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Product Details
About this item
This dual zone cooler provides two areas w/ two different temperatures.
What makes this wine cooler a great choice to preserve your best wine? Its quiet, vibration-free, environmentally-friendly thermoelectric cooling maintains optimum temperature and humidity. It utilizes a state-of-the-art thermoelectric peltier unit to provide vibration-free cooling for your best wines. Vibration from compressor-based cooling systems can disturb the sediments in even the sturdiest of wines. This wine cooler avoids this problem altogether by relying on thermoelectric cooling. The adjustable thermostat means that it can be used to store almost any wine variety under optimum temperature and humidity conditions.
Store up to 18 bottles of your best wine under optimum conditions in the Kalorik Dual Zone Thermoelectric Wine Cooler. While your wine enjoys the optimal temperature and humidity conditions within this wine cooler, you get one of the most stylish units available with fully digital temperature controls. This thermoelectric wine cooler features a premium metallic silver finish door trim with double paned tempered glass. The tinted glass door protects your wine from harmful light. The interior of the wine cooler features insulated dual temperature zones with scalloped chrome shelves to cradle and display your wine.
In addition, the peltier cooling unit is silent. The only noise you'll hear is the gentle noise of the fan dissipating heat. Another benefit of thermoelectric cooling is that it uses no Freon, which can be harmful to the planet, and it is so energy efficient it only uses about as much energy as a 75 watt light bulb. Also, the internal fan-forced circulation eliminates "hot spots" within the wine cooler. It features a fan mounted on the back wall to ensure even temperature distribution within each wine cooler zone. There's no need to worry about large temperature differentials or "hot spots" within this wine cooler. Soft interior LED lighting proudly illuminates your wine without creating uneven heat distribution.
Policies & plans
- 2 distinct cold zones
- 18 bottles,14 gallons storage
- 6 layers of 3 bottles each (2 layers of white wine bottles and 4 layers of red wine bottles)
- Unique state-of-the-art thermoelectric technology
- Digital control w/ LCD display, managing 2 temperature zones, w/ Celsius & Fahrenheit switch
- See-through glass door
- Soft interior lighting with On/Off switch
- Adjustable level foot
- No vibration - bottle sediment is not disturbed
- Only moving parts are fans to circulate interior air
- Environmentally friendly
- Flush (against the wall) back design
- No compressor, low noise
- Silver door, black housing
- 44.6°F to 53.6°F upper zone; 53.6°F to 64.4°C/lower zone
Assembled Country
Assembled Size
Component Country
Shipping Info
Standard - 2 to 6 business days
Premium - 2 to 4 business days
Express - 1 to 2 business days


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Friday, February 21, 2003
FDA drops the other shoe on Part 11
FDA has just announced that it is issuing a single new draft guidance document for 21 CFR Part 11, and it is withdrawing all prior agency draft guidance on Part 11. In its announcement, FDA stated clearly that a re-examination of Part 11 is already underway that may result in revision of Part 11 itself. FDA also indicated that for the time being it will "not normally take regulatory action to enforce Part 11 with regard to systems that were operational before August 20, 1997. . . while we are examining Part 11." In other words, for now, legacy systems are grand-fathered. Furthermore, FDA indicated specific concerns over some Part 11 requirements for validation, audit trails, record retention, and record copying.
I was at the Medical Device Manufacturing conference in Anaheim when word began to spread through the exhibit floor regarding this announcement. But after carefully reading the new guidance this morning, it is clear that FDA is not abandoning its concern about use of computer systems. I say this for three reasons:
- Even though FDA withdrew Part 11 guidance regarding validation, validation of computer systems is still a requirement under predicate rules (e.g. 21 CFR Part 210, 211, and 820). Validation was a requirement even before Part 11 was originally promulgated.
- FDA stated clearly that it will continue enforcement of certain controls for closed systems (11.10) and open systems (11.30), such as limiting access, operational checks, authority checks, device checks, and administrative/procedural controls.
- FDA stated it would continue to enforce all of the Part 11 requirements for electronic signatures. Nearly no legacy system meets these requirements without remediation or adoption of a hybrid system of handwritten signatures executed to electronic records.
As I wrote earlier this month, FDA is not abandoning its interest in regulating use of electronic records and electronic signatures. Regulated companies should continue to implement the administrative and procedural controls called for by Part 11, since for the most part they are not difficult to implement, and they represent best security practices that will increase the trustworthiness and reliability of any system. Vendors of packaged software (such as ERP, PDM, document management, and quality assurance systems) that are working on adding technical controls required by Part 11 should continue their efforts. Nevertheless, FDA's announcement gives both users and software vendors some breathing space to implement proper controls over electronic records and signatures, with hope of a more well-defined risk-based approach to Part 11 to come in the future.by Frank Scavo, 2/21/2003 09:48:00 AM | permalink | e-mail this!
Friday, February 14, 2003
Corporations—the next target for crackdown on piracy
Just three weeks ago, I predicted that large corporations would be the next target for the entertainment industry's crackdown on Internet piracy of copyrighted media content. But it turns out that my prediction is coming true faster than I expected. The entertainment industry is already distributing a brochure to hundreds of corporations around the world, urging them to take action against employee downloading, or face legal consequences. ZDNet has a full report on this latest warning from the entertainment industry.
As I noted earlier, companies need to get their desktops under control. Many companies already have policies in place regarding acceptable use of corporate systems and desktops, but many of the same companies do not take the next step to directly audit desktops for compliance. All companies, large and small, need to adopt periodic desktop auditing as a best practice to mitigate liability.
My firm, Strativa, has already conducted one such audit on behalf of a large company, with a worldwide network, and the results were a real eye-opener. We wrote a white paper on the subject, which is available here [no longer available--contact me if interested--FS].by Frank Scavo, 2/14/2003 09:17:00 AM | permalink | e-mail this!
Read/post comments! (0)
Wednesday, February 05, 2003
FDA signals change in approach to Part 11
Last week, FDA announced that it is withdrawing its draft guidance regarding the electronic copies requirements of 21 CFR Part 11. This is good news for all companies regulated by FDA. When FDA first issued this draft guidance less than three months ago, it was clear to me that if something wasn't changed it was going to be nearly impossible to implement. For example, the guidance called for companies to provide FDA with capabilities to "perform the same kinds of data processing" on the electronic copies that the company's own system allows on the original records. Other consultants I've spoken to had basically the same reaction. So, withdrawal of this guidance is welcome.
There are hints that FDA soon may be making more changes to its approach to Part 11. FDA made this announcement in the context of the initiative it began last August to update its current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) program to a more risk-based approach. In this context, FDA indicates that the withdrawn guidance on Part 11 "may no longer represent FDA's approach under the CGMP initiative." Furthermore, FDA announced that main responsibility for implementing Part 11 is shifting from the Office of Regulatory Affairs to the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), the FDA center that regulates drugs.
The implications of FDA's announcement are a) that a more risk-based approach to Part 11 may be forthcoming, something that practitioners have been calling for since Part 11 was first promulgated, and b) that Part 11 should be applied on an industry-specific basis, by those who best understand industry issues and risks. Although CDER will take the lead in implementing Part 11, it would seem likely that inspection to Part 11 would take place by investigators from each FDA Center.
Companies struggling with Part 11 compliance should view FDA's announcement and its implications as providing some breathing space--not as an abandonment of FDA's interest in regulating use of electronic records and electronic signatures. Regulated companies should continue to implement the administrative and procedural controls called for by Part 11, since for the most part they are not difficult to implement, and they represent best security practices that will increase the trustworthiness and reliability of any system. Vendors of packaged software (such as ERP, PDM, document management, and quality assurance systems) that are working on adding technical controls required by Part 11 should continue their efforts. Nevertheless, FDA's announcement may indicate that both users and vendors may be able to deal with Part 11 with less uncertainty than in the past.
For more discussion on Part 11 and its implications for users and vendors, see the posts I wrote in October, November, and December of last year.by Frank Scavo, 2/05/2003 07:45:00 AM | permalink | e-mail this!

