mapplethorpe; the photos are separated by short quotes from the likes of Roland Barthes, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Frantz Fanon, Henry Louis Gates Jr. and (surprisingly) Hilton Kramer. Gates argues that "race is the ultimate trope of difference," while Fanon informs us that "the Negro is eclipsed. He is turned into a penis. He is a penis." The problem here is immediately evident: these tendentious texts, though perhaps true, are powerless against the grace, eroticism and sheer impudence of Mapplethorpe's pictures. (Talk about punch!) It's hard to rob these images of their danger, their power and their brazen lookability; the words subvert the pictures as much as a mosquito subverts a lion. As the photography critic Vicki Goldberg once noted, "Any work of art that can be discussed primarily in terms of deconstruction will not have a strong political impact."


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Dr. Richard Pratt serves as Adjunct Professor at RTS Orlando. He taught full-time at RTS Jackson and RTS Orlando for more than 20 years. Dr. Pratt chaired the Old Testament Department at RTS Orlando for several years and now occasionally teaches Old Testament courses.
Dr. Pratt is the president and founder of Third Millennium Ministries, an organization committed to equip church leaders in their own lands by creating a multimedia seminary curriculum in five major languages. During international mission efforts early in his teaching career, Dr. Pratt observed the hunger of foreign pastors and ministry leaders for theological education as well as the lack of resources to obtain such education. He developed the conviction that any person with a desire to learn more about the Bible should be given that opportunity in their own language and at no cost to them. Third Millennium Ministries produces online video courses on various biblical and theological topics in English, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Russian and Spanish. Dr. Pratt is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America. He has served as a pastor and traveled extensively to evangelize and teach.
Dr. Pratt's research interests and numerous publications relate to Old Testament theology, interpreting biblical literature, apologetics and the integration of biblical and theological studies with practical Christian living. He served as general editor of the Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible (Zondervan, 2003).
Students appreciate Dr. Pratt's passion for bringing in-depth biblical education to Christian leaders around the world and his willingness to challenge various trends among Western evangelicals.
Whether you're a prospective student, current student, alumnus, donor, or friend of RTS, we would love to hear from you.


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There's already something about 2012. Something good. Admittedly, last year was so full of nasty as to make most years look good beside it, but, still. I'm excited. And as a Dragon girl I get to be doubly turned on by today's Chinese New Year – here's to firey lanterns and red money envelopes, good luck and prosperity. Bring it on.
I left some things behind in 2011 – always the girl with a thousand extra-curricular activities, I've pared things down to make more time for writing. It's sad, of course – I've got a magpie mind and I love being into everything, always a new thing to try out and play with, but of all my pet projects it's the writing ones that mean the most to me, the ones I want to finish and grow this year. Maybe when I'm a bad-ass novelist living off handsome royalties (ha!) I'll have more time to play, but right now it's the words that will get my free time.
This month I've already got more written than I ever usually do, and I've even had time to read some killer novels, so I know I've made the right decision. Watch this space for links to my reviews for Slacker Heroes, The British Fantasy Society and my blogs for Mslexia, but please chase me offline if I'm tweeting too much to finish my novel.


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DOHA, Qatar (AP) — An American couple charged with starving to death their adopted daughter was allowed to leave a Qatar jail on Wednesday as they pursue their legal battle, insisting their African-born child died of medical problems complicated by anorexia-like bouts.
The case has brought assistance from U.S.-based groups and highlights possible cultural misunderstandings in a Gulf nation unfamiliar with adoption and cross-cultural families.
The decision by Judge Abdullah al-Emady to free from Matthew and Grace Huang from detention reversed his orders last month to keep them in custody during the trial. The couple was not required to post bail but cannot leave Qatar. The next hearing was scheduled for Dec. 3.
The ruling followed a string of defense witnesses who testified that 8-year-old Gloria appeared healthy and active just days before her death in January. Prosecutors allege the couple denied food to their daughter, who was born in Ghana and adopted at age 4. They also claim she was locked in her room at night.
The couple moved to Qatar from California in 2012, after Matthew Huang took a job on water projects related to infrastructure improvements for Qatar's hosting of the World Cup in 2022.
The couple says the girl had various medical problems and also erratic eating habits, including periods of binging and self-starvation. They say she was not allowed from her room at night because of bizarre behavior during eating sprees, including rummaging through garbage for food.
Officials in Qatar also have raised questions about the adoption procedures in Huangs' case, including payments to an adoption agency. This is likely because adoption is virtually unknown in traditional Gulf Arab societies, where extended families would provide care.
In addition, an investigative report by Qatari police raised questions about why the Huangs would adopt children who did not share their "hereditary traits" and raised concerns that the children were part of a human trafficking operation or were "bought" for organ harvesting, according to the family's website.
The couple has two other children adopted from Africa. The children left Qatar last month to live with relatives in the U.S.


