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Gallstones are small, hard deposits that can form in the gallbladder, a sac-like organ that lies under the liver on the right side of the abdomen. Most people with gallstones don't even know they have them. But in some cases a stone may cause the gallbladder to become inflamed, resulting in pain, infection, or other serious complications.
The formation of gallstones is a complex process that starts with bile, a fluid composed mostly of water, bile salts, lecithin (a fat known as a phospholipid), and cholesterol. Most gallstones are formed from cholesterol.
The process of gallstone formation is referred to as cholelithiasis. It is generally a slow process, and usually causes no pain or other symptoms. The majority of gallstones are either the cholesterol or mixed type. Gallstones can range in size from a few millimeters to several centimeters in diameter.
Most gallstones are formed from cholesterol. Pigment stones are also very common; they are formed from a brown-colored substance called calcium bilirubinate. Patients can have a mixture of the two gallstone types.
Cholesterol Stones. Although cholesterol makes up only 5% of bile, about three-fourths of the gallstones found in the US population are formed from cholesterol. Cholesterol gallstones typically form in the following way:
Supersaturation and cholelithiasis can occur as a result of various abnormalities, although the cause is not entirely clear. There are many events that may promote cholelithiasis:
Pigment Stones. Pigment stones are composed of calcium bilirubinate, or calcified bilirubin. Pigment stones can be black or brown.
Mixed stones. Mixed stones are a mixture of cholesterol and pigment stones.
Gallstones can also be present in the common bile duct, rather than the gallbladder. This condition is called choledocholithiasis.
Secondary Common Bile Duct Stones. In most cases, common bile duct stones originally form in the gallbladder and pass into the common duct. They are then called secondary stones. Secondary choledocholithiasis occurs in about 10% of patients with gallstones.
Primary Common Bile Duct Stones. Less often, the stones form in the common duct itself (called primary stones). Primary common duct stones are usually of the brown pigment type and are more likely to cause infection than secondary common duct stones.
Gallbladder disease can occur without stones, a condition called acalculous gallbladder disease. This refers to a condition in which a person has symptoms of gallbladder stones, yet there is no evidence of stones in the gallbladder or biliary tract. It can be acute (arising suddenly) or chronic (persistent).
Gallstones that do not cause symptoms rarely lead to problems. Death, even from gallstones with symptoms, is very rare. Serious complications are also rare. If they do occur, complications usually develop from stones in the bile duct, or after surgery.
Gallstones, however, can cause obstruction at any point along the ducts that carry bile. In such cases, symptoms can develop.
The most serious complication of acute cholecystitis is infection, which develops in about 20% of cases. It is extremely dangerous and life threatening if it spreads to other parts of the body (a condition called septicemia), and surgery is often required. Symptoms include fever, rapid heartbeat, fast breathing, and confusion. Among the conditions that can lead to septicemia are the following:
Gallbladder Cancer: Gallstones are present in about 80% of people with gallbladder cancer. There is a strong association between gallbladder cancer and cholelithiasis, chronic cholecystitis, and inflammation. Symptoms of gallbladder cancer usually do not appear until the disease has reached an advanced stage and may include weight loss, anemia, recurrent vomiting, and a lump in the abdomen.
Research shows that survival rates for gallbladder cancer are on the rise, although the death rate remains high because many people are diagnosed when the cancer is already at a late stage. When the cancer is caught at an early stage and has not spread beyond the mucosa (inner lining), removing the gallbladder (resection) can cure many people with the disease. If the cancer has spread beyond the gallbladder, other treatments may be required.
This cancer is very rare, even among people with gallstones. Certain conditions in the gallbladder, however, contribute to a higher-than-average risk for this cancer.
Gallbladder Polyps. Polyps (growths) are sometimes detected during diagnostic tests for gallbladder disease. Small gallbladder polyps (up to 10 mm) pose little or no risk, but large ones (greater than 15 mm) pose some risk for cancer, so the gallbladder should be removed. Patients with polyps 10 - 15 mm have a lower risk, but they should still discuss gallbladder removal with their doctor.
Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis. Primary sclerosing cholangitis is a rare disease that causes inflammation and scarring in the bile duct. It is associated with a lifetime risk of 7 - 12% for gallbladder cancer. The cause is unknown, although it tends to strike younger men with ulcerative colitis. Polyps are often detected in this condition and have a very high likelihood of being cancerous.
Anomalous Junction of the Pancreatic and Biliary Ducts. With this rare condition, which is present at birth (congenital), the junction of the common bile duct and main pancreatic duct is located outside the wall of the small intestine and forms a long channel between the two ducts. This problem poses a very high risk of cancer in the biliary tract.
Porcelain Gallbladders. Gallbladders are referred to as porcelain when their walls have become so calcified (covered in calcium deposits) that they look like porcelain on an x-ray. Porcelain gallbladders have been associated with a very high risk of cancer, although recent evidence suggests that the risk is lower than was previously thought. This condition may develop from a chronic inflammatory reaction that may actually be responsible for the cancer risk. The cancer risk appears to depend on the presence of specific factors, such as partial calcification involving the inner lining of the gallbladder.
About 90% of gallstones cause no symptoms. There is a very small (2%) chance of developing pain during the first 10 years after gallstones form. After 10 years, the chance for developing symptoms declines. On average, symptoms take about 8 years to develop. The reason for the decline in symptoms after 10 years is not known, although some doctors suggest that "younger," smaller stones may be more likely to cause symptoms than larger, older ones. Acalculous gallbladder disease will often cause symptoms similar to those of gallbladder stones.
The mildest and most common symptom of gallbladder disease is intermittent pain called biliary colic, which occurs either in the mid- or the right portion of the upper abdomen. Symptoms may be fairly nonspecific. A typical attack has several features:
Digestive complaints such as belching, feeling unusually full after meals, bloating, heartburn (burning feeling behind the breast bone), or regurgitation (acid back-up in the food pipe) are not likely to be caused by gallbladder disease. Conditions that may cause these symptoms include peptic ulcer, gastroesophageal reflux disease, or indigestion of unknown cause.
Between 1 and 3% of people with symptomatic gallstones develop inflammation in the gallbladder (acute cholecystitis), which occurs when stones or sludge block the duct. The symptoms are similar to those of biliary colic but are more persistent and severe. They include the following:
Anyone who experiences such symptoms should seek medical attention. Acute cholecystitis can progress to gangrene or perforation of the gallbladder if left untreated. Infection develops in about 20% of patients with acute cholecystitis, and increases the danger from this condition. People with diabetes are at particular risk for serious complications.
Chronic gallbladder disease (chronic cholecystitis) involves gallstones and mild inflammation. In such cases the gallbladder may become scarred and stiff. Symptoms of chronic gallbladder disease include the following:
Stones lodged in the common bile duct can cause symptoms that are similar to those produced by stones that lodge in the gallbladder, but they may also cause the following symptoms:
As in acute cholecystitis, patients who have these symptoms should seek medical help immediately. They may require emergency treatment.
More than 25 million Americans have gallstones, and a million are diagnosed each year. However, only 1 - 3% of the population complains of symptoms during the course of a year, and fewer than half of these people have symptoms that return.
Women are much more likely than men to develop gallstones. Gallstones occur in nearly 25% of women in the U.S. by age 60, and as many as 50% by age 75. In most cases, they have no symptoms. In general, women are probably at increased risk because estrogen stimulates the liver to remove more cholesterol from blood and divert it into the bile.
Pregnancy. Pregnancy increases the risk for gallstones, and pregnant women with stones are more likely to have symptoms than nonpregnant women. Surgery should be delayed until after delivery if possible. In fact, gallstones may disappear after delivery. If surgery is necessary, laparoscopy is the safest approach.
Hormone Replacement Therapy. Several large studies have shown that the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) doubles or triples the risk for gallstones, hospitalization for gallbladder disease, or gallbladder surgery. Estrogen raises triglycerides, a fatty acid that increases the risk for cholesterol stones. How the hormones are delivered may make a difference, however. Women who use a patch or gel form of HRT face less risk than those who take a pill. HRT may also be a less-than-attractive option for women because studies have shown it has negative effects on the heart and increases the risk for breast cancer.