subset: commoncrawl


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Jeppesen Marine and Raymarine are partnering to offer C-MAP by Jeppesen cartography as standard on the new Raymarine E-Series Widescreen with HybridTouch multifunction display.
"Both Jeppesen and Raymarine have a long history of quality, customer loyalty and leading the charge in introducing new technology to our respective markets," said James Detar, director of Light Marine for Jeppesen Marine, in a statement. "We're eager to meld those two histories together to redefine the future of marine navigation and literally change the way boaters see their world."
Three versions of the E-Series Widescreen display are available preloaded with the choice of coastal charts for the United States and Canada; Europe; and South America, Africa, Russia and Asia.
Click here for the full release.
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The Beatles: Rock Band - Wii
Release Date:September 09, 2009
Also on:Nintendo Wii PS3 Xbox 360
Viewing USA:Also on UK.
If you love the Beatles you would have to be out of your mind to not own this. Awesome Beatles songs for you to sing along with. All new cooperative ways to play Rock Band.
Requires a drum, microphone or guitar controller to play, Rock Band instruments sold separately.
Super Gamer Dude
Nintendo Wii
The Beatles Rock Band On the Wii is another project of Rock Band that follows suit to the new era of full band rhythm of games, but Beatles stand out from the rest of the competition as it is the only one with a real life band. The all Beatles play list has made a sense of strong continuity between the songs, while maintaining the musical diversity enough to keep things interesting and varied. Rock out as one of the Fab 4 in the Story Mode, and you'll unlock a bevy of photographs and videos that translates the humanity of the larger than life members of The Beatles.
The Story Mode starts with a theatrical trailer that will give you a brief history and insight into the Beatles' musical and artistic careers. As you progress in the game, the connection between you players and the band members is reinforced as you play in legendary venues. Cut scenes bring to life and bridge the chapters in the Story Mode while unlockable photos and video clips provide snippets from the Beatles' career. Plating along the songs gives you a visual treat as well due to the artistic elements incorporated. Each song has a one of a kind video that accompanies it, and it reflects the song's themes and its place in the career of the Beatles.
Of course, by playing this version of Rock Band, only Beatles content is entertained. There is no character creation, you cannot customize the looks of the band members and songs previously downloaded won't work in this version. There are cooperative and competitive online modes, but as with all Rock Band games, they all shine singularly. The most significant new game play feature is the vocal harmonies.
Before you play the song, you choose which of the two vocal harmonies you are: either solo or harmonies. Harmony parts are displayed in the same area as the lead vocals. Visually, the differentiation did a great job, but it's up to you to sing them. If you have trouble harmonizing, there is a practice mode available to sort things out. You can highlight the part you want to learn, and then you can drop the pitch out to make sure you got it.
This game is already great since the Beatles and their music legacy is great; but the real exquisiteness has been captured by the way it causes excitement playing as a united band. The Beatles Rock Band is not just about playing their music; it transcends into a more personal level and knits your band mates closer.
|Submitted by
|Cheat Title
Cheats and Unlockables.
Sep 9, 2010


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|Music by
|Philip Balsam
|Lyrics by
|Dennis Lee
"Lost and Found" is sung by the Fraggles after Boober discovers that he can be brave even without his hat—although he's glad to have it back. The song was performed in the Fraggle Rock episode "You Can't Do That Without a Hat".
- Audio
- Video
See also
- "Lost and Found" - Bear in the Big Blue House book


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The Level 2 Award in Aspects of Enterprise is an introductory qualification aimed at individuals who have an interest in developing a practical understanding of enterprise. As a Level 2 qualification, the learning is targeted at the type of self employment where an individual might work independently.
For existing centres who would like to apply to deliver this qualification simply click here
For organisations wanting to apply to join the approved delivery network to offer this qualification simply click here
|Qualification Framework
|Qualification Reference Number
|Qualification Level
|Credit Value
|4 credits
|Guided Learning (Hours)
|32 hours
|Total Qualification Time (Hours)
|40 hours
|Completion within 2 years
|2 Mandatory Units
|Age Groups
|pre-16, 16-18, 19+
|Entry Requirements
There are no formal entry requirements for these qualifications. However, in order to benefit from undertaking them, learners should possess communication skills sufficient to allow them to address the assessment requirements of the qualification
|First Date for Registrations
|August 1, 2012
|Last Date for Starts
|December 31, 2019
|Delivery Staff Requirements
The assessment qualification is not required in order to deliver this qualification
The internal quality assurance qualification is not required in order to quality assure this qualification
See the qualification specification for further guidance relating to delivery staff competency requirements
|IOEE Studying Membership Eligible
|SFEDI Directory Eligible
|Registration Fee for Centres (excl. VAT)
Learner Support
As part of undertaking a SFEDI Awards enterprise or enterprise support qualification you receive 1 years study membership* of the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs. This membership enables you to take advantage of the following benefits:
- Regular information on what's happening through the IOEE Enterprise and Mentoring Monthly including case studies of people just like you who are becoming more enterprising
- Opportunities to meet other business owners in our online communities who are happy to share how they have been there, done it, got the t-shirt and continue to wear it!
- Enterprise resources including videos and articles to enhance your understanding of enterprise and enterprise support
- A chance to compare notes with other entrepreneurs and business support professionals through the online groups and forums
- A chance to promote yourself and your business to other IOEE members through the IOEE profile page
*1 years free study membership of the IOEE for SFEDI Awards learners aged 18 years and over
Progression Routes
Those who complete this qualification may wish to undertake other SFEDI Awards qualifications further details of which can be found on our website.
Details of related qualifications can be found within the Related Qualification section at the bottom of this page
Below you will find further details relating to the qualification and also the necessary paperwork for your approved centre to add it to your centre offer. If you require further information or would like guidance please contact the SFEDI Awards Customer Service Team who will be more than happy to help you.Qualification Specification
For existing centres to add this qualification to your offer please complete the Centre Update form found here
If you are not already a SFEDI Awards centre and would like to offer this qualification you can find out more about the application process here


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Fonda Jane
Hey, guys, quick, before you miss it -- look up: I'm about to step out onto the ledge here and say something terribly controversial. I'm about to break ranks with my conservative brethren.
Yes, Jane Fonda did some horrible things in Hanoi. Yes, she was a wild child, an hysterical 60's flower-power flouter of the first order. But that doesn't change the fact that she herself may have changed. Whoever the girl was, the grown woman is now someone else entirely -- a mature, thoroughly mellowed 67-year-old grandmother in need of artificial hips.
Try as I might, for the sake of the cause, I cannot dislike her. For despite her faults, she brings one sterling quality to the table which your typical Hollywood socialite does not, and that is substance. Jane Fonda herself is silver-minted. And let's face it: No airhead would have dared perch her derriere atop an enemy anti-air battery just for the sake of publicity.
Whatever we may think of Ms. Fonda's activism in Vietnam, we cannot seriously think she did all of that for attention. If nothing else, we must at least be intellectually and morally honest enough to admit that Jane Fonda, the girl, did the things she did for the same reasons we do -- because she truly, acutely, radically believed. To assert anything less is to do ourselves and our cause a disservice, to say nothing of her and hers.
And if we, some thirty-five years later, still can't get over it, that's our problem. If more of us would do what I'm trying to do in making the effort to look past this woman's tempestuous past -- if we would all just chill out long enough to suspend judgment for five whole minutes and actually listen to what she has to say -- we would happily discover, I believe, that much of what she says has merit. Her words are, at times, even profound. Agree or disagree with her political ideology, embrace or disavow her evolving brand of Christianity, at least Jane Fonda is herself evolving, and is committed to some cause larger than her own. At least she is earnestly searching.
I mean, my God, if the Pope could forgive Mehmet Ali Agca, can't we forgive Jane Fonda?
That said, let me be crystal clear on one point: I do not expect veterans of her crazed, callow crusade to be so magnanimous. I do not expect that all those valiant Vietnam POWs, who were so brutally and viscerally betrayed, can or will or even should forgive her. For them, the injury was and is too deeply personal; for me, it was, and remains to this day, mostly a black and white photograph in a history book.
I was all of nine or ten years old when Ms. Fonda cozied up to the Viet Cong, and being a kid, I was riddled with the same ambivalent impressions of that conflict that all the kids were back then. That did not mean, however, that I expressly condoned what she doing; truthfully, I knew too little about the whole affair to know how I felt. But it did mean that part of me understood and even empathized with what she was trying to do, because -- in the context of that turbulent era, our turbulent era -- she was merely aggressively following the dictates of her conscience, misleading as they were.
What a rabid disciple and proselytizer this woman would make!
And as far as I can see, that's all she's doing now -- following her heart.
At the end of the day, this is what we most need to take away from all this. If we are to achieve any kind of clarity in the midst of this hullabaloo, the one maypole around which we must wrap ourselves is the mortal recognition that people can and do change, especially as they age. They evolve. Only God and truth are unchanging, but we mercurial human beings tend either to develop or regress in terms of our ability to recognize and interpret them.
At least give the lady credit for developing! Okay, so she hasn't fully renounced her stance on Vietnam. But she is clearly inching ever closer toward some sort of healthy, heartfelt finality on the matter. I mean, it's not like she's going backwards. For Ms. Fonda to even embrace Christianity at all, in any capacity, given her starting point, is itself a miracle of beatific proportions.
When I lean back and let myself luxury-cruise right through Jane Fonda's life so far as recounted in countless TV interviews, a remarkable thing occurs. I find I'm not on auto-pilot at all, for then I begin to remember why I bought into this feisty, spunky, energetic lady's charisma in the first place. This is the same allure that led me to buy her leg warmers and workout tapes by the armfuls in the late eighties. I remember why I was drawn to her -- because for one thing, she admitted to having daddy problems (read: authority problems), and for another, she had the good sense to realize that the real reason she was binging and purging was to sate a higher hunger, and, more importantly, the courage to acknowledge it.
Now she says that hunger is being fed, wholly and completely, by the body and blood of Christ. Who are we to say otherwise? It seems to me only Christ Himself can make that call.
In the spirit of Pope John Paul II's passing, we must at least try to give Jane Fonda the benefit of the doubt. Her newly professed faith and our desire to believe in its redemptive power encourage us to take her at her word. For those of us who aren't veterans and weren't mortally wounded by the cavalier acts of her youthful folly, it's time to contemplate letting go.
And besides, I just can't help myself -- I identify with her. Would that I would glide so gracefully into my sunset . . .
Sorry, guys, but I just jumped. For me this story isn't about politics. It's about redemption and rapprochement. No matter what the girl did then, the grown woman, the grandmother, has me in her corner rooting for her now.
Call me crazy, but I'm kinda Fonda Jane.
Karen Hathaway Pittman is a freelance writer and poet whose political commentary is widely featured on the web. You may read her articles and poems online at http://karenhpittman.blogspot.com. She divides her time between New York and Georgia. Contact Karen at email@example.com.
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Pacha Boat Party Gran Canaria
5 Hour Boat Party!
Unlimited Free Bar!
Lunch included!
DJ's & Hosts!
Onboard Jacuzzi!
Swim Stops & Discounted Water Sports! Free Banana Boat Riding!
The Pacha Boat Party sails every Tuesday & Friday all year round. Brought to you by Gran Canaria's biggest club and a world famous club brand Pacha. We use the biggest 5 star catamaran in the Canary Islands "The SuperCat" boasting a 240 capacity and it's own on board Jacuzzi & Bar! On the top level you will find a huge open air dance floor, sun loungers and of course the DJ booth. Enjoy summer dance tunes House, RnB and Old Skool Classics While we sail along the south west coastline of Gran Canaria beside some of the most beautiful beaches in Europe and return at sunset.
Upgrade to VIP for only €15. For just €60 VIP Includes the Gran Canaria's 1 Week Club Tour Pass and Free entrance to Gran Canaria's exclusive Club Pacha and a Free T - Shirt. The Gran Canaria Club Tour is every Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday Starting and meeting at 22:00 at Pacha in Playa del ingles and visits the best bars and Clubs you get drink discounts on all drinks and free shots in every bar. The Club Tour also includes Free entrance to Club Pacha and a free T-Shirt at the end of the Club Tour.
The meeting point for the boat party is at the Club Pacha in the Kasbah Centre Playa del ingles at 14:00.
The Boat Party sails from the port in Puerto rico transport is included to and from the boat party.
If you are staying in Puerto Rico the meeting point is at the Supercat Boat at 14:45 at the harbour in Puerto Rico.
Where can I contact the organiser with any questions?
Below you can click Contact Organiser or WhatsApp +447473376534
How much are Tickets?
€45 Standard Boat Party Tickets or €60 for VIP. To book you reserve with a deposit reservation online and pay the remaining €30 in Gran Canaria all the confirmation and where to find us is sent in your order confirmation email you receive as soon as you book.
Can I purchase tickets in Gran Canaria?
No tickets are only available online because of high demand and insurance purposes.
What are the days and times of the parties?
The boat party runs every Tuesday & Friday 14:00 meeting at Pacha Playa del ingles or if you are staying in Puerto Rico 14:45 at the port.
The Gran Canaria Club Tour is every Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 22:00 meeting at Pacha Playa del ingles.
Is Transport included?
Transport is included with the price a bus transfer will take yout to and from the boat party.
What is the refund policy?
Tickets and deposits only get refunded if the boat party is cancelled so please make sure you can make it before purchasing.