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Earlier we announced[1] that Canonical had worked this cycle to enable more frequent releases to the Ubuntu Cloud Images stable and long term releases. As of today, we are pleased to announce that Ubuntu Server 10.04 LTS, 11.10, 12.04 LTS and 12.10 are now fully enabled to follow the kernel SRU schedule with automated update releases. This means that within 24 hours of most SRU kernel releases, a new Ubuntu Cloud Image will be published.
Please note: with this change, the release notes have been moved the http://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases website. You can find them under <SUITE>/release/unpacked/release-notes.txt. Effective today, all emails announcing these new updates are discontinued.
However, at this time, 12.04 LTS and 12.10 Cloud Images are not yet being promoted automatically to Windows Azure. We expect that as Windows Azure moves closer to General Availability (i.e. moves out of preview status) that automatic promotion will be enabled.
Please use either Cloud-Images[2], the AMI Finder[3], the RSS feed[4], or "ubuntu-cloudimg-query" from the Cloud-Utils packages to find the latest released images.
[1] http://blog.utlemming.org/2013/01/ubuntu-cloud-images-automated-release.html
[2] http://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases
[3] http://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/locator/ec2/
[4] http://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/rss/


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NEW YORK (AP) — Before the Emmy nominations were announced on Thursday, television academy CEO Bruce Rosenblum noted an embarrassment of riches. He said there were more Emmy-worthy series and movies produced by the industry than ever before.
That's great for viewers, not so great for creators who look to the Emmys each year for validation. The stronger the material, the more memorable performances, the greater the chance that someone who expected to compete for a trophy will be snubbed.
Broadcast network executives are no doubt feeling steamed on Thursday, particularly those in charge of developing dramas.
The prestigious best drama category has some heavyweights, including the final season of "Breaking Bad" and PBS' "Downtown Abbey." But nothing from the commercial broadcasters made the cut, including CBS' well-regarded "The Good Wife" and ABC's "Scandal," which had a breakout season. NBC's "The Blacklist" got no love from the academy, despite being a major freshman year success.
At least Julianna Margulies and Josh Charles of "The Good Wife" earned acting nominations, although Charles had to go to extremes — his character, Will Gardner, was surprisingly shot and killed this season. Kerry Washington of "Scandal" was nominated for best actress.
No such luck for James Spader of "The Blacklist." Jeff Daniels' acting nomination for HBO's "The Newsroom" over Spader could be characterized as a mild surprise.
Nominations for HBO's "True Detective," along with their leading actors Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey, are sure to lead to some grumbling in broadcast executive suites. That's not out of lack of respect for their performances. But since both actors performed in a close-ended story arc and won't be back, many in the industry thought "True Detective" should be considered a miniseries instead of a drama series.
A cable TV home didn't make some creators or actors immune from snubs, however. "The Walking Dead" is television's most popular drama among young people — by a wide margin — but it was shut out of major awards, too.
"Homeland" was once a major Emmy darling, but its slip in critical evaluations has put it on a second rung. Star Claire Danes earned an acting nomination, though.
Last winter, Fox's "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" was the surprise of the Golden Globes, winning best comedy as its star, Andy Samberg, won best comedy acting honors. The reception was much colder with the Emmys: neither the show nor Samberg were even nominated. HBO's "Veep" and "Silicon" earned nominations.
Maybe it doesn't really matter. ABC's "Modern Family" was nominated, and it has won four years in a row.
Six late-night shows were nominated for best variety series, but in a sign of changing times, neither Jay Leno nor David Letterman's programs were among them. Leno's successor, Jimmy Fallon, was nominated, but there was no goodbye wave for Jay from the television academy.
Letterman will have to wait until next year to see how his exit is treated.
David Bauder can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com or on Twitter@bauder. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/david-bauder.


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Mark Wahlberg's kids to cameo in Transformers
- Bang Showbiz
- 13 September 2013
Mark Wahlberg's four children will have a cameo in next year's 'Transformers: Age of Extinction' and he says they did a "great job" on set
Mark Wahlberg's children will cameo in 'Transformers: Age of Extinction'.
The 'Pain & Gain' actor will lead the cast for Michael Bay's fourth alien robot action film and revealed that his four kids - Ella Rae, 10, Michael Robert, seven, Brendan Joseph, four, and three-year-old Grace Margaret - with wife Rhea Durham recently filmed a small scene for the flick.
He told MTV News: "My kids just did a cameo ... just [as] scared people in the street looking up, but they did a great job.
"I was so nervous because Michael doesn't have time for bad performances. You have to understand, you're shooting a $300 million movie, you've got a lot going on. He's got five, six takes. If you ain't got it, you're done. I didn't want to see my kids get clipped. They were excited, but they started to get mad at me because I'm trying to over-direct them. It went great."
The actor was so grateful to Bay for granting his children a role in the film, he even gave the director a hug.
He added: "For him to take the time to set up the specific shot that he actually wants to put in the movie for my kids. I don't like asking for those kinds of things. I was going to send him a text, but I just wanted to wait and thank him in person. I gave him a big hug yesterday."
Wahlberg will be joined by a brand new cast for the new movie, which will include Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Stanley Tucci and Sophia Myles.
'Transformers: Age of Extinction' is due for release in 2014.


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Micke Grove Zoo is twinking for the holidays with its annual Zoolights.
Micke Grove Zoo is twinking for the holidays with its annual Zoolights.
"There are animal silhouette lights and then there are strands of lights all throughout the zoo," Allison Meador, education curator at the zoo, said of the annual fundraiser put on by the zoological society to benefit education programs.
While visitors might see a few resident animals up and about enjoying enrichment activities, don't count on it. Mostly it's a chance to see Santa, enjoy the lights, participate in an arts and crafts activity, enjoy hot cocoa, munch on cookies and listen to live music.
"This year, we did something different. We are having live music for pretty much the whole evening," Meador said.
Tonight, a band called the Blues Brothers will be performing. On Saturday, Kinda Blue is scheduled to entertain.
Diane Johnson, a mother of 1-year-old Ethan and 4-year-old Emma, said Zoolights is the place she goes for her kids to have their first picture taken with Santa. And that picture with St. Nick is included in the price of admission.
"I'm excited that Emma's a little older and can participate in more of the crafts this year," she said.
The event is also a chance to help out the needy. Canned food and unwrapped toys are being collected for two local nonprofits.
Contact reporter Jo Ann Kirby at (209) 546-8256 or email@example.com.


