text:
One awesome application of this: I teach university courses that require term papers. If I could scan and upload the term papers I receive and Google could OCR them and tell me whether th
Here's some other information you might need/want to build this software; note that I am on Ubuntu Feisty.
To build tesseract-ocr you must install autoconf.
If you are smart you will figure out a way to omit ocropus/data-test-pages from your checkout. Do you really want to use their pages to test? No! You want to use your own data.
I built with gcc 4.1.2, YMMV. Some people have reported errors trying to just compile tesseract.
to build ocropus I ended up installing jam, libaspell-dev and libtiff-dev.
captcha's are not restricted to images of letters. For example: you could ask people to solve a regular text question (this would also fix accessibility issues)
Look, any illiterate kid in a third world country can play type-in-the CAPTCHA all day long. I think the solution is to put up an array of 9 or so pictures, and ask the reader to click on the kitten. The other 8 being something other than a kitten, and all the files having random names which rotate with every view.
The problem with your idea is that we've seen multiple examples of image search tools lately (well, two) that are capable of doing that kind of analysis. That idea is better than nothing but will
Well, your first question fooled it (probably due to the unusual phrasing), but Google can already answer [google.com] your second one.
So... please, text question based captchas are DOOMED TO FAIL. stop thinking that they could work. They can't.
While I agree with you in principle, I think youre definition of "work" with regard to captchas is flawed. Captchas don't need to be 100% undefeatable; they just need to work well enough so that the time/energy/computing power/manpower/money needed to solve them en gros makes sure doing so isn't worth it to the spammer.
Your claim that they're useless because they don't work perfectly makes as
Still, in reality, I hardly ever get postal spam; the rate is probably less than 1 unsolicited letter per month.
I'd like to know how you manage that. It's a good day that I have only 1 unsolicited letter. We get something like to 10 to 12 per day, and we have sacks of the stuff to bring out for recycling. On the up side, I'll never have to buy address labels again (nonprofits tend to include them as incentive to actually open the envelope). On the down side, I hardly ever send mail anymore, so I don't h
I hope so. I'm looking forward to a Firefox extension that'll let me decode a captcha so I don't have to figure it out. Some of the captchas I've seen lately are so confusing, with warped text, noise, and fonts that make zero and oh look identical, that I have to go through two or three of them before I can get an entry correct.If Google is pushing OCR I could see it eventually becoming good enough to parse at least some types of captchas.
I could see it eventually becoming good enough to parse at least some types of captchas.
That'll be great. Then the spammers can crack the weak captchas to get free e-mail addresses and can flood everyone's inbox with captchaesque text that's strong enough to fool the OCR. This seems like a brillantly thought-out plan.
So will something like this eventually render captchas used as a security/anti-spam measure obsolete?
Not like something wasn't bound to eventually come out to counter that idea, anyway.
Captchas are far from human-readable (the good ones at least)...
Yeah, that's why they suck.
Some forums, I have to try *four* times to get past the captcha, just to post a message about how libsomething won't compile.
If they really wanted good captchas, they need to start using problems that are very easy for humans to solve, but very hard for computers to solve. For example, picking the one photo of a puppy out of a matrix of photos of full-grown dogs.
Computers are currently really bad at recognizing images in photos, but they do a decent job of recognizing text with c
If they really wanted good captchas, they need to start using problems that are very easy for humans to solve, but very hard for computers to solve. For example, picking the one photo of a puppy out of a matrix of photos of full-grown dogs.
Image identification raises it's own set of problems. If you're working with photos, what is your source of photos? You're going to need a lot, if you've only got a thousand or so images, spammers will scrape them from your site and flag them by hand (possibly outsour
If you use a shared resource so you get get mind boggling numbers of photographs ("Bob's Puppy Captcha Service") you just create more incentive for attackers to index all of the service's images.
this problem is simply solved. create images with the subjects to be recognized in the center. now use image processing utilities to cut a semirandom rectangle out of the image (producing images of varying sizes) and to apply some effects to the image which will change all values in the image significantly without
this problem is simply solved. create images with the subjects to be recognized in the center. now use image processing utilities to cut a semirandom rectangle out of the image (producing images of varying sizes) and to apply some effects to the image which will change all values in the image significantly without making it unrecognizable.
As I said, it's not good enough. Detecting a subset of an image such a well understood problem that a $20 optical mouse does it 30 or so times per second. Ultimately
One possible improvement that leaps to mind is procedurally generated images; that is, rendering "3D" images from models, with random (but constrained) angled, backgrounds, positions, colors, lighting, and poses. This way your image set can be extremely large.
I've actually seen a prototype of this approach used. It's a nifty idea. But it's horribly computationally expensive compared to basically any other proposed alternative; a major site would spend far more using this approach than spammers would pay pe
Ok, I got excited too early. Actually, ballot scanning is a specialized task and general purpose OCR probably doesn't play much of a part in that, but if any part of it does apply, then this is still awesome.
The only thing you need to scan a ballot is Scan-Tron technology. It's a reflect/no-reflect tech like the optical write detect hardware in your floppy disk drive and very, very simple (as there is a sync signal at the side of the page.) Very little processing power is involved.
Will this Google OCR really work, and can I install it with APT?
Yes and no. (I've tested it, but you have to install from subversion.)
Meanwhile, why is it all Optical Character Recognition, when the accuracy we expect is really Optical Word Recognition? How come spelling, grammar and phrase frequency (including typos etc) isn't used to error correct at a symbolic level higher than pixels?
Teas Willis [luc.edu], and the sticky tours
Did gym and Gibbs in the wake.
All mimes were the borrowers,
And the moderate Belg
Do you have a result from scanning Jabberwocky (or other verse in a similar vein) with Google's OCR?
Just for you, I made one, because I'm that fucking cool.
Prepare to be unimpressed, because Results follow:
JABBERWOCKY Lewis Carroll
(from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872) `Twas bri11ig,_ andjghe 4s1it_hy toyes Digl gyre amid gimblejn thg wabe: All xiiimsy wei^e thg borogovgs, And theamome raths outigrabe. ''ggwqre thg Jalgbervvpck,_my sqn! The jaw; that bijtel the clayksathat catch! Bgyvaiie the Jubjub bird, anti shun The frumidus Bandersnatch!' I-Ie took his yorpal sword in hand: Long timg tlgewmangome foe he sought So rgSted he by the Tu_mtum tree, And stood awhile in thought. And, as in uffish thought he stood, The Jalgbgjwoclg, with eyes of flame, Cqmgwhjfflixgg through fhe tulgey wood, And burbled as it came! Qne, two! One, two! And through and thIi`Ollgh The jrorpgal b]ade went; snicaker-snack! I-Ie left iifdead, and with its head He went galumphing back. ''And, has thou slain thejabbexfwpck? Cpmg to my a_rxps!_my ljgaxjgishboyl Ojralqjousi dwgy! Qalladhl Callayl' He chortled in his joy. S
X A ?`^s :
, ' Was ga. ka%#* mm. -- M 1 1 Q at ) a iv 2. `Ail A it 3*,* `i 2 (V H
Return to Glorious Nonsense Return to Lewis Carroll
Results End.
Beautiful, eh? I also tried a 100 dpi grayscale scan, which came out even more like hash (one big paragraph) and a 300 dpi bitmap (1bpp) which was about the same as the 100 dpi gray scan in quality, though a bit better.
Looks like ocropus has a while to go before it can slay the Jabberwock instead of thejabbexfwpck.
Where it is a duty to worship the sun it is pretty sure to be a crime to examine the laws of heat. -- Christopher Morley


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Submission + - Adventures in rooting: Running Jelly Bean on last year's Kindle Fire (arstechnica.com)
concealment writes: "Luckily, the Fire's low price and popularity relative to other Android tablets has made it a common target for Android's bustling open-source community, which has automated most of the sometimes-messy process of rooting and flashing your tablet. The Kindle Fire Utility boils the whole rooting process down to a couple of steps, and from there it's pretty easy to find pretty-stable Jelly Bean ROMs. A CyanogenMod-based version is actively maintained, but I prefer the older Hashcode ROM, which is very similar to the interface on the Nexus 7."

subset: commoncrawl


text: I got up at 6.30 in the hotel room and got ready for Mysore. Just near the hotel people were playing nice folk music and I recorded a video: It was half an hour drive and we reached Mysore. The first spot we selected was Chamundi hills. It is located at a distance of 13 kms from Mysore. Its average elevation is 1,000 meters. Legend has it that that the demon Mahishasura, … [Read more...]


