text:
UnQL (Unstructured Query Language) is meant to be an open query language for document databases. It is open because its initiators, Richard Hipp, creator of SQLite, and Damien Katz, creator of CouchDB, want to avoid any vendor lock-in and UnQL development to be driven by community. Unlike relational databases consisting of fixed tables, an UnQL document database contains collections of documents expressed in JSON. But UnQL is built to be a functional superset of SQL, seeing tables as documents with a flat structure and fixed fields. Thus, UnQL can be used to query a RDBMS, but it cannot be used to create/delete tables or change its schema.
Following is an interview on UnQL with Richard Hipp who wanted to make sure we know UnQL is a team effort and he is not the sole decision maker. One of the interesting details coming out from the interview is that he intends to create UnQLite, a "small embeddable document-oriented database in the same spirit as SQLite."
InfoQ: Why UnQL? What problem are you trying to solve?
RH: UnQL is a database query language, akin to SQL, but designed for modern document-oriented databases.
SQL assumes a rigidly defined data schema. Each table has a fixed number of columns and each column has a defined datatype.
UnQL assumes a more flexible approach to storing data. Instead of "tables", UnQL uses "collections". (The concept is the same, but the name is changed since "tables" are square whereas "collections" can be of varying shape.) Each collection consists of zero or more documents represented as JSON strings. A document in UnQL corresponds to a row in SQL. The big difference is that with UnQL, the documents (rows) do not have a fixed number of columns, the columns (now called "fields") do not have a fixed datatype, and the fields can be nested - the value of a field can be another document for example.
There are several document-oriented databases available today and they are growing in popularity. But all existing document-oriented databases have their own proprietary and incompatible query methods, meaning that it is hard to move an application from one database engine to another. And the query methods that are available tend to be very low-level, meaning that a lot of the query logic that used to be handled automatically by the database engine must now be manually coded into the application by the programmer.
UnQL aims to remedy this situation by providing a common database query language that can be used to access document-oriented databases from multiple vendors. This helps developers write portable applications and avoid database-vendor lock-in. UnQL also strives to provide a very powerful and rich query language that transfers much of the complex algorithm-picking logic back to the database engine, saving lots of code in the application, and lots of developer time and frustration.
The data manipulation and query language of UnQL is a functional superset of SQL, so UnQL can, in theory, also be used to access legacy SQL database engines. From the point of view of UnQL, a legacy SQL database looks like a document-oriented database where every document has the exact same flat structure using exactly the same datatypes for each field. (Note that the Data Definition Language (DDL) of SQL is not replicated in UnQL and so UnQL is unable to do actions like CREATE TABLE or DROP INDEX on a legacy SQL database. UnQL can insert, delete, update, or query data in a legacy database, subject to the SQL formatting constraints, but it cannot change the schema of a legacy SQL database.)
InfoQ: Do you want to create a language fit for all NoSQL data stores, similar to what SQL is to RDBMSes?
RH: First off, I prefer the term "post-modern database" over "NoSQL". Post-modern databases are designed to work around the CAP theorem. Traditional relational databases cling to consistency (the C in CAP) and as a result have to sacrifice either Availability or tolerance of Partition. Post-modern databases are willing to give up consistency in order to have both Availability and Partition at the same time. But by giving up consistency, that means that there is an absence of objective truth with a post-modern database, and the absence of objective truth is the defining feature of post-modernism - hence the name. To think of it another way, when you ask a question of a post-modern database, you don't get back a fact, you get back an opinion.
The previous paragraph is not a slur against post-modern databases. Post-modern databases are very powerful and definitely have there place. Many people believe (myself included) that post-modern databases will eventual come to dominate the database ecosystem. But at the same time, it is important to understand their limitations. Post-modern databases transfer the burden of maintaining a consistent view of the world from the database engine into the client application. This makes it much easier for the database engine to scale out, but it also makes more work for the application. Developers need to approach the use of post-modern databases will full and sober knowledge of the tradeoffs.
To answer your question: Yes, UnQL is intended to be for post-modern document-oriented databases what SQL is to relational databases. UnQL intends to be a pragmatic universal access language that all document-oriented database speak.
InfoQ: Have you used UnQL with CouchDB? If not, do you have plans to do so? (I've seen D. Katz involved in the project.)
RH: Damien Katz intends to provide an UnQL interface to CouchDB in the near future, yes. Other plans are in the works to provide UnQL interfaces to other database engines. I hope to provide an UnQL interface to legacy SQLite databases, for example. I also hope to make available "UnQLite" - a small embeddable document-oriented database in the same spirit as SQLite, but with a new file format.
InfoQ: I understand that UnQL is in early phases. What should we expect from it in the future? Where do you want to take it?
RH: Right now, we have only a rough prototype. We are continuing to refine the language based on input from perspective users and taking into account the lessons we are learning while implementing the prototype. We want to have one or more actual, usable database engines available and ready for development use during this calendar year, with deployment-ready implementations available next year.
At the end of our interview, Hipp expressed his desire to see the community involved in this project.
RH: We really, really want community input on this effort. Volunteers to help with the language design, suggest improvements, and help with the prototype implementation(s) will be greatly appreciated. Everything is open-source.
UnQL is not a power play by a few companies try to force their views on the world. UnQL is intended to be a pragmatic community-driven effort to provide cross-platform database functionality and make life easier for application developers. Our goal is to end the vendor lock-in problem that we believe is holding back development and acceptance of post-modern document-oriented databases.
Won't you please join us in helping to make UnQL a success?
UnQL is currently a prototype. Its website contains more information on the syntax and a link to a repository containing the source code and some examples.


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Thököly, Imre
Imre Thököly (Ĭm´rĕ tö´kölyə), 1656–1705, Hungarian rebel, of a noble family of N Hungary. His father, Stephen Thököly, took an important part in the unsuccessful conspiracy of Francis I Rákóczy and Peter Zrinyi against Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I and died (1670) while defending his castle against imperial troops. Thököly fled to Poland. The severe reprisals meted out by the Austrian governor of Hungary led to a general uprising, supported after 1674 by Louis XIV of France. Thököly took command (1678) of the rebel army and in 1680 made a truce with Leopold. The emperor restored (1681) religious and political freedom in Hungary, but Thököly rejected his concessions as insufficient and began to plot with the Ottoman Empire to make himself master of his country. In 1682 he married Helen Zrinyi, daughter of Peter Zrinyi and widow of Francis I Rákóczy, and late in the same year he was recognized by Sultan Muhammad IV as "king of Upper Hungary" under Ottoman suzerainty. It was largely at his instigation that the sultan undertook his expedition against Vienna, and in 1683 Thököly joined the Ottoman forces under Kara Mustafa in the siege of that city. The Ottomans blamed their rout on Thököly and imprisoned him briefly (1686) at Adrianople, but in 1690 they appointed him prince of Transylvania. He was driven out (1691) of Transylvania by the imperial force under Louis of Baden. The Treaty of Karlowitz (1699), by which the whole of Hungary passed to Leopold, also stipulated that Thököly was to be interned by the Ottomans in Asia Minor. He spent the remainder of his life near Constantinople. The name is also spelled Tokoly.