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Tarzana, CA Rental Homes and Apartments for Rent
Search rentals in Tarzana, CA. At RentalGuide.net, we have comprehensive rental listings to help you find Tarzana apartments for rent. You can also find rental houses and condos. Click on a listing to view details, or refine your search for Tarzana apartments to search by price, beds and other criteria.


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Saturday, February 11, 2006
Sunny brunch: Bill Granger's potato & feta pancakes
One latte, almond croissant and morning papers later, I was back in my kitchen. It was still drizzling outside, the rain ferociously beating at my window. But it didn't matter as much anymore. I was grating potatoes, mincing spring onions and crumbling feta cheese, trying out an Australian (= sunny) recipe for a Greek (= sunny) dish. On the menu:
Potato and feta pancakes
Adapted from Bills Sydney Food by Bill Granger*
500 grams potatoes, peeled and grated
5 spring onions, white parts only, chopped
2 eggs
2 tsp dried mint
2 Tbsp chopped flatleaf parsley
100 grams feta cheese, crumbled
4 Tbsp plain flour
salt and black pepper
Vegetable oil for frying.
Mix the grated potatoes and chopped onions with a pinch of salt, put into a colander to drain for 15 minutes.
Beat the eggs lightly in a bowl, add the herbs, feta cheese and flour. Squeeze the excess moisture from the potatoes and add to the egg mixture. Season and mix to combine.
Heat a little oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Take 1 Tbsp of mixture and dip into the hot oil, press to flatten. Fry on both sided on a medium-low heat until golden brown (if the heat is too high, your pancakes will brown before the potato is cooked).
Think of this as a Greek version of the British brunch staple hash brown, with herbs and salty speckles of feta cheese. Just a bit brighter and warmer and sunnier..
* Bill's recipe included 1 small onion, 2 Tbsp of mint, and parsley to serve.
8 comments:
Thank God we're back to real food, instead of that baby one!
- 4:03 am, February 12, 2006
- Laura said...
oh this sounds wonderful -- of course, most things with feta in them are, I've found. I'll definately be trying this, thanks for sharing!
- 7:27 am, February 12, 2006
They look delicious - but please don't say they are like "hash browns". The commercially made ones are nice but just aren't anything like what I've eaten at a traditional American pancake restaurant in NH. They look more like potatoe latkes or fritters.
- 11:32 am, February 12, 2006
- Alanna said...
Congrats on the cross-country gold!
- 4:05 pm, February 12, 2006
- chili&vanilia said...
Hi Pille,
I like your taste! This again sounds soo good. I'm getting hungry..
- 7:59 pm, February 12, 2006
- sha said...
can i make you jealous??
pls let me
i saw camomille flowers cherry bloosoms
i have spending time at cafe sitting outside
and its
SUNNY......come we will have a feta tasting....
1) hungry self
2) good appetite
3) sunglasses
- 10:29 pm, February 12, 2006
- Zarah Maria said...
Lovely, thanks for the reminder Pille - I've made these before too, and I have a girls-only brunch coming up this Sunday - these would be perfect!
- 2:22 pm, February 13, 2006
- Pille said...
Roxy - I protest - the rice & chocolate pudding was anything but a baby food!!! Give it a try!
Laura - I agree. I've really come to like this cheese over the last few years.
Pene - I do think they'd make quite a nice replacement for the hash browns you get served as part of the British fry-up. Have never been to the States, so can't compare with these..
AK - thank you:) Hopefully it won't be the only one!!!
Zsofi - maybe we share a Finno-Ugric culinary gene?! :)
Sha - this is so unfair. It's still rather wet over here, and you're telling me about chamomile & cherry blossoms in Athens!? And drinking coffee on the street as opposed to hiding yourself inside a cafe so as to avoid the chill of the street?
I'll contact you about the June feta tasting soon!
Zarah Maria - these would be perfect for brunch, especially if you also make his sweetcorn fritters, no?
- 12:16 am, February 14, 2006


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The Hawk and Owl Trust is a registered charity working for owls and other birds of prey in the wild [reg. charity no.1058565]
The Hawk and Owl Trust is a charity dedicated to:
- conserving owls and other birds of prey in the wild;
- increasing knowledge and appreciation of them through:
- creation and management of nesting, roosting and feeding habitats;
- practical research; wildlife reserves; education centres and outreach projects
So, by conserving the places where owls and other wild birds of prey nest and feed, we also support many associated species – from field voles to skylarks, dragonflies to grass snakes – in a whole variety of habitats.
How We Operate
Part-time and full time paid staff head up teams of dedicated volunteers from all parts of the UK, helping with administration, creating research projects, giving talks to the public and other organisations, as well as running local groups. The staff, including two conservation officers and two education officers, depend on grants and sponsorship by organisations that support us.
The Hawk and Owl Trust was founded in 1969 because of concerns about the alarming decline in numbers of peregrines and other raptors. Today, we are the only British charity working solely to conserve all wild birds of prey, including owls, in the face of mounting human pressures.
Within our ranks we have some of the leading owl and raptor experts in the country and, together with volunteers from our local group network, we are working with landowners and government in various parts of the UK to create habitats for birds of prey and install nest boxes for species such as barn owls, little owls and kestrels.
We campaign for wider protection for owls and raptors at home and abroad and have initiated many projects which research issues such as persecution, habitat loss and road mortality. Our officers work closely with local community groups, bringing bird of prey conservation into the lives of people of all ages. Together with our partners, we are ensuring that there is a constant effort in raising awareness of the need of these wonderful birds.
As a charity, we rely on people like you to help us carry out our vital work for birds of prey, so please support us by applying for membership, adopting a nestbox or by making a donation or legacy.
Watch a video featuring the Hawk and Owl Trust's Eastern Region Conservation Officer Nigel Middleton.
HAWK AND OWL TRUST from Viking Optical on Vimeo.
No pictures or text on this website may be re-produced without the express permission of the Hawk and Owl Trust.