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This paper summarizes the advantages of using SanDisk SSDs with Oracle's NoSQL database in environments where performance is critical while dealing with vast amounts of data. Comparisons are made on a single server node using SanDisk's CloudSpeed™ SATA SSDs compared with HDDs when running the standard Yahoo! Cloud Serving Benchmark (YCSB).
The rapid growth of Big Data, spurred by business-generated operational data, and new data from cameras, smartphones, sensors and the Internet of Things (IoT), threatens to swamp organizations struggling to analyze it, and to leverage it for business advantages. The size and scope of this data explosion—the amount of data generated in an "internet minute"—is challenging traditional data storage practices, in terms of scale and cost. This is the opportunity that created a new type of "NoSQL" database system that can store, manage and analyze huge amounts of data—including new data types such as video and images—on a distributed system architecture.
The Oracle® NoSQL database belongs to the same family of NoSQL database systems. It is based on a distributed key-value architecture that offers enterprise-grade reliability and availability features. As organizations deploy NoSQL databases to deal with vast amounts of data, performance remains the key criteria to drive business objective scenarios. These include high-throughput event processing, real time data access, and support for high-volume, web-based commerce.
SanDisk has a rich portfolio of SSD products that support these types of data processing, both for traditional Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS) and new-generation NoSQL databases.
SanDisk tested NoSQL databases running on SSDs, to explore the performance advantages of SSDs, when compared with spinning hard disk drives (HDDs) for NoSQL databases. To do this, SanDisk used the standard Yahoo! Cloud Serving Benchmark (YCSB), working with an Oracle NoSQL database on a single server node. The testing compared the results when running on HDDs compared to SanDisk's CloudSpeed™ SATA (Serial ATA Interface) SSDs.
Benchmark results discussed in this white paper show that the Oracle NoSQL database, running on servers using SanDisk's CloudSpeed SSDs, delivered much higher performance compared to HDDs. Clearly, this performance advantage could be leveraged to provide business benefits to customers.
SanDisk is a leader in flash storage solutions. Its solid state drives (SSDs) support the megatrends in the industry that are driving new deployments, including Cloud, Big Data/Analytics, Mobility and Social Media. NoSQL database applications drive many of these new workloads—and they must provide optimized performance to support timely business results.
The CloudSpeed SATA SSD product family offers a full portfolio of options, ranging from entry-level to enterprise-grade high performance requirements. SanDisk's portfolio of CloudSpeed SATA SSDs is optimized for read-intensive, mixed-use, and write- intensive application workloads in enterprise and cloud computing environments. The CloudSpeed drives, leveraging a 6Gb/s SATA interface, provide data transfer rates up to 450/400 MB/s for sequential read/write operations—and they support performance up to 80K/25K IOPS random read/writes with an average latency of less than 2 milliseconds.
CloudSpeed SATA SSDs are available in storage capacities ranging from 100GB to 960GB. These drives come with a warranty of 3 to 5 years, and support high reliability with a MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) of 2 to 2.5 million hours.
For additional product details and SanDisk's portfolio of enterprise products, please refer to the SanDisk website in the References section.
The Oracle NoSQL database employs a simple key-value data model, and a non-SQL method of accessing and querying the database. It is used to store non-relational data, such as images, video, and web-based content that is not typically stored in SQL-based relational databases. Importantly, customers can leverage the Oracle database operating concepts they already know to understand Oracle NoSQL database operations.
SQL-based Oracle relational databases serve data requests by using an index key of the stored tables. In an Oracle NoSQL database, data is stored as key-value pair. The Oracle NoSQL database serves up data requests by using a primary key that is associated with key-value pair. The data store where the key-value is stored is referred to as KVStore. It is a collection of storage nodes that host a set of replication nodes.
Replication nodes are organized into shards. A shard contains a single replication node, called the master node, which is responsible for performing database writes, as well as one or more read-only replicas of the database. The master node copies all writes to the replicas. These replicas are used to serve read-only operations. A pictorial representation of Oracle NoSQL storage topology is shown in Figure 1.
Oracle NoSQL server offers full create, read, update and delete operations. It provides flexibility in selecting the consistency models, based on the business requirements. It supports four different consistency models, starting with "no consistency", "time-based", "version-based" and finally "absolute consistency." This flexibility is achieved while still meeting the application latency and scalability requirements.
Oracle NoSQL provides an "administration service" that can be accessed both from either the command line interface (CLI) and or a web-based console. This administration service can be used to administer, manage, and monitor NoSQL operations.
Some of the important Oracle NoSQL features are:
The Yahoo! Cloud Serving Benchmark (YCSB) is a standard benchmark framework for evaluating performance of cloud data serving systems like MongoDB, Cassandra, and Oracle NoSQL. The framework consists of a workload generating client and a package of standard workloads.
The performance section of the YCSB benchmark focuses on measuring the throughput of the system for defined latency. The scalability section of the benchmark focuses on ability to scale elastically so that these systems can handle more load, as demands grow, as applications add more features, and as more business users demand data services.
The YCSB benchmark also provides workload distribution options based on how real-world applications run, over time, such as insert/update/scan operations acting on random set of data.