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Now that he's retired from teaching high school history, Henry Michalski of Napa said he has time to write about his own family's harrowing historical tale.
The 67-year-old co-authored a recently published book on the Jews of the Napa Valley and is working on another, more personal account of his family's escape from Nazi-occupied Poland.
Ed Lerman of Napa, the new book's editor, said he's pleased to help with that project.
"Henry is a guy I respect a lot," he said. "He has an incredible story to tell, which I look forward to everybody getting an opportunity to read. And he's a great teacher -- he's been teaching here in Napa since 1968, and in that time, has touched many lives."
Michalski's story starts at a time when the world "over there" had gone crazy.
"I was born in Kazakhstan because my mother fled Poland in 1939, after the Nazis invaded," he said. "My father was a cavalry soldier in the Polish army, but he'd been captured and sent to a POW camp in Ukraine, and my mother and her brother set out to find him, there. She was 19."
Michalski said his grandparents and their other daughter decided to take their chances in the "work camps" the Germans had promised they'd be released from once the war ended. None of them survived, he said.
"My mother and her brother were caught by the Russians for not having the appropriate papers, and sent to Siberia, where they spent some time before they were released to make room for the German POWs," he said. "They were just released, with nothing, put on a wooden raft full of people and sent down the river."
They landed in Kazakhstan, where the man who became Michalski's father eventually found the woman who would become his mother, who was then dying of typhoid.
"He'd been kicked out of the army for being Jewish and went to Siberia looking for her, but someone there who knew her, told him where she'd gone and he came to find her."
One day, she sent her brother to town for coffee and by some "miracle" the two men ran into each other, Michalski said.
"My father sold his army blanket and other gear to buy food and whatever else he needed to nurse my mother back to health, and they were married there, by some public servant, since there was no rabbi, and with what my mother always said was a 'common criminal' as a witness," he said. "My mother, who was a seamstress, made a dress out of some Red Cross burlap sacks that had held wheat, and my father, who was a sheet metal worker, made a ring from a coin."
An older brother was born and then Michalski arrived in 1945 just as the war was ending. The young family made its way back to Europe, where they learned about the Holocaust and discovered they were not safe in their former Polish homes, he said.
"The Poles thought the Jews were all dead, and had stolen their businesses and homes, and people coming back were being killed by their former neighbors," he said.
The family applied to leave the country, and spent nearly three years in a German Displaced Persons camp before an opportunity arose to come to the United States, he said. Michalski's surviving uncle, emigrated to Israel.
"I remember my father lifting me onto a table and telling me in Yiddish, 'tomorrow, we're going on a big ship to America," he said. "I remember that word had a magic to it... the look on people's faces when they said it -- like it was paradise."
Four at the time, Michalski said he remembers the ship's passengers weeping at the sight of the Statue of Liberty as they entered New York Harbor.
Finding New York too difficult, the family moved west, and Michalski said he grew up in San Francisco's "rough" Fillmore district, where his interest in history, current events and Israel was born and nurtured at his parents' kitchen table.
The passions that grew from those discussions between his parents and their other survivor friends have served him well, he said.
Originally planning a career in music, Michalski's mother suggested he go with his passion for history, instead.
"Best advice she ever gave me," he said.
Contact staff writer Rachel Raskin-Zrihen at (707) 553-6824 or email@example.com. Follow her on Twitter at RachelVTH.
Henry Michalski
Occupation: Retired after 36 years as a history teacher, now an author, Sunday school teacher and seniors' current events instructor
Hometown: Napa by way of Kazakhstan, New York and San Francisco
Family: Wife, Lynn, two children, one grandchild with another due, 94-year-old mother and two brothers.
Quote: "I'm a busy guy, but I like it that way. My mother has a saying about that. She says, 'you have plenty of time to slow down when you're dead.' She lives by that credo, and, I guess, so do I."


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I'm creating a simple flash feature with only three buttons, but I need your help:
First button - click and it opens our inventory flash flip book. the problem is, the flip book is already in flash, and I have no idea how to make it so when i'm clicking the button, it opens the flip book in the same window.
Second button - when you click it, it dissolves to a new window where you can see our contact information + 'back' button. how do I create this dissolve on demand and back?
I got the third button fine.
please help me with that,
thank you!


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FITCHBURG -- It's become almost an annual tradition; the talented St. Bernard's girls' basketball team puts together an impressive regular season and earns a postseason berth early.
Girls' basketball
But don't think for a minute that the Bernardians are taking anything for granted this year, even with a highly talented group of girls coming back from a team that went 16-6 and reached the Central Mass. Division 2 semifinals.
"Getting back to the tournament is definitely the goal," head coach Kate Maki said. "And knowing there are really good teams like Tyngsboro and Nashoba (Regional) out there is great motivation for us. We don't face those teams during the regular season, but knowing we could meet a team of that caliber in the playoffs is something we use as motivation."
With 10 players returning from last season's team, the sky is the limit for the Bernardians. Senior captains Samantha Battaini, Katie O'Connor and Abbie Anderson anchor a St. B's squad not short on experience.
"This has probably been the smoothest transition from one season to the next in my time here," Maki said. "It's like the girls haven't lost a beat since last season. I'm lucky to have a group of smart basketball players."
Among those smart players is a huge group of juniors led by point guard Rachel Pelletier. Classmates Tarah Crowe, Mikala Malboeuf, Amy Fnine, Ally Esielionis and Jillian Pinard are expected to be major contributors, with Alexis Gibbons and Olivia Osborne rounding out the junior class.
Sydney Esielionis -- a sophomore -- and freshmen Jordan Valliere and Alana Keating round out the players expected to see significant time on the varsity squad.
With so many returning players and a group that has grasped set plays in early practices, Maki said she's been able to fine-tune other aspects of the game with the Bernardians.
"We've been able to work a lot on our man-to-man defense," Maki said. "It's a pretty good thing when you have just about everything in place before the season really gets going."
With former coach Chris Young back on the sidelines for the Blue Devils, expect the team to aim for a return to the postseason.
Hovering around .500 early in the season after going 9-11 last year, Leominster has shown explosive offensive potential with Quinn O'Connell and Betsy McNiff capable of scoring and scoring in large quantities.
But the Blue Devils have proven they're not just a couple of skilled players with bodies filling space on the floor. Katarina Romano is a solid playmaker for LHS, while Taylor Skinner and Erin Stephenson have exhibited scoring prowess already.
Coming off an 0-18 season, the only way for the Red Raiders to go is up. And second-year head coach Derrick Bennett has already seen improvements from his team this season, having earned a win within its first three contests.
With Nakeeya Codrington providing a legitimate scoring threat, the Red Raiders have been competitive on the young season and should continue to be. Jillian Fanelli has been a solid post player and freshman Sofia Hall-McDonald has shown sparks of brilliance for a team striving to get better.
North MIddlesex
A 13-8 record in 2011-12 wasn't enough to make the Patriots and head coach Pat Murphy happy, especially when the season ended with an exit from the Central Mass. Division 1 tournament in the quarterfinals at the hands of Grafton.
But rest assured, the Patriots are aiming to return to the postseason.
"These girls have put in a lot of good offseason work, playing over the summer and just getting ready," said Murphy, on the sidelines for 33 years. "We've got a good group of seniors and they're focused on having a good season."
Senior captains Maddie Balassie, Kim Morgan and Ashley Rosko will be joined by classmates Sam Lynch, Casey McNamara and Christiana Roszik. Juniors Mackensey Farina, Elena Beauregard and Marissa Amichetti will also be looked to for minutes throughout the season.
Sophomores Julia Murray and Marissa LaFosse and freshmen Brittani LeBlanc and Olivia Cappucci round out the North Middlesex roster.
"We want to get back to the tournament and do a little bit better than we did last year," Murphy said.
Nashoba Regional
With seven players returning from last season's run to the Central Mass. Division 2 final, the Chieftains have plenty to work with.
"We've got quite a few girls who played a lot last year," said head coach Beth McNamara, whose team finished 20-3 after falling to Tyngsboro in the CMass D2 championship game. "I think our goal this year is to continue to work hard in practice and see what happens with this group."
Emma Duggan, Emmalie Keenan, Nikkiah Snoddy, Erin Cressman and Cecilia Burke all return after having big roles on last season's team. Kelly Poole and Nicole Boucher -- who spent most of last year on the JV squad -- are expected to contribute as well.
Jeff O'Neill said his team will face "a learning process" this season, but is sure the Spartans will improve as the season progresses.
Returning just one starter from last season's 13-8 team, Oakmont is young and "without a lot of experience," according to the coach, but the team is headed in the right direction.
"We only have (senior) Kayla Costa back from last year, but this group is working hard," O'Neill said. "I think there's a few things they need to work on, but they're little things that we can fix. There's going to be some learning as we go."
O'Neill expects contributions from seniors Rachel Quaye, Meaghan Delorey, Sarah Morse and Kerry Kupcinskas and juniors Haley Maciel, Amanda Wood and Rachel Testa as the Spartans find an identity this season.
Balance has been the key for the Blue Knights this season.
A couple games into the 2012-13 campaign, Lunenburg has four players averaging at least six points per contest.
Senior Mackenzie Hastings has led the way, putting up 11.5 points per game, but she hasn't been alone in Lunenburg's offensive efforts. Natalie Hansel has been scoring at an eight-points-per-game clip, while the tandem of Molly O'Connell and Erin Stern has given the Blue Knights an interior presence as the team looks to return the postseason after a CMass Division 2 semifinal run last year.
Jumping out of the gates hot, the Wildcats are getting some much-deserved attention.
A 3-1 start under first-year coach Pete Gamache has Gardner High squarely on many radars for teams to watch this season. A balanced team, the Wildcats have seen Meaghan Doiran, Denise Della-Guitina and Jill Savageau all contribute with solid play so far.
Mallory Griczika and Shayna Yacyshyn have also proven to be valuable pieces to the GHS puzzle.
Monty Tech
Steve Newingham certainly has some experienced players to work with this season.
After falling just short of .500 with an 8-12 record in 2011-12, the Bulldogs have a strong core with which to work and are eager to get into the flow of the season.
"They've worked hard, but they want to be playing," Newingham said. "They're playing well and seem to be doing things the right way even when I don't explain it well. We've got most of our stuff in order."
Giving the Bulldogs some experience are returning seniors Monica Pucko and Meredith Carrier and juniors Brittany Velez and Brandi Richard. Hannah Bergeron, Erin Barnes, Zoe Greim, Taylor Bacigalupo and Daniela Wholey are expected to contribute valuable minutes as well.
But Newingham has been most impressed by freshman Kaitlyn McAlister, who may earn a starting spot due to her tenacity under the basket and ability to rebound.
"We've got quite a few girls who have played before," the coach said. "It should be a fun season."
Follow Nick Mallard at twitter.com/n_mallard


