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Cartoon Network and Adult Swim Series Panels and Events Lineup for 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International Cartoon Network and Adult Swim announces a number of panels, fan events and signings at 2010 Comic-Con International in San Diego, Calif., Thursday, July 22 – Sunday, July 25, 2010. All times, dates and locations subject to change. CARTOON NETWORK & ADULT SWIM PANELS THURSDAY, JULY 22 ADULT SWIM: Childrens Hospital 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. Location: Room 25ABC
Talent: Jon Stern, Rob Corddry, David Wain, Lake Bell, Erinn Hayes, Rob Huebel, Ken Marino Check out the Childrens Hospital panel and hear from the show's creative team led by Rob Corddry (Hot Tub Time Machine, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) and Jon Stern (producer of The Ten and Scotland, PA). They will be joined by members of their ensemble cast of comedic heavyweights including Lake Bell (How to Make It in America, It's Complicated), Erinn Hayes (Parenthood, Worst Week), Rob Huebel (I Love You Man, Human Giant) and Ken Marino (Party Down, Reaper). Childrens Hospital explores the emotional struggles and sexual politics of a group of doctors charged with healthy libidos. Their dedication to their personal lives is relentless, interrupted only by the occasional need to treat sick children. The complete Childrens Hospital – including both the newly produced episodes as well as the original Webisodes – premieres Sunday, July 11 at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT on Adult Swim. BBC PANEL: Look Around You 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. Location: 6A Talent: Robert Popper and Peter Serafinowicz As their BAFTA-nominated show comes to BBC DVD, creators-stars Robert Popper (Peep Show, Hot Fuzz) and Peter Serafinowicz (Couples Retreat, Shaun of the Dead), are on stage to take questions from the fans. FRIDAY, JULY 23 WB PANEL: Batman: The Brave And The Bold 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. Location: 6A Talent: Diedrich Bader, James Tucker, Michael Jelenic and Andrea Romano Moderator: Sam Register The Caped Crusader swings back into San Diego as Batman: The Brave and the Bold returns to Comic-Con for its third consecutive year with an advance screening of an upcoming episode, as well as a lively discussion with voice of Batman Diedrich Bader (Surf's Up), executive producer Sam Register (Teen Titans), producers James Tucker (Justice League Unlimited) and Michael Jelenic (The Batman), and voice director Andrea Romano (Superman Doomsday). As a special bonus for fans, the panel will also screen the world-premiere trailer for the upcoming and highly anticipated Cartoon Network/Warner Bros. Animation series Young Justice. Don't miss this Comic-Con exclusive. From Warner Bros. Animation, Batman: The Brave and the Bold airs Fridays at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on Cartoon Network, and Batman: The Brave and the Bold – Season 1, Part 1 will be released on DVD August 17. Become a fan of the show on Facebook at www.facebook.com/batmanbraveandbold. CARTOON NETWORK: Comedy Animation: Adventure Time and Regular Show 11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. Location: 6A Talent: Pendleton Ward, Pat McHale, Jeremy Shada, John Dimaggio, Tom Kenny, J.G. Quintel Come join us for a panel celebrating our latest comedies from Cartoon Network Studios. What time is it? It's Adventure Time with special guests Pendleton Ward (creator), Jeremy Shada (voice of Finn), John DiMaggio (voice of Jake) and Tom Kenny (voice of Ice King). Adventure Time airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. (ET/PT) on Cartoon Network. Fans will also get an exclusive look at what's coming this Fall including a sneak peak at Regular Show with creator J.G. Quintel. LUCAS PANEL: Star Wars: The Clone Wars 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. Location: Room 7AB Talent: Dave Filoni, Joel Aron, Kilian Plunkett ADULT SWIM: Robot Chicken, Venture Bros, Metalocalypse, and Mongo Wrestling 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. Location: 6BCF Talent: Seth Green, Matt Senreich, Tom Root, Jackson Publick, Doc Hammer and Brendon Small Moderator: Keith Crofford, vice president of production, Adult Swim Adult Swim panel featuring show creators from Robot Chicken, Venture Bros and Metalocalypse—show creators Seth Green (Robot Chicken), Matt Senreich (Robot Chicken), Tom Root (Robot Chicken), Jackson Publick (Venture Bros), Doc Hammer (Venture Bros), and Brendon Small (Metalocalypse) will discuss their original series, screen sneak peeks, and answer questions. SATURDAY, JULY 24 DC PANEL: Mad about MAD Magazine! 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. Location: 7AB Talent: John Ficarra, Sam Viviano, Sergio Aragones, Tom Richmond, Kevin Shinick Moderator: Peter Girardi MAD Magazine has established itself as the original and most imitated and influential satirical publication across generations. This fall, MAD Magazine returns to TV screens with a new show for the next generation! Come join MAD Magazine editor John Ficarra, MAD Magazine Art Director Sam Viviano, legendary MAD Magazine artist Sergio Aragones, contemporary MAD artist Tom Richmond, MAD Story Editor/Producer Kevin Shinick and your host, MAD Creative Exec Peter Girardi, for a light-hearted look at the future of an American institution. MAD Magazine will premiere on Cartoon Network September 2010. AS PANEL: The Venture Bros. 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Indigo Ballroom at the Bayfront Hilton (across from the convention center) Talent: Jackson Publick, Doc Hammer, Patrick Warburton and James Urbaniak Creators Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer host a laissez-faire chat about – what else? – The Venture Bros. They'll be joined by Patrick Warburton (voice of Brock Samson) and James Urbaniak (voice of Dr. Venture) as they screen sneak preview clips from the upcoming season, shamelessly plug their new DVD and line of action figures, and take questions from the audience. CARTOON NETWORK: Action-Adventure Animation: Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, Generator Rex and Sym-Bionic Titan 1:45 – 2:45 p.m. Location: 6DE Talent: Duncan Rouleau, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, Steven T. Seagle, Glen Murakami, Dwayne McDuffie, Yuri Lowenthal, Greg Cipes, John Fang, Rob Hoegee, Daryl Sabara, Wally Kurth, Genndy Tartakovsky Moderator: Tramm Wigzell, vice president, original series, action adventure for Cartoon Network Come meet the creators, producers and voice actors behind some of Cartoon Network's biggest boy heroes Ben 10 and Generator Rex. From Man of Action meet Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, Duncan Rouleau, and Steven T. Seagle along with the Ben 10: Ultimate Alien team members Glenn Murakami (supervising producer), Dwayne McDuffie (co-producer/story editor), Yuri Lowenthal (voice of Ben) and Greg Cipes (voice of Kevin). Generator Rex panelists include John Fang (supervising producer), Rob Hoegee (story editor), Daryl Sabara (voice of Rex) and Wally Kurth (voice of Six). Also make sure not to miss a first look at Sym-Bionic Titan with Genndy Tartakovsky. ADULT SWIM: Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Squidbillies, Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job! and Mary Shelley's Frankenhole 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Location: 6DE Talent: Dave Willis, Jim Fortier, Matt Maiellaro, Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim and Dino Stamatopoulos Moderator: Keith Crofford, vice president of production, Adult Swim Adult Swim panel featuring show creators from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Squidbillies, Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job! and Mary Shelley's Frankenhole—show creators Dave Willis (Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Squidbillies), Jim Fortier (Squidbillies), Matt Maiellaro (Aqua Teen Hunger Force), Tim Heidecker (Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!), Eric Wareheim (Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!) and Dino Stamatopoulos (Mary Shelley's Frankenhole) will discuss their original series, screen sneak peeks, and answer questions. Keith Crofford, vice president of production at Adult Swim will moderate. SUNDAY, JULY 25 CARTOON NETWORK: Live-Action/ CG: Tower Prep and Firebreather 11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Location: 6DE Talent: Paul Dini, Drew Van Acker, Elise Gatien, Ryan Pinkston, Dyana Liu, Phil Hester, Andy Kuhn and Peter Chung Moderator: Harry Knowles Join executive producer and series creator Paul Dini (Lost, Batman Beyond) as he offers fans an exclusive first look at Cartoon Network's newest live action mystery series Tower Prep. Meet the series stars Drew Van Acker (The Lake), Elise Gatien (Bionic Woman), Ryan Pinkston (Punk'd) and Dyana Liu (Parenthood). Fans will also get an exclusive look at Firebreather, Cartoon Network's first world premiere original CGI movie event based on the comic book series with creator and co-executive producer Phil Hester (The Wretch), co-executive producer Andy Kuhn (Freedom Ring) and writer/director Peter Chung (Aeon Flux). WB PANEL: Unnatural History Episode Screening and Q&A 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Location: Room 6BCF Talent: Kevin G. Schmidt, Jordan Gavaris, Italia Ricci, Mike Werb Moderator: Rich Sands Join the adventure! Cartoon Network's first live-action mystery series, Unnatural History, journeys to San Diego for its Comic-Con debut. Unnatural History chronicles the adventures of Henry Griffin, a teenager with extraordinary skills acquired while traveling the world with his anthropologist parents. His unique abilities come in handy when he moves to Washington D.C. – and begins exploring the mysteries of a charter high school within the National Museum Complex. Fans will be treated to a premiere screening of a never-before-seen episode, as well as a Q&A with series stars Kevin G. Schmidt (Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel), Jordan Gavaris (Degrassi: The Next Generation), Italia Ricci (Greek) and Martin Donovan (Weeds) as well as creator/executive producer Mike Werb (The Mask, Face/Off). From Warner Horizon Television, Unnatural History airs Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. (ET/PT) on Cartoon Network. Become a fan of the show at www.facebook.com/UnnaturalHistory. WB PANEL: Scooby-Doo Screening and Q&A 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. Location: 6BCF Talent: Spike Brandt, Tony Cervone, Mitch Watson, Dan Krall, Matthew Lillard Those meddling teens are at it again! Find out what Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, Velma and, of course, Scooby-Doo are up to with a sneak peek at upcoming titles from this beloved family franchise. Join supervising producers Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone (both Duck Dodgers), producer Mitch Watson (Ben 10: Race Against Time) and art director Dan Krall (Coraline) as they screen a never-before-seen episode of the new Cartoon Network/Warner Bros. Animation series Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (airing Mondays at 7 p.m. ET/PT on Cartoon