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Saturday, April 25, 2009
Life in Washington DC
Though I'm not knitting as much as I'd like...I never do...when I have a chance it is done here, with a view of the German Embassy through dogwood blooms.
In general life has been a whirl, of increasing intensity. Big plans afoot.
The poodlicious ones keep it bounding along, amusing and action packed.
I took a break and hit a rummage sale this morning.
Score! $4, vintage Frye boots, made in USA, hooray!
11 comments:
- santos. said...
wow! those boots are fantastic. great score!
- April 25, 2009 5:57 PM
- kat coyle said...
um score on the boots. and all the twirly whirly plans sound exciting.
- April 25, 2009 9:14 PM
- gail said...
Oh, those Frye boots are the ones I wore for years, until my feet grew and they became too small. I loved, loved, loved those boots. I purchased mine at Shippy Shoe Store in Stevens Point, WI. If those are size 9-10 women's, I'll buy them from you!! ;) I hope you have many happy hours wearing these beautiful, beautiful boots!!
- April 25, 2009 11:18 PM
- Gudrun Johnston said...
You're still in DC? Hope you enjoy striding the streets in your new funky boots! Can't wait to hear about your big plans!
- April 26, 2009 10:30 AM
- Prunila said...
what a long stay in Dc... stopped to say hi from lago Maggiore where is raining... ready to eat some pasta!
- April 26, 2009 12:57 PM
- Eliza said...
how long are you staying? it seems that you've been there for awhile!
Fun photos, and great boots!
- April 26, 2009 2:42 PM
- magnusmog said...
fabby boots, and as for the poodles....!
- April 27, 2009 9:08 AM
- Elizabeth said...
They are fantastic! Nice job. Check out some used clothing stores while you are there more goodies may await.
- April 27, 2009 3:38 PM
- Unionpearl said...
Here's another suggestion: Glen Echo--just head west on Macarthur Blvd for a few miles. I haven't been in a few years, but it used to be quite something; ripe with evidence of its glory days as Washington's amusement park.
- April 27, 2009 8:18 PM
- mary jane said...
Hey thanks you guys! Susette, it is so funny you say Glen Echo, I thought I might visit it this week, a friend of mine worked there as a teenager, and the town is supposed to be cute too.
- April 27, 2009 9:24 PM
- craftivore said...
Life in DC looks good. Your Frye's are awesome. I just bought a new pair of Frye's that look similar but cost a whole bundle more.
- May 07, 2009 3:26 PM


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Glyn Moody's Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week
from the favorites deptThis weeks favorites are from Glyn Moody, perhaps one of the biggest sources for various stories here on Techdirt. If you're not reading his Twitter account, you're missing out. Sometimes I think I could fill Techdirt based entirely on stories he recommends.
One of the problems with a site like Techdirt is that there is so much good stuff appearing every day, it's quite hard to see the bigger picture, as post follows post in rapid succession. In looking back over the past week, I've tried to pull out some of the major themes that I've noticed.
One of the key ideas that Mike explores here is how intellectual monopolies like patents and copyright have drifted far from their original purpose, which was to provide an incentive to create new inventions and new works.
Patents, for example, are less a spur to innovation today, and more a way of blocking competitors from innovating in the same field. You could hardly wish for a better demonstration of that than the big story this week about Apple suing Samsung because it claimed the latter's Galaxy tablet looked too much like the iPad.
As a subsequent post listing the claimed infringements showed, these included things like "method and apparatus for displaying a window for a user interface," while elsewhere, Apple said that Samsung used a "similar rectangular design with rounded corners, similar black border and array of icons."
When companies are claiming "rectangular design with rounded corners" as innovation that deserves a government-backed monopoly, you know the system is broken.
Needless to say, Samsung has fired back with its own lawsuit claiming that Apple infringed on its patents, thus ensuring that the patent thicket surrounding smartphones (and presumably tablets) becomes a little thicker. Interestingly, another Techdirt story indicated that even the ITC is getting fed up with the patent mess.
Sadly, Apple was not alone in abusing the patent system this week. Another major case saw Google being hit with a $5 million fine for infringing on a patent through its use of the Linux kernel. The big story here, of course, is that if the decision stands, many other users of GNU/Linux might also be liable.
This is all pretty ridiculous since the patent describes a basic and obvious programming technique that was probably in use for many years before the patent was filed -- I expect lawyers are busily assembling mountains of prior art right now. The deeper problem is that the USPTO allows patents on software at all.
Software routines consist of algorithms, which are just a series of mathematical and logical operations; they therefore represent pure knowledge, like any mathematical theorem. As such, they need to be excluded from patentable inventions, as is the case in Europe, for example (although there the waters have been muddied by the introduction of the vague concept of "computer-implemented inventions," which are sometimes patentable).
Just as patent law is increasingly used to extract money from competitors as a way for them to avoid litigation, rather than as a spur to further invention, so the other main intellectual monopoly, copyright, is being seen as a way of generating revenue through threats of legal action, not simply as an incentive to create something new.
Perhaps the best-known exponent of this approach is Righthaven, and the last week has seen a gratifying number of stories in which judges and the courts have slapped it down again and again and again. And as an added bonus, the same happened over in the UK, where ACS:Law was found to have "brought the legal profession into disrepute."
Despite this outbreak of good sense on both sides of the Atlantic, there were still plenty of other depressing stories of intellectual monopoly abuse. For example, this week we read about the Tolkien Estate forcing a summer camp to change its name, Summit Entertainment suing adoring fans who dared to tweet a few images from the forthcoming Twitlight instalment, and the UK Music Publishers' Association issuing a DMCA takedown to a public domain sheet music site (and then trying to get the takedown taken down....)
Against this background of patent thickets, suits, counter-suits and vague legal threats, a question that springs to mind is: how did we end up with in this ridiculous situation? A couple of recent posts went some way to offering an explanation, noting that often it is those who benefit the most from monopolies that get to write the laws granting them, and that even judges are being recruited from the ranks of the RIAA, which makes relying on the legal system to rein in abuses of intellectual monopolies problematic, to say the least.
One theme that constantly crops up on Techdirt is the hypocrisy of those calling for sterner enforcement of intellectual monopolies. Time and again we see that what they really mean is that they should be enforced to the hilt against the little people (you and me), but that important people like them shouldn't have to worry about such tiresome details.
A case in point was the Canadian Prime Minister, who was discovered to have used some video clips without licensing them properly. Hypocrisy on an even grander scale is to be seen in the US attitude to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, (ACTA). Apparently, the Obama administration believes that Congress and the courts will not be constrained in any way by ACTA: now imagine the howls of outrage from the RIAA and MPAA if any of the other countries taking part in the ACTA negotiations decided that they, too, could just ignore the result. The same asymmetry will probably apply to ACTA 2.0, aka the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, where the US will doubtless seek to impose binding obligations on everyone else but itself. Strange that.
But it's not just governments that can play the hypocrisy game. Here's Prince claiming that when someone covers your song, the original no longer exists...except, of course, when he does it. And then there's the MPAA VP, who asserts that "we must protect our culture," but isn't interested in protecting the kind fostered by the Creative Commons approach. So actually he wants to "protect" -- as in "enforce through that intellectual monopoly we call copyright" -- limitations on creativity, a rather different matter.
Finally, I should mention one other big story that came up on Techdirt in the last week, the realisation that the iPhone and iPad are recording your every move. It's still a little too early to come to any conclusions about whether Apple is to up to anything deeply nefarious here, and if other platforms like Android are doing something as bad, but I'm sure we'll be reading a lot more about this next week as the story unfolds.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Re: ClamAV reporting ViEmu.dll virus off a fresh install?
Update: A scan with AVG didn't report any virus. Maybe clamwin is reporting a false positive on this machine? Can anyone else confirm?
ClamAV version 0.96.2 started reporting
C:\Program Files\ViEmu\ViEmu.dll: Trojan.Swizzor.Gen FOUND
I went through, and purged the plugin. A rescan of the computer showed no infection. Did a fresh downloaded of the ViEmu installer, and scanned it. Again, no virus. Did a reinstall of ViEmu. ViEmu.dll again reports being infected right after install.
Last edited by kulseran (2010-10-27 19:31:37)


