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Infosphere: Tilting the balance.
"On January 15, 1990, AT&T's long-distance telephone switching system crashed."
This is the first phrase of Bruce Sterling's excellent book The Hacker Crackdown [1]. This book tells a riveting story, describing how exactly the large part of the Continental US lost its phone service for nine hours, why did that crash happen, and what happened after that. In a sense, some social effects of that crash - like the aftershocks after the really big earthquake - can be felt even now, more than eleven years after the event.
It took a whole book (and a considerable literary talent!) to tell the full story of that crash. Here, however, we will concentrate on just a few technical aspects of this story and use these as the 'anchors' to illustrate some practical ties between several seemingly unrelated knowledge fields - like nanotechnology, Gnutella music copying software and the methods used to protect the computer networks against attacks.
As far as the network-wide crashes go, there was nothing really special about that particular one. The huge computers used to route the long-distance phone calls went out of service and all the attempts to put them back on-line were failing immediately after being tried. The similar scenarios were observed on the Internet long before that crash - the Morris Worm was already an ancient history in 1990.
What made this crash special was the fact that it was arguably the first case when the pure information (in form of the software) caused the disruption of something as essential and taken for granted as the phone service on the continental scale. If we define 'magic' as the direct way of causing the material effects with the purely informational means [2], the January 15, 1990 date is the prime candidate for going into history as the Birthday of the Magic.
Several aspects of what was going on are important in the context of this article.
First, an original assumption of the AT&T technicians was that the network went down because of the sophisticated hacker attack. This assumption led to the 'hacker crackdown' eloquently described by Sterling, even though eventually it turned out that it was the bug in the AT&T software that has caused the crash. Naturally, the knee-jerk reaction cost several people some time behind bars on the unrelated charges as a result, but this is not what is really interesting here.
What is interesting is the fact that a very simple bug was able to cause such major disruptions throughout the whole system. Even if the hackers would really have a goal of disrupting the phone service, they would encounter some major problems along the way and might even be unsuccessful, whereas a small piece of garbled data was able to achieve the same result with no effort.
If we compare the hacker activity with the viral and bacterial diseases that multiply the foreign DNA in the organism, this crash was more close to cancer, where the error in the native cell DNA might cause some significant problems for the whole organism.
Second, the only reason why the full nation-wide phone system collapse was avoided was that some switches still ran the 'obsolete' code, which was in the process of being gradually replaced by the new (and buggy!) software. The switches with the old software acted as the 'naturally immune hosts' - a certain percent of the population which cannot be affected by a particular disease due to sheer luck.
Third, during the crash and immediately afterwards it was impossible to tell the difference between the malicious activity and the 'normal' bug in the code. The effects were precisely the same and had to be fought in a similar way regardless of the underlying cause. The response mounted by the technicians was largely independent of their thoughts about the crash reason. The phone system was down, it had to be brought up, and that's exactly what they did after nine hours of frantic effort.
The old software was installed throughout the system, effectively erasing the defective DNA in the phone network 'organism'. If someone would have told the technicians at that point that what they did very closely resembled the immune system response to the foreign proteins, and the technicians themselves were essentially doing the job done in the organism by the immune system cells, they would probably be surprised. But that is exactly what they did. The phone system had all the reasons to be proud of its immune system that was able to identify the threat, come up with the cure and distribute it throughout the organism in mere hours.
The problem is, the AT&T phone system was very lucky.
Very few organisms can boast the immune system with the T- and B-cells with an intellectual level of the Bell Labs engineers. In fact, most of today's corporate networks do not have engineers of that caliber. AT&T long-distance network was a Very Important Network and it got all the VIP (oops, VIN) treatment that it deserved.
However, the Internet and the number of computers attached to it grow exponentially, and there are certain limits placed on the number of IT personnel by the educational system and by the human reproduction rate. Shortly speaking, the total IQ of all the engineers in the world shared between all the computers in the world, approaches zero very fast when counted on the 'IQ units per computer' basis.
Of course, some measures are taken to counteract this process. The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), created shortly after the Morris Worm, collects the best and the latest knowledge about the security threats and distributes it among the network users. The problem is, for every computer someone still has to regularly read the CERT bulletins and make sure that all the latest countermeasures listed there (software upgrades, patches, configuration settings, etc) are applied to this particular machine.
Not surprisingly, even that level of 'health care' is unavailable for many (and arguably for the most) computers on the Internet. Even if every corporation would somehow manage to hire the knowledgeable IT staff, which is something that is not easy (and not cheap!) to do these days, that would not be the end of the story. The proliferation of home networks, permanent connections, DSL and cable puts an amazing number of networked computers into the hands of people who have no idea what CERT is, and would not recognize the patch even if it would hit them on the head.
Naturally, this is not the fault of these people - this is the network-wide problem that has to be solved on the network infrastructure level with some automatic instruments. For example, the virus-protection software does an amazing job of constantly updating the virus databases on the millions of machines.
Unfortunately, in order to use it, the user has to know what the anti-virus software is in first place, which is also far from certain these days. To make the long story short, any hacker with an idea of going out on the net and compromising some machines can do it easily - there are no omnipotent 'security forces' that would protect the computer without the skilled human help, which is difficult to come by.
From the security standpoint, this situation is bound to be rapidly deteriorating. The number of the connected computers grows very fast. PDAs, cell phones, wireless pagers - all these devices have CPU that is running some code and thus is vulnerable to the potential attack (or self-inflicted damage that could be just as bad from the practical standpoint, as the Big Crash story shows).
As the number of such devices increases, the hope to somehow keep all of them away from trouble disappears pretty fast. Fortunately, it is not necessary to do so.
Many of the computers on the Internet are compromised - that is, many computers are routinely used by the people who are not supposed to use them. Even more (arguably most) computers contain bugs in the code that can potentially lead to some very serious problems under the certain conditions.
The Internet has been in this state for years - one might say that it is a natural state of affairs for the network, and the exponential Internet growth won't make the situation better (or different, depending on the one's viewpoint).
Every time the 'hacker' or a 'vulnerability' problem is raised in the public's mind by the media, it is usually a result of some hacker or bug causing some effect that is 'reportable'. Someone might steal some money from the bank, deface a Web site or jam a major Web service with phony requests, and it becomes news instantly. At the same time hundreds of hackers and thousands of bugs are just sitting silently, minding their own business, not interfering with anyone's activity - and no one notices them.
The Internet as a whole might be regarded as an organism that is concerned with its own survival. Many years of the Internet 'evolution' led to the creation of certain 'standard practices'. Some of these practices are codified, some are passed from one sysadmin to another, and some probably exist on the subconscious level only - the system of that complexity is bound to have many well-hidden ways of controlling itself in order to survive.
Pretty much as an organism does not really care about any one of its cells, the existence of the Internet does not depend on the existence or well being of any particular computer, so its evolutionary developed 'rules' tend to be lenient towards the 'silent hackers'. Everyone knows that these hackers are out there, that some computers are compromised - but so what? If Windows (or some other OS) has some dangerous bugs or security flaws, it is not a good enough reason to ban it from the network, as long as the existence of these bugs does not threaten the network as a whole.
Now, the deliberate destructive attack or the serious bug (like the one that has caused the Big Crash) is quite another matter. Every time this happens, all the Internet resources are mobilized to fight that threat in a cooperative effort that can literally span the globe. The new virus can make the whole countries unavailable on the net, and something has to be done about it - fast. After the cure is found, the network comes back to norm, and an occasional attempt by some uninformed user to double-click the "anna_kournakova.jpg" mail is not a cause for the global concern anymore.
Looking at the whole Internet as an entity, such behavior is strikingly similar to the 'primary' and 'secondary' immune responses in the organism. New viruses can make an organism sick for weeks until the proper countermeasures (antibodies) enter the 'production state'. This is the 'primary' immune response. If, however, the organism survives this particular sickness, every time it encounters the same virus, the 'secondary' immune response is fast and decisive. The existing antibodies attack the virus when it has not had a chance to replicate yet, and the resulting virus destruction is normally not even noticeable for the attacked organism. Sure, some cells might be destroyed in the process, but who cares about the individual cells?
This whole process of Internet protecting itself against the attacks can be viewed as the continuous struggle between the 'good' and 'bad' information for access to the Internet storage space and CPU power.
'Bad' information (data and code) can appear on the individual hosts in form of the Trojans, viruses, can be downloaded when the host password is compromised and so on. In many cases the 'bad' information also physically removes the 'good' information from the host - for example, the self-monitoring tools can be replaced by their 'bad' versions that hide the attack from detection. Destructive viruses can wipe out the vital data for the whole companies.
'Good' information tries to fight the 'bad' one. 'Good' code can scan the files for the virus signatures, detect the suspicious access patterns and so on, deleting the 'bad' information when it is found.