About 20% of men have gallstones by the time they reach age 75. Because most cases do not have symptoms, however, the rates may be underestimated in elderly men. One study of nursing home residents reported that 66% of the women and 51% of the men had gallstones. Men who have their gallbladder removed are more likely to have severe disease and surgical complications than women.
Gallstone disease is relatively rare in children. When gallstones do occur in this age group, they are more likely to be pigment stones. Girls do not seem to be more at risk than boys. The following conditions may put children at higher risk:
Because gallstones are related to diet, particularly fat intake, the incidence of gallstones varies widely among nations and regions. For example, Hispanics and Northern Europeans have a higher risk for gallstones than do people of Asian and African descent. People of Asian descent who develop gallstones are most likely to have the brown pigment type.
Native North and South Americans, such as Pima Indians in the U.S. and native populations in Chile and Peru, are especially prone to developing gallstones. Pima women have an 80% chance of developing gallstones during their lives, and virtually all native Indian females in Chile and Peru develop gallstones. Such cases are most likely due to a combination of genetic and dietary factors.
Having a family member or close relative with gallstones may increase the risk. Up to one-third of cases of painful gallstones may be related to genetic factors.
A mutation in the gene ABCG8 significantly increases a person's risk of gallstones. This gene controls a cholesterol pump that transports cholesterol from the liver to the bile duct. It appears this mutation may cause the pump to continuously work at a high rate.
Defects in transport proteins involved in biliary lipid secretion appear to predispose certain people to gallstone disease, but this alone many not be sufficient to create gallstones. Studies indicate that the disease is complex and may result from the interaction between genetics and environment. Some studies suggest immune and inflammatory mediators may play key roles.
People with diabetes are at higher risk for gallstones and have a higher-than-average risk for acalculous gallbladder disease (without stones). Gallbladder disease may progress more rapidly in patients with diabetes, who tend to have worse infections.
Obesity. Being overweight is a significant risk factor for gallstones. In such cases, the liver over-produces cholesterol, which is delivered into the bile and causes it to become supersaturated.
Weight Cycling. Rapid weight loss or cycling (dieting and then putting weight back on) further increases cholesterol production in the liver, which results in supersaturation and an increased risk for gallstones.
About one-third of gallstone cases in these situations have symptoms. The risk for gallstones is highest in the following dieters:
Men are also at increased risk for developing gallstones when their weight fluctuates. The risk increases proportionately with dramatic weight changes as well as with frequent weight cycling.
Bariatric Surgery. Patients who have either Roux-en-Y or laparoscopic banding bariatric surgery are at increased risk for gallstones. For this reason, many centers request that patients undergo cholecystectomy before their bariatric procedure. However, doctors are now questioning this practice.
Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that includes obesity (especially belly fat), low HDL (good) cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar. Research suggests that metabolic syndrome is a risk factor for gallstones.
Although gallstones are formed from the supersaturation of cholesterol in the bile, high total cholesterol levels themselves are not necessarily associated with gallstones. Gallstone formation is associated with low levels of "good" HDL cholesterol and high triglyceride levels. Some evidence suggests that high levels of triglycerides may impair the emptying actions of the gallbladder.
Unfortunately, some fibrates (drugs used to correct these conditions) actually increase the risk for gallstones by increasing the amount of cholesterol secreted into the bile. These medications include gemfibrozil (Lopid) and fenofibrate (Tricor). Other cholesterol-lowering drugs do not have this effect.
Prolonged Intravenous Feeding. Prolonged intravenous feeding reduces the flow of bile and increases the risk for gallstones. Up to 40% of patients on home intravenous nutrition develop gallstones, and the risk may be higher in patients on total intravenous nutrition. It is suspected that the cause is lack of stimulation in the gut, because patients who also take some food by mouth have less risk of developing gallstones. However, treatment for gallstones in this population is associated with a low risk of complications.
Crohn's Disease. Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel disorder, leads to poor reabsorption of bile salts from the digestive tract and substantially increases the risk of gallbladder disease. Patients over age 60 and those who have had numerous bowel operations (particularly in the region where the small and large bowel meet) are at especially high risk.
Cirrhosis. Cirrhosis poses a major risk for gallstones, particularly pigment gallstones.