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I have never used neither mirin nor sakè and would like to buy at least one of them. which one is more versatile, or more useful? is there any brand that you would recommend (available in Italy/Europe)?
Noi siamo usciti fore
del maggior corpo al ciel ch'è pura luce:
luce intellettüal, piena d'amore;
amor di vero ben, pien di letizia;
letizia che trascende ogne dolzore.
I'm not an expert, Loretta or Maki will be able to give you more complete advice, but I use mirin a lot, and very rarely use sake.
My blog is Food and Shoes
Hi Esperanza, this post might be useful for an explanation of what role sake and mirin play in Japanese dishes. I think if I were to pick just one I might pick sake, though I do use both. Mirin is sweeter and stronger and also adds a sheen to some dishes. Sherry can also be used -- even a sweet wine like vino santo (though that could get expensive). As for brands, any regular (not cooking) sake sold at a Japanese shop is fine really -- no need to go for anything very expensive. For mirin, the type called "hon mirin" is real mirin, while the other type sold is a mirin flavored non-alcoholic cooking condiment. I prefer the hon mirin.
The Big Onigiri.
- Wherever you go, there you are. -
I just bought gekkeikan's cup sakè but still have not opened it: should I keep in the fridge or at room temperature once opened?
You can keep it at room temperature; if it's not in container with a re-closable cap or lid, transfer it to a jar or something and keep it airtight.
Should it be refrigerated or is room temperature (and out of direct sunlight) appropriate for storage once the bottle is opened?
Room temperature or in a cool, dark place is fine, unless you want to chill the sake before drinking.
How about mirin? (today I bought a bottle of it as well: hon mirin as maki suggested :)) little by little I am getting all the essential ingredients, otherwise in every recipe there is always some ingredient that I don't have) Should it be refrigerated or is room temperature (and out of direct sunlight) appropriate for storage once the bottle is opened? The bottle is quite big, around 600ml, and it will last for a long time...
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Saturday, September 06, 2008
CEP and Shoplifting
Leonard was interviewing John Colapinto, who had written an article for The New Yorker on loss prevention in stores ... commonly known as shoplifting.
What was fascinating was that, as John was talking about how store detectives monitor customer patterns for shoplifting, it seemed like the perfect thing for Complex Event Processing (I hope that Tim will agree that this is truly Complex).
Now, I am sure that this is not news to the CEP vendors out there. Fraud detection and surveillance is one of the big applications of CEP. But, after each detection pattern Colapinto described, I said to myself "How would we do this in Coral8?".
Some of the patterns Colapinto mentioned included:
1) Customers examining clothing without looking at the price tag.
2) Customers moving randomly from table to table. There seems to be a certain pattern of movement that is common amongst shoplifters.
In the "Shoplifter Alert System" that we would build, there would be multiple levels of complex events (Tim can correct me on the proper terminology to use) :
Level 1 Event
"This person is a shoplifter"
Level 2 Events
"This person is moving too randomly through the store"
"This person does not seem interested in the price"
Level 3 Events
The amount of time a person is spending at each "table" in the store
The amount of time a person handles each garment
A sensor on the price tag to indicate whether the person has looked at the price
Level 4 Events
A person has entered the store
A person has left the store
A person is moving through the store
I would love to hear any anecdotes about how CEP is actually being used in detecting shoplifting, so if you know of anything, please comment.
©2008 Marc Adler - All Rights Reserved.
All opinions here are personal, and have no relation to my employer.
4 comments:
- Tim Bass said...
Hi Marc,
Excellent topic. Kindly find my follow-up, as requested, here:
Modelling Shoplifting
Yours sincerely, Tim
- marc said...
Here is a "60 Minutes" news story on gangs of South American shoplifters:
- Opher Etzion said...
Hello Marc.
This application can be modelled easily as an "event processing network", and its processing is relatively simple. The main difficulty will be to obtain the raw events needed for processing. Some of it can be done by putting RFID tags on each products, and RFID reader on shelves, shopping carts, checkouts and external door, there are plenty of derived events that can be derived from that, e.g. an item (with cost > X) has been removed from the shelf, and did not reach any checkout within 90 minutes, or an item reached a door and did not go through a chackout cash -- then it should ring (this what mainly exists today).
The more interesting stuff about person's behavior (looking more than T seconds on an expensive product, not looking at price tag...) can be obtained from the analysis of camera's input. I have blogged in the past about getting event from multi-media streams as one of the promising directions; There are systems today that take cameras' input and analyze them to create events (e.g. in automatic toll roads, a camera input shows that a vehicle with a certain plate has moved in the toll area, and this is produced as an event). I think that there is a big promise in advancing such technologies, but today event extraction is restricted to point event like - a person approached the shelf, but not spatio-temporal patterns like - a person stands six minutes watching an item. I know of research projects that are getting closer to this direction.
Compare their shoes with the garments they are handling. People with cheap shoes handling expensive garments are a dead give away, people with expensive shoes usually don't need to shoplift (unless you are in LA and are looking to scoop the local insane drugged out celebs).
Sometimes it pays not to overthink (then again, is CEP really trying to sell results? :-)