In any case, barring the final victory of one side (which seems unlikely), the certain balance is usually achieved between the 'good' and the 'bad' information in the "infosphere" - the space where the information of different kinds coexists. Pretty much like the predators and the herbivores can coexist in the ecosphere, the attacking programs of different sorts, the security programs, the application programs can coexist in the same infosphere at the same time. This coexistence is difficult to call peaceful, but the same applies to the ecological coexistence.
On one hand, the analogy with the predators and herbivores might seem superficial, but on the other hand the hackers and security people really do need each other. Hackers justify the existence of the security and validate the approaches used by it; security provides the challenges for the hackers.
Pretty much like the real ecosphere, the infosphere is controlled by a huge number of very subtle mechanisms. From the opinion of the hacker's referent group to the legislative efforts on the national level to the new ways to deflect the denial-of-service attacks to the latest bugs in some OS or programming language code - all these factors control the info-balance.
Many of these controlling factors have the social nature - roughly speaking, behind many advances of the 'good' or the 'bad' code there might be a real live person that has consciously or unconsciously helped to advance the 'front line' to one side or the other. This is natural, but despite the advances in the automatic attack and automatic defense capabilities, today the humans largely control the battle in a very 'hands-on' fashion. Every computer is still considered to deserve an individual treatment, and every computer normally has a real live human being that cares (or at least is supposed to care) about its state and tries to affect it.
This cannot continue forever.
There are two factors limiting the direct, 'hands-on' human intervention into the infosphere balance affairs.
The first one is the sheer size of the infosphere as it keeps growing. The virus-protection company can maintain a Web site with an automatic virus database update feature for only so many clients. After the number of clients reaches a certain limit, the Web site will collapse regardless of its capacity - the central distribution solution just does not scale.
Right now the virus-protection company might be happy to expand its client-handling capacity, but this is only because there is a human being behind every request. This human being can pay some money to offset the Web site maintenance cost, or be a target for advertising, but what if the download requests for the virus database start to arrive from the faceless networking entities? What if there are several thousands of computers per every human being on the face of the Earth, and all of them want the newest virus data? These faceless entities will put the same load on the central servers as the real live people at the displays, but won't see any advertising and won't increase the revenues. When this happens, the cost and the complexity of the Web site maintenance become prohibitive pretty fast, and several thousands of computers for every human is not even a very large number [3].
So clearly some distributed solution is necessary to deliver the data to the 'network edges' - the computers should be able to get the data from their peers, not from the central location. Of course, this approach opens the brand-new doors for the 'bad code' to subvert these distributed data transfers in order to avoid detection or in order to cause something resembling the 'autoimmune diseases', which would cause the legitimate software to be attacked and removed by the security mechanisms. This can be partially prevented by the sophisticated encryption and authentication technologies, but some new ways for the 'bad code' to propagate itself will certainly be created in the process, if only because of the bugs in the encryption and authentication software.
However, it seems certain that there's no other alternative to that approach if the network keeps growing. The 'central server' approach ultimately does not scale; but the same is true for the data exchange in general. Today almost every byte of data coming through the Internet is passing through some ISP access point - the computer paid for and maintained by an Internet Service Provider. The number of ISPs is limited by the business rules, and the number of machines that an ISP can directly control is limited by its revenue flow.
The ISP customers pay ISPs for an access to the Internet. So as the number of networked computers grows, the situation described above for the virus-protection servers will be reproduced on the ISP level. The 'ISP-type' solution does not scale technically when the Internet grows to infinity, but it also becomes economically unfeasible and not functionally necessary at the same time.
The bulk of the information on the infinitely large (and thus infinitely dense) Internet can be accessed directly, because it is statistically bound to be on the computers that are close by. Big corporate LANs can already keep most of the intranet traffic inside the LAN. The Internet backbone trunks and servers can probably survive (although in a different shape), because they will provide the global communication functionality, but the ISPs are likely to find themselves in a very uncomfortable position. They will try to sell the access, which is something that will be more cheap and convenient to get on the peer-to-peer basis in the distributed fashion, especially since the ISPs won't be technically able to provide an access service for the infinite number of machines anyway.
The second obstacle for the direct human control of the infobalance is the rate of the attacks. Today the new viruses appear daily. This is because today the viruses are mainly the products of the 'manual labor'. At the very least, someone has to launch the virus-making utility, select the virus from the menu, and change it subtly to 'fool' the existing detection software. This process takes time, and is very slow by computer standards. Besides, the viruses are generally ultimately traceable to the creator host, which normally has some human associated with it, and this human might be extra-cautious because of the danger of detection.
When the number of computers exceeds the number of humans by several orders of magnitude, the virus-creation operations can be fully automated, and the task of fighting the viruses will be much more complex. When the virus 'antibodies' are produced manually, it becomes very difficult to do so as the new viruses are generated somewhere on the Net several times per second.
The same applies to the bugs. Arguably the bugs are the more serious threat to the network than the deliberate attacks, because there are much more of them. The code development process generates bugs with a certainty of the nuclear explosion generating the radiation, and there's nothing to be done about that. The code is buggy. It is an axiom of the software development, and some bugs can be worse than very elaborate hacking efforts.
So the automatic mechanisms should take care of the antibody production in pretty much the same fashion as the human body produces the antibodies for the new viruses and other unknown proteins without any conscious effort. When the network encounters the 'new' viruses or other 'foreign proteins', the new 'antibodies' have to be automatically generated and automatically distributed over the whole network segment that has never met this virus yet and has no 'antibodies' against it.
Naturally, in the live organisms there are certain classes of diseases that survive by subverting the immune mechanism itself. Autoimmune diseases, for example, cause the body to treat its own proteins as the foreign ones. Massive viral doses have been observed to cause the loss of the immune function due to the immune system 'confusion' - it could no longer tell the difference between the 'own' and 'foreign' proteins based on their relative frequency [4]. And of course, the HIV virus attacks the immune system directly, opening the gates for the other diseases.
The same has to be true for the network immune systems.
These facts, however, do not make the immune systems in general and the 'networking immune system' in particular useless. So in any case (whether a centralized or a distributed antibody production method is used), the existence of the scalable data-propagation mechanism suitable for the infinitely large networks seems to be essential for the network health and growth. In the live organisms similar mechanisms (like a blood flow) are taken for granted, but the ability of the networks to exchange data when the number of hosts is infinitely large, is a big problem by itself. Event though the addressing problem can be solved with a big enough address space (like IPv6), the routing problems alone can cripple any network when the routing is done in the hierarchical fashion.
As the computers freely change their physical location inside the network, the current approach to routing that requires the multilevel system of the routing gateways, experiences the same scalability problems as the ones noted above for the central servers and for the ISPs. It seems likely that the Internet can grow only if the present-day routing approach is reserved for the data that has to be routed that way - essentially, for the data that fulfills the global communication function. The bulk of the traffic can and should be shifted to the peer-to-peer channels and is likely to flow between the machines that are relatively close in the physical space. The goal here is to increase the global conductive capacity of the data transfer media (for example, of the frequency band for the wireless communications) by using the same channels for the different traffic in the different physical points. The systems like the cellular networks, 802.11b, and Bluetooth already do that - the low-power transmissions allow you to reuse the frequency bands.
Enter Gnutella.
Gnutella is the file searching and downloading protocol firmly associated in the public mind with its better known cousin Napster. However, as far as this document is concerned, it is anything but Napster. Even though as Napster does, it uses the peer-to-peer links between hosts to transfer data, unlike Napster, there is no central server to handle the requests. In fact, the Gnutella network has no well-defined structure at all and can be very fluid and constantly changing. Every host tries to maintain the connections to 4-5 other hosts, these hosts in turn try to maintain the connections to the different hosts and so on.
The resulting structure can be viewed as a very complex graph, connecting thousands of machines within a several-hop distance. Every time the host wishes to find something on the network, it issues the search request that is propagated (broadcast) over these links, and the responses (if found) are routed back along the paths used by the corresponding requests. No individual computer is important to the Gnutella network health; if some machine drops out, its peers just find another hosts to connect to and continue functioning as if nothing happened.
Early versions of Gnutella did not have the flow control, which caused the Gnutella network overloads and lead to the widespread illusion that it is not scalable. This problem is, however, being addressed [5], and the future versions of the protocol will be perfectly scalable regardless of the number of hosts in the network, the frequency of the requests or the intended network application. The file-searching requests are not the only examples of the possible Gnutella requests - the protocol was designed for the general-purpose requests that would be able to reach as many hosts as possible on the networks with the very low individual host reliability and lifetime.
Today the Gnutella protocol exists in the normal Internet environment, and uses the normal ISPs and the normal backbone routers to transfer the data. In fact, of the three 'scalability breakdown' points mentioned in the previous section (central servers, ISPs, routers) only the first one is removed. This is not a strict requirement, though. The Gnutella protocol can be easily modified (or a similar broadcast-route protocol can be created) to use the different transport mechanisms - wireless broadcasts or whatever comes handy.