subset: commoncrawl


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Author: Melissa Pandika
Down and Dirty in the Field
A Valley of Surprises
Introduction: Mapping Underground Faults and Fractures in Surprise Valley
Tucked in the northeastern corner of California, Surprise Valley is a quiet rural community of about 1,000, set amidst a vast high desert landscape dotted with hot springs and dry lakebeds. But there's far more going on below the ground than you'd ever know, standing above. From September 1-13, a team of scientists and engineers will collect magnetic data using ground surveys and an aircraft that can fly without a pilot or crew on board, called an unmanned aerial system, or UAS, to map the geophysics below the surface of Surprise Valley.
Why create such a map when hints of the area's seismic history are plainly displayed on its surface? The corrugated Surprise Valley Fault snakes 85 kilometers along the Warner Mountain Range, the landscape is pocked with smaller surface scars, called fault scarps, that indicate movement along faults, and hot springs billow steam–proof that the area is anything but quiet.
But although some faults and fractures are visible on the surface, some remain completely hidden underground. And even if researchers know where the hot springs are located, they want to understand how hot spring fluids flow through the network of pores and channels underground. Investigating this geothermal fluid circulation system includes identifying faults below the surface that might conduct the hot mixture of fluids and minerals found in the hot springs. These faults also have the potential to rupture during an earthquake, and the detailed studies will help refine predictions of how likely and how damaging earthquakes could be in the region.
Later, the team will compare magnetic data to topographic data they've already collected in order to correlate subsurface structures to areas of surface offset, or displacement from the fault center, which indicate active faulting. At the end of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)-led, NASA-funded project, which includes a second field session scheduled for next year, they'll produce a 3-D map that will provide geophysical data on Surprise Valley at a level of detail yet to be achieved for the area. This map will be crucial for predicting the likelihood of earthquakes in Surprise Valley and the damage they may do. The Surprise Valley municipal government can also use the map to inform land and water use decisions, since toxic water zones have been identified in the area, as well to help tap the geothermal system as a sustainable energy source.
The team, which includes scientists and engineers from USGS, NASA-Ames, Central Washington University, and Carnegie Mellon University, will measure magnetic fields using ground surveys and an unmanned aerial system (UAS) to map the geophysics below the surface of Surprise Valley. Over the years, they've collected a wealth of magnetic data by foot and small, four-wheel all-terrain vehicles, or ATV. But the areas they can safely and feasibly survey on the ground are limited. They can't walk through private lands, dense vegetation, or hot springs, for example. Geoscientists have typically addressed this challenge by contracting pilots to collect data along a specified flight path. Not only are these manned aerial surveys costly, they require pilots to fly at dangerously low altitudes. That's why the Surprise Valley team will collect data with a small, lightweight, low-flying UAS known as SIERRA (Sensor Integrated Environmental Remote Research Aircraft). While flying along a preprogrammed path, the NASA-developed SIERRA will relay the data collected by a magnetometer in its wing to a ground station computer. SIERRA is available for other research projects involving the collection of data from inaccessible swaths of land. Scientists have already employed SIERRA in the NASA-funded Characterization of Arctic Sea Ice Experiment (CASIE) to assess the decline in the ice covering Alaska's Beaufort Sea.
While SIERRA offers a safer alternative to manned flight, it still has some limitations. With a specified flight path, both manned aerial surveys and UAS run the risk of bypassing interesting geological features. Next year, the Surprise Valley team will collect magnetic data using NASA's Swift "smart" UAS. The major difference between the two platforms is that an on-board system navigates Swift based on feedback it receives on both magnetic data and environmental conditions, such as wind speed and direction, or obstacles in its path. The system, known as an adaptive payload system, will integrate the magnetic data that Swift's magnetometer has collected with magnetic datasets into an algorithm that will then "decide" how to adjust Swift's flight path to maximize data collection in areas of interest. The team will compare the datasets collected by the two UAS platforms with the goal of developing a cheaper, more effective airborne survey system.
The team preparing to test the all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), with the Swift UAS in the background
This field season, the team will run additional tests on SIERRA's ability to correct for magnetic noise associated with the magnetization of the aircraft that would otherwise obscure signals arising from geologic structures we're interested in. Faults and fractures generate magnetic fields that deviate from those emitted by regions of the valley that lack these features, but so do the aircraft and its maneuvers. SIERRA needs to subtract these readings to ensure that any anomalies that appear in the magnetic data reflect solely features below the surface.
The researchers will then fly the aircraft in a broad zigzag pattern across Surprise Valley, collecting magnetic data from large features in previously unexplored areas. These data will be important in planning next year's mission, when Swift will conduct more detailed surveys of the region. The team will concurrently test the payload system by comparing these data against the data collected by Swift.
Team members testing the ground base station systems. These include: the differential GPS, which will enhance the accuracy of the GPS readings of SIERRA's location (left); the antenna that will relay information from SIERRA's on board radio about the aircraft's mechanical status and location (right); and the ground magnetometer (not shown), which measures the daily temporal variations in the Earth's magnetic field due to fluctuations in the upper atmosphere. Researchers will subtract ground and airborne magnetometer data to correct for these daily variations and reveal the signals due to the faults and fractures they want to map.
While airborne magnetic surveys offer complete coverage of an area, there are still reasons to do ground-based surveys. Since a magnetic field weakens with increased distance from the magnetic source, aerial surveys can only detect large fields produced by the gross characteristics of a source below the surface. On the ground, researchers are able to pick up on the more subtle fields produced by a source's smaller features. During both field sessions, the team will continue to collect magnetic data by foot and ATV in addition to UAS and will perform gravity measurements along some of the same subsurface structures. They'll also drill rock cores to measure remnant magnetization, a record of the magnetic fields at the time the rocks formed, and collect samples from the area to determine density and magnetic susceptibility, which is a measure of how "magnetizable" a rock is. These data will collectively be used to develop gravity and magnetic models to determine the geometry of structures below the surface.
The National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping has already mapped Surprise Valley's surface features, or topography, using airborne lidar, a highly sensitive technology that can make out even tiny features—visualizing objects and distances as small as a few centimeters. Lidar bounces a laser off the landscape, making a detailed 3-D topographical image. Unlike magnetic field data, which can identify structures below the surface but tells us nothing about their activity, lidar can distinguish active from inactive structures, since only structures that have been active in the recent past produce fault scarps and other areas of surface offset that would still be visible. Otherwise, erosion and sedimentation would have wiped them out. After tying surface offset to subsurface structures, scientists can develop models for the area's seismic activity.
On this blog, also hosted at USGS' website and Scientific American's Expeditions we'll share updates on daily missions, glimpses of life in the field, and profiles of individual team members. We're excited that you'll be joining us!
All photos by Melissa Pandika. You can follow the Surprise Valley team on Twitter @SV_UAS, and view more photos of the team in action on their Flickr photostream.
About the Author: Melissa Pandika is a journalism master's student at Stanford University. Previously, she studied molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley and investigated how highly aggressive brain tumors evade therapies that block blood vessel growth at the University of California, San Francisco. You can follow her on Twitter @mmpandika.


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Vulture hears that Paramount is now in negotiations with Kenneth Branagh to take over directing duties for Jack Ryan, the studio's on-again/off-again effort to revive the Tom Clancy spy franchise with Chris Pine. The news comes just over a week after Lost executive producer and director Jack Bender (who had signed on a year and a half ago) stepped down from the project because of scheduling issues with a SyFy project.
We hear that Bender had tired of the endless development born of creative loggerheads over the direction of the film. Pine wanted to make a character-driven espionage movie. The producer, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, wanted to make Jack Ryan into an action movie. Paramount executives wanted to make it a thriller. "And [screenwriter] David Koepp was supposed to sort that all out," laughs one of our own spies, "Good luck!" Koepp had been called in after nobody could agree on the takes by other screenwriters: Anthony Peckham (Invictus) and Adam Cozad (Brad Pitt's upcoming The Gray Man) turned in drafts, and Steve Zaillian was hired at one point but ultimately pulled out before turning anything in.
We're told that just this week, a few days after Bender's departure to work on his SyFy pilot Rewind, Koepp turned in a draft that attempts to synthesize everyone's demands. Unlike previous films like The Hunt for Red October and Clear and Present Danger, which were adaptations of actual, Tom Clancy novels, the new story of Jack Ryan, we're told, is not. Instead, it's a prequel that shows Ryan's beginnings, but is hardly canonical. It is set in the present day, without the dated Cold War geopolitics.
The move toward a more proven feature director like Branagh is reassuring to the studio, considering the other elements of the film: Knowledgeable sources say that neither Paramount nor its co-financier, David Ellison's Skydance Productions, were quite certain about just how much brand equity remains in a moldy Everyman spy character who's been played by three different leading men (Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, and Ben Affleck), with the last installment already ten years old. And then there was the fact that their chosen leading man hadn't shown much star power outside of the Star Trek franchise: Pine's most recent outing, Fox's This Means War, flopped badly.
As Branagh turned Thor into a sleeper hit for Paramount, we expect the studio will be eager to close a deal with him, since our spies say that the plan is to begin production in September of this year.