text:
Logan County Historical Society
Issue 30, March 2007
Newsletter 2007
By Joe A. Fettig, President
Museums are a place to preserve and keep the heritage.
There is no off season. It is a year long occupation to preserve our Heritage. The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.
Finished another interesting year at the museum. We added a few more new items and made some improvements. The Community Church looks very nice with the new siding.
Thank you all that donated collectibles, money and time. It is appreciated. Working together we get things done.
The museum schedule is from Memorial Day through Labor Day. The museum is open on Sundays and holidays from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. or anytime by appointment. Free admission.
If anyone would like to become a member of The Logan County Historical Society, dues are $2.00 annually or $50.00 for a lifetime membership.
Country Schools
Country schools were a common sight on the prairies of North Dakota. Although wood construction was the most common, early records compiled by the Superintendent of Public Instruction indicate a variety of building materials. By 1894 two hundred seventy-three schools were built in North Dakota. Of that total, two hundred sixty-three were frame, five were stone, one was sod and four were of log construction. By 1914-1915, the last year that such statistics were compiled, North Dakota had five thousand fifty frame schools, two hundred fifty-two stone or brick and nineteen log. The Logan County Museum has one of the early schools on its grounds.
Brief History of Logan County
Logan County was organized in 1884. By then a number of settlers had begun their improvements. By 1886 three railroad surveys had been made through Logan County. With that prospect in view, a colony of about 100 persons was formed in Pennsylvania and settled here in the spring of 1886.
The birth dates of the towns in Logan County line up as follows:
Napoleon, County Seat, 1884
Lehr 1889
Gackle 1903
Fredonia 1904
Burnstad 1906
Thank you to Lee Kleppe for all the years doing a good job putting together the Historical Society Newsletter. Also thank you Pete and Betty Sperle for doing the Newsletter this year.
We invite you to visit the museum this summer. You will find it interesting.
More Reminiscing
By Carmen Burgad
This no doubt will be the last article on Burnstad, as the town of Burnstad is no more.
The only buildings left are the old Farmers Union hardware store (now owned by Julius Leier) and the old store building (owned by the Regners.) There are two homes owned by the Leiers and the Regners.
As I was driving around the other day I drove into Burnstad-stopped and looked around only to remember what Burnstad, my home town, used to be. I'll have to admit I shed a tear or two as I sat and remembered what it used to be. I could see the kids sliding down the school house hill, ice skating on Beaver Creek, the teams of horses and bobsleds in the winter and cars and some saddle horses in the summer.
The dances in the Burnstad gym, Burnstad was known for the dance town, and people came from miles around when there was a dance, and everyone had a good time. We had orchestras of any number of musicians from 5 to 12. The music they played was the big band sound, along with waltzes and polkas. Now my children and grandchildren look at me and ask, "What is the big band sound?" So I have to get out a tape of Glenn Miller and let them listen. They weren't too impressed, but then their kind of music doesn't impress this grandma either, so I guess we're even. How times do change, and we all must make some changes, too, and I guess electric technology is alright, too.
Days Gone By
By John Gross
Now it's already March 15, 2007. Here in the Napoleon coffee shop, Joe A. Fettig said to me, "Did you write something up for the Historical Society News Letter?" I said, "No, isn't it too late now, because over the years we've been sending out this thing in February?" He said, "It's not too late, just do it."
Last week Margaret and I spent a week in Peach Tree City, Georgia, population of about 47,000, located 35 miles south of the Atlanta Airport. It's really a beautiful city. My brother Ben and his wife Christine live there. They are retired.
One of the highlights was visiting at Warm Springs, Georgia, the place where Franklin Delano Roosevelt died April 12, 1945, shortly before the end of World War II in the European Theater but not yet in the Pacific. He would spend time in Warm Springs for rest and hot baths as treatment for polio. I remember well the day of his death, I was serving in the military, thinking, "Will this end the war now or will we lose the war?" Franklin Roosevelt, the only president to serve three terms, served from 1933 to 1945.
Among the many exhibits at the museum is his 1938 Ford convertible, equipped with hand controls that he would drive in parades. His presidential campaign platform was the New Deal. It was time of the great depression and severe drought throughout the Midwest. People lost their savings and money. Banks closed, many farmers lost their farms. Some up and left for the cities wherever they found jobs. I know some people that went west to California, Washington or Oregon.
President Roosevelt started many Federal Aid and Work Programs. To name a few, CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), REA (Rural Electric Administration), compulsory insurance for bank depositors, FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or NCUA) and Credit Unions (a government agency).
During the thirties most of us were poor, poor. There was no money to buy food from the grocery store.
In 1936 my brother Math and I got a job to work on the road by our farm, picking rocks and handling teams of horses. Our pay was half of what the adults received, because we were too young. We worked on the WPA program. Many of these project used initials. I remember one called NYA (even President Roosevelt was called FDR).
By Emil Roesler
Joe Fettig, President of the Logan County Historical Society called and asked me to write an article for the Logan County Historical Newsletter. Well, writing is not my cup of tea, so bear with me and I'll give it a try.
My German-Russian parents raised nine children, five boys and four boys. I was number seven. The older four have since passed away. I live on the home place, the same house I was born in back in 1923, twelve miles northeast of Lehr. I'm a widower. My wife passed away in 1995, four months before our 50th wedding anniversary. My family consists of one son, his wife and two granddaughters. They live in Hickson, N.D. My son has his own business in West Fargo.
I've learned while growing up is fun, growing old can also be fun. I don't resent growing old. Come to think of it many people are denied that privilege. Like everyone else I made mistakes while growing up. Once I remember was when my dad gave me a spanking and I said, "That didn't hurt." The one that came immediately following did. For me every year of life's journey seems to go more quickly than the one before.
Now if we could just do away with the terrorists, end the war in Iraq and bring our service men and women home. I'm sure we would all feel better and this would be a much happier country.
I have a small museum on my farm. If you ever come by my place, stop in, you're always welcome.
A little girl took too much time returning from the store. When she got home her worried mother asked. "What on earth took you so long?" "I was watching the Devil's funeral," she replied. "What do you mean?" her astonished mother asked. "Well, I was watching the funeral cars go by and a man next to me said, 'The poor devil was only sick about a week'."
Peter's Siding
Peter's Siding was a pioneer community where settlers began homesteading in the early 1900's. Since this was a farming and ranching area, the farmers needed a way to sell their grain without hauling it a great distance, since their only form of transportation was horsepower. They also needed stockyards to ship their cattle, and they needed a grocery store.
The railroad went through this community, and in 1912 a farmer whose land adjoined the railroad, Hans Peters, sold a parcel of his land to the Minneapolis St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad Company for $1.00 so that a grain elevator could be erected.
It took some time, but the farmers organized and in 1914 Secretary of State Tom Hall issued Articles of Incorporation for the Peters elevator, which was midway between Napoleon and Burnstad.
About this time Hans Peters built a store west of the elevator and in 1915 sold it to W.J. Belzer with a three acre parcel of land. The store was again sold that same year to John Rosing who operated the store into the early 1920's.
The store and elevator was followed by stockyards, coal sheds and a box car was placed near the track to be used as a depot. A flag arm made of wood was fashioned on one end of the depot, and it someone had cream to ship, or someone wanted to board the train, the arm was lowered, and the engineer stopped the train to pick up whatever was there. Many cans of cream were shipped and the empty cans returned by train. When the roads were blocked, neighbors would take the south bound train to Burnstad, get groceries and return on the north bound. Since there were several hours between trains, it allowed the farmers ample time to do their shopping. High school pupils of the area often got back and forth from their rooms in Napoleon to their homes the same way.
The Rosing's finally closed the store and moved to Illinois. Different families lived in the store for short periods of time and would move on when they found something better, however, the elevator remained in business.
John Doyle of Wishek bought the elevator in the mid 1920's and built another store. It was opened by Doyle's relative, Jim Sconlon, but due to the coming of the automobile and better roads, it was not in business very long. Pioneer patrons of Peters included Hans Peters, Clarence Starkey, Oscar Starkey, A.W. Draeger, August Anderson, Oscar Lindeboek, Alfred Swenson, Sever Starkey, W.J. Belzer, Ethel White, Pete Nord, John Schnaidt, Chzrlie Lark, S.Stout, B.F. Spotts, Harvey Klipful, and John Eggen.
Starkey School No. 1 was a short distance north of Peters near the track. It was a small one room school with a stove in the center of the room. All of the pupils in the area were on hand at one time or another to be near to wave to the engineer and passengers on the Soo, or to see George Granas, the section foreman, who in the early years operated a manual section car (one propelled by hand). George started here in 1923.
Early records (1910) indicate that this school was No. 5 of Foster School District. Records further indicate that Gus Draeger, Claus Schuchard, Hugelen, Urseth, Kelle and Norling children attended the school between 1914-1923. The school was closed in 1956-57 when the area consolidated into Napoleon.
In 1952, the elevator was sold to the Farmers Company and moved into Napoleon. It burned in April 1977 along with the Farmers and PV elevators. The stockyards and depot have also been removed.
Due to the age of automation, Peters no longer exists. To the older generation it is a memory. To the younger generation it never existed. One little milestone of time has faded into memory.
What I Can Remember About Butchering Day
By Esther Zimmerman Werre
On butchering day, water was carried into the house the night before, put in big oval shaped wash boilers, setting on the cook stove. Wood, manure and later years coal was used to heat immense amounts of water used to scald two or three 250 to over 300 pound hogs. Usually one man or family in the neighborhood was the head butcher, but it took several men to handle them.
Outside the men started early in the morning, pitch dark, no yard light, only lanterns.
The hogs were shot, then the heart area stabbed for good bleeding. The boiling water was carried out to the barn into a big barrel. The animal was dipped in and out of the water, turned to prevent severe scalding.
Then it was hung up with ropes to the beams in the barn, then the scrapping and gutting started. The hog was washed off with water many times after the hair was scrapped off.
Everything of the animal was used. The head was severed and carried into the house. Many times women dismantled the head. If a man was available, he would help. Ma, Hilda and I always did this in our early married years.
The snout was sawed off behind the teeth, eyes cut out and ears cut off. Using a hand saw, cut down the center and saw crossways.
The brains were also used. Fried with onion and eggs. Tasted not too bad. Everything was quite bloody and had to be washed over and over. These head pieces, the belly stripped, the liver and tongue, kidneys, heart and skin strips were cooked in the wash boiler until soft, taken out and left to cool. Now the men brought in the rest of the animal, cut down the middle. Some started cutting up the meat for sausage, bone meat, ribs, salt pork, ham and roast etc. Others started scraping the intestines and stomach. The intestines were turned inside out, gently scraped so that they wouldn't be torn. Scraped and washed over and over. These were used for casings to stuff the sausage in. The clean stomach for headcheese (in German "swarda maga").
The meat for sausage, after being cut into small pieces, was ground with a meat grinder turned by hand. In later years the grinder was hooked to a motor with a belt. This was much easier.
It took very strong men to do all this manually.
The ground pork was put in a big washtub. The person or persons had to wash hands and arms thoroughly. The hair was tied up with a dishtowel or other material. Ma was very touchy that way. No hair in the sausage, no human hair for sure.
Now the mixing started. Non iodized salt was sprinkled over the meat, hands were used to measure, then black pepper. Very fine chopped or mashed garlic was added. It was mixed, turned to one side of the tub and back over again. (Our family never did this, but John Mertz Sr. would wash a dime and throw it in the tub, and not until the dime was found, did the mixers quit.) My husband, Art, told me this, also a bit of cheer in a bottle, just made all this hard work easier. Now it had to be tasted raw, also a paddy or two were fried and everyone tasted it. (More salt was fine. The phrase "too much salt" was not welcome.)
Next the big black stuffer was nailed to a sturdy butchering table. Someone filled the stuffer, casings were stripped over the spout of the stuffer, and a STRONG man turned the handle. This went on for hours until all the casings were stuffed. Sometimes some of this mix was fried and put in jars and processed in a hot water bath. Very good in summertime, heated and or cold. In the mean time the head had been heated and cooled. Ma separated what was used for liverwurst or headcheese. It was deboned. This meat was also ground, seasoned, and put into the large intestine casings cut into twelve inch lengths and tied on one end, stuffed, and the two ends tied together for liver sausage. The headcheese mixture was put into the cleaned stomach. Later years casings were bought and headcheese put into cloth sewed bags. Now the liver sausage and headcheese was simply put into the water boiler, the same liquid the headcheese was cooked in. It was heated until the casings turned a whitish color, taken out carefully as they would break easily. The liver sausage was hung over a rod to cool and let the fat drip out.
Regular sausage was cut after being stuffed, then the ends twisted to close the rings. The headcheese, after being stuffed into the stomach, was pressed with a board with a weight on it. When cooled, it was hung in a shed where it would freeze. Some was also canned.
Then the sausages were hung in a smoke house to be smoked. Sometimes until they started to drip. Smoked sausage keeps much better. Some of our family preferred the unsmoked. It was hung in a shed or could be canned, curled up in a jar, nicely. Some were sitting at a table cutting the large strips into pieces. The pieces were put in a kettle to boil. This was called rendering lard. The pieces that were drained out were crackles or grevela. When cooled they were kept in a cold place. They were crisp and eaten. They are almost like pork rinds or used cut up or ground to use in bread dough and baked in loaves. Delicious! Some people also made lye soap-nothing went to waste. Even the pigs feet were cleaned, cooked, and when cooled formed a jelly like substance. "Koladetz."
The lard was poured into jars or cream cans and stored in a cool place. The lard was used for baking and cooking. It made delicious pie crusts, cakes and bread.
Now came the fun job; washing all the greasy boilers, grinder, stuffer, knives, tables and the floor, several times, to get rid of the grease. This was the women's job. Now remember, all the water was carried in. Many times into the basement. Water was also carried out. Wood and coal carried in to heat and the water and ashes carried out. Later kerosene stoves were used. There was a supper break, fresh fried sausage, and home made bread. It was late at night until things were done and everyone was exhausted. Some not feeling too well, the tasting and smell made me queasy.
Now the family had enough meat and lard for the winter months. Flour was bought in fall in hundred pound bags, as much as a thousand pounds. And sugar, too, was purchased in big bags. Boxes of apples and oranges were also purchased as most families did not get to town, since the roads were not very good. Everyone had enough to eat all winter. Most people had cattle and chickens which kept them supplied with dairy products and eggs.
The information for this article was taken from the book
The Relentless Blizzard of March 1966
By Doug Ramsey and Larry Shroch.
Peter Sperle
This book covers not only North Dakota but much of the surrounding states as well. Here I will limit myself to some facts pertaining to Logan County.
The blizzard began March 2 and lasted through March 5, 1966. Napoleon School closed at 2:00 p.m. on March 2. The bus drivers ran into tough driving conditions. Ben Marquart owned three buses. He drove one bus and employed two other drivers. Southeast of Napoleon, Ben Marquart got stuck in the snow at the Ignatz Feist farm. Marquart gained access to a car and delivered the children to their homes. He then returned to Napoleon with a farmers pickup.
Baltzer Weigel, a bus driver for Marquart, stalled six miles north of Napoleon on Highway #3 when the motor got wet. Weigel and the children waited for help. Marquart's third bus driven by Rudolph Mertz developed mechanical problems a few miles north of Napoleon. Mertz returned to Napoleon before the engine quit running. The children were taken off the bus in town.
After drying out the distributer Ben Marquart and Rudolph Mertz headed north on Highway #3. They pulled the Weigel bus back to Napoleon. Arrangements were made for the children of the two buses to stay in Napoleon.
Tony Kuntz drove another school bus. It stalled near the George Gross farm, fourteen miles south of Napoleon. Meanwhile Leo Kuntz finished his route. Leo heard that Tony ran into trouble and headed out into the storm. Tony and several children stayed with the Gross family until Saturday. Leo waited out the blizzard at the George Bitz farm.
All businesses were closed in Napoleon on Thursday and Friday, except the Red Owl Grocery and The Miller Café. By Thursday and Friday the front of The Miller Café was completely covered with snow. Their customers came and left through the back door.
About 175 head of cattle wandered into Napoleon during the storm from the Wes Nickolson Ranch south of Dawson. According to the North Dakota Extension Service, Logan County had the highest cattle loss in the state, about 2,000 head.
Dennis Kroll, son of Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Kroll, was home alone during the blizzard. He was twelve years old. His father and a neighbor walked several miles to the Kroll farm on March 5th. They were thrilled to find Dennis safe at home.
Some who lost livestock in the area included Joe Leier, Valentine Fettig, Ray Nord, Victor Wald, Reuben Lang, Mike Welder, Roy Glatt, Joe Wolf, Wald Brothers, Baltzer A. Weigel and Marvin Wentz.
Burnstad lost power on March 2, 1966. The blackout lasted for seventy-two hours. On March 5th Earl Heck, an MDU employee at Napoleon, hired Dale Schultz with his snowmobile. They went to the Burnstad substation to replace a blown fuse.
Saturday afternoon, men from Fredonia formed a work party. Christ Kleingartner, John Coppin, Roland Essig, and Roland Rossman went door to door to make sure everyone could get out of their homes after the storm.
Mrs. Harold Blumhardt of Fredonia developed complications from a recent surgery. Family members contacted Dr. Hill from Kulm and Dr. Fleck from Ashley. Efforts to reach the farm failed. A helicopter from Bismarck also failed to reach the farm. Neighbors of the Blumhadts gathered to help out. They pushed and shoveled the family car through numerous drifts, over five miles. In the meantime the county road maintainer, a state snowplow and a truck, opened country roads and met the Blumhardts 15 miles from Ashley. The Blumhardts arrived in Ashley about 5:30. Mrs. Blumhardt recovered her health in the days that followed.
In many cases fuel had to be transported by toboggan in drums or five gallon cans to homes and businesses that were short of fuel. Farmers and townsmen came to the Fairway Grocery Store to get groceries with sleds or carried them home on their backs in gunny sacks.
Many Gackle area residents lost livestock also. However after a low of 7° below zero the area experienced above normal temperatures for two weeks.
Chris's Comments
It gets harder to come up with ideas for the newsletter.
We still need items such as 40's and 50's machinery and tools. Household implements and other period items.
We also need to be looking ahead to the future. Another building should be a high priority item. Our current buildings are full and getting crowded. The new building would allow us to categorize items and improve our displays. Displays could be set up to reflect the changes as they occurred. The opportunities are almost unlimited.
Another area we need to get recorded are the rural schools; where they were, how long they existed, how many students they had and what happened to them. Who the teachers were would add interest. If you went to one of these schools, why not write up a short history of what, when and where. Send it to Joe Fettig and we will type it up and start a file about these schools. Tell about your experiences in the winter and what other things you remember. Your grand children will enjoy reading these stories, so will many others. If you have any pictures you would be willing to share, they would be appreciated. Photos can be scanned and returned.
Esther Werre has an article on butchering day that is interesting in this newsletter. I'm sure that there were other special days in other families that would be interesting. They will help others understand what life was like even 50 years ago. Take pen in hand and put those memories down. Send them to Joe and we'll put them in a file. Maybe if there are enough we could make a booklet of them.
We still need volunteers and members, so send in your dues and
come in and help when you have time. Spend a Sunday afternoon touring
the museum and helping others enjoy it.