These qualities of the Gnutella and similar broadcast-route protocols make these protocols almost ideal transport mechanisms for the immune information in the large-scale networks. The new batch of 'antibodies' can be propagated as a request; the request for the antibodies for a particular virus signature could be broadcast over the network and answered by the antibody design for this particular virus; other similar uses are also possible.
Of course, the immune information is not the only data that can be carried this way. Ultimately this approach can be used to transfer most of the data on the infinite (or very large) network.
Even though every individual Gnutella host broadcast can possibly reach just a limited number of neighbors (the typical value is several thousands), the Gnutella network has a natural capability to replicate the useful content. For example, the antibodies for the viral attack in progress will be quickly replicated all over the network, reaching further and further if the viral attack happens to be a widespread one.
So far we have made no assumptions about the physical location of these billions (or trillions) of computers that will make the Internet sooner or later. One computer could be in India, the one connected to it - in Japan, and still another - in California. In the Infosphere, where all the battles are virtual, what difference does it make? From half a globe away, we can still replace the enemy code by our code, 'nuke' the enemy machine with a barrage of requests, or do something similar. We are just fighting the 'memory wars' here, and even if the results can cause hundreds of billions in damages, no one is directly hurt, right?
The introduction of the molecular nanomachines [3] into the picture adds some new wrinkles to the security situation. For one, the struggle for the storage and CPU resources is no longer purely virtual - the winning computer can literally 'eat' the losing computer, converting its molecules into the copy of the winner, and launch the winning code on the same molecules organized into a new structure.
From the purely informational standpoint, the difference is minimal. If the nanomachine with the 'bad code' eats the nanomachine with the 'good code', from the viewpoint of the infosphere, nothing really special happens. One host loses the 'good code', one (or two, or ten) hosts now have the 'bad code'. This fact should be noticed by the immune system, and the appropriate response should be mounted.
The biological analog of this situation might be the 'costimulation' [4]. In certain situations the Th-cell activates the antibody generation process only when two simultaneous events occur: the unknown protein is met and the 'damage signal' is received from the body tissues, making it statistically probable that it was this unknown protein that has caused the damage. Closer to home, the company system administrator can effectively play the role of the Th-cell, safely ignoring the frequent firewall alerts until the user simultaneously calls him and asks: "Listen, what's up with these two hundred "I Love You" messages that I have in my mailbox?" This second signal activates the sysadmin and makes him abandon the game of Tetris and fight the infection.
From the physical standpoint, however, the result of the absent immune response might be disastrous. One estimate [6] states that it can take as low as 20 minutes for the runaway nanomachines to convert the entire planetary biomass to 'nanomass'. Of course, there are all kinds of restrictions aimed at the prevention of this. The nanomachines are supposed to be physically unable to replicate outside the controlled environment, etc, etc. Still, it seems to be a virtual certainty that sooner or later someone will create a nanomachine without such restrictions. Why this would happen is largely irrelevant. Whether this will be done for the military purpose, for fun, happens as a result of the mutation, or just because someone forgets that the 'break' statement does not break an 'if' statement, breaking the outside 'switch' instead [1], the results will be the same. The uncontrolled replication similar to the Morris Worm would become a very real threat.
This scenario makes two things certain. First, the network should be ready to this situation. When it happens, it will be too late to look for the cure. It took 9 hours to contain the 1990 At&T crash, which might be too long.
Second, the response should be largely automatic. The case in point [1]: on September 17, 1991 the group of the AT&T switching stations in New York simply ran out of power and shut down, leaving the JFK, La Guardia and Newark airports without any voice and data communications. The backup batteries also failed. 500 flights were cancelled, and another 500 delayed (one of the affected passengers was the FCC Chairman). The technicians that should hear the alarms when the switches lost power were absent - they were attending the training class about the alarm systems for the power room.
The point here is that even if the human reaction time will be fast enough to come up with the countermeasures, bad luck or incompetence could prevent it. The distributed automatic response throughout the network might make more sense.
In any case, the immune response signal has to be propagated throughout the whole network. Otherwise the situation might be similar to the case when every user would have to fight the "I Love You" virus on his own, which would be a rather hopeless undertaking. When any host has a good idea about what's going on, it is his obligation to the network to propagate this information and help others fight the same problem.
Now, setting aside the most basic features of the networking immune system (such as the 'broadcast-route' transport) - what exactly are the immune mechanisms and how should they interact?
The proper honest answer should be: who knows?
Actually I might finish right here, but let me elaborate. I could tell that the 'costimulation' (described earlier) should be present to protect the nanonetwork from the autoimmune responses, I could mention other mechanisms, etc, etc, etc�
But first, it is more interesting to consult the original work [4] for the list of the possible immune mechanisms.
And second, truth be told, no one can tell anything precise about the mechanisms required for the nanonetwork safety today. The attempt to directly project the biological mechanisms into the networking context is certainly useful to some extent - at least both biological and networking objects function in the same set of the physical rules, and the general approaches to their security should have a lot in common. However, there are lots of things that we don't know about the biological immune systems that might be vitally important. And the biological immune systems were created to protect the well being of the biological species, which is not exactly the same as protecting the well being of the Internet, of the nanonet made of nanomachines, and of the biosphere surrounding the nanonet.
It could be said that in the nanonet immune systems the Gnutella-type protocol plays the role of both the vascular system (that carries the information inside the body) and of the health-care system (that carries the vaccines from the research centers to the patients).
It could be said that the hackers can play the role similar to the trace quantities of the foreign proteins. According to one theory, these stay in the body for years, continuously stimulate the B-cells and cause the acquired immunity to be 'remembered' by the immune system, even though the B-cell lifetime is measured in days [4].
All such analogies are obviously superficial. The immune system is the result of the long evolutionary process that has the survival of the species (not even of the individual organism!) as its goal. The immune system needed for the nanonets should have the prosperity of the humanity as its goal, and it is a separate and an interesting question how to formalize such a requirement, and whether it is possible to do that at all. Regardless of how stupid it might seem, some evolutionary requirement of this sort should be explicitly included into the nanonet design. Otherwise the nanonet might eventually confuse its own survival goals with the humanity goals, and given the [almost] plenipotentiary power of the network made of molecular nanomachines, it is hard to imagine what might cause it to change its mind.
The problem is, today we cannot exactly breed the nanonets like you breed the dogs - to be obedient, friendly and protective, even though that approach would be probably pretty close to an ideal one. First, we have just one global network - the Internet. It is kind of difficult to replicate it, change the development approaches and see what happens. Second - and more important - we have no idea what exactly do we want to have even when we develop the Internet. Sure, it experiences all sorts of the evolutionary pressure from the different directions, but it would probably be difficult even to list the main pressure groups.
Trying to determine the direction of the evolution would be even more difficult, and trying to control it is close to impossible on our present knowledge level.
So today the question "What are the network immune system components?" just does not make much sense - it is too early to ask it. The proper question would be: "How do we choose the components for the network immune system?"
The specific mechanisms that would allow the nanonet to successfully function and to fight the external attacks, internal bugs and mutations, probably have to be developed gradually, using the evolutionary approach. The 'closed diamond sphere' nanofabrics suggested in [3] have one very significant drawback - these nanofabrics are absolutely incapable of telling us anything about the interactions between the large groups of these nanomachines. This approach is like creating a single cell in a test tube and starting to grow the whole organism without giving a thought to whether it is going to be a sheep or a tiger. Not to mention the next-level question: "What are the obedience training methods for tigers?"
Sure, the 'closed sphere' development might be useful to create the specific mechanisms, but it appears to be more important to 'grow' the whole network in a fashion that would create a 'positively balanced' infosphere within such a network.
And the good time to start doing that appears to be� how about right now?
Not that difficult, really.
Remember, we are talking software here. The software does not care whether there is a physical world outside the infosphere or not - whatever the input signals are going to be, we can easily simulate these (including the distress panic 'costimulation' signal: "Something is killing me!").
Besides, such a precise simulation is not the first-priority task anyway.
More important it is to create the network that would be able to maintain the 'infobalance' (the infosphere balance) for an indefinitely long time regardless of the external and internal factors, pretty much like the sealed glass ball ecospheres can survive for a long time. (Well, I think that these 'glass ball' ecospheres eventually die, but we have an important advantage here - the infosphere does not have to be a totally closed system. We can always 'nudge' it in the right direction if things appear to go wrong.)
And the best candidate for the Nanonet v. 1.0 is, naturally, the Internet.
The Internet accumulates the combined effort of millions of designers, architects, programmers, administrators, hackers, computer technicians and users that were collectively creating it for years. There are literally millions of man-years of work in the Internet in its current state. Some people were trying to improve it, others to break it, still other people to use it or to overload it. It is still here. Of course it is not ideal. Of course there are problems. But as a starting point for the Nanonet evolution, it is infinitely closer to our final goal than if we would try to define the set of the security rules from scratch. Internet is a survivor of the twenty year-old 'war in memory' game with no rules. And it won this game.
