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Notes on MongoDB
25 February 2010 by Mathias Meyer
For an article in a German magazine I've been researching MongoDB over the last week or so. While I didn't need a lot of the information I came across I collected some nicely distilled notes on some of its inner workings. You won't find information on how to get data out of or into MongoDB. The notes deal with the way MongoDB treats and handles your data, a high-low-level view if you will. I tried to keep them as objective as possible, but I added some commentary below.
Most of this is distilled knowledge I gathered from the MongoDB documentation, credit for making such a good resource available for us to read goes to the Mongo team. I added some of my own conclusion where it made sense. They're doing a great job documenting it, and I can highly recommend spending time to go through as much of it as possible to get a good overview of the whys and hows of MongoDB. Also, thanks to Mathias Stearn for hooking me up with some more details on future plans and inner workings in general. If you want to know more about its inner workings, there's a webcast coming up where they're gonna explain how it works.
- Name stems from humongous, though (fun fact) mongo has some unfortunate meanings in other languages than English (German for example)
- Written in C++.
- Lots of language drivers available, pushed and backed by the MongoDB team. Good momentum here.
- According to The Changelog Show ([1]) MongoDB was originally part of a cloud web development platform, and at some point was extracted from the rest, open sourced and turned into what it is today.
- Data in MongoDB is stored in collections, which in turn is stored in databases. Collections are a way of storing related data (think relational tables, but sans the schema). Collections contain documents which have in turn keys, another name for attributes.
- Data is limited to around 2 GB on 32-bit systems, because MongoDB uses memory-mapped files, as they're tied to the available memory addressing. (see [2])
- Documents in collections usually have a similar data structure, but any arbitrary kind of document could be stored, similarity is recommended for index efficiency. Document's can have a maximum size of 4MB.
- Collections can be namespaced, i.e. logically nested: db.blog.posts, but the collection is still flat as far as MongoDB is concerned, purely an organizational means. Indexes created on a namespaced collection only seem to apply to the namespace they were created on though.
- A collection is physically created as soon as the first document is created in it.
- Default limit on number of namespaces per database is 24000 (includes all collections as they're practically the top level namespace in a database), which also includes indexes, so with the maximum of 40 indexes applied to each collection you could have 585 collections in a database. The default can be changed of course, but requires repairing the database if changed on an active instance.
- While you can put all your data into one single collection, from a performance point of view, it seems to make sense to separate them into different collections, because it allows MongoDB to keep its indexes clean, as they won't index attributes for totally unrelated documents.
Capped Collections
- Capped collections are fixed-size collections that automatically remove aged entries by LRU. Sounds fancier than it probably is, I'm thinking that documents are just appended at the last writing index, which is reset to 0 when limit of the collection is reached. Preferrable for insert-only use cases, updates of existing documents fail when the data size is larger than before the update. This makes sense because moving an object would destroy the natural insertion order. Limited to ~1GB on 32-bit systems, sky's the limit on 64-bit.
- Capped collections seem like a good tool for logging data, well knowing that old data is purged automatically, being replaced with new data when the limit is reached. Documents can't be deleted, only the entire collection can be dropped. Capped collections have no indexes on the _id by default, ensuring good write performance. Indexes generally not recommended to ensure high write performance. No index on _id means that walking the collection is preferred over looking up by a key.
- Documents fetched from a capped collection are returned in the order of their insertion, newest first, think log tailing.
Data Format
- Data is stored and queried in BSON, think binary-serialized JSON-like data. Features are a superset of JSON, adding support for regular expressions, date, binary data, and their own object id type. All strings are stored in UTF-8 in BSON, sorting on the other hand does not (yet), it uses strcmp, so the order might be different from what you'd expect. There's a sort of specification for BSON, if you're into that kind of stuff: [3] and [4]
- Documents are not identified by a simple ID, but by an object identifier type, optimized for storage and indexing. Uses machine identifier, timestamp and process id to be reasonably unique. That's the default, and the user is free to assign any value he wishes as a document's ID.
- MongoDB has a "standard" way of storing references to other documents using the DBRef type, but it doesn't seem to have any advantages (e.g. fetch associated objects with parent) just yet. Some language drivers can take the DBRef object and dereference it.
- Binary data is serialized in little-endian.
- Being a binary format, MongoDB doesn't have to parse documents like with JSON, they're a valid in-memory presentation already when coming across the wire.
- Documents can embed a tree of associated data, e.g. tags, comments and the like instead of storing them in different MongoDB documents. This is not specific to MongoDB, but document databases in general (see [5]), but when using find you can dereference nested objects with the dot, e.g. blog.posts.comments.body, and index them with the same notation.
- It's mostly left to the language drivers to implement automatic dereferencing of associated documents.
- It's possible to reference documents in other databases.
- Every document gets a default index on the _id attribute, which also enforces uniqueness. It's recommended to index any attribute that's being queried or sorted on.
- Indexes can be set on any attribute or embedded attributes and documents. Indexes can also be created on multiple attributes, additionally specifying a sort order.
- If an array attribute is indexed, MongoDB will indexed all the values in it (Multikeys).
- Unique keys are possible, missing attributes are set to null to ensure a document with the same missing attribute can only be stored once.
- If it can, MongoDB will only update indexes on keys that changed when updating a document, only if the document hasn't changed in size so much that it must be moved.
- MongoDB up to 1.2 creates and updates synchronously, 1.3 has support to update indexes in the background
- Updates to documents are in-place, allowing for partial updates and atomic operations on attributes (set for all attributes, incr, decr on numbers, push, pop, pull et. al on arrays), also known as modifier operations. If an object grows out of the space originally allocated for it, it'll be moved, which is obviously a lot slower than updating in-place, since indexes need to be updated as well. MongoDB tries to adapt by allocating based on update history (see [6]). Writes are lazy.
- Not using any modifier operation will result in the full document being updated.
- Updated can be done with criteria, so a whole bunch of matching documents. Think "update ... where" in SQL. This allows for updating objects based on a particular snapshot, i.e. update based on id and some value in the criteria will only update when the document still has that value. This kind of update is atomic. Reliably updating multiple documents atomically (think transaction) is not possible. There's also findAndModify in 1.3 (see [7]) which allows atomically updating and returning a document.
- Upserts insert when a record with the given criteria doesn't exist, otherwise updates the found record. They're executed on the collection. A normal save() will do that automatically for any given document. Think find_or_create_by in ActiveRecord.
- Results are returned as cursors, walking a collection as it advances. Which explains why you potentially get records that needed to be moved, it pops up in a space that's potentially after its current position, if there's space even in a spot before the current cursor's position. Cursors are fetched in batches of 100 documents or 4 MB of data, whichever's reached first.
- That's also why it's better to store similar data in a separate collection. Traversing similar data is cheaper than traversing over totally unrelated data, the bigger the size of documents compared to the documents that match your find, the more data will have to be fetched from the database and skipped if it doesn't match your criteria.
- Data is returned in natural order which doesn't necessarily relate to insertion order, as data can be moved if it doesn't fit into its old spot anymore when updated. For capped collections, natural order is always insertion order.
- By default, data in MongoDB is flushed to disk every 60 seconds. Writes to MongoDB (i.e. document creates, updates and deletes) are not stored on disk until the next sync. Tradeoff high write performance vs. durability. Need more durability, reduce sync delay. Closest comparison to the durability behaviour is MySQL's MyISAM.
- Data is not written transactional, so if the server is killed during a write operation, the data is likely to be inconsistent or even corrupted and needs repair. Think classic file systems like ext2 or MyISAM.