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Mayor Don Wesely and representatives of local environmental groups today announced their support for the federal Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA). The U.S. House has already passed the bill, and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to consider the legislation next week.
"Passage of this bill would be a huge financial boost for preservation, recreation and conservation programs in Lincoln," Mayor Wesely said. The bill would provide at least $9.6 million annually to Nebraska through three of the major CARA programs in which the state is involved:
The LWCF program has contributed more than $1.7 million to outdoor recreation projects in Lincoln in the last 30 years. From 1995 to 1999, LWCF funds were reallocated to other programs and not available.
"Money for many of our picnic shelters, tennis courts and our big parks like Mahoney and Holmes came from LWCF," Wesely said. "An example of an area that could benefit from CARA is Wilderness Park, for which funding has not been available in the budget."
"The Land and Water Conservation Fund has historically been very important to Lincoln's parks," said city Parks and Recreation Director Lynn Johnson.
The state may also receive money through the Conservation Easements and Endangered Species Recovery program in the bill.
Attending today's news conference were members of the Mayor's Environmental Advisory Committee, officials from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and representatives of the Nebraska Wildlife Federation, the Wachiska Audubon Society, the Nebraska Sierra Club, Friends of Wilderness Park, the Nature Conservancy and the American Society of Landscape Architects. The U.S. Conference of Mayors also supports CARA and is sending a delegation of mayors to lobby for the bill in Washington.


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When it comes to making sexual choices as a young person, do you feel/have you felt:
Primary tabs
I had an English teacher in
I had an English teacher in high school who I'm still friends with to this day, and although I didn't have sex until two years after I graduated said high school, I always felt comfortable talking to her about my relationships and sexual decision-making. My mother is supportive of my choices, but I didn't feel comfortable talking to her about sex until I was already having it, when I was almost 20. I have no idea if my dad supports my decision to have sex, or even knows about it, because we have never discussed it.
afraid I'll get kicked out if
afraid I'll get kicked out if my parents know I'm sexually active, even through I have been in the same monogamous relationship for nearly 4 years. I have to go to Planned Parenthood rather than use my insurance because my dad would see on the insurance bills if I got on the pill or anything of that nature(on his insurance because I'm in college part time). I am glad I make as much as I do with my full time job, but even $180 for a 6 months of pills through them is too much, but these are the problems that I am stuck with. I'm really considering an IUD as a long term investment because there wouldn't be any empty packaging to risk being found unlike the BC pill.
The only adults I've felt
The only adults I've felt comfortable talking to about my sexuality have been adults whose job it is to be willing to talk to young people about this sort of thing. My doctor was brilliant when I wanted information on contraceptive options; the clinic she referred me to when I needed a cervical exam was also full of brilliant people. I'm very lucky to live in a country with such good public healthcare: I can get any necessary medical consultations, contraceptives and/or STI tests for free. If I lived somewhere where I had to rely on my parents' insurance for these things, I'd be screwed - my mother strongly believes all non-marital sex to be sinful and has some very disturbing views on a woman's role in a relationship, so I've never been able to ask her for help or advice when it comes to my sexuality.
From Teen Boy Unschooler
I just live with my Mom and I feel 100% able to ask her and discuss anything. I feel like that is because I am an unschooler and we have a close, trusting relationship.
Adults and adults
My situation was a little different--I did absolutely nothing sexual with anyone but myself until college. I grew up in a sex-negative household where I was told the traditional messages like "good girls wait." Probably the worst things I heard were the fact that losing my virginity would be unbearably painful and sex might always be painful (lies! at least for me), and if my parents ever found me pregnant I would be forced to carry the baby to term and give it up for adoption. However, campus health services at my college are great about providing info about birth control as well as covering the cost. My doctor has also been great and very non-judgmental about answering my questions. So, in short, while my parents were anything but honest and helpful about educating me about sex, not everyone has their hang-ups.
I've recieved enough support
I've recieved enough support from my mom and sister, though I haven't told her because I know she will ask things like which one is my favorite position and things like that that my sister does tell her.The only person I have sex with is just a friend of mine, but I still know there would be no problem with that.
Other than that, I've told two counselors at my old high school [a private catholic school] and they were like: how do you feel about it? and I replied "nice" but they didn't reject me or hate me!
Adults weren't there for me
Growing up I was told I wasn't allowed to date until 18 and I certainly wasn't allowed to have sex, at least until I was planning on marriage. I ended up dating for the first time when I was 17 after pleading with my parents to let me date. When we became sexually active I had tried to talk to my mom about seeing a Gynocologist. Her response was basically that I didn't need one since I wasn't having sex. We ended up using condoms but had a few slip ups and I ended up pregnant. Yes I should have been more careful and used condoms more safely. But still, if we had gone to a gyno and I'd gotten on the pill like I had wanted it would never have happened.
Yes and No...
Luckily, my mom let me go on the pill. She knows my boyfriend and I are sexually active, but if she suspects sex is happening in her house, she'll run in to break it up. When it comes to sex, itself, I feel pretty much supported, because she is not shaming me, but she's still trying to protect my virtue.
However, when my parents caught me looking at porn, they said it was wrong. "But you're a girl? Why are you looking at porn? Is there something wrong with you?"


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brmecham needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 80 designs submitted by 19 freelance designers.
JD Optimize
JD Optimize provides web design, SEO and internet marketing services to lawyers and law firms, specifically. It is run by a law firm that is familiar with the online marketing needs of other law firms and how to promote law firms online.
We want the feel to be very web 2.0 - not too complex, somewhat minimalistic, simple, yet awesome. (also professional)
A logo that will look good whether on the header of our website, or on paper, small or large. Make it look good on a white background.
JD stands for Juris Doctor (it's a term for a professional law degree). JD Optimize provides web design and marketing to Lawyers and Law Firms.
Lawyers and Law Firms.
We don't have a specific color scheme in mind. Be creative and give us something we can be proud of.
Final delivery should be in Photoshop or Illustrator format, and high resolution / high quality.
If a non-standard font is used, include font file with the design.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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Police: Naked man died after shock from officer's Taser
A man who authorities said was naked and flooding his apartment stopped breathing and died Thursday morning after being shocked by a police officer's Taser, authorities said.
Officers were called to an apartment complex at about 5 a.m. for a report of a "suspicious male" in the building.
Initial reports indicated the man, 22, was naked, speaking incoherently and flooding an apartment, police departments said in a joint news release.
A Taser was used on the man because he was uncooperative and combative with officers, the release said.
"I heard him scream three times. That's probably when he was getting tased," said a witness who did not want to be identified.
He stopped breathing after being taken into custody, and he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
Because the death involved an officer, the Greenfield Police Department is heading up the investigation.
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's office said in a tweet that an autopsy was scheduled for Friday to determine the cause of death.