There are two major YCSB workload distribution options:
|Record Selection/Distribution
|Workload A: Update Heavy
|Read: 50%
|Update: 50%
|Workload B: Read Heavy
|Read: 95%
|Update: 5%
|Workload C: Read Only
|Read: 100%
Table 1: YCSB Workload Options Used for This Benchmark
The benchmark test environment consists of one Dell PowerEdge R720 two-socket server with a total of 12 Intel® Xeon® E5-2620 processor cores—or 24 logical cores via hyperthreading. The environment also had 96GB RAM for hosting the Oracle NoSQL server and one Dell PowerEdge R720, which serves as a client for the YCSB benchmark tool. A 10GbE network interconnect is used to link the Oracle NoSQL server and the YCSB client. The local storage is varied between HDDs and SSDs. Table 2 below provides complete hardware and software components used for this test environment.
|Software if applicable
|Dell Power Edge R720 Intel® Xeon® E5-2620 processor, 2 Socket, 12 physical cores, 96GB RAM
|OS: Centos: 5.10
Oracle NOSQL Database: 12CR1: kv-ce-3.0.9
|Oracle NoSQL server
|Dell Power Edge R720 Intel Xeon E5-2620 processor, 2 Socket, 12 physical cores, 16GB RAM
|OS: Centos: 5.10
|YCSB Client
|500GB 7.2K RPM Dell SATA HDDs
|Used as Just a Bunch of Disks (JBODs)
|Data node drives
|480GB CloudSpeed SATA SSDs
|Used as Just a Bunch of Disks (JBODs)
|Data node drives
Table 2: Benchmark Hardware and Software components
Figure 2: Testing Environment
Test Workloads
The primary objective of these benchmark tests is to explore the advantage of using SanDisk SSDs for an Oracle NoSQL database store, and to provide performance data points for SSDs and HDDs. This benchmark consists of a single-node Oracle NoSQL database, with the standard YCSB benchmark workload types A, B and C and data set is varied from 32GB to 128GB.
All of these workload variations resulted in 24 different tests for this benchmark.
Oracle NoSQL Database Configuration
Oracle NoSQL Database default configurations that were used during the test, and all of the workloads, are all running on the same Oracle NoSQL configurations. Because this testing is about performance on a single node server, one storage node was created, containing one data shard with a replication factor set to one.
The YCSB benchmark was conducted on the 24 configuration testing types, and its throughput and latency test results were collected for detailed analysis and reporting.
Workload A: Update Heavy
Workload A consists of an equal mix of 50% reads and 50% updates. It is a write-intensive workload and we tested the data storage systems to determine the workload throughput and latency the drive write throughput and latency. Results of this test are shown in Figure 3.
As expected, when a 32GB data set being tested can completely reside in system memory (DRAM) there is minimal throughput advantage to using SSDs over HDDs for write-intensive workloads. However, when the size of the data set size increases beyond the capacity of available DRAM, a large performance benefit in throughput and latency is realized—as shown by the results for the 128GB data set—for the Uniform and Zipfian workload types. For the Zipfian workload, a 20x performance increase was measured, while for the Uniform workload a 30x performance boost was observed over results using HDDs.
As the dataset was increased to 128GB, HDD performance was 1,537 operations per second, while SSD performance was 48,975 operations per second. As the dataset was increased from 32GB to 128GB, the SSD latency increased marginally from 9 to 15 milliseconds , while on HDDs it increased from 237 to 460 miliiseconds. These high throughput numbers are an important factor for large data sets, especially for those involving high update operations, because more business operations can be accomplished in a given period of time.
Figure 3: Throughput and Latency Results of "Update Heavy" Workload A
Workload B: Read Heavy
Workload B involves 5% updates and 95% read operations, representing mixed-workload scenarios. Results of this test, as shown in Figure 4, are that SSDs provide exceptional performance for mixed workloads compared to HDDs.
Consistent with the results from the previous workload, when the data set being tested is entirely resident in system memory, little throughput advantage is seen when using SSDs over HDDs. Only when the data set becomes larger than available DRAM do the HDD results lag far behind at 1,709 operations per second, while the SSDs deliver 58,386 operations per second. Overall, in this test, SSDs provided over a 30x throughput performance advantage compared to HDDs. This will directly translate into efficient utilization of enterprise applications, delivering business results.
Figure 4: Throughput and Latency Results of "Read Heavy" Workload B
Workload C: Read Only
In our third test, throughput results similar to the previous two—when the data set resides in system memory—are observed. As expected, when the data set size increases beyond what will completely reside in system memory, significant advantages in throughput emerge. In this testing of 128GB databases, SSDs provided a 25x advantage in throughput and a 13x to 20x advantage in latency.
Figure 5: Throughput and Latency Results of "Read Only" Workload C
The YCSB benchmark test results discussed in this paper demonstrate that running the Oracle NoSQL database on SanDisk SATA CloudSpeed SSDs provided significantly higher performance levels than running the same workload on HDDs—when the database being analyzed exceeds the available system DRAM for it, an extremely common occurrence.
In these situations, the SSD-based solution provided, on average, a 20x to 30x performance benefit for read-intensive, mixed and write-intensive workloads. This means that the performance advantage for SSDs can be leveraged for a wide range of enterprise and cloud applications involving Oracle NoSQL databases.
Che siate una società Fortune 500 o una startup di cinque persone, SanDisk ha soluzioni che vi aiuteranno a sfruttare al meglio la vostra infrastruttura.
Sia che desideriate porre alcune domande iniziali o siate pronti a discutere una soluzione SanDisk su misura per le esigenze della vostra azienda, gli addetti alle vendite SanDisk sono pronti ad assistervi.
Ci impegniamo a rispondervi tempestivamente, compilate il seguente modulo.
Grazie. Abbiamo ricevuto la vostra richiesta.