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Long Beach, CA continue to be the favorite venue for the BMW Team RLL. In only its second race with the new Z4 GTE cars, the team finished 1-2 in the American Le Mans Series race.
The team had a strong strategy for the two-hour race around the 1.968-mile, 11-turn street circuit, continuing its success that reaches back five consecutive years, with BMW Team RLL finishing with at least one car on the Long Beach podium, including a win from the pole in 2011.
The race win put BMW at the top of the GT Class Manufacturer points in a tie with Chevrolet.
Bill Auberlen and Maxime Martin, driving the Black # 55 Z4 GTE won the race, finishing 6.578sec ahead of # 56 Z4 GTE of Joey Hand and Dirk Müller.
Martin started in# 55 car from fourth spot but a spin on lap two dropped him to the rear of the field. However, three long caution periods gave the crew the chance to catch up.
Pitting Martin after 25min on the first caution, Auberlen got behind the wheel with a full tank of fuel and new Michelins. During the second caution period, Auberlen pitted twice more for fuel only. When the race went green with 44min run, the veteran driver could run for the remainder of the race.
The third caution, during which the rest of field pitted, allowed for fuel conservation, and took Auberlen to second position as the race went green just past the first hour. On lap 66, with 15min remaining, Auberlen took the lead and drove to his first win at the Long Beach.
The # 56 Z4 GTE had an equally exciting race. Hand started from seventh position and pitted during the third caution period, handing the car to Müller. Driving hard for the second hour, Müller took second place with two laps remaining, giving BMW Team RLL its first 1-2 finish since the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2011.
"This is a really good one," said Bobby Rahal. "The # 55 car called excellent strategy. We followed a different tactic and put both cars at the front of the field and the Z4 GTE into the history books with a 1-2 finish in only our second race. We were able to run more than one stint on the Michelins and that was crucial to make our strategies work. There is nothing like winning at Long Beach. Sebring is the big one, but Long Beach is not far behind in my book."
Round Three of the 2013 American Le Mans Series will be held at Laguna Seca Raceway, in Monterey, CA, on May 11 for the six-hour American Le Mans race.


text: Leukemia is a cancer of the blood. A person with leukemia produces abnormal blood cells - usually white blood cells. These cells grow out of control and crowd out the normal blood cells. Find out more about leukemia by taking the following quiz, based on information from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).


text:
Mall G (Feat. Max B) - Flossin
YoungMe reports "VIDEO FROM THE SILVER SURFER, MAX B FEATURING MALL G THE JONTS CALLED FLOSSIN, CAUSE YOU KNOW MAXY BE GETTIN MONEY"
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text:
Work on hand strength. You've got those monstrous mitts, let's put some muscle on them with those squeeze things in order to cut back on the fumbles.
I don't see him having the time to change his scrambling methods, and he needs to be able to fling it on the run, so increase hand strength.
GG DangeRuss!


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12-503-5 Programming Test Set


text:
aglutinina anti Rh
aglutinina caliente
aglutinina de grupo
aglutinina de grupos sanguíneos
aglutinina de Leptospira
aglutinina de reacción cruzada
aglutinina del histoplasma
aglutinina específica principal
aglutinina flagelar
aglutinina fría
aglutinina H
aglutinina incompleta
aglutinina inmune
aglutinina inmunitaria
aglutinina leucocitaria
aglutinina mayor
aglutinina menor
aglutinina normal
aglutinina O
aglutinina parcial
aglutinina principal
aglutinina que actúa sobre los leucocitos
aglutinina salina
aglutinina sérica
aglutinina somática
aglutinina vegetal
aglutininas A y B
aglutininas M y N
Agmina peyeri
a·glu·ti·ni·na sa·li·na Feminine - Noun - Singular
Plural: aglutininas salinas
- Translate "aglutinina salina" to English: saline agglutinin
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Unbelievably, Formula One is here in America and cars are already screaming around the circuit the Austin F1 circuit. Who are all these little foreign dudes in the weird cars, and which one should you, as an American, be rooting for?
The problem with Formula One is that the stakes are so high, there's so much sponsorship money funding every driver and team, and the competition is so close that drivers spend all of their waking hours in the gym and then in the simulator and have little time to have an interesting life. They can't say anything that might offend their sponsors or damage their reputation, so drivers rarely say anything controversial. Modern safety requirements mean that they're tucked away inside of their cars and you can't see much beyond a tiny helmet.
To those unfamiliar with the sport, this may make the drivers seem like dull-eyed robots who are completely indistinguishable from each other. While some drivers are like robots, they're more of the R2-D2 or C-3PO variety. This means they've got some personality hidden behind their chiseled mechanical features. Let's go over each of the drivers, from the leader of the championship, all the way to the right lane hogs at the back.
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull, German) He's a double-world champion and he's only 25. This championship is his to lose. He's an unflappable machine behind the wheel, but off-track he's got a sense of humor. He also really likes to say fuck on TV.
Fernando Alonso (Ferrari, Spanish) In spite of having a car that's much worse than the top-of-the-class Red Bull, Alonso is keeping up with the championship lead. That's because he's the best driver out of everyone here. He's also freakishly strong.
Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus, Finnish) Kimi lives for three things: sleeping, eating ice cream, and racing. When he's not doing one of those things, he's getting drunk. Unsurprisingly, he's our favorite driver.
Mark Webber (Red Bull, Australian) Unlike all the other drivers on the grid, Webber speaks his mind. He regularly calls other drivers on their bullshit, and we like him for it. Cool dude, and very fast.
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren, English) He started racing roughly five days after coming out of the womb, and is amazingly fast. He's constantly trying to cultivate a rock star image that isn't really working, though.
Jenson Button (McLaren, English) One of the respected, older drivers on the grid. He's certainly the most mature of the front runners. His is also the kind of guy who enters a marathon for fun and comes in 3rd. Yeah, that guy.
Felipe Massa (Ferrari, Brazilian) Massa is a championship-caliber racer, having nearly won the title in 2008. Now he's perpetually playing second fiddle to Alonso, and everyone feels a little sorry for the guy.
Nico Rosberg (Mercedes, German) They call him "Britney" because he's the pretty boy of the field. He's a race winner and the son of a world champion, but he is less interesting than his hair.
Romain Grosjean (Lotus, French) The crashiest driver on the field. He's fast and he smiles a lot, but there's definitely money riding on him crashing into everyone on the first corner.
Sergio "Checo" Perez (Sauber, Mexican) One of the cooler drivers out there. He's young and is the king of managing his tires. He'll be at a top team next year, so watch him for his future.
Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber, Japanese) He's perhaps the most aggressive driver in the field, making crazy passes and otherwise making the other drivers other people look boring. Again, the fans love this guy.
Nico Hulkenberg (Force India, German) Hulkenberg is like a sorbet to cleanse the palate. He's a middle-of-the-pack driver on a middle-of-the-pack team. Forget about him.
Paul Di Resta (Force India, Scottish) The British press loves this young driver and calls him "Best of the Resta." He's a promising driver, but there's not much to see from him in his current car.
Pastor Maldonado (Williams, Venezuelan) He doesn't crash quite as often as Grosjean, but he regularly smashes into other drivers trying to pass him. Bet on him to take someone else out of the race on Sunday.
Michael Schumacher (Mercedes, German) He's a bit of a grandpa today, but he's the winningest driver in F1 history with seven world titles. Watching him race is a bit like watching Michael Jordan trying to make a comeback. Thankfully, Schumie is retiring (for the second time) at the end of this season.
Bruno Senna (Williams, Brazilian) He's Ayrton Senna's nephew, so that's supposed to make him a god among men, but he's just a kinda silly young driver. His performance has been up and down through the season, depending on how his car is set up.
Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham, Finnish) He's a fairly good young driver, but he's stuck in one of the worst teams on the grid. If he were in a Red Bull, he'd maybe be leading the championship.
Jean-Eric Vergne, Daniel Ricciardo, Timo Glock, Vitaly Petrov, Jerome D'Ambrosio, Charles Pic, Narain Karthikeyan, Pedro de la Rosa: If we put you in a F1 car, you'd be faster than these guys. Ignore them and hope they don't crash into your favorite driver.
So who out of these drivers do we think you should follow? We're rooting for Kimi because he's a no-nonsense driver who likes to race in a gorilla suit and fall off boats (see above gif). If you like rooting for the underdog, cheer for Fernando Alonso. If you like cheering for young drivers, go with Vettel. If you want to root for a driver who has no realistic chance of winning, but is likely to do crazy shit during the race, keep an eye on Grosjean, Maldonado, and Perez.
Whatever you do, don't forget to tune in to SPEED at 1:30 on Sunday and check out the rest of our F1 coverage. A good place to start is with our guide for clueless Americans.


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Last weekend Emma and I tagged along with Mike back to the Boston area for a work trip. He travels there often, but we haven't been back since we moved back "home" last year. We had a fabulous time visiting some of our friends and old favorites - Concord, Beacon Hill and Back Bay. We also took a little trip out to Nantucket for the night - the one place we never got to go that was on my list. I'll be sharing more (a lot more...) photos later this week, but first I wanted to share this little tiny arrangement inspired by our trip.
My Mother-in-Law is a fabulous traveler and always does a ton of shopping on their trips. Their house is filled with pieces of art, blankets, pottery, china, etc. that all have special meaning and were collected along the way - not gift shop type souvenirs, but beautiful things that they love from specialty boutiques, inns and farms. I recently noticed a new engraved pewter champagne bucket at their house - apparently, they ordered it while at Blackberry Farm this last Fall on a trip for their anniversary. Now every time she walks by it she's reminded of their special weekend.
In the past I'd never been one to stock up while away, but I have found that the "souvenirs" we buy always bring such great memories back to us when we get home. So, I started taking cues from Joy and buying treats on our trips we can use in our home that will take us back to those special moments.
One afternoon, Emma and I went out to our old town, Concord, Ma, for a visit. We had coffee with an old friend and stopped by all of my favorite shops. The first on my list was Winston Flowers. You might remember my posts about Winston's when we lived there. It is in the middle of the quaint town center and filled with really inspired, lovely flowers. Once a week I used to stroll Emma there to pick out flowers. They have the most beautiful things - and most are very simple and common items, but are designed in special ways.
When I saw this arrangement I knew it would be the perfect "Joy-style" souvenir to take home with us. It is a cabbage rosette (the center of a cabbage, stripped of most of the big leaves), mini preserved oak leaves, rosemary sprigs, white hydrangea and a paperwhite bulb. I love that all of the elements are so seasonal, but presented in a unique and modern style.
I asked them to deconstruct two arrangements for me so I could carry them on the plane, then reassemble them when I got home.
It starts with a small sprig of hydrangea broken off from a larger bloom.
Then I added the cabbage.
Next, I tucked in the oak leaves on one side, then added the paperwhite. Keeping the colors together makes it very natural and gathered looking.
The best part of this arrangement is that it will keep for weeks, all I have to do is replenish the hydrangea after it wilts with a new one - the other elements are really long lasting.
I've included other photos of Winston's below - enjoy!
Here is the Concord Town Center - the most charming little New England town. Here is a link to my Fall Foliage post in Concord from two years ago with lots of photos of the town. I'll be sharing the rest of my photos from our trip this week and some new hostess ideas for Thanksgiving.
I hope everyone had a relaxing and rejuvenating weekend!