Network) and take fan questions. Additionally, they will unveil the trailer to Warner Home Video's upcoming all-new original animated movie Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare (release date: September 14) and will provide fans with a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment's forthcoming Scooby-Doo! and the Spooky Swamp videogame, coming September 14. Panel attendees will be served a full course of all things Scooby-Doo, as they will also hear about additional upcoming Scooby-related projects from Warner Premiere and Warner Bros. Consumer Products. ADULT SWIM SIGNINGS Thursday, July 22 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. Look Around You Signing BBC America Booth #3629 Talent: Robert Popper and Peter Serafinowicz 2:45 – 3:45 p.m. Childrens Hospital Signing WB Booth #4545 Talent: Jon Stern, Rob Corddry, Lake Bell, Erinn Hayes, Rob Huebel, Ken Marino Friday, July 23 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. Venture Bros Signing Adult Swim Booth #3351 Talent: Doc Hammer, Jackson Publick 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. Robot Chicken Signing Adult Swim Booth #3351 Talent: Seth Green, Matt Senreich, Tom Root Saturday, July 24 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. Metalocalypse Signing Adult Swim Booth #3351 Talent: Brendon Small, Tommy Blacha 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. Aqua Teen Hunger Force & Squidbillies Signing Adult Swim Booth #3351 Talent: Dave Willis, Jim Fortier, Matt Maiellaro ADULT SWIM FAN EVENTS TIM AND ERIC AWESOME-CON 2010 Saturday, July 24, 12 – 3 p.m. Location: Embarcadero Marina Park North Picnic in the park hosted by Tim and Eric and other characters from the show with fan challenges (costume contest, karaoke contest, etc). ADULT SWIM ICE CREAM TRUCKS The Adult Swim ice cream trucks will be cruising around San Diego, keeping fans cool by rewarding them with free Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Adult Swim show talent will be along for the ride to pass out ice cream, interact with fans, and sign autographs. Follow www.twitter.com/AdultSwim as we live-tweet our locations. CARTOON NETWORK SIGNINGS Friday, July 23 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Batman: The Brave and the Bold Signing WB Booth #4545 Talent: Diedrich Bader, James Tucker, Michael Jelenic and Andrea Romano 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. Adventure Time & Regular Show Signing Autograph Alley Talent: Pen Ward, Pat McHale, Jeremy Shada (Finn) John DiMaggio (Jake), Tom Kenny (Ice King), JG Quintel Saturday, July 24 11:15 a.m. – 12:15p.m. Mad about MAD Magazine! DC Booth Talent: John Ficarra, Sam Viviano, Sergio Aragones, Tom Richmond, Kevin Shinick 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, Generator Rex Signing Autograph Alley Man of Action: Duncan Rouleau, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, Steven T. Seagle Ben 10: Ultimate Alien: Glen Murakami, Dwayne McDuffie, Yuri Lowenthal (Ben) Greg Cipes (Kevin) Generator Rex: John Fang, Rob Hoegee, Daryl Sabara (Rex), Wally Kurth (Six) Sunday, July 25 11:45 – 12:30 p.m. WB: Scooby Doo Mystery Inc Signing WB Booth #4545 Talent: Spike Brandt, Tony Cervone, Mitch Watson, Dan Krall, Matthew Lillard 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. Firebreather Signing Autograph Alley Talent: Peter Chung, Phil Hester, Andy Kuhn 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. WB: Unnatural History Signing WB Booth #4545 Talent: Kevin G. Schmidt, Jordan Gavaris, Italia Ricci, Mike Web CARTOON NETWORK – THE CARTOON NETWORK PIZZERIA at CIRO'S (Ciro's Pizzeria, 536 Market Street, Between 5th and 6th in the Gaslamp Quarter) Cartoon Network goes beyond the San Diego Convention Center this year with a fully immersive restaurant take-over! Come visit the The Cartoon Network Pizzeria from Wednesday, July 21 – Sunday, July 25 and experience Cartoon Network in way you've never seen before at the con. The Cartoon Network Pizzeria will feature sneak previews of new and returning Cartoon Network shows, opportunities for special Happy Hour free food and drink and free Cartoon Network cup with purchase throughout the entire convention (while supplies last). Cartoon Network (CartoonNetwork.com), currently seen in more than 97 million U.S. homes and 166 countries around the world, is Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.'s ad-supported cable service now available in HD offering the best in original, acquired and classic entertainment for youth and families. Nightly from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. (ET, PT), Cartoon Network shares its channel space with Adult Swim, a late-night destination showcasing original and acquired animated and live-action series for young adults 18-34. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.


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Naked crowd checks out museum nudes
These museum goers didn't just leave their coats at the coat check. They handed over their shirts, trousers and underwear.
Everything, in fact, except their shoes and socks. After all, the stone floor can get chilly when you're touring an art exhibit in the nude, which was what more than 60 art lovers did in a special after-hours showing at Vienna's prestigious Leopold museum.
For many, the tour of Nude Men from 1800 to Today - an exhibit of 300 paintings, photographs, drawings and sculptures focused on the bare male - was a goose-bump-raising instance of life imitating art.
"I can't say I'm sweating," said office worker Herbert Korvas as he stood waiting in the atrium with other young men, wearing only socks, sneakers and a smile. Despite the cold, he said he was drawn to the idea of naked museum viewing "because it was something different".
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Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOWBut after a while it really wasn't. With no other viewers around, nude quickly became the new normal as the visitors quickly gathered around a - dressed - exhibition guide and moved slowly from one art work to the next, listening intently to their history.
And they weren't the first visitors to get naked either, despite the hoopla around the event that drew dozens of reporters and camera teams from Austria and elsewhere.
A man had already stripped at the exhibition of pictures and sculptures in November, calmly sauntering through the exhibition and dressing again only after a security guard asked him to do so. That act made news - and sparked demand for Monday's all-nude showing, said museum spokesman Klaus Pokorny.
"We got requests from all over the world from people who were inspired by the exhibition . . . who asked us, 'Can we visit the exhibition naked?'" he said.
On Monday, interest was definitely skewed along gender lines. Irina Wolf smiled as she looked around at the mostly male crowd lining up for tickets.
"I'm at a big advantage here," she said. "Only men around."
While Wolf said she is not someone who regularly strips in public places, the 40-something computer engineer and occasional theatre critic, said "I want to see how I relate to such a group."
For others, the event fulfilled a long-cherished wish - even though they had a hard time explaining why.
Florian Kahlenberg from Munich said he found it "interesting to stroll through a museum naked," adding. "I've always wanted to do that."
Few visitors, naked or dressed, have complained about the show, despite some explicit material showing sexual acts. Described as among the most successful ever staged by the Leopold, it has drawn well over 100,000 people.
That fits with Vienna's relaxed attitude. Its turn-of-the-century decadence allowed Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt to flourish, and the Leopold itself has a world-class collection of those and other artists known for their explicit depiction of the flesh.
But the Austrian capital's acceptance of nudity goes beyond museum exhibits. Thousands of men, women and children skinny dip daily in the Danube along stretches reserved for them during the summer, while racy lingerie ads dot huge billboards across the city all year round and a mass-circulation daily regularly prints photos of half-naked women.
Still, there are limits to Viennese tolerance. The Leopold was forced into cover-up mode last year after complaints over promotional posters plastered city-wide that showed three young and athletic men of different races wearing nothing but blue, white and red socks and soccer boots.
Swaths of red tape were subsequently placed over their sensitive parts.
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This resource is designed to provide comprehensive, but concise facts on vaccinations required or recommended for prevention against various infectious diseases. This resource covers vaccines for routine immunization schedules, travel, and special circumstances (eg, bioterrorism threat). An overview of the disease, vaccination schedule, side effects, and populations who should and should not be vaccinated are just some of the topics found in these fact sheets.
Finally, all fact sheets in this quick reference guide are physician-reviewed and reflect the most up-to-date, evidence-based information. Relevant sources are provided for each fact sheet.


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Mountain Meadow Walk
Hoosier Pass, CO
Not very far into the tree lined wooded areas that surround Hoosier Pass, near Colorado State Highway #9, you will find numerous rolling landscape photo opportunities. I hiked through the deep groves of Aspen trees and into this beautiful open field to capture this landscape photograph. Photo © copyright by K.C. Turner.
Plaque Mounted (Ready to Hang)
This mounting option is by far the most popular format. My Plaque Mounted (Ready to Hang) prints bring out a clear, realistic, dimensional impression by using a fine art ink print which is mounted on an ECO-friendly, HDF wood substrate backed with concealed French cleat hanger to give it a floating effect when mounted on the wall. It is then sealed with a satin semi-matte UV coating which eliminates reflections and protects the print that can then be cleaned with a soft damp cloth.
Acrylic-PlexiGlass Mounted (Ready to Hang)
Modern, stylish and impactful. My Acrylic-Plexiglass Mounted (Ready to Hang) prints are formatted using a fine art ("Glossy") Print to add extra depth and iridescence for a remarkably modern presentation with the front face being finished with a beveled edge. A protective, acid-free black coating is applied to the back of the acrylic face-mounted print and completed with a black 0.5" recessed backing with concealed French cleat hanger to give it a floating effect when mounted on the wall. This presentation is super smooth and ultra-glossy, enhancing the image and all the details. Impressive indeed!
Canvas Gallery Wrap (Ready to Hang)
Using a high grade, 1/8" ECO-friendly wood based product coated for moisture resistance and longevity, these Canvas Gallery Wrap (Ready to Hang) prints are made using direct printed, UV cured inks that can be cleaned with a soft damp cloth. The canvas prints are wrapped around a solid box frame with 1 ½" thick edges finished off with image mirrored sides. This option comes ready to hang with a French cleat hanger included.