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No jolt?: Anastasio's 70VP to open for Stones
For their 31st tour beginning in August, the Rolling Stones are playing more than 30 venues in 23 states, but ticket-holders for the Scott Stadium performance will be attending a unique performance. The October 6 show is the only one for which Trey Anastasio, former lead guitarist of jam band Phish, is opening.
Anastasio, whose last Charlottesville appearance was in October 2002, will be accompanied this time by his new band, 70 Volt Parade, which debuted in April.
Considering his connections in Charlottesville, Anastasio's appearance is no surprise. The city is home of MusicToday, the company that manages the singer/guitarist's solo career. MusicToday was built on the works of local celebrity Dave Matthews, with whom Anastasio has played and toured.
"The Rolling Stones have historically been known to choose good openers," says Gary Bongiovanni, editor of Pollstar magazine, which tracks the musical touring business.
Other Stones' openers on the six-month tour include the Black Eyed Peas, John Mayer Trio, Beck, Maroon 5, Pearl Jam, and Joss Stone. But some fans question whether such noted groups really complement the Stones' style.
"Seeing the Black Eyed Peas open for the Rolling Stones would be a little strange," says WNRN boss Mike Friend. "Then again, I've seen Neil Young and Dave Matthews play together, and after my initial double-take, that turned out fine."
The man who arranged the upcoming Stones tour, Tres Thomas, says the decision to bring Anastasio to Charlottesville rested with the Stones themselves. "The Rolling Stones specifically selected Anastasio to open, along with all their opening bands," says Thomas, director of touring for The Next Adventure. "They love all kinds of music. They're very open to variety."
But are their fans? Bongiovanni's not convinced.
"Stones fans are typically older than Trey's," he says, "and Trey has always been part of a jam band. Baby boom rockers aren't going to really know him."
It's uncertain whether even Anastasio's fans will be pleased with the opening act. Friend says there's a large jam band fan base in Charlottesville, but Phish fanatics are allegedly not crazy about 70 Volt Parade.
Even if Anastasio's followers remain faithful, there's no guarantee they'll be at the stadium, especially since 70VP's performance wasn't announced until after the Stones tickets were sold out.
Yet in the event that the opening act provides no "Satisfaction," Friend says there's no cause for concern.
"It doesn't matter when it's a Stones concert," he says. "Everyone's going to leave happy."
Trey Anastasio


text:
THE SQL Server Blog Spot on the Web
Over the last two years, I have stood up several proof-of-concept
(POC) database server systems with consumer grade SSD storage at cost $2-4K per TB.
Of course production servers are on enterprise class SSD, Fusion-IO and others, typically $25K+ per TB. (There are some special
situations where it is viable to deploy a pair of data warehouse servers with
non-enterprise SSD).
PCI-E SSDs - OCZ RevoDrive, RevoDrive X2, & RevoDrive 3 X2The first POC system was a Dell T710 with 2 Xeon 5670
processors 96GB (12x8GB) memory, 16x10K SAS HDDs and 6 OCZ RevoDrive (original version)
PCI-E SSDs supporting table scans at nearly 3GB/s. The most difficult query repeatedly
hashed a large set of rows (as in there were multiple large intermediate result sets) generating
extremely heavy tempdb IO. With tempdb on 12 10K HDDs, the query time was 1
hour. With tempdb on the 6 OCZ RevoDrives, the query time was reduced to 20min.
Before SSDs became viable, I would normally have configured
a 2-socket system with 48 (2x24) 15K HDDs, with one RAID controller for each
24-disk enclosure. This setup costs about $11K per enclosure with 24x146GB 15K
SAS drive and can be expected to deliver 4GB/s sequential bandwidth, 10K IOPS at
low queue, low latency (200 IOPS per 15K disk) and in the range of 15-20K IOPS
at high queue, high latency. As it was my intent to deploy on SSD, I only
configured 16 HDDs in the internal disk bays and did not direct the purchase of external HDDs.
The 6 OCZ RevoDrive 120GB PCI-E SSDs in the POC system cost about
$400 each at the time (now $280?). I recall that the tempdb IO traffic was
something like 40K IOPS (64KB), around 2.5GB/s bandwidth. This was consistent with
the manufacturers specifications of 540MB/s read and 480MB/s write at 128K IO,
and considering that there will be some degradation in aggregating performance
over 6 devices. The IO latency was somewhere in the range of 40-60ms (note that the
SQL Server engine issues tempdb IO at high queue depth). OK, so the real purpose of
the POC exercise was to tell the SAN admin in no uncertain terms that the
350MB/s from his $200K iSCSI storage system (4x1GbE) was pathetic, and even the
700MB/s on 2x4Gbps FC ports does not cut mustard in DW.
The next set of systems was ordered with 4 OCZ RevoDrive X2,
160GB (<$500 each). There was some discussion on whether to employ the OCZ enterprise
class ZDrive R3, but this product was cancelled and the OCZ substitute, the
VeloDrive (4 SandForce 1565 controllers, rated for ~1GB/s), was not yet
available. I was expecting somewhat better performance for 4 RevoDrive X2 (4 SandForce
1222 controllers each, rated for 700MB/s) over 6 of the original RevoDrives (2 SandForce
controllers each). The tempdb IO intensive query
that took 20min with the 6 RevoDrives now ran in 15min with the 4 RevoDrive X2s.
In additional, IO latency was under 10ms.
I was hoping to test the new OCZ RevoDrive 3 X2 with 4
SandForce 2281 controllers, rated for 1500MB/s read and 1200MB/s write.
Unfortunately there is an incompatibility with the Dell T110 II with the E3-1240
(Sandy Bridge) processor which has a new UEFI replacing the BIOS. OCZ does not
provide server system support on their workstation/enthusiast products.
Hopefully Dell will eventually resolve this.
SATA SSDs - OCZ Vertex 2, Vertex 3 & Vertex 3 Max IOPS, Crucial C300 & m4My preference is to employ PCI-E rather than SATA/SAS SSD
devices. This is mostly driven by the fact the disk enclosures reflect the IO
capability of HDDs, with 24 bays on 4 SAS lanes. An SSD oriented design should
have 4 SSDs on each x4 SAS port. Of course, 4 SSDs and 4-8 HDDs on each x4 SAS
port is also a good idea.
So I have also looked at SATA SSDs. Earlier this year, I
started with the OCZ Vertex 2 and Crucial C300 SSDs. After encountering the
issue with the RevoDrive 3 on the new Dell server, I acquired OCZ Vertex 3,
Vertex 3 Max IOPS, and Crucial m4 SATA SSDs. The OCZ Vertex 2 has a 3Gbps
interface, the Vertex 3 and both Crucial C300 and m4 all support 6Gbps SATA
The OCZ Vertex SSDs use SandForce controllers; the Vertex 2 uses
the previous generation SandForce 1222 and the Vertex 3 uses the current generation
2281 controller. The Crucial SSDs use Marvel controllers (both?). Perhaps the
significant difference between the OCZ Vertex and Crucial SSDs are that the
SandForce controllers implement compression. The OCZ Vertex SSDs have far
better write performance with compressible data, but is comparable for
incompressible data. It does appear that SQL Server tempdb IO is compressible and
benefits from the compression feature.
Another difference is that OCZ offers 60, 120, 240 and 480GB
capacities while Crucial offers 64, 128, 256 and 512GB capacities. All
capacities are in decimal, that is, 1GB = 10^9 bytes. Both OCZ 60GB and Crucial
64GB presumably have 64GB NAND flash, the 64GB being binary, meaning 1GB =
1024^3, or 7.37% more than 1GB decimal. Basically, OCZ has more over-provisioning
than the Crucial, which in theory should also contribute to better write
performance. (Earlier Vertex drives had 50 and 100GB capacities. But there are so
many varieties of the Vertex 2 that I cannot keep track.)
In brief, the performance difference between SSD
generations, both from the OCZ Vertex 2 to Vertex 3 and from the Crucial C300
to m4, is substantial, so I will focus mostly on the newer Vertex 3 and m4
drives. The performance observed in SQL Server operations seemed to be consistent
with manufacturer specifications for both generations of OCZ and Crucial SSDs. It
was not noted whether writing compressed SQL Server database tables were
further compressible by the SandForce controller. This may be because it is
difficult to achieve the high write performance necessary to stress modern SSDs
in SQL Server with transactional integrity features.
Test System - Dell T110 II, Xeon E3 quad-core Sandy Bridge processorThe test system is a Dell PowerEdge T110 II, Xeon E3-1240
3.30GHz quad-core processor (Sandy Bridge) with 16GB memory. This system has 2
PCI-E Gen2 x8 and 1 Gen 1 x4 slot. All SSDs were attached to a LSI MegaRAID SAS
8260 controller (PCI-E Gen2 x8, 8 6Gbps SAS ports). I did not some testing with
2 SSDs on the SATA ports (3Gbps) but did make detailed observations.
Incidentally, the cost of this system, processor, memory and 1 SATA HD was $1078? The 128GB SSDs were about $220 ($268 for the Max IOPS). So a very capable system with 2 SSDs could be built for $1300-1500 (64GB or 128GB SSDs). A better configuration with 2 SATA HDDs, 4 SSDs and SAS controller would push this to $2500. But if Dell and OCZ could resolve this RevoDrive 3 -UEFI issue, then I would recommend the T110 II, E3 processor, 16GB memory, 2 SATA HDDs and 1 RevoDrive 3 X2.
One unfortunate aspect of this system is that
the SATA ports are all 3Gbps per the Intel C202 PCH, even though the ever so
slightly more expensive C204 supports 6Gpbs SATA on 2 ports. Basically, this
has similar characteristics as the database laptop with super IO that I
proposed earlier, except that the laptop would be 2.5GHz to keep power
Performance tests with the TPC-H SF 100 database
With 8 SSDs (2 Vertex 3, 2 Vertex 3 MaxIOPS, 2 m4, and 2 C300)
I was able to generate 2.4GB/s in table scan aggregation query, possibly
gated by the 355MB/s rating of the C300s. A configuration consisting of the 4
Vertex 3 and 2 m4's would have been gated by the 415MB/s rating of the m4. If
can get a total 8 Vertex 3s, which are rated at 550/500MB/s for compressible
and incompressible data, then I would either be limited by the adapter or the
PCI-E Gen2 x8 limit of 3.2GB/s. There is an LSI SAS8265 adapter with dual-cores
that has even higher IOPS capability, but it is not known whether this is
necessary for large block IO.
The tests consisted of running the TPC-H queries, single
stream (but not per official benchmark requirements).
The figure below show the time to run the the 22 queries (excluding statistics, parse and compile) for 2, 4 and 6 SSDs with no data compression (raw) and with page mode data compression.
Run time on 2 OCZ Vertex 3 (regular) SSDs was 815 sec with compression and 936 sec raw (w/o compression).
On 4 OCZ Vertex 3 SSDs (2 regular, 2 MaxIOPS)
total query times were reduced to 658 sec with compression and 622 sec raw.
On 6 SSDs, 4 OCZ and 2 Crucial m4, total query times are 633 sec with compression and 586 sec raw.
The figure below shows tempdb IO write latency for 2, 4 and 6 SSDs, with raw and compressed tables.
On the 2 OCZ SSDs, IO latency from fn virtual file stats (for the entire run)
averaged 30ms (temp write) and 90ms (data read) with compression
and 60ms (temp write) - 130ms (data read) without compression.
The performance with 2 Crucial m4 drives was less, showing much higher write latencies.
On 4 OCZ Vertex 3 SSDs, IO latency was 14 temp write and 30ms data read with compression
and 18-60ms without compression. The IO latencies on the Max IOPS models were lower than on
the regular Vertex 3 models.
For 6 SSDs, IO latencies are now down to the 15ms range, with somewhat higher
latency on the Crucial m4 SSDs.
With data and tempdb on 2 OCZ Vertex 3 SSDs, performance was decent but IO constrained. Performance was 15% better with data compression (page) than without, even though CPU was 23% higher.
Performance with 4 OCZ Vertex 3 SSDs (2 regular, 2 Max IOPS)
was 20% better for compression on and 34% better without compression, relative
to performance with 2 SSDs. The performance without compression was now 6% better than
with compression.
At 6 SSDs (4 Vertex 3, 2 m4), there was another 5%
performance improvement relative to 4 SSDs, for both compressed and not
In the above tests, each SSD was kept as a standalone disk, i.e., I did not use RAID.
There was 1 data and 1 tempdb file on each SSD.
I noticed that the uncompressed (raw) database tended to generate 64K or 128K IO,
while the compressed database tended to have 256K IO.
Two queries, 17 and 19(?) generated 8KB IO,
and would have much better performance with data in memory.
There was also wide variation from query to query in whether performance was better with or without compression.
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What about using a RAID Controller with the SSDs?
Wondering if after all these years RAID Calcs were slowing down
all those IOs.
Now what is left to put in front of and speed up the SSDs?
(Rhetorical question)
Answer = nothing
this is the end of the road folks
(AKA Scale-up is finished)
"Everything is now in DRAM"
Now What?
Now nothing:
Get back to optimizing your code and writing a better engine....
the RAID controller is first for RAID, second for aggregating a lot of units. Even though the RAID controller has cache, it was always better to bypass the cache with direct IO, just using it for read-ahead and some times write back.
The new LSI 2nd generation 6Gb/s SAS controllers, 9265 and 9285 are just fine at supporting SSD IOPS and RAID if you want.
I do think that RAID should be incorporated into the SSD, probably as chip kill, but dual controllers is probably good too.
The main reason I have favored PCI-E SSD is more because the SAS disk enclosures typically have 24 bays on dual-ported x4 SAS, and I think it should be 12-16 bays (8 SSDs + 4-8 HDDs), but this should change once the storage vendors figure it out.
I'm investigating the OCZ REVODRIVE 3 X2 MAX IOPS PCI-EXPRESS SSD "RVD3MIX2-FHPX4-240G" for use in our servers.
Let me explain our current setup:
At the moment we have a:
Dell 2900 purchased in 2006
2 CPU's
4 * 15K SAS disks in a RAID5 config
4Gb memory
1 * 1Gb nic
SQL server 2005
All the databases are on one volume
This has been replaced already with:
SuperMicro H8SGL-F-O Mobo
16Gb memory
Raid controller LSI MegaRaid 24i4e
12 Hitatchi 3Tb 6G 72K drives in RAID 50 Config + one Global hot spare (expandable to 24drives).
the Raid strip and NTFS block size are 64K.
The new machine is not living up to it's expectations. YES as soon as SQL has the data in cache and memory it's really fast. But on the disc side it's not a winner. (we are playing with smaller blocksizes but the 7.2K and average seek of at least 8ms will be (and stay) a bottleneck)
From the start we had our thoughts but specs and atto benchmark looked fine. in practise it's too slow.
This brings me to your site:
My 'old' Dell 2900 purchased in 2006 is keeping latency <4ms under real world scenario's. And I'm each day surprised this solution keeps delivering such good results. But it's 5 years old...
1. did you already get an "RVD3MIX2-FHPX4" (120/240/480/960 variant) and play with that?
2. how do you and or your users experience the speed on consumergrade /smb level SSD's ?
3. have you stressed the card with SQLIOSimX86.exe? what are your results in queue depth and latency? When I stress my 'old' system I get high latency but this is not real scenario in my situation.
I want to use the card for a year or 6 months or so for the DATA and LOGS until the enterprise solutions are more affordable.
So I'm aware of the risks in using this in enterprise environment, on the other hand If I'll buy 2 to 4 cards and make them High Available in our storage software, then it's a calculated risk, and data does not get lost in case of an ssd failure
The TempDB will be moved to a RAMDRIVE of which I get good results (reason for this is the high amount of writes of the tempDB), and I donnot want to do this on the SSD
Hope to hear from you. Maarten
1. As I said, the Revo 3 X2 (and probably the Revo 3) had a BIOS incompatibility with the Dell T110 II with Sandy Bridge processor and brand new UEFI. A later hotfix from Dell resolved this, but my R3 X2 seemed to be running at 2.5Gbps PCI-E instead of 5Gbps. So I was seriously dissapointed.
2. One thing that was noticeable was that consumer SSD performance fell off quickly with use. I am thinking this is because there is too little reserve/set aside capacity, 13% for OCZ and as little as 7% for Crucial. The enterprise SSDs typically set aside 25% or more? This is not important in test, because the performance can be recovered on reformat and reload. But in prod?, maybe ok for DW depending on how bitchy your users are.
3. I don't bother with SQLIOSIM, if you want meaningful measurements, you will learn how to generate specific SQL Server execution plans that will test the range of IO operations. At high-queue, which SQL Server will generate, a single or few SSDs will get swamped. That is why my other blog recommends 4-8 of the Vertex 3 MaxIOPS SSDs per quad-core socket.
I don't understand why you think tempdb needs to be in RAM, I find that the big array of SSDs works. I suggest paying close attention to configuration, it is never a single SSD but many SSDs, fill the slots!
Hi, Thanks for your comments.
Well I have tried a few OCZ setups now as well with my Dell R805 servers. I initially went with (2) RevoDrive 3 X2 (max iops not available yet) but my read and write were maxed around 800mb/sec b/c of the PCIe 1.x slots. I put one of these cards in my Dell T7500 workstation with PCIe 2.x slots and I immediately got 1,100mb/sec write and 1,500mb/sec read.
So I decided to go another route on my DB server. My web server is just fine with the RevoDrive 3 X2 for the amount of IIS web requests I have. So for my db server (MSSQL Server 2012) I purchased (4) OCZ Vertex III Max IOPS (120gb) and (2) IBM 1015 Raid controllers flashed to LSI 9410 (very common). I picked all that up for $1,100 which is a great price. I mirrored (2) drives per controller, then used software Raid 0 (striped) once I got into windows server 2008. This gave me 1000mb/sec write and over 1,500mb/sec read! Remember this is on PCIe 1.x slots imagine if that was PCIe 2.x. My 4kb sequential is also much higher due to dual controllers and the mirrored setup. MOST IMPORTANTLY I now have gained redundancy which the RevoDrive does not give, at all.
I used that setup for my DB database files as you can't software RAID 0 the OS. You can software RAID 1, just not RAID 0. I did try a RAID 0 + 1 by way of striping the (2) drives on the controller, then software RAID 1. My results were around 800mb/sec write AND read. So my decision was to purchase (2) more SSD drives and one more RAID controller and mirror them and use that to run my OS off of. This way I have redundancy and performance for my DB files.
Now for testing I also decided to try a RAID 10 setup with the (4) drives on ONE controller card. I only got 700mb/sec read and a bit slower write. So no where near as good. This may be b/c of the class of controller card. A much higher performance card will do better this card is not known for good RAID 10 performance. Regardless using multiple controllers seems to be a no brainer.
Hope this helps someone out there who is considering RevoDrives or multiple Raid controllers and SSD.
Any suggestion of installing revo 3 on windows 2003 server 64 bit?
Hi, All,
I just got a RevoDrive 3 x2 PCIe card to fit into a Dell 1950. It only came with a win 7 driver? Can someone tell me where to find the driver for Windows 2003 32bit? Seems everyone here has gotten it to run in servers with no problem. Thanks much!
I appreciate your thorough review. I would like to use a PCIe RevoDrive with my Dell T300 server running 2008 SBS Server. It will not be the boot drive. Will this work?