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With the fourth season of Arrested Development premiering in a few short hours on Netflix, I figured this would be a good time to re-post something I wrote shortly after its cancellation (way back in 2006) where I explained I was on-board with the show ending permanently.
Part 1 of 3
With the all-but cancellation of my second loudest talking point three months ago, my TV habits have unexpectedly and ambitiously changed. For many years, the only section of calendar showing "appointment TV" was Fox's Sunday night from 8-10. Initially anchored by The Simpsons and The X-Files, over the years I've regularly watched Malcolm in the Middle, King of the Hill, That 70's Show, Family Guy, Futurama, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Arrested Development, and most recently Free Ride. I never watched most of those shows again after either a move to a different night (That 70's Show, Malcolm in the Middle) or before 8 on Sundays (King of the Hill, Futurama, Malcolm in the Middle [again]). The Simpsons' decline too many years ago makes/made the 8:00 slot more of a sentimental appointment with some memory from my past (maybe), but it's rare that I don't catch at least some of the Sunday night shows. (Most recently, I've watched Family Guy and Free Ride.)
Arrested Development, originally airing at 9:30 was the best show to come out of the Fox Sunday night, even better than when The Simpsons was what we remember it being like "when it was good." Generally I've found that of the people to whom I recommended the show, it's pretty easy to pick who will like it and who won't. Plenty of people are on the record extolling it as the best show ever, and while I'd agree, I don't have anything to add that hasn't been covered ad nauseum by that community. Oddly enough, Arrested Development has very much become similar to one of those things that I don't really have a problem with, but the fans are just so obnoxious that I think even more negatively about the item/object/concept than I normally would or should. In the case of Arrested Development, I'm so positive about the show, that the fandom merely tarnishes whatever memory I might have of it, not the actual show itself, if that makes sense. I don't think that it "revolutionized" the sitcom (it was sort of on for only three seasons) as some claim, it was just the shining example of a different way of presenting 30 minutes of comedy.
For the three seasons it aired, my routine was watch it when it aired, download the widescreen rip on bittorrent, then watch the bejesus out of it until buying the DVD's the day they were released. The airing of the last four episodes (all shown in a two hour block one Friday night in February) after more than a month of knowing those would most likely be the last episodes of the show hit some note with me in that even though I downloaded the episodes, I have yet to watch them a second time. Considering that I've watched every other episode of the show between three and too many times each, I realized it was odd I had/have no desire to watch the last four again, especially considering that they were some of the best episodes of one of the best shows in the history couch-potato-ery. I'm not sure it takes too much effort to correctly read into it; similarly, I own all of the Calvin and Hobbes books, but I've never read the last one though I've owned it long enough to have read it many times.
For a solid two months, there were continual rumors about where Arrested Development might end up after that Fox made it obvious it wasn't wanted by shortening the season to 13 episodes. "The Internet" held out hope, but "the internet" ignored the fact that any channel picking up an expensive-to-produce, bottom-of-the-ratings-heap show must not enjoy making money. It was a sad time for many, with (literally) the best show in the history of ever wrapping up. Fox showed the last four episodes in a two hour block directly against the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, almost two months after the most recent airing of the show. In other words, lots of time to "discover" something new.
As great as it was, Arrested Development was not "perfect" in terms of 30 minute television. As widely reported, practically none of the characters were likeable (Michael Bluth was dysfunctional in his own, realistic sort of way, and heck, even Annyong was a jerk to Buster). That's not what I look for in a show, but there are plenty of lady-folk who need to empathize with characters and figuratively "hug it out" with their TV icons. I don't know if it was searching-for-ratings-related, but the first episodes of the show established that Michael Bluth had relatively recently become a widower, and the show touched on the challenges of that situation in terms of how it affects teenaged children and the dating process for said widower. Of course, the show still packed in the zaniness, but there was something more there that from the second season and on was ignored. One could tell the writers avoided detailing the how and why of Michael's wife's death (she was said to have cancer some time in season 2 or 3), leaving the issue wide open for future episodes, but it was left unaddressed as the show moved toward (admittedly HI-larious) wackiness, zaniness, creative wordplay, and, uh, whimsy. Again, I didn't need that "emotional resonance" from the show (or any show for that matter), but lesser men consider it a requirement for their TV intake.
Some fault the show for its reliance on jokes that only dedicated (meaning, weekly) viewers would get. That's not a fault; that's putting faith in your audience. Of course, it makes a niche show even more niche by creating both a high learning curve and too many inside jokes, but that's more of a problem with what I'll say is the "concept of the show" instead of the show itself. Returning to its problematic fans, they're super-quick to say, "you don't 'get' it, so you're stupid" completely ignoring the fact that much of the humor depends on earlier episodes and the fact that some people just don't get much out of the site of a grown man in a mole suit destroying a model train village in front of a group of "Japanese investors" in an homage to Godzilla. The fact that someone might not think something like that is funny doesn't affect that I still think it's the best show ever; the two aren't mutually exclusive, but many of the fans use their opinion of the show (of it being the best) as a reason why everyone should think that jokes like that are funny.
The Ghost of Arrested Development receives five big stars. Sure, the body's still warm, but with Mitchell Hurwitz, the creator, saying he wouldn't want to be involved even if it picked up by a (fiscally irresponsible) network, it's gone for good. And I'm ok with that. The time before the last four episodes were aired provided an opportunity to sample other channels' wares (which we'll look into later in the week). The series finale was just about perfect, and as I watched it end (into the sunset, of course), as much as I complained that it was no longer going to be on the air, I didn't want there to be any more episodes. It was that good. It was Arrested Development.


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Everything goes smoothly in Nakajima's debut
PHOENIX -- The little nerves that accompanied Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima in his first game as a Major Leaguer dissipated rather quickly on Saturday.
"The ground ball came relatively early in the game, so that kind of helped me alleviate the nervousness a little bit," Nakajima said through his translator. "Then I was second in the lineup, so I got to soak that up very quickly and early, too, which helped ease the tension."
Nakajima drew a walk in his lengthy first at-bat, and he went hitless in his final two plate appearances -- he popped out to second in the third and struck out swinging in the sixth -- but walked away after six innings of work against host Milwaukee feeling rather satisfied with the day's events.
"The environment, the ambiance, was just fantastic," he said, smiling. "It pumped me up. It was very exciting.
"Everything was within my boundary. It felt good to get the first experience out of the way. It was also very good to see actual live pitching. The more games I see, I think I'll gradually get comfortable."
The process isn't an easy one, but everyone around him is trying to do their part to make it so, and on Saturday it was Jemile Weeks who helped bring him along. The two teamed for a highlight-reel double play in the second inning.
"I knew that Weeks was going to get to that ball, so the rest was about how he was going to flip the ball, which area," Nakajima said.
"With the shortstop you have to trust him," Weeks said, "and we haven't played much together, but I tossed it up there where I thought he would be and he was there.
"It was good. We communicated well to make sure we're on the same page, and that's what you want right now."
Nakajima, too, deemed his communication with the day's second basemen, Weeks and Grant Green, "perfect."
"I thought he looked good, I really did," said manager Bob Melvin. "Made some good plays early on, looked smooth around the bases and worked well with Weeks. So far, so good."
Perhaps most impressive about Nakajima, showcased in his unofficial debut, is his awareness of facets of a big league game that will require adjustments. He noted that, while turning the double play, he was acutely observant of how the base runner was going to slide into second base.
"I understand that American base runners are aggressive," he said, "so while kind of getting away from the slide I just wanted to make an accurate throw to first base."
"He's a smart guy," Melvin said. "He's figuring things out, and nothing really panics him. It's going to take him some time to learn the opponent and so forth, but he's on the right track."
Nakajima had a familiar face watching him from the other side, with friend Norichika Aoki making a start in right field for the Brewers. The two spoke on the phone Friday, and promised to get together for dinner this spring.
Asked who will pay, Nakajima's smile widened and, citing his fellow countryman's lengthier tenure in the big leagues proclaimed, "Aoki!"