Fine Art (Print Only)
I am happy to offer this "Purchase Print Only Option" to those who would prefer to buy one of my Archival Fine Art Prints which you could frame yourself or take to your favorite shop for framing. This option is printed on Fuji Crystal Archive Paper with a Semi-Matte finish that virtually eliminates distracting reflections. The print ships to you flat, mounted on a thin, sturdy backer board to facilitate whichever choice of display (and/or hanging/framing) that you apply, including framing without a mat or glass.


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String formatting is probably something you do just about every day in Python, and never think about. It's so easy, just "%d %d" % (i, i) and you're done. No thinking about how to size your result buffer, whether your output has an appropriate NULL byte at the end, or any other details. A C equivalent might be:
char x[44]; sprintf(x, "%d %d", i, i);
Note that we had to stop for a second and consider how big numbers might get and overestimate the size (44 = length of the biggest number on 64bit (20) + 1 for the sign * 2 + 1 (for the space) + 1 (NUL byte)), it took the authors of this post, fijal and alex, 3 tries to get the math right on this :-)
This is fine, except you can't even return x from this function, a more fair comparison might be:
char *x = malloc(44 * sizeof(char)); sprintf(x, "%d %d", i, i);
x is slightly overallocated in some situations, but that's fine.
But we're not here to just discuss the implementation of string formatting, we're here to discuss how blazing fast PyPy is at it, with the new unroll-if-alt branch. Given the Python code:
def main(): for i in xrange(10000000): "%d %d" % (i, i) main()
and the C code:
#include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> int main() { int i = 0; char x[44]; for (i = 0; i < 10000000; i++) { sprintf(x, "%d %d", i, i); } }
Run under PyPy, at the head of the unroll-if-alt branch, and compiled with GCC 4.5.2 at -O4 (other optimization levels were tested, this produced the best performance). It took 0.85 seconds to execute under PyPy, and 1.63 seconds with the compiled binary. We think this demonstrates the incredible potential of dynamic compilation, GCC is unable to inline or unroll the sprintf call, because it sits inside of libc.
Benchmarking the C code:
#include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> int main() { int i = 0; for (i = 0; i < 10000000; i++) { char *x = malloc(44 * sizeof(char)); sprintf(x, "%d %d", i, i); free(x); } }
Which as discussed above, is more comperable to the Python, gives a result of 1.96 seconds.
Summary of performance:
Platform | GCC (stack) | GCC (malloc) | CPython | PyPy (unroll-if-alt) |
Time | 1.63s | 1.96s | 10.2s | 0.85s |
relative to C | 1x | 0.83x | 0.16x | 1.9x |
Overall PyPy is almost 2x faster. This is clearly win for dynamic compilation over static - the sprintf function lives in libc and so cannot be specializing over the constant string, which has to be parsed every time it's executed. In the case of PyPy, we specialize the assembler if we detect the left hand string of the modulo operator to be constant.
alex & fijal


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Notice: This Wiki is now read only and edits are no longer possible. Please see: https://gitlab.eclipse.org/eclipsefdn/helpdesk/-/wikis/Wiki-shutdown-plan for the plan.
Welcome to the DSDP-Device Debugging Project Wiki. Device Debugging creates new frameworks and extensions to the existing platform debug framework to support the three phases of device software development: hardware bring-up, platform software development, and application software development. The Device Debugging project will build enhanced debug models, APIs, and views to provide greater visibility into and control over device software targets.
These pages are meant as an open, collaborative platform for discussions and exchanging ideas. For official information and documents, see the Official DSDP-DD Website.
DSDP-DD Goals
These are the current goals for Device Debugging project at this point.
- Modify the Eclipse Debug Model Interfaces in order to enable more customized debugger implementations, especially those geared towards the embedded space. The first version was released in Eclipse 3.2. The platform debug team and the DD project are currently looking at improvements.
- Provide a new Debug Model implementation that takes a more modular approach to connecting debugger backends into Eclipse. This is called Debugger Services Framework (DSF).
- Enhance the debugger views for multi-core and multi-process support and provide specific improvements in those views for embedded development. Multi-core enhancements are proposed for the Eclipse 3.3 release. We are looking at additional view enhancements.
- Integrated with the SPIRIT consortium for tooling and debugger data file specification.
- Provide the next generation implementation for CDT's MI debugger.
DSDP-DD Meeting Notes
- DSDP/DD/Phone-4-December-2008
- DSDP/DD/Phone-2-October-2008
- DSDP/DD/Phone-5-June-2008
- DSDP/DD/Phone-1-May-2008
- DSDP/DD/Phone-3-April-2008
- DSDP/DD/Phone_6-March-2008
- DSDP/DD/Phone_7-February-2008
- Phone Meeting 3-January-2008
- Phone Meeting 6-December-2007
- Phone Meeting 1-November-2007
- Phone Meeting 4-October-2007
- Phone Meeting 6-September-2007
- Phone Meeting 9-August-2007
- Phone Meeting 7-Feb-2007
- Face-to-Face Meeting 9-10 Jan 2007
- Phone Meeting 6-December-2006
- Phone Meeting 1-November-2006
- Phone Meeting 4-October-2006
- Phone Meeting 6-September-2006
- Phone Meeting 2-August-2006
- Phone Meeting 13-July-2006
- Phone Meeting 3-May-2006
- Face-to-Face 22-Feb-2006 - Agenda
- Face-to-Face 22-23 Feb 2006
- Phone Meeting 13-Jan-2006
- Phone Meeting 21-Dec-2005
- Face-to-Face 11-12 October 2005
- Face-to-Face 3-4 May 2005
GDB/MI Technical Discussions meetings are listed in the GDB/MI Subgroup page.
Technology Sub-Groups
Technology | Component | Lead | Active Contributors |
SPIRIT | IP-XACT | Anthony Berent (Arm) | |
Memory | Memory | Samantha Chan (IBM) | Ted Williams (WR) |
Disassembly | 'None' | Mikhail Khodjaiants (Arm) | Anton Lehenbauer (Wind River) |
DSF | DSF | Pawel Piech (Wind River) | Randy Rohrbach (Wind River), Ted Williams (Wind River) |
GDB/MI | MI, GDB | Veenu Verma (Ericsson) | Marc Khouzam (Ericsson), Francois Chouinard (Ericsson) |
Multi Context | 'None' | Pawel Piech (Wind River) |
- DD 1.1 (off train release)
- Ganymede - DD 1.0
- Europa - DD 0.9


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Understanding tax strategies and managing your tax bill should be part of any sound financial approach. Some taxes can be deferred, and others can be managed through tax-efficient investing. With careful and consistent preparation, you may be able to manage the impact of taxes on your financial efforts.
Making Your Tax Bracket Work
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Of freedom.
He is free who lives as he likes; who is not subject to compulsion, to restraint, or to violence; whose pursuits are unhindered, his desires successful, his aversions unincurred. Who, then, would wish to lead a wrong course of life? "No one." Who would live deceived, erring, unjust, dissolute, discontented, dejected? "No one." No wicked man, then, lives as he likes; therefore no such man is free. And who would live in sorrow, fear, envy, pity, with disappointed desires and unavailing aversions? "No one." Do we then find any of the wicked exempt from these evils? "Not one." Consequently, then, they are not free. If some person who has been twice consul should hear this, he will forgive you, provided you add, "but you are wise, and this has no reference to you." But if you tell him the truth, that, in point of slavery, he does not necessarily differ from those who have been thrice sold, what but chastisement can you expect? "For how," he says, "am I a slave? My father was [p. 2120] free, my mother free. Besides, I am a senator, too, and the friend of Caesar, and have been twice consul, and have myself many slaves." In the first place, most worthy sir, perhaps your father too was a slave of the same kind; and your mother, and your grandfather, and all your series of ancestors. But even were they ever so free, what is that to you? For what if they were of a generous, you of a mean spirit; they brave, and you a coward; they sober, and you dissolute? "But what," he says, "has this to do with my being a slave? " Is it no part of slavery to act against your will, under compulsion, and lamenting? "Be it so. But who can compel me but the master of all, Caesar?" By your own confession, then, you have one master; and let not his being, as you say, master of all, give you any comfort; for then you are merely a slave in a large family. Thus the Nicopolitans, too, frequently cry out, " By the genius of Caesar we are free ! " For the present, however, if you please, we will let Caesar alone. But tell me this. Have you never been in love with any one, either of a servile or liberal condition? "Why, what has that to do with being slave or free?" Were you never commanded anything by your mistress that you did not choose? Have you never flattered your fair slave? Have you never kissed her feet? And yet if you were commanded to kiss Caesar's feet, you would think it an [p. 2121] outrage and an excess of tyranny. What else is this than slavery? Have you never gone out by night where you did not desire? Have you never spent more than you chose? Have you not sometimes uttered your words with sighs and groans? Have you never borne to be reviled and shut out of doors? But if you are ashamed to confess your own follies, see what Thrasonides1 says and does; who, after having fought more battles perhaps than you, went out by night, when [his slaves Geta would not dare to go; nay, had he been compelled to do it, would have gone bewailing and lamenting the bitterness of servitude. And what says he afterwards? "A contemptible girl has enslaved me, whom no enemy ever enslaved." Wretch ! to be the slave of a girl and a contemptible girl too! Why, then, do you still call yourself free? Why do you boast your military expeditions? Then he calls for a sword, and is angry with the person who, out of kindness, denies it; and sends presents to her who hates him; and begs, and weeps, and then again is elated on every little success. But what elation? Is he raised above desire or fear? Consider what is our idea of freedom in animals. Some keep tame lions, and feed them and even lead them about; and who will say that any such lion is free? Nay, does he not live the more slavishly the more he lives at ease? And who that had sense and [p. 2122] reason would wish to be one of those lions? Again, how much will caged birds suffer in trying to escape? Nay, some of them starve themselves rather than undergo such a life; others are saved only with difficulty and in a pining condition; and the moment they find any opening, out they go. Such a desire have they for their natural freedom, and to be at their own disposal, and unrestrained. "And what harm can this confinement do you?" "What say you? I was born to fly where I please, to live in the open air, to sing when I please. You deprive me of all this, and then ask what harm I suffer?" Hence we will allow those only to be free who will not endure captivity, but, so soon as they are taken, die and so escape. Thus Diogenes somewhere says that the only way to freedom is to die with ease. And he writes to the Persian king, "You can no more enslave the Athenians than you can fish." "How? Can I not get possession of them?" "If you do," said he, " they will leave you, and be gone like fish. For catch a fish, and it dies. And if the Athenians, too, die as soon as you have caught them, of what use are your warlike preparations? " This is the voice of a free man who had examined the matter in earnest, and, as it might be expected, found it all out. But if you seek it where it is not, what wonder if you never find it? A slave wishes to be immediately set free. Think you it is because he is desirous to pay his fee [of [p. 2123] manumission] to the officer? No, but because he fancies that, for want of acquiring his freedom, he has hitherto lived under restraint and unprosperously. "If I am once set free," he says, "it is all prosperity; I care for no one; I can speak to all as being their equal and on a level with them. I go where I will, I come when and how I will." He is at last made