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Educators' Open House
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Thursday, November 7 (4:30pm - 7pm)
Open House is FREE but reservations are required!
Learn about our various 90 minute K-12 science classes in
astronomy, earth, life, physical, and environmental sciences.
- Meet keynote speaker, Kenneth Wesson, and learn about classroom environments that are "brain-considerate"
- Sample activities from our 90-minute hands-on science classes
- Visit the Challenger Learning Center® to learn about our Simulated Space Missions now serving grades 3 and up
- Tour Chabot's Exhibit Galleries
- Learn about our Galaxy Explorers teen volunteer program
- Discover more about our Professional Development Workshop opportunities including science content and NGSS practices
- Enter a Raffle for prizes including a Free Class Field Trip
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Registration is FREE but RSVP is required! Please RSVP below.
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Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
Only about 10 occurrences of "flotsam and JETTISON" on the web.
The proper term is "flotsam and jetsam" ...things thrown overboard. Since jetsam gets jettisoned anyway, it's easy to see how the two words might get interchanged if one isn't listening carefully enough.
-Joe Krozel
The Sunday Tribune – Books
THE sluice gates for literary translations flung open some time go, so the flotsam and jettison have settled down, thus ensuring a smooth outflow. ...
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/200404 … /book2.htm
Writers Against War – Charlene Fisk
... rusted springs protruding from the sawdust-colored tufts of cotton, and dismissed all of it as the flotsam and jettison of suburban life. ...
Waking Dreams … View topic – A Ride In A Police car. by Bernard S…
All kinds of flotsam and jettison lined the sea shore, a paradise for a young lad of nine. I have forgotten to mention that it was war time and we had been …
http://www.poetrygalore.com/dreams/viewtopic ... fd0c6e6f479b206d7f662ac7d8cfe2
Please help! How long will these norco withdrawls last?
All the havoc left as a result of that is flotsam and jettison…...Incidental to an addict. Well!! I'm so glad I kept this "brief". ...
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/addiction … 1701a.html
...And, for what it's worth, there's also "flotsam and JETSON." "Jetson" may have originated with "jettison" or it may have originated with "jetsam." But, with a little wishful thinking, we can all just pretend it was inspired by the cartoon "The Jetsons." (Again, only about 20 citings on the web).
Toonhound – Captain Abercromby (2002-2003)
filled with maritime flotsam and jetson. Granpa used to have an old gold pocket watch, a treasured possession lost at sea when his ship sunk, and that watch …
Promises to keep – editor's note – Brief Article Vegetarian Tim…
82, my friend Lori Tobias helps you sail smoothly into the new year by tossing the flotsam and jetson of your life and uncluttering your home. Advertisement …
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m … i_95444727
Concrete Malt Mill (not another data point)
I don't care if its a log distribution of particles sizes or as good as a six roller three tiered gravity fed flotsam and jetson slightly skewed to the left …
PETER GABRIEL Peter Gabriel 2 reviews and MP3
And, why does Flotsam and Jetson make me think of John Lennon? Scratch is my personal favorite of Peter. Unbelievable! Posted Sunday, August 20, 2006, ...
http://www.progarchives.com/Progressive … cd_id=3635
photos of life on Rangitoto Island
Right: Flotsam and jetson collected on the bach mantlepiece. Submitted by Andy Heyward. Flotsam and Jetson. Photo pages ( 1 l 2 l 3 l 4 l 5 l 6 l 7 l 8 l 9 …
Today's Daily Mail speculates that
Her resignation sparked rumors that Boris Johnson would be jettisoned in to fight for the vacant seat.
Last edited by JuanTwoThree (2012-08-06 11:44:36)
On the plain in Spain where it mainly rains.
That is an unusually candid admission. Or maybe he'll be tossed from a jet over the riding?
It was salutary for me to look over the evolution of the terms jetsam and flotsam, to see how they've changed through time, so that a modern concern over proper spelling seems so arbitrary. Flotsam was flotsen for 250 years before it became flotsome – that is, for anyone who took the trouble to spell it in a manner other than phonetically. Look at this book of sea law from the mid-1600s. It's The Maritime Dicaeologie, Or, Sea-Jurisdiction Of England, and in the 9th chapter they cover the right of the Admiralty to recover goods from all manner of Forestallers, Regraters, Dearthers, Rebels, Traitors, manifeft Tranfgreffors, and Fugitives from Juftice:
So to the Admiral goes any and all jetson, along with any mear-swine* and sturgeons that happen to beach themselves. Etymonline says that jettison is just jetsam, verbed.
* You know, merpigs, or what you may call, porpoises.