text:
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text:
Initiated by the Development Co-operation and the Environment Directorates in 2002, this joint project explores possible synergies as well as trade-offs in "mainstreaming" climate change responses in development co-operation projects, development plans and activities. The focus is on links between climate change, natural resource management and economic development plans in developing countries.
New Releases:
Other Project Documents:
Further inquiries about ongoing work in the OECD on development and climate change may be directed to:
Shardul Agrawala, OECD Environment Directorate
or to:
Rémy Paris, OECD Development Co-operation Directorate
Documents connexes


text: Many schools have responded to the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind law by sacrificing subjects such as environmental education to spend more time on subjects that are found on high-stakes reading and math tests. A 2008 study by the Center on Education Policy documented the problem. It found that many school districts have significantly reduced the amount of class time spent on such subjects as social studies and science. Many teachers and parents also report that field trips and time devoted to outdoor learning activities have been cut to give more time to tested subjects.The No Child Left Inside Act would help address this problem by giving new incentives and support to school systems to provide environmental education. The Act also recognizes that high-quality environmental education often requires students to use math, reading, science and writing skills as they pursue engaging activities. Expanded environmental education will also help boost academic achievement. A number of studies have found that students who take part in environmentally themed lessons do better in science and other subjects.


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1 in 6 Americans goes hungry
Government report shows 15% of Americans had trouble putting food on the table -- a record high.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of Americans that have trouble putting food on the table shot up last year in an unprecedented spike to a record 17 million households, the government reported on Monday.
The Department of Agriculture report, which has been released annually since 1995, said the number of Americans that were hungry rose to 14.6%. In 2007, 13 million households or 11.1% of Americans had trouble getting enough food.
The one-year jump is all the more significant, given the number of hungry Americans had never been higher than 11.9% since these surveys began.
Of the near-15% of the nation that couldn't secure enough food last year, the USDA said one-third of them had "very low food security," meaning they reduced the amount that they ate or disrupted their eating patterns during the year. That group made up 5.7% of all U.S. households, which was also a record high.
More than 500,000 households that scaled back the amount that they ate were households with children, making up 1.3% of all U.S. homes with children.
The USDA said the main cause of hunger and food insecurity in the country is poverty.
Obama's call to action. President Obama called the report "unsettling," and said more needs to be done.
"My Administration is committed to reversing the trend of rising hunger," Obama said in a statement. "The first task is to restore job growth, which will help relieve the economic pressures that make it difficult for parents to put a square meal on the table each day. But we are also taking targeted steps to prevent Americans from experiencing hunger."
Obama urged Congress to pass a "strong" child nutrition bill to help ensure that American children don't go hungry.
To combat the nation's rapidly growing hunger problem, the Recovery Act allocated $20 billion to the nation's food stamp program, and hundreds of millions of dollars to food banks and school lunch programs.
One recipient of stimulus funds was the USDA's Emergency Food Assistance Program, which was allocated an additional $150 million from the $787 billion economic stimulus plan.
The 28-year old program, known as TEFAP, sends shipments of federally purchased food to states, which in turn gets the food in the hands of large food banks. The food banks then allocate the food to soup kitchens and pantries that serve people in need. The $150 million for TEFAP provided by stimulus about doubled the amount of money already allotted to the program this year.
Feeding America, a network of more than 200 food banks that advocates in Washington for food assistance programs, said its member food banks reported a 30% increase in the number of people seeking assistance earlier this year, and 72% of food banks had been unable to adequately meet demand before the stimulus bill was enacted.


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I'm typically not one to engage in open letters to the community, but something has been gnawing at my brain for a very long time. A few days ago I was contacted by a buyer with a question regarding a transaction with a well known seller with a lot of transactions. This resulted in several hours of my time invested in resolving the situation amicably so that the sale stuck. That's my job, but I also do it without pay most of the time, and when I'm putting in hours of free time for the benefit of a seller with a history of not supporting the site or supporting it poorly that makes me very unhappy.
The individual I dealt with expressed surprise in my tone of voice. He was right. This has been building for a long time and rather than shooting a dart at one person I thought more therapeutic to share that email here composed to no specific name. So allow me to engage in a bit of therapy, and I do need to get this off my chest.
This is not meant to be a "roll call" for those that have contributed fairly or those that have not. Just read it and think about it. If I could be assured of that much I'd be pleased.
Dear (name removed)
Let me explain part of my displeasure with your use of the Classifieds. As much as you use them I think you deserve as much. I apologize if my contact the other day sounded a bit harsh. I have very good reason. I thought about not saying anything but I really think I should get this off my chest, and it's clear I need to. I don't like harboring ill feelings. It's unhealthy, so allow me to engage in a bit of therapy.
It has always been a part of the Classifieds policy that we ask for a 2% donation back to the Mandolin Cafe to offset operating expenses on successful sales. Maybe you're under the impression the Cafe rolls in money and that this all happens by magic and that no effort is involved. Not the case. I can't begin to calculate how much protection sellers and buyers benefit from every day, the scams and bad sellers that attempt contact you'll never hear from. It all looks like it's wide open, doesn't it? That's the beauty. You're being protected at every use and the people trying to take advantage of you never find out, and neither do you. Site security is a 24-hour operation because people wanting to take advantage are knocking on the door round the clock. Dan Beimborn and I have invested hundreds of hours in the security of the Classifieds, and because of those efforts we're as close to fraud free as Classifieds and sales resources get on the internet. I compensate Dan quite well for his work. That's my opinion, I think he'd agree, and he's welcome to weigh in.
Continually dipping the hand in the cookie jar and not supporting the site or sub-par contributing is little more than poor taste. Successful resources on the internet come at a price. They're not free, and it doesn't appear there by magic. It's the result of hard work, diligence and showing up every day, multiple times to make sure it's right. Holidays included.
The Classifieds are the way they are by design. They're intended as a perk for site visitors.
Let me make this very clear: I have no interest in engaging in forced up front PayPal or credit card payments or the possession of your credit card number in return for the privilege of placing or replying to an ad.
If you contact us with a concern about a Classified ad, a human answers--me. Try that at Reverb, eBay or Craig's List. Two of those don't let you off without paying.
I'd like to think this is just an oversight, but I know from the numbers of people that engage in this that it's just in poor taste.
I love running this web site and there are many benefits. I will continue to do so, but seeing people use the Classifieds continually and not supporting us in return is just sad. So, you asked a question and I answered.
Scott Tichenor
Mandolin Cafe
Since 1995