text:
Paris Hilton hung out with her tongue out this weekend on the beach near her Malibu home. The airhead heiress was the spitting image of her new teacup pup.
Paris was dressed in a conservative blue sheath that covered an itty-bitty one-piece bathing suit in which she later surfed -- and nip-slipped.
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text:
Different types of prayer
In John Cassian's 'Conference 9' Abba Isaac, one of the Desert Fathers, starts to teach Cassian and his friend Germanus about prayer. He first emphasizes that there are different ways of praying: "The apostle [St Paul] notes four types of prayer.
'My advice is that first of all supplication should be offered up for everyone, prayers, pleas, and thanksgiving' (1 Tim 2:1). Now one may be sure that this division was not foolishly made by the Apostle. So we must first enquire what is meant by prayer, by petitions, by intercessions, and by thanksgiving." Abba Isaac continues by giving detailed explanations of the types of prayer mentioned and when they are appropriate, concluding: "Hence all of these types of prayer...are valuable for all men [and women], and indeed quite necessary."
He even illustrates how Jesus used each of these types of prayer himself. He proceeds with an explanation of the prayer Jesus taught us, the 'Our Father', and names it the most perfect of prayers. But finally he arrives at the most desirable prayer of all: 'pure prayer', 'contemplation', when we are no longer aware that we are praying and he quotes St Antony: 'Prayer is not perfect when the monk is conscious of himself and of the fact that he is actually praying.' Abba Isaac stresses, that all forms of prayer can lead to 'pure prayer' - what is needed is persistence and faith.
He then urges them: "to follow the gospel precept which instructs us to go into our room[Matthew 6,6] and shut the door so that we may pray to our Father. We pray in our room when we withdraw our hearts completely from the clatter of every thought and concern and disclose our prayers to the Lord in secret, as it were intimately. We pray with the door shut when, with closed lips and in total silence, we pray to the searcher not of voices but of hearts." Here he outlines the basis of contemplation without telling them how to 'go into our room'. But in the next Conference he does explain how to do it, as Cassian and Germanus show that they are ready for this type of prayer by asking the right question. Now we have arrived at the way of prayer John Main found to his delight in Cassian's teaching: praying with a 'formula', which leads to contemplation.
Cassian does not restrict this type of prayer to certain periods of the day, but urges Cassian and Germanus to 'ceaseless prayer'; "You should, I say, meditate constantly on this verse in your heart. You should not stop repeating it when you are doing any kind of work or performing some service or are on a journey. Meditate on it while sleeping and eating and attending to the least needs of nature."
Whereas there is no denying the importance of this way of praying to us and the early Christians we must remember it is only one way of prayer amongst others. Laurence Freeman uses the image of prayer as a wheel: "Think of prayer as a great wheel. The wheel turns our whole life to God....... The spokes of the wheel represent different types of prayer. We pray in different ways, at different times, and according to how we feel...The spokes are the forms or expressions of prayer which fit into the hub of the wheel, which is the prayer of Jesus himself....All forms of prayer are valid. All are effective. They are informed by the prayer of the human consciousness of Jesus which is in us by the grace of the Holy Spirit." (Laurence Freeman)
Kim Nataraja
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text:
Today I'll sketch a proof of Ito that birational smooth minimal models have all of their Hodge numbers exactly the same. It uses the -adic integration from last time plus one piece of heavy machinery.
First, the piece of heavy machinery: If are finite type schemes over the ring of integers of a number field whose generic fibers are smooth and proper, then if for all but finitely many prime ideals, , then the generic fibers and have the same Hodge numbers.
If you've seen these types of hypotheses before, then there's an obvious set of theorems that will probably be used to prove this (Chebotarev + Hodge-Tate decomposition + Weil conjectures). Let's first restrict our attention to a single prime. Since we will be able to throw out bad primes, suppose we have smooth, proper varieties over of characteristic .
Proposition: If for all , then and have the same -adic Betti numbers.
This is a basic exercise in using the Weil conjectures. First, and clearly have the same Zeta functions, because the Zeta function is defined entirely by the number of points over . But the Zeta function decomposes
where is the characteristic polynomial of Frobenius acting on . The Weil conjectures tell us we can recover the if we know the Zeta function. But now
and hence the Betti numbers are the same. Now let's go back and notice the magic of -adic cohomology. If and are as before over the ring of integers of a number field. Our assumption about the number of points over finite fields being the same for all but finitely many primes implies that we can pick a prime of good reduction and get that the -adic Betti numbers of the reductions are the same .
One of the main purposes of -adic cohomology is that it is "topological." By smooth, proper base change we get that the -adic Betti numbers of the geometric generic fibers are the same
By the standard characteristic comparison theorem we then get that the singular cohomology is the same when base changing to , i.e.
Now we use the Chebotarev density theorem. The Galois representations on each cohomology have the same traces of Frobenius for all but finitely many primes by assumption and hence the semisimplifications of these Galois representations are the same everywhere! Lastly, these Galois representations are coming from smooth, proper varieties and hence the representations are Hodge-Tate. You can now read the Hodge numbers off of the Hodge-Tate decomposition of the semisimplification and hence the two generic fibers have the same Hodge numbers.
Alright, in some sense that was the "uninteresting" part, because it just uses a bunch of machines and is a known fact (there's also a lot of stuff to fill in to the above sketch to finish the argument). Here's the application of -adic integration.
Suppose and are smooth birational minimal models over (for simplicity we'll assume they are Calabi-Yau, Ito shows how to get around not necessarily having a non-vanishing top form). I'll just sketch this part as well, since there are some subtleties with making sure you don't mess up too much in the process. We can "spread out" our varieties to get our setup in the beginning. Namely, there are proper models over some (of course they aren't smooth anymore), where the base change of the generic fibers are isomorphic to our original varieties.
By standard birational geometry arguments, there is some big open locus (the complement has codimension greater than ) where these are isomorphic and this descends to our model as well. Now we are almost there. We have an etale isomorphism over all but finitely many primes. If we choose nowhere vanishing top forms on the models, then the restrictions to the fibers are -adic volume forms.
But our standard trick works again here. The isomorphism pulls back the volume form on to a volume form on over all but finitely primes and hence they differ by a function which has -adic valuation everywhere. Thus the two models have the same volume over all but finitely many primes, and as was pointed out last time the two must have the same number of -valued points over these primes since we can read this off from knowing the volume.
The machinery says that we can now conclude the two smooth birational minimal models have the same Hodge numbers. I thought that was a pretty cool and unexpected application of this idea of -adic volume. It is the only one I know of. I'd be interested if anyone knows of any other.


