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Linux in Government: GNU/Linux Clears Procurement Hurdles
In the first quarter of 2004, sales of GNU/Linux servers increased 56.9% over the same period in 2003. That performance follows six consecutive quarters of double-digit growth for the free operating system, according to a report by IDC. Although Linux currently has the best growth rate of any operating system globally and has cleared major procurement hurdles for government entities, Linux gains remain limited compared to those of other government vendors.
In a recent article in internetnews.com, Sean Michael Kerner interviewed me with regard to gains made by Linux in government. His article focused on the decision by Munich and Bergen to deploy Linux. Here's what Sean wrote:
According to Tom Adelstein, Linux and open source consultant, the Munich decision is a failure in the Microsoft political machine. "It makes a similar statement about Microsoft, as does the EU's decision to fine Microsoft for anti-trust violations," Adelstein told internetnews.com. "The Munich voters represent a large body compared to cities in the U.S. This was more of a popularity contest than a technical decision. I would not call it a win for Linux as much as a defeat for Microsoft," he said.
Sean did not want to go where I wanted to lead him. He wrote a positive article that made the gains in Europe seem like Linux was winning the OS wars. That may provide plenty of excitement for readers, it's simply not the whole truth.
Linux usage in government and education in the United States remains small at best. Microsoft still owns an astounding 95% of the market. In spite of logic and reason, government decision makers cannot pull themselves away from Microsoft, even in the face of US government warnings.
Microsoft owns the mindshare of information technology in this country. After settling anti-trust suits with Sun Microsystems for somewhere around two billion dollars, people saw that as a win for Redmond. In the past couple of years, Microsoft has settled anti-trust and copyright infringement litigation at a dizzying rate, and people still shrug their shoulders as if to say, "It's okay, I'll just reboot again". That's the Microsoft two-step.
In the government and educational sectors, people easily can add up the cost savings. You don't need a rocket science pedigree to see the savings or the vast amount of software available to run schools and governments. Still, people shrug their shoulders and sign purchase orders for Microsoft products.
In a June 30th article in eWeek, Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols wrote:
The state of Mississippi has launched a Linux-based, mobile public safety system that links police, fire and emergency services to a single DB2 database. Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., announced the successful initial deployment of the public safety system, Mississippi ASP (Automated System Project)--a mobile data infrastructure that's based on IBM eServer hardware and IBM DB2 and Novell SuSE Linux software-at a press conference at the University of Southern Mississippi.
That sounds great, doesn't it? Unfortunately, Linux plays a minor role in this project. The system is really based on Microsoft .NET technology, not Linux. The vast majority of the funds went to the purchase of products from InterAct Public Safety Systems. One of InterAct's core competencies is converting legacy Cobol system applications to .NET applications.
IBM did sell hardware to ASP and did deliver SuSE Enterprise Linux software, but that is not where the money went. You did not see Microsoft executives throwing a fit over the ASP project, because they know their solution dominates. Ultimately, the advocates at ASP and southern Mississippi will have an open-source project, but it's years away.
Microsoft has done such a grand job of owning the mindshare in the technology field, it even has Linux advocates attacking Sun Microsystems and Novell promoting .NET technology in the form of Ximian's Mono programming language. Okay, shrug and reboot--do the Microsoft two-step.
On July 1, 2004, the Executive Office of the President of the United States issued a memorandum for Senior Procurement Executives and Chief Information Officers. The memorandum emphasizes the President's previous memorandum titled "Maximizing Use of SmartBuy and Avoiding Duplication of Agency Activities." In this latest memorandum, OMB 04-16, the President issued the following ground-breaking statements:
This reminder applies to acquisitions of all software, whether it is proprietary or Open Source Software. Open Source Software's source code is widely available so it may be used, copied, modified, and redistributed. It is licensed with certain common restrictions, which generally differ from proprietary software. Frequently, the licenses require users who distribute Open Source Software, whether in its original form or as modified, to make the source code widely available. Subsequent licenses usually include the terms of the original license, thereby requiring wide availability. These differences in licensing may affect the use, the security, and the total cost of ownership of the software and must be considered when an agency is planning a software acquisition.
Microsoft government advocates have fought the eventuality of this pronouncement. In the past, we had to fight the proprietary language in Requests for Proposals from all government entities, which kept open-source projects out of the procurement mechanism.
In May 2004, Oracle helped Red Hat achieve its Common Criteria certification. Version 3 of Red Hat Enterprise Linux was certified to meet Evaluation Assurance Level 2 (EAL2) of the Common Criteria certification, which means it can be deployed in government and in the DoD. It also means Red Hat and Oracle can sell into security sensitive markets, such as federal insurance banks, stock brokerage firms and other government contractors.
In January 2004, less than a year after achieving Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL) 2 for SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8, SuSE earned (EAL) 3, the next level of certification. Atsec Information Security GmbH, along with IBM, assisted SuSE with the certification process. This was the first major accomplishment for Enterprise Linux.
Common Criteria provides standards for security for mission-critical software. Certification costs millions of dollars and provides a seal of approval recognized by government agencies and enterprise IT professionals. Countries that recognize the Common Criteria include the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France and Japan.
If one takes those wins alone, you can understand why GNU/Linux sales have increased in double-digit figures for approximately two years running. IBM, HP and Oracle have done a good job of promoting GNU/Linux through their partnerships with Red Hat and/or SuSE. The IBM Linux Competency Center has a great number of open-source projects of which few people are aware.
EAL Certification
EAL2 is enough to get a foot in the door, but it takes EAL3 to be certified for classified processing. What is worse, in the US, if the Common Criteria is not met under US contract then the US government still cannot use it for Classified Computing!! Common Criteria is a standard the US only half lives up to.
Re: Linux in Government: GNU/Linux Clears Procurement Hurdles
Thanks again for your comments in piece Tom and for mentioning the interview here.
It's not so much that I didn't want to go where you were trying to lead - i do have an end reference to Calgary's decision to go to Linux for servers but not desktops - more that the focus was on gains that Linux is making with governments, small though they may be as you rightly point out. It's definately an uphill battle, but the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.
Live Free & Prosper.
(open+star) office has 20%?
"Additionally, Sun Microsystems' OpenOffice.org and StarOffice products have achieved approximately a 20% market share in the office productivity market. " - cool! now would you mind telling me where you got this numer?
Re: (open+star) office has 20%?
I concur. 20% seems extraordinarily high. Most people I meet have never even _heard_ of StarOffice, let alone use it. Did you get this from some sort of survey or just estimate?
Re: (open+star) office has 20%?
I don't know where you are at, but I'd guess the US or thereabouts. That's where I'm at, and it's true that nobody's using Open Office. But the article specifically stated it was popular in Asia and elsewhere overseas. Now I have no idea what the Chinese or others are running, but it whouldn't surprize (sp?) me (exspecially given the Chinese government's statements backing Linux and other Open Source software) that it's popular enough to make up 20% global marketshare. In the third world, I've heard that Open Source has really taken off. Besides, do you really know what's running on the desktops of major businesses in your area? (You might, you might not. I, for one, don't. I'd guess they're running *XP, but I've really no clue.)
Re: Linux in Government: GNU/Linux Clears Procurement Hurdles
It would be helpful, before posting high praise for a product that achieved EAL2 and aspires to EAL3, to read the definition of the security relavancy of those ratings from the Common Criteria folks themselves. Serious security begins at EAL5 and that is a level, by its own definition, that Linux and other contributory effort products will find well nigh impossible.
Each level is an order of magnitude more difficult, more expensive and more time consuming to achieve. More expensive in that someone must fund the Evaluation Lab to do the work. Time consuming because of the documentation and thousands of security tests that must be written.
And such an Evaluation, only applies to the specific code analyzed. Change/improve the code and the Evaluation is meaningless. Distribute the code in an unsecure manner and the Evaluation is meaningless.
And, to make things more complex, the hardware must be included in the evaluation so the hardware platform must be controlled just like the software. Change the motherboard and your Evaluation is void. Change the CPU speed and your Evaluation can be meaningless.
So freeze the software with no changes allowed for several years while the docs and tests are written. Come up with the Millions to pay for the evaluation. And watch while the software becomes obsolete and the hardware becomes End-of-Life (unavailable). And then see if you can achieve a high EAL level...
It goes against the agility and quick improvement approach that Linux development features.
It is a huge undertaking. About 10 people full time for 3 years. And it has to be done over and over again as each new Revision comes out.
Re: Linux in Government: GNU/Linux Clears Procurement Hurdles
Funny. You might follow your own advice and read the article. Where's the praise? The guy said it wasn't enough.
Re: Linux in Government: GNU/Linux Clears Procurement Hurdles
The guy has a point. When you see the list of CC software, no one appears to have the high levels. It's hard to achieve and maintain.
Attacking Sun makes no sense?
Maybe in your little world, or the little world of Sun fanboys. Facts are facts. Sun provided approximately 50% of the funding for SCO to pay their legal team (here's some fud that the funding provided to Sun:
Solaris is "indemnified" and runs no risk of being slammed with copyright suits like the SCO Group's against IBM Corp., McNealy said. That's got to mean something, he said, to "large enterprises and media companies who can't afford to scoff at copyrights."
Would SCO be pressing this lawsuit, if the suits, and the lawyers, didn't have income coming in from their actions from day one? This may be a gamble for SCO the corporation, but it is no gamble for the suits behind SCO. Darl, Darl's brother, Boies, and others have been getting paid, regardless of whether SCO wins or not. They have the cash in their pockets, and can walk away, now, earlier, or later, and not have lost a dime. In the meantime, thanks to a stock repurchase plan, Darl can keep the stock price at the $5 level or higher for the necessary number of days, so that money managers managing other people's money can continue to own SCO, and wash each others' backs at the same time. As RBC or Baystar have already admitted, they do business with Microsoft, and putting some pocket change into SCO would make Microsoft happy.
Sun provided substantial funding for SCO to press forward their lawsuits. End of story.
As for Sun's marvelous contribuitions to the open source community, bull. Star was around before Sun had anything to do with it. And Sun would not have done anything with Star, if they hadn't already been losing market share to WIntel solutions. Star provided a possible path for Sun to take on Microsoft, and WIntel solutions, long term, looking back to Sun's long term outlook some years ago. As the damage increased, one strategy among many (including funding SCO, and later, kissing Steve Ballmer on stage during the Sun-Microsoft settlement announcement, enabling Sun to join forces with Microsoft against the Linux juggernaut), was to release Star to open source. More programmers mean faster development, an office suite that isn't Microsoft Office means an office suite that can run on SOLARIS, and not just Linux.
Sun's contribution of OpenOffice to the FOSS community is hollow. The only thing that drove that action is for Sun to have a Solaris answer to Microsoft, not a Linux answer. And in case you still have trouble understanding this, I'll end this post with Scott's and own words, during approximately the same time frame, of where they believed Sun would be in the current OS wars.
Sun CEO: Linux is for 'hobbyists,' not enterprise.
Schwartz, however, sees the fad of Linux wearing off in big businesses:
"There will be a transition back to Solaris," he said.
This is a typical stance for a Sun employee. While the rest of the non-Microsoft world champions Linux as the OS of the future, Sun continues to try and protect the Solaris franchise. And it's Solaris x86 that is meant to help the franchise grow.
John Loiacono, Sun's operating systems chief, told us that he is hiring in the Solaris x86 unit and trying to repair relationships with large OEMs.
... I emailed Sun about this, but got no response. So I decided to check instead with Miguel de Icaza. He founded the GNOME project and is a co-founder of Ximian, the GNOME-based desktop and apps company which now belongs to Novell.
Miguel minced no words about it. He said, "It is just branding. Its basically Gnome, and they bundle the Java runtime, so you can write apps with Java. Thats all."
He added that it's "worse than Microsoft's dot net branding," and jokingly suggested that Sun might next start calling the Linux kernel "Solaris."
Intentionally or not, the branding misleads people. It did me. As de Icaza noted, "a side effect is that people will get the impression that 'Java works just fine for desktop apps'. Little they will know that there is no Java at all."
Sun has cautioned the press that the CDs of the Sun Java Desktop distributed at Sun World recently were not even beta level. Maybe that goes for the name as well.
Another ac post's opinion on Sun, not mine:
I don't see why I should worry particularly about Sun or Sun going out of business. I find their behavior and attitude towards the open source community reprehensible. I mean things like shipping a proprietary version of Gnome under their own name, trying to kill X11, trying to take advantage of SCO's claims to drum up business, and pretending that Java is free and open when it is actually one of the most legally encumbered platforms around.
Technologically, Sun hasn't exactly been innovative either. Java is a cheap imitation of Smalltalk, Taligent, NeXTStep, and similar efforts; it is as if the last 20 years haven't happened. Their processors are behind, and their operating system is showing its age.
I used to be a big Sun user and proponent, but at this point, it would make no difference to me if they disappeared tomorrow.
And more
Pragmatic and rational? The world according to Sun came to an end two years ago. Now, according to anyone writing about Sun, they have to redefine their business model, or they will perish. Sun themselves admitted that they have "sold" their "Java" desktop to China (making them the "number one Linux distribution"), for basically nothing. Good for them. According to everything I've read to date, their current business model appears to be: give them GNU/Linux if they demand it, try to sell them Solaris, make Java Desktop transitional so that we can bring them back to the Solaris fold if they go with GNU/Linux for now, and embrace AMD Opteron. AMD Opteron may be their only winning move. As long as they hold on to their Solaris pipe dream, they are doomed. And if they admit defeat, and fully embrace GNU/Linux, they become an also-ran.
Sun had their glory days. As other tech companies have in the past, they will fade away. The momentum, and the mind share is behind GNU/Linux. Microsoft knows this, IBM knows this, Oracle knows this, the developers know this, and the FOSS community knows this. Sun knows this also, but apparently they think they can pull a rabbit out of a hat.
For funding SCO, for talking trash on GNU/Linux, for rebranding GNU/Linux as Java, for joining forces with Microsoft against GNU/Linux, for all their attacks concealed by non-disclosure clauses, for all their patent attacks, they deserve everything coming to them.
Pragmatic and rational? You need to wake up, otherwise you are one of the sheep in a business world of wolves.
Re: Attacking Sun makes no sense?
Maybe in my little world?
Such a statement implies a comparison: My world versus your world. I can see you're skilled in the art of making be-littling statements. But, how you can compare our worlds without knowing me, seems a bit prejudiced and certainly assumes much. We can put that aside for a moment, I will answer you because that's what writers do.
You make a one sided argument against Sun and most of it is mud-slinging. How do you know that the thngs you wrote are accurate? How do you know that Sun set out to enable SCO?
I worked at some level with Mandrake, Red Hat, SuSE, SCO, Sun, Xandros, IBM, HP and Corel to mention a few. I know the people pretty well. I doubt that Sun set out to help SCO in their pursuit of litigation. If they did anything, it was to follow Sun's long term pattern of protecting their customers. I wrote an article on Linux indemnification for O'Reilly and went into that thoroughy. I gave the nod to Novell for taking care of their customers.
I know that Sun has done more than any other proprietary company to help Linux and Open Source Software. I also know their intentions and how their people behave. You have the wrong target in your sites.
McNeally has always been the most generous person in the Valley and he always gets the raw end of the deal. I know what that's like because in my career I have seven startups to my credit. I could have been greedy and taken all the money every time I sold one, but I shared. My friends say I'm too generous and people screw me around because I have a generous nature and I keep forgivng people.
I think Scott has the same affliction. He's too good to people and he winds up finding loyalty a very rare commodity.
This article wasn't really about Sun or Scott. They're getting the same media bias as the rest of Microsoft's targets. Plus, he has to contend with IBM and HP. So, the media treats him like he's a jerk. I've seen the misquotes happen. It's a bit much to have members of the Linux community attack him too.
I know the history of UNIX and Linux as well as anyone - technically and from a time line. We wouldn't even have Linux or the Free Software Foundation if Scott and his pals hadn't started Sun. When it became obvious that Microsoft was planning to kill UNIX, AT&T went to Scott and put together a deal to save UNIX. Why? Because Scott was the only one who could have done it.
So, if you look at things in a rational way, Sun didn't hurt anyone, they helped people. They have never been mean spirited. But, people have kicked Sun when the company has been down. I know what's that's like. You have to have tough skin to get back up and keep trying to make it back.
Sun will never be the same company, but they will survive and reinvent themselves in spite of the crowd's ill teatment.
It was only a matter of time for Sun to confirm...
...exactly what I've been saying. They've confirmed it themselves by telling their plans for attacking Linux to an analyst.
Sun isn't the benevolent little do-gooder that you make them out to be. And because they themselves don't understand Linux from what I see of their plans, they are as doomed as is Microsoft.
I told you so. Now here it is, straight from the analyst:
Sun Microsystems seeks to avoid oblivion by pursuing a simple but powerful strategy.
Its plan? Attack Red Hat, use control over the operating system and the platform to disrupt competitors' pricing and business models, out-engineer everybody in the x86 space and use an alliance with Microsoft to fight a common enemy: IBM.