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CometSound – Music player for GNU/Linux written in python
CometSound is a Music player for GNU/Linux written in python, using pygtk and gstreamer libraries.
-- collects and shows only the audio files (mp3, wma, ogg) of a given folder recursively
-- allows the user to create playlists and to shuffle them
-- uses Gstreamer multimedia framework, and a GTK+ user interface
-- supports mp3 and wma tags (through python-mutagen)
-- is free software. Released under GNU GPL v2+ License
Install cometsound in ubuntu
Download deb packages from here once you have deb install by double clicking on it


text:
I thought of about a dozen other titles for this post:
Water and Wood Don't Mix
Why Don't the House Gods Like Us?
My Nightmare Come True
Further Proof That We Live in a Real House
No, HH, You're Not Lazy or Stupid
Rolling With the Punches
Two-Year Warranty, My Ass
To make a long story short, the pump that pumps condensation from our furnace to a drain pump failed two weekends ago. It was 100+ degrees that weekend and the heat pump was running non-stop. We were home but we didn't catch the problem right away because we were busy tackling other home projects.
The faulty pump ended up filling with water then overflowing. As you can imagine, water seeped under the floor in the hallway. If you'll remember, we have engineered hardwoods. Wood + water don't mix. As soon as we noticed the leak, we started cleaning it up and HH made a mad dash for Home Depot to pick up another pump. The Flotec pump was only a few months old and came with a two-year warranty. {HH has already contacted the manufacturer to put in a damage claim and complaint.}
For now, we're still using the same Flotec model pump until HH installs another brand of pump that is more highly recommended. To give ourselves more time before water hits the wood should another leak occur, the new pump is sitting in a plastic container with an alarm that detects moisture. When he first detected the leak, HH kept saying he was stupid and lazy for not catching it sooner and for not putting some sort of secondary barrier/alarm around the pump should it fail. Of course, I told him he wasn't stupid or lazy.
With the mess cleaned up {which included us mopping up excess water with old beach towels and sponges}, we assessed the damage. To the naked eye, everything looked fine. But we know that's how water works. It can take weeks, sometimes months, for the real damage to pop up. From what we could tell, the water had affected the back half of the hall, the entrance to the boys' room and about a 4'x4′ area just inside the master bedroom. We were more worried about the water that was between the vapor barrier and the actual flooring as that was what could cause the floor to warp and buckle down the road. The water under the pad had mostly been soaked up by the walls which are easier to dry out. From what we had read, any remaining water under the pad would eventually be absorbed back into the concrete slab.
Surprisingly, I was calm. I think in my sleep deprived state I'm just numb to any and all situations. It's not that I don't overreact. I just don't react. I told HH, "It's just a floor." But it was a floor that we had both spent a lot of time installing and while it was a pain to do {because of our concrete slab we had to glue each and every plank of the floating floor to its neighbors}, we were in love with the results. Maybe it would have been easier if we didn't like it so much.
HH contacted our insurance agent to see what our options were. Under our policy, total replacement of the floor would be covered but only after a restoration company tried drying it out first. We had three different restoration companies come out and assess the damage. The first two told us what we were expecting to hear. 'Nothing we can do. You'll have to rip it all up and replace it.' We had braced ourselves for this but it was still hard to swallow. The third company gave us a different assessment. They said they could dry it out. Their drying method included heating the floor gently to evaporate any water between the vapor barrier and wood then suctioning it up with a high-powered vacuum. To help dry up any water under the pad and vapor barrier, they would run air tubes under the pad. They'd also pop off baseboards on the affected walls, drill holes and blow air into them to dry them out. Since they were the only company that had a plan and our insurance required us to attempt a dry-out, we went with them. They said it would take them 4-7 days.
The restoration company set up the same day of their assessment. Even though nothing they were doing was dangerous in and of itself, we were told it wouldn't be kid-friendly. We wouldn't be able to walk easily through the area. The machines would be loud. Oh. And they were going to shut off the A/C to facilitate water evaporation and drying. So, we headed off to my dad's house for a few days. {My dad has no internet service. That's why I was MIA last week.} It was a much needed distraction.
The restoration company came out daily to test moisture levels and tweak the dry-out. To me, it looked like our floor was on life support.
And it was hot, hot, HOT inside the house.
Yep. 95 degrees inside and out. There's no way we would have survived comfortably. I'm so thankful we had somewhere else to stay while all this was going on.
The dry-out is complete. HH had the restoration company go over the results in detail. The wood is dry. There is no moisture between the wood and the vapor barrier. The pad {under the vapor barrier} still shows moisture readings but we were told this would go away slowly as the moisture is absorbed into the slab. The walls are dry. There is no mold or mildew. We submitted a claim to our insurance and they will guarantee the restoration company's work {since we attempted to dry it out} for three years. So, if any problems arise in the future {say, warping, buckling or mildewing} our insurance would pay for total replacement of the floor. We still have a little while to withdraw our claim if we choose to. HH is leery of our rates rising. We're just trying to see what all of our options are from here. We've even looked into new flooring should we need it later. The only problem we're seeing with our flooring choice and install is that there is no good way to repair a damaged section. If you pull up one plank, you can't simply replace it because each plank is glued to the next. Ugh. Theoretically, we could pull up all flooring in the bedrooms and hallway then have a threshold at the great room but we really like the seamless look we have.
Hopefully, we won't need a total replacement but we want to be prepared if it comes to that. Right now, everything is looking good but you just never know.
I think that gets you up to speed with all the mishaps here. It was definitely a punch to the gut. Especially since we just moved in not even two months ago. I guess that's just how things go sometimes. We'll learn from it and move on.
What about you? Any problems with your house recently? Any experience with water under wood floors? Any ideas for us?
images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking


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#Offline Game#
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text:
Online shopping is convenient and helps to save time. Join this forum to know about best shopping websites for shopping online.
Use this control to limit the display of threads to those newer than the specified time frame.
Allows you to choose the data by which the thread list will be sorted.
Order threads in...
Note: when sorting by date, 'descending order' will show the newest results first.
Forum Rules