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Menus from Mars
by Gretchen Noyes
Scientists are busy developing recipes that can be prepared on long voyages to far-off planets. These dishes really will be out of this world—all the ingredients will be grown in space!
Until now, astronauts have loaded aboard their spacecraft everything that they might need, including enough "Earth food" to last for their entire trip. Those yucky tubes of liquid meals that fed our first space travelers are history. Today's astronauts choose carefully from a menu of more than a hundred varieties of dried meals to take along. by injecting hot water into the special packages, they can produce delicious food in space. But the astronauts must bring just enough. There is no room for extras or leftovers aboard a spacecraft.
Packing food for a mission of several days or several weeks is one thing. Stocking up for a trip to Mars is quite another. One round trip will take four years. Astronauts with their sights set on long-distance space exploration and colonization will have no choice—they will have to grow their own food along the way.
If space farming seems unusual to you, it will be even more unusual for the "astroplants" that will accompany space missions in the future. These plants will have to grow without dirt, sunlight, or gravity. And nothing will be wasted. In specially designed growth chambers aboard the spacecraft or in inflatable greenhouses on Mars, special lamps will provide just the right artificial light for plants to grow, using recycled nutrients and water. The search for types of wheat, potatoes, rice, soybeans, and lettuce that can thrive under space farm conditions is on. Only small plants that grow very fast and produce a variety of edible and delicious parts need apply for future missions.
Space farming will be more and more important the farther we go as we explore the universe. Because the choice of ingredients will be limited, each spacecraft will carry a cookbook of imaginative recipes. As the view of our planet grows smaller in the distance, certain reminders of Earth food aboard will become more and more treasured—small stashes of cheese, coffee, and chocolate. And a few Mars bars, perhaps?
- astronaut: A person trained to travel in a spacecraft or to work in outer space.
- colonization: The act of founding a settlement.
- gravity: A force that pulls objects toward each other.
- nutrient: A substance that living things need in order to survive and grow.
- How will plants grown on spacecraft meet their needs?
[anno: The plants will receive artificial light, recycled nutrients, and recycled water.]
- What will the plants not receive in space?
[anno: The plants will not receive dirt, sunlight, or gravity.]
- Why is gravity important for a plant?
[anno: Answers may vary but could include that gravity might affect how well different kinds of plants, like fruit-bearing plants, grow.]


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Cowboys Haters In Full Effect Already, So What's New?
When you are the most popular, most storied, most winning sports franchise in pro football history it comes with the territory that you have people who despise you. Call it jealousy, call it envy but its strong and its everywhere we turn.
The latest rants include Cowboys Number One Draft Pick Dez Bryant and the young tight end Martellus Bennett.
Okay maybe I will give them Dez, thats a valid complaint. He got his money and hasn't even played in one pro game and already thinks he's better than the veterans. Not cool Dez. So they are calling him "another Diva Cowboy". Well the guy just scored nearly 12 million dollars, has been given the coveted number 88 and has already been deemed the super star wide receiver for America's Team fresh out of college. To say expectations for Dez Bryant are high is an understatement.
You can blame Dez, blame Jerry Jones, or blame the media but I got money that says he produces and blows everyone away this season.
So, rumor is Marty B had a bad break-up and his ex posted nude pictures of him online. Who cares? What in the world does that have to do with football? Absolutely nothing. I have my own issues with Martellus' off-the-field shenanigans but in reality he's a backup tight end, a backup to one of the best in the league. Is he the future? Only time will tell. But he's still young, immature and seems to crave a lot of attention. A professional athlete who wants all eyes on him – well thats totally unheard of, what in the world is he thinking?!
Like it or not all of these ridiculous stories sell, whether true or fabricated. People love to hate the Dallas Cowboys. Why do you think ESPN constantly disses the Cowboys? That's easy, because hating on Dallas sells. It's stirs up Cowboy followers and it revs up the haters. Personally, I very rarely watch ESPN for that very reason.
It doesn't matter that there are players who have violated the league drug law or committed felonies. Hell, there have been times men have been suspected in rapes and murders, but if Tony Romo wants to play golf in the offseason or Miles Austin was in Las Vegas gambling and having a few drinks – well thats front page news! How dare they do something without a football in their hands.
Listen, like I said before it comes with the territory. I spent years defending Terrell Owens, because that's what we do as Cowboys fans. I will admit I have a limit though, I never defended Pacman Jones. He truly was an embarrassment.
Earlier I went to visit my mom and she started talking about an article she read about Dez not carrying Roy's pads on Yahoo!, and I immediately went into defense mode. It's like a parent who's child can do no wrong.
So when I go into work this morning and my boss who loves sports gossip starts telling me the latest, instead of defending Bryant and Bennett maybe I will turn the conversation around and talk about how great Romo and Austin are projected to be this season. Maybe I will tell him how excellent David Buehler is looking, how he's blowing the experts away with his kicking talent. How about the fact that the Cowboys have a shot to be the first team in history to go to the Super Bowl in their own stadium and win!
When a hater comes straight up to me trashing my team I will defend them to the end. Call me a cheerleader, call me bias… no, you know what, just call me a Cowboys fan and damn proud of it.


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Akon, Sean Kingston, Clinton Sparks & Rock City Clown On Each Other In The Studio! (Rock City Call Akon The Dark Knight & Kingston Calls Clinton Sparks "White Lee")
Get Familiar TV reports "Clinton Sparks in the studio working on music with Rock City, Akon and Sean Kingston... cracking jokes and enjoying Ciroc responsibly. "
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
Comments will only be displayed by verified emails. No Spamming or Racism.


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Toxic toys – chemicals to keep an eye out for
Unfortunately, some of the chemical additives that give plastics desirable performance properties can pose risks to the environment and human health. Below is a list of some chemicals you should look out for when you're buying toys or other household items (courtesy of Ecology Center).
Used in food packaging, toys, plastic wrap and other goods, PVC can cause cancer, birth defects, genetic mutations, skin disease and liver dysfunction among other health issues. PVC stands for polyvinyl chloride and contains vinyl chloride: a known carcinogen. Animal studies suggest that infants and young children are more susceptible than adults to vinyl chloride induced cancer.
Phthalates like DEHP and DINP are used in the manufacture of vinyl products including (but definitely not limited to) clothing, paint, footwear and children's toys. Adding them makes plastic more flexible and more difficult to break. Different phthalates have different health implications, but Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate is listed as "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen" and other variants are associated with adverse affects on human reproduction and development. Though not confirmed, phthalates are also a suspected endocrine disruptor which means they might interfere with the production or activity of hormones.
Polystyrene is used in many food containers, packaging products, CD cases, disposable cutlery and toys for children. It can irritate the nose, throat and eyes and has also been deemed a chemical "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen." When workers exposed to significant amounts of polystyrene were studied, they were observed to have trouble with balance and concentration.
Bisphenol A (BPA)
Used in the manufacture of plastics for water bottles and some toys , BPA has been shown to impact the reproductive systems of lab animals.
For many of the chemicals listed above, more research needs to be conducted to determine the exact nature of health impacts and the concentration of a chemical associated with harm. There's no reason to risk exposing kids you care about to these substances, however. Ecology Center recommends not buying young children plastic toys or teething products and instead turning to natural alternatives.
Sinclair Broadcasting is committed to the health and well-being of our viewers, which is why were introducing Sinclair Cares. Every month well bring you information about the "Cause of the Month," including topical information, education, awareness and prevention.


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Watch Salomon video on Anna's views on running, racing and life.
Thanks to Sarah Lavender-Smith for bringing it to my attention (and for transcript - I am re-pasting it here).
"I couldn't actually see that I was that bad, and running had become … the thing I had created for myself, so running was who I was. And that's not right. It took until I got to the rock bottom, where my injury was so bad and my head was so far away from who I was, until I could actually open my eyes and say, 'Wow you've gotten yourself really deep there,' and it's been a really, really hard journey back out of there, and made me open my eyes and say, 'Running really is just running'. If you get disappointed by running, then it's not running that you're actually disappointed in; it's yourself. You have to love who are, because that's what you've got, that's all you've got, and you have to be grateful for that as well. That's what I'm learning.'It took a long time before I could put on a pair of shoes again to go and do what I love, not just go and run. I'm sure it will come back—the drive to race—and if it doesn't, I've got a lot of adventures that I want to do, and there's such a huge amount of life and the world to travel—to adventure and to explore—that I don't need the racing to do that."


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Not everybody is in a position to go out and buy a brand new, energy efficient vehicle. But there are several things you can do with your car right now that will make it more energy efficient. This will help you to go green and save green in the process.
1. Make sure that your tires are inflated properly. This will not only help your car to handle better, but you will have better fuel efficiency. Improperly inflated tires can reduce fuel efficiency by as much as 25%.
2. Don't haul around heavy items in your car. Unless you are headed directly to a destination that requires luggage, chairs, heavy sports equipment, etc. keep them in the garage until you need them. When you are dragging heavy items around, you are losing precious miles per gallon.
3. Make sure your car is properly maintained. According to Advance Auto Parts, a dirty air filter can reduce your gas mileage by up to 20%, and spark plugs in poor condition can reduce it by up to 12%.
4. If you have to run errands, schedule out your trips so that you can do as much as possible at once, without any back tracking. Also, make sure you run errands earlier in the day while it's still relatively cool.
5. Make sure your gas cap is securely fastened at all times. Did you know that, according to Advance Auto Parts, 147 million gallons of fuel vaporize every year in the U.S. because of improperly closed gas caps?
As always, reserve the car for trips that require you to carry heavy items or for trips that are too far away to walk. Whenever possible, walk, ride a bike or carpool. By taking very easy steps like these, you will keep your car running more efficiently, which will help the environment and save you money.
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text: Find this wine Find this wine Arenal Vina Peralillo 2009 Crisp with a hint of grapefruit. Pin It Tweet 6 years ago by Zinmaster More posts Arenal Vina Peralillo 2009 Good alone or with food. Found at gene's sausage shop. Birthday wine :) 7 years ago by Amy S. Arenal Vina Peralillo 2009 2009 Arenas Carmenere Vina Perallilo. Peppery and went perfect with pork tenderloin. 7 years ago by Tciaravino Arenal Vina Peralillo $11.00 carm. Earthy, pepper and other spice. Not so creamy as others. Pretty Bold. Current nose. Good 7 years ago by Kmw105