- In MongoDB 1.3 a database flush to disk can be enforced by sending the fsync command to the server.
- Replication is the recommended way of ensuring data durability and failover in MongoDB. A new (i.e. bare and dataless) instance can be hooked onto another at any time, doing an initial cloning of all data, fetching only updates after that.
- Replica pairs offers an auto-failover mechanism. Initially both settle on which is master and which is slave, the slave taking over should the master go down. Can be used e.g. in the Ruby driver using :left and :right options. There's an algorithm to handle changes when master and slave get out of sync, but it's not fully obvious to me (see [8]). Replica Pairs will be replaced by Replica Sets, allowing for more than one slave. The slave with the most recent data will be promoted master in case of the master going down. The slaves agree which one of them is the new master, so a client could ask any one server in the set which one of them is the master.
- Replication is asynchronous, so updates won't propagate immediately to the slaves. There's ideas to require the right to be propagated to at least N slaves before returning the write to the client successfully (similar to the feature in MySQL 5.4). (see [9])
- A master collects its writes in an opslog on which the slaves simply poll for changes. The opslog is a capped collection and therefore not a fully usable transaction log (not written to disk?) as old data is purged automatically, hence not reliable for restoring the database after a crash.
- After initial clone, slaves poll once on the full opslog, subsequent polls remember the position where the previous poll ended.
- Replication is not transactional, so the durability of the data on the slave is prone to the same durability conditions as the master, just in a different and still durability-increasing manner, since having a slave allows to decrease sync times on it, and therefore shortening the timespan of data not being written to disk across the setup.
- With the default storage engine, caching is basically handled by the operating system's virtual memory manager, since it uses memory-mapped files. File cache == Database cache
- Caching behaviour relies on the operating system, and can vary, not necessarily the same on every operating system.
- If you can live with a temporary write lock on your database, MongoDB 1.3 offers fsync with lock to take a reliable snapshot of the database's files.
- Otherwise, take the old school way of dumping the data using mongodump, or snapshotting/dumping from a slave database.
- Data is stored in subsequently numbered data files, each new one being larger than the former, 2GB being the maximum size a data file can have.
- Allocation of new datafiles doesn't seem to be exactly related to the amount of data currently being stored. E.g. storage size returned by MongoDB for a collection was 2874825392 bytes, but it had already created almost six gigabytes worth of database files. Maybe that's the result of padding space for records. I haven't found a clear documentation on this behaviour.
- When MongoDB moves data into a different spot or deletes documents, it keeps track of the free space to reuse in the future. The command repairDatabase() can be use to compact it, but that's a slow and blocking operation.
- MongoDB refrains from using any kind of locking on data, it has no notion of a transaction or isolation levels. Concurrent writes will simply overwrite each other's data, as they go straight to memory. Exceptions are modifier operations that are guaranteed to be atomic. As there is no way to update multiple records in some sort of transaction, optimistic locking is not possible, at least in a fully reliable way. Since writes are in-place and in-memory first, they're wicked fast.
- Reads from the database are usually done in cursors, fetching a batch of documents lazily while iterating through it. If records in the cursors are updated while the cursor is being read from, the updated data may or may not show up. There's no kind of isolation level (as there are no locks or snapshotting). Deleted records will be skipped. If a record is updated from another process so that the size increases and the object has to be moved to another spot there's a chance it's returned twice.
- There's snapshot queries, but even they may or may not return inserted and deleted records. They do ensure that even updated records will be returned only once, but are slower than normal queries.
- New data is allocated in memory first, increments seem to be fully related to the amount of data saved.
- MongoDB seems to be happy to hold on to whatever memory it can get, but at least during fsync it frees as much as possible. Sometimes it just went back to consuming about 512 MB real memory, other times it went down to just a couple of megs, I couldn't for the life of me make out a pattern.
- When a new database file needs to be created, it looks like MongoDB is forcing all data to be flushed to disk, freeing a dramatic amount of memory. On normal fsyncs, there's no real pattern as to how MongoDB frees memory.
- It's not obvious how a user can configure how much memory MongoDB can or should use, I guess it's not possible as of now. Memory-mapped files probably just use whatever's available, and be cleaned up automatically by the operating system's virtual memory system.
- The need to add an additional caching layer is reduced, as object and database representation is the same, and file system and memory cache can work together to speed up access, there's no data conversion involved, at least not on MongoDB's side, data will just be sent serialized and unparsed across the wire. Obviously it depends on the use case if this is really an advantage or a secondary caching layer is still needed.
- Overcomes the 4MB limit on documents by chunking larger binary objects into smaller bits.
- Can store metadata alongside file data. Metadata can be specified by the user and be arbitrary, e.g. contain access control information, tags, etc.
- Chunks can be randomly access, so it's possible to fetch data easily whose position in the file is well-known. If random access is required, makes sense to keep chunks small. Default size is 256K.
Protocol Access
- MongoDB's protocol is binary and in its own right proprietary, hence they offer a lot of language drivers to take that pain away from developers, but also offer a full specification on both BSON and the protocol.
- MongoDB has alpha support for sharding. Its functionality shouldn't be confused with Riak's way of partitioning, it's a whole different story. The current functionality is far from what is planned for production, so take everything listed here with a grain of salt, it merely presents the current state. The final sharding feature is supposed to be free of the restrictions listed here.
- A shard ideally (but not necessarily) consists of two servers which form a replica pair, or a replica set in the future.
- All shards are known to a number of config server instances that also know how and where data is partitioned to.
- Data can be sharded by a specific key. That key can't be changed afterwards, neither can the key's value.
- Keys chosen should be granular enough so that there's the potential of having too many records with the same key. Data is split into chunks of 50 MB so with big documents, it's probably better to store them in GridFS, as a chunk can contain a minimum of ~12 documents when all take up the available space of 4 MB.
- Sharding is handled by a number of mongos instances which are connected to the shards which in turn are all known to a number of mongod config server instances. These can run on the same machines as the data-handling mongod instances, with the risk that when the servers go down they also disappear. Having backup services seems to be appropriate in this scenario.
- Sharding is still in alpha, e.g. currently replicated shards aren't supported in alpha 2, so a reliable sharding setup is currently not possible. If a shard goes down, the data on it is simply unavailable until it's brought back up. Until that happens, all reads will raise an error, even when looking up data that's known to be on the still available shards.
- There's no auto-balancing to move chunks to new shards, but that can be done manually.
There you go. If you have something to add or to correct, feel free to leave a comment. I'm happy to stand corrected should I have drawn wrong conclusions anywhere.
As a user of CouchDB I gotta say, I was quite sceptical about some of MongoDB's approaches of handling data. Especially durability is something that I was worried about. But while I read through the documentation and played with MongoDB I realized that it's the same story as always: It depends. It's a problem when it's a problem. CouchDB and MongoDB don't necessarily cover the same set of use cases. There's enough use cases where the durability approach of MongoDB is acceptable compared to what you gain, e.g. in development speed, or speed when accessing data, because holy crap, that stuff is fast. There's a good reason for that, as I hope you'll agree after going through these notes. I'm glad I took the time to get to know it better, because the use cases kept popping up in my head where I would prefer it over CouchDB, which isn't always a sweet treat either.
If you haven't already, do give MongoDB a spin, go through their documentation, throw data at it. It's a fun database, and the entrance barrier couldn't be lower. It's a good combination of relational database technologies, with schemaless and JavaScript sprinkled on top.