text:
Criminal Manne Ft. Young Dolph - In The Trap [Unsigned Artist]
From Criminal Manne's (@Criminal_Manne)
"Blow 3.5 Grams" series mix tape. Link:
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LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Offering investors their first peek at the state of Chinese manufacturing this month, HSBC reported Wednesday that the preliminary (or "flash") version of its Purchasing Managers' Index rose modestly to 48.3 from last month's 48.0.
While the result remained below the 50 level that divides expansion from contraction, the gain halted a string of declines for the data set since last October.
And yet the market reaction was broadly negative, likely because of some of the report's not-so-encouraging details.
While the subindexes for both output and overall new orders slowed the rate of their fall, new export orders swung to a decrease, and the drops for the employment and work-backlog subindexes fell at a faster pace than in the March report.
The HSBC flash PMI normally includes about 85% to 90% of the total responses used in the final edition of the report, due for release early next month.
Following the release, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index HSI, -1.87% slid to a 0.4% loss after sitting on the flat line just before the data, with the benchmark later extending the loss to 0.8% by the afternoon.
The Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, -1.37% was down 0.3% immediately after the data release, adding to its 0.1% retreat ahead of the numbers. By the middle of the afternoon session, it was 0.4% lower.
The Chinese-data-sensitive Australian dollar AUDUSD, +0.5068% fell from 93.23 U.S. cents moments ahead of data release to 92.75 U.S. cents by late in the trading day.
Despite the negative movement in the markets, however, economists' reaction was a bit more positive and generally more optimistic, with many citing the recent "mini stimulus" measures from the Chinese government as providing a legitimate boost to the economy.
"Domestic demand showed mild improvement, and deflationary pressures eased, but downside risks to growth are still evident as both new export orders and employment contracted," wrote HSBC chief China economist Hongbin Qu, summarizing the results.
In terms of the mini stimulus announced earlier this month, Qu said: "Whilst initial impact will likely be limited, they signalled readiness to do more if necessary. We think more measures may be unveiled in the coming months and the People's Bank of China will keep sufficient liquidity."
Kim Eng Securities strategist Andrew Sullivan, meanwhile, took comfort from the (admittedly mild) rebound in the headline number, saying that the "key is that the index seems to be stabilizing," even as China "is still suffering, along with the likes of Japan, with the global slowdown."
"The important thing is that the Chinese government has announced more projects recently, signalling a willingness to support the economy, and those projects should help the longer-term growth in China," he wrote.
Analysts at Capital Economics team agreed, saying the gain for the HSBC PMI "adds to growing evidence that, with infrastructure investment picking up, the recent slowdown in economic activity has begun to moderate."
That moderation, he said, has in turn been "helped in part by the government's move to support growth with spending on railways and social housing," both components of the mini stimulus.
They wrote that one of the more worrying details in the report — the increased weakness in manufacturing employment — isn't too big a deal.
The PMI's employment subindex "has remained weak over the past couple of years, despite wider evidence of a tight labor market. Recent data show that the wages of migrant workers, who are most vulnerable to an economic slowdown, continued to grow at a double-digit pace" in the first quarter, CapEcon said.
Bank of America-Merrill Lynch economists Ting Lu and Sylvia Sheng were also somewhat upbeat, tipping the "marginal improvement" to continue in the near term, with the headline index "to gradually move to the range of 49-50 in coming months," while China's economic growth should improve to 7.5% in the current quarter from 7.4% in the last quarter, before slipping back "to around 7.1% in the second half of 2014 due to a higher base."
Discuss key earnings announcements before and after results come in. Learn more
Noting that the Chinese government's version of the PMI has generally been stronger than the HSBC edition, Lu and Sheng said that "the HSBC PMI has a downward bias as it covers mainly small enterprises in the export sector. These labor-intensive small enterprises have a much lower survival rate, especially as labor costs rise rapidly in China. Automation in those enterprises will also cut the number of workers," helping explain the weak employment result in the flash HSBC report.
PNC Financial Services senior international economist Bill Adams said the latest PMI result suggested GDP growth remained somewhere above 7%, meaning "fast enough that the Chinese government should see latitude to leave its policy stance in neutral — i.e., not expansionary — territory in April."
He added that the level of economic activity could even be strong enough for the People's Bank of China to allow the yuan to resume its upward trend against the dollar in earnest, even though the central bank may have been more interested in curbing forex speculation when it pushed the currency lower.
But on a more downbeat note, Adams says: "We are now in the second quarter of what looks to be a third year of real GDP growth under 8%. This is clearly China's new normal, yet the continued slow pace of investment by Chinese private firms suggests uncertainty toward the country's economic fundamentals remains high."
(This report is drawn from material that originally appeared in MarketWatch's Asia Stocks blog.)
More MarketWatch news:
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Why you can't get a raise — it's simple
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text:
Three Stages of XML Migration and the Challenge to OpenDocument
- Conversion Fidelity - the billions of binaries problem
- Round Trip Fidelity - the MSOffice bound business processes, line of business integrated apps, and assistive technology type add-ons
- Application Interop - the cross platform, inter application, cross information domain problem
First it was the EU's controversial Valoris Report that centered on a fictional open standard XML universal file format known as "OpenDocument". This was fictional open standard XML universal file format known as "OpenDocument".
This was followed by the Massachusetts's pilot study and mandate for the real thing, the ISO/OASIS XML OpenDocument file format. The States of Texas and Minnesota weighed in with similar legislative proposals once again describing a open standard XML universal file format in measures that only the ISO/OASIS OpenDocument can measure up to.
And now comes the crusher. The State of California, touting what would be the world's eighth largest economy if it were a nation, steps forward into the breach with a legislative proposal describing in such detailed parameters what can only be the OpenDocument universal file format that one can almost see the butterfly tattoo on the specifications buttocks.No doubt the great migration to XML is upon us, with XML universal file formats leading the way. Deciding to go with OpenDocument is the easy part.
Although Microsoft assured Massachusetts that such a transformation would be trivial, nearly two years later they have nothing to show for their braggadocio.Which means Denmark will be hoist on the petard of having their documents in two file formats that are not interchangeable. And except for the MSOffice ODF Plugins from Sun and the Foundation, application interoperability might as well be zero.
A Moving Target – MSOffice 2007 Plugin Architecture:It's important to keep in mind that both daVinci and ACME 376, the Foundation's Plugins, were working fine in every beta release of MSOffice 2007, but broke in the final public version. I suspect Sun had the very same problem we did. It seems that Microsoft altered the system default for "zip" file format packages such that whenever a "zip" package like ODf is double clicked, the OOXML conversion engine automatically starts to convert the package to MSOffice 2007 in-memory-binary-representation. Of course, the OOXML conversion engine knows nothing about ODf. So the problem we now have is reverse engineering what looks to be a low level system "default" setting that loads the OOXML conversion engine instead of the daVinci conversion engine. Microsoft has a long history of dirty tricks and an ever moving APi, effectively protecting their monopoly from would be poachers and thieves, er "competitive application and service providers working the Windows – Vista platform". And here we go again. This first act of aggressively blocking the ODf Plugins should signal governments loud and clear that moving into the Vista Stack of desktop, servers, devices and services is going to be the equivalent of exclusively mandating OOXML. We've known this to be the case in the past, the primary example being the Exchange/SharePoint Hub and developer platform which is optimized for MSOffice 2003 MSXML. So much so that the E/S Hub has to be considered an ODf killer. Yet even those governments exclusively mandating ODf are boldly going forward with E/S Hub purchases, totally unaware of the consequences. As i've said many times, Massachusetts is just one E/S Hub Court Docket System away from revoking their ODf requirement and standardizing on OOXML. (Watch carefully now, the hand is quicker than the eye; ViSTO 2005, which was released with MSOffice 2007, dropped support for MSXML entirely in favor of the MS version of OOXML. (i mention this because there is clear evidence that MOOXML, legacy MOOXML, and now MOOXL Binary InfoSet for Excel all include eXtensions and dependencies that differ from the Ecma 376 version submitted to ISO/IEC). Remember our Peter Quinn quote, "Open document formats: I get it! But how do I get there? Discuss."? The simple truth is that the ODf Community is not providing the means to get to ODf. There is no bridge from the legacy installations of MSOffice and the billions of binary documents, to ODf ready applications and services.
Get to XML:What most ODF-OOXML warriors forget is that the real issue for workgroup and workflow oriented consumers is getting their binary documents into XML. Which XML, ODf or OOXML, is a secondary consideration. The one thing everyone understands is that the way to connect important information domains, systems and architectures is through the skillful use of open XML and open Internet technologies. Important information domains and architectures includes:
Desktop Productivity Environments (the Office Suites)
Enterprise publication, content management and archive systems
SOA – Service Oriented Architectures
SaaS – Software as a Service systems
The Internet – Web 2.0 and beyond
XML Migration: The Three StagesThe problem as we saw in Massachusetts, Munich, and Bristol is that there are three stages of XML file format migration. The three stages for migrating to XML file formats are inextricably linked and must be tackled in exactly this order:
- Conversion Fidelity - the billions of binaries problem
- Round Trip Fidelity - the MSOffice bound business processes, line of business integrated apps, and assistive technology type add-ons
- Application Interop - the cross platform, inter application, cross information domain problem
Sadly, the ODf Community is near entirely focused on stage three, leaving the critically important first and second stages up to customers.
Interestingly, OOXML nails all three stages perfectly, with the proviso being that all interop applications be Microsoft application – platform specific. This is what they mean when they say, "interoperability by design"; applications designed to speak fluent OOXML, making exclusive internal use of .NET 3.0 system dependencies.Note well that since the starting point of XML migration is that of MSOffice bound binaries and business processes, OOXML is today the only XML file format proposal that can perfectly answer all three stages of XML migration requirements. The OpenDocument Foundation does have three products in the works that are designed to also perfectly answer these same XML requirements, but the Foundations approach has met with considerable resistance, argument, doubt and continued outrage from the ODf Community at large. Note also that these three stages are only important to workgroup and workflowsituations – situations where MSOffice bound business processes are critical day to day to day operations. People who are involved in simple document exchange can easily move to ODf through an OpenOffice download and some simple conversion artifact fixes as documents are converted as needed. Workgroups and workflows require a very high level of round trip fidelity. Which is why mixed application environments present workgroups with an near insurmountable problem; even where the mix is limited to that of different MSOffice versions! Of course no one wants to see the life span of MSOffice eXtended indefinitely,which is exactly the conclusion most come too regarding the daVinci Plugin. daVinci makes it too too easy to stay with MSOffice since there is zero disruption to MSOffice bound business processes, line of business integrated apps, and the functioning of assistive technology add-ons. The ODf community doesn't realize three things.
First, it's an absolute real world requirement that the three stages of XML migration be met perfectly by any file format contestant.
Second, Microsoft has handed the ODf Community the opportunity of a lifetime regarding the most difficult stage for ODf; stage two, the migration of MSOffice bound business processes.
Third, consumers migrating to XML have no stomach, tolerance or funds for the highly disruptive and costly rip out and replace" approach most in the ODf community favor.
The Massachusetts RFi:Massachusetts ITD deserves credit for figuring this out. The three stages are the reason behind their ODf Plugin for MSOffice RFi. Which is about as desperate a cry for help from the ODf Community as i've ever seen. There is no other way to describe the events in Massachusetts except to say that the ODf Community refused to listen, and worse, made no attempt whatsoever to understand the exact nature of problem consumers wanting to migrate to ODf face. Hence the unprecedented RFi (Request for Information). So what's going on here? It's the reality of being caught in the clutches of a monopolist for over ten years.
In 1995 Microsoft won the Office Suite application wars, with the next two years mopping up as they paved the way for the real crusher, MSOffice 97. The office suite wars were marked by the vicious marketing of comparative feature sets and competitive price inducements. The feature wars ended in 1995, were set by 1997, a time period during which a new movement had begun – the use of the ubiquitous MSOffice as a development platform for business processes, line of business integrated applications, and a proliferation of add-ons like those for assistive technologies.
In short, by 1997 it was no longer about "features". It was all about MSOffice bound business processes. And the binding occurs at two levels; the MSOffice application layer, and the binary file format layer. This creates a binding trifecta of MSOffice, MS Binary Documents, MSOffice bound business processes.The real battle today is over how to migrate or participate in the MSOffice bound business processes developed since 1995. This is the core of the problem every organization trying to migrate to ODf must confront. Massachusetts, to their everlasting credit, came up with a rather magical solution; the idea of using ODf Plugins for MSOffice to solve the problems of stages one and two. The stage three ODf problem of application interoperability is a work in progress, and i would direct everyone's attention to the ODf 1.2 progress ofthe three OASIS ODf sub committees; Accessibility, Open Formula, and Metadata RDF/XML. A great leap in application interop is brewing there, and expectations for ODf 1.2 run high with good reason.
The Problem With Rip Out and Replace:Many people mistakenly believe that migrating to ODf is as easy as downloading for free OpenOffice 2.0. Which is true if your collaborative work is that of simple document exchange. For workgroups and workflows currently based on MSOffice bound business processes and binaries though, the disruptive and re engineering cost of moving those processes to ODf ready OpenOffice is impossibly high. While it's true that Novell is working on an automated means of converting bound business process VBA scripts to an OpenOffice footing, it's not there yet. But that's just a fraction of the problem. These business processes include compound documents for templates, forms, formula bound spreadsheets, and reports - often involving systems dependent data bindings. Rather than trying to unwind these MSOffice bound business processes and re write them to somehow become application independent and ODf ready, we believe there is another approach demanding consideration. Instead of migrating to an ODf ready desktop MSOffice alternative, we believe the ODf Community should instead be focused on the Microsoft migration of these same business processes to the OOXML enhanced Exchange/SharePoint/Groove Hub.
The Great Opportunity: The Vista Information Processing ChainBriefly the greatopportunity is this: Microsoft has been very busy migrating those MSOffice bound business processes to the Exchange/SharePoint Hub, which will soon be joined with Groove Collaboration servers. XML Hubs are interesting in that they are an indispensable core to any SOA effort. The Hubs are a very effective point where access, aggregation and repurposing of XML services and information streams connecting to such things as backend data, transaction, inventory and billing processing or content –archival management systems. As a universal transformation layer able to connect to many disparate and purpose specific backend legacy systems, XML is unparalleled.
But what if these same XML Hubs are integrated as a way station connecting desktops and devices to Internet server systems as well as the legacy backends? And there my friends is the magic of an Exchange/SharePoint/Groove Hub. On the desktop side E/S Hubs integrate directly with the MSOffice productivity environment using OOXML (versions Ecma 376, MOOXML, legacy MOOXML, and MOOXML Binary InfoSet) as the both the XML container and transport. The E/S Hub provides the integration point where eMail, documents, workflows, project participants (people), and information resources (web services, XHRequest streams, media streams, and message streams) can be aggregated, sorted, re purposed, published, managed and scheduled. At the E/S Hub it's easy to bind data from MS SQL Server systems, MS CRM, MS ERP and MS Live to the portable OOXML document transport.The most important point about XML Hubs is that migrating business processes to them always results in extraordinary productivity gains. Yes, the E/S Hub represents a new lock-in point for MSOffice bound workgroup customers. The immediate productivity gains however will far outweigh the long term cost of having your business lock-in to MS only applications and services for the next fifteen years. So where's the opportunity you ask?
By intercepting this migration at the head point, MSOffice, converting the documents to ODf, and provisioning ODf ready Hubs the ODf Plugins could potentially walk off with the entire monopoly base of over 500 million MSOffice bound desktops. The ODf Plugin route is infinitely cheaper in that there is no need for desktop upgrades. And, the cost of long term MS lock-in is completely negated.
The ODf Plugin alone however isn't enough - which is exactly why the Foundation began development of the lightweight, efficient and highly portable ODf InfoSet Engine and APi. We need ODf ready Hubs to complete the ODf Information Processing Chain alternative. ODf Hubs that can compete with E/S Hub Juggernaut.
C'mon Alfresco, Lotus, and Zimbra - the whole world is waiting.
One more thing about these ODf Hubs and ODf ready applications that span desktop, servers and device platforms. The Internet has ushered in a new world of universal connectivity, exchange and collaborative computing. Some ODf ready applications will be designed to participate in specific information processing chains, so they will be built to act as efficient routers of information.
Other applications will profess to be ODf ready, but continue to act in the legacy traditions of information end points - ignoring the ODf document needs as defined by other information processing chains; dropping objects and data binding mechanisms they don't understand or lack the feature sets needed to make use of. Or, they might add value by asserting application or platform specific dependencies that would otherwise corrupt the documents use in other information processing chains.
Application InteroperabilityThe problems of application interoperability are far more difficult for ODf than for OOXML because ODf was designed for a very different objective.
OOXML was designed exactly for MSOffice bound binary and business process compatibility, (stage I & II of the XML migration requirement) including application and platform specific dependencies.
ODf was designed to be an application and platform independent universal file format, dependent on open XML and other Internet technologies available to any application or service.
For ODf, proprietary or platform specific dependencies are an interop killer. For OOXML, proprietary and platform specific dependencies are the monopolists life blood of "interoperability by design".
The world is going to move to XML, and from there to RDF/XML. That's a given. OOXML has the incredible advantage of meeting the three "migration to XML" requirements. But the migration comes at the cost of long term business process lock-in, with interoperability demands limiting applications and services to the Vista Stack of:
MSOffice <> OOXML <> IE <>ViSTO .NET <> E/S/G Hub <> MS Active Directory <> MS SQL Server <> MS CRM <> MS ERP <> MS Live etc. etc. etc.
The core of this chain is the MSOffice <> OOXML <> Exchange/SharePoint Hub
ODf can similarly meet the the three "migration to XML" requirements, and do so just as well as OOXML – in spite of MS claims otherwise. Although they anger and upset the rip out and replace bent ODf community crowd, the ODf plugins for MSOffice from Sun and the Foundation are the only way ODf can crack and perfect these critically important "migration to XML" requirements. Danes please take note!
And of course, there is today no ODf Stack or ODf information Processing Chain comparable to the one Microsoft has unleashed. Some great stuff cooking with Lotus Notes, but they are obviously lacking a strategy for stage I & II of the "migration to XML" requirements. Alfresco is hard charging, but they have that same problem. Zimbra and Google Hubs are still mired in the application as end points approach where they see conversion of documents as a one way process where continuing and persistent loss of fidelity and the dropping of feature related objects or bindings is the expected and unavoidable collateral damage cost, so get over it.
Meanwhile, the ISO/IEC consideration of Ecma 376 is a diversion from where the real action is; the optimized for MSOffice OOXML Exchange/SharePoint juggernaut.
It's high noon for XML. Do you know where your ODf information processing chain is?
Notes: The OpenDocument Foundation is working on three products that we believe to be essential to the development of an ODf Information Processing Chain that can connect desktops, servers, devices and Internet systems transitioning information based on the highly interactive and collaborative portable XML document/data model/streaming media model.
These products are still in development. What follows are the design goals and objectives:
daVinci ODf 1.2 Plugin for MSOffice
InfoSet Engine & APi
Interop Wizard for OpenOffice
ACME 376 XML-RTF Plugin for MSOffice
The daVinci ODf 1.2 Plugin:To the best of our knowledge, daVinci continues to be the only ODf plugin for MSOffice designed to work "internally". What happens is that daVinci triggers the internal conversion process Microsoft uses to do MSOffice conversions.
DaVinci triggers the internal process, intercepting an undocumented internal super structure we call "MS Universal RTF", for lack of a better name. This undocumented super structure accounts for the extraordinary near perfect conversion fidelity achieved by daVinci and demonstrated by the ACME 376 plugin.
We do not believe similar conversion fidelity results can be achieved by either the MCN XSL Translator plugin approach, or the traditional "external" binary file reverse engineering approach used by OpenOffice and the Sun ODf Plugin. Which is perhaps why Microsoft themselves use this same internal process to convert legacy MS binary documents to MS OOXML.The daVinci conversion process follows this "internal" sequence (and it'sreverse):
imbr <> MS Universal RTF <> daVinci InfoSet <> ODf 1.2
imbr :: Microsoft in-memory-binary-representation which becomes a MS Binary (dump) on save (the reverse on load).
MS Universal RTF: This is a very special structure that MSOffice uses to do all conversions from imbr to MSXML, OOXML, and RTF (the RTF the rest of the world uses).
DaVinci InfoSet: A super InfoSet structure daVinci imposes on the MS Universal RTF structure.
ODf 1.2 :: daVinci maps from InfoSet to ODf 1.0 (first daVinci version) and ODf 1.2 to produce the ODf file. The mapping mechanism could be redirected to Chinese UOF or even a subset of OOXML with some work.The ODf 1.2 metadata RDF/XML model provides daVinci with the descriptive flexibility needed to maintain a high level of interoperability. The first version of daVinci provided to Massachusetts in June of 2006 targeted ODf 1.0 and high interoperability with OpenOffice. This came at the expense of perfect conversion fidelity and much needed round trip fidelity with the legacy of billions of MS binary document. In essence, the 85% conversion fidelity one expects from OpenOffice was exactly the same conversion fidelity delivered by daVinci ODf 1.0.
ODf 1.2 enables daVinci to hit near perfect conversion fidelity without compromising on the high level of application interoperability users expect.
The ACME 376 plugin is available for public download and testing - (the ODf 1.2 metadata RDF/XML proposal will not be completed until April of 2007). Although ACME 376 perfects a XML encoding of RTF, it demonstrates the extraordinary near perfect conversion fidelity provided by the daVinci engine.
The daVinci Plugin design objectives includes these features:
daVinci plugin for MSWord, Excel and PowerPoint :: MSOffice versions 1998, 2000, XP Office, XP 2003 and 2007 (note- unexpected problems with final release of MSOffice 2007)
Accessibility Interface installed with daVinci (tagging graphic & media objects in MSOffice with ODf 1.1 accessibility eXtensions)
PDF/ODF w/Digital Signatures (XML-XForms sig model) :: a combination PDF/ODF file that can be read in Acrobat, but edited in any ODf ready application given proper digital rights :: excellent for data binding, transport and extraction
XForms Interface for MSOffice installed with daVinci
Enhanced document library storage search, re use, and re purposing through the advanced ODf 1.2 metadata RDF/XML model
Enhanced cross platform/cross information domain application interoperability through the ODf 1.2 metadata RDF/XML model
InfoSet Engine & APi:Based on our knowledge and experience of working with the MSOffice internal conversion process, we began development on a ODf InfoSet Engine with developers APi. The objective is to provide developers, IDE's, Server-Device-Desktop Application providers and cross platform run time engines with a complete ODf conversion and layout engine that is light weight, portable, and easy to embed. Work on the "layout" engine portion has not yet begun.
The Interop Wizard for OpenOffice:This is a plugin for OpenOffice that enables workgroup user to set either the individual document or default document settings to provide perfect interop with MSOffice desktops.
The issue here is that mixed environment workgroups (ODf Plugin MSOffice & OpenOffice desktops) will face a near insurmountable problem of round trip fidelity corruption. This has nothing to do with file formats or conversion fidelity processing, and everything to do with an issue known as layout engine impedance mismatch.
OpenOffice has a very sophisticated and complex layout engine that is optimized for the advanced presentation and use of "styles". MSOffice on the other hand has a comparatively simple layout engine design and does not attempt to do common presentation tasks such as "table within a table".
The layout engine mismatch limits and defines certain feature sets that make it structurally impossible to map documents between the two application suites. The "structural" problems are well known, and fall into these five categories: lists, fields, sections, page breaks, and tables.The Interop Wizard shuts off the advanced feature sets of OpenOffice, limiting functionality to mimic near exactly the structural features of MSOffice. When the wizard is on, the advanced features are not available unless the end user overrides the warning.