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Xandros To Roll Out Myriad Servers After Desktop Release
From Desktop to Server
At next week's LinuxWorld show in San Francisco, desktop Linux pioneer Xandros will preview the Xandros Desktop Management Server (xDMS), the first in a new series of servers that will roll out by the end of next year. Xandros' future server line-up will include file, mail, and FTP servers, among others, said Xandros Chairman and CTO Dr. Frederick Berenstein, who remains bullish over the future of desktop Linux, too.
Like Xandros' existing desktop OS products, xDMS will be aimed at ease of use, Berenstein said in an interview. "Instead of going, 'Please send in the Linux professionals,' (systems administrators) will be able to just click on 'Linux administrator.' Then they'll say, 'Oh. Okay. I know how to do this.'"
Xandros has just completed a pilot of the new desktop management server, which is slated for release in September. xDMS will include remote mangement capabilities, too.
Xandros' first steps into the servers just so happen to coincide with emerging desktop Linux initiatives, also geared to user friendliness, from Linux distributors Red Hat and Novell/SUSE.
Meanwhile, just days before LinuxWorld, Xandros this week announced version 2.5 of its desktop OS, a product being touted by the company for its suitability to enterprises.
In a usability sense, Berenstein hasn't been impressed by earlier products from either Red Hat or SUSE. "The reality is that almost all of the PCs being sold today ship with Microsoft Windows. Our products can be easily used by anyone who is (familar with) Windows. Our desktop OS can be set up in 14 minutes by just about anybody," he contended.
For example, the Xandros desktop provides Windows authentication and directory services out of the box, without the need to set up Samba, he said.
"Our servers will also be oriented to ease of use. Other companies, such as Red Hat and Novell/SUSE, have been telling people, 'You should use Linux, because it's more stable and secure. But you must do things as we do.'"
Xandros, on the other hand, takes the position that "in order to succeed, Linux must not only be demonstrably better than Windows, but backward-compatible (with Windows)."
Meanwhile, however, Xandros welcomes greater competition in desktop Linux, according to the chairman/CTO. In fact, in his role as co-chairman of Linux Global Partners, Berenstein was a leading light a few years back in providing initial funding to both Xandros and Ximian, a company later acquired by Novell.
"I like competition. If you're all alone in the baseball field, it probably means that you're in the wrong baseball field. You have to be confident that something will become big to invest in it," Berenstein said.
"I didn't think we'd be alone (in desktop Linux) for very long. I assumed Red Hat would do something (on the desktop). Novell, clearly, is a different case. Novell, which was primarily a server company, purchased SUSE, also primarily a server company. So that fits in well. But Novell now has to contend with both KDE and Gnome, the two competing widget sets in the Linux desktop world." SUSE's desktop has been traditionally built around KDE, whereas Ximian's co-founders, Nat Friedman and Miguel di Icaza, advocated for Gnome.
Berenstein also pointed out that Evolution and Ximian Connector, two products obtained by Novell through its Ximian acquisition, are both open source tools. "This means that anybody--including us--can use Evolution and Connector in their products."
In any event, the desktop Linux market looks certain to turn into an expanding pie, according to Berenstein, who foresees opportunities in a variety of different places.
"We already have a decent base of customers who are buying OEM computers installed with Linux. These are mostly individuals. They're getting the PCs from resellers as well as stories like Microcenter."
Other customers, particularly overseas, are buying inexpensive used PCs, and then swapping out old Windows OS for desktop Linux.
At the same time, Xandros is starting to work its way into the university and enterprise markets, two areas Berenstein views as particularly promising.
For example, Acadia University recently announced the selection of Xandros as the "distribution of choice" for its undergraduate students. Acadia is providing a custom edition of Xandros as part of a program that supplies notebooks to students and faculty. "Since then, we've been deluged with requests from other universities for something similar," he maintained.
Moreover, a number of enterprises are now running pilots of desktop Linux. "As soon as even one of these enterprises decides to go with desktop Linux, then will come the deluge."
The newly announced Ximian Desktop OS 2.5 comes with a custom edition of CrossOver Office 3.0.1, designed to make it simpler than before to run Windows apps on Linux. "This year also saw the advent of our business edition. According to a report from a packaging company that piloted this product, it was very easy to use. They didn't have a hard time migrating from Windows to Linux at all," Berenstein claimed.
Berenstein sees Windows security holes as one big driver for desktop Linux adoption. "Microsoft's made a big deal out of making Internet Explorer (IE) integral to its OS. But now, the strong integration with IE has turned out to part of the (security) problem."
More desktop Linux applications are also in the wings, according to Berenstein. "As Linux becomes a bigger part of the enterprise, there'll be new migration tools for moving Windows apps to Linux," he argued.
"There'll also be new applications of a type not necessarily seen before," he added, citing in particular an emerging Linux desktop suite containing "80 percent of the bells and whistles of Microsoft Office, in only 20MB of space."
The newly unveiled Xandros OS 2.5 comes in business, deluxe and standard editions. The business and deluxe editions include the upgraded CrossOver, which adds support for Lotus Notes 6.5.1, Microsoft Project 2000/2002, and Microsoft Outlook XP. All editions include Linux kernel 2.4.24 of the Linux kernel, as well as Mozilla version 1.6.


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Sponsored Link:
LifeFitness Elliptical Review Index
General Information:A division of Brunswick Corp, Lifefitness is the 800 lb. gorilla in the commercial market and is known for the famous club Lifecycle stationary cycle made around 40 years ago. These are typically well designed products but are overpriced and we have had consumer complaints about quality on the consumer line. Lifefitness simply isn't competitive with other brands like Landice, Precor, and True in regard to quality and value.
Manufacturing Philosophy:Their philosophy seems to be to engineer the product well and then price accordingly. Post warranty parts are expensive but with the new warranties, they won't be needed for a long time. People usually equate the name with the club machines but unless you are buying one of their club models for the home and you are a serious runner, you will like True, Precor or Landice much better.
Company Outlook : Lifefitness dominates the commercial equipment market and has always had plenty of horsepower in the marketing side of the business. Their industrial design is always sleek, if not complex, which helps them use components that wouldn't work in an average design. We expect Life to be around for a long time to come and they are a huge fitness company.


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Message Board
L.A. Krueger Message Board
Talk about the novels, new and used books that Krueger has written!
Author Krueger's Book Reviews
When Will My Ship Come In? The Misadventures of a Navy Wife
When Will My Ship Come In? follows the author through her "Navy Wife" experience. While Navy life doesn't turn out to be what she had envisioned, she does find that her husband's deployments actually strengthen their marriage and their love for one another is deeper than ever. She also realizes that keeping your sense of humor is essential!...


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Minster sweeps 3200 meter relays at DIII regional
The Minster boys and girls 3200 meter relay teams both won regional titles to highlight the first day of competition at the Division III regional track meet at Piqua on Wednesday.
Both will advance to the state championships next week at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus.
Marion Local leads the girls standings after the first day with 14 points. Minster is third.
The Minster boys are atop the boys standings with 27.5 points after the first day.
The Minster girls 3200 meter relay team of freshman Katherine Burke, freshman Kaci Bornhorst, senior Natalie Fausey and freshman Julia Slonkosky. After running second for much of the first two laps, the Wildcats overtook West Liberty-Salem and ran to the easy win with a 9:36.92 time. Minster will advance to next week's state competition.
The Minster boys 3200 meter relay team won the regional title with an 8:07.38 time. The quartet of sophomore Andrew Fausey, junior Andy Albers, senior Eric Dahlinghaus and junior Dominic Slonkosky overtook Summitt Country Day midway through the race and Slonkosky kept a big lead safe on the final lap to cross the finish line first. Coldwater finished fifth.
Minster has two boys pole vaulters headed to Columbus, as the Minster-Fort Loramie area took three of the four top spots. Minster junior Anthony Huelsman finished second in the boys pole vault by clearing 13 feet, two inches. He'll be joined at state by Minster senior Alan Tebbe, who tied for third. Tebbe also cleared 13 feet, two inches. New Bremen sophomore Zane Ferguson finished 10th, clearing 12 feet, two inches. Fort Loramie's Qwinton Scheer won the event with a vault of 13 feet, four inches.
Minster junior Wes Hegemann just missed out on a state berth in the boys discus throw. Hegemann took fifth with a best throw of 149 feet, six inches. Hegemann will get a shot at state again on Saturday in the boys shot put. Spencerville's Lucas Schumate took fourth in the discus to advance to state.
Marion Local's Gina Kramer won the girls high jump (5-3) while Emily Mescher took fifth in the girls shot put (35-9.25).