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text:
$427 billion is predicted for the current fiscal year.
Democrats will blame Bush and the Iraq war exclusively. At $105 billion for the current year, the Iraq war is certainly contributing the the deficit, but take away the $105 billion and it's still a pretty huge $322 billion.
I blame the culture of big government and big spending. Bush's domestic policy is about new and unnecessary programs and not eliminating existing programs.
Clinton was lucky that he was president during the time of the stock market bubble, when capital gains and corporate incomes were at an unsustainable cyclical peak. Bush doesn't have such luck, so he must reduce the budget deficit through spending reduction.


text:
OSDL Linux Summit--A Conference with Some Differences
The New Conference Paradigm?
At first glance, the upcoming OSDL (Open Source Development Lab) Linux Summit looks more or less like any other industry conference. Actually, though, organizers of the summit--set for January 31 to February 2, 2005 in Burlingame, CA--followed "exactly the opposite" course of action in putting together the first-time event, according to Nelson Pratt, the OSDL�s director of marketing.
In checking out existing Linux conferences, the OSDL saw certain holes, Pratt said, in an interview with LinuxPlanet. There was nothing available that fully met the OSDL's mission of "accelerating the adoption of Linux in the enterprise."
The summit, coming up early next year, features separate tracks for technical pros, legal specialists, and business decision-makers, all tailored to speeding up enterprise adoption.
Some of the technical sessions will be targeted at helping to make experienced Linux developers "faster and more comfortable" at writing code, Pratt said. Other tech sessions are for enterprise developers who are new--or only slightly familiar with--Linux.
Most developers attending these sessions will be employees of large corporations, although some might be smaller ISVs who work as consultants to enterprises.
"But if you are a Linux hobbyist or home user, there are other shows for you. This is not the one," he elaborated.
Highlights of the summit will include two keynote panels, plus an OSDL "Meet the Experts" forum. One of the keynotes, to be moderated by OSDL CEO Stuart Cohen, will revolve around an "open conversation" with Linux luminaries Linus Torvalds; Andrew Morton, maintainer of the 2.6 Linux kernel; Brian Behlendorf, CTO and co-founder, CollabNet; and Mitch Kapor of the OSA Foundation about the increasing importance of Linux and open source software in the IT environment.
In the second keynote, being led by IDC�s Dan Kusnetsky, a roundtable will explore the topic "Utility Computing and the ISV Opportunity." Panelists will include Dave McAllister, VP of product marketing, Cassatt; Carl Kesselman, co-founder, Globus Alliance; and Akmai Khan, CEO of Levanta.
To fit in closely with industry expectations, the OSDL is relying on the customary model of one day of tutorials, followed by two days of conference sessions.
How, then, is OSDL�s approach different from that of other conference organizers? Generally, conferences first put out a call for papers, Pratt pointed out. The conference agenda and speaker roster are then based around whatever papers are then submitted and selected.
With the OSDL Linux Summit, on the other hand, the reverse will hold true. "We are deciding first which areas need to be covered, and then finding the right speakers," he said.
The inclusion of a legal track is also unusual, Pratt acknowledged. Controversises surrounding the SCO case were a major catalyst.
Legally oriented attendees will include corporate inhouse legal counsel, as well as outside law firms that work with enterprises, he said.
Subtitled "OSS (Open Source Software) & the Law," the legal track will include tutorials and conference sessions on open source licensing issues and best practices; GPL (Gnu General Public License) issues; and the implications of SCO litigation on open software.
Business decision-makers will take tutorials and sessions on topics such as "OSS vs. Proprietary: The Business Decision," "Relative Maturity of Different OSS Communities," and "Helping Enterprise Architects Make the Transition," to name a few.
The technical tutorials will consist of "Reviewing the Use of OSS in the Enterprise" and "Developing Linux Applications Using Eclipse."
In the technical conference sessions, Morton will talk on two topics: "OSS Patch Submission, Acceptance Process, Working with the Kernel Community--Insider Secrets of Success for ISVs on Linux" and "Taking Advantage of 2.6 Kernel Enhancements for Your Application."
Other tech conference sessions will include "Marrying Linux and Java--Best Practices;� "Benefits of Participation in the Open Source Development Community;" "Unix to Linux Migration;" and "Securing Linux in the Enterprise."
The OSDL�s upcoming sumimit will also encompass an exhibit floor, showcasing Linux vendors and other organizations that include Red Hat Software; Computer Associates (CA); AMD (Advanced Micro Devices); Aduva; Barracuda Networks; Black Duck Software; DigitalGuru; Eclipse Foundation; Gelato; Levanta; Novell; Open Country; OverNite Software; and RLX Software.
The "OSDL Meet the Experts" forum will take place on the expo floor. It will be staffed by OSDL and other Linux experts, who will talk about how the OSDL is working with open source and Linux communities in attempts to improve Linux and accelerate adoption.
More than 60 member organizations and affiliates belong to the OSDL, ranging from large systems vendors such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard; to major Linux distributors Red Hat and Novell/SuSE Linux; to user organizations; chipmakers; telecom and storage companies; small ISVs; and more.
Pratt is quick to point out, though, that the OSDL is trying to complement--rather than compete with--other Linux conferences.
Will the summit turn into an annual event? It�s too early to tell right now, he said.
"But if this has a positive impact [on other conferences], it's possible that it'll just fade away," Pratt told LinuxPlanet.


text:
How might a Hollywood movie pitchman capture the tone and pith of "See Now Then," a new novel by the intense and lyrical novelist Jamaica Kincaid about the disintegration of a modern marriage? Chaucer's Wife of Bath meets Virginia Woolf!
The Sweets, fictional stand-ins for Kincaid and her former husband, live in the (real-life) village of North Bennington, Vt., in a house formerly owned by (real-life) eccentric novelist Shirley Jackson and her (real-life) husband, the brilliant literary critic Stanley Edgar Hyman. Mr. Sweet is a modernist composer, and Mrs. Sweet, born in the Caribbean, is a housewife, mother and lay philosopher when it comes to the large questions of time and language.
This piece first ran in Printers Row Journal, delivered to Printers Row members with the Sunday Chicago Tribune and by digital edition via email. Click here to learn about joining Printers Row.
Despite all the brilliance, as the novel opens, the Sweets have gone sour. Their marriage, once a wonderful romance, has turned into a disaster of warring attitudes, a battlefield on which their children play among the wreckage.
All of this is presaged by the immediate reference to the death of their handyman neighbor, Homer, who had a heart attack while out hunting the biggest deer of his life. (Homer is dead — get it? Epic is over; the domestic novel rules.) Mr. Sweet, as the angry Mrs. imagines him, wants only to stay in his study and write difficult music (a symphony for 147 lyres, for example) that no one wants to hear, while wishing her dead with every second thought.
Despite the pleasures of raising her son and daughter, Mrs. Sweet finds — like the Wife of Bath — only the woe that is in marriage. But with the intensity of Virginia Woolf, Kincaid creates a palimpsest of time past, time present and time future, reminding us that what we take to be the present will immediately become the past, yielding to a new present, which we in the moment call the future.
Children, toys, weather, gossip, music, myth and meals at McDonald's make up the texture of ordinary time. Kincaid's narrative renders all this in an extraordinary way, swirling about all such moments into a melange of wonderment, mixing in memories of childhood — both Mrs. Sweet's, spent on a Caribbean island, as well as her husband's. It ranges from the prehistoric past, when Africa was "just a landmass emerging from billions of years of the earth's relentless restiveness" to the immediate past when Mrs. Sweet watches her son "watching Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman defeat Karl Malone and John Stockton."
If you're looking for plot, none of this will seem easy to read. Yet despite often ironic laments about the difficult work of her composer husband, Mrs. Sweet in these pages makes a verbal symphony, akin to what Kincaid depicts as Mr. Sweet's own best composition, "a piece of music that brought together many different and even conflicting modes of sound: melodies sung by occupants of a cloister, an abbey in the middle of the Middle Ages … riffs that Mrs. Sweet did not quite understand played on the piano by the descendants of slaves … a coda from Mozart and Bach and Beethoven … and then the whole thing (ending) in a calamity of sounds and melodies and emotions and the audience hearing it would rise up from their seats and clap and cheer."
Kincaid's attempt to capture living itself may just be, as she puts it, "always just out of reach," but her talent for trying remains palpable on every page of this brief novel. Connoisseurs will find it delicious, and everyday readers will see it as difficult and always just out of reach.
Alan Cheuse, National Public Radio's longtime "voice of books," is the author of five novels, four collections of short fiction and the memoir "Fall Out of Heaven."
"See Now Then"
By Jamaica Kincaid, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 192 pages, $23
Jamaica Kincaid will appear at a Printers Row Live event on Feb. 21. Visit printersrowjournal.com for details.