Today the Internet is essentially a giant 'diamond sphere' nanofabric [3] that is capable of holding the whole 'Nanonet' inside. Whatever hackers do today, they cannot damage the environment or destroy the whole biosphere. As far as the nanotechnology is concerned, the Internet in its present state is a giant 'sandbox environment', where the dangerous experiments can be performed without grave risk.
Internet is also developing in the right direction. It grows exponentially and the same approaches suggested above for the nanonets would eventually be tried on the Internet first. In fact, some of these approaches are already being tried - the computer immunology [7], the general-purpose peer-to-peer networks - the similar difficulties lead to the similar solutions.
Several practical approaches are possible.
First, the Internet can be used for the 'validation'. For example, some computer immunology approaches might work on the Internet. Others might fail. After all, the Internet 'organism' is very different from the biological organism. The approaches that will work on the Internet are quite likely to be useful for the Nanonet, and other way around.
Second, the Internet could be eventually just gradually expanded to handle also the communications between the molecular nanomachines. Then the 'Internet DNA' - the set of written and unwritten rules, RFCs, known (and unknown!) bugs, code development approaches, safe practices, and superstitions that control its existence can be just left in place without trying to 'adopt' it to the brand-new network. This approach has some very obvious dangers, but from the practical standpoint it is quite likely to be used - today every new device is eventually connected to the Internet, and it will probably take some conscious effort to not to use this approach.
Third, the Internet can be studied from the infosphere standpoint. The information coexistence in the Internet infosphere should be studied in the fashion similar to the ecology approach to the biological coexistence in the biosphere. Pretty much as today we know that it is not a good idea to kill all the sparrows or to bring rabbits to Australia, this research should lead to the 'verbalization' of the 'safe Internet practices', bringing these to the conscious and 'formalizable' level. Then the same practices (or rather the informational laws that are the underlying reason for these practices) can be applied to the nanonets.
What is important here, these 'safe Internet practices' as they evolve on the Internet consisting of the billions of machines, then of the trillions of machines, and so on, will always be the practices that tilt the infosphere balance towards the 'good code'.
Eric Drexler in [3] tries to answer basically an unanswerable question: how do you make the nanomachines capable of withstanding the deliberate attacks from the 'battle bots' specifically developed for the destruction? The international cooperation, all sorts of treaties, etc, etc, can only go so far (though the power of the social aspects should not be underestimated - this is something that has prevented the nuclear war, after all).
Drexler does suggest using the simulations and research in order to be able to eventually withstand the nanotechnology threat [8], but the weakest point in these particular suggestions is that the nanotechnology is presumed to be used for that purpose. Which creates the chicken-and-egg problem: how do you create the nanotechnology for the threat research and make this technology non-threatening at the same time? All kinds of ingenious ways to deal with that issue have been suggested (space labs, non-replicating assemblers, immediate destruction of the first-generation protein-based assemblers and so on), but today we seem to have an instrument that allows us to do some real infobalance research - the Internet.
Hopefully the Internet research approach suggested above can help us bring the various doomsday scenarios from the fairy tales domain into the scientific domain, actually giving us some hard theory about the ways that the free information uses to propagate itself.
Of course, this can be very difficult, but then the 'Internet expansion' approach allows us to just create the stable infosphere that has been proved to withstand thousands of the different-angle attacks, even if we do not fully understand why and how does it happen.
Such a stable infosphere (today it is Internet) has a very important property: the number of people trying to destroy it is much less than the number of people striving to keep it in the working condition. The sheer number of the man-years invested into the defense exceeds the effort invested into the destructive approaches by several orders of magnitude.
As a result, typically the global attacks on the Internet fail just because it is very difficult for a small group of people to break something that is being maintained by millions of people. In fact, not that many global attacks are even tried - typically the attacks have a very narrow Internet segment (or even a single machine) as their goal.
Hopefully if the gradual evolution of the Internet into the Nanonet is done right, this relationship will persist, and even if the whole nation-state commits its resources to the destruction, the combined mass of the rest of the network would be enough to withstand and to nullify such an attack. Maybe the Nanonet can be not even deployed before the actual attack or the runaway incident, although this proposition seems shaky. Due to the Nanonet bugs, its instant deployment can be more dangerous than the original attack, so it is much safer to use the gradual deployment path.
Actually most of the spectacular Internet-wide crashes (Morris Worm, early-TCP meltdowns, network 'flapping', etc) were not the results of the deliberate attacks at all, but rather resulted from the code bug or some improperly understood data transfer effect. We can probably fully expect this trend to be continued into the future, with bugs being more dangerous than the deliberate attacks, which, of course, does not make the deliberate attacks less dangerous and requires some very sophisticated mechanisms to fight them.
Finally, it should be noted that regardless of the nanotechnology future, the approaches suggested in this document can prove to be useful (and even essential) for the 'normal' Internet growth and bring us many unexpected benefits along the way.
[1] Bruce Sterling. The Hacker Crackdown.
[2] K. Eskov. Our answer to Fukujama. (in
[3] K. Eric Drexler. Engines of Creation.
[4] Steven A. Hofmeyr. An Interpretative
Introduction to the Immune System.
[5] S. Osokine. The Flow Control Algorithm for the
Distributed 'Broadcast-Route' Networks with Reliable Transport
[6] Robert A. Freitas Jr. Some Limits to Global
Ecophagy by Biovorous Nanoreplicators, with Public Policy
[7] Stephen A. Hofmeyr, Stephanie Forrest.
Architecture for an Artificial Immune System.
[8] K. Eric Drexler and Chris Peterson, with Gayle
Pergamit. Unbounding the Future: the Nanotechnology Revolution.
*** End of the Document ***
Back to the Gnutella development page.


text:
Until 1998 it was thought that the universe's expansion was slowing down.
Then two different scientific teams collaborated their research in an effort that would turn it all upside down. Their evidence pointed to the opposite conclusion: the expansion of the universe is actually accelerating.
Not only did this change the way that scientists think about, well everything, it also led to the discovery of dark energy – a substance thought to account for 73 percent of all matter in the universe – as an explanation for the phenomenon.
The three scientist at that headed these investigations Brian Schmidt, Adam Riess and Saul Perlmutter, went on to become celebrated figures within the scientific community, and after winning the 2011 Nobel Prize in physics, they are now on the international celebrity list.
Now one of those scientists, astronomer Brian Schmidt of the Australian National University, is coming to Chile to pay tribute to a country that played a crucial part in his discoveries.
"I am going to thank and give something back to the people in Chile that helped my work," Schmidt said. "Chilean astronomy played an important role in the discovery (of the rapid expansion of the universe), something that, at times, is easy to forget."
At the invitation of Chilean astronomers Mario Hamuy and Alejandro Clocchiatti, from the Universidad de Chile and Universidad Católica, respectively, the Australian astronomer will give two lectures – open to the public – where he will explain how the universe's expansion is accelerating.
When and where
The first, entitled "Exploration of the Cosmos from Chile: understanding the Universe and how science generates prosperity," will be held on Tuesday, June 26, in the Salón de Honor of the office of Congress in Santiago at 11:00 a.m.
Though it is free, space is limited, and due to the high level of interest, bookings should be made in advanceo9. To make a reservation, click here.
The second, to be held the following day in the Biblioteca de Santiago ("Library of Santiago"), is already entirely booked.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Haha, I couldn't tell you what exactly is being exchanged here but it's safe to say the recipient of the message is content with the word. The man would certainly be blushing, my sweet, bashful magi Sibira. A little more grown up Muidemi being explored here, since for the most part I've been drawing her in her teenaged years where my story starts out. Here she is 30-31, they've had their first child-an accidental bit there in the story, causes them some drama in the beginning. Rather, their first daughter is the result of an accident, and I manage to use this as a means by which to explore the me too movement which I believe to be important. Okay, I'll visit that behind the red curtain eventually 😉 Suffice to say assassination attempt, magic accident, painfully shy boy and poor Muidemi. A year later, they finally begin to interact as a couple but he never left her side. She's not queen yet, but wears a crown designed by her cousin who is queen. Gone are the ghastly horns you can see in my other works, placeda side for her eldest son when he takes them in the next couple of years. There's a big story to that lol.
Constructive Critique requested. See Tips.