text:
Exhibit #1:
Suspect A wrote:This is my map, and once again, to the foundry, if this one little piece of a map can't be mine, then let it sit here forever until it is moved back to the bin, and that will be that.
Exhibit #2:
Suspect B wrote:I do not share your opinion, and it did look stupid and i dident like it, so its not goin to happend, i rater bin this than doin a "stupid looking" map
Exhibit #3:
Suspect C wrote:So please let's end this debate right now. If anyone wants to continue the debate then I will not continue working on this, as I have many other things I could be doing with some of my free time.
Now guys, can we PLEASE stop doing this? This whole thing of "if I don't get my way I'll just quit working on this!"
And CA:s, can you PLEASE make sure that these kinds of "ultimatums" are not taken seriously? If one mapmaker gets away with ignoring feedback by threatening to bin the map, pretty soon everyone will be using the same excuse, and we can just pack up our shit here and disband the whole foundry, because what's the point of a peer-review system if anyone can subvert it by threatening to pick up their toys and go home?
Seriously. Don't do this anymore. If you want your map to be binned, then bin it, but don't use the threat of binning as leverage to try to get away from addressing feedback/criticism.


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January 29, 2013 18:40 ET
OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Jan. 29, 2013) - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and United Marketing & JB Enterprises Inc. are warning people with sensitivities to sulphites not to consume the JB brand Apricots described below. The affected product contains sulphites which are not declared on the label.
The affected product, JB brand Apricots, are sold in 450 g clamshell packages bearing UPC 8 92012 00164 5. All codes of the product are affected.
This product has been distributed in Ontario.
There has been one reported reaction associated with the consumption of this product.
Consumption of this product may cause a serious or life-threatening reaction in persons with sensitivities to sulphites.
The packager, United Marketing & JB Enterprises Inc., Scarborough, Ontario, is voluntarily recalling the affected product from the marketplace. The CFIA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.
For more information, consumers and industry can call one of the following numbers:
Meilissa, United Marketing & JB Enterprises Inc. at 416-275-3010;
CFIA at 1-800-442-2342 / TTY 1-800-465-7735 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday).
For information on common food allergens, visit the Food Allergens web page at: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/labeti/allerg/allerge.shtml.
For information on all food recalls, visit the CFIA's Food Recall Report at: http://active.inspection.gc.ca/eng/corp/recarapp_dbe.asp
To find out more about receiving recalls by e-mail, and other food safety facts, visit: www.foodsafety.gc.ca. Food and consumer product recalls are also available at http://www.healthycanadians.gc.ca.
CFIA Media Relations613-773-6600
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Let me build a case for integrating time-based calculations into a cube. Consider the following questions:
- What are the total sales this quarter, and how does that compare to the same quarter last year?
- How much did inventory levels increase or decrease last month?
- Is the number of male student applicants starting to decline?
- When did we achieve the highest donations?
- What is our likely tax obligation in 2010?
All of these questions have something in common—time. That's not a surprise as time applies to virtually every organization. You see this manifested in SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS); almost every cube you design or query will contain at least one dimension based on time. While certain time-oriented questions (e.g., what are the total sales this quarter) are answered by simply browsing a cube, other questions (e.g., how do sales this quarter compare to the sales in the same quarter last year) need to be calculated. This is where time-based calculations come into play. By integrating common time-based calculations into a cube, end users become empowered and more effective in their jobs.
Overview of MDX Functions Used for Time-Based Calculations
If you haven't already done so, download the accompanying samples for this article by clicking the 103356.zip link near the top of the page. The underlying data, which compares economic trends across different countries, comes from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Start by restoring the SQL Server 2008 relational database from the DebtAnalysis.bak backup file. Next, open up the OLAP_GovtData.dwproj project in Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS). Edit the project's target server property to match the location of your SSAS instance. Finally, after editing the DebtAnalysis.ds data source to reflect the location of the DebtAnalysis relational database, process the entire database using the Database menu's Process option.
Period-to-Period Calculations
For this article, I'll limit the focus to two common sets of time-series calculations: period-to-period and same-period-last-year. Period-to-period calculations (also called prior period calculations) return or use data from a prior period. To illustrate, open the file MDXQueryExamples_1.mdx (which is located in the MDX_Queries folder in the OLAP_GovtData project) in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) and establish a connection to the GovtDebtAnalysis cube in the OLAP_GovtData database. Scroll down and execute Query 2b, which Listing 1 shows.
The results for this query can been see in Figure 1. Note that if you'd rather see these results in Excel 2007, you can download PTPower. This free Excel 2007 add-on lets you create calculated members for pivot tables based on SSAS 2008 and SSAS 2005 cubes.
Query 2b creates a calculated member named \[GDP_Change\], which represents the difference in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from one period to the next in the time hierarchy. (The time hierarchy in the cube is named \[DimDate\].) GDP_Change relies on the PrevMember function, which simply returns the previous member in a given level of the Date hierarchy. For example, in Figure 1, you can see the GDP_Change result for the year 1992 is $339.90 (i.e., the difference between the 1992 value of $6,286.80 and the 1991 value of $5,946.90). Note that the PrevMember function can alternatively be defined against a dimension attribute rather than a user-defined hierarchy, as shown in Query 2c in Listing 2.
You might have noticed a few problems with the result set. First, the GDP_Change value for the decade 1990-9 (and the year 1991) is the same as its GDP value. Second, 1990 is the first year of available data, but my date dimension spans back to 1790 (I plan to eventually load additional historical data). The calculated member isn't defined to handle this situation. Finally, the date dimension spans out to 2015 but there's only data available through 2008, which causes erroneous GDP_Change results to be returned for the year 2009 and the decade 2010-1.
I'm highlighting these problems to raise an important point: Time-based calculations that account for missing data can be difficult to design and, if poorly implemented, can cause performance problems.
Same-Period-Last-Year Calculations
Now let's switch to a same-period-last-year calculation, which is also called a parallel period calculation. Find and execute Query 3a, which Listing 3 shows.
Figure 2 shows an excerpt from the results created with the PTPower add-on.
The calculated member \[UnemploymentAvg_PP_Change\] uses the ParallelPeriod function to calculate the difference in unemployment rates by retrieving the unemployment rate from 1 year ago for a given member in the \[H-Year\] hierarchy. The ParallelPeriod function takes three arguments: a level, a number representing the number of periods to lag, and a member upon which to operate. Due to the level argument, ParallelPeriod operates only on user-defined hierarchies. To calculate same-period-last-year results on dimension attributes, you can use the Lag function instead.
Other than the erroneous results for the years of 1990 and 2010, this is a pretty nifty calculation. No matter where you navigate in the H-Year hierarchy (whether year, quarter, or month), the change from the same period 1 year ago is returned. For example, the UnemploymentAvg_PP_Change result for 1991-Feb is 1.27%, which represents the difference between the current value of 6.56% and the value 1 year ago (5.29%) in 1990-Feb.
The Need for a Systematic Approach to Time-Based Calculations
The built-in MDX functions (e.g., PrevMember, ParallelPeriod) might seem in of themselves sufficient for time-based calculations. Add a few calculated members to a cube (or even let users do it themselves with PTPower) and problem solved, right? Not exactly. There are serious shortcomings and complexities that can and should be addressed in order to truly empower end users. The shortcomings include:
- Erroneous or misleading results. When there are missing values along part of a time dimension (or the end user is looking at the first set of members in the dimension), calculated members that use functions such as PrevMember or ParallelPeriod will return misleading results. The calculated member definition needs to account for these situations. Typically, cube designers resort to fairly complicated conditional logic (e.g., IIF, CASE) in their MDXs, which can introduce performance problems along with code that's tricky to develop and maintain.
- Accounting for both attribute dimensions and dimension hierarchies. SSAS 2005 introduced the notion of dimension attributes which, from a time perspective, means end users can look at values by attribute (e.g., flat list of years) or by hierarchy (e.g., Year-Month-Day). For example, look at the DimDate dimension in our example database. End users can view measures by several attributes, including Century, Calendar Year, and Calendar Quarter. Or, they may choose to leverage a hierarchy (e.g., H-Year). The calculated member examples we've reviewed are specific to either a hierarchy or to a level. Ideally, period-to-period and same-period-last-year calculations should work regardless of what attribute or level the end user selects. (Note that a Microsoft design "best practice" recommends hiding attributes that participate in a hierarchy, but this is more of a general guideline. It doesn't address situations in which there is one or more time attributes that don't participate in a hierarchy, which is the situation in our case.)
- Calculated measure explosion. There are seven visible measures in the GovtDebtAnalysis cube. If you want to provide a period-to-period and same-period-last-year calculation for each visible measure, you now have a minimum of 21 visible measures in the cube (7 measures + 14 calculated members). However, you also have three time hierarchies. This means you'll actually need 42 (3 x 14) calculated members, which brings a new total of 49 measures (7 measures + 42 calculated members). But this total still doesn't account for visible dimension attributes. There are five in the cube, so you need an additional 70 calculated members. Finally, end users might want to see period-to-period and same-period-last-year calculations in three different forms (e.g., prior period value, change in prior period value, and change represented as a percent). You now have a cube that's bloated and difficult to understand and query.
To address these shortcomings, Microsoft and SSAS practitioners have developed various approaches to time-based calculations. My article "Optimizing Time-Based Calculations in SSAS" discusses the various approaches, including a new one that provides end users with calculations that are flexible, simple to use, and offer good performance.