text:
Daily Readings for Friday, April 26, 2024
- Morning Psalms 96; 148
- First Reading Exodus 34:18-35
- Second Reading 1 Thessalonians 3:1-13
- Gospel Reading Matthew 5:27-37
- Evening Psalms 49; 138
Morning Psalm 96
1 O sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Sing to the LORD, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples.
4 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be revered above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but the LORD made the heavens.
6 Honor and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
bring an offering, and come into his courts.
9 Worship the LORD in holy splendor;
tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, "The LORD is king!
The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
He will judge the peoples with equity."
11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
12 let the field exult, and everything in it.
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
13 before the LORD; for he is coming,
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with his truth.
Morning Psalm 148
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his host!
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars!
4 Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for he commanded and they were created.
6 He established them forever and ever;
he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and all deeps,
8 fire and hail, snow and frost,
stormy wind fulfilling his command!
9 Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!
10 Wild animals and all cattle,
creeping things and flying birds!
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!
12 Young men and women alike,
old and young together!
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his glory is above earth and heaven.
14 He has raised up a horn for his people,
praise for all his faithful,
for the people of Israel who are close to him.
Praise the Lord!
First Reading Exodus 34:18-35
18You shall keep the festival of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt.
19All that first opens the womb is mine, all your male livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep. 20The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem.
No one shall appear before me empty-handed.
21Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in plowing time and in harvest time you shall rest. 22You shall observe the festival of weeks, the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the festival of ingathering at the turn of the year. 23Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the LORD God, the God of Israel. 24For I will cast out nations before you, and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times in the year.
25You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven, and the sacrifice of the festival of the passover shall not be left until the morning.
26The best of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
27The LORD said to Moses: Write these words; in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel. 28He was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
29Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. 30When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. 31But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. 32Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face; 34but whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining; and Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
Second Reading 1 Thessalonians 3:1-13
1Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we decided to be left alone in Athens; 2and we sent Timothy, our brother and co-worker for God in proclaiming the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you for the sake of your faith, 3so that no one would be shaken by these persecutions. Indeed, you yourselves know that this is what we are destined for. 4In fact, when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we were to suffer persecution; so it turned out, as you know. 5For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith; I was afraid that somehow the tempter had tempted you and that our labor had been in vain.
6But Timothy has just now come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love. He has told us also that you always remember us kindly and long to see us - just as we long to see you. 7For this reason, brothers and sisters, during all our distress and persecution we have been encouraged about you through your faith. 8For we now live, if you continue to stand firm in the Lord. 9How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? 10Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith.
11Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. 12And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. 13And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
Gospel Reading Matthew 5:27-37
27"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' 28But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.
31"It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' 32But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
33"Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, 'You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.' 34But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37Let your word be 'Yes, Yes' or 'No, No'; anything more than this comes from the evil one.
Evening Psalm 49
1 Hear this, all you peoples;
give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2 both low and high,
rich and poor together.
3 My mouth shall speak wisdom;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will solve my riddle to the music of the harp.
5 Why should I fear in times of trouble,
when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me,
6 those who trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly, no ransom avails for one's life,
there is no price one can give to God for it.
8 For the ransom of life is costly,
and can never suffice,
9 that one should live on forever
and never see the grave.
10 When we look at the wise, they die;
fool and dolt perish together
and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their graves are their homes forever,
their dwelling places to all generations,
though they named lands their own.
12 Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;
they are like the animals that perish.
13 Such is the fate of the foolhardy,
the end of those who are pleased with their lot. Selah
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
Death shall be their shepherd;
straight to the grave they descend,
and their form shall waste away;
Sheol shall be their home.
15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me. Selah
16 Do not be afraid when some become rich,
when the wealth of their houses increases.
17 For when they die they will carry nothing away;
their wealth will not go down after them.
18 Though in their lifetime they count themselves happy
— for you are praised when you do well for yourself —
19 they will go to the company of their ancestors,
who will never again see the light.
20 Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;
they are like the animals that perish.
Evening Psalm 138
1 I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;
for you have exalted your name and your word
above everything.
3 On the day I called, you answered me,
you increased my strength of soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O LORD,
for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5 They shall sing of the ways of the LORD,
for great is the glory of the LORD.
6 For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly;
but the haughty he perceives from far away.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand,
and your right hand delivers me.
8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands.


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Oscar Wilde's only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, was written during the years that Wilde was writing fairy tales and short stories such as "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime" (1887), which the novel resembles in milieu. Aside from the fairy tales and "The Canterbury Ghost" (1887), the novel is his only prose fantasy. His dramas appeared from 1892 onward, and The Picture of Dorian Gray prefigures them in its witty dialogue and portrait of London social life.
The first critical question raised about The Picture of Dorian Gray concerned its morality, although, except for the murder of Basil, no immoral acts are described. Wilde stated that the story's moral was that all excess, as well as all renunciation, brings its own punishment. The nature of Dorian's sins is never clear, though a few hints were added after newspaper reviews attacked the original version. In the context of the book, Dorian's chief sin seems to be a desire for experience and knowledge of all kinds.
What connection exists between Dorian's crimes and his interest in art? Adjectives such as "monstrous," "terrible," "maddening," and "corrupt" are applied with little apparent regard to their subject in the descriptions of the "poisonous book" and of Dorian's interests and activities. Scholars have speculated that Wilde's own underground homosexual life was hinted at by Lord Henry's cynical statements and the vagueness of Dorian's sins. This may have been what made newspaper critics uncomfortable. For Wilde, sin and art seem one in life and in literature; the Platonic ideal of beauty can be worshiped as easily in a young man as in a beautiful object.
Other criticism has focused on influences, especially the identity of the poisonous book. Wilde himself said his novel bore a resemblance to A rebours (1884) by Joris-Karl Huysmans, but that resemblance cannot be pushed too far. Other strong influences are Vivian Grey (1826-1827) by British novelist and prime minister Benjamin Disraeli and Melmoth the Wanderer (1820) by Wilde's great-uncle, Charles R. Maturin. Finally, Studies in the History of the Renaissance by Walter Pater, with its philosophy of living life to the fullest, was a prime source of the decadent philosophy, which Wilde exemplifies so thoroughly in Dorian himself.
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text:
Who Wants a Quad-Core Computer for $130? [Guts]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5925898/who-wants-a-quad+core-computer-for-130
When Raspberry Pi released their diminutive, ARM-based PC for $35, people were rightfully chomping at the bit to get their hands on something so cheap and small and hackable. But the 700 MHz, single-core ARM 11 processor it wasn't exactly a powerhouse. Enter Hardkernel's ODROID-X, which packs a quad-core Samsung Exynos chipset on a 3.5 inch motherboard.
With each Cortex-A9 core clocked at 1.4 GHz, the ODROID-X also has 1 gigabyte of RAM, a Mali 400 GPU, six USB ports, ethernet, audio in/out, Micro HDMI and an SDHC reader. Plus it's capable of running Android or Ubuntu, giving you computing flexibility. Sure, it's no Ivy Bridge, but the Exynos processor is pretty amazing for its size. And for $130, this little chipset could become the heart of your next DIY project. [Hardkernel via Ars Technica]


text:
The star called Us from New Orleans on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina; working with charity the St. Bernard Project, Lutz helped build five houses in seven days for the still-recovering city.
"We were working around the clock at 50 hours at a time in different shifts," Lutz marveled. "We got it done just in time. We had so many people come out and lend a helping hand. It was so touching.
He'll be back in Louisiana when Breaking Dawn begins filming in Baton Rouge. "I'm hoping to truck down and work with the St. Bernard Project [there] as well. Hopefully I'll be bring some other cast members too."
Cast members like...Robert Pattinson? "It would be a great surprise for everyone," Lutz said, laughing. "Although I would have to take video of Rob trying to hammer a nail, he might hurt himself
Full article at the source | via Twilightsagafan


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"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday cited the BP Whiting Refinery for violating federal air standards by releasing a cancer-causing toxin in waste from 2003 to 2008, which at times reached 16 times the acceptable limit, EPA officials said.
BP spokesman Scott Dean said the company reported the possible violations to the EPA and that the amount of benzene emitted was small enough that it didn't present a danger to public health.
The EPA alleges BP failed to manage and treat benzene waste from the petroleum refinery as required by the national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants."
Bowdeya Tweh and Lauri Harvey Keagle report for the Northwest Indiana Times June 2, 2009.
EPA Cites BP Whiting Refinery
Source: NWI Times, 06/03/2009