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Maxwell's Silver Hammer: the perfect balance to the kettlebell Swing.
Everything in life has its counterpart: Lancelot had Guinevere; Hiawatha had Minehaha; Tristan had Isolde; to has fro; back has forth; up has down and Tweedledee has Tweedledum! You get my point: there's a perfect balance for everything.
The kettlebell Swing is probably one of the finest posterior chain exercises: it works the hamstrings, glutes, erector spinae and core as good or better than any exercise out there and further provides a high-quality level of cardio fitness. It can be argued that, considering all its health and performance benefits, the KB Swing could be the only KB exercise you'd need do at all; however, as in all things, the KB Swing must itself be balanced with an anterior chain movement and I've found the perfect counterpart--the proverbial Beavis to the kettlebell's Butthead--is the Sledgehammer Swing.
I've always loved sledgehammer work. As a kid, I loved the logo on the Arm & Hammer baking soda box. The logo depicts a sinewy, muscular arm--in a rolled up shirtsleeve--holding a large hammer, with the obvious connotations of masculine strength and functional work capacity, not just some all-show-and-no-go arm you might see on a pretty boy magazine, but an arm with genuine sinew and tendon strength.
How I lusted after a pair of arms like that! The hammer itself is a symbol for mighty Thor, the fierce Norse god who wielded the fearsome Mjolnir, a hammer forged by elves and imbued with magical properties, including throwing lightning bolts. When Thor hurled the hammer at his enemies, because of the hammer's mystical connection to him, it always returned.
Even in North American folklore, the sledgehammer is a symbol of a prodigious work capacity and heroism. Take the story of John Henry. As legend has it, John Henry was born into the world as a slave, emerging with a hammer in his hand. He lived at the end of an era where the human workforce was rapidly being replaced by technology. The story continues with John Henry's renown as the greatest steel driver ever, employed in the race to expand the railroads westward. When the railroad owner, in a move to replace his human workers and their jobs, buys a new-fangled steam-powered drill, John Henry attempts to save his comrades jobs and livelihoods by challenging the owner to a race twixt man and machine. Henry dug deep into the very fiber of his being, working like a man possessed, swinging two 20-lb. hammers, and defeated the machine, proving himself superior. But in doing so, he pushed his big heart one step too far and although the victor, he died from his efforts. There was no stopping the industrial age.
Technology has sprung up everywhere, replacing an honest day's labor with the comforts and anxieties of the machines. People of that generation knew how to work for a living. They needed neither restrictive diets nor shiny, mirrored-wall, chrome-and-fern gyms blaring noise and music. I guarantee you didn't see any fat on John Henry--or his work crew--and their sinewed, hammer drivin' bodies epitomize what we today call "functional strength".
I doubt whether the average gym bunny, pretty-boy, bicep-pumper-cum-bench press denizen can perform an honest day's labor. If you want a physique that's functional and strong, get thee down to Lowe's, Home Depot or Ace hardware and pick up a 16# sledge!
The sledgehammer swing is the perfect foil to the kettlebell swing. It works the abs and the entire core with a beautiful rotational movement. The impact of the hammer striking the ground, and the resulting reverberation up the shaft through the arms, builds tremendous tendon and ligament strength and increases bone density.
One of the first things you'll notice when you start swinging your hammer is how quickly the entire cardio-respiratory system is engaged. After just a few swings, your breathing will become pronounced and your heart rate will elevate.
The mechanics of the sledge swing are the exact opposite of the KB Swing: the effort is bringing the sledge down with as much force as possible. If you want an extra good workout, hold at the bottom of the handle, fists touching, and use a large, windmill-like overhead stroke to engage as much musculature as possible. What size hammer? Beginners should opt for a 10-12 pounder, which can be procured at Lowe's or Home Depot for a nominal fee. I've only found bigger hammers on the shelves of Ace Hardware. My GF swings a 16# (my Christmas gift to her last year and she was thrilled.) She loves swinging that sledge and I love watching her swing it! I use a 20# hammer and it's a formidable chunk of steel that will totally kick an ass. In fact, I'm so fired up from telling the story of John Henry that as soon as I finish writing this blog I'm pulling the van over and knocking out a hundred swings!
At the moment, I'm driving across the Great Salt Lake Flats from Utah (where I presented a private Maxbells KB cert at Gym Jones, [slideshow on the right]) to San Francisco. Gym Jones is a fantastic facility catering to world-class athletes, owned by my friends Mark & Lisa Twight. They are amazing trainers with a wealth of knowledge and you can bet they have sledgehammers on site and ready-to-go!
Look what Gym Jones had to say about the MaxBells KB Instructor certification:
On Monday and Tuesday Steve Maxwell presented his Level 1 Kettlebell Instructor course to Lisa, Jamie M, Alberto, and Janette. He has been using KBs and training individuals ranging from amateur to pro athletes, from young to old, from beginner to advanced, from curious to recreational to serious for so long (he was the first to begin using KBs in the US) that he cannot be surprised by any question or condition. He has truly seen and done it. He was present at the first RKC certification in Minneapolis and introduced many of the movements and concepts now a part of the RKC curriculum. Steve was the first Senior instructor and, at the time, the only full-time professional teacher and trainer. Maxercise (his gym) was the first Kettlebell gym in modern times. Steve is a brilliant instructor, and not limited to Kettlebells or fitness: he was the first American to earn a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu [from Relson Gracie] and is an adept instructor. Every one of our guys and girls who had the opportunity to roll with him or take a private lesson were thrilled. Steve has visited us three times this year and the KB seminar was what we hope will be the first of many. Keep an eye on the Seminar page for future events taught by Steve Maxwell.
Old-time fighters liked to strike a tire with a sledge and this is very effective if you're forced to train indoors. I love training outdoors and I strike the hammer right into the ground. There's an added workload bonus to sucking the hammer head back out of the ground which adds up. The downside is this tears up the ground, so choose your location wisely (e.g., your neighbor's yard.) Another option is to find a tree stump; I love the sound of the hammer striking the stump.
While you're pounding that sledge, think of powerhouse Thor slaying the frost-giants. Or imagine indomitable John Henry, his body glistening as he bested that steam drill. Stick with the ol' Coach and you'll be a steel driving man as well.
Performance tips:
Let me be extremely clear: there is a hyooge difference between swinging a puny 8-10# sledgehammer and the massive 16-20# versions. A 16# is formidable...a 20# is horrendous! Keep the hands near the bottom end of the handle, preferably touching. Do not attempt to choke up. Choking up is the technique you'd use if working with the sledgehammer--we're using the hammer as an exercise modality, so the idea is to make it as difficult as possible!
As you strike the ground, exhale with a "huhh!"-like sound. This will help to fully engage the abdominals, including the elusive transverse abdominus. With a heavy hammer, do NOT go for speed. Although you don't want to tarry, go for for quality of repetition by STRIKING the hammer with as much power and vigor as you can muster.
I prefer working the weaker side first, then the stronger. Make sure you always do an equal number of strikes on both sides. If your form deteriorates, be smart enough to stop swinging, so as not to injure yourself!
Sledgehammer swings make a very nice pairing with KB Swings and also pair extremely well with Hindu Push-Ups:
Road Warrior's Sledgehammer Workout
A1) Sledgehammer Swing
x 20 (10 L/10 R)
rest: none
A2) Hindu Push-Ups x 10
rest: none
A3) Alternating Sprinter Lunge
x 20 (10 l/10 R)
rest: 60-sec
A1-A3 are a circuit. Repeat 10 times.
For an incendiary, fat-burning melt-off, the sledgehammer and KB Swing can be combined with stair climbs or sprints. Here's a workout the ol' Coach performed on a recent drive down the California coastline:
I encountered a very steep set of stairs cut into the side of a hill. I placed a KB at the bottom of the stairs and a sledgehammer at the top. Setting a timer, I performed 20 KB Swings at the bottom of the stairs, sprinted to the top, where perform 20 sledge swings (10 R then 10L). The idea is to do as many rounds as possible in 30 minutes--I promise you, this one's a smoker!
In Strength & Health!
Coach Steve


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Nic Creative needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 115 designs submitted by 43 freelance designers.
Nic Creative needs a new brand. Our public relations firm is often confused with a creative services company, so we want to add the public relations. Need something more sophisticated, but contemporary.
Nic Creative Public Relations
Our previous logo (see at http://www.niccreative.com) came free with the purchase of letterhead, but it can't be duplicated in ads and other print products. Plus, we've grown with more experience, qualifications and sophistication. We need a contemporary logo to prove it. We like the colorfulness of our previous logo, but would like something that defines our company as a PR firm rather than creative services. We'd like something that include Nic Creative with Public Relations as a tag or subtitle. Looking for both horizontal and vertical options. See more about Nic Creative at http://www.niccreative.com.
- something colorful
- something that defines us a pr agency (we've considered things like comment bubbles, icons that radiate, etc.)
- a sans serif font
- Nic Creative with Public Relations as a tagline or subtitle
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún
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== See also ==
== See also ==
*[[:Category:Characters in The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún|Characters in The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún]]
*[[:Category:Characters in The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún|Characters in The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún]]
==From the publisher==
==From the publisher==
Revision as of 20:14, 31 March 2010
|The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún
|J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.)
|May 5th, 2009
|Hardcover, Softcover, Audiobook
The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún is a book by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien.
See also
From the publisher
The world first publication of a previously unknown work by J.R.R. Tolkien, which tells the epic story of the Norse hero, Sigurd, the dragon-slayer, the revenge of his wife, Gudrun, and the Fall of the Nibelungs. Many years ago, J.R.R. Tolkien composed his own version, now published for the first time, of the great legend of Northern antiquity, in two closely related poems to which he gave the titles The New Lay of the Volsungs and The New Lay of Gudrun. In the Lay of the Volsungs is told the ancestry of the great hero Sigurd, the slayer of Fafnir most celebrated of dragons, whose treasure he took for his own; of his awakening of the Valkyrie Brynhild who slept surrounded by a wall of fire; and of his coming to the court of the great princes who were named the Niflungs (or Nibelungs), with whom he entered into blood-brotherhood. In that court there sprang great love but also great hate, brought about by the power of the enchantress, mother of the Niflungs, skilled in the arts of magic, of shape-changing and potions of forgetfulness. In scenes of dramatic intensity, of confusion of identity, thwarted passion, jealousy and bitter strife, the tragedy of Sigurd and Brynhild, and Gudrun his sister, mounts to its end in the murder of Sigurd at the hands of his blood-brothers, the suicide of Brynhild, and the despair of Gudrun. In the Lay of Gudrun her fate after the death of Sigurd is told, her marriage against her will to the mighty Atli, ruler of the Huns (the Attila of history), his murder of her brothers, and her hideous revenge. Deriving his version primarily from his close study of the ancient poetry of Norway and Iceland known as the Poetic Edda (and from the later prose work the Volsunga Saga), Tolkien employed a verse-form whose lines embody in English the exacting alliterative rhythms and the concentrated energy of the poems of the Edda.