Last week in California, I visited two Sun bigwigs: Jonathan Schwartz, president and chief operating officer, and Scott McNealy, chairman and chief executive. When Schwartz asked me, "What do you think of Sun?" I gave him an honest answer. "Sun risks becoming the data general of the decade. The company could easily slide toward becoming a 'zombie' -- a lot of cash but no life, staggering and lurching with a fading heartbeat at each step," I said.
Schwartz's comeback was, "You're wrong, and here's why." He then laid out the surprisingly simple and cohesive strategy that Sun will follow in pursuit of a recovery. Here it is, in a stripped-down form.
Step No. 1: Make the argument that Linux equals Red Hat. Linux has become a social force, with all of the free world supposedly cooperating to create an always improving operating system that is forever cheaper and more valuable than the old versions of Unix.
Sun's view is that Linux is nothing more than Red Hat. The operating system is not about world peace and the charitable work of the world's great programmers. It's like every other operating system ever created: It's about the foibles, greed, mistakes and engineering prowess (or lack thereof) of one vendor -- in this case, Red Hat.
Step No. 2: Belittle Red Hat. By collapsing Linux into Red Hat, Sun now has a clear target. It can hammer away at a company, as opposed to waging the impossible task of fighting a social movement. And according to Sun, Red Hat is a very vulnerable target -- a company with limited resources, engineering talent, world coverage and capabilities -- with potentially serious intellectual-property issues.
When Sun visits billion-dollar companies, it uses an effective line of attack: "You're going to entrust the future of your company to what vendor? A little software player with no proven abilities in the enterprise business? Are you out of your mind?"
Step No. 3: Contrast Sun with Red Hat. Sun has been a trusted, pragmatic partner with its customers for decades. It is going to return to those customers and clearly contrast its long-term relationship with newcomer Red Hat. The company is doing this now with its old Wall Street customers.
Step No. 4: Play up the OS-plus-platform advantage. Sun is playing a very old game here, but it will play it hard. The company is saying that you cannot be a legitimate, long-term player without controlling and harmonising the operating system and the platform. You must have control over both to offer easy and cost-effective solutions for your customer.
Hewlett-Packard is letting HP-UX die in favour of Red Hat and Windows; IBM is introducing Power systems that don't run AIX; and Dell never had an operating system.
Sun makes the claim that it will be the only vendor with a strong platform -- Sparc at the high end, x86 at the low end -- that also has a strong operating system to offer with Solaris at the high and low ends.
Step No. 5: Disrupt the market with a new pricing model. Sun wants its server pricing to mirror mobile phone pricing. When you buy a cell phone, you do two things: One, buy the operating system and the phone together; and two, subscribe to mobile services for monthly fees.
Sun is pricing the server the same way -- get the server for a very low price or potentially no price, and pay for the maintenance and applications (the value imparted) on a subscription basis. Sun believes that this new pricing model will only be possible for a vendor that sells and integrates the operating system and the platform. It can cross-subsidise between the two.
Step No. 6: Feature customer choice. Sun has dropped all of its stridency around Unix -- it is offering choice at the high end and at the low end. It is offering not only Solaris but also Linux and Windows for the operating system. And it is finally offering x86 via the Opteron chip from Advanced Micro Devices.
Step No. 7: Feature engineering. Sun is playing an old game here, too: "My tech is better than yours." It is saying that it will out-engineer not only at the operating-system level with Solaris but also on the hardware front. It is claiming that the new generation of Sparc will have vastly lower power consumption than Itanium and Power while featuring faster throughput and superior multithreading.
On the x86 front, Sun is saying that Opteron -- AMD's answer to Intel's Itanium -- is superior to what Intel has to offer and that, through its long-term engineering experience, it is going to produce x86 products superior to those of Dell, HP and IBM. Sun claims that engineering remains a distinctive competence of the company -- a battleground where it can hammer the competition, especially the low- or no-R&D companies like Dell.
Step No. 8: Feature the Microsoft-Sun deal. The money flowing from Microsoft to Sun will help. But more importantly, watch for Microsoft and Sun to concoct some tough frontal attacks on IBM, their avowed common enemy.
Sun is completely innocent...not!
I know that Sun has done more than any other proprietary company to help Linux and Open Source Software. I also know their intentions and how their people behave. You have the wrong target in your sites.
Yeah, real saviours of Linux:
SCO put the tech world on notice in early 2003 that it was setting up tollbooths on all roads leading to Linux. By hiring David Boies, it sent out a clear message that it would enforce its claim to owning parts of the otherwise free software. SCO was able to afford the legal heavyweight after Sun bought a broad Unix license, thereby stocking the company's near-empty coffers.
How about nominating Sun for a Linux Journal award? I'm sure there are other Sun fanboys (other than yourself) that still believe Sun is the angel of Linux and Open Source, and would second the nomination and vote in favor of the angels.
Sun shows its true Linux colors...for the blind
How do you know that Sun set out to enable SCO?
...lot's of hot air...
I know that Sun has done more than any other proprietary company to help Linux and Open Source Software. I also know their intentions and how their people behave. You have the wrong target in your sites.
Two and a half years after its chief executive donned the suit of Linux's penguin mascot on an exhibition stage, Sun seems to have fallen out of love with the open-source operating system.
Last week the firm detailed plans to focus attention largely on its own Solaris operating system for server lines, on a range of hardware platforms including Sparc, AMD Opteron, x86 and, potentially, Itanium and Power chips.
Although Sun continues to offer Red Hat and Suse Linux on systems, the firm said it is convinced Solaris can undercut Linux on price and outpace it on performance. Linux's virtues as the lowest-cost operating system that can be distributed by multiple vendors have gone, it argued.
My sights are dead on. You, apparently, can't hit the side of a barn.
Sun: White Knight? Or fud master?
Interesting how you can make Sun out to be a white knight, when they paid 13 million to SCO, badly needed funds by SCO, for the ability to say, buy from us, we're protected, with Linux you have liability exposure.
Facts are facts
How do you know that Sun set out to enable SCO?
Most of your arguments would hold up better had you left this out. Did you miss the multi-million licensing deal that Sun signed and paid SCO last year? As far as what I remember, it was over $10 million, perhaps about $15 million. That's not insignificant. That's close to half the funding for SCO last year. And since they made less than $20,000 in their SCO/Linux whatever they call it licensing, and the rest of their income is bringing in less than $10 million a year iirc, Sun is close to being a half partner when it comes to funding.
Did you miss the part about Sun providing the approximately $15 million? Because I can't understand how you justify your position, that Sun is not a significant, or major, or however you want to characterize it, supporter of SCO's attack on GNU/Linux. I really can't think of any other reason why you wouldn't know this, other than to either been on safari some where where you don't get internet access and don't get any newspapers with international business or technology news, or dare I say (so it won't be mischaracterized as an attack) in a coma?
Isn't it in SCO's 10-Q and annual submissions to the SEC, that the contract with Sun, along with the Microsoft licensing, are the two major sources of revenue for SCO last year? Hasn't this been more than adequately covered in court documents and SEC submissions that have also been posted to Groklaw?
Is this a type of revisionism history that Sun fans and supporters use to justify their view of Sun? Because otherwise, I'm not really understanding how someone would fail to make the connection between paying SCO close to 50% of their revenue for a whole year, and SCO's ability to attack GNU/Linux. Maybe someone can enlighten me on how this is not supporting SCO's course of actions in the last 12-18 months? How else would this be characterized?
Maybe my observations were wrong, and Sun providing SCO with approximately $15 million in revenue last year was a good thing? Someone, please enlighten me.
So, if you look at things in a rational way,
I normally do, but I'm having trouble with what's outlined above.
Sun didn't hurt anyone, they helped people.
Perhaps you are right, and I am wrong. As soon as someone can enlighten me on how Sun providing SCO with approximately $15 million in funding last year is a good thing, perhaps I'll see things your way. You could be entirely right, and I could be entirely wrong.
They have never been mean spirited.
What does this have to do with anything? First of all, anyone running a company that has been shaken down by Sun's patent portfolio litigation threats would beg to differ. For Sun to take on Microsoft, HP, Fujitsu, and other major players, they would have to have a patent portfolio to cross license with them, to stay in the game. And as smaller players have found out, patent litigation is an effective hammer to hold over their heads. So whether they have been mean spirited or not, I'd get some opinions from smaller players that have been squeezed by Sun before making such a blanket statement. And if I'm not wrong on Sun's funding of SCO, then perhaps some others that have been subpoened by SCO (thanks in large part to Sun's funding of SCO), or Sun during one of Sun's other court cases, would differ with your opinion on whether Sun is mean-spirited or not. Whether they are mean-spirited or not, again, has no bearing on whether they provided necessary funding for SCO to pursue their case against GNU/Linux.
We wouldn't even have Linux or the Free Software Foundation if Scott and his pals hadn't started Sun.
What an arrogant statement! Whether the FSF foundation would be around or not, or what stage of development or standing it would be in, can be debated among the slashdot crowd. As to Linux not being around if it weren't for Sun, I'd like to see you post that statement as part of an article on slashdot. I'd love to read the posts in reaction to such a statement.
Linux is around because of the GPL. And it is where it is today, because of the GPL. Comparisons between where BSD is today, and Linux is today, can be easily made. A similar comparison can be made as to where MySQL is, compared to Postgres, if you compare their licenses.
Is Linux in the exact position it is in today due entirely to the GPL? Of course not. But it is the major factor. Otherwise, FreeBSD would be enjoying the spotlight and growth and buzz that GNU/Linux is currently enjoying. And a lot of other factors came into play, to put Linux, and GNU, into their respective positions in the market. I'm sure, and others would be better informed, to point out, that Sun contributed to the position of GNU/Linux today. But to suggest that Sun didn't try to kill, didn't try to slow down, didn't try to talk down, GNU/Linux, to boost Solaris instead, is laughable, and destroys any credibility in your arguments that you might otherwise have.
I don't make my living in the technology field. And I use GNU/Linux, and Windows. I don't use Solaris. I do use OpenOffice, on both Windows and GNU/Linux. But one of my strengths (imho), is being able to see things clearly. I see clearly, as many others have, what Sun has attempted to do to GNU/Linux, and with GNU/Linux, to better Sun's position in the market. From what I've seen of your original story, and your post above, either your judgement, or your view of Sun is clouded. Whether that is intentional on your part, or not, or just from your working with either Sun or its products (if I understand what you are saying) has clouded your judgement or view of Sun and its actions in the last 18 months, and earlier, that's not for me to answer, that's for yourself to answer.
A few seconds of searching, and I stand corrected by a few hundred thousand dollars. Here, we see that Sun paid SCO approximately $13.3 million last year, and received warrants to purchase 200,000 shares of SCO, at $1.83 per share. iirc, SCO was over $21 a share sometime last year after the warrants were issued, making Sun's warrants worth about $4 million. Had they been exercised (if they weren't), that would make Sun a substantial owner of SCO, so Sun had, when they cut the deal, a substantial stake in seeing SCO succeed. And this doesn't even count the stake Sun had in attempting to ensure success with Solaris and other products against GNU/Linux.
Sun and SCO signed their deal (where Sun provided SCO with $13.3 million dollars, and the warrants) in February ('03), and SCO sued IBM in March ('03).
But with the confirmation of the Sun deal, it is now clear the Sun-SCO agreement preceded the Microsoft-SCO licensing agreement by three months.
So it appears, that other than Sun (and the declining revenue from licensing that iirc is even less than the Sun licensing deal), there was no other funding necessary to sue IBM. From what I remembered, Microsoft was the other half of the equation that enabled SCO to attack IBM, start the lawsuits, send out the letters to the 1,500 companies threatening them, and at the same time burn all their other sources (business customers) of income. So I was wrong, and SCO didn't need Microsoft, Sun provided enough funding on their own, for SCO to attack IBM and slander GNU/Linux and amplify their fud against GNU/Linux at the same time. So in finishing this post, I see that Sun is even more directly responsible for the SCO attacks, then from when I started this post.
As I stated earlier, perhaps I'm wrong, and many other people's views of Sun and their hand in the SCO fiasco is wrong, and you are right. Now's your chance to set me straight. I don't want to continue using GNU/Linux if my view of the situation is incorrect, please correct me.
Re: Attacking Sun makes no sense?
Yep. Attacking Sun is stupid and in a court of law, everything you said is hearsay.
Re: Attacking Sun makes no sense?
The little world belongs to the AC who wrote this (sic) comment, an angry regurgitation of biased media tripe and a world view committed to circular reasoning. It's a personal attack on someone who probably doesn't care about your flame and who has a broad perspective of the IT market.
Your post was full of emotion and therefore lacks the pragmatic reasoning called for in the article.
Congratulations, you proved the author's point.
Why IBM recommends Windows XP
Co-op marketing is where a supplier reimburses one of its dealers for ads that mention its product. The copy in hardware ads saying "[VENDOR] recommends WIndows XP for business" is part of the Microsoft co-op marketing program -- it's kind of like the Intel Inside logo that Intel uses for its co-op marketing, except they apparently insist on the "recommends" language.
It's kind of silly to see a CIO-oriented IBM ad bragging on Linux, then an IBM ThinkPad ad "recommending" Microsoft in the same magazine, but co-op marketing is the reason.
Some people speculate that co-op marketing is a sneaky loophole in the 1997 consent decree. Yes, Microsoft has to abide by restrictions in Windows licensing -- but the decree puts no restrictions on co-op marketing money, so the effective price can be different from vendor to vendor depending on if the vendor's marketing toes the line. Microsoft can also use co-op marketing money to disincentivize conduct that the consent decree doesn't allow them to prohibit in the license itself.
The threat of losing co-op marketing money from Microsoft may be a powerful disincentive toward doing LInux laptops.
Slotting fees are another way
You also need to understand what slotting fees are, and payment for shelf space. It isn't just co-op marketing.
Slotting fees, payments found to be legal according to attorneys general in various states, are fees paid by manufacturers to retailers, for shelf space, floor space, etc. While it is illegal to demand exclusivity (ie, don't buy from that competitor), it isn't illegal to buy all the available shelf space in a retail outlet for a particular line. It's how one brand of cola shuts out another brand at supermarket chains, and it's how many retail chains put the screws to manufacturers under most circumstances. From info I've come across, Procter and Gamble are the only manufacturers, due to their size and product scope, who have escaped (things may have changed in the last few years, my info is a little old) paying slotting fees. Virtually all other manufacturers in the food/supermarket supply business pay slotting fees to retail chains.
What are slotting fees? Very simple. A retail supermarket chain that a manufacturer depends on for distributing his product, gets a phone call, requesting a meeting, and at that meeting, the supermarket chain says, your product isn't selling as well as it used to, or your product isn't selling as well as this other competitor, etc., and we either have to take it out, or you need to reimburse us for the shelf space. A figure is then put forward, and either the manufacturer agrees, or they are out.
A certain pretzel company that I'm aware of, some years ago, paid $1,000 per foot, or $1,500 per store, to a twenty store chain, in cash, as a slotting fee. Another manufacturer, one who invented a pre-cooked pizza that didn't need refrigeration, paid a slotting fee, and was still thrown out two weeks later for slow sales. A lightbulb distributor (not even the manufacturer) also paid.
A company that sells mixes for liquor started this "slotting fee payment" bonanza, for helping in their marketing war against a competitor. They are a company that sells their non-alcoholic mixes in supermarkets, and also sell liquor. I'll leave it to the reader to figure out who they are. There was an article on them and the practice of slotting fees, in the New York Times, in the mid to late 1980's.
If you google the term slotting fees, you may come up with a controversy over the issue and lettuce. That story, if still available, has some background on slotting fees. Co-op marketing is another place, as pointed out by Mr. Marti, where Microsoft can get around the consent decree. Supermarkets have been known to shaked down manufacturers with co-op fees as well. Usually, the larger manufacturers already have a co-op program where they pay for advertising. But the smaller manufacturers are shaken down with this also. "We're running a flyer this week, and we are featuring your product. This is the fee for putting the product in the flyer. Also, what sale are you going to be running while the product is in the flyer?". And then the overbuying begins, and when the sale is over, the supermarket has the product purchased at the lower price, but selling at the higher price.
There are many ways to skin a cat when it comes to co-op monies. But co-op monies are not the only way. Slotting fees are another way, and these cash payments are considered legal, and not considered payoffs, or blackmail, or any type of crime, regardless of whether a consent decree exists or not.
Re: Why IBM recommends Windows XP
That's not the whole truth. IBM ThinkPads have very special hardware installed. And Linux doesn't support it to the extent Windows XP does. For example, the ACPI Suspend to RAM/disk functions are critical for ThinkPad Notebooks. And if you search the web for ACPI support, then you will find articles that say you may have to switch to text mode in order to properly use these functions. Of course, I'd pretty much like IBM to improve Linux' ThinkPad support, but even the Intel WLAN drivers are far from getting a 1.0 version number.
Re: Why IBM recommends Windows XP
What Don said WAS the whole truth.
IBM has a couple of engineers to write drivers. Have you ever looked at their Linux Competency Center?
The group managing Thinkpads can have whatever they want. And at one time installed Caldera on thinkpads - that caldera now the SCO group.
Who would say Linux doesn't have drivers for Thinkpads? Could it be mindshare? Maybe the author has a point.
In 1999, some IBM engineers recompiled Lotus stuff written for AIX on Linux with the 2.035 kernel and it worked better on Linux than AIX. Ask yourself why IBM doesn't bring their porductivity suite to the market for Linux?