text: SPENCER, DEAN CALVIN III Name: Dean Calvin Spencer III Rank/Branch: E4/US Army Unit: Company D, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Date of Birth: 03 October 1947 Home City of Record: Morgantown WV Date of Loss: 07 June 1968 Country of Loss: South Vietnam Loss Coordinates: 162339N 1071810E (YD459138) Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered Category: 4 Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground Refno: 1204 Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing) Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 1990 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK 1998. REMARKS: SYNOPSIS: SP4 Dean C. Spencer III was a rifleman assigned to D Company, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry. On June 7, 1968, Spencer and his unit were on a combat operation and crossing the Rao Tank River about twenty miles southwest of Hue in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, when Spencer swam out to recover a canteen. Spencer was pulled under the water. Another man dove in to help him, but was also pulled under and drowned. This man's body was not recovered until four days later, and almost 2 kilometers downstream. Despite repeated searches, Spencer's body was never found. The Vietnam War touched many lives. Tens of thousands of families lost loved ones in battle deaths. Tens of thousands saw their sons and brothers come home maimed physically and mentally from the wounds and torments of the savagry of war. Some received telegrams that their loved ones drowned in recreation; a few learned their sons died from drug overdose; and some learned their sons, for unknown reasons, chose to end their own lives in Vietnam. We tend to bury the unpleasant aspects of war and concentrate on the victory. In Vietnam, we have only a hollow "Peace with Honor" and must instead, focus on the warriors - men who willingly served their country when called. Men whose lives we used as the price for our freedom. The most tragic of all the warriors are those who still wait, captive and abandoned by their country in prisons and camps in Southeast Asia. In abandoning them, we have made the deaths and suffering of thousands a frivolous waste. We must never neglect the duty we have to the men who must someday answer their country's call.


text:
Skip to content
Bleach and Tonic
Next to Godliness
Truth and Reconciliation with Zoflora Green Valley: Review
Did Zoflora vote 'Leave' ? A Bleach and Tonic special investigation
How to murder your wife with Oven Pride Oven Cleaner
The lie of the air freshner
What does BREXIT mean for Bleach and Tonic?
The inevitable smell of the etheral everlaster: Zoflora Linen Fresh Review (oversized bottle edition)
The Tragedy Of Transience: Super Jon Review 2
The shame faced joy of the Easy Hotel London.
The southern tantalism of the elusive 'Lime Away': A plea
The despair of pet ownership.
Posts navigation
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text:
Love everything about Deasee's Designs ! Great clothes and great people.
Very cute and full of great clothes and accessories. I always find something and am always happy with my purchases. Very friendly and helpful staff!
Love this store! Amazing, friendly staff. I can always find something I can't live without!
I love this boutique! I make sure and stop by whenever I'm on the Central Coast.
Just found this great little boutique!!!!! Can't wait to start shopping here!!! Lots of unique clothes, boots and accessories... Owner Terry is super nice!!!


text:
Ligue 1
Marseille held at Metz as Mandanda hobbles off injured
Marseille lost goalkeeper and captain Steve Mandanda to an ankle injury as their six-match winning run in Ligue 1 was snapped Saturday following a 1-1 draw at struggling Metz.
La Liga
Should Osasuna have had a penalty?
Another penalty not given has caused controversy in La Liga this season. First, Barca were upset atg Sociedad and at the Wanda, Osasuna wanted a spot kick for a foul by Felipe on Brasanac, but neither the ref nor the VAR gave it.
Serie A
Juventus need to fix Champions League hangovers, says Sarri
Juventus have dropped points after two Champions League fixtures already this season, much to the frustration of boss Maurizio Sarri.
Premier League
Ake will not play until 2020
Bournemouth defender, Nathan Ake, cannot help his team for the remainder of the year due to a muscle injury.
Serie A
Late Gervinho winner sees Gattuso begin Napoli reign with a loss
Gennaro Gattuso's debut as Napoli coach ended in a 2-1 injury-time defeat to Parma on Saturday as last season's Serie A runners-up extended their winless run to eight league games.
Serie A
Giroud, on his way to Inter
What at first seemed to be a rumour is now becoming a reality. Inter seem to be ready to sign Giroud and the Chelsea striker could soon be set for Milan.
Premier League
"We were arguing every day at Arsenal"
Jens Lehmann, the ex-Arsenal goalkeeper, revealed in 'The Athletic' various details of Arsenal's best era at the beginning of the century. He said that the team argued almost every day.
Championship review: West Brom top after Leeds collapse
Leeds United's failure to hold onto a 3-0 lead against Cardiff City means West Brom end Saturday at the Championship summit.
Premier League
Premier League Review: Salah at the double, Fleck fires brace for Blades
Chelsea and Leicester City dropped points, while Liverpool and Sheffield United claimed victories to extend excellent Premier League form.
Premier League
Ake's game... without Ake
Chelsea and Bournemouth faced each other this Saturday in a very special game for Nathan Ake. The Dutchman had the opportunity to play against his former team, but an unfortunate injury prevented him from being at Stamford Bridge.
FIFA Club World Cup
Gomis backs Al-Hilal to go all the way at CWC
Al Hilal will face Flamengo in their Club World Cup semi-final and Bafetimbi Gomis is optimistic of his side's chances.
Marcelo Bielsa named Championship Manager of the Month
Leeds United picked up five wins from five in their November fixtures, scoring 11 goals and only conceding twice. This makes the Argentine more than worthy of the award.


text:
Sooty Welds While Stick Welding
I've got a sooty weld. Help!If you've ever welded more than a half dozen times, there's probably a good chance that you've encountered a common welding issue of a sooty weld. Sooty, dirty looking welds can be a caused by a multitude of things. A sooty weld from stick welding is somewhat normal, as long is it not caked on and is consistent. The soot should not be heavy unless you are welding galvanized material, in which case the arc may seem to be bright, and the residue, or soot left behind is white and yellow. While stick welding excess soot is almost always caused by some sort of contamination of the metal. So, it's a good idea to make sure you have your metal cleaned up before stick welding. But dirty or contaminated metal can cause similar issues with MIG welders and TIG welders and is a common cause of soot in these processes as well. But in MIG and TIG welding, there are other factors at play as well. Lack of shielding gas is a leading cause of soot in both processes too. Brown soot or a dark almost black soot can be caused by contamination of the gas, whether with improper gas flow or with air mixing into the weld pool. In TIG, contaminated gas in the cylinder is a common cause as well. This is a frustrating one to diagnose as it may come and go, but also because it is usually the last one someone wants to consider as it is an expensive proposition to swap out to another cylinder of gas to check the cause. A good way to know if it is possibly contaminated gas is to assess whether the problem started soon after exchanging cylinders. Leaks and small TIG cups can create similar issues as well. One final possible cause of soot in TIG is where the tungsten has accidentally dipped into the metal while welding. Soot will form around this area and taper off as the tungsten "burns" away the contamination (though the contamination will never be completely removed through use in most circumstances).Everlast Power Equipment, your complete welding resource.Learn more on our welding forum


text:
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1. 18:9 in-cell lg lcd 2. 5.99 inch FHD+ 2160×1080 3. corning glass; 4. mirror glass; 5. Back16MP+5mp dual camera and Front 13mp; 6. 5500mAh big battery; 7. 4G RAM+64G ROM; 8. Android 7.0;
9. AAC speaker;
10. AAC ear piece;
11. beauty mode;12. back fingerprint scanner .
13 fast charger
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15 notification light
16 Titanium Metal frame
17 3D curved bac
( 800/900/1800/2100/2600MHz)
Support Dual sim dual standby,
1 micro SIM+1 nano SIM
Contactless control. Contactless
hands free mode
Double tap: light the screen,
Start the APP by gesture
English, Spanish, Portuguese,
Italian, German, French,
Russian, Arabic, Malay,Thai,
Greek, Ukrainian, Croatian, Czech,
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Traditional Chinese etc.
1×Phone(with unremovable battery),
Cable,1×User Manual,
1×Warranty Card, 1×Box,1×Screen Protector,
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If you want to Know More Rugged Phone/Elder Phone/Feature Phone, Please click the pictures
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Contact Person: Jock Liu, My skype live:sales040_2 My Whatsapp is +86 13798337291 Wechat: L572458557, QQ: 572428557


text:
The MDC-T has made a U-turn on the issue of National Youth Service and has agreed to the re-introduction of the programme, agreeing that it gives young people a sense of belonging.
Despite publicly criticising the National Youth Service Programme claiming in the private media that it is a Zanu PF project to train militias, the MDC-T now says the programme is a noble one for the youth.In an interview with ZBC News, MDC-T legislator, who also Deputy Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment, Mr. Tongai Matutu urged all Zimbabweans to accept the programme.
"Most youths will find the process of national youth service as one that will lead them to the best destinations in life. I would like to believe that most of the youths will take pride in participating and taking part in the national youth service programme," said Mr. Matutu.
The National Youth Service Programme had been stopped since 2009. The Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment, Cde Saviour Kasukuwere says the programme is set to be re-introduced following overwhelming calls from youths who felt the training is essential.
"Young people have been calling for the reintroduction of the programme,†said Cde Kasukuwere.