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A Grecian Look of Perfection
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – It was a good thing that the Lipscomb Lady Bisons softball team held its bracket-watching gathering in a restaurant because you could cut the tension with a knife.
The Lady Bisons had to wait until the second to last bracket was called during the NCAA Selection Show. The NCAA Division I Softball Committee revealed the 64-team bracket Sunday night on ESPNU.
When the Lady Bisons were listed in the Knoxville region pandemonium filled the air on the outdoor terrace where they were watching.
"We get to play together again," several players shouted.
The No. 10 seeded Tennessee Lady Vols, 42-10, are hosting the regional.
"I am more excited than surprised," Lipscomb coach Kristin Ryman said. "You never know what the committee is looking at when they put together the field.
"You are just crossing your fingers and waiting for your name to be called. We felt like when we saw UAB, Virginia Tech and Houston get in that we would have pretty good chance of getting in. To wait until the second to the last bracket to hear your name called is a little bit nerve-wracking."
The Lady Bisons, 39-13, will face Virginia Tech, 35-21, from the Atlantic Coast Conference at 2:30 p.m. Friday. Tennessee will play Charleston Southern, 27-31-1, at 5 p.m. Friday.
The Lady Bisons opened their season at Draper Diamond at Smith Stadium with a 2-1 win over Virginia Tech Feb. 7. Kristen Sturdivant won the game with a walk-off home run.
"We are in a very good position to make a good run through the regional and make some noise," Ryman said. "It was a game that could have gone either way and was very early in the season.
"We are both going to be very different teams than we were at the first of the season. I am sure we can pull some good things out of that. But it is going to be a different match-up this time around."
It will mark the second trip to the NCAA Tournament for the Lady Bisons. They were last in the tournament in 2010 where they played in the Tuscaloosa Regional.
The regional is double elimination. Saturday at 1 p.m. the winner of game one will play the winner of game two. At 3:30 p.m. the loser of game one will play the loser of game two. In the 6 p.m. game the loser of game three will play the winner of game four.
Sunday's regional final will be played at 1 p.m. with another game at 3:30 p.m. in necessary.
The Lady Bisons were one of three Atlantic Sun Conference teams to be named to the field of 64, the first time the conference has sent multiple representatives.
All-session bleacher-back ticket packages go on sale to the public Monday at 7:30 CT online at UTTIX.com, by telephone at 865-656-1200 or in-person at the Tennessee ticket office. There is limit of six tickets per person. The package is $25 and includes tickets for all three days.
Friday, May 16
2:30 p.m. - Game 1 Lipscomb vs Virginia Tech
5:00 p.m. - Game 2 Charleston Southern vs #10 Tennessee
Saturday, May 17
1:00 p.m. - Game 3 (winner game 1 vs winner game 2)
3:30 p.m. - Game 4 (loser game 1 vs loser game 2)
6:00 p.m. - Game 5 (loser game 3 vs winner game 4)
Sunday, May 18
1:00 p.m. - Game 6 (winner game 3 vs winner game 5)
3:30 p.m. - Game 7 (if necessary)