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Describing your Data: DTDs and XML Schemas
December 1, 1999
If you've been developing with XML for even a short period of time, you are likely to have reached the point of wanting to describe your XML data structures. Document Type Definitions (DTDs) and XML Schemas are key technologies in this area.
Although neither are strictly required for XML development, both DTDs and XML Schemas are important parts of the XML toolbox. DTDs have been around for over twenty years as a part of SGML, while XML Schemas are relative newcomers. Though they use very different syntax and take different approaches to the task of describing document structures, both mechanisms definitely occupy the same turf. The W3C seems to be grooming XML Schemas as a replacement for DTDs, but it isn't yet clear that how quickly the transition will be made. DTDs are here-and-now, while XML Schemas, in large part, are for the future.
What DTDs and XML Schemas Do
Document Type Definitions and XML Schemas both provide descriptions of document structures. The emphasis is on making those descriptions readable to automated processors such as parsers, editors, and other XML-based tools. They can also carry information for human consumption, describing what different elements should contain, how they should be used, and what interactions may take place between parts of a document. Although they use very different syntax to achieve this task, they both create documentation.
Perhaps the most important thing DTDs and XML Schemas do is set expectations, using a formal vocabulary and other information to lay ground rules for document structures. Two parsers, given a document and a DTD, should have the same opinions about whether that document is valid, and different schema processors should similarly agree on whether or not a document conforms to the rules in a given schema. XML editing applications can use DTDs and schemas as frameworks, letting users create documents that meet these expectations. Similarly, developers can use DTDs and XML Schemas as a foundation on which to plan transformations from one format to another. By agreeing to a given DTD or schema, a group of developers has accepted a set of rules about document vocabulary and structure. While this doesn't solve all the problems of application development, it does at least mean that independent development of tools that process these documents is a lot easier.
Schemas and DTDs provide a number of additional functions that make contributions to document content:
- Providing defaults for attributes: in addition to providing constraints on attribute content, DTDs and XML Schemas allow developers to specify default values that should be used if no value was set in the content explicitly.
- Entity declaration: DTDs and XML Schemas provide for the declaration of parsed entities, which can be referenced from within documents to include content.
Schemas and DTDs may also describe "notations" and "unparsed entities", adding information to documents that applications may use to interpret their content.
Where DTDs and Schemas Come From
The main thrust of development work, initially for XML 1.0 and its DTDs, and now for XML Schemas, is taking place at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). However, the W3C is not the only source for schema languages. At least five other schema proposals have been developed and many of them are in actual use -- notably, Microsoft's XML-Data, which is used for its BizTalk initiative. Most of these proposals are feeding into the main W3C-sanctioned development process. The main contenders in the schema arena, including DTDs, are listed below:
DTDs - Document Type Definitions were originally developed for XML's predecessor, SGML. They use a very compact syntax and provide document-oriented data typing. XML DTDs are a subset of those available in SGML, and the rules for using XML DTDs provide much of the complexity of XML 1.0. Complete XML DTD support is (or should be) built into all validating XML parsers, and some XML DTD support is built into all XML parsers.
XML-Data/XML-Data Reduced - Based on a proposal that Microsoft and others submitted to the W3C even before XML 1.0 was completed, this schema proposal is used in Microsoft's BizTalk framework. XML-Data provides a large set of data types more appropriate to database and program interchange. XML-Data support is built into Microsoft's XML parser.
Document Content Description (DCD) - Created in a joint effort between IBM and Microsoft, DCD uses some ideas from XML-Data and some syntax from another W3C project, Resource Description Framework (RDF).
Schema for Object-Oriented XML (SOX) - SOX was developed by Veo Systems (now acquired by CommerceOne) and provides functionality like inheritance to XML structures. SOX has gone through multiple versions. The latest is SOX version 2.
Document Description Markup Language (DDML) - DDML was developed on the XML-dev mailing list, creating a schema language with a subset of DTD functionality. Development of DDML (which was once known as XSchema) has halted since the W3C Activity began.
Although you can start work with any of the above tools today -- DTDs being widely supported -- when the specification is complete, using the W3C XML Schemas is probably the safest long-term solution. Fortunately, converting among different schema formats isn't especially difficult, and tools are available to help you in the process.
How Schemas Differ from DTDs
The first, and probably most significant, difference between XML Schemas and XML DTDs is that XML Schemas use XML document syntax. While transforming the syntax to XML doesn't automatically improve the quality of the description, it does make those descriptions far more extensible than they were in the original DTD syntax. Declarations can have richer and more complex internal structures than declarations in DTDs, and schema designers can take advantage of XML's containment hierarchies to add extra information where appropriate -- even sophisticated information like documentation. There are a few other benefits from this approach. XML Schemas can be stored along with other XML documents in XML-oriented data stores, referenced, and even styled, using tools like XLink, XPointer, and XSL.
The largest addition XML Schemas provide to the functionality of the descriptions is a vastly improved data typing system. XML Schemas provide data-oriented data types in addition to the more document-oriented data types XML 1.0 DTDs support, making XML more suitable for data interchange applications. Built-in datatypes include strings, booleans, and time values, and the XML Schemas draft provides a mechanism for generating additional data types. Using that system, the draft provides support for all of the XML 1.0 data types (NMTOKENS, IDREFS, etc.) as well as data-specific types like decimal, integer, date, and time. Using XML Schemas, developers can build their own libraries of easily interchanged data types and use them inside schemas or across multiple schemas.
The current draft of XML Schemas also uses a very different style for declaring elements and attributes to DTDs. In addition to declaring elements and attributes individually, developers can create models -- archetypes -- that can be applied to multiple elements and refined if necessary. This provides a lot of the functionality SOX had developed to support object-oriented concepts like inheritance. Archetype development and refinement will probably become the mark of the high-end schema developer, much as the effective use of parameter entities was the mark of the high-end DTD developer. Archetypes should be easier to model and use consistently, however.
XML Schemas also support namespaces, a key feature of the W3C's vision for the future of XML. While it probably wouldn't be impossible to integrate DTDs and namespaces, the W3C has decided to move on, supporting namespaces in its newer developments and not retrofitting XML 1.0. In many cases, provided that namespace-prefixes don't change or simply aren't used, DTD's can work just fine with namespaces, and should be able to interoperate with namespaces and schema processing that relies on namespaces. There will be a few cases, however, where namespaces may force developers to use the newer schemas rather than the older DTDs.
Alternative Approaches
As exciting as XML Schemas are, there have been a few suggestions for very different approaches that also hold promise. Both Rick Jelliffe's Schematron and the Document Structure Description (DSD), from AT&T Labs and the University of Aarhus, look at documents from a more complex perspective than containment, and use tools derived from style languages -- Schematron is based on XSL, while DSD works from CSS -- to examine documents more closely.
Schematron allows developers to ask about the existence and contents of paths through documents rather than specify containment structures, and places great importance on producing human-readable results. Schematron processing, which can use XSL tools, can produce complete reports on the content and structure of documents, rather than a simple yes/no validation with error reporting.
DSD comes from somewhat similar origins, but uses its own vocabulary to create document descriptions rather than building on the XSL processing model. DSD schemas look much more like the W3C's XML Schemas, but support a different set of tests and have a much greater focus on tasks like providing default content for attributes and elements. DSD allows for context-sensitive rules, where the required usage of a given element may change depending on how it is used in a document. Attributes which are optional in one context may be required in another context. Declarations may impose order on some elements but not on others, making it possible to create 'floating' elements. An open-source implementation in C is available, which adds error information to the document as it is processed, giving applications or users a chance to react to the errors.
It isn't clear at this point whether these approaches will be integrated with XML Schemas at some level, or if they'll be useful tools for supplementing or replacing XML Schemas on particular kinds of projects. In any case, both of these projects are worth further investigation.
Planning Around DTDs and Schemas
Transitioning from one technology to another is often difficult, but at least the transition from DTDs to schemas only involves descriptions of documents, requiring only minor changes to the documents themselves. It is uncertain if it's time yet to begin the transition, as the latest public draft of XML Schemas came with a warning on the XML-dev mailing list that there may be significant changes in future drafts. XML Schemas are still far from stable, so probably only the most enthusiastic early adopters should be considering them at this point.
Although XML Schemas may not yet be ready, XML-based projects should be prepared for their eventual arrival. There are several strategies for handling this transition that may be appropriate to different kinds of projects and different developer needs.
Develop DTDs with an eye toward future conversion to schemas. Automated tools for converting among schema formats, like Extensibility's XML Authority, are already available and are likely to grow to include the final W3C XML Schemas.
Use other schema formats, like XML-Data and SOX. This lets developers take advantage of features like data typing immediately, and conversions from these experimental schema formats to the new XML Schemas shouldn't be prohibitively difficult.
Create well-formed documents for now, ignoring DTDs and schemas in their current incarnation. It's not always easy to retrofit a schema onto a set of documents, but it may be appropriate for some cases where the format of existing data sources (like databases) ensures that there's won't be wild variations in structure. When schemas arrive, you can add them to your processing.
Ignore DTDs and schemas completely, and only work with well-formed documents. If you don't need structure checking, this may be a perfectly appropriate strategy.
Plan to stick to DTDs. They're here now, they'll be here later. If your XML has to be processed by SGML tools, this may be the best route. Keeping your DTDs around, even if you supplement them with equivalent XML Schemas, will preserve interoperability.
There is no single answer for handling this transition that applies to all XML projects. If all your XML work involves documents, DTDs may be a perfectly adequate tool for your needs, and schemas might only be a distraction. If you're trying to manage data interchange between databases of different kinds, the data typing functionality that schemas provide may drive you to use XML-Data or SOX today, and XML Schemas when they arrive.
The Future for DTDs and Schemas
Right now there are too many options for describing your data, but in the future, they will probably slim down to: DTDs, for legacy XML 1.0 applications and integration with SGML; XML Schemas, and plain old well-formed documents for situations where describing document structures is unnecessary or counterproductive. Whatever you do with DTDs and XML Schemas, remember that their usage should be considered a part of document format specification and documentation. Where documentation is important, these tools will be important, both to set expectations and spare applications the task of checking document structures themselves.
The DSD and Schematron approaches will probably receive more attention in future development as well; Schematron is already an easy and useful supplement to both DTD and XML Schema processing. Both of these tools provide functionality that goes beyond anything the W3C has currently released, demonstrating that there are multiple useful approaches to describing document structures. While it seems unlikely that developers will want to create a DTD, an XML Schema, a Schematron schema, and a DSD, all for the same document, they are all important new tools in the XML developer's toolkit.