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Harald Rossi
Harald H. Rossi was born in Vienna, Austria in 1917 and, due to the impending conflict in Europe, immigrated to the United States where he obtained a Ph.D.
Harald H. Rossi was born in Vienna, Austria in 1917 and, due to the impending conflict in Europe, immigrated to the United States where he obtained a Ph.D. in physics from Johns Hopkins University in 1942. He served in the US Army during WWII where he met Gioacchino Failla who asked him to join him at Columbia University to work on the Manhattan Project in the Radiological Research Laboratory. During that time, he developed improved methods of radiation dosimetry and was involved in measurements of the early nuclear tests.
After the war, Dr. Failla appointed him to the Columbia University staff where he remained for the rest of his career, eventually succeeding Failla as Professor of Radiology and Director of the Radiation Research Laboratory.
Dr. Rossi loved instrument design and was instrumental in the evolution of the new field of microdosimetry which is now essential for radiation protection and effective delivery of radiotherapy.
In the 1960's, Dr. Rossi fostered a collaborative effort with Brookhaven National Laboratory, resulting in, among other findings, the identification of high neutron RBE at low doses. Further investigations of the relationship between RBE and dose was a continuing interest with important implications for risk assessment, understanding specific action mechanisms of ionizing radiation and explaining the biological effectiveness of different radiations.
His seminal work on neutron RBE was critical to understanding and resolving issues in radiation epidemiology arising from problems with dosimetry in A-bomb survivors at Hiroshima because of the larger neutron component as compared to Nagasaki. During his long and distinguished career, he served on a numerous national and international scientific and review bodies, committees and panels. He was a member of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) from its inception in 1964. and delivered the prestigious NCRP Lauriston S. Taylor Lecture in 1984. He provided invaluable assistance and counsel to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR). Dr. Rossi was President or the Radiation Research Society from 1974-75 and received the Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award of the Health Physics Society in 1987. Harald passed away in 2000, at 82 years old, after a long battle with heart disease.