free, and presently having nowhere to eat he seeks whom he may flatter, with whom he may sup. He then either submits to the basest and most infamous degradation, and if he can obtain admission to some great man's table, falls into a slavery much worse than the former; or perhaps, if the ignorant fellow should grow rich, he doats upon some girl, laments, and is unhappy, and wishes for slavery again. " For what harm did it do me? Another clothed me, another shod me, another fed me, another took care of me when I was sick. It was but in a few things, by way of return, I used to serve him. But now, miserable wretch ! what do I suffer, in being a slave to many, instead of one ! Yet, if I can be promoted to equestrian rank, I shall live in the utmost prosperity and happiness." In order to obtain this, he first deservedly suffers; and as soon as he has obtained it, it is all the same again. "But then," he says, "if I do but get a military command, I shall be delivered from all my troubles." He gets a military command. He suffers as much as the vilest rogue of a slave; and, nevertheless, he asks for a second command and a [p. 2124] third; and when he has put the finishing touch, and is made a senator, then he is a slave indeed. When he comes into the public assembly, it is then that he undergoes his finest and most splendid slavery. [It is needful] not to be foolish, but to learn what Socrates taught, the nature of things; and not rashly to apply general principles to particulars. For the cause of all human evils is the not being able to apply general principles to special cases. But different people have different grounds of complaint; one, for instance, that he is sick. That is not the trouble; it is in his principles. Another, that he is poor; another, that he has a harsh father and mother; another, that he is not in the good graces of Caesar. This is nothing else but not understanding how to apply our principles. For who has not an idea of evil, that it is hurtful; that it is to be avoided; that it is by all means to be prudently guarded against? One principle does not contradict another, except when it comes to be applied. What, then, is this evil, --thus hurtful and to be avoided? "Not to be the friend of Caesar," says some one. He is gone; he has failed in applying his principles; he is embarrassed; he seeks what is nothing to the purpose. For if he comes to be Caesar's friend, he is still no nearer to what he sought. For what is it that every man seeks? To be secure, to be happy, to do what he pleases without restraint and without compulsion. When he becomes the friend of Caesar, then does he [p. 2125] cease to be restrained; to be compelled? Is he secure? Is he happy? Whom shall we ask? Whom can we better credit than this very man who has been his friend? Come forth and tell us whether you sleep more quietly now than before you were the friend of Caesar. You presently hear him cry, "Leave off, for Heaven's sake! and do not insult me. You know not the miseries I suffer; there is no sleep for me; but one comes and says that Caesar is already awake; another, that he is just going out. Then follow perturbations, then cares." Well, and when did you use to sup the more pleasantly,- formerly, or now? Hear what he says about this too. When he is not invited, he is distracted; and if he is, he sups like a slave with his master, solicitous all the while not to say or do anything foolish. And what think you? Is he afraid of being whipped like a slave? No such easy penalty. No; but rather, as becomes so great a man, Caesar's friend, of losing his head. And when did you bathe the more quietly; when did you perform your exercises the more at your leisure; in short, which life would you rather wish to live, -your present, or the former? I could swear there is no one so stupid and insensible as not to deplore his miseries, in proportion as he is the more the friend of Caesar. Since, then, neither they who are called kings nor the friends of kings live as they like, who, then, after all, is free? Seek, and you will find; for you are fur- [p. 2126] nished by nature with means for discovering the truth. But if you are not able by these alone to find the consequence, hear them who have sought it. What do they say? Do you think freedom a good? "The greatest." Can any one, then, who attains the greatest good be unhappy or unsuccessful in his affairs? " No." As many, therefore, as you see unhappy, lamenting, unprosperous, -confidently pronounce them not free. " I do." Henceforth, then, we have done with buying and selling, and such like stated conditions of becoming slaves. For if these concessions hold, then, whether the unhappy man be a great or a little king, - of consular or bi-consular dignity, - he is not free. " Agreed." Further, then, answer me this: do you think freedom to be something great and noble and valuable? "How should I not? " Is it possible, then, that he who acquires anything so great and valuable and noble should be of an abject spirit? "It is not." Whenever, then, you see any one subject to another, and flattering him contrary to his own opinion, confidently say that he too is not free; and not only when he does this for a supper, but even if it be for a government, nay, a consulship. Call those indeed little slaves who act thus for the sake of little things; and call the others, as they deserve, great slaves. "Be this, too, agreed." Well, do you think freedom to be something independent and self-determined? "How can it be otherwise?" Him, then, whom it [p. 2127] is in the power of another to restrain or to compel, affirm confidently to be by no means free. And do not heed his grandfathers or great-grandfathers, or inquire whether he has been bought or sold; but if you hear him say from his heart and with emotion, "my master," though twelve Lictors should march before him, call him a slave. And if you should hear him say, "Wretch that I am! what do I suffer ! " call him a slave. In short, if you see him wailing, complaining, unprosperous, call him a slave, even in purple. "Suppose, then, that he does nothing of all this." Do not yet say that he is free; but learn whether his principles are in any event liable to compulsion, to restraint, or disappointment; and if you find this to be the case, call him a slave, keeping holiday during the Saturnalia. Say that his master is abroad; that he will come presently; and you will know what he suffers. "Who will come? " Whoever has the power either of bestowing or of taking away any of the things he desires. "Have we so many masters, then?" We have. For, prior to all such, we have the things themselves for our masters. Now they are many; and it is through these that the men who control the things inevitably become our masters too. For no one fears Caesar himself; but death, banishment, confiscation, prison, disgrace. Nor does any one love Caesar unless he be a person of great worth; but we love riches, [p. 2128] the tribunate, the praetorship, the consulship. When we love or hate or fear such things, they who have the disposal of them must necessarily be our masters. Hence we even worship them as gods. For we consider that whoever has the disposal of the greatest advantages is a deity; and then further reason falsely, "But such a one has the control of the greatest advantages; therefore he is a deity." For if we reason falsely, the final inference must be also false. What is it, then, that makes a man free and independent? For neither riches, nor consulship, nor the command of provinces nor of kingdoms, can make him so; but something else must be found. What is it that keeps any one from being hindered and restrained in penmanship, for instance? " The science of penmanship." In music? "The science of music." Therefore in life too, it must be the science of living. As you have heard it in general, then, consider it likewise in particulars. Is it possible for him to be unrestrained who desires any of those things that are within the power of others? "No." Can he avoid being hindered? "No." Therefore neither can he be free. Consider, then, whether we have nothing or everything in our own sole power, - or whether some things are in our own power and some in that of others. "What do you mean?" When you would have your body perfect, is it in your own power, or is it not? "It is not." When you would be healthy? "It is not." When you would [p. 2129] be handsome? "It is not." When you would live or die? "It is not." Body then is not our own; but is subject to everything that proves stronger than itself. "Agreed." Well; is it in your own power to have an estate when you please, and such a one as you please? "No." Slaves? "No." Clothes? "No." A house? "No." Horses? " Indeed, none of these." Well, if you desire ever so earnestly to have your children live, or your wife, or your brother, or your friends, is it in your own power? " No, it is not." Will you then say that there is nothing independent, which is in your own power alone, and unalienable? See if you have anything of this sort. "I do not know." But consider it thus: can any one make you assent to a falsehood? " No one." In the matter of assent, then, you are unrestrained and unhindered. "Agreed." Well, and can any one compel you to exert your aims towards what you do not like? "He can. For when he threatens me with death, or fetters, he thus compels me." If, then, you were to despise dying or being fettered, would you any longer regard him? "No." Is despising death, then, an action in our power, or is it not? "It is." Is it therefore in your power also to exert your aims towards anything, or is it not? "Agreed that it is. But in whose power is my avoiding anything? " This, too, is in your own. "What then if, when I am exerting myself to walk, any one should restrain me? [p. 2130] What part of you can he restrain? Can he restrain your assent? " No, but my body." Ay, as he may a stone. "Be it so. But still I cease to walk." And who claimed that walking was one of the actions that cannot be restrained? For I only said that your exerting yourself towards it could not be restrained. But wherever the body and its assistance are essential, you have already heard that nothing is in your power. "Be this, too, agreed." And can any one compel you to desire against your Will? "No one." Or to propose, or intend, or, in short, not to be beguiled by the appearances of things? "Nor this. But when I desire anything, he can restrain me from obtaining what I desire." If you desire anything that is truly within your reach, and that cannot be restrained, how can he restrain you? "By no means." And pray who claims that he who longs for what depends on another will be free from restraint? "May I not long for health, then? " By no means; nor for anything else that depends on another; for what is not in your own power, either to procure or to preserve when you will, that belongs to another. Keep off not only your hands from it, but even more than these, your desires. Otherwise you have given yourself up as a slave; you have put your neck under the yoke, if you admire any of the things which are not your own, but which are subject and mortal, to which of them soever you are attached. " Is not my hand my own?" It is a part of you, but it is by [p. 2131] nature clay, liable to restraint, to compulsion; a slave to everything stronger than itself. And why do I say, your hand? You ought to hold your whole body but as a useful ass, with a pack-saddle on, so long as may be, so long as it is allowed you. But if there should come a military conscription, and a soldier should lay hold on it, let it go. Do not resist, or murmur; otherwise you will be first beaten and lose the ass after all. And since you are thus to regard even the body itself, think what remains to do concerning things to be provided for the sake of the body. If that be an ass, the rest are but bridles, pack-saddles, shoes, oats, hay for him. Let these go too. Quit them yet more easily and expeditiously. And when you are thus prepared and trained to distinguish what belongs to others from your own; what is liable to restraint from what is not; to esteem the one your own property, but not the other; to keep your desire, to keep your aversion, carefully regulated by this point, -whom have you any longer to fear? " No one." For about what should you be afraid, - about what is your own, in which consists the essence of good and evil? And who has any power over this? Who can take it away? Who can hinder you, any