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There's a lot of rubbish out there.... Collect space junk in orbit around the Earth in this fun game.
Space debris - assesing the risk
An article about the dangers of space junk, how it is tracked and research into removing it.
How much space junk is floating around out there?
A fun video about how much space debris is around us and the damage it can do.
NASA Orbital Debris FAQ
Info on space junk from NASA's Orbital Debris Program.
Streetline collects live data from street-based sensors to tell users where empty parking spaces can be found via a smartphone app. An example of the internet of things
NASA Kids' Club
Interested in space? Current news on Space Shuttle missions, info on space technology, history, and space related activities for children.
History of Space Science and Astronomy
The History of Space Science and Astronomy includes a huge amount of information on: The Millennium - A Space and Astronomy Timeline; Man-in-Space Firsts ; Space Factoids
Covers a large amount of information on space and space related topics - both recent news and archive.


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On this Song Travels, Lauderdale brings along a few of his musical collaborators, including NPR's Ari Shapiro, who proves to be as good a singer as he is a journalist. Lauderdale solos on "Malagueña" by Ernesto Lecuona, and duets with Feinstein on George Gershwin's "The Man I Love."
At 2pm.


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Using small form factor connectors in your fiber network can save you space and money. However, choosing which type to use can be challenging.
What's half the size of a standard SC connector, is roughly the same size as an RJ-45 jack used in most copper datacom applications, and takes up minimal space in a patch panel? Developed for today's demanding fiber optic applications, the answer is a small form factor (SFF) connector.
Why go the SFF route? Because fiber networks configured with SFF connectors require less rack and closet space, and they are significantly cheaper. SFF connectors also increase the port density on electronic devices (such as network interface cards, switches, and hubs), making them less expensive and increasing the likelihood that manufacturers will use them. SFF connectors are also carefully designed for fast field termination. However, most require special tool sets for installation and specially designed transceivers.
Some new SFF connectors use 1.25-mm ceramic or glass ferrules (rather than the standard 2.5 mm), which reduces cost and installation polishing time. In other designs, open plastic V-grooves hold the two fiber ends in place either by a bend in one of the fibers in the groove or by closely spaced metal ferrule alignment pins. Some people doubt the long-term reliability of SFF connectors, but so far their skepticism has proved to be unfounded.
Connector battles.
The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) standards groups have not yet embraced SFF connectors, leaving the industry in the midst of a connector war. With no standard type of SFF connector, the big market players continue to fight for dominance. What will the marketplace decide? Eventually, one type may become the de facto standard. But perhaps the continued existence of several SFF connectors is the most likely scenario for now. After all, traditional FC, ST, and SC connectors are still in use, so it's possible no one connector will dominate for some time. With so many connectors on the market to choose from, it's not surprising many users have not yet developed an SFF preference.
Common types of SFF connectors.
Here is a brief overview of five SFF connector designs.
MT-RJ: The MT-RJ is the product of a coalition that includes Corning Cable Systems (formerly Siecor), AMP, Hewlett-Packard, USConect, and Fujikura. The MT-RJ is a very small duplex connector with a molded body with two fibers. Although you could use it for epoxy-polish termination in the field, the current design uses a no-polish technology with a prepolished fiber stub.
3M Volition (VF-45): Featuring the most radical design, the Volition VF-45 connector abandons alignment ferrules for grooves, which still require you to polish the bare fiber in a special fixture. Its unique jack-and-plug design limits field terminations to jacks, but patch cords and single-mode versions will soon be available. Manufacturers such as Honeywell, Siemens, and Sumitomo are using the VF-45, and 14 Taiwanese networking product manufacturers recently adopted it. With a simple design, inexpensive parts, and easy termination, this connector is becoming an increasingly viable SFF option.
Avaya LC: Based on proven single-fiber ferrule technology, this LC connector looks like a half-size SC connector. Both the multimode and single-mode LC perform very well, and their packing density is equivalent to other SFF connectors. Both standard epoxy and prepolished quick-mountable versions of the LC are available for addressing installation needs. Because of Avaya's (formerly Lucent Technologies) experience in high-speed products for high-bandwidth applications, many people believe the LC connector holds an advantage in telecommunications applications.
Panduit Opti-Jack: The Opti-Jack is a duplex design based on the ST/SC 2.5-mm ferrule, with a jack-and-plug configuration. The manufacturer is developing active device mounts and a plastic optical fiber (POF) version. The duplex connector contains two 2.5-mm outer-diameter ferrules in a housing similar to the RJ-45 8-pin modular jack for copper telecommunications equipment. You can field-terminate the Opti-Jack with common fiber optic tools, and it's designed around zipcord cable.
Siecor/IBM SC-DC or SC-QC: This option resembles an SC connector with two or four fibers in a line across the end of a standard 2.5-mm ceramic ferrule. You can terminate both at once, although the Siecor version is a "cleave and leave" type.
Testing duplex SFF connectors.
Because MT-RJ and Volition Duplex SFF connectors come as "plugs and jacks," using standard test procedures to gauge their loss performance can be a challenge. SFF connectors, with the exception of the LC, are male and female. The traditional cable plant runs from socket to socket, while ST, SC, FC, and LC connectors go from plug to plug. Mating adapters allow connections at each end.
A miniature version of the SC or ST concept, the LC connector easily adapts to test equipment and reference cables. You can connect the plug ends of the MT-RJ and Volition directly to a meter with adapters, measure optical power, and calibrate launch cables for testing. Because you can't measure power directly, you'll need a patch cord to measure power out of the sockets. This adds an unknown loss to every measurement and an additional uncertainty in every loss measured.
Before testing individual patch cords (FOTP-171) and installing multimode cable (OFSTP-14), you must begin by setting a zero-loss reference from a launch reference cable. For any cable test, it is imperative you have good reference cables and use them properly. All current test procedures were developed on the assumption that connectors are male-type and are adaptable to plug directly into a meter. You can use these procedures with the LC connector, but many of the other new SFF connectors are not tested so easily.
You should use two patch cords you know are good, set a reference with the launch reference cable attached to the source, plug them into sockets on the installed cable plant, and measure the loss. Because most test equipment — especially sources — have ST connector interfaces, you can do this by using patch cords with ST-to-SFF (plug) connectors.
How do you test those patch cords and any other SFF patch cords? Once you have instrument adapters for the connectors, you can set up a test for patch cords that closely follows FOTP-171. First, set your reference levels for loss with an ST-to-plug cable and a matching adapter on the meter. Plug an SFF cable equipped with a socket or socket-to-ST connection into the meter. Remember, you are testing a mated plug and jack — the loss you measure is for the pair. Using the output of the plug as your reference point allows you to use this same source setup to test the cable plant. You also need to test a patch cord for use on the receive reference cable (the one attached to the meter). However, testing in this way requires you to set up a reference value and retest each cable, which can be time-consuming.
As small form factor connectors continue to drop in price and increase in capability, their popularity will inevitably grow. However, as they gain a larger portion of the market, it will become important for system installers to understand new connector technology and learn the most effective methods of testing them.