subset: commoncrawl


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Ühel kenal päeval, T, 2006-01-03 kell 09:40, kirjutas Simon Riggs: > We can also save lots of cycles on the current statement overhead, which > is currently the worst part of the stats, performance-wise. That > definitely needs redesign. AFAICS we only ever need to know the SQL > statement via the stats system if the statement has been running for > more than a few minutes - the main use case is for an admin to be able > to diagnose a rogue or hung statement. Interestingly I use pg_stat_activity view to watch for stuck backends, "stuck" in the sense that they have not noticed when client want away and are now waitin the TCP timeout to happen. I query for backends which have been in "<IDLE>" state for longer than XX seconds. I guess that at least some kind of indication for this should be available. Of course this would be much less of a problem if there was a possibility for sime kind of keepalive system to detect when client/frontend goes away. > Pushing the statement to stats > every time is just a big overhead. That suggests we should either have a > pull I could live with "push", where pg_stat_activity would actually ask each live backend for its "current query". This surely happens less often than queries are performed (up to few thousand per sec) ------------- Hannu
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|1853 Dresden
Dresden, Ohio, USA
Home | Bridges | Inventory | Snapshots
|This is a single suspension bridge from my historical inventory of suspension bridges. Follow the Inventory link for more information about the inventory.
|1853 Dresden
|Dresden, Ohio, USA (Muskingum River)
Do you have any information or photos about this bridge that you would like to share? Please email email@example.com.