more than God can be hindered? But are you afraid for body, for possessions, for what belongs to others, for what is nothing to you? And what have you been studying all this while, but to distinguish between your own and that which is not your own; what is in your [p. 2132] power and what is not in your power; what is liable to restraint and what is not? And for what purpose have you applied to the philosophers, - that you might nevertheless be disappointed and unfortunate? No doubt you will be exempt from fear and perturbation! And what is grief to you? For whatsoever we anticipate with fear, we endure with grief. And for what will you any longer passionately wish? For you have acquired a temperate and steady desire of things dependent on will, since they are accessible and desirable; and you have no desire of things uncontrollable by will. so as to leave room for that irrational, and impetuous, and precipitate passion. Since then you are thus affected with regard to things, what man can any longer be formidable to you? What has man that he can be formidable to man, either in appearance, or speech, or mutual intercourse? No more than horse to horse, or dog to dog, or bee to bee. But things are formidable to every one, and whenever any person can either give these to another, or take them away, he becomes formidable too. "How, then, is this citadel to be destroyed?" Not by sword or fire, but by principle. For if we should demolish the visible citadel, shall we have demolished also that of some fever, of some fair woman,-in short, the citadel [of temptation] within ourselves; and have turned out the tyrants to whom we are subject upon all occasions and every day, sometimes the same, sometimes others? From [p. 2133] hence we must begin; hence demolish the citadel, and turn out the tyrants, -give up body, members, riches, power, fame, magistracies, honors, children, brothers, friends; esteem all these as belonging to others. And if the tyrants be turned out from hence, why should I also demolish the external citadel, at least on my own account? For what harm to me from its standing? Why should I turn out the guards? For in what point do they affect me? It is against others that they direct their fasces, their staves, and their swords. Have I ever been restrained from what I willed, or compelled against my will? Indeed, how is this possible? I have placed my pursuits under the direction of God. Is it his will that I should have a fever? It is my will too. Is it his will that I should pursue anything? It is my will too. Is it his will that I should desire? It is my will too. Is it his will that I should obtain anything? It is mine too. Is it not his will? It is not mine. Is it his will that I should be tortured? Then it is my will to be tortured. Is it his will that I should die? Then it is my will to die. Who can any longer restrain or compel me, contrary to my own opinion? No more than Zeus. It is thus that cautious travellers act. Does some one hear that the road is beset by robbers? He does not set out alone, but waits for the retinue of an ambassador or quaestor or proconsul, and when he has joined himself to their company, goes along in safety. Thus does the prudent man act in the world. [p. 2134] There are many robberies, tyrants, storms, distresses, losses of things most dear. Where is there any refuge? How can he go alone unattacked? What retinue can he wait for, to go safely through his journey? To what company shall he join himself, -to some rich man; to some consular senator? And what good will that do me? He may be robbed himself, groaning and lamenting. And what if my fellow-traveller himself should turn against me and rob me? What shall I do? I say I will be the friend of Caesar. While I am his companion, no one will injure me, Yet before I can become illustrious enough for this, what must I bear and suffer ! How often, and by how many, must I be robbed ! And then, if I do become the friend of Caesar, he too is mortal; and if, by any accident, he should become my enemy, where can I best retreat, -to a desert? Well, and may not a fever come there? What can be done, then? Is it not possible to find a fellow-traveller safe, faithful, brave, incapable of being surprised? A person who reasons thus, understands and considers that if he joins himself to God, he shall go safely through his journey. "How do you mean, join himself? " That whatever is the will of God may be his will too; that whatever is not the will of God may not be his. "How, then, can this be done?" Why, how otherwise than by considering the workings of God's power and his administration? What has he given me to be my own, [p. 2135] and independent? What has he reserved to himself? He has given me whatever depends on will. The things within my power he has made incapable of hindrance or restraint. Bat how could he make a body of clay incapable of hindrance? Therefore he has subjected possessions, furniture, house, children, wife, to the revolutions of the universe. Why, then, do I fight against God? Why do I will to retain that which depends not on will; that which is not granted absolutely, but how, - in such a manner and for such a time as was thought proper? But he who gave takes away. Why, then, do I resist? Besides being a fool, in contending with a stronger than my self, I shall be unjust, which is a more important consideration. For whence had I these things, when I came into the world? My father gave them to me. And who gave them to him? And who made the sun; who the fruits; who the seasons; who their connection and relations with each other? And after you have received all, and even your very self, from another, are you angry with the giver, and do you complain, if he takes anything away from you? Who are you; and for what purpose did you come? Was it not he who brought you here? Was it not he who showed you the light? Hath not he given you companions? Hath not he given you senses? Hath not he given you reason? And as whom did he bring you here? Was it not as a mortal? Was it not as one to live with a little portion of flesh upon earth, [p. 2136] and to see his administration; to behold the spectacle with him, and partake of the festival for a short time? After having beheld the spectacle and the solemnity, then, as long as it is permitted you, will you not depart when he leads you out, adoring and thankful for what you have heard and seen? "No; but I would enjoy the feast still longer." So would the initiated [in the mysteries], too, be longer in their initiation; so, perhaps, would the spectators at Olympia see more combatants. But the solemnity is over. Go away. Depart like a grateful and modest person; make room for others. Others, too, must be born as you were; and when they are born must have a place, and habitations, and necessaries. But if the first do not give way, what room is there left? Why are you insatiable, unconscionable? Why do you crowd the world? " Ay, but I would have my wife and children with me too." Why, are they yours? Are they not the Giver's? Are they not his who made you also? Will you not then quit what belongs to another? Will you not yield to your Superior? "Why, then, did he bring me into the world upon these conditions?" Well, if it is not worth your while, depart. He has no need of a discontented spectator. He wants such as will share the festival; make part of the chorus; who will extol, applaud, celebrate the solemnity. He will not be displeased to see the wretched and fearful dismissed from it. For when they were present they did not behave as at a festival, nor fill a proper [p. 2137] place, but lamented, found fault with the Deity, with their fortune, with their companions. They were insensible both of their advantages and of the powers which they received for far different purposes, - the powers of magnanimity, nobleness of spirit, fortitude, and that which now concerns us, freedom. "For what purpose, then, have I received these things?" To use them. "How long?" As long as he who lent them pleases. If, then, they are not necessary, do not make an idol of them, and they will not be so; do not tell yourself that they are necessary, when they are not. This should be our study from morning till night beginning with the least and frailest things, as with earthenware, with glassware. Afterwards proceed to a suit of clothes, a dog, a horse, an estate; thence to yourself, body, members, children, wife, brothers. Look everywhere around you, and be able to detach yourself from these things. Correct your principles. Permit nothing to cleave to you that is not your own; nothing to grow to you that may give you agony when it is torn away. And say, when you are daily training yourself as you do here, not that you act the philosopher, which may be a presumptuous claim, but that you are asserting your freedom. For this is true freedom. This is the freedom that Diogenes gained from Antisthenes, and declared it was impossible that he should ever after be a slave to any one. Hence, when he was taken prisoner, how did he treat [p. 2138] the pirates? Did he call any of them master? I do not mean the name, for I am not afraid of a word, but of the disposition from whence the word proceeds. How did he reprove them for feeding their prisoners ill? How was he sold? Did he seek a master? No, but a slave. And when he was sold, how did he converse with his lord? He immediately disputed with him whether he ought to be dressed or shaved in the manner he was; and how he ought to bring up his children. And where is the wonder? For if the same master had bought some one to instruct his children in gymnastic exercises, would he in those exercises have treated him as a servant or as a master? And so if he had bought a physician or an architect. In every department the skilful must necessarily be superior to the unskilful. What else, then, can he be but master, who possesses the universal knowledge of life? For who is master in a ship? The pilot. Why? Because whoever disobeys him is a loser. "But a master can put me in chains." Can he do it, then, without being a loser? "I think not, indeed." But because he must be a loser, he evidently must not do it; for no one acts unjustly without being a loser. "And how does he suffer, who puts his own slave in chains?" What think you? From the very fact of chaining him. This you yourself must grant, if you would hold to the doctrine that man is not naturally a wild, but a gentle, animal. For when is it that a vine is in a bad [p. 2139] condition? "When it is in a condition contrary to its nature." How is it with a cock? "The same." It is therefore the same with a man also. What is his nature, -to bite and kick and throw into prison and cut off heads? No, but to do good, to assist, to indulge the wishes of others. Whether you will or not, then, he is in a bad condition whenever he acts unreasonably. "And so was not Socrates in a bad condition? " No, but his judges and accusers. " Nor Helvidius, at Rome? " No, but his murderer. " How do you talk?" Why, just as you do. You do not call that cock in a bad condition which is victorious, and yet wounded; but that which is conquered and comes off unhurt. Nor do you call a dog happy which neither hunts nor toils; but when you see him perspiring, and distressed, and panting with the chase. In what do we talk paradoxes? If we say that the evil of everything consists in what is contrary to its nature, is this a paradox? Do you not say it with regard to other things? Why, therefore, in the case of man alone, do you take a different view? But further, it is no paradox to say that by nature man is gentle and social and faithful. "This is none." How then [is it a paradox to say] that, when he is whipped, or imprisoned, or beheaded, he is not hurt? If he suffers nobly, does he not come off even the better and a gainer? But he is the person hurt who suffers the most miserable and shameful evils; who, instead of a man, becomes a wolf, a viper, or a hornet. [p. 2140] Come, then; let us recapitulate what has been granted. The man who is unrestrained, who has all things in his power as he wills, is free; but he who may be restrained or compelled or hindered, or thrown into any condition against his will, is a slave. "And who is unrestrained? " He who desires none of those things that belong to others. "And what are those things which belong to others?" Those which are not in our own power, either to have or not to have; or to have them thus or so. Body, therefore, belongs