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goodwin is the best firm on your list, but kaye scholer is more established in ny.do you have offers from all 3? how long did goodwin take to get back to you?
What do you guys think about these firm (I'd be going for IP, probably lit, maybe opinion/ counseling /due dil., not sure if i want pat prosecution)Goodwin Procter (NYC)Kaye ScholerFitzpatrick CellaAnybody know anything good about the hours/work/quality of life/atmosphere/perk/ability to move up. Anything good or bad would help. Thanks


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You wouldn't expect it from my childhood: I'd grown up poor in Iowa, and I watched my mother struggle to work full-time and raise six kids on her own, while wishing that Prince Charming would come. (He never did.)
She made ends meet using Sunday newspaper coupons, public assistance and homemade mac-and-state-issued-cheese.
Continue Reading Below
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Fast forward a couple of decades, and there I was, living in California and working an executive-level communications and PR job at Nickelodeon, where I'd been for nearly 15 years. I had the financial security that came with my position, including a sizable company pension, a 401(k) plan and a small money market account. I carried my mortgage on a condo as confidently as I carried my Balenciaga bag.
I was a single woman in her late 30′s, and on the whole, things were good.
As a senior director of corporate communications, I spent the bulk of my time in the office–and the rest running from studios to offices to sets. But my passion for the job was waning. I wasn't miserable, per se, but I wasn't feeling it anymore. And I was watching the company conduct rounds of layoffs during the recession.
I'd always vowed that money wouldn't dictate my happiness, but I was used to stability. Changing career paths would likely mean a pay cut. Without a partner or family to support me–not to mention my mortgage, credit card debt and bills–I was afraid to abandon my executive life. Kind of like how people are afraid to abandon a relationship even when it's no longer working.
The easy thing would have been to set my sights on a similar job in the same field, but I wanted to try something new.
Plotting My Great Escape
While still working my corporate job, I started taking classes at a local college to see where my interests lay–and if I could be a student again after being out of school for 15 years. I always loved psychology, so two semesters later, I plunged head-first into a graduate program in clinical psychology at night, while working full-time.
The days were long, and I was tired, but I felt alive again!
At work, layoffs were still happening, and I knew that I could be next. I decided if that happened, I'd commit myself to school full-time. I was actually excited at the possibility! Although my emergency fund would cover me for a few months, I hoped that I'd get a severance package to help with my transition into student-hood.
When I entered my boss's office one summer morning in 2010, I was surprised with the very walking papers that I'd been expecting. Only, instead of celebrating, I panicked! You know that feeling when you're going to break up with someone, but they beat you to it? It was like that–I was prepared, but scared nonetheless.
There I was, free from corporate shackles, but not free from my living expenses, graduate school tuition, credit card debt and a home mortgage. Most of my money was in long-term investments and untouchable without paying severe penalties. At least I had gotten the severance package I hoped for–a safety net to recreate my life.
RELATED: 5 Surprising Things You Should Negotiate
So I leapt into survival mode, becoming a full-time graduate student at 37 years old.


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More thoughts on Sarah Palin:
John McCain must have been cognizant of the stark contrast between Joe Biden, Barack Obama's Veep choice, and his own selection. Biden has done nothing since he was in his 20s other than sit in the Senate. He is a caricature of the worst sort of Washington politician, a person of limited ability who is intimately tied in to various interests and lobbyists and who, in more than three decades, has done nothing to improve the way Washington works or to contribute creatively to any public policy issue. Biden is a Washington insider in the worst sense of the word.
In a national context Sarah Palin would have been an outsider, to an extraordinary degree, had she been a conventional governor of Alaska, our most exotic state. In fact, though, she is an outsider even in Alaska politics. She is from the Matanuska Valley, a place where I have spent quite a bit of time. It is only an hour or so from Anchorage, but the Valley is often regarded by Anchorage folk as an embarrassing outback. Its residents, some of whom live on a subsistence basis, tend to be regarded with suspicion.
So Palin was an upstart in every possible way when she challenged Frank Murkowski, the former Senator and entrenched Republican Governor who, among other things, appointed his daughter Lisa to succeed him in the Senate. Palin was opposed by the entire Republican establishment in Alaska, including Senator Ted Stevens–after whom the Anchorage airport is named–and Congressman Don Young. Notwithstanding the hostility of her party's elder statesmen, Palin defeated Murkowski in the primary. She then faced the popular former Democratic Governor Tony Knowles in the general election. In what would have been considered an extraordinary upset just a few months earlier, Palin trounced Knowles, despite reported efforts by her own party's leaders to defeat her. As Governor, she has enjoyed approval ratings in the 80s.
So it is hard to imagine a more complete outsider, in terms of national politics, than Sarah Palin. She ran and was elected as a reformer, has governed successfully as such, and owes nothing whatever to anyone in Washington. Personally, I'm not as anti-Washington as many conservatives, but it would be just about unAmerican not to root for a rebel and outsider like Palin.
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By ,
Published December 13, 2016
It's been 75 years of frustration, defeats and close calls, but the U.S. men's soccer team finally beat Mexico on their home turf Wednesday night.
Dominated for most of the night at one of soccer's most intimidating venues, the Americans beat the Olympic champions 1-0 in an exhibition behind Michael Orozco Fiscal's goal in the 80th minute and Tim Howard's late sprawling saves.
"The goal was for the U.S. fans and the whole U.S. We made history," said Orozco Fiscal, a 26-year-old defender from Orange, Calif., whose parents were born in Mexico.
A trio of second-half substitutes created the goal.
Brek Shea cut inside Severo Meza on the left flank and crossed to Terrence Boyd at the top of the 6-yard box. With his back to the goal, Boyd took a touch with his left foot and with his right made a quick backheel pass to Orozco Fiscal, who with his left foot poked it from 3 yards past goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa and defender Jorge Torres Nilo for his first international goal.
Orozco Fiscal, who plays in Mexico for San Luis, was a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team but hasn't established himself with the varsity.
I think it's huge. It's huge for I think all American fans, it's huge for the team, and it's historic.
He entered in the 77th minute for his fifth international appearance and first since October. Shea, back with the team for the first time since February following a season of turmoil in Major League Soccer, came on a minute later. Boyd, a German-American who made his U.S. debut in February, had entered to start the second half.
"Just happy we won and made history," Shea said. "It's something we haven't done in a long time. Just to be on the roster is cool."
Howard, in a snazzy gray-on-white uniform, twice preserved the lead. He moved to his right on a Javier Hernández shot in the 85th, then sprawled to his left when it deflected off Maurice Edu. Four minutes later, he extended left to paw away a 4-yard downward header by Chicharito.
"I think it's huge. It's huge for I think all American fans, it's huge for the team, and it's historic," U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. "We were very well aware that we've never won here at the Azteca Stadium. This is an amazing experience for the all the players. We told them before the game: This moment is for you, go and grab it. We are all aware that it was a lot, a lot of work."
The U.S. had been 0-23-1 against El Tri in 75 years of games at Mexico, including 0-19-1 in the thin air at altitude in Mexico City — where they had been outscored 81-14. Azteca, with loud, passionate fans, is a difficult site for road teams.
"You can shrivel up or you can accept it," Howard said. "We deserved a little bit of luck, and we got it tonight."
Mexico outshot the U.S. 15-6 and had a 10-0 advantage in corner kicks. But the Americans came away with their second big win this year, following February's first-ever victory over Italy, in a friendly at Genoa.
"Tim Howard kept us in the game I don't know how many times," said Klinsmann, who has been trying to change the defensive mindset the American had at times under Bob Bradley. "It's a mental aspect of it."
With the European clubs seasons getting under way, the U.S. used a half-strength roster and a makeshift central defense.
Mexico also was below strength following the Olympics. El Tri dominated possession but failed to connect on several open shots as the Americans paired Edu and Geoff Cameron in the center of their back line in the absence of Carlos Bocanegra, Clarence Goodson and Oguchi Onyewu.
"For me, it's a game that I grew up watching," Cameron said of the U.S.-Mexico rivalry. "To be a part of a win for the first time speaks for itself."
The game marked the start of the Americans' second year under Klinsmann, who replaced Bradley last summer after Mexico overcame a two-goal deficit to win the CONCACAF Gold Cup final 4-2.
The U.S. figures to have a lineup closer to full strength for a pair of World Cup qualifiers against Jamaica next month, on the road on Sept. 7 and at Columbus, Ohio, four days later. Mexico plays Costa Rica on those same days.
"We know we have to improve in many, many elements," Klinsmann said. "We have to keep the ball longer. We have to create more chances. We have to do a lot of work still. But I think this gives us a lot of confidence."
While the U.S. eliminated Mexico in the second round of the 2002 World Cup in South Korea, El Tri has improved in recent years, winning the Under-17 World Cup in 2005 and 2011 and adding the title in the Olympics, which is for Under-23 teams plus three overage players. Mexico is up to 18th in the world rankings, while the U.S. is down to 36th.
The game came at an awkward time for players, many focused on their clubs' season openers this weekend.
"It was very difficult in high altitude, with many of them flying in from Europe two days ago," Klinsmann said. "But we had a plan, and we tried to execute that plan and getting that win here — I mean it's quite enjoyable."
Based on reporting by the Associated Press.
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The documentary "Aroused" features interviews with 16 adult-film actresses, but it's not a story about pornography. That's according to photographer and filmmaker Deborah Anderson, who not only conducts the interviews and narrates the film, but also appears on camera, shooting the subjects for a new coffee-table book of nude portraiture.
What's it about then? At least a third of this slight but mildly provocative film is about selling Anderson's book. There's lots of "making-of" footage showing Anderson as she coaxes the women into softening their eyes for the camera — presumably because the book is meant to reveal a more vulnerable humanity than one typically associates with hard-core sex performers. In other words, it's art, not porn. Ironically, this kind of emotional exposure appears to be a tough assignment for a lot of these actresses, most of whom seem way too young — in their 20s, for the most part — to be so guarded. When a couple of them shed tears toward the end, it's surprisingly moving. The tears themselves, however, aren't all that shocking.
The women, all of whom appear to use stage names, talk more or less candidly about lives that often include early sexual initiation and promiscuity, STDs and drug use, family disapproval, ageism, cosmetic surgery, objectification and, at least in one instance, behavior that, by most conventional standards of decency, is pretty revolting. Despite talk of empowerment, the film acknowledges the dark side of an industry that takes a toll on its practitioners, despite paying big bucks.
But what exactly is that toll?
Interestingly, the one person who speaks most bluntly about this is not an actress, but the adult-film talent agent Fran Amidor, a lively and matronly woman who opines at one point that "every time someone does a [sex] scene in front of a camera, a little bit of their soul disappears."
Ouch. It's no wonder that people outside the adult-film world are referred to as "civilians" by those inside it. This is a world that comes across, at times, as a war zone, inhabited by combatants who are scarred in invisible ways.
Anderson's camera, however, is more probing than her questions, which strike only glancing blows. If so many of these women went into the business for the money, as they say, why is the film so squeamish about it? Exactly how much does a porn star make anyway?
The most interesting questions never get raised, let alone answered. I would have loved to have heard a psychologist, for instance, discuss the conflicted relationship that many of us "civilians" have with sex in the first place. It's a relationship embodied in the twin tattoos on the arms of the actress called Asphyxia Noir, which read "Beauty" and "Filth."
Too many times, "Aroused" arouses curiosity without really satisfying it. One giant paradox hangs in the air at the end. Despite a lot of post-feminist talk about taking back their sexuality, is it really possible to "own" something after you've sold it?
Unrated. At the West End Cinema. Contains nudity, explicit discussion of sex and some obscenity.
In English and some French with subtitles.
69 minutes.