text:
Crime Push app helps report crime
A new app on the market is aiming to help people fight crime.
On Wednesday, a District man launched software that sends information directly to police from a smartphone.
Called "Crime Push," the software works with iOS and Android and can send texts, photos, sound and video to authorities.
"I'm a big fan of its simplicity and definitely feel safer knowing that there's a faster way to get crime reported," said Mameeza Hossain.
The app allows users to report crimes in a more discreet manner without having to make a phone call.
"It not only strengthens me, but makes me feel a lot more secure," Hossain said.
Shy Pahlevani created the app after some thugs robbed him multiple times, once at gunpoint.
Thanks to media buzz it already had 10,000 downloads.
"9-1-1 is great but it's the 21st century," Pahlevani said. "One hundred million people have smart phones, so it just makes sense to have an application to capture things already built into an iPhone."
Pahlevani demonstrated how a student witnessing the vandalism of a school mascot might report the crime.
"Hit the vandalism button, type in a description and then just hit push to report," he said. "It's just your guardian when you're walking in a dark neighborhood."
Currently the app is not as fast as calling 911, but its developers say it will be soon. They are working on integrating it with local police departments.
{ }


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Dozens of new smart-phone apps can save you money, time and hassles. Best of all, many are free.Read More
Hours of service information, overall safety scorecards and intervention workflow for at-risk drivers will be provided to carriers in a new partnership with data management firm Vigillo, Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. announced. The expanded service in safety and compliance data as mandated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Comprehensive Safety Analysis is expected to start in the fall. For details, go to ACS or Xerox.Read More
Freight's coming back. At the same time, new and proposed regulations threaten to drive thousands of drivers from the industry. As the recession winds down, many carriers could be hamstrung by a serious shortage of drivers able to withstand the scrutiny of Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010, enhanced pre-employment screening and possibly tighter health regulations. To address these trends, analyst Noel Perry and fleet executive Tom Kretsinger Jr. will present "The emerging driver shortage" at 3 p.m. ...Read More
The Affiliated Computer Services, Inc., TripPak promotional campaign that has awarded retail gift certificates to more than a dozen drivers continues through Nov. 30, the company announced. As part of the contest, a drawing for a Harley-Davidson motorcycle will be held and a winner announced in early December, said company spokeswoman Priscilla Shrader-Peters. Truckers who use the TripPak scanning services at TravelCenters of American, Petro, Flying J or other participating truck stops automatically are entered in ...Read More


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Welcome to Destiny!
Destiny Household Staffing is a domestic staffing agency based in New York City that strives to provide excellent and customized service for your busy lifestyle. We are a premier household staffing known for professionalism, integrity, and outstanding customer service. We are licensed and bonded with the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs.
Over 15 years of experience in staffing the finest households
in Manhattan, Long Island, Westchester, New Jersey, Connecticut, and
We specialized in placement and recruitment of experienced, dedicated and reliable staff.
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At Destiny, we value excellence and providing the highest quality of service, integrity and exceptional work ethics.
Are you in need of professional help now?
Looking for a stable family to assist in their home?
Read what our clients and applicants say about us.
There are many ways of getting a hold of us.
Follow us on facebook and become a fan!


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Today is 14th of July 2014.
Bastille Day.
The anniversary of the beginning of the French revolution. The storming of the Bastille.
For me though, it's something far more significant.
It's two years to the day that my wonderful Mum died. At the local hospice. With us at her side. Me. My brother. My stepdad.
If you've read my last post you'll know that I've been asked to write an article. For an end of life news organisation. About our positive hospice experience during Mum's final days.
It's completely by chance this has coincided with the anniversary of her death. But somehow it seems utterly fitting.
Writing the article has forced me to go back. Re-visit in my mind those final few days. To try and articulate what it was that the Isabel Hospice – and its staff – did for us during that time.
The thing about me is I'm an annoyingly eternal optimist.
I try my hardest to choose not to focus on the loss. On what was taken from us as a result of Mum's diagnosis and her subsequent death.
But instead to concentrate on everything it gave to us. To me.
I know that might sound odd to some. Deluded even. What on earth can you be grateful for during such a bleak and traumatic period?
But something became apparent to me. Even before she died in fact. And certainly more so since writing these posts:
All the moments of joy which we experienced during that time.
Sometimes very small moments. Blink-and-you-miss-them moments in some cases. But in such an incredibly unjoyful bastard of a time even the smallest and most fleeting of positive moments became precious to us.
The majority of the 18 month period from Mum's diagnosis until her death was bleak. Full of devastatingly bad news. Terror. Shock. And intense sadness.
But there were also many moments of love. Laughter. And of joy.
We learnt to appreciate them when they arose. Savour them. Celebrate and cherish them. They became everything.
So I wanted to share a memory with you. Today. The 2nd anniversary of Mum's death.
It's from those final days at the hospice. I don't even think I was conscious of it then. At the time. It's only now. Looking back. Remembering something I hadn't thought of since that day.
It was the day that Mum had arrived at the hospice.
Until then we'd all been incredibly reticent about her going there. Especially Mum.
We were fearful. Of what it would be like. And of everything a hospice represented.
But we needn't have been.
On the first day there, one of the nurses helped Mum to get comfortable in bed. Her pain was pretty bad at that time. It was quite an effort to even sit up without setting off tremendous discomfort.
As the nurse was helping to manoeuvre Mum she'd introduced herself. Said her name.
I wish I was 100% on this. But I'm pretty sure it was Carol.
Whatever it was, it was also the name of an old song. One I didn't remember (being the whipper-snapper that I am). But Mum did.
Despite being in pain, she started singing the song. And the nurse joined in. My Mum was one of the shyest people about. But singing made her feel free of everything. I could see how much that small shared moment meant to her. That connection. It lit her up.
It was such a beautiful glimpse into something special.
The nurse and her patient singing together. A comical serenade of two. I remember being so touched. By this small moment of joy.
And by how well my Mum was being cared for by a complete stranger.
I could go on and on about how much the hospice and the staff did for us and for my Mum at the end of her life. In fact, I've done just that in the article I've been asked to write. You can't shut me up!
But really I could have saved my words. The essence of what they did is all there in that short memory. It says it all.
They treated my mum like a person. Not just a patient.
And by doing so they enabled her to experience little snapshots of happiness at a time when happiness was in such short supply.
It was like holding up a piece of glass towards the sun and momentarily casting a dancing shard of light upon everything.
Thank you Isabel Hospice and staff for helping us to navigate that final journey with such care.
And most of all, thank you Mum for always being my dancing shard of light.
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What a beautiful memory you share of your mum and the nurse sharing a song together, I love that! I think you and I are similar in the way we have looked at the death of our loved ones, I also try and embrace what it taught and showed me, instead of the pain and loss. Love your posts!
What a beautiful post. Very special memories to treasure. It sounds like the hospice staff did all they could to make your mum's last moments really matter xxx
Beautifully written and very moving piece. How wonderful to have that kind of a relationship with your mum…Hopefully it will help others who are facing a similar situation. Keep on posting!
We are never the same after we have lost one or both of our parents, for me both. Not a day goes by when I don't yearn to speak to them just one last time, to say the things I didn't get to say in time. But I agree with you that the only way to cope is to focus on the good bits…I am so glad for you and your family that your mum had a good end. You know when they say "sometimes When I open my mouth my mum comes out"? Yes! Bring it on and proud to be the daughter of such a strong and capable woman. Thanks, Mum! And thank you Angela for sharing x
I really love your moving yet sunny posts Angela. My grand-mother is 101 and in great form, but reading what you write somehow helps me to prepare for the inevitable to come! You give me hope that even in that moment, there will be something to cherish!
Oh Angela. This was the most beautiful piece of writing. I hope it was therapeutic for you. I can tell how much you must miss your mum and just how much you want her to be dancing and singing with you now. I cried along with everyone else reading this I'm sure, and wish you such love and peace. Big hug and some wonderful high notes xxx
Those fleeting moments that become our 'light', our positivity and enable us to move forward and not just survive losing a loved one but to thrive and grow and truly honour them. Angela, you're an amazing writer and I relate to it 100% having lost my Dad many years ago. I constantly find myself thinking or behaving as he once did … and I couldn't be prouder. I'll never get over his death but it taught me how to really appreciate those things that really matter in life and helps me stay connected with reality, which in turn has given me peace and happiness. Your strength, insight and positivity are admirable – I'm sure your Mum is seriously proud of you.