to another; its parts to another; property to another. If, then, you attach yourself to any of these as your own, you will be punished as he deserves who desires what belongs to others. This is the way that leads to freedom, this the only deliverance from slavery, to be able at length to say, from the bottom of one's soul,--H. But what say you, philosopher? A tyrant calls upon you to speak something unbecoming you. Will you say it, or will you not? "Stay, let me consider." Would you consider now? And what did you use to consider when you were in the schools? Did you not study what things were good and evil, and what indifferent? "I did." Well, and what [p. 2141] were the opinions which pleased us? "That just and fair actions were good; unjust and base ones, evil." Is living a good? "No." Dying, an evil? "No." A prison? "No." And what did a mean and dishonest speech, the betraying a friend, or the flattering a tyrant, appear to us? "Evils." Why, then, are you still considering, and have not already considered and come to a resolution? For what sort of a consideration is this: "Whether I ought, when it is in my power, to procure myself the greatest good, instead of procuring myself the greatest evil." A fine and necessary consideration, truly, and deserving mighty deliberation ! Why do you trifle with us, man? No one ever needed to consider any such point; nor, if you really imagined things fair and honest to be good, things base and dishonest to be evil, and all other things indifferent, would you ever be in such a perplexity as this, or near it; but you would presently be able to distinguish by your understanding as you do by your sight. For do you ever have to consider whether black is white, or whether light is heavy? Do you not follow the plain evidence of your senses? Why, then, do you say that you are now considering whether things indifferent are to be avoided, rather than evils? The truth is, you have no principles; for things indifferent do not impress you as such, but as the greatest evils; and these last, on the other hand, as things of no importance. For thus has been your practice from the first. [p. 2142] "Where am I? If I am in the school and there is an audience, I talk as the philosophers do; but if I am out of the school, then away with this stuff that belongs only to scholars and fools." This man is accused by the testimony of a philosopher, his friend; this philosopher turns parasite; another hires himself out for money; a third does that in the very senate. When one is not governed by appearances, then his principles speak for themselves. You are a poor cold lump of prejudice, consisting of mere phrases, on which you hang as by a hair. You should preserve yourself firm and practical, remembering that you are to deal with real things. In what manner do you hear, - I will not say that your child is dead, for how could you possibly bear that?- but that your oil is spilled, your wine consumed? Would that some one, while you are bawling, would only say this: "Philosopher, you talk quite otherwise when in the schools. Why do you deceive us? Why, when you are a worm, do you call yourself a man? " I should be glad to be near one of these philosophers while he is revelling in debauchery, that I might see how he demeans himself, and what sayings he utters; whether he remembers the title he bears and the discourses which he hears, or speaks, or reads. " And what is all this to freedom?" It lies in nothing else than this, - whether you rich people approve or not. "And who affords evidence of this? " Who but yourselves? You who have a powerful [p. 2143] master, and live by his motion and nod, and faint away if he does but look sternly upon you, who pay your court to old men and old women, and say, " I cannot do this or that, it is not in my power." Why is it not in your power? Did you not just now contradict me, and say you were free? " But Aprylla has forbidden me." Speak the truth, then, slave, and do not run away from your masters nor deny them, nor dare to assert your freedom, when you have so many proofs of your slavery. One might indeed find some excuse for a person compelled by love to do something contrary to his opinion, even when at the same time he sees what is best without having resolution enough to follow it, since he is withheld by something overpowering, and in some measure divine. But who can bear with you, who are in love with old men and old women, and perform menial offices for them, and bribe them with presents, and wait upon them like a slave when they are sick; at the same time wishing they may die, and inquiring of the physician whether their distemper be yet mortal? And again, when for these great and venerable magistracies and honors you kiss the hands of the slaves of others; so that you are the slave of those who are not free themselves ! And then you walk about in state, a praetor or a consul. Do I not know how you came to be praetor; whence you received the consulship; who gave it to you? For my own part, I would not even live, if I must live by Felicio's means, and bear his [p. 2144] pride and slavish insolence. For I know what a slave is, blinded by what he thinks good fortune. " Are you free yourself, then? " you may ask. By Heaven, I wish and pray for it. But I own I cannot yet face my masters. I still pay a regard to my body, and set a great value on keeping it whole; though, for that matter, it is not whole. But I can show you one who was free, that you may no longer seek an example. Diogenes was free. " How so?" Not because he was of free parents, for he was not; but because he was so in himself; because he had cast away all which gives a handle to slavery; nor was there any way of getting at him, nor anywhere to lay hold on him, to enslave him. Everything sat loose upon him; everything only just hung on. If you took hold on his possessions, he would rather let them go than follow you for them; if on his leg, he let go his leg; if his body, he let go his body; acquaintance, friends, country, just the same. For he knew whence he had them, and from whom, and upon what conditions he received them. But he would never have forsaken his true parents, the gods, and his real country [the universe]; nor have suffered any one to be more dutiful and obedient to them than he; nor would any one have died more readily for his country than he. He never had to inquire whether he should act for the good of the whole universe; for he remembered that everything that exists belongs to that administration, and is commanded by its ruler. [p. 2145] Accordingly, see what he himself says and writes. "Upon this account," said he, "O Diogenes, it is in your power to converse as you will with the Persian monarch and with Archidamus, king of the Lacedemonians." Was it because he was born of free parents? Or was it because they were descended from slaves, that all the Athenians, and all the Lacedemonians, and Corinthians, could not converse with them as they pleased; but feared and paid court to them? Why then is it in your power, Diogenes? "Because I do not esteem this poor body as my own. Because I want nothing. Because this and nothing else is a law to me." These were the things that enabled him to be free. And that you may not urge that I show you the example of a man clear of incumbrances, without a wife or children or country or friends or relations, to bend and draw him aside, take Socrates, and consider him, who had a wife and children, but held them not as his own; had a country, friends, relations, but held them only so long as it was proper, and in the manner that was proper; submitting all these to the law and to the obedience due to it. Hence, when it was proper to fight, he was the first to go out, and exposed himself to danger without the least reserve. But when he was sent by the thirty tyrants to apprehend Leon,2 because he esteemed it a base action, he [p. 2146] did not even deliberate about it; though he knew that, perhaps, he might die for it. But what did that signify to him? For it was something else that he wanted to preserve, not his mere flesh; but his fidelity, his honor, free from attack or subjection. And afterwards, when he was to make a defence for his life, does he behave like one having children, or a wife? No, but like a single man. And how does he behave, when required to drink the poison? When he might escape, and Crito would have him escape from prison for the sake of his children, what says he? Does he esteem it a fortunate opportunity? How should he? But he considers what is becoming, and neither sees nor regards anything else. " For I am not desirous," he says, " to preserve this pitiful body; but that part which is improved and preserved by justice, and impaired and destroyed by injustice." Socrates is not to be basely preserved. He who refused to vote for what the Athenians commanded; he who contemned the thirty tyrants; he who held such discourses on virtue and moral beauty, - such a man is not to be preserved by a base action, but is preserved by dying, instead of running away. For even a good actor is preserved as such by leaving off when he ought; not by going on [p. 2147] to act beyond his time. " What then will become of your children? " "If I had gone away into Thessaly, you would have taken care of them; and will there be no one to take care of them when I am departed to Hades?" Plato, Crito, i. 5. You see how he ridicules and plays with death. But if it had been you or I, we should presently have proved by philosophical arguments that those who act unjustly are to be repaid in their own way; and should have added, "If I escape I shall be of use to many; if I die, to none." Nay, if it had been necessary, we should have crept through a mouse-hole to get away. But how should we have been of use to any? Where must they have dwelt? If we were useful alive, should we not be of still more use to mankind by dying when we ought and as we ought? And now the remembrance of the death of Socrates is not less, but even more useful to the world than that of the things which he did and said when alive. Study these points, these principles, these discourses; contemplate these examples if you would be free, if you desire the thing in proportion to its value. And where is the wonder that you should purchase so good a thing at the price of other things, be they never so many and so great? Some hang themselves, others break their necks, and sometimes even whole cities have been destroyed for that which is reputed freedom; and will not you for the sake of [p. 2148] the true and secure and inviolable freedom, repay God what he hath given when he demands it? Will you not study not only, as Plato says, how to die, but how to be tortured and banished and scourged; and, in short, how to give up all that belongs to others? If not, you will be a slave among slaves, though you were ten thousand times a consul; and even though you should rise to the palace, you will never be the less so. And you will feel that, though philosophers (as Cleanthes says) do, perhaps, talk contrary to common opinion, yet it is not contrary to reason. For you will find it true, in fact, that the things that are eagerly followed and admired are of no use to those who have gained them; while they who have not yet gained them imagine that, if they are acquired, every good will come along with them; and then, when they are acquired, there is the same feverishness, the same agitation, the same nausea, and the same desire for what is absent. For freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire. And in order to know that this is true, take the same pains about these which you have taken about other things. Hold vigils to acquire a set of principles that will make you free. Instead of a rich old man, pay your court to a philosopher. Be seen about his doors. You will not get any disgrace by being seen there. You will not return empty or unprofited if you go as you ought. However, try at least. The trial is not dishonorable. [p. 2149]"Conduct me, Zeus, and thou, O Destiny,
Wherever your decrees have fixed my lot.
"A Fragment of Cleanthes, before quoted; and given in full in Enchiridion, c. 52.


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There's a lot being said about Charlie Sheen right now - although one could argue that most of it is being said by Charlie Sheen. And while a lot of it might seem a bit crazy, I think you'll find his statements all make perfect sense...when applied to the right cake.