text:
The bishops take a stand against critics of Catholic Relief Services
We've written quite a few times about the attacks from Catholic pro-life groups aimed at church agencies that serve the poor, including Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Catholic Charities, and the U.S. bishops' Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). Each time, the story is the same: through some form of guilt by association, these organizations are labeled "anti-Catholic" for failing to adhere to the church's teaching on a very small set of issues, primarily abortion and contraception.
The accusations thrown around by groups like the American Life League have caused a great deal of confusion and division among Catholics. Without knowing all the facts, some people are misled by rhetoric and then pass along inaccurate information and, well, you know how gossip can spread. In recent months, CRS has devoted too much time and energy to carefully addressing and refuting the accusations made against them, but juicy soundbites about scandal in a Catholic organization always get more attention than detailed, logical explanations of the complexities involved in running an international relief and development agency.
Thankfully, the U.S. bishops have finally stepped in to defend CRS. In a press release issued today, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops made a long overdue statement of clarification about the groups like ALL that are making it their business to target official church-run agencies like CRS:
"We want to make it clear that those making these public critiques, albeit, we hope, in good faith, do not speak for the Catholic Church and we advise the Catholic faithful to exercise caution and consult the CRS website for clarification before endorsing or giving credence to the groups' critiques... The U.S. Catholic bishops stand firmly behind CRS in its commitment to promote and defend human dignity and the sacredness of every human life from the moment of conception until natural death, and at every moment in between."
The release also takes the time to address some of the criticism against CRS, including its partnerships and its adherence to Catholic teaching (for more about this, be sure to read our interview with CRS president Carolyn Woo). The bishops are expressing their full confidence in CRS and attempting to settle this matter once and for all, reassuring Catholics that the work of CRS is an extension of the church's teaching, not a violation of it.
It remains to be seen if this statement will truly silence the critics (as of this writing, there has been no official response from ALL). My guess is that they will continue their attacks, blaming the bishops for being complicit in the supposed "anti-Catholic" activities of CRS. If that happens, they will be declaring themselves more fit to interpret the teachings of the church than its own ordained leaders.
There's certainly a place for disagreement with bishops and debate of issues between the church's leaders and the laity. But there's a difference between debate and declaring that those who disagree with you are "compromising with the devil." If the critics aren't satisfied with a definitive statement from the bishops addressing their concerns, then it only further raises the question of what their true agenda is.


text:
SALEM, N.H. (AP) — Northbound traffic on Interstate 93 in Salem will be temporarily reduced to one lane as part of the $41 million widening and reconstruction project around Exit 2.
The Department of Transportation says work to install new guardrails near the northbound bridge at Exit 2 will occur between 9 a.m. Sunday and 6 a.m. Monday.
The right lane will be closed during that time, and officials are warning drivers to remain alert.
Farther north, there will be significant traffic pattern changes around I-93 and other roads due to a race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.


text:
A standoff in the Parkside development in Bluffton is over as the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office deputies were able to get a man to come out of the house after he told neighbors he was going to kill himself.
According to officials, a suspect had barricaded himself in a house there and police are trying to get him to come out.
The neighborhood was reopened to residents and traffic about 2:40 p.m. after being on lockdown.
Visit blufftontoday.com for more news and information.


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|16th September 2007, 04:48 PM
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 95
Getting out of harness, boom height, back strap and catapults
Hey there Roger and everybody.
I'm happy to report that I'm doing progress on my F-type, yesterday I had a first (planing) session, where I had to actually think how to get back downwind.
I was way overpowered on my smallest sail, 7.5 Gaastra GTX (sweet sail, just replaced my 7.5 Matrix recently), but I gave it regular downhaul and tons of outhaul and somehow survived these violent 7B gusts (it was really gusty yesterday).
Also, I set up the mast track almost all the way back (I've read somewhere here that it's better for the chop); it made it more difficult to bare off initially (how to solve that without using all this force?), but then the board would deal better with the chop.
Anyway, I'm still having a couple of problems:
1. Getting out of harness lines when on plane.
As advised by a local formula guy, I set up my boom 5cm lower for these overpowered conditions (normally, I like to keep my boom really high), but then, with all this chop I was unhooking unintentionally a lot.
I have adjustables, but I'll have to cut some rope off to make them go even shorter then their minimum setting (didn't have time for that).
Right now their length is such that I can fit my arm into the lines from my elbow to my wrist.
I wonder how people deal with lower boom position and fixed-length lines.
My arms just seemed to long to commit all my weight into the harness.
I'll try to shorten them, but maybe there are other things I should get fixed?
2. Doing massive catapults when trying to get into back strap.
OK, when I finally get my both feet there it's just sweet, but most of the time I'm scared, because many times I was catapulted really bad when I was trying to get into the back strap. What can be the reason?
|17th September 2007, 10:07 PM
Dream Team - School Guru
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,202
Hi Marek,
Hmmmmmmm..... " I gave it regular downhaul and tons of outhaul and somehow survived these violent 7B gusts"...........?
Just a hint here:
If you add alot more downhaul, you open up the top of the sail, so it handles gusts better, and has less power from top to bottom overall.
If you add alot more outhaul (as you did in this case it sounds like) you only flatten the lower panels of the sail and the top of the sail retains alot of power and rigidity that you really don't want (or need).
So, next time you need to "shrink" the size of your 7.5 m2 try using alot more downhaul, and then add a bit more than normal outhaul.
This will prevent your sail from becoming "on/off" and take away alot of the overall power and "pitchiness" due to having the top full and the lower panels flattened.
On your boom height/ harness line length, you can lower the boom, but you need to cut the tubing on your harness lines so you can shorten the lines as well.
Harness line length is dependent alot on the length of your arms (and other factors) so when you lower the boom, you lean out away from the rig further, to the extent of your arm length, but your hips stay closer to the rig so you need to shorten your lines.
Also, on a wide board like the F-Type, you can really get away with shorter harness lines than you would think. Wider boards do not necessarily equal longer harness lines.
Your body is further off the centerline, so you can exert more leverage on the rig.
As far as the catapaults while you are getting your back foot into the rear footstrap, try to judge any upcoming gusts, and don't lift your foot to put it into the strap until you have all your weight on the rig so you won't get catapaulted.
As you get more experience, you will find that getting into the rear strap, without a catapault involved, will get much easier. The fear is something you just have to "deal with" right now, but soon you will be beyond being scared.
Hope this helps,
|18th September 2007, 01:08 AM
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 172
- Downhaul is one of the major problems, most surfers just don't downhaul enough.
- harness line problem, what type of harness are you using, seat, waist?
can make a big difference, you have to learn to really hang DOWN from the boom.
independent of board (K86&3.7 to iS133&9.5) lines always 28.
|18th September 2007, 02:39 PM
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 95
He also said just 1cm more/less downhaul make a huge difference, which I cannot see that clearly when I'm rigging it myself .
Unless I make them shorter I will have to learn how to lean down more, as currently my arms seem to long and I'd have to stick my butt out (bad idea?).
|18th September 2007, 07:08 PM
Dream Team - School Guru
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,202
Hi Marek,
Perhaps what your dealer is suggesting applies to getting the sail tuned for it's mid range.
Sure, you can "overdo" the downhaul, but it's hard to do so without breaking the downhaul line or something, and I've never seen extra downhaul affect the camber rotation unless you don't add the requisite amount of outhaul to match the amount of downhaul.
Downhaul/outhaul need to be adjusted together so you maintain some balance in the rig.
Lot's of downhaul and no outhaul is most likely just as bad as minimal downhaul and way too much outhaul.
Anyone who says harness lines need to be long, on a wide board like the F-Type just doesn't get what we are trying to achieve here.
For sailing upwind, and reaching, the lines need to be adjusted so your entire body weight in on the harness and there is almost no pull on your arms.
How long is this..........? it's entirely dependent on your physical size, the length of your arrms, the width of your board.
You want to be in the "figure 7" stance, with your arms fully extended (maybe even with your shoulders rolled forward some) so your upper body is as far from the rig as it can go and you still can get your hands on the boom.
BUT, the lines may be quite short as the harness and lines need to "lift your butt" to get all your weight on the rig. The harness lines are not "lifting your butt" up off the board, but rather supporting your butt in the "figure 7" stance with all your weight on the harness and your arms fully extended.
To sail downwind, really deep, on a formula board, you do adjust your harness lines quite long, but you also bag the sail out by releasing most of/all the outhaul to make the sail efficient that far off the wind.
For recreationsl sailing, you will probably never sail that far off the wind (this is like as near to straight downwind, with the rig fully sheeted in and raked back with the board sailing on apparent windspeed exclusively).
As soon as the formula racers round the leeward mark, they shorten their lines alot, and add outhaul to give the sail it's upwind profile to get max. performance upwind.
Again, harness line length is governed by:
Your arm length...
Your height....
Board width....
Your stance (which we hope is the "figure 7")
The type of harness you are using.....
to some degree the kind of board and kind of sailing you are doing.
Small boards/wavesailing/waist or chest harness/ very vertical and "over the board"
stance= very short lines!
Free sailing/mid size/width boards; waist or seat harness/more "laid out to the side" stance = lines adjusted to your arm length.
Formula racing, very wide boards, seat harness, very "out off the board" stance, seat harnesses, adjustable length harness lines and adjustable outhauls= very short for upwind, longer for reaching (formula racers almost never are on a reach) and quite long for downwind with bagged out rig, and a change of stance to face almost forward.
So, harness line length is quite different due to alot of factors, and mostly people tend to have them a little on the "too long" and too widely spread out side of well adjusted and balanced lines.
Hope this helps,
|18th September 2007, 07:43 PM
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 95
Thanks. I didn't know I need to match outhaul with downhaul.
My stance is "7" and I like to keep it that way. But on videos/pictures I often see Formula racers in more "seat-like" position (which I don't like that much, but must be somehow efficient since they are using it).
I'll try to make my lines shorter.
|18th September 2007, 11:46 PM
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 172
Going hard upwind
- you "could" adjust your lines if you have adjustables
- you could have a second set of shorter lines on your boom
- you could just do what some other people do and adjust your stance (a 7 is NOT always optimal). I go faster and harder upwind than all the other regulars and tourist blokes here with longer lines AND they are max 1 handwith apart (smaller sails lines tend to almost touch).
Hanging hard from your boom also give you the ability to plane through really bad lulls.
The waist harness really engances this.
This argument sounds a bit like you should look like this... funnny the pros don't, oh well never mind...
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Marine Map
MarineMap is a hugely impressive Google Map mashup of the California coastline and marine protected areas (MPAs). The map has a large number of features and manages to include a massive amount of data.
MarineMap has a number of data layers which can be turned on or off. The layers can be selected via the Data Layers window. To give you a rough idea of the amount of data this map contains the screen-shot on the right is about two thirds of the number of layers.
Clicking on the '+' symbol to the left of each layer name reveals further information about that layer, such as where it originated.
The stated aim of MarineMap is to assist organizations involved in mapping of the oceanographic, biological, geological, chemical, and human dimensions of the ocean and coastal areas. They provide organizations with customized solutions for data storage, data sharing, and web-based mapping.
The 1999 Marine Life Protection Act directs the state of California to design and manage a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) in order to, among other things, protect marine life and habitats, marine ecosystems, and marine natural heritage, as well as improve recreational, educational and study opportunities provided by marine ecosystems.
MarineMap hope that this map will assist stakeholders in that task.