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Showing Suppliers 1 - 5 of 5
CPI Tools
Address: 601 South Metcalf Road, Suite 700, Louisburg, KS
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Description: Grainger helps customers save time and money by providing them the right products to keep their facilities up and running. Grainger's customers are 2.0 million businesses and institutions in 157 countries. While each customer has a unique facility to operate and a different problem to solve, our... (more)
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Archive - Jun 21, 2007 - Story
Highland River Melees proves chivalry is not dead
The Herald-Mail reports from this year's Highland River Melees, an annual event in Hagerstown, Maryland.
Old box's booty turns out to be bountiful
Submitted by Gwenhyfar on Thu, 2007-06-21 12:18
The small box buried nearly four centuries with the wreck of a Spanish galleon was gently pried open Friday afternoon.
Tudor Tailor Vallejo photos highlight headpieces
Submitted by Milica on Thu, 2007-06-21 09:23
Joane Silvertoppe, of the Kingdom of Caid, reports that she has posted an album of photos from workshop presented by England's Tudor Tailors. The workshop took place recently in Vallejo, California.
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Man drives over woman's lawn and destroys it for writing bad reviews for his wife's animal clinicBy Mason White 2:25 PM August 10, 2016
|Joshua Ryan Fields
By: Mahesh Sarin
A man decided to protect his wife's honor by destroying the property of a woman who wrote bad reviews online.
The Florida man who was so angry after a woman wrote a few bad reviews about his wife's animal shelter, decided to take revenge.
Palm Bay police said that 35-year-old Joshua Ryan Fields, used his truck to mess up with woman's lawn.
Campos was charged with criminal damage after police were called to the 2300 block of Jaremko Avenue, to investigate reports of a person spinning the wheels of a black Ford truck on the lawn.
Police estimated the damage to be at least $300, according to court documents.
The victim told police that she was sleeping at home when she was awakened by bright lights shining through her windows.
When she looked out, she saw the pickup truck revving the engine and spinning the tires on her lawn, destroying patches of grass in the process.
The truck driver repeated the action several times, rolling in and out of the yard.
The victim told officers that she had recently posted negative reviews on the site of a Palm Bay animal clinic, and she thought that the yard incident may be connected.
Police traced the license plate number from the truck to Fields and he was found at his home.
After initially denying the claim, he finally admitted to seeking revenge against the victim because she has written several negative comments about the animal clinic of his wife, according to police.


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With nearly 60 years of hands-on experience in swimming pool construction, Bill Wertz & Sons, Inc. has become Central Pennsylvania's premier custom pool builder.
Choosing Wertz Pools will ensure that your pool is of the highest quality and structural integrity. All of our pools carry a lasting beauty. From budget and initial design through installation, Wertz Pools will work with you to create the pool of your dreams.
Contact us today to learn more about how you can vacation in your own back yard. Read More
To your right are examples of our featured pools and spas from
our online photo gallery. Click on the image to find out more information
about our featured photo.


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Patience is a beautiful flower, but it doesn't grow in every garden.
Patience is also an attractive character trait, but it doesn't come easy. In fact, patience is perhaps the most underrated requirement for a successful trader or investor.
Few things get contrarian investors as excited as 52-week lows. But forget about 52-week lows, the VIX has been flirting with 7-year lows since May. The iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-term VIX ETN (VXX) has seen many successive all-time lows.
How often do you get an opportunity to buy at an all-time low?
Not surprisingly, investors have been itching to buy the VIX, but like a stubborn mule the VIX continues to inch lower trampling on premature longs.
A big (impatient) 'itch' was reported by Bloomberg on May 21: "Trader Spends $13 Million Betting VIX Index Will Surge 56%."
I commented on this bold bet in a May 23 article, stating that: "The odds of this bullish VIX trade paying off are not good." Why?
There were three main reasons:
1) The VIX sliced below key support on May 21. The May 18 Profit Radar Report warned that: "Key support for the VIX is at 12. A move below 12 would suggest further up side for the S&P 500 (and down side for the VIX)."
2) Contango. Bullish VIX investment vehicles suffer from contango, which is caused by continuously rolling over the next VIX futures (tomorrows VIX futures are almost always more expensive than today's). This condition persistently eats away at bullish VIX related investments.
The May 21 Profit Radar Report cautioned against buying the VIX: "The VIX is a tricky 'character.' Due to contango it takes impeccable timing and a 10 – 20%+ move to make money from a rising VIX."
The chart below plots the VIX against the VXX ETN and highlights the magnified price erosion of VXX. The VelocityShares Daily 2x VIX Short-term ETN (TVIX) suffers from the same condition. The VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX ETN (XIV) on the other hand benefits from contango.
3) This is the most important reason for a lower VIX until now: VIX seasonality suggested continued weakness. The May 21 Profit Radar Report pointed out that: "VIX seasonality is not yet supportive of higher VIX readings," and featured an invaluable VIX seasonality chart.
VIX bulls will be happy to find out that VIX seasonality is soon turning bullish. This VIX seasonality chart is normally only available to subscribers of the Profit Radar Report. However, due to many requests a free VIX seasonality chart, that highlights the bullish turnaround day, has been made available here:
This page will also include a link explaining why the 1,955 level is crucial for the S&P 500 (SPY). How the S&P 500 reacts is important to VIX movements.
The Only Free & Updated VIX Seasonality Chart
Simon Maierhofer is the publisher of the Profit Radar Report. The Profit Radar Report presents complex market analysis (S&P 500, Dow Jones, gold, silver, euro and bonds) in an easy format. Technical analysis, sentiment indicators, seasonal patterns and common sense are all wrapped up into two or more easy-to-read weekly updates. All Profit Radar Report recommendations resulted in a 59.51% net gain in 2013.
Follow Simon on Twitter @ iSPYETF or sign up for the FREE iSPYETF Newsletter to get actionable ETF trade ideas delivered for free.
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text:
Convert stere European (firewood) versus pinches US (pinch)
in swapped opposite direction
from pinches US to steres Europe
Or use utilized converter page with the
volume or capacity multi-units converter
|conversion result for two
volume or capacity units:
|From unit
|Equals Result
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|1 stere European firewood
|= 3,246,146.18
|pinches US pinch
Prefix or symbol for stere European is: firewood
Prefix or symbol for pinch US is: pinch
Technical units conversion tool for volume or capacity measures. Exchange reading in steres Europe unit firewood into pinches US unit pinch as in an equivalent measurement result (two different units but the same identical physical total value, which is also equal to their proportional parts when divided or multiplied).
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-image-i can't look away from the duggars
Oh, those Duggars. (You know, "19 Kids and Counting Until Michelle's Uterus Falls Out or Jim Bob's Penis Falls Off.")
On last night's episode, the first Duggar daughter-in-law said this to her toddler son:
DIL: Today at the store, we're going to practice self-control, okay?
KID: Mmm ……….
DIL: Do you know what that is?
KID: Mmmm ………
DIL (said like a mantra): Instant obedience to do what is right.
Well, yes, that's the definition of "self-control" in a patriarchal fundamentalist context. Self-control to them is actually total parental control which isn't actually "self"-control at all, now is it? And this control applies to their kids of all ages, not just the littlest ones. I just find it fascinating that obedience = self-control.
If they're following the discipline system advocated by those cray-cray Pearls — which they are — then "instant obedience" is required at all times and they're punished whenever they don't display instant obedience. You don't see that part on the TV show, though, because it's all about being "good witnesses" as opposed to being authentic.


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I thought it might be a good idea to create a clearing-house of useful gluten free information and recipes. Obviously, this all comes under the category of "stuff I liked," but I'm kinda picky. And I cook a lot so I've tested many recipes. Some failures, many successes, but a few stand out–and those are what I'll put here.
French bread: Hands down, Fire and Salt's is the best. So good in fact, that my gluten-eating BIL asked me to bring more to Christmas after eating it at Thanksgiving.
The key?
The pan. You MUST get the pan. Use $18 of those Christmas dollars to make your GF life easier and tastier.
You can begin thanking me now.
The Pan in question–I got mine at Bed, Bath, and Beyond (NAYY). No, the sticky batter doesn't goop out through the holes. Dunno why. Just works.
Flour blend: There are a couple of winners here, but my personal fave is Jules. I love her recipes; I love her attitude; I love her newsletter; I love supporting a small business. I also love her…
Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls: Once again, Jules wins. AND she gives you an option for an oven or Crock Pot cooking method.
Other flour: King Arthur GF Flour. It's as good a 1:1 substitute as you'll find… better than most, but (as I said) I'm partial to Jules.
My Jules' GF Cinnamon Rolls–OMG—Heaven. I've also used the recipe to make EXCELLENT Monkey Bread!
Scones: The Gluten Free Gourmand has a kickin' Gluten-Free Scone recipe. NO ONE can tell they aren't loaded with gluten!


text:
Irish men not in androgynous zone
It used to be that it was considered quite effeminate for a man to wear a pink shirt. It was a risque fashion choice that was certain to secure sneers from cross-eyed clubmen, for whom formal wear is a GAA jersey and high hung jeans. It's still hard for some, but the once maligned and marginalised pink shirt is now a firm favourite with Irish men of all ages.
But if the pink shirt was just a step toward replacing the masculine with the feminine then London fashion week must be its end point.
The Spring Collection at this month's London's fashion week featured poodle-fringed men in short tunics, lace halternecks, leather straightjackets, frilly short shorts and other designs that seemed to have their synthesis in some surreal nightmare.
The great irony is that the most effective expression of the male 'effeminate' look in London were the designs of Derry man Jonathan Anderson, the son of former Irish rugby international, Willie Anderson, a man more masculine than Tom Selleck's moustache.
Among Anderson's London collection were a cream-coloured sleeveless leather tunic and a backless floral halter top, neither of which I'd expect to see sported at your local anytime soon.
The communication from the collection of Anderson and others was clear, androgyny is in.
But as with Irish men just about accepting the pink shirt, it's likely, as with most other male fashion trends, Ireland may be behind the curve when it comes to the feminisation of man.
Christopher Jackson
Irish Independent