So, in the words of Charlie Sheen, "Just sit back and enjoy the show."
I hear it tastes like strawberries.
"Resentments...are the rocket fuel that lives in the tip of my saber."
(Aka, "Is that a space shuttle in your pants, or do you need to see a doctor?")
"I'm tired of pretending I'm not a total bitchin' rock star from Mars."
"The only thing I'm addicted to is winning."
"Duh! WINNING."
Update from john: The Hieroglyphic cake apparently says 'Happy Birthday' in Gujarati, a language common in Western India. How it ended up in a display case in a chain store in Maryland, though, is still beyond us.


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What's in a Story?
Behaviour-driven development is an "outside-in" methodology. It starts at the outside by identifying business outcomes, and then drills down into the feature set that will achieve those outcomes. Each feature is captured as a "story", which defines the scope of the feature along with its acceptance criteria. This article introduces the BDD approach to defining and identifying stories and their acceptance criteria.
Introduction ¶
Software delivery is about writing software to achieve business outcomes. It sounds obvious, but often political or environmental factors distract us from remembering this. Sometimes software delivery can appear to be about producing optimistic reports to keep senior management happy, or just creating "busy work" to keep people in paid employment, but that's a topic for another day.
Usually, the business outcomes are too coarse-grained to be used to directly write software (where do you start coding when the outcome is "save 5% of my operating costs"?) so we need to define requirements at some intermediate level in order to get work done.
Behaviour-driven development (BDD) takes the position that you can turn an idea for a requirement into implemented, tested, production-ready code simply and effectively, as long as the requirement is specific enough that everyone knows what's going on. To do this, we need a way to describe the requirement such that everyone—the business folks, the analyst, the developer and the tester—have a common understanding of the scope of the work. From this they can agree a common definition of "done", and we escape the dual gumption traps of "that's not what I asked for" or "I forgot to tell you about this other thing".
This, then, is the role of a Story. It has to be a description of a requirement and its business benefit, and a set of criteria by which we all agree that it is "done". This is a more rigorous definition than in other agile methodologies, where it is variously described as a "promise of a conversation" or a "description of a feature". (A BDD story can just as easily describe a non-functional requirement, as long as the work can be scoped, estimated and agreed on.)
The structure of a story ¶
BDD provides a structure for a story. This is not mandatory—you can use a different story format and still be doing BDD—but I am presenting it here because it has been proven to work on many projects of all shapes and sizes. At the very least, your story should contain all of the elements described in the template. The story template looks like this:
Title (one line describing the story)
As a [role]
I want [feature]
So that [benefit]
Acceptance Criteria: (presented as Scenarios)
Scenario 1: Title
Given [context]
And [some more context]...
When [event]
Then [outcome]
And [another outcome]...
Scenario 2: ...
Telling the story ¶
A story should be the product of a conversation involving several people. A business analyst talks to a business stakeholder1 about the feature or requirement, and helps them to frame it as a story narrative. Then a tester helps define the scope of the story—in the form of acceptance criteria—by determining which scenarios matter and which are less useful. A technical representative will provide a ballpark estimate of the amount of work involved in the story, and to propose alternative approaches. Many great ideas for systems come from the people developing them as well as the people who asked for them in the first place.
This will likely be an iterative process. The stakeholder will have an idea of what they want but will usually not know how much work will be involved, or how that work will be allocated. With the help of the technical and testing experts, they will understand the cost/benefit trade-off of each scenario and can make a judgement about whether they want it. Of course this is also balanced up against the other requirements: is it better to cover more edge cases in this story, or to move on to another story?
Sometimes the development team will simply not know enough to be able to make even a ballpark estimate. In this case they may choose to carry out some investigative work, known as a "spike", in order to understand more about the requirement. (I will cover planning in more detail in a future article.)
The characteristics of a good story ¶
Using the example from the article Introducing BDD, let's look at the requirements for withdrawing cash from an ATM:
Story: Account Holder withdraws cash
As an Account Holder
I want to withdraw cash from an ATM
So that I can get money when the bank is closed
Scenario 1: Account has sufficient funds
Given the account balance is $100
And the card is valid
And the machine contains enough money
When the Account Holder requests $20
Then the ATM should dispense $20
And the account balance should be $80
And the card should be returned
Scenario 2: Account has insufficient funds
Given the account balance is $10
And the card is valid
And the machine contains enough money
When the Account Holder requests $20
Then the ATM should not dispense any money
And the ATM should say there are insufficient funds
And the account balance should be $20
And the card should be returned
Scenario 3: Card has been disabled
Given the card is disabled
When the Account Holder requests $20
Then the ATM should retain the card
And the ATM should say the card has been retained
Scenario 4: The ATM has insufficient funds
As you can see, there are a number of scenarios to consider, some related to the account balance, others about the card and yet others about the ATM itself. Let's dissect the story to determine whether it is any good.
The title should describe an activity ¶
The title of the story, "Account Holder withdraws cash", describes an activity that the account holder wants to carry out. Until we implement this feature, the account holder won't be able to withdraw money from the ATM. Once we have delivered it, they will. That gives us an obvious starting point for determining what "done" looks like.
If we had a title like "Account management" or "ATM behaviour", we would have to look harder to understand when we were finished, and the edges would be a lot more fuzzy. For instance, "account management" might incorporate applying for a loan, and "ATM behaviour" might encompass changing the PIN number on my cash card. The story title should always describe actual behaviour by a user of the system.
The narrative should include a role, a feature and a benefit ¶
The template "As a [role] I want [feature] so that [benefit]" has a number of advantages. By specifying the role within the narrative, you know who to talk to about the feature. By specifying the benefit, you cause the story writer to consider why they want a feature.
It gets interesting if you find the feature won't actually deliver the benefit attributed to it. This usually means you have a missing story. There is one story with the current feature, which delivers a different benefit (and is therefore still useful), and a hidden story whereby you will need a different feature to deliver the benefit described.
The example story tells us there is an Account Holder who cares about the feature being delivered, so we know where to start exploring what it should do.
The scenario title should say what's different ¶
You should be able to line up the scenarios side by side, and describe how they differ using only the title. In our example, we can see that the scenario descriptions say only what's different between each scenario. You don't need to say "an account holder withdraws money from an account with insufficient funds and is told they are unable to fulfull the transaction". It's obvious from the title whether this is the scenario you care about, compared to the others.
The scenario should be described in terms of Givens, Events and Outcomes ¶
This is the single most powerful behavioural shift I have seen in teams adopting BDD. Simply by getting the business users, the analysts, the testers and the developers to adopt this vocabulary of "given/when/then", they discover that a world of ambiguity falls away.
Not all scenarios are this simple. Some are best represented as a sequence of events, described as: given [some context] when [I do something] then [this happens] when [I do another thing] then [this new thing happens] and so on. An example is a wizard-style website, where you step through a sequence of screens to build up a complex data model. It is perfectly appropriate to intermingle sequences of events and outcomes, as long as you get into the habit of thinking in these terms.
One interesting emergent behaviour is that the quality of the conversation changes. You will quickly discover that you have missed out an assumed given ("well of course the account is overdrawn"), or forgotten to verify an outcome ("well naturally the account holder gets their card back"). I observed this on one particular project where the lead developer told me he could sense the analysts and developers were talking at cross purposes, but couldn't see a way to demonstrate this to them. Within a few days of introducing the given/when/then vocabulary, he could see a dramatic improvement in the quality of their interactions.
The givens should define all of, and no more than, the required context ¶
Any additional givens are distracting, which makes it hard for someone looking at the story for the first time—whether from the technical or business side—to understand what they need to know. Similarly any missing givens are really assumptions. If you can get a different outcome from the givens provided, then there must be something missing.
In the example, the first scenario says something about the account balance, the card and the ATM itself. All of these are required to fully define the scenario. In the third scenario, we don't say anything about the account balance or whether the ATM has any money. This implies that the machine will retain the card whatever the account balance, and whatever the state of the ATM.
The event should describe the feature ¶
The event itself should be very simple, typically only a single call into the production code. As discussed above, some scenarios are more complicated than this, but mostly the scenarios for a story will revolve around a single event. They will differ only in the context (the givens) and the corresponding expected outcomes.
The story should be small enough to fit in an iteration ¶
There are no hard and fast rules about how you do this, as long as you break it down into demonstrable chunks. In general if there are more than about five or six scenarios, a story can probably be broken down by grouping similar scenarios together.
We can't tell from the ATM example how many more scenarios there are for this story, but I am suspicious that there may be several more. Essentially we have three "moving parts" in this story, namely the account balance, the status of the cash card and the state of the ATM. We could get into more detail with the cash card: what if it is out of date, so I can't use it to withdraw cash but the ATM still returns it to me? What if the ATM breaks partway through the transaction? What if my account has an overdraft facility?
It might be better to break the story out into several smaller stories:
- Account Holder withdraws cash (assumptions: ATM is working and card is valid)
- Account Holder withdraws cash with invalid card (assumptions: ATM is working)
- Account Holder withdraws cash from flaky ATM (assumptions: card is valid)
Although this may seem artificial, it allows you to demonstrate progress in business terms and gives you more data points to track with. The important thing is always to break the story out along business lines by scenarios (and making the assumptions explicit) rather than along technical lines (e.g. doing the database stuff in this iteration and the GUI stuff in the next iteration). This is so the business can see demonstrable progress on their own terms rather than just taking your word for it.
So how is this different from Use Cases? ¶
There are use cases and there are use cases. I'm a huge fan of the way Alistair Cockburn describes use cases (as opposed to the over-engineered versions I have encountered on RUP-as-waterfall projects). Given that I don't have much experience on use case-driven projects, I'll leave it to others to draw the comparisons.
Certainly I agree with his process of starting at the lower precision (of an outcome, or goal) and working towards higher precisions, taking in more exception scenarios as you go. In BDD, this means starting with the business outcome, and working through high level functional areas to drill into specific stories with acceptance criteria.