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Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories
The Lewiston Public Library, 305 S. Eighth St., in the Village of Lewiston, announces the following programs, events and activities for the month of November.
•A genealogy program will be offered Thursday, Nov. 8, at 6 p.m. Angelo Coniglio, a Western New York genealogist and author, will present a two-part lecture titled "Finding Your Sicilian/Italian Immigrant Ancestors." The lecture will also include a discussion of records for foundlings, or abandoned children, which served as the inspiration for Coniglio's historical novella "The Lady of the Wheel (La Ruotaia)."
Questions will be taken from the audience during the lecture and, afterward, signed copies of the book will be available for purchase.
•An Open Access computer class is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 29, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Registration is required for all computer classes. Stop in or call the library, 716-754-4720, for details.
Clubs and More
•Lewiston Public Library board of trustees will meet Monday, Nov. 5, at 5 p.m.
•The Lewiston Book Club will hold its next meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 6, at 1:30 p.m. For further information, contact Anita Mallimo at 716-754-7714.
•The Dead Beats Society will meet Tuesday, Nov. 20, at 6 p.m. in the Local History Room.
Personal instructional genealogy appointments may be made on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Call the library, 716-754-4720, to arrange an appointment or email Michelle Kratts at [email protected].
•The Lewiston Writers' Group will meet on Monday, Nov. 26, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Lewiston Public Library. For more information, visitwww.lewistonwritersgroup.com.
•The Knitting Club meets every Friday from 1 to 3 p.m. No registration is required and knitters of all skill levels are welcome. For more information, contact Ellen Comerford at 716-754-4144. Bring your needles and yarn.
Story Times
•Tail Waggin' Tutors has appointments available for your child to read to one of the library's special Tail Waggin' Tutor dogs. Any questions, contact Ann at [email protected].
•Alphabet Soup, a story time is for ages 3 to 5 years old, meets Mondays, Nov. 5, 19 and 26, at 10:30 a.m.
•Lewiston Lapsit, featuring music, finger play rhymes and stories for babies birth to 23 months, meets Wednesdays, Nov. 7, 14, 21 and 28, at 10 a.m.
•Toddler Time, featuring music, finger play, stories and crafts for ages 2 to 3 years old, meets Wednesdays, Nov. 7, 14, 21 and 28, at 10:30 a.m.
•Story Time with Mrs. Leardini, featuring music, stories and crafts for all ages, meets Thursdays, Nov. 8, 15 and 29, at 10:30 a.m.
The library will be closed on Monday, Nov. 12, in observance of Veterans Day, and on Thursday, Nov. 22, in observance of Thanksgiving.
Library hours: Monday-Tuesday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Wednesday-Thursday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday, noon to 5 p.m.; and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
For further information, call the library or visit its website athttp://www.lewistonpubliclibrary.org/.