The National Youth Service was established in 2001 with the aim of transforming and empowering youths for nation building through life skills training and leadership development.
However, the MDC-T has been opposing the programme, labeling the trained youths Zanu PF militias.


text:
Kungsleden must be Sweden's most famous hiking trail and is listed as one of the most beautiful trails in the world. Every summer, flocks of hikers occupy trains, airplanes and busses up north to walk part of this over 300 kilometer long track. The common route is a 120 km stretch from Abisko (the trail's starting point) to Nikkaluokta, passing by Sweden's highest mountain: Kebnekaise.
So having heard of this seemingly magical place upon arrival in Sweden, there was only one thing left to do: go there.
Before I came to Sweden I actually didn't know that I was very enthusiastic about the outdoors. I had always loved to travel but had few experience with outdoors activities such as hiking, paddling, climbing, etc.
Upon planning a trip, every responsible hiker checks weather forecasts. This sort of slipped our minds, just as the fact that the seasons up north might not be synchronized with the seasons in Stockholm. Winter had come very late in 2012 and lasted unusually long, which made the trail look like this in the beginning of June:
We learned a lot of lessons the hard way. Coming from Stockholm in summer we arrived on the trail in late winter, with over a meter of snow still present in certain places. Luckily, before leaving we heard that conditions might be wet and there might still be snow present, so we changed our preparations. But none of us was equipped to walk vast parts of our 120 kilometers through wet snow.
These were the most brutal and some of the nicest 10 days I ever experienced at the same time. After the second and third day we doubted about going back, but continued forward because only the idea of getting stuck in the swamps around Alesjaure again made us choose to carry on. The trail was often flooded as water levels were high due to melt or still covered with snow, so we had to find our way around swamps and snow fields with sometimes knee-deep ice water without the aid of planks.
Was this slightly irresponsible? Probably yes. After 10 days of cold and wet, my nose was covered in blisters and we all lost about 5 kilos. But because the huts have one room open all year around, we could warm up around a stove in the evening and hang our clothes to dry. In this way we would be fit again the next day, full of hope that this day would be easier. We were four people on the trail and formed a tight group that looked after and encouraged each other along the way. Even halfway down the trip, after climbing Tjaktapasset completely covered in snow, the enthusiasm would remain high.
The best part of our bad timing was that we had the trail all for ourselves. Kungsleden is normally a busy trail, also known as the E4 among hiking trails (named after Sweden's major motorway). We did not see anyone for over a week. It was us, the occasional reindeer, and the mountains shrouded in silence.
This hike taught me to push through on hard moments and to find motivation even though conditions are rough and scary. It made me realize that I very much enjoy getting out in the nature and disappearing into the nowhere. It also taught me three major lessons about long hiking trips: check weather forecasts, carefully select your gear, and always take a map and a compass along the road.
Welcome to Travelnorth, a blog about living and roaming around the north of Europe. My name is Eef De Boeck, I'm 26 years old and come from Belgium. 3 years ago I chose to move to Sweden and ever since I live in Northern Europe.
After finishing my studies last summer, I realised I wanted to have a different kind of life. One that would allow me to be active, be outside, be close to nature. I worked as a guide in Swedish Lapland last winter and now live in the fjords in Western Norway for the summer.
I'm fascinated about outdoor life and the world's northernmost regions. Through this blog, I hope to show you why I love this place of vast forests, tundra and ice.
More images on:
Sarek National Park , Kvikkjokk to Ritsem over the Pårte massif, Sweden
Jostedalen National Park , Suppheller to Flatbrehytta, Norway
Folgefonna National Park , Sundal to Odda over the Folgefonna glacier, Norway
This October I am leaving on an expedition to hike 3000km across New Zealand. Follow me on:
My hiking buddy and good friend Matthias challenged himself to reach the highest peaks in all 28 EU countries. Follow his progress here:
Everything you need to know to survive the outdoors:
Amazing videos and pictures of stunning New Zealand:


text:
First of all, thanks to everyone who's wished me well. I appreciate it! *hugs* I am in fact feeling a bit better, though I'm still very very stuffy. But the meds are kicking in. I love modern medicine. I love how it almost immediately gets the blood pumping and the body moving. And how it totally puts me in a better mood cause I'm not feeling all icky anymore. That's a big plus too.
My day job involves working with children. What can I say? They're chubby little bundles of germs. I'm surprised it took me this long. I honestly thought I'd be struck with the nasty stomach bug that was going around. Eww, that actually would have been worse than not being able to breathe. Talk about counting my blessings.
On another note, a good friend of mine, who has probably the best taste in music ever, has this really great line in the signature of her emails. I didn't recognize it at first, so I looked it up. Turns out it's from a Barenaked Ladies song. It's a cover they did of another older song. But the line is just so beautiful, I stared at it for a little while, closed my eyes and just thought about what it said. And it struck me. The reason it had such an impact is because of the way the words are placed. The choice of verbs and nouns, the metaphor used. I mean, it really is just the perfect melding to create an emotional visual. All dying to know what the line is, aren't you? lol It's from "Lovers In A Dangerous Time". The line is: "Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight, gotta kick at the darkness til it bleeds daylight."
Something about that last phrase just does it for me. The way it makes me feel, WITHOUT hearing the music, speaks to its power. Think about it. Think about the struggle it represents, about the idea that daylight is really just the blood that pumps deep inside the darkness. That it can be released. Set free. I think that's one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard.
Am I high on my meds? Most likely, but humor me will ya? Just go with the flow.
This whole thing just got me thinking about so many great songs and how the use of great lyrics really can make all the difference in how you view them. A lot of people listen to music for the emotions they cause, for the beat, for the perfect melding of harmony, melody and word. I know I do. But I like songs that can create word pictures, almost like a book, and make me imagine a story being told. And in just a few minutes? You gotta admit, that's pretty impressive. 😉


text:
Finance & Commerce has announced the Top Women in Finance honorees of 2016.
Now in its 16th year, the newspaper's honors program recognizes women who are making an impact not only in their professions but also in their communities in Minnesota.
The 2016 class of honorees includes chief executive officers, chief financial officers and other high-ranking executives as well as entrepreneurs, attorneys, CPAs and financial advisers. They work for financial institutions, for businesses, law firms and accounting firms, for government and for nonprofits. Many mentor women in their fields and volunteer for community causes.
An outside panel of experts reviewed the nominations and selected the honorees.
This year the panel named two previous honorees to the Top Women in Finance Hall of Fame, which means they've now received Top Women in Finance honors three times in the program's history. One honoree was named to the Circle of Excellence, which recognizes women who have been selected twice.
The Hall of Fame honorees are Jill Johnson, president of Johnson Consulting Services, and Sharon Olson, certified financial planner and head of the Olson Wealth Group.
The Circle of Excellence honoree is Monica Eckberg, wealth management adviser for Northwestern Mutual.
Several hundred people attend the annual dinner and awards event to celebrate the honorees. A magazine profiling the women also will be published. This year's event will be Nov. 17 at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis. For more information, visit the events page at finance-commerce.com or contact Amanda Dorn at email@example.com or 612-584-1534.
The 2016 Top Women in Finance honorees:
Marsha Ackerman
Loffler Cos.
Chris Albrecht
Vice president, commercial and SBA lending
Sunrise Banks
Roz Allyson
Managing partner
Mahoney, Ulbrich, Christiansen & Russ P.A.
Denise Anderson
Chief financial officer
Minnesota Department of Education
Susan Black
Senior vice president and director of human resources
The Bank of Elk River
Elizabeth M. Brama
Briggs and Morgan P.A.
Heidi Brophy
Vice president, district manager
U.S. Bank
Nneka S. Constantino
Senior financial adviser, global wealth management
Nneka Constantino & Associates/Merrill Lynch
Jan Fitzer
Alerus Mortgage
Claire Hill
Professor and James L. Krusemark Chair in law
University of Minnesota Law School
Alice Johnson
Chief financial officer
Opportunity Partners
Jennifer M. Johnson
Vice president, finance
Kjirsten Johnson
Chief financial officer
Hennepin Theatre Trust
Darla Kashian
First vice president-financial adviser
RBC Wealth Management
Leyla Kassem
Director, client relations
Wells Capital Management
Shari Laven
Viking Savings Bank
Kelly Manke
Senior vice president
Bell Bank
Rebekah Martin
Baker Tilly Virchow Krause LLP
Deb McKernan
Vice president/operations manager, transaction & advisory services
Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq
Jennifer Miernicki
Faegre Baker Daniels LLP
Jennifer Moll
Audit partner
PwC US
Marnie Ochs-Raleigh
Evolve Systems
Nikki Pieratos
Northern Eagle Credit Union
Helen Pound
Minneapolis Grain Exchange Inc.