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David Letterman Reveals The New 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit CoverGirl
Well, it only seemed appropriate that David Letterman would have the honors of revealing the 2011 Sports Illustrated Cover Girl! Her billboard was undressed last night LIVE on the Letterman Show. When I saw her I immediately thought, "Angelina Jolie". What do you think?


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I've been remiss in linking out to this, but my friend Andrew Wheeler, an English food and drinks writer, is blogging, with his writing partner Jill, at Very Good Taste.
Among the foody posts at Very Good Taste are a couple of great boozy entries–one on the Sazerac and another on gin.
I feel like I should introduce Andrew and Jill to Jay Hepburn.


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Dodgin: Baseball Fan Runs On Field Shirtless At Ray's Game, Stick Arms A Security Officer & Then Gets Tackled!
Rays' Game 5/15/2010
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For decades the great tradition of mural painting in the South Indian state of Kerala stood on the precipice of extinction. It was old stuff, museum stuff, Keralites thought, and ready to recycle. Who would miss it, anyway? Turns out, lots of people. The art that inspired kings and temple priests for thousands of years has been resuscitated, this time by wealthy individuals and corporations who recognize its genius and can pay for the privilege. This is one of the unexpected perks of India's economic resurgence. Huge mural paintings, once found only on the walls of temples and palaces, now adorn five-star hotel lobbies and the homes of India's rich and famous--with 55 billionaires, India ranks fourth in the world. Art lovers are motivated by aesthetic value, but others purchase art as a status symbol. It's cool to be a connoisseur.
Kerala's murals stand tall in India's artistic history, with their technical excellence, spiritualized storytelling, bold strokes, bright colors and uniquely idealized people, animals and trees. Only the Indian state of Rajasthan has more murals than Kerala.
Experts tell us Kerala's mural tradition evolved as a complement to her unique architectural style, originating with the prehistoric rock paintings found in the Anjanad Valley. Archaeologists believe these paintings belong to different epochs, from the upper Paleolithic (before the last ice age) to the early historic period. Rock engravings dating to these ancient times have also been discovered in the Edakkal caves in Wayanad and at Perumkadavila in Tiruvananthapuram district.
Recent mural history can be traced to the seventh and eighth century ce. It is not unlikely that the early Kerala murals and architecture came heavily under the influence of the Pallava dynasty. During the 13th century the first frescos were created at Kanthaloor, Temple in Tiruvananthapuram district. From then to the sixteenth century, hundreds of works blossomed in palaces and sacred chambers throughout the state, a treasure trove of imagery depicting the many manifestations of Siva, Vishnu in His various incarnations and the beloved Ganesha.
Archaeological evidence indicates the most prolific period of mural art in Kerala began in the mid-sixteenth century. Many of the most exquisite murals were painted during the 15th and 16th centuries, when the second Bhakti movement swept through Kerala. That revival was lead by great literary geniuses like Melapattur Narayanan Bhattatiri (1560-1646) and Putanam Nambudiri (1547-1640), pure bhaktars whose devotional literature kindled spiritual art. It is probable that the leading names of the movement, like Ezhuthachan, Melpathoor, Poonthanam, the venerable sage Vilwamangalam and the eighteen poets of the Zamorin's court, were instrumental in reviving the tradition of religious arts in those years.
The finest illustrations of this period are considered to be the Mattanchery Palace panels, depicting the Ramayana and the marriage of Parvati, and the temple paintings at Thrissur, Chemmanthitta and Thodeekkalam. Of all the ancient works, only two are dated: one in 1691 in the Pallimanna Siva Temple at Trichur, and a second in 1731 in the Sankaranarayana shrine of the Vadakkunatha Temple complex.
Srikumara's Shilparatna, a sixteenth century Sanskrit text on painting and related subjects, must have been enormously useful to early artists. This treatise, which discusses all aspects of painting, aesthetic as well as technical, has been acclaimed as a rare work on the techniques of Indian art, the like of which has never been published.
With the invasion of the Muslim warrior Tippu Sultan (1766-1782) and the later takeover of the Travancore temple trusts by the British (1811), wall-painting art fell out of favor in the 18th century. For 150 years it languished, and those who knew the art grew fewer and fewer.
It took a disaster to halt the decline. In 1970 a fire broke out in Guruvayur Temple, burning down the walls and obliterating the murals. Faced with replacing the masterpieces, temple authorities realized, to their dismay, how few competent mural artists were available. Only three veterans could be summoned for the recreations: Mammiyur Krishnankutty Nair, M.K. Sreenivasan and K.K. Varier. "It is because of them that we are able to enjoy the wonderful works of art in the temple today," said a devotee of Guruvayoorappan.
The incident awakened the Guruvayur Devaswom to the urgency for revival of this traditional and uniquely Keralite art form. Driven in part by the prodding of Dr. M.G. Sasibhooshan, the Institute of Mural Painting was established in 1989. Today it thrives, offering a five-year course inside the temple premises (see sidebar this page). Institutions for learning and research in mural arts have also come up at the Sree Sankara Sanskrit College in Kalady, the Malayala Kalagram in Mahe and the Vastu Vidhya Gurukulam at Aranmula. Mural painting is also taught in the Banaras Hindu University in north India.
Even local Christian churches, recognizing this revival and the importance of mural art in Kerala, have employed this art form to depict the Last Supper and other Christian stories, in the attempt to give their imported history a distinctively local look.
The subjects for murals are typically derived from religious culture and texts, peopled with highly stylized pictures of the Gods and Goddesses of the Hindu pantheon. Other common subjects are rishis and sages, their exploits and those of kings and warriors, as well as royal attendants, processions and the significant events which define the history of the place.
Dr. Subbanna Sreenivasa Rao, a leading writer on the subject (see his work at Sulekha.com) told us, "The human and the godly figures depicted in Kerala murals are strong and voluminous, drawn in running, smooth curves and subtle darkening of colors. The exquisite shading depicts the fullness and roundness of their form, resembling the paintings of Ajanta.
"The figures are highly stylized and rendered with elongated eyes, painted lips, exaggerated eyebrows and explicit body and hand gestures (mudras), decorated with elaborate headdresses and exuberant, overflowing ornaments. The strong and voluminous figures of Kerala murals with their elaborate headdresses have a close association with the characters from the dance dramas of Kerala.