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|Toms River, N.J.
|High School:
|Toms River High School North
As a YMCA swimmer for thirteen years at the Ocean County YMCA, Alex placed sixth in the 100 backstroke at Spring 2007 YMCA Nationals, as well as second at the New Jersey State YMCA championships in both the 100 and 200 backstroke. At his final Long Course YMCA Summer Nationals in 2007, he placed third in the 50 backstroke. Alex captained his high school team his senior year, and earned four consecutive years of All-County consideration as well as being named the Star Ledger Ocean County swimmer of the year. Throughout high school, Alex acted as treasurer of N.H.S., as well as an elementary school coordinator for his district's peer education and anti-substance abuse program. He competed for his schools F.B.L.A., science league and math league teams. He also worked as an assistant recreation therapist at the Children's Specialized Hospital. Among his most memorable swimming memories are breaking the local college pool record with his high school relay team junior year in addition to the County and Shore championship meet records. Also, the four top sixteen finishes with his YMCA relay team at his final national meet. Alex chose Yale for its amazing residential college system, the excellent and plentiful food, great professors and class diversity and its many opportunities for undergraduate students interested in science.


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Submitted by Wall St. Daily using our Trefis Contributor Tool
While consumer confidence has waxed and waned since 2008, retail sales have managed steady growth.
Whereas the divergence is unique among recessions, it's just another facet of this strange economic recovery.
- Expect Little Change For Textron's 3Q
- What To Expect From Honeywell's 3Q Earnings As It Makes A Strategic Shift?
- CSX Corporation Will Likely See Steady Growth In The Near Term Led By Volume And Pricing Gains Across Segments
- What To Expect From Cleveland-Cliffs' Third Quarter Results?
- How Did Delta Air Lines Beat Estimates Despite Rising Fuel Costs?
- What To Expect From Ameritrade's Q4 Earnings
Such an anomaly deserves closer attention.
Let's peel back the layers on the specialty retail industry, using my favorite company right now – Philadelphia-based Urban Outfitters (Nasdaq: URBN).
Over the last year, Urban Outfitters has had its share of trouble.
Last March, the company missed earnings estimates by 12% and the stock dropped 16%.
The culprit? A "fashion shift."
You see, women's fashion recently underwent a significant change, which poses a challenge for retailers because it's more difficult to predict what's going to sell. Consumers, in turn, put off purchases when they can't tell what will be fashionable in the weeks ahead.
After a year of adjustment and evolving fashions, it looks like Urban Outfitters has navigated the changes successfully.
Earnings announced in May trumped analysts' estimates by 15%.
It turns out that this fashion shift has led women to own a greater variety of bottoms compared to tops.
Fortunately, Urban Outfitters positioned itself properly by charging twice as much for bottoms as tops, leading to higher sales.
For the same reasons, colorful jeans have been credited with a recent resurgence at GAP (NYSE: GPS).
On top of that, now that the fashion shift is over (at least for now), women are expected to buy more to restock their closets with the latest trends.
The intricacies of the retail market lead me to two conclusions…
First, I'm glad the only trend I need to keep my eye on is the width of men's ties.
And second, when you combine an economic recovery, a new fashion cycle and Urban Outfitters' established growth trends, it shapes up into a real opportunity.
In fact, while Wall Street is down on Urban Outfitters – as evidenced by share prices – the view from Main Street has only been rosy, especially when you look at the longer term.
Over the past five years, Urban Outfitters has seen sales double to $2.4 billion – recession be damned.
The biggest growth comes from the company's ever-expanding store count. You see, Urban Outfitters has grown from 207 stores in 2008 to 429 stores last year. And it's not over yet. The company plans to open another 55 to 60 stores over the next 12 months.
Plus, while we already know that Urban Outfitters can evolve along with changing trends, it's also diversified into several brands to gain exposure to more varied markets. This reduces risk and allows for an occasional fashion-planning misstep along the way.
But Urban Outfitters' other brands offer more than just diversification. They provide strong growth to the company's top and bottom lines. Consider…
· Anthropologie is already an established success with a store count rivaling Urban Outfitters itself. And it accounts for 42% of the company's sales.
· In the high-growth category, Free People's store count has quadrupled to 62 since 2008, and retail sales have grown 325%.
· And the home and garden store, Terrain, might be in the early stages of development but its two locations rake in double the sales of an Urban Outfitters store on average.
Granted, the average retail stock trades for 23.3 times earnings, while Urban Outfitters trades slightly higher at 24.3 times earnings. But considering the company's growth potential in the long term, it should command a higher premium, making its shares seem cheap compared to the competition.
Some investors avoid retail because they think predicting fashion trends is the only way to make a profit. But that's not the case. The key is to pinpoint retailers that have proven they can stay ahead of the curve and operate growing and profitable stores.
Right now, the best way to do that is with Urban Outfitters.