In reality, it doesn't matter what your process is to identify and elaborate requirements. It's fine for you to write requirements documents if that helps you organise your thoughts. It's not fine, however, to pass those documents along as if they actually encapsulated all your thoughts, because they don't. Instead, you should put the requirements document, or stack of use cases, to one side and start over defining stories from business outcomes, safe in the knowledge that your hard work has meant that you have all the answers in your head, or at least a good enough understanding to outline the work as you currently see it.
Summary ¶
Behaviour-driven development uses a story as the basic unit of functionality, and therefore of delivery. The acceptance criteria are an intrinsic part of the story; in effect they define the scope of its behaviour, and give us a shared definition of "done". They are also used as the basis for estimation when we come to do our planning.
Most importantly, the stories are the result of conversations between the project stakeholders, business analysts, testers and developers. BDD is as much about the interactions between the various people in the project as it is about the outputs of the development process.
Colophon ¶
This article has been translated into:
- Catalan by Nahuel Torres
- French by Philippe Poumaroux
- German by Julia Kadauke
- Italian by Maurizio Turatti
- Russian by Denis Oleynik
- Spanish by Adrian Moya
Actually it should be the person who actually cares about the feature, so it may equally be an operational, legal or security person depending on the story. ↩


text:
Forsyth County is excited to announce the return of the Pumpkin Pick Hayride for the entire month of October at Tanglewood Park beginning Monday, October 1, lasting through Wednesday, October 31, 2012.
Pumpkin Pick Hayrides present great opportunities for groups of families, friends, classes, or even business outings. Photo opportunities are endless for participants in this 45-minute ride!
Join in with other families on the weekends for only $8 a person, pumpkin included, or schedule the whole wagon for your group, 20-30 people for $175, pumpkins included.
This tractor-drawn hayride takes groups through the rolling hills, grassy lands and the most beautiful terrains Tanglewood Park has to offer. So join the hayride and make reservations today before this opportunity rides away!
All services are available by reservations only. For more information on hayrides or to make required reservation, call (336) 766-9540.


text:
If you work in marketing, sales, or advertising, you already know that effective communication is a requirement. This can be even more difficult when expressing your ideas in a persuasive manner in English. In this course, you will learn to use English more efficiently while joining successful global professionals around the world. Develop your skills along with authentic characters that work in marketing and also work hard to improve their communication skills. Learn from your successes and failures, reflect on your own style, strengths, and improvement areas. After taking this course, you will be able to:
· Express your ideas through efficient emails, reports and persuasive presentations
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Price: Enroll For Free!
Language: English
Subtitles: English
Business English: Marketing and Sales – Arizona State University
TUN Helps Students!
Copyright, 2024 – TUN, Inc


text:
White Bordeaux Blends
The grape juice for dry white wines is fermented without the red skins. Immediately after the grapes are harvested, the skins are separated from the "must" (unfermented grape juice). The wine is bottled within twelve months of the grapes being picked. Recently, Bordeaux oenologists have led the way in improving white winemaking techniques. This has led to a much higher quality of dry white Bordeaux wines, making them fresher, more aromatic and more complex.
Serve sweet white bordeaux wines chilled but not too cold to appreciate their delicate, complex aromas ranging from honey and floral notes to pears, apricots and dried fruits. Good sweet Bordeaux should have a balance of acidity and sugar. Younger, lighter wines are a perfect accompaniment to fruit-based desserts, foie gras, roasted white meats and, as an alternative to port, blue cheese. However, a special, aged bottle with its rich, amber color is a dessert in itself!


text:
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text:
Since he was on page 1 of Donna Leon's 1st of the Commisario Brunetti series, Death at La Feniche.
(NO spoilers included.)
Conveniently the same opera in the book, Verdi's Traviata sung by Donna Leon's tempermental diva (and possible murder suspect) Donna Flavia, was featured on the walls...
La Feniche is appropriately named after the phoenix (a reference to the mythological creature reborn from its ashes after it's destroyed). The opera house has risen from ashes many times since 1789. As recently as 1996, recorded in detail by John Berendt in The City of Falling Angels.


text:
(AP) — Target's pre-Christmas security breach was significantly more extensive and affected millions more shoppers than the company reported last month.
The nation's second largest discounter said Friday that hackers stole personal information — including names, phone numbers as well as email and mailing addresses — from as many as 70 million customers as part of a data breach it discovered in December. (Read Target's update on its website here.)
The Los Angeles Times reports that Target customers whose information was stolen could include online shoppers.
Target Corp. disclosed last month that about 40 million credit and debit cards may have been affected by a data breach that happened between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15 — just as the holiday shopping season was getting into gear.
According to new information gleaned from its investigation with the Secret Service and the Department of Justice, Target said Friday that criminals also took non-credit card related data for some 70 million shoppers who could have made purchases at Target stores outside the late Nov. to mid-Dec. timeframe. Some overlap exists between the two data sets, the company said Friday.
"I know that it is frustrating for our guests to learn that this information was taken and we are truly sorry they are having to endure this," said Gregg Steinhafel, Target chairman, president and CEO, in a statement.
While Target investors have been largely unmoved, the incident has shaken shoppers.
The company's stock has traded at about $63 since news of the breach leaked on Dec. 18. It slipped 79 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $62.55 late in trading Friday.
Target revealed on Friday, however, that the breach diminished holiday sales. The company cut its forecast for fourth-quarter earnings, a key sales barometer.
The theft from Target's databases is still the second largest data breach on record, rivalling an incident uncovered in 2007 that saw more than 90 million credit card accounts pilfered from TJX Cos. Inc.
Target said in December that customers' names, credit and debit card numbers, card expiration dates, debit-card PINs and the embedded code on the magnetic strip on the back of cards had been stolen.
Target tried to woo scared shoppers back to stores on the last weekend before Christmas with a 10 percent discount on nearly everything in its stores. But Customer Growth Partners LLC, a retail consultancy, estimated that the number of transactions at Target fell 3 percent to 4 percent on the Saturday before Christmas, compared with a year ago.
"You have violated that person's trust. And it's going to take time to regain that trust," said Brian Sozzi, CEO & Chief Equities Strategist of Belus Capital Advisors.
Target lowered its fourth-quarter adjusted earnings guidance to a range of $1.20 to $1.30 per share, down from $1.50 to $1.60 per share.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect earnings of $1.24 per share.
The Minneapolis company also said that it now foresees fourth-quarter sales at stores open at least a year will be down about 2.5 percent. It previously predicted those sales would be about flat.
This figure is a closely-watched indicator of a retailer's health.
Target cautioned that its fourth-quarter financials may include charges related to the data breach. The chain said the costs tied to the breach may have a material adverse effect on its quarterly results as well as future periods.
The company has 1,921 stores, with 1,797 locations in the U.S. and 124 in Canada.


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You may hesitate to become physically intimate with a new partner due to concerns about sexually transmitted infections (STIs). It can be difficult to bring up the subject without ruining the mood.
The best time to bring up the subject of HIV or other STIs is not when you and a new partner are about to have sex for the first time. If you and your partner had already discussed this, you more likely to relax and enjoy the experience. If you have not talked it through and you do go ahead with sex, you may have an experience that is less than perfect.
Open communication with a partner before you have sex is essential. Of course, talking about sexual issues is never easy. However, it is less difficult when you take the time to get to know your partner and not rush into sex.
Talking About STIs
Talking about STIs may be easier than you imagine. Many people find it a relief when their partner brings up the subject since it is a concern for most people. It shows that you care about your own health and your partner's.
Start by telling your partner how you feel about STIs and your experiences. You might say something like "It has gotten complicated to be close to people these days. I feel really concerned about it so I have gotten tested for HIV and other STIs. What do you think about it? What have you done?"
If your date indicates that he or she is not being responsible in regard to STIs, you may want to rethink your relationship. Even if a partner assures you that he or she is careful, you cannot depend on that. You do not know his or her partners' sexual histories. The most prudent solution is for both partners to get tested for HIV and STIs before becoming intimate. Testing is readily available through your doctor or at clinics. You can choose to get an anonymous HIV test if confidentiality is a concern. You can also be tested for many other STIs, like chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and hepatitis B.
Home test kits are available for HIV and hepatitis B. Make sure you know the risks and benefits of home testing and follow instructions carefully. Information on home test kits can be found at the US Food and Drug Administration website. Keep in mind that when you get your test results, you should discuss them with your doctor, regardless of the results.
Practicing "Safer Sex"
Even when we know better, we may still succumb to temptation and have sex with someone we do not know well. In that case, you should absolutely practice "safer sex," since any exchange of bodily fluids is not entirely safe. Using a latex condom properly can help prevent HIV and other STIs. Men should remove the condom in a way that it prevents fluids from touching their partner.
It's important to keep in mind, too, that condoms do not offer full protection against STIs like genital herpes or genital warts. This is because a condom leaves part of the genital area exposed, and this exposure to your partner's skin may infect you.
If you do have an STI, you will need to tell your potential partners.
American Social Health Association http://www.ashastd.org
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention http://www.cdc.gov
Sex Information and Education Council of Canada http://www.sieccan.org
Sexuality and U—The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada http://www.sexualityandu.ca
Home use kits. US Food and Drug Administration website. Available at: http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalProcedures/InVitroDiagnostics/HomeUseTests/default.htm. Updated June 5, 2014. Accessed January 17, 2017.
Keller S. Methods work better when couples talk. Netw Res Triangle Park NC. 1996;16(3):10-11.
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs). American Academy of Family Physicians Family Doctor website. Available at: http://familydoctor.org/familydoctor/en/diseases-conditions/sexually-transmitted-infections.html. Updated April 2014. Accessed January 17, 2017.
How you can prevent sexually transmitted diseases. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/std/prevention/default.htm. Updated March 31, 2016. Accessed January 17, 2017.
Talking about sex. American Sexual Health Association website. Available at: http://www.ashasexualhealth.org/sexual-health/talking-about-sex. Accessed January 17, 2017.