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DNA loading buffer
Posted 17 June 2010 - 06:49 AM
I intend to use agarose gel electrophoresis next days to see my plasmid but I am wondering about the loading buffer. I do not have xylen cyanol. can I use TE buffer only to load DNA samples. I have already Fast Blast DNA Staining solution from Bio-Rad and it can be used to stain the DNA during the electrophoresis run.
please help..
Fast Blast DNA Staining solution from Bio-Rad :
Fast Blast DNA Stain
Fast Blast DNA stain is an ultrasensitive, convenient, inexpensive, safe, and nontoxic alternative to ethidium bromide for the detection of DNA. This unique product stains DNA deep blue in both agarose and polyacrylamide gels, providing vivid, consistent results. Agarose gels stained with Fast Blast stain can be air-dried on our unique gel support film. Once dried, gels can be kept as a permanent record of the electrophoresis run.
Fast Blast DNA stain is packaged as 100 ml of a 500x concentrate that must be diluted before use. Use Fast Blast stain to:
* Stain DNA in agarose gels after electrophoresis in less than 15 minutes or overnight (protocol in pdf)
* Stain DNA during electrophoresis (protocol in pdf)
* Teach students basic principles of electrophoresis (protocol in pdf)
* Stain nuclei in intact cheek cells (protocol in pdf)
In addition to staining DNA bands in agarose gels, use this stain to teach basic principles of electrophoresis. Fast Blast dye molecules are positively charged, and when placed in an agarose gel, will migrate towards the negative electrode during electrophoresis, providing a striking and inexpensive visual demonstration of the movement of molecules during electrophoresis.
thanks again
Posted 17 June 2010 - 01:25 PM
Posted 19 June 2010 - 05:57 AM
Loading buffer has two functions. One is to make the solution high density so that it sinks in the well, another is to dye the solution so that you can see it. Pretty much any dye will do. We use orange-g, which moves at the front of the DNA and does not obscure bands as xylene cyanole does. You can raise density with either ficol (which we use at 15% for 6x loading buffer) or sucrose, which you can use at higher concentrations (I think around 40%). Ficol is stable at RT, sucrose may develop growth.
Thanks a lot.
I finally found and borrowed some if loading buffer.. so no problem now.


text:
Original URL: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/17/chinese_footie/
Chinese TV suspends footie coverage
Lads not giving 110% in the 'professional ethics' department
Posted in Bootnotes, 17th November 2008 13:49 GMT
China Central TV (CCTV) has suspended coverage of a football league whose players appear to have learned their skills from their petulant European counterparts, the BBC reports.
CCTV sports channel supremo Jiang Heping firmly pointed the finger at ball-worriers whose weekly antics have provided the press with plenty of juicy copy. The Beeb cites in particular a scuffle last week between members of Beijing and Tianjin which also involved the teams' coaches weighing into the fracas.
Jiang lamented the players' "lack of professional ethics", and said: "The state of Chinese football at the moment makes everyone feel bitter. If it goes on like this, it's in danger of being thoroughly destroyed."
Other scandals include the matter of the team from Wuhan which was ejected from the league altogether after "refusing to play matches in protest at a ban given to one of their players". The BBC explains that Chinese footie is having trouble "finding sponsors for a competition which attracts angry crowds, and has problems with match fixing and bribery".
We'd like to to think CCTV's exemplary action would give teams in this part of the world pause for thought, but then they're too busy aggressively berating the ref at every opportunity or aggressively abusing the ref at post-match press conferences if things don't go their way.
We tried this afternoon to ring Real Madrid's Bernd Schuster and Man U's Sir Alex Ferguson for a comment, but were told they were "tied up slagging off some linesman for a suspect offside decision". Joey Barton was likewise unavailable to discuss professional ethics. ®