"The expression of the emotions, too, comes out rather strongly. As compared to these figures, the animals, birds and plants drawn in the pictures appear closer to life. The wild and erotic scenes also are overtly shown without much reservation. The Gods, humans and animals are shown in combat and lovemaking. The murals take a holistic approach to existence, almost obliterating the thin dividing line between the sublime and the mundane, between religion and art."
These subjects are not fanciful representations of the artists' imagination but motifs exactingly drawn from the Dhyana slokas, which are not mere prayers or hymns but word-pictures or verbal images of the Deities. These verses describe precisely the Deity's form, aspects, countenance, the details of facial and bodily expressions, posture, the number of arms, heads and eyes, ornaments, objects held in the hands, etc. Suresh Muthukulam estimates there are more than 2,000 such verses which help artists like him to visualize and paint the sacred forms. These slokas also lay down the theory of proper color schemes, the skillful management of which provides stylized balance and rhythm to the paintings.
Murals depict the epics, like Ramayana, and the classic frolics of Krishna as well as the mystic forms of Siva and Shakti. They recount the Hindu myths and the Kerala forms of worship and lifestyle. As backdrops to these highly stylized works, flora and fauna and other aspects of nature are also pictured.
In his Mural Paintings in Travancore K.P. Padmanabhan Tampy writes, "The great and distinctive art displayed in these paintings reveals a wonderful vitality and intensity of feeling, meditative charm, divine majesty, decorative delicacy, unique verisimilitude, subtle charm of color, fine texture and marvelous draftsmanship. The Kerala murals blend harmoniously with their surrounding architecture, wood carvings and decorative art."
Unlike the temple wall-paintings of nearby Tamil Nadu, which relate to either Siva or Vishnu, Kerala murals present Siva and Vishnu rather evenly. There are paintings of Siva worshiping Vishnu, and Vishnu offering worship to Siva. Kerala especially adores the depiction of Siva and Vishnu as one Being in the form of Hari-Hara, a common subject on the fresco walls.
Unique to Kerala murals is the Pancha-mala (five garlands) system, in which borders are decorated with relief-figures of animals, birds, flowers, vines and such: the Bhootha-mala depicts goblins and dwarfs; Mruga-mala, animals such as elephants and deer; Pakshi-mala, rows of parrot-like birds; Vana-mala, floral motifs; and finally, the Chithra-mala is composed of decorative designs.
Kerala murals are also typified by their rich, warm and loud colors. A traditional Kerala mural strictly follows the Pancha-varna (five colors) scheme, using only red, yellow, green, black and white. In fact, it is this adherence to a limited earthy palette that gives the murals much of their distinctive look and feel.
White, yellow, black and red are the pure colors, according to Shilparatna. The ocher yellow, ocher red, white, bluish green and pure green are the more important colors.
All pigments are derived from natural materials, such as minerals and stones, oils, juices., roots and herbs. The yellow and red colors are mixed from minerals (arsenic sulfide and mercuric sulfide), green from the juice of a plant locally called Eravikkara, black from the soot of oil lamps. White, the base, is prepared with lime. Colors are mixed in a wooden bowl with tender coconut water and exudates from the neem tree. Other methods, minerals and herbs are occasionally used, but always natural.
The colors relate to the gunas, or attributes, of the subjects. For instance, green is employed for depicting the sattva (balanced, pure or divine) divinities; red and yellow for rajas (active, irascible) characters, and white for tamas (inert or base) events and creatures.
The brushes used are of three types--flat, medium and fine. Flat brushes are made from the hair found on the ears of calves, medium from the hair on a goat's belly and the fine brushes from delicate blades of grass.
Mural artists are not merely illustrators but chemists as well, creating a complex concoction that will not only receive the organic pigments but will then resist the erosion of the elements for hundreds of years. Mr. K. U. Krishnakumar, Principal of the Institute of Mural Painting in Guruvayoor, explains that the walls must be painstakingly prepared with a rough plastering of lime and sand mixed with the juice of kadukkai or of a vine called chunnambuvelli, all dissolved with palm sugar (jaggery). A smooth plaster--a similar mix with ground cotton added--is then applied. After ten days, 25 to 30 coats of quicklime and tender coconut water are applied, creating a thickness of about half an inch. Lemon juice is used to mellow the alkalinity of the surface. The mural is painted only after the wall is completely dry, using the fresco (Italian for fresh) technique of mural painting, which involves the rapid application of water-soluble pigments in a damp lime wash.
The art itself is defined in six stages, artist Muthukulam notes. Lekhya karma is the first, where sketching of the outlines is done in a light yellow color. Second comes the rekha karma which enhances and gives dimension to the outlines. The third stage, called varna karma, breathes life into the subject with the addition of colors. In the fourth stage, vartana karma, shading is added for depth and definition. Lekha karma is the tedious outlining of all forms, usually with black. The final stage is called dvika karma, where life is given to the eyes of the Deities and people, "awakening or stirring the work to life." This is also called samarpanam, which means an offering from the artist. A fine coat of resin is then painted on the surface to give it a glossy look.
While the ancient procedures remain fairly intact, modern times have brought changes. To meet the demands of clients and for display at distant exhibitions, Kerala paintings are often executed these days on plywood, cloth, paper and canvas. But the old genius is still evident in the work of Suresh Muthukulam and his students, in their renderings of modern Kerala village life, of contemporary Indian biographies and of the eternal Divinities. The old Kerala masters might be startled to see the murals in the lobby of the Mumbai Hyatt or on pillars in Delhi's Imperial Hotel; but even the most irascible of them would smile to know that his craft is alive and well in the 21st century.PIpi


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Sioux Falls Branch Pick-up
Get ready now for the final pass from the City Of Sioux Falls crews picking up tree branches from your property. You need to have the piles in place for the last pick-up.
City workers have been continually cleaning up from the massive ice storm that hit Sioux Falls in April. Workers and residents have coordinated extremely well in getting things cleaned up.
What was something that looked like a horror movie, is now looking nice again. Many trees got hit hard everywhere you look.
Sioux Falls City officials will announce the schedule for the final pass of branch pickup at a news conference on Wednesday at 2 p.m.
'Sioux Falls residents have been extremely helpful in the cleanup and recovery process,' says Mark Cotter, Director of Public Works. 'When the crews begin the final pass of the city to pick up branch piles, we want to ensure residents understand when they need to have their piles ready and how to continue to partner with us in the cleanup efforts.'
The City's Comprehensive Branch Management Plan, coined Operation Timber Strike!,
includes four parts: branch removal, branch disposal, arbor work, and volunteer promotion.