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Album Title: Back from the Dead
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This popular post was originally published on February 22, 2011
Last March Vice President Joe Biden visited Israel to work on getting indirect peace talks underway.
While he was there, a Jerusalem planning committee announced the approval of an additional 1600 housing units in an existing Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem. The neighborhood, Ramat Shlomo, would never be handed over to the Palestinian Arab state in any conceivable peace plan, and the Jerusalem municipality approves or rejects housing plans all the time. Beyond that, the PA had already admitted that Ramat Shlomo would remain part of Israel.
Still, there was a firestorm of protest over this coincidental timing, as if the Knesset and Israel's Prime Minister personally approve every housing project in Jerusalem. Secretary of State Clinton called the move "insulting" and Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu had to express regrets over the incident.
The supposed "insult" was nothing of the sort, but the US publicly dressed down its closest ally in the Middle East because of the actions of a low-level city clerk.
Now let's fast forward.
On Friday, the US vetoed a UN resolution calling Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria "illegal." This occurred after a long phone call from President Obama to PA president Mahmoud Abbas begging him to drop the resolution. Abbas ignored the President's pleas.
After the vote and the veto, UN representative Susan Rice gave an unprecedented speech clarifying the US position, and groveling towards the Arab world by insisting how distasteful the Obama administration considers Jews living in their historic heartland.
The response from the Palestinian leadership was published, in Arabic, on the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. It says, in part:
U.S. veto: an obstacle to peace
The United States of America's use of the veto to prevent the passage of a UN resolution condemning Israel's settlement policy confirms that it is not an honest broker, and it is no longer able to carry out its responsibilities as a sponsor of any future Palestinian – Israeli negotiations.
This first veto of the administration of President Barack Obama puts the credibility of the sponsor of the peace process in jeopardy…
We see the U.S. veto as encouraging Israel to move forward in the processes of settlement and Judaizing Jerusalem, and the construction of a wall of annexation and expansion. [We] hold the U.S. administration to be fully responsibile for the consequences and repercussions.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is what an an insult looks like.
The PA is officially calling the United States an "obstacle to peace." It is saying that the US – a nation that has worked harder than any other to bring about peace, a nation that brokered Camp David – cannot be an honest broker in negotiations. Whether you agree or disagree with the present administration, this press release is an unacceptable slap in the face of the world's superpower by an entity that cannot conceive of the idea of compromise for peace.
This hateful screed has, so far, been ignored both by the media and by the current administration. There have been no public calls for apologies, no calling out of president Mahmoud Abbas who is responsible for this statement.
Not only did Susan Rice's little speech meant to blunt the veto not placate the Palestinian Authority – it is entirely possible that it emboldened them to slam the United States.
In fact, it might be even more than an insult – it is practically a public statement that the Palestinian Arabs no longer subscribe to the peace process.
Yet there are no angry recriminations, no evidence of displeasure, no outrage. It is almost as if the Obama administration is afraid of upsetting the Palestinian Arabs while they do not hesitate to find ways to be "insulted" by its friends.
There is something deeply and profoundly wrong with this picture.