text:
|View Poll Results: What Was Your Favorite Episode Of Suzumiya Haruhi
|Episode 1
|Episode 2
|Episode 3
|Episode 4
|Episode 5
|Episode 6
|Episode 7
|Episode 8
|Episode 9
|Episode 10
|Episode 11
|Episode 12
|Episode 13
|Episode 14
|Voters: 277. You may not vote on this poll
|Thread Tools
|2006-07-04, 00:25
|Link #42
Haruhiism Worshipper
Join Date: Feb 2006
Age: 33
Episode 1 introduced me to Haruhiism.
Episode 2 made me a Haruiist.
But episode 14 makes me committed to Haruhiism for the rest of my life
There's no doubt episode 1 will end up as the series' greatest contribution to the industry, but I'm much more interested in how studios end off their works. Simply put, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu VI is the best anime ending I've seen in a long time. KyoAni really flexed their animation prowess in taking a somewhat cryptic chapter and a half and animating it in an eventful and fluid way. I should really send them money for not pulling a Gainax.
But really, I've enjoyed all episodes very much and it really took some thinking to pick a favourite episode.
|2006-07-04, 01:09
|Link #43
Join Date: May 2006
Had to go with episode 1. There is nothing (movie-live action/animation, anime episode,etc.) that I have watched more and I'm the type of person that does not rewatch things. Not only was it a sly way to introduce you to the show and it's unique specialness but the absurdity of watching a 4:3 movie within a 16:9 frame on a 4:3 computer screen just tickles my brain.
Runner ups in order:
|2006-07-04, 01:27
|Link #45
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: #email@example.com
Let's see, actually I can pretty much figure out the episode I liked the most when I count how often I did rewatch the single episodes (making the top tiers rank somewhere between 4 and 6 times).
Episode 14 (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu VI) is it in the end, because of its closure for the arc and most importanly the style, it did remind me of GAINAX every single minute throughout this ride, especially the part where Kyon and Haruhi run away and he remembers what all of them are for him, the flashback sequence as well as a few other things were simply mind-boggling and his way out of the mess was the most beautiful moment in the whole show. The music was another point which contributed a great part to the overall feel during this episode. Only one word can describe it: amazing ;)
But I have to add that several other episodes were just as great.
Episode 2 (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu I) - The beginning of it all. The introduction sequence where Kyon points out that he graduated from all those wishful dreams but actually yearns for something like that to happen was really well done in its black/white style with the blurred flashbacks and the way it lead into Haruhi's introduction, this is truly a genuine moment. Followed up by his narration, pointing out her quirks and finally resulting in her going out of her "melancholy" for the first time. It was a precious moment and the development in this one episode was interesting and well conveyed.
Episode 10 (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu IV) - The battle was visually stunning, and it was quite surprising to see Asakura go that early, this is probably the episode where everybody who's watching should realise that it isn't just a "fun ride" but has much more to it. Also nice development for Yuki, actually the start of it.
Episode 1 (Asahina Mikuru no Bouken) - As pointed out by other people, this one does feature incredible animation and style, to make it look just like a real amateur movie and to include all of those fine details, this episode is overall a stroke of genius.
Episode 12 (Live a Life) - Once again visually on a whole other level, the concert, Hirano Aya's performance, the songs and all the details which make it almost like real,
Episode 11 (The Day of Sagittarius) - The tribute to LOGH, once again visually stunning, this is perhaps the most amazing starship battle ever featured in an anime and puts wannabes like Glass no Kantai into shame. Yuki's development during this episode was nice to watch and hillarious as well. Another thing to note are Kyon's "-_-" moments, yet another thing on my list which attributes to his character as one of the few males I don't hate, but actually like a lot. Oh and can't forget the classic music here.
Episode 5 (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu III) - Do I hear GAINAX here, yeah, I do. =P
But on a more serious note, the sequence at the beginning of the episode was portrayed in a way so it did add to Yuki's explanation, out of this world. And Kyon's "I'll be frank. I have no idea what you are talking about." pretty much sums it up, another plus point for him by the way. It's also nice how they portray the other's explanations, so that it fits to their status as alien, time-traveler and esper in the end.
And last but not least Episode 13 (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu V) - While being viewed as insignificant and boring by a lot of people, they tend to miss the most important points, such as the extended explanation by Itsuki, the first appearence of the closed space and the giants, and Haruhi's flashback which explains her character a lot. It was really a good idea to place Live a Life directly before that episode at the end of the show and close it up with Yuuutsu VI, because that way the viewer does get a lot of information on Haruhi and can understand her much better, it also leads into an end where we clearly see how much she did develop, mostly because of Kyon. Oh and it features the most stunning cg sequence in a tv series so far, when was a drive with a car that interesting as it was here. ;)
|2006-07-04, 01:30
|Link #46
Otaku with tacos
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Los Angeles
Age: 34
I was using this as my sig on another forum for a bit in homage of that great episode...but I chose 4 because it was a great stand alone episode that sums up everything about the serires...if you want to get someone else to watch this show, episode 4 is the one you show them.
|2006-07-04, 02:47
|Link #47
Tsuruya Cultist
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: San Francisco, CA
There are a lot of great beginnings and far too many not-so-great endings. This series had a great beginning and a great ending (well, two great endings) and a whole lot of greatness in the middle. I decided to download the first episode after reading a particular comment here. Someone (Catgirls, I think) said the first episode had "balls." "Wow," I thought, "how often do you hear that?" And it did! Starting a series like this took a lot of guts. It was bound to cause confusion and alienate a bunch of people as well. It also set the tone for a series that deserved every bit of hype and praise it received.
And the Episode 1 OP still makes me laugh. I'm listening to it now. Beam attack!
|2006-07-04, 12:18
|Link #48
trainee archangel
bad bad poll, too painful to be answered! ^^
Ok, it looks like I'm not the only who voted ep.5. ( We are 2, as I'm posting)
Why ep.5? Because I like being different.
Then I enjoyed incomprehensible dialogues. I like Itsuki, because no one does. I loved the captions afk made during Yuki's speech. Then, as I said in the proper thread, it's the first time in years I've been so stunned by a "scenario theory".
ep.5 rules.
Woa, you don't know how hard it is to say such a thing when you realize there's no episode you didn't like.
I don't remember what I voted exactly. Always 9 or 10. Don't blame me, I think I gave a 8 to the concert. Don't know why. Loved it as well, no need to mention it. But it was not as interesting and original as the others, even though the songs are great. Then I really meant not to rate 10 all the time, so...
|2006-07-04, 17:09
|Link #49
> Haruhiist <
ep2 .... the first time i have seen Haruhi <3 and the cutie struck my heart
yes i am desperate
anyway next ep .. episode 5 , the 3 cuties look sooo cute in this ep especially Yuki and the whole ep has an interesting story and the animation is great
|2006-07-04, 17:57
|Link #51
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Exciting Mascot Village~Paya!
Episode 1 is my favorite.
Sphinxs review is hard to top. I would agree and add the following:
I have repeatedly played episode 1 the most, out of all 14 episodes. The whole movie premise is so wonderfully absurd. The music is wonderfully addictive and campy. I find myself smiling when I hear it.
When ever I watch episode 1, I pick up new details or appreciate seeing them again.
A few (but not the only) examples:
1) I am frequently amused by the film credits that list club members playing movie characters that use their real life names (e.g. Nagato Yuuki as Nagato Yuuki, Koizumi Itsuki as Koizumi Itsuki, Etc.). Also poor Kyon in the credits-> Other Menial Task=Kyon.
2) The absurdity of Mikuru as the Combat Waitress from the future in the bunny girl outfit.
3) The out of order continuity of shots. Also the way shots have the actors are standing in same direction when talking to each other.
4) When Yuki jumps Mikuru and attacks her on the ground, Haruhi says, Thats not in the script rather than quit attacking Mikuru. That just shows you Haruhis priority is with the movie more than Mikurus welfare.
5) However, Yuki and Mikuru are together in commercials promoting an electronics store and model shop even when they are supposed to be enemies.
6) Memorable lines. Yukis line, We must end this before our lunch break is over in the last Mikuru vs. Yuki battle on the rooftop.
7) Shamisen, the speaking cat, was an out of nowhere surprise.
8) At the end of the movie, Kyons WTF look and Mikurus deject look.
Gotou Yuukos performance as Mikuru singing the opening song off-key is brilliant and genius. I always get a smile when I hear it, especially when she yells Beam Attack. If SHnY ever get licensed outside of Japan, the new voice actress for Mikuru will have tough act to follow because Gotou-sans performance was just so good. She has set a high standard. It is hard to imagine anyone else doing Mikuru other than her.
|2006-07-04, 19:55
|Link #53
*cackle* *cackle*
I have my doubts; it'll be either episode 10, or episode 11.
Episode 10:
Yes, they did cut the OP, but they managed to fit everything they needed to make it an awesome [if not the most awesome] episode in the series. The small, yet sweet, fight between Yuki and Asakura as one of the most impressive anime works I've ever seen. Plus, there's the big [oh, big] Mikuru-chan. Could it be less than perfect?
Episode 11:
Simply amazing. Like some said in the Episode 11 Discussion Thread, KyoAni should really do a sci-fi series, because this was amazing. Yuki's moeness went overlimit in this episode, as did her super haxz0rz 1337 typing skillz. The humor in this episode was also first class, and the music was superb. Definately, a masterpiece, too.
|2006-07-05, 03:46
|Link #58
Join Date: Dec 2005
Live A Live, that was really beautiful. Great insight into Haruhi's character, lots of humour, but best of all, TWO great songs. I can't stop listening to them.
Day of Sagittarius 3 is my second best one. I loved the graphics, and they made it fun.
|2006-07-05, 14:27
|Link #60
Former Triad Typesetter
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Washington, DC
Age: 34
Okay, so I'm gonna go against the grain and say Episode 9 barely ekes out the 12/14 one-two combo (which are just above 1) in my top 4.
Why episode 9, the one that more people voted "boring" and "pointless" than any other in the series? I think that's why I liked it. After an entire series (chronologically) of absurd action and crazy happenings, using this small "slice-of-life" moment to end the series on a nostalgic note was a stroke of brilliance. It made me want another season of the show long before this season was actually done.
12, of course, is up there for the music segment aloneeasily the coolest music segment ever seen in an anime to date. KyoAni must've blown a LOT of dollars doing that one. It also had a lot of nice Haruhi development, which is always fun to see.
14 is a magnificent "end note" for the series, which is even more interesting considering it's technically in the middle of the story chronologically. Its ending not only satisfies the desire for a series to go out on a high note emotionally, it also throws into sharp relief the rest of the series that follows is chronologically by revealing a critical plot event that guides the rest of the episodes. It shows that sometimes the "biggest" moments of a series (and, by extension, life) don't come at the "end," but someplace in the middle.
And 1, for all the reasons listed above, comes up high in the list. The sheer amount of work required to achieve the look they did, and the dead-on parody of typical high school student film... I was laughing throughout the entire thing, and watching it again after seeing the rest of the series shows how much they were "revealing" at the time. One of the funniest moments for me was the dialogue between Itsuki and Yuki, because they're breaking the 180° rulethey're talking to each other, but looking off the same side of the frame. Such an elementary rule to break, but extra hilarious for those of us who've ever shot a movie.
It will be interesting to see how these episodes hold up when I watch the series in chronological order.
|Thread Tools