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Smart and Sleek with my new KNOMO bag
The little black dress, classic button down shirt, and jeans are closet essentials in women's clothing. When it comes to bags, the work bag, gym bag, luggage, and evening purse are some of the staples that women need in their closet. Among these items, the work bags get the biggest share of my closet space. Having a variety of totes, satchels, and briefcases makes it easy to match my business attires with shoes and bags. One recent favorite is the Wigmore Slim Shoulder Bag that I got from KNOMO bags.
Laptops, gadgets, or mobile devices are now lifestyle essentials regardless if you have an eight-to-five job, your own business, or a freelance job. As such, one of the requirements for a modern work bag is to have enough room for these gadgets. This makes the Wigmore Slim Shoulder Bag from KNOMO a good option for the woman on the go. It has a quilted compartment with padded protection that can fit a 14" laptop. You can also place your smart phone and tablet in the front pocket for easy access or place them in the interior organizational panel to keep them secured. I like it when my bag fits my laptop and devices perfectly because I don't have to worry about them getting jostled around. The slim, organized, and sturdy design also helps ensure that you don't get any unsightly bulges from items inside the bag. If you are concerned with durability, then the Saffiano leather material used in making the bag can help put your mind at ease. This textured leather is known to be hard-wearing and durable.
The Wigmore Slim Shoulder bag from KNOMO is available in Scarlet, Ivory, and Orange. I got the orange one because bright colors help me get energized. This bag is lightweight, well-organized, and stylish, a great choice of accessory for a smart and sleek look in the workplace and business events.


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Sol 159 Update on Curiosity from USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: Concretions15 January 2013
For Sol 159, we planned MAHLI imaging of one more rock outcrop before stowing the arm and driving about 1 meter backward. The goal of this short "bump" is to allow us to use the arm instruments to investigate spherical objects in the rock that some team members have interpreted as concretions--blobs of minerals that probably precipitated as water/brines cooled and/or evaporated. See examples of these concretions. The biggest challenge today was to return all of the data we need for Sol 160 planning, because the volume of data we expect to be able to return to Earth via the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is smaller than usual.


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Boston bomber bought explosives at NH fireworks outletStaff Report
April 23. 2013 10:19PM
SEABROOK - The elder of the brothers accused of detonating two bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon purchased explosives at Phantom Fireworks in Seabrook in early February, the CEO and president of the fireworks chain said Tuesday.
"He personally was there; his driver's license was scanned," Bruce Zoldan, the head of the 70-store chain based in Ohio, said of Tamerlan Tsarnaev. "His request was to find an item that was the most powerful item in our showroom. That's what he asked the clerk and that's what she remembers."
Tsarnaev, 26, was killed early Friday during a shoot-out with police in the Boston suburb of Watertown, Mass. His younger brother, Dzhokhar, 19, was found hiding in a parked boat and was arrested after another shoot-out with police Friday night.
Zoldan said at the request of the FBI, the store ran the brothers' names through computer records and discovered that Tamerlan Tsarnaev purchased a $200 "Lock and Load" reloadable mortar kit on Feb. 6.
"The head of our security is a retired FBI agent, so he reached out immediately," Zoldan said.
He said that to use the? mortar kit, which launches fireworks, the brothers would have had to take it apart to extract its black powder. If they had, they could have gotten about a pound or more of pyrotechnic compound.
"It is a tedious job to do that - not so much expertise as it is time," Zoldan said.
He said he will not know if the brothers used any parts of the mortar purchased at Phantom Fireworks until the FBI conducts its analysis.
Authorities have said the brothers exploded pressure cookers filled with nails and BBs.
Crime, law and justice Public Safety Human Interest War Seabrook Top Section Stories


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Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has been rocked by the news that captain Iker Casillas will be out for an estimated six weeks after breaking his thumb during the 1-1 draw with Valencia on Wednesday.
The keeper was forced to leave the pitch after 17 minutes of play at Mestalla, and the club have now announced that he has sustained the injury, meaning he will miss the Champions League tie with Manchester United next month.
"After carrying out initial X-rays at the La Moraleja Sanitas Hospital, it has been confirmed that the footballer Iker Casillas has suffered a fracture at the base of the first metacarpal on his left hand," a statement on the Madrid website reads.
"It will be assessed again by a specialist later today to decide what treatment will be followed."
The knock will keep Casillas out of action for an estimated six weeks, meaning he will certainly miss the clash with Untied in the Spanish capital.
Additionally, the 31-year-old is doubtful for the return against the Red Devils, while he could also be forced out of the Clasico versus Barcelona on March 2.


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Serrano cured ham
Serrano ham
Which area of Spain is it typical?
- Autonomous region: Andalusia
Serrano cured ham is a typically Spanish product characterised by the quality of its sensory properties.
Serrano cured ham is the hind leg of the pig that undergoes a manufacturing process, including the following phases: salting, or incorporation of salts into the muscular mass; washing, or elimination of the salt sticking to the surface of the piece; settling, drying and maturing. Its colour has to be pinkish when cut, which is done by hand in a thin slice with veins of fat.
More information
Product information
- Type of product: Meat
- Season: All year round.
- Origin: Nowadays, the serrano cured ham industry is widespread throughout the country.
- To drink with it: Crianza red wines, fino or manzanilla.
- Where to buy: Serrano cured ham may be bought in specialised shops, supermarkets and butcher's throughout Spain.
- Recipes: Navarra style trout
Nutritional information
- Energy: High
- Cholesterol: High
- Comments: Rich in proteins, vitamins and minerals.