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It's unclear when Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski will be able to play. But it is clear when he'll have his next surgical procedure.
Via multiple reports, which PFT has confirmed, Gronkowski will undergo back surgery on Tuesday. Dr. Robert Watkins (who recently performed back surgery on Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul) will conduct the operation.
For Gronk, he's had enough procedures in recent months to qualify for Cavity Sam status. His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, previously told WQAM radio in Miami that the back surgery is minor, and that the recovery process won't extend the timetable already created by his most recent forearm procedure.
For Patriots fans, the question isn't simply when Gronkowski will be able to play. It's whether he'll remain healthy, and for how long, once he's back on the field.


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With injuries to Zach Streif and Charles Brown, the New Orleans Saints were in need of adding depth along their offensive line.
The Saints added tackle William Robinson and waived veteran wide receiver Greg Camarillo to address the depth concerns on Tuesday.
Robinson re-joins the Saints after spending time in New Orleans a year ago. Robinson has also spent time with the Seattle Seahawks, Washington Redskins and Jacksonville Jaguars in four seasons after becoming an undrafted free agent out of San Diego State. Robinson has appeared in just one game in his career while with the Redskins in 2009.
Camarillo has been signed and released multiple times by the Saints this season. He was most recently re-signed by the Saints on Nov. 1 and played in two games for New Orleans before being made inactive for last week's game in Oakland. For the season, Camarillo has four catches for 44 yards.


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Cashman Says He Regrets A-Rod Profanity
NEW YORK -- Brian Cashman says he regrets the words he used in an angry response to Alex Rodriguez's injury update on Twitter, but the New York Yankees general manager insists the team wants a healthy A-Rod back at third base as soon as possible.
Cashman says owner Hal Steinbrenner told him he spoke with Rodriguez on Wednesday in Tampa, Fla., and reiterated that injury information should be announced by the team, not individual players on social media.
Just before the first pitch of New York's game Wednesday night against Texas, Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo told reporters that Rodriguez called Cashman around 5:30 p.m., and spoke with the GM and team president Randy Levine. Zillo says they spoke for nearly 30 minutes and everyone fully understands the protocol in place.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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What is PreFound.com About?
A human-indexed Internet. We believe that communities of knowledgeable, interested people can identify relevant sites with greater accuracy than a search engine that depends on computer programs. This is a whole new way to search the web.
The contents of PreFound are primarily Groups of links that our users have shared with us. So a Group entitled "Horses" can contain links to text, video, audio, podcasts, blogs, photos, and graphics, about "horses". When you do a search, PreFound presents you with Groups of links that other people have found useful! In this way, we provide a search site that allows users to see what has already been found on the web! Pre-Found!
PreFound is YOUR search site. So, like Wikipedia and other sites, you can simply view the content that other people have shared or you can contribute to PreFound. The content of PreFound is shared collaboratively by people from all around the world. Anyone can share or improve on the Groups on PreFound. See how here. Once content is shared, everyone has a chance to rank these Groups to ensure the best ones are near the top and the worst ones are buried.
Finally, PreFound offers search personalization. Our "Include Your Interests" feature enables you to narrow your search to the things that interest YOU and reflect who you are, where you are and what hide you like. For each search you can adjust your settings to help PreFound give you search results that are a reflection of you. Web Search Website Ranking is a big thing in the web universe. More explicitly, it's a big thing for web masters and online entrepreneurs, including companies like AdvanceLoan who use proprietary search systems to drive their on site search facility for customers looking for cash advance services from an online loan provider. Why would it not be right? It's still the top source of free and good traffic out there. Imagine taking the store space just within the mall's front door or getting that corner slot it your neighborhood's most busy streets. That is how it is when talking about web search site ranking. Getting top placement on a leading search engine, specifically Google , is like getting that corner spot in a busy street. Since it's considered the traffic holy grail of the net digital world, here are 1 or 2 tips on getting to the top results. Research your keywords well. Remember when I discussed taking the top ranking is like taking that busy street corner? Well you should identify which streets are busy first. It's no use to get top rankings for keywords that have no traffic anyhow. So research keywords in your niche well. Create important content on your internet site. It's no use to drive unqualified traffic to your site since they might leave the instant they scan your site. It's no use to get search website traffic for the keyword canine training if your site is about trout fishing. Consistently create back-links. The main thing isn't just making back-links, it's Continually making them. From experience, one or two back links consistently added each day is way better than a massive piece of back-links done in twenty four hours and never again added to. Somehow search sites consider continuous addition of back-links as frequent activity for your site.


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SeattleNoise: Jim Page
WHO: Seattle singer-songwriter, topical balladeer and social-justice advocate. Page has been performing for nearly 40 years and tours coast-to-coast, as well as overseas -- from Ireland to Taiwan.
CAREER DEBUT: San Jose, 1965. Page began playing guitar at 15 and arrived in Seattle, via New York, in 1971. In 1974, he successfully campaigned to make street performing legal in Seattle and is now among the organizers of Buskerfest each September.
SOUND: Page's riveting, socially conscious lyrics are tinged with edgy sarcasm and biting wit. His powerful, free-flowing songs are matched to a forceful, dramatic guitar style that emphasizes each punch line. He can be playfully humorous, singing about a meeting between Jesus Christ and the Buddha ("Jesus and the Laughing Deity") or modern Puritanism ("You're Naked Beneath Your Clothes"). "I do music," Page says. "I find it's a very useful language, it travels well and translates. I think that when we get good at ignoring things, life becomes dangerous."
QUOTE: Alluding to President Bush, the subject of the brilliantly satirical new song, "Petroleum Bonaparte," Page says: "There oughta be a law against people with certain kinds of nasty mentalities holding any kind of public office. But then this is early-21st-century America. Or late imperial America, depending on how you want to look at it. Some things just go with the territory. ... You have to do something about it. I do this."
RELEASES: "Head Full of Pictures," 2006 (Whid-Isle Music). Previous releases include: "Seattle Songs," 2004; "Human Interesting," 2002; "Collateral Damage," 2002; "Music From Big Red," 2001; "Gettin' Squeezed," 1999; "Heroes and Survivors," 1997; "Whose World Is This," 1997. For a complete discography of Page's 17 albums, visit his Web site.
WHERE TO LISTEN: jimpage.net (music samples, calendar, etc.); myspace.com/seattlejimpage
NEXT SHOW: A solo performance Saturday night at 7:30 at the Phinney Neighborhood Center, 6532 Phinney Ave. N. Admission: $14 (half price for kids and seniors). Information: 206-528-8546, seafolklore.org.
-- Gene Stout


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1 pound Idaho potatoes, peeled, diced and cooked until tender
2 cups sauerkraut
1 cup small diced Bavarian ham
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup whole grain mustard
2 tablespoons chopped green onions
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 egg, beaten with 2 tablespoons milk
3 cups fine dried bread crumbs
Oil, for frying
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
Using a food ricer, rice the potatoes into a large mixing bowl. Add the sauerkraut, ham, egg yolks, 1/4 cup of mustard and chopped green onions. Mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Form the mixture into small balls, about a tablespoon each. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place in the freezer and freeze for 30 minutes.
Preheat the fryer. Season the flour, egg wash, and bread crumbs, with salt and pepper. Roll each sauerkraut ball in the flour, coating completely. Dip each in the egg wash, letting the excess drip off. Finally roll each in the bread crumbs. Fry the sauerkraut balls in batches until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the fryer and drain on paper towels. Season with salt.
In small mixing bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 cup of the mustard and sour cream. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well. Serve the sauerkraut balls on a large platter with the mustard dipping sauce. Garnish with parsley.
Yield: about 4 dozen