text:
By Alexandra Poolos - WeNews correspondent
(WOMENSENEWS)--A young girl is dragged up the stairs of a dark and dirty hotel. A man, carrying a pair of candy-apple red high heels, pushes her against a wall and says, "Do you want me to kill your sister?"
The girl shakes her head, puts on the shoes and is pushed into a room, where a large, leering man shoves her to the ground and begins to unbuckle his pants. The girl looks toward the window and, in a flash, she throws herself out, crashing onto a car roof, dead in an instant.
So begins Lifetime Television's mini-series on sex trafficking, "Human Trafficking," a four-hour movie that premieres tonight that explores the international trade that enslaves tens of thousands of women a year.
Executives at the cable channel say the series is the first dramatic look at the industry.
The series unfolds through stories of a rookie immigration agent on the trail of a deadly criminal kingpin, two Eastern European women forced into sex slavery in the United States and the ordeal of an American teen kidnapped off the streets of Manila for sale into the sex trade.
The cable channel has combined entertainment with advocacy, launched public awareness campaigns and supported legislation to improve women's lives. "Human Trafficking" was created with just this aim. Producers at Lifetime are hoping that the mini-series will offer more than just a riveting four hours of television. Their goal is to open the curtains on this largely hidden trade and effect real change for the women trapped in it.
A Global Industry
The project was conceived in part by Trevor Walton, senior vice president for original movies at Lifetime, who says he initially knew very little about the global industry that enslaves an estimated 800,000 women and girls worldwide; almost 20,000 in the United States alone. He says he learned about the problem after hearing a speech by British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
"I realize that we're all spectacularly ignorant of what has been going on," he said. "I've heard for a number of years of men going on trips for cheap easy sex. I certainly didn't want to do a big finger-wagging piece, but I thought there's a lot of information we can convey. It became more and more apparent that there was just a huge amount of information that wasn't reaching the American public."
The sex trafficking industry ensnares many women from countries in the former Soviet Union, Southeast Asia and other impoverished nations around the world. The women are desperate to find work and a better life. Many respond to advertisements seeking nannies or waitresses in Western Europe or the U.S. and naively partner with traffickers who ferry them across borders and then take their passports and money. Others are sold to traffickers by their boyfriends or husbands.
The women are then put to work as sex slaves, servicing dozens of men each week, their pay going into the pockets of the traffickers. The women are abused by both their clients and their traffickers and are terrified to escape or seek help for fear that they will be further penalized by police who see them as little more than prostitutes or that their family members will be attacked back home.
Breaking the Silence
"Breaking the silence is always the first step towards positive social change," Taina Bien-Aime, executive director of the New York-based nonprofit Equality Now, said. "I don't think people quite understand the magnitude of trafficking in persons and its impact on so many lives."
The American public does know something about the global trade in women and girls. A poll sponsored by Lifetime ahead of the movie's premier found that 55 percent believe trafficking is a major problem in the United States, although 74 percent did not know that international marriage brokers operate in the U.S. legally.
Bipartisan legislation was recently passed in both the House and Senate that would offer mail order brides greater protection, including the ability to access the criminal histories of their potential partners before they arrive in the U.S.
In an effort to build greater protection for enslaved women, Lifetime and other advocates are also supporting legislation that would give provide for higher penalties for those caught trafficking as well as better services for women once they are freed.
Promoting Awareness
Toby Graff, Lifetime's vice president for public affairs, says the cable channel worked very closely with nonprofit groups that deal with women on the ground to both develop a realistic film and build education and advocacy strategies to promote awareness of the issue.
Activist Celhia de Lavarene worries that the film will gloss over aspects of the trade in its dramatization and be full of inaccuracies. De Laverne worked in Bosnia and Liberia running raids on brothels with local police.
She says that she could often tell if a woman was enslaved just by "looking into her eyes and seeing that she wasn't free." Now, the activist is launching a nonprofit with offices in the countries where women are typically ensnared in the trade.
De Lavarene is skeptical that the film could possibly deter the sex traders or inform potential victims.
Nevertheless, she said, "If it does raise awareness, it will potentially funnel more money into nonprofits fighting the trade. And it's enough that we're talking about it."
Alexandra Poolos is the former managing editor of Women's eNews. She has worked for Radio Free Europe, the Wall Street Journal and Newsday and is currently on a fellowship to study politics at Columbia University.
For more information:
Lifetime Television http://www.lifetimetv.com/movies/originals/humantrafficking.html
Note: Women's eNews is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites and the contents of Web pages we link to may change without notice.
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text:
Judging by these alleged prices and specs, Nvidia is looking to put the hurt on AMD in a serious way. As you can see, these cards are not going to be cheap, and top-level performance will come at a very high premium.
It's about 200$ more for the 20%-30% faster.
GTX 660Ti_____399.99$
And this one is about 180$ for the 20%-30% faster.
The GTX X60ti cards are supposed to be close to high end cards, not have high end prices.
GPU & CPU company must improve tech by keeping the same price while eliminating the older gen cards and processors. If they keep it like that GTX 700 & 800 series will be in the 1000$.
See, I avoid Intel for the same reason: The performance boost is notable but it does me no good if I'll NEVER HAVE THE MONEY TO GET IT IN MY LIFETIME.
So, yeah, uh.....AMD all the way!
Sigh, I don't know why everyone keeps on taking these for legit specs. Nvidia already confirmed they've dumped hotclocks (i.e different clocks between the shaders and the rest of the GPU) but the extended view of these specs show differing clocks still...
If this is true, then I'm going to have to flip a coin on choosing the 660 or 660 ti cards... This should be interesting.
I'll wait till someone I trust like Hardocp.com reviews them before I make any purchasing decisions.
You can throw numbers and figures at me all day long but no one should trust those. The proof will be in the final product. Just wait out the reviews.


text:
Unlike other linux distros sabayon prefers closed beta testing, with the release of 4.1 imminent we are looking for a small group of 30 people or so to do beta testing. We'll have a mailing list and irc room setup for the group to use.
Are you interested in helping test new isos, software and have the time to put into it? Wanna have more input on what goes into Sabayon and see your ideas released? Want to give back to the community?
Than this is your chance to join the team. We are looking for people that are familiar with Sabayon, not afraid to use the commandline, know where to find log files and can submit reports. Experience is a plus but we will have a few people to help mentor you to get you going. English speaking will be required for irc and mail list. You will be testing and reporting on stuff before Public testing/release. This is to kill off any obvious issues missed by the dev team.
This opportunity will fill up fast and will come on a first come first serve bases and experience will trump. Contact Wolfden (Cheif Community Officer) via email at wolfden @ sabayonlinux . org and provide the following information.
1. How long have you been using Sabayon Linux and or other Linux distro?
2. Have you done any beta testing before?
3. Are you proficient with command line commands?
4. Do you know what nano and vi are?
5. Do you know xdelta?
6. What else if anything can you offer? example programming skills. We ask this in case we discover any potential dev people.
We look forward to hearing from you and growing our team. Please provide a valid means of contact so we can contact you with details.


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Sonos ZonePlayer ZP80 and digital music system
Multi-room wireless digital audio. Yum, yum.
So there's just one question to answer now: Sonos or Squeezebox? Slim Devices' Squeezebox is certainly a much less expensive option, and it will take better ears than mine to distinguish any sound quality difference between the two systems when linked to the same source music files and connected to the same amplification and output equipment.
Like the Sonos system, the Squeezebox lets you browse your music collection away from your computer, but only where you have line of sight for the remote control to operate. Both rigs do Internet radio, and - crucially - are fully cross-platform products. Squeezebox has the edge on what you can do away from your computer - Sonos wins out on ease of use, particularly when it comes to setting the system up in the first place. It will also do clever things like bridge other networkable devices.
Sonos also allows you to store your music on a NAS box, whereas Squeezebox's SlimServer code has to be run on a computer. Sure, you can use an old, low-power PC as a music server, but that's not as consumer-friendly as Sonos' ability to work with storage appliances. Sonos' system was built from the ground up as a multi-room rig, and while you can use multiple Squeezeboxes this way, you don't have the single point of control the Sonos CR-100 controller offers.
Squeezebox is best suited to circumstances where you're music is in one room and you want to listen to it in another. Squeezebox will do multi-room, but it's not as scalable as Sonos' technology, and it lacks the roaming-friendly single-point-of-access wireless controller.
Which will set you back £319, by the way - more than a Squeezebox 3, which you can pick up for around £229. For a Sonos set-up you'll need at least one ZP80 - that's another £269. If, like me, you need another one simply because of how your broadband connection was installed, you're better off buying the £770 bundle of two ZP80s and a CR-100.
Sonos' digital music network system is excellent, and the ZP80 is an important addition to the company's line up of components. At last, it's possible to build a great multi-room music system using your existing audio devices, not just Sonos' own amplifier-equipped ZP100, a move that makes the system not only more flexible but also cheaper.
Yes, it's still a pricey option, particularly when there are very good, lower-cost alternatives on the market, but you're buying superior build quality, major multi-room scalabiliy, genuine ease of use and a range of features you just don't get on cheaper systems. ®
Sponsored: Minds Mastering Machines - Call for papers now open


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Like a mournful soul tune, news from Detroit seems to get worse with each verse. The latest is deeply dispiriting: The city may have to sell the artwork off the walls.
A federal judge ruled Dec. 3 that Detroit met the conditions for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. Now a question that�s been simmering for months is coming to a boil: Should the Detroit Institute of Arts � one of the country�s finest art museums and perhaps the city�s greatest cultural asset � sell some or all of its collection to satisfy creditors?
It�s a vexing question, but the answer is no. Not because the city isn�t desperate for cash (it is), or because selling its Van Goghs and Picassos wouldn�t raise a lot of money (it would). The best reason is that the art�s ultimate owners, the taxpayers of greater Detroit, don�t want to � and the city�s most profound challenge is how to reinvent itself as a place where people actually want to live and work.
Detroit may yet be able to avoid this dreadful outcome. A federal mediator is overseeing negotiations with philanthropic groups to spin off the institute � which is owned by the city but receives no money from it � in return for donations totaling $500 million or so. But there�s no guarantee the talks will succeed.
So the grim accounting of Detroit�s civic jewels proceeds. Christie�s estimates that the roughly 2,800 artworks the city could feasibly sell might fetch from $452 million to $866 million. Such a one-time cash infusion could alleviate some of the city�s innumerable woes, from a $3.5 billion pension shortfall to deteriorating public services. But Detroit�s underlying problems � a shrinking population, economic stagnation, poor governance � would remain. So would most of the city�s $18 billion in long-term debt.
The harder and more important question is whether the proceeds gained from selling the collection would be more valuable to the city than the museum itself.
And what is the museum�s value? Well, it drew 594,267 visitors in the last fiscal year. It spends millions locally each year on goods and services, lures tourists and their money, provides jobs and education, and so on.
But these are insufficient metrics. A great art collection provides social and cultural benefits that don�t fit well in spreadsheets. It helps make a city someplace where people want to buy homes and do business. It concentrates creativity and boosts innovative potential. And it expresses some important civic principles � for instance, that a city should be something more than a group of citizens with the same ZIP code, and that art, as a demonstration of human excellence, is inherently ennobling.
The region�s voters � who haven�t been consulted on very much lately � effectively ratified this idea in 2012, when they approved a property-tax increase on themselves to ensure the Detroit Institute of Arts remained financially viable. The tax supports about two-thirds of the museum�s budget, or about $23 million a year. Selling the art would probably abrogate this tax and thus vitiate the institute�s finances. It would also violate voters� expressed wishes.
Is there another way out?
Those negotiations with philanthropic groups are encouraging. And the judge overseeing the bankruptcy warned that selling the art only �delays the inevitable.� The city�s emergency manager, meanwhile, has said only that he would �like to find a way to monetize the DIA.�
There are several ways of doing so that don�t require gutting the collection. Christie�s suggested using some of the artworks as collateral to obtain a long-term loan; creating partnerships with other museums to lease significant works or pre-packaged exhibitions; transferring art to a �masterpiece trust,� in which other museums could purchase ownership shares; and selling exceptional items to philanthropists who would agree to permanently lend them back to the museum.
None of these would go very far toward resolving Detroit�s budget problems. But the real question facing the city, in this instance, is more existential than fiscal. It�s whether Detroit, in the future, will remain a city in any proper sense of the term � a place where civic responsibilities are met, democratic wishes are respected, and cultural treasures are preserved for future generations.


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Series Editors: Fan, J., Jordan, M., Kannan, R., Nesterov, Y., Ré, C., Wasserman, L.
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