text:
Monday, December 24, 2012
Hot Caramel Pear Cider
11 comments:
Merry Christmas!!! I wish you and your hubby a very happy holiday!ReplyDelete
Yummy! I might need to make that tonight!ReplyDelete
Looks divine!! Can't wait to try it.ReplyDelete
Happy holidays :)
Happy Holidays love!ReplyDelete
Yum. We don't have a Trader Joe's nearby (closest is about 45 minutes away), but I will be trying it in the near future!ReplyDelete
My family celebrates Christmas a day late to accommodate all the in-laws/traveling to other in-laws, so tomorrow is our Christmas Eve. :) I WILL be making this drink again with my husband. Another delicious drink:
Merry Christmas Eve, all! :)
There is not a trader joe around here :( can I use a different kind? & this looks so delish! I so wanna make it :)ReplyDelete
That sounds amazing. I love Trader Joe's!ReplyDelete
Ummm YUM!!! This is literally making my mouth drool. I so want to make this for Christmas day!ReplyDelete
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text:
Monetary Economics, Financial Economics, International Economics
Research Projects
- East Asian Production Networks, Trade, Exchange Rates, and Global Imbalances (February 1, 2018 - January 31, 2020)
- East Asian Production Networks, Trade, Exchange Rates, and Global Imbalances (October 14, 2015 - September 30, 2017)
- East Asian Production Networks, Trade, Exchange Rates, and Global Imbalances (October 1, 2013 - September 30, 2015)
- East Asian Production Networks and Global Imbalances (December 27, 2011 - October 1, 2013)
- Promoting East Asian Production Networks, the Unwinding of Global Imbalances, and the Resolution of the Economic Crisis (December 27, 2007 - June 17, 2009)
- The Resolution of Global Imbalances (2006)
1988 Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley
1985-86 Visiting Scholar, Yale University
1982 B.A. Cornell University
1988-2009 Associate Professor, Department of Economics, George Mason University
Visiting Scholar Positions: ADB-Institute, Tokyo, Japan; Levy Economics Institute, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York; Social Security Administration, Washington, DC; Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University, New Haven, CT.
Selected Publications and Papers
Published Papers
"Are Chinese Imports Sensitive to Exchange Rate Changes?" China Economic Policy Review, 1, 2012, 1-15, (with Gordon Smith).
"Foreign Direct Investment in East Asia," forthcoming in Sarah Tong, ed., Trade, Investment, and Economic Integration in Asia, Singapore: World Scientific Publishing (with Nimesh Salike).
"Investigating the Effect of Exchange Rate Changes on Transpacific Rebalancing," forthcoming in Barry Bosworth and Masahiro Kawai, eds., Trans-Pacific Rebalancing, Washington: Brookings Institution Press (with Ginalyn Komoto).
"Promoting Learning and Industrial Upgrading in ASEAN Countries," forthcoming in Willem Thorbecke and Wen-Jen Hsieh, eds., Industrial Restructuring in Asia: Implications of the Global Economic Crisis, New Delhi: Sage Publications (with Mario Lamberte and Ginalyn Komoto).
"Introduction," forthcoming in Willem Thorbecke and Wen-Jen Hsieh, eds., Industrial Restructuring in Asia: Implications of the Global Economic Crisis, New Delhi: Sage Publications (with Wen-Jen Hsieh and Atsuyuki Kato).
"East Asian Supply Chains and Relative Prices: A Survey of the Evidence," forthcoming in Susanna Leung, ed., The Renminbi's Changing Status and the Chinese and Hong Kong Financial Systems, London: Sweet & Maxwell.
"The Effect of Exchange Rate Changes on Japanese Consumption Exports," Japan and the World Economy, 24, 2012, 64-71, (with Atsuyuki Kato).
"An Empirical Analysis of East Asian Computer Exports," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, 16, 2011, 644-652.
"How Elastic is East Asian Demand for Consumption Goods," Review of International Economics, 19, 2011, 950-962.
"Investigating the Effect of Exchange Rate Changes on China's Processed Exports," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, 25, 2011, 33-46.
"The Effect of Exchange Rate Changes on Trade in East Asia," Journal of International Commerce, Economics, and Policy, 2, 2011, 85-102.
"The Appropriate Policy Mix for China," in Masahisa Fujita and Ryuhei Wakasugi, eds., Keizai no Gurobaruka to Kokusai Senryaku (Economic Globalization and International Strategy) , 2011, Tokyo, Nippon Hyoron Sha (in Japanese).
"Review of Daisuke Hiratsuka and Yoko Uchida, 'Input Trade and Production Networks in East Asia,'" Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, 25, 2011, 181-182.
"An Empirical Analysis of ASEAN's Labor-intensive Exports," Journal of Asian Economics, 21, 2010, 505-513.
"How Would an Appreciation of the RMB and Other East Asian Currencies Affect China's Exports?" Review of International Economics, 18, 2010, 95-108, (with Gordon Smith).
"The Effect of Exchange Rate Changes on China's Labor-Intensive Manufacturing Exports," Pacific Economic Review, 14, 2009, 389-409, (with Hanjiang Zhang).
"Monetary Policy Surprises and Long-Term Interest Rates: Choosing between the Inflation-Revelation and Excess Sensitivity Hypotheses," Southern Economic Journal, 75, 2009, 1114-1122, (with Hanjiang Zhang).
"Global Imbalances, Triangular Trading Patterns, and the Yen/Dollar Exchange Rate," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, 22, 2008, 503-517.
"The Effect of Exchange Rate Volatility on Fragmentation in East Asia: Evidence from the Electronics Industry," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, 22, 2008, 535-544.
"The Plaza Accord," in Ramkishen S. Rajan and Ken Reinert, eds., The Princeton Encyclopedia of the World Economy, 2008, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
"The Twin Deficits," in Ramkishen S. Rajan and Ken Reinert, eds., The Princeton Encyclopedia of the World Economy, 2008, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
"The Louvre Accord," in Ramkishen S. Rajan and Ken Reinert, eds., The Princeton Encyclopedia of the World Economy, 2008, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
"East Asia's Role in Resolving the New Global Imbalances," in Jan Joost Teunissen and Age Akkerman, eds., Global Imbalances and Developing Countries: Improving the Global Financial System, 2008, The Hague, The Netherlands, Fondad, (with Masaru Yoshitomi and Li-Gang Liu).
"Trade Interdependence and Exchange Rate Coordination in Asia," Ramkishen S. Rajan, Shandre M. Thangavelu, and Rasyad A. Parinduri, eds., Monetary, Exchange Rate and Financial Issues and Policies in Asia, 2008, Singapore, World Scientific Press.
"How Would an Appreciation of the Renminbi Affect the U.S. Trade Deficit with China?" The B.E. Journal in Macroeconomics: 6, 2006: No. 3, Article 3.
"The Effects of Monetary Policy on Bank Lending in Turkey," Applied Financial Economics, 15, 2005, 931-934, (with Ahmet Sengonul).
"The Effects of Exchange Rate and Interest Rate Shocks on Bank Lending in Indonesia," Economics and Finance in Indonesia, 52, 2004, 279-295 (with Iwan Azis).
"Institutions of Trade Protection," in Charles Rowley and Friedrich Schneider, eds., The Encyclopedia of Public Choice, 2004, Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
"U.S. Structural Change: Macroeconomic Policy Issues," in Alan Rugman and Gavin Boyd, eds., Alliance Capitalism for the New American Economy, 2003, Aldershot, UK: Edward Elgar Publishers, (with Ahmet Tiryaki).
"The Socio-economic Impact of the Asian Financial Crisis on Indonesia," in Mohammed Ikhsan, Chris Manning, and Hadi Soesastro, eds., Ekonomi Indonesia di Era Politik Baru (Indonesian Economics in the New Political Era) 2003, Jakarta: Kompas, (with Iwan Azis and Erik Thorbecke).
"Budget Deficits, Inflation Risk, and Asset Prices," Journal of International Money and Finance, 21, August 2002, 539-553.
"Did NAFTA Cause a Giant Sucking Sound?," Journal of Labor Research, 23, Fall 2002, 649-660, (with Christian Eigen-Zucchi).
"A Dual Mandate for the Federal Reserve: The Pursuit of Price Stability and Full Employment," Eastern Economic Journal, 2002: 28: 255-268.
"European Macroeconomic Policy Interdependencies," in Thomas L. Brewer, Paul Brenton, and Gavin Boyd, eds., Globalizing Europe, 2002, Aldershot, UK: Edward Elgar Publishers, (with Christian Eigen-Zucchi).
"Estimating the Effects of Disinflationary Monetary Policy on Minorities," Journal of Policy Modeling, 2001, 23: 51-66.
"Monetary Policy, Time-Varying Risk, and the Bond Market Debacle of 1994," Journal of Macroeconomics, Winter 2000, 22: 159-174.
"A Public Choice Perspective on the Globalizing of America," in Thomas L. Brewer and Gavin Boyd, eds., Globalizing America: The USA in World Integration, 2000, Aldershot, UK: Edward Elgar Publishers.
"Thoughts on the NAIRU," Journal of Economic Perspectives, 1997, 11: 228-229.
"On Monetary Policy and Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, June 1997, 52: 635-654.
"Explaining House Voting on the North American Free Trade Agreement," Public Choice, 1997, 92: 231-242.
"Why Good Economic News Depressed Stock and Bond Prices in 1996," Economics Letters, July 1997, 54: 255-260, (with Lee Coppock).
"Choosing Free Trade Without Amending the U.S. Constitution," Public Choice, 1997, 90: 185-200.
"Monetary Policy, Stock Returns, and the Role of Credit in the Transmission of Monetary Policy," Southern Economic Journal, April 1996, 62: 989-1001 (with Lee Coppock).
"Congressional Influences over Decision Making at the International Trade Commission: 1980-1990," in José Casas Pardo and Friedrich Schneider, eds., Current Issues in Public Choice, 1996, Aldershot, UK: Edward Elgar Publishers (with Charles Rowley).
"Free Trade versus Managed Trade, A Constitutional Political Economy Perspective," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, June 1995, 151: 373-389.
"Nonfarm Employment and the Arbitrage Pricing Theory," Economics Letters, 1995, 47: 193-198 (with Geoff Chisholm).
"Trade Deficit News, Systematic Risk and the Crash of 1987," The Eastern Economic Journal, Winter 1994, 20: 97-106.
"Check Bouncing and Fiscal Irresponsibility: Evidence of Nonideological Shirking by Legislators," Public Choice, April 1994, 83: 59-64, (with Sarah Matzelevich).
"The Effect of Changes in the Federal Funds Rate on Stock Prices in the 1970s," The Journal of Economics and Business, February 1994, 46: 13-20, (with Tarik Alami).
"Rent Seeking and the Costs of Protectionism," The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 1993, 7: 213-215.
"The Budget Deficit and the Arbitrage Pricing Theory," Economics Letters, March 1993, 41:313-317 (with Tony Caporale).
"Why Deficit News Affects Interest Rates," The Journal of Policy Modeling, February 1993, 15: 1-12.
"The Role of the Congress and the Executive in US Trade Policy Determination: A Public Choice Analysis," in M. Hilf and E.U. Petersmann, eds., National Constitutions and International Economic Law, 1993, Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers (with Charles Rowley).
"The Federal Funds Rate and the Arbitrage Pricing Theory: Evidence that Monetary Policy Matters," Journal of Macroeconomics Fall 1992, 14: 731-744, (with Tarik Alami).
"Social Security Investment Policy and Capital Formation," Contemporary Policy Issues, July 1992, 10: 26-38.
Blog Entries
"Does the renminbi matter? Evidence from China's disaggregated processed exports," VoxEU, January 29, 2012
"Time for the PRC to stop buying US Treasuries and start investing in its people," Asia Pathways, ADIB, January 12, 2012
"What Rebalancing," Project Syndicate, September 5, 2011
"East Asian Exchange Rates and China's Trade Surplus," Econbrowser, November 8, 2010
"The effect of a renminbi appreciation on US-China trade imbalances," VoxEU, October 6, 2010
"Will abandoning the dollar peg help China rebalance its economy?" VoxEU, July 6, 2010
"East Asian Production Networks, Global Imbalances, and Exchange Rate Coordination," Econbrowser, October 19, 2009
Post-Crisis Development Paradigms in Asia, Tokyo: ADB-I Publishing, 2003 (with Masaru Yoshitomi, Iwan Azis, and ADB-I Staff).
Trade Protection in the United States, London: Edward Elgar Publishers, 1995 (with Charles Rowley and Richard Wagner).
Working Papers
"The Contribution of the Yen Appreciation since 2007 to the Japanese Economic Debacle," CEPII Working Paper Number 2012-31.
"The Role of Production Networks in Sustaining and Rebalancing Asia's Growth," CESifo Working Paper Number 3896.
"Transpacific Imbalances and Macroeconomic Codependency," ADBI Working Paper Number 299, 2011.
"The Effect of Exchange Rate Changes on Japanese Consumption Exports," ADBI Working Paper Number 298, 2011, (with Atsuyuki Kato)
"Understanding FDI in East Asia," ADBI Working Paper Number 290, 2011, (with Nimesh Salike).
"Promoting Learning and Industrial Upgrading in ASEAN Countries," ADBI Working Paper Number 250, 2010.
"How Would an Appreciation of the Yuan Affect the People's Republic of China's Surplus in Processing Trade?" ADBI Working Paper Number 219, 2010.
"Investigating the Effect of Exchange Rate Changes on the People's Republic of China's Processed Exports" ADBI Working Paper Number 202, 2010.
"An Empirical Analysis of ASEAN's Labor-Intensive Exports" ADBI Working Paper Number 166, 2009.
"An Empirical Analysis of East Asian Computer Exports" ADBI Working Paper Number 160, 2009.
"Can East Asia be an Engine of Growth for the World Economy?" RIETI Discussion Paper 09-E-006, 2009.
"The Appropriate Policy Mix for China," RIETI Report 101, 2008.
"How Would an Appreciation of the RMB Affect China's Trade Balance?," RIETI Column 0156, 2007.
"Trade-FDI-Technology Linkages in East Asia," Network of East Asian Think Tanks Final Report, 2006, (with Masaru Yoshitomi).
"The Effect of Exchange Rate Changes on Trade in East Asia," RIETI Discussion Paper Number 06-E-009, 2006.