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I'm not much for cliches… in fact, they typically make me break out in hives, however, poet Thomas Haynes Bayly was on to something when he first penned, "absence makes the heart grow fonder" back in 1884. At least that seems to be the case for the small people and I. Having spent the better part of the past six weeks apart, we 're behaving like conjoined twins.
When we aren't physically separated for something serious, like….say, school… we are somehow in each other's presence. They won't eat dinner without sitting in chairs that are touching mine, they won't change for bedtime without me in the room, they won't do homework without me leaning over their shoulders.
I am grateful for them. And though we always talk so much about gratitude in November as we lead up to Thanksgiving, I don't need this holiday to be reminded of their love and gratitude for me.
And yet – this holiday will be extra special for the time we will have together. For the presence we will experience, for the gratitude I can teach, for the food we will prepare and share together.
I've seen gratitude posts popping up daily on Facebook – once a day for the month of November, many of my friends are taking the time to focus on what they are most grateful for in their lives. I love this. It is powerful to focus our energies in a positive way AND being that there are 30 days in the month, we are forced to move past the basics of kids, extended family, health and a roof over our heads.
Oh….. and food.
Whenever we talk Thanksgiving, food is ALWAYS top of mind. What will you cook? What is your favorite dish? Where will you be eating? Does eating too much turkey REALLY make you sleepy?
But while we are busy saying 'Thank you"…. (an important thing to do, absolutely), it is easy to forget that for 1 in 6 Americans (1 in 4 KIDS)…. these questions don't even matter. Because they are hungry. And they aren't even sure where their next meal will come from – let alone a holiday meal.
If this is your first time visiting me here, you probably don't know I'm passionate about ending Child Hunger. If you've stopped by before, you've heard me talk about this already. I figured now, as I'm surrounded by the goodness that is my small people, I would share something you might not know… there are 11 items that are most IN NEED at food banks during the holiday season.
This list was compiled by Feeding America:
- Cereal
- Pasta
- Rice
- Canned fruits and vegetables
- Canned meals such as soups, chili, pasta
- 100% juice
- Peanut butter
- Pasta sauce or spaghetti sauce
- Macaroni & cheese
- Canned protein – tuna, chicken, turkey
- Beans – canned or dry
So, this is me, giving you a gentle nudge – a love tap, if you will…. if you can spare any of these items in the next few weeks, I promise you they won't go to waste. Since my efforts to end Child Hunger have been dedicated to the Child Hunger Ends Here program through Con Agra Foods for the last few years, it is worth pointing out that Hunts' Chef Boyardee, Peter Pan and Manwich are just a few of the Con Agra brands that supply some of the 11 items listed above.
Also – Child Hunger Ends Here is working in collaboration with School's Fight Hunger. To register your school or for more information on how your school might get involved, read more.


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This is not to suggest anything specific about the relative roles of the public and private sectors -- they are mixed up in complex ways and both have important roles to play in processes of accelerating technological innovation. The remarkable graphic above indicates that technological change happens fast when we focus attention and other resources on challenges that once seemed impossible.
Here is an excerpt from the article:
Until the mid-1990s, says Robin Walker of WesternGeco, an oil-services company, there was a general view that successful offshore oil-drilling operations were limited to a water depth of around 600 metres. But this had less to do with the challenge of accessing the oil than with finding it in the first place. Giant platforms like Thunder Horse and Perdido provide the necessary muscle, but advances in computing at the exploration stage have been just as important when it comes to tapping deepwater oil. In this most physically demanding of industries, software, as much as hardware, is changing the game.To give an idea of the difficulty of deepwater drilling, Mr Walker uses an analogy. "Imagine a large offshore oil rig as a matchbox," he says. Next, imagine the matchbox on top of a two-storey building, with the upper floor filled with water and the lower floor filled with rock, sand and, in some cases, salt. Striking an oil reservoir with a drill pipe is then like hitting a coin at the base of the building with a strand of human hair. The penalties for getting it wrong are enormous. An industry rule of thumb puts the cost of drilling a deepwater "dry hole"—a well that does not strike oil—at around $100m; BP says it can be as high as $200m.
With the stakes so high and the margin for error so small, "you need to know before you drill," says Stuart Strife, Anadarko's head of exploration in the Gulf of Mexico.


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(visited by Jürgen de Haas and Sixta Zerlauth)
24-Mar-2001 -- INTRO -- We - the team of the Explorer Magazin - are always looking for new interesting and challenging ideas concerning travelling, navigation, outdoor etc., that are worth to be reported on. To get the whole story of the Bavarian Equator (see map left), please start at the beginning 49°N 11°E.
24-MAR-2001: It is raining again. But we are in a great mood, because at the first confluence it stopped raining for a few minutes. While driving to the next confluence you can make a lot of breaks at nice breweries in Beilngries with a brewery museum, Essing or at the world oldest brewery: Monastery Weltenburg, where they produce the delicious golden beverage since 1050. Oh Yeah! Here we are in the center of beer drinker's paradise, but the next confluence is calling.
Near the highway to Regensburg we follow a muddy way - again right into a forest. The confluence is about 40 meters away from a forestry road as our GPS shows inside the car. And again it stops raining for taking the pictures (There must be magic in our project!).
We are a little bit astonished that both confluences are situated around roads or tracks, we will keep this in mind and observe this fact for the next one.
We continue our trip to Regensburg, a very worthwhile old city, founded by the Romans and still now with a real medieval outlook in the center. This is the right place for confluence hunters: The 12th meridian is also called the "Regenburger Meridian", Kepler lived here - you can visit his house - and the famous Mercator calculated the location of the magnetic pole based on the declination at Regensburg and after calculating and recalculating he defined the zero meridian in 16th century at the islands Cap Verde.
You will not be astonished, that in Regenburg two famous inns with breweries are situated: Bischofshof and Kneitinger. Thus, we make a break for a good meal with beer (of course) and when the night falls in, we join a tour through the city, where a member of the Stadtmaus (city mouse) team shows us old places and tells us stories about medicine in the medieval, plague and cholera, doctors and quacks...
This was a real worthy end of the day. The next morning we will start to the next confluence: 49°N 13°E