Dawn M. Reding
Senior vice president/manager – commercial & private banking
Alliance Bank
Kay Ross
Senior vice president, personal trust managing director
The Private Client Reserve of U.S. Bank
Jennifer Ryan
Senior vice president – commercial banker
National Bank of Commerce
Carol Schleif
Deputy chief investment officer
Abbot Downing, a Wells Fargo Business
Breia Schleuss
Faegre Baker Daniels LLP
Jennifer Schroeder
MidCountry Bank
Tracey R. Skjeveland
Chief operating officer and chief financial officer
Merchant & Gould P.C.
Lois Spear
Finance director
Minnesota Valley Transit Authority
Holly Stocker
Winthrop & Weinstine
Audra Tonihka
Commerical loan officer
White Earth Investment Initiative, Midwest Minnesota CDC
Kimberly Venable
Lieutenant colonel, Division G-8, finance officer
34th Infantry Division, Minnesota Army National Guard
Katherine Vessenes
President, financial adviser
MD Financial Advisors, Vestment Advisors Financial Group
Krystal Vierkant
CEO, CFO and owner
Rock On Cos.
Cärin Viertel
Director of client services
JNBA Financial Advisors
Paula R. Williams
Senior vice president, regional senior credit officer
Associated Bank
Circle of Excellence
Monica Eckberg
Wealth management adviser
Northwestern Mutual
Hall of Fame
Jill Johnson
Johnson Consulting Services
Sharon Olson
Certified financial planner
Olson Wealth Group


text:
Decorative Concrete Software Programs FAQ's!
Our Decorative Concrete Programs are easy to learn, if you watch the training videos which we include free.
All the Decorative Concrete Programs include free phone and online support.
This FAQ's page should answer the general questions prior to purchasing one of the Decorative Concrete Programs. If you are client looking for some tips and design short cuts check out our Client Support FAQ's.
- Windows 7, 8 and 10, including Windows Vista and XP
- 4 GB of ram (minimum)
- 10 GB free hard drive (minimum)
- Sound card and speakers
- High color video card set to a minimum resolution of 1024 x 768
- A good mouse and pad or Graphic Tablet
- Despite the Mac's recent gains in market share, Windows is still the dominant operating system, especially in businesses. That means there may be times when you need to run the Microsoft OS: perhaps there's an application your company uses that's only available for Windows, like Deco-con. Whatever your reason for running Windows, there are a number of ways your Mac can do it for you. BOOTCAMP or PARALLELS
- PLEASE NOTE: With Parallels you need to purchase a copy of Windows 7 or Windows 10.
- The installed version of the Estimators will only work on Windows Platform.
- The Online Version of the Estimators works on all Platforms.
Design on a small touch screen maybe harder on your eyes, But you can always plug it into a larger Monitor.
For Apple iPads users:
Did you know the iPad won't run Windows or Mac software?
Option 1: You may consider purchasing a Windows PC laptop /Tablet combination; it is the best of both worlds. A small windows computer with a touch screen that can fold back into a tablet. Is a work horse with a keyboard for work, and then flip it back for presentations like a Tablet. And they cost less than an iPad most of the time.
OPTION 2: A virtualization with remote access setup is your best choice (Remote Desktop). It's in the (itunes) app store FREE. READ THIS! It lets you work with whatever programs you have on your Windows computer directly on your ipad. Changes will be saved to your computer. Con: Must have an internet connection and it is slower than using Decorative Concrete Software direct.
OPTION 3: There is also TeamViewer which is also free for personal use, which lets you remote into your desktop. Con: Must have an internet connection and it is slower than using Decorative Concrete Software direct.
**Saving your final image as a .JPG and emailing or sending it to your iPad allows you to show the client!
- Deco-Con installed versions are licensed to One User for 2 Computers, the licensed user also receives Free Phone and Online Support.
- If you should need a 3rd license or 3rd computer it is only $100 for the same user.
- Once every two years we deem reasonable for a new computer and will replace one the original licenses.
- Note: We offer a 50% discount for the 2nd and 3rd Users in the same company.
We consider that a 2nd User in the company! We have taken this into consideration and discounted the additional user by 50%. Each additional user can put it on two computers. This also entitles this user to Free support. Please Call Michele at: 817-764-0413 to add additional users to the same company.
- The programs are shipping on a USB Card. (unless you request otherwise). After purchase check your email for detailed instructions.
- Before you install Deco-Con you will need to change the User Account Control (UAC) on your computer so that you are "Administrator" of your own computer. (Microsoft default setting keeps them in charge of your computer, not you.) It will interfere with the installation. After you receive the software follow the instructions that will be emailed and shipped with your program.
- We offer FREE Phone and Online Support - Use our Support Ticket here!
- BEFORE CONTACTING US PLEASE: Watch all the training movies with in the program. We also have the Training Movies Online for Imaging Here so if you wanted to work in your program and open another computer and watch the training movies that is possible.
- Review the Support FAQ's Page before calling.
- We guarantee Deco-Con Imaging to run on all Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.
- Because Deco-Con also contains over 25,000 seamless textures which can be copied and used in other programs we do not except returns at all.
- We guarantee the program works as it is shown on the demo videos, on our website or youtube.com. There are no written instructions, but there are over 50 plus training movies that teach every command tool and 8 tutorials that teach you the process of creating a basic image.
- If you do not watch the movies do not expect to know how to use the program. View the Deco-Con Imaging Tutorials Here before you purchase. and personally try one of the online Estimators.
- Please remember to effectively register the software on Windows the User Account Control (UAC) must be turned off. Take advantage of Tech Support which is available for assistance with installation and help with design techniques.


text:
$425 pw
25 Paluna Street,
Riverhills, QLD 4074
$1,700 Bond Need help paying the bond?
Available now
Rent ID: 3615200
- 3 Beds
- 2 Baths
- 1 Car
Get Optus nbnTM with unlimited dataGet Optus
Very Tidy home
This well presented solid brick home has 3 good sized bedrooms, all with built in robes, carpets and ceiling fans
It has easy access to transport, schools and shops
Home Features:
⢠Kitchen has electric cooking and plenty of storage
⢠Master bedroom with air conditioning, ensuite shower, toilet and vanity
⢠Extra-large lounge area, with split system air conditioning
⢠Separate bathroom with shower, toilet, bath and vanity
⢠Nice size laundry
⢠Security screens throughout
⢠Good size grassed yard with outside undercover area
⢠Garden shed and;
⢠Single remote lock up garage
Pets considered
Main Features
3 Bedrooms
2 Bathrooms
1 Garage space
Air Conditioning
Inspection times
Inspections are by appointment only.Book inspection
This property is NBN™ ready. Uses a fixed line which is a form of connection that utilises a physical line running to the property.
- Type
- Fixed Line
Walk Score®
There is some transit available from here with a few nearby public transportation options.
- 90-100
- Walker's Paradise
- Daily errands do not require a car
- 70-89
- Very Walkable
- Most errands can be accomplished on foot
- 50-69
- Somewhat Walkable
- Some errands can be accomplished on foot
- 25-49
- Car Dependent
- Most errands require a car
- 0-24
- Car Dependent
- Almost all errands require a car
- 90-100
- Rider's Paradise
- World-class public transportation
- 70-89
- Excellent Transit
- Transit is convenient for most trips
- 50-69
- Good Transit
- Many nearby public transportation options
- 25-49
- Some Transit
- A few nearby public transportation options
- 0-24
- Minimal Transit
- It is possible to get on a bus
Top 3 features for Riverhills
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Lifestyle in Riverhills
Rental Insights
Per Week
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Median Rent Per Week
25 Paluna Street, a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house, is in one of the most walkable neighbourhoods in Riverhills.
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text:
Family Fun in the Sun
- Posted on
- By BellaBoo
- Posted in BellabooCutie, Bellaboolancaster, familyfun, fun, funinthesun, Summer
'Tis the season for sunshine and smiles! There are so many fun activities to take part in with the family throughout Lancaster County and we are here to shed some light on some! Head on in, grab an outfit or two that would make your family fun even more special. Help the kiddos feel comfortable, breezy and just plain awesome in our selection of luxury children's brands.
Grab Some Ice Cream
Head on over to Penny's, Oregon Dairy, Bird-In-Hand Creamery, or Freeze & Frizz for some delectable summer treats to cool the kids down.
Fun Indoors
Go 'N Bananas, Bounce Kraze, Sky Zone, Choo Choo Barn, Hands On House and Tiny Town are all super fun spots to take the kids when it gets just a little too hot outside or on a rainy day.
Outdoor Activities
Enjoy some much-needed sunshine at Cherry Crest Adventure Farm, Corn Cob Acres, Dutch Wonderland, Refreshing Mountain, Waters Edge Mini Golf, Amish Farm & House, or hit a Lancaster Barnstormer's Game!