text:
In case you've forgotten, here's one of the cardinal rules of writing:
Don't Forget Your Audience.
This should be obvious. If you're writing for children, there will be language or graphic scenes that you don't need to detail. If you're writing romance novels, on the other hand, you can go into (ahem) a lot more detail.
If you're writing an article geared toward an elite group of highly educated people in a particular field, you can use a lot more jargon and industry-specific language than you could if you were writing the same article for the general public.
Newspapers are usually geared toward adult readers who presumably have a running knowledge of current events. Magazines and periodicals aim for people with common interests, such as photography, cars, fashion, their home town. Blogs can be directed toward general readers (everyone who thinks dogs are cute!), or focused on very specific people (fans of Holst's "The Planets," writers trying to get published, knitters who love making socks).
The point, though, is that you almost always have a specific audience.
But, how do you write differently for different groups?
This is harder to define, but I'd say it comes down to three elements. They're all related, and the borders are fuzzy, but here's how I think of them:
Friendly. Cool. Informed. Gracious. Intelligent. Condescending. This is your tone of voice.
Think about this. When you get a phone call from a stranger and only have their voice with which to judge how capable they are, how helpful or convincing … it's their tone that's going to have the most impact. Do they sound tired? Bored? Excited? Interested?
You could have two marketers call you with the exact same pitch, but one will turn you off, and one will pique your interest … it all comes down to Tone. You're going to be drawn to the one who sounds friendly and capable, the one who sounds interested in what she is doing and eager to help you.
The same thing goes with writing–it's your choice how you sound, but that old saw about catching more flies with honey holds true … let your tone of voice show that you care about what you do.
This seems similar to Tone, I know, but I think of Voice as how you use the language. A person addressing a conference of etymologists, for example, is going to dust off the fancy vocabulary, like bringing out the good silver for Christmas … but a GOOD writer is going to make that presentation interesting and entertaining, regardless of syllable count. A bad writer? Um, you remember those dense, dry, incomprehensible text books from school, don't you? The ones that were so darn educated you couldn't understand a word they said?
Writing can be made more or less accessible simply by the complexity of the language. Are the sentences long or short? Simple or complex? Are the paragraphs long, solid blocks of text? You get the idea. Don't ever let anyone tell you that you can't sound "smart" and "friendly" at the same time. Or that, if you're writing for a professional journal that you can't let your humanity show.
All the writing mavens love to tell you to keep your vocabularly simple–that the high-falutin' words are just going to make you inaccessible, or confusing, or whatever the reason-of-the-week is. Not that I'm denying the truth of this, mind you–too many people simply don't know what to do with one of those high-priced, fancy vocabularies, any more than they can drive a Lamborghini perfectly on the first try after a lifetime of Chevys.
My point, though, is that sometimes you have to gear your vocabulary to your audience. When talking to a child, we tend to downshift the vocabulary level to make it accessible. "Why don't you go out to play?" instead of "Perhaps you would care to consider transferring your recreation to an outdoor venue?" Is your vocabulary held to a reasonable level that makes it accessible, yet not so "dumbed down" that you sound like you are constantly talking to a toddler?
I'm all for stretching people's vocabularies–the more the better–and it never worries me to use a word or two that my readers might not have met before. I'm happy to provide the introduction. But there's a difference between being in a room filled with familiar faces with just a stranger or two, and a room filled with strangers. If you fill up your writing with words that your readers probably don't recognize … they're going to ditch the party and decide to go hang out with their friends, instead.
There's the built-in censorship element, too, of not using certain types of language in front of young, impressionable ears and eyes. Of writing in a gentlemanly or ladylike manner in such a way that your grandmother could read your work without blushing.
Don't forget who you're writing for.
What do you think? Do you write differently for different audiences?


text:
Main :: Spider IV/Spider Online
by ckirkwood9 on 2013-03-20 12:03:24.5940
Spider 4 hd150 - can I connect headphone out of hd150 to mp3/aux in of spider 4 15?
I would love to use my hd150 head with ONLY aux in of spider 4 15 (don't want to lug the 4x12 cabinet to my gig at a tiny venue) . I know that the head should have a speaker load JUST IN CASE the headphone out fails (to avoid frying the head) I'm thinking of getting the Behringer di boxes to simulate load...
Any issues with this configuration... Well it work?
by fflbrgst on 2013-03-21 07:52:39.1170
In theory it should work, but the sound may not be pleasing or noisy. Does a 15 really give you enough volume for the venue?!
I don't know anything about the Behr DI boxes, but I doubt they present a 'load' to the amp. I've never heard of the headphone output failing, either.
by ckirkwood9 on 2013-03-21 11:00:51.2780
in a support ticket somewhere on this site... there is a reference to using Behringer Ultra-G GI100 DI if one
wants to safely operate the head w/o the speaker cab connected.
The DI boxes apparently create the necessary impedance expected by the head.
the venue is a small room for community theater... the 15 watt is actually too loud for what we do
The information above may not be current, and you should direct questions to the current forum or review the manual.