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XanderK needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 154 designs submitted by 55 freelance designers.
Meeting Professionals International (MPI) Netherlands is the dutch chapter of the one of the most vibrant communities in the meeting and event industry. Each year our dutch members of MPI come together at the NLConference - a disruptive event seeking out new and experimental way people interact with each other.
The team resonsible for this years event shook the industry last year with their outspoken approach. New year - new people to shake up! Last year we set out to evoke a [R]evolution, this year we believe it's all about stepping up to the plate. We believe it takes guts to do something different, to say no to the way things were. Hence the birth of this years theme: >>>> LEF. <<<<< (translation: guts!)
So instead of going at the designs alone, we are looking at the 99design community to help us with a kick start!
The target audience is a defined group of individuals, based on two sides of a spectrum. On one side planners and the other side suppliers. Let me clarify - planners are those responsible for the production of a event, conference, awardshow, expo - they represent either a corporation (marketing- and productmanagers), govermental organisation or an agency. Suppliers vary from venues, catering and AV companies, and more....
The audience however does not have to define the logo - the content and the idea of disruptive, remarkable and less ordinary should define the overall look & feel.
The logo is short and sweet and consists of three letters and a period.
Namely: LEF.
Three things we would like you to think about in the design proces:
Be PLAYFULL
Be INTRIGUING
Be EXPERIMENTAL
The conference we are staging is fastpaced and highly entertaining. And remember that the translation of LEF in english is 'guts' 'taking a risk' 'going you own way'.
Feel free to play with color and font choice.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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Galen, our Interbike video blogger, interviewed Kevin Manning at the Phil Wood booth about his Pump Hub. It works sort of like a self-inflating tire
The Pump Hub is a bicycle tire pump that fits into a wheel (specifically the wheel hub) and operates through rotation of the wheel. The pump is turned on by pushing a button, riding the bike pumps up the tire. When the tire is fully inflated, the pump shuts off.


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In his "failure of logic" post "K. Mandla" writes that the Linux Desktop is not getting faster even though all the hardware around it is getting faster, pointing to an article with the same argument 10 years ago. The ensueing discussion was much too abstract for my taste. ("Why are clouds?" "What clouds, where?") But if you split up the question you get answers:
1) Application start
2) Application processing information
3) Linux boot
4) Desktop "boot"
5) System responsiveness
6) Power efficiency
1) This is due to bottlenecks in hardware and e.g. more and more libraries being used, applications growing in size and complexity.
2) This is actually not the case here. Video or audio encoding data from back then nowadays would be a laugh with a modern computer. A modern libav/ffmpeg uses less CPU for decoding a certain file than it did back then I bet.
3) Actually the Linux boot times increased significantly since then I'm pretty sure. I don't remember 10 second boot being even discussed.
4) Desktop Environments get larger, 1) applies even more here. Upstart, systemd etc. make a lot of difference here.
5) System responsiveness with Linux improved a *lot*. Esp. since new schedulers and the 1000 Hz tick was introduced, the big kernel lock removed, the "wonderpatch" applied, everything became a lot smoother. Linux 2.6 is much snappier than 2.4. Compare the two. I still remember first getting a new computer with a CPU twice as fast. Some time later I upgraded my Linux. Now I could no longer really notice the felt speed too much: Applications started similarly fast (much faster on the old computer than before). I was thinking to myself: Ok, now why did I get that now PC again? If I could have I would have returned it.
Though there is a general slow gradual downwards trend in some areas, check Phoronix kernel benchmarks.
6) Power efficiency
is also important to keep in mind. 10 years ago people didn't care too much except in notebooks. Nowadays any CPU, GPU and other components like sound cards, network cards, support all kinds of low power modes. Of course this means that pure performance is diverted somewhat in favor of efficiency. Just check my power management tag for more.
yes, e.g. Android shows that of course with minimalism a lot is possible - even in a virtual runtime environment. In my programming experience I found that often it's really better to "reinvent the wheel" (if it's a small one) to analyze a few very simple blocks of XML instead of using a library for it. It's much smaller, leaner, less code and faster. I think library dependences are a bit issue: Libraries are used by tons of programs and thus use tons of code to catch all cases. You often run better by just taking what you need. Why are they open source in the first place? (But as always watch your licenses for compatibility!)
And in some areas physics is just not changing quickly enough for us. An FM signal will always take a certain time to travel a certain distance etc. New technologies in that way are often a bit more difficult to develop and take more time, but are required for an increase in speed. This is a major issue with hard disks, though the new technology in form of SSDs is being put out.
I think a major problem is also the noticeability: Developers usually get new computers reguarly to wait less for compilation, try out new stuff, etc. The problem is that the faster your hardware the less you'll notice speed problems. I bet most programmers don't extensively profile their software and optimize the code without seeing the need. If they all had an old computer and had to use the software on it I think the situation would be different. They would be more aware and see the need and use of optimizing the code for better speed, though it might not be noticeable on modern computers at all. At least that one tiny bit. Of course they add up and up and then become noticeable. But then there's no single issue to be seen. So in part human perception is to blame as well.
But all in all the problem "make it "free, even if you don't need all of it or even if you can't afford a pretty fast machine" was seen and mostly solved by a combination of the above hints with e,g. XFCE. And then if you prefer that you can still use KDE3 or other things. The nice thing is that most old lean software should run flawlessly on a modern system and kernel.
Phoronix confirms in numbers that recent Linux kernels actually boot much faster (~ -30%).
If you like this post, share it and subscribe to the RSS feed so you don't miss the next one. In any case, check the related posts section below. (Because maybe I'm just having a really bad day and normally I write much more interesting articles about theses subjects! Or maybe you'll only understand what I meant here once you've read all my other posts on the topic. ;) )
Is the Linux Desktop getting slower and more bloated?
Related Posts : development, hardware, power management, software, thoughts
Categories: development, hardware, power management, software, thoughts
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Checking out some of the betting lines, probably.
For most people, simply sitting down on the couch, watching the game, and cheering their team on isn't enough. There's an appeal towards having something – other than, you know, your blood, sweat, and tears – invested in what you're spending all those hours throughout the season watching.
To achieve this some play fantasy sports, while others gamble. I've never invested any sort of meaningful money in what's ultimately a guess of how a sporting event that you have no personal control over will turn out (unless you were associated with the 1919 Black Sox), but I'd be lying if I said that I'd never sprinkled some loose change in the search of the gratification that comes along with being able to say "A-ha, I knew it!". As long as you're in control, it's all good fun.
I was checking out our friends over at Oilers Nation this morning, and noticed that they had posted some odds and Over/Unders for individual Oilers. I figured I'd do the same for the Canucks, so read on past the jump for the goods.
For the record, all of the following odds and totals are from Bovada. They're of course hardly the only source, though. Our friends over at PlayNow do a good job, as well as many others.
They had point total Over/Unders up for 5 Canucks:
- Henrik Sedin: 81.5 points
- Daniel Sedin: 76.5 points
- Ryan Kesler: 59.5 points
- Alex Burrows: 45.5 points
- Alex Edler: 43.5 points
For what it's worth, there appear to be only 10 players listed with totals over 80 points (Ryan Getzlaf, Patrick Kane, Phil Kessel, John Tavares, Martin St.Louis, Steve Stamkos, Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Henrik). These Sportsbooks are smart, man. The totals for the Sedins are pretty much exactly where I'd set them at if I wanted to entice people to bet it. Henrik finished with 81 points in 2011-12, and 45 points in 48 games last season. If I had to project his production for this season, I'd put it hovering around a point-a-game, but I'm not sure I feel confident enough about it to bet it. Same goes for Daniel. I will say that if you believe that the power play will be rejuvenated this season, then you'll probably be much more inclined to go with the Over here.
I actually like the Over for Kesler, Burrows, and Edler, though. Obviously projecting Kesler to exceed 60 points is dicy because you're basically hoping that he stays healthy, but at the same time, that uncertainty is what's driving his total down. I would take the under on 30 goals for him this season for sure, but I think he'll wind up in the low 60's in points. Obviously the people that set the line for Burrows are assuming that Zack Kassian will stick with the Sedins for the entirety of the season, which I think is hardly a lock. And even if Burrows spends the majority of his time with Kesler on the 2nd line, he should be able to approach the 50 point mark.
Remember that Alex Edler was on a 53 points pace in 2010-11 before his back injury, and that he managed 49 points the following season. Last year was a disappointing one for him, no doubt about it, but I think there's reason to believe that he could be poised for a big year if Tortorella utilizes him correctly.
Some other interesting individual odds:
- In terms of odds for the Art Ross Trophy, Henrik is 7th on the list at 15-to-1, with Daniel just behind him at 18-to-1.
- For the Hart Trophy, Henrik appears on the board at 16-to-1, with Daniel at 30-to-1.
- For the Vezina Trophy, Roberto Luongo comes in 10th with 12-to-1 odds. If you're feeling fiesty, this is probably your best longshot bet. Forget the preseason debut from the other night. I think he's going to have a big "F.U." season. Schneider, for what it's worth, is all the way down at 25-to-1.
There are some team bets up, as well. For example:
- The Over/Under total points for the Vancouver Canucks is set at 95.5 (and if you think they aren't making the playoffs, you're getting 4.5-to-1). Just for some perspective, only the Blackhawks, Kings, and Blues have higher totals from the list of Western Conference teams.
- The Canucks are 3-to-1 to win the Pacific Division, 8-to-1 to win the Western Conference, and 16-to-1 to win the Stanley Cup. How lucky do you feel these days?
- There's also the option of betting "Which Canadian Team will Finish with the Most Points?", in which the Canucks are the favourites at 7-to-4.
Finally, how much do you love your country? Team Canada to win the Gold Medal at Sochi is listed at 9-to-4. Russia is considered the favourite, by the way.


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2007-07-25 / Opinion
Another hard lesson about drunk driving
A prophetic editorial last week outlined our disagreement with those who offer excuses for young people who make the wrong decisions based on the belief that "they have nothing better to do." The editorial provided several constructive alternatives to causing vandalism, loitering and doing other irresponsible and illegal activities.
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