Water Wonderland
Splash around when it gets toasty outside at any of these fun water spots: Lancaster County Pool, Tucquan Glen Nature Preserve, Dorney Park, Lancaster City Parks & Pools, Skyline Pool, Lancaster County Park, DoubleTree Resort, and Hershey Park!
We hope you and your family have TONS of fun this summer! Enjoy every minute of this beautiful sunshine and treat yourself to an ice cream cone here and there, you won't regret it!


text:
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0 km
The Somers Mansion (1725) - Somers Point, NJ
in Pre-Victorian Historic Homes
Somers Mansion was built around 1725 by Richard Somers, the son of an early settler. The three-story brick dwelling, the oldest house in Atlantic County, contains 18th-century furnishings. Maintained and operated by NJ DEP, Parks & Forestry.
posted by: Math Teacher
location: New Jersey
date approved: 5/9/2008
last visited: 10/24/2018
Somers Mansion - Somers Point, NJ
in New Jersey Historical Markers
date approved: 11/11/2007
Somers Mansion
in U.S. National Register of Historic Places
OLDEST - House in Atlantic County - Somers Point, NJ
in Superlatives
date approved: 3/3/2009
in American Guide Series
date approved: 3/5/2009
in Wikipedia Entries
date approved: 9/5/2010
NE0.2 km
Transportation - Somers Point, NJ
in Signs of History
Shore Road, completed in 1731...
posted by: ODragon
date approved: 9/14/2009
last visited: 2/27/2019
NE0.3 km
The Anchorage - Somers Point, NJ
in Neon Signs
A very vintage-looking arrow shaped neon points down to a local eatery and NRHP contributing structure.
date approved: 8/18/2010
in Pubs and Inns
The Anchorage Tavern is the oldest, continuously operated business establishment in Somers Point. Built (circa) 1874, it was first known as the Trenton Hotel and catered to seasonal visitors and tourists, much like today.
date approved: 8/23/2010
One of a series of markers located on Bay Avenue as you enter Somers Point. These signs are placed by the local historic district. The center of town is three tenths of a mile away.
date approved: 8/15/2010
OLDEST -- Continuously Operated Business Establishment - Somers Point, NJ
date approved: 8/21/2010
Anchorage Tavern Restaurant - Bay Front Historic District - Somers Point, NJ
in NRHP Historic Districts - Contributing Buildings
Local restaurant and tavern serves visitors, tourists and locals. Situated a few miles from the ocean. The buildings were recently tagged with NRHP markers twenty-years after being granted historic district designation.
date approved: 8/19/2010
NE0.5 km
Somers Point 1812 War Memorial - Somers Point, NJ
in War of 1812
The Somers Point 1812 Memorial is located on the beachhead and among the name are twelve members of the Somers family, the founder of this town. They indeed had something to fight for in this second Revolutionary War.
date approved: 8/20/2010
Municipal Beach Park Playground - Somers Point, NJ
in Public Playgrounds
Beachside playground on the sand overlooking the bay located at Municipal Beach Park.
Bay Front Historic District Lucky 7 - Somers Point, NJ
in Lucky 7
A nice collection of waymarks which celebrates and shows off this shore town's historic district.
date approved: 9/6/2010
Bay Front Historic District Lucky 7 II - Somers Point, NJ
Another nice collection of waymarks which celebrates and shows off this shore town's historic district.
Municipal Park Beach - Somers Point, NJ
in Beaches
Postage size beach located Bayside just before the Atlantic Ocean.
Municipal Beach Park - Somers Point, NJ
in Municipal Parks and Plazas
Postage side park located bayside in sight of the Atlantic Ocean and Ocean City, NJ
Chief William H. Morrow - Somers Point, NJ
in Citizen Memorials
This is a citizens memorial and token of appreciation for a former police chief and community activist. The monument was placed to remind everyone of the good deeds this citizen performed for his neighbors, friends, and strangers.
date approved: 8/22/2010
Shipbuilding - Somers Point, NJ
NE1 km
Bass Harbor - Somers Point, NJ
One of a series of markers located on Bay Avenue as you enter Somers Point. These signs were placed by the local historic district. The center of town is three tenths of a mile away.
N1.8 km
Petsmart - New Rd - Somers Point, NJ
in Pet Stores
This is the Petsmart location in Somers Point, NJ.
posted by: retail96
date approved: 10/25/2018
last visited: never
N2.1 km
McDonald's - New Rd - Somers Point, NJ
in McDonald's Restaurants
This is the McDonald's location in Somers Point, NJ.
date approved: 11/23/2018
N2.6 km
Wendy's - Bethel Rd - Somers Point, NJ
in Wendy's Restaurants
This is the Wendy's location in Somers Point, NJ.
date approved: 10/16/2018
NE2.7 km
Rex the Wonder Dog - Linwood, NJ
in Roadside Attractions
Rex the Wonder Dog
last visited: 8/4/2010
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text:
The applicant proposes to add two stories to this one-story garage to create three condominiums. The changes to the first story would preserve the building's original color scheme and openings, and remove an inappropriate door and blocked transom. Although we believe that some aspects of the design are appropriate, we have major concerns because the proposed second and third story addition are not subordinate to the historic one-story building.
We understand that the HPRB approved earlier but different plans for this project in HPA 03-472 (February 26, 2004). Those plans had a second and third story addition, setback 17 feet from the front face of the existing building, so that the addition "no longer sits flush with the adjacent rowhouses to the west, but rather sit[s] 6 feet behind them, reducing somewhat its overall visibility from the street." HPO staff report, HPA 03-472 (Sept. 25, 2003). This case seeks a two-story addition, set back only 12 feet, which would be very visible from public space and have an impact on the rowhouses on this attractive residential street. If the HPRB decides to approve the concept, we urge that the board again require the 17-foot setback.1
We believe that that HPRB's more recent precedents from 2012 and 2013 on additions to one-story commercial buildings should apply. As we noted in our letter dated November 12, 2014, a series of precedents concerning additions to one-story commercial buildings (the 1300 block of Constitution Avenue, NE) should control. One-story buildings are important elements of the Capitol Hill Historic District's development history, and thus they should not be lightly transformed into two- or three-story buildings. In those cases, adding a second or third story was allowed because
(1) one building had already acquired a second story during the historic district's period of significance,
(2) another building had a rear second-story wall that was falling down.
(3) The block's commercial character was fractured.
(4) The third story addition approved for one of the buildings was not visible from public space.
Given the fractured historic context of this block and these buildings' setting, as well as the loss of the block's original strong commercial presence, we believed that in this isolated instance a second story on one of the buildings could be acceptable. We noted that we viewed this decision to be an anomaly because of factors specific to this particular location and set of unique circumstances, and hoped that this case would not set a precedent for the historic district or even for other nearby one-story buildings. In this case, CHRS did not object to the rear third-story addition only because the applicant had made a commitment to build the third story in such a way that it would be totally invisible from Constitution Avenue.2
In 2013, the HPO staff report on another one-story building on Constitution Avenue, NE, noted that that the historic context of this block was already fractured due to inappropriate construction which preceded the city's preservation law and demolition of historic buildings approved by HPRB because they were structurally unsound.3 HPRB allowed adding a second story and a third story to this one-story building at 1331 Constitution Avenue only if the third story was set back and not visible from public space.
The Constitution Avenue projects are in no way comparable to the proposed garage addition at 645 Maryland Avenue. This garage is in a block that retains well its historic integrity, the garage has no rooftop additions on it already, and the third stories on the formerly one-story Constitution Avenue buildings are low enough and set back far enough that they are not visible from public space on Constitution Avenue, a relatively narrow street. In contrast, the proposed second- and third-story addition to the garage is very close to the front of the garage, in line with the mass of the rowhouses beside it, and will be totally visible from Maryland Avenue, which is very wide.
For these reasons we believe that the project is not compatible with the Capitol Hill Historic District, and that approving this project would be precedent-setting.
Thank you for considering our views.
Adding vertically to a historic building is generally discouraged as such additions typically alter significant features, such as its roof line, height...and overall form and mass. Additions on top of a building can sometimes be achieved when they are not visible from street views....this approach typically requires a substantial setback, the extent of which depends on the height of the addition...the width of the street, and views from public vantage points surrounding the building....Under most circumstances, roof additions that are visible from a public street are not appropriate.


text:
Not Exactly Every Little Girl's Dream
This article represents the opinions, thoughts, and experiences of the author; none of this content has been paid for by any advertiser. The Migraine.com team does not recommend or endorse any products or treatments discussed herein. Learn more about how we maintain editorial integrity here.
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Thanks Amanda … I too have had an adult lifetime plagued by daily migraine. I also have bipolar. Adjusting your expectations, hopes and desires, become part of daily life and I do think that people with such limitations are stronger than the average person who has not had to face such challenges. Be proud of yourself for doing so well under adverse circumstance and remind yourself of your strengths which shine through in your writing.