Organ Transplantation. Bone marrow or solid organ transplantation increases the risk of gallstones. The complications can be so severe that some organ transplant centers require the patient's gallbladder be removed before the transplant is performed.
Medications. Octreotide (Sandostatin) poses a risk for gallstones. In addition, cholesterol-lowering drugs known as fibrates and thiazide diuretics may slightly increase the risk for gallstones.
Blood Disorders. Chronic hemolytic anemia, including sickle cell anemia, increases the risk for pigment gallstones.
Heme Iron. High consumption of heme iron, the type of iron found in meat and seafood, has been shown to lead to gallstone formation in men. Gallstones are not associated with diets high in non-heme iron foods such as beans, lentils, and enriched grains.
Diet may play a role in gallstones. Specific dietary factors may include:
Fats. Although fats (particularly saturated fats found in meats, butter, and other animal products) have been associated with gallstone attacks, some studies have found a lower risk for gallstones in people who consume foods containing monounsaturated fats (found in olive and canola oils) or omega-3 fatty acids (found in canola, flaxseed, and fish oil). Fish oil may be particularly beneficial in patients with high triglyceride levels, because it improves the emptying actions of the gallbladder.
Fiber. High intake of fiber has been associated with a lower risk for gallstones.
Nuts. Studies suggest that people may be able to reduce their risk of gallstones by eating more nuts (peanuts and tree nuts, such as walnuts and almonds).
Fruits and Vegetables. People who eat a lot of fruits and vegetables may have a lower risk of developing symptomatic gallstones that require gallbladder removal.
Sugar. High intake of sugar has been associated with an increased risk for gallstones. Diets that are high in carbohydrates (such as pasta and bread) can also increase risk, because carbohydrates are converted to sugar in the body.
Alcohol. A few studies have reported a lower risk for gallstones with alcohol consumption. Even small amounts (1 ounce per day) have been found to reduce the risk of gallstones in women by 20%. Moderate intake (defined as 1 - 2 drinks a day) also appears to protect the heart. It should be noted, however, that even moderate alcohol intake increases the risk for breast cancer in women. Pregnant women, people who are unable to drink in moderation, and those with liver disease should not drink at all.
Coffee. Research suggests that drinking coffee every day can lower the risk of gallstones. The caffeine in coffee is thought to stimulate gallbladder contractions and lower the cholesterol concentrations in bile. However drinking other caffeinated beverages, such as soda and tea, does not seem to have the same benefit.
Maintaining a normal weight and avoiding rapid weight loss are the keys to reducing the risk of gallstones. Taking the medication ursodiol (also called ursodeoxycholic acid, or Actigall) during weight loss may reduce the risk for people who are very overweight and need to lose weight quickly. This medication is ordinarily used to dissolve existing gallstones. Orlistat (Xenical), a drug for treating obesity, may protect against gallstone formation during weight loss. The drug appears to reduce bile acids and other components involved in gallstone production.
Although it would be reasonable to believe that drugs used to lower cholesterol would protect against gallstones, most evidence has found no gallstone protection from these drugs. Reducing cholesterol itself does not seem to have any effect on cholesterol gallstones.
The challenge in diagnosing gallstones is to verify that abdominal pain is caused by stones and not by some other condition. Ultrasound or other imaging techniques can usually detect gallstones. Nevertheless, because gallstones are common and most cause no symptoms, simply finding stones does not necessarily explain a patient's pain, which may be caused by any number of ailments.
In patients with abdominal pain, causes other than gallstones are usually responsible if the pain lasts less than 15 minutes, frequently comes and goes, or is not severe enough to limit activities.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has some of the same symptoms as gallbladder disease, including difficulty digesting fatty foods. However, the pain of IBS usually occurs in the lower abdomen.
Pancreatitis. It is sometimes difficult to differentiate between pancreatitis and acute cholecystitis, but a correct diagnosis is critical, because treatment is very different. About 40% of pancreatitis cases are associated with gallstones. The risk for gallstone-associated pancreatitis is highest in older Caucasian and Hispanic women. About 25% of pancreatitis cases are severe, and the rate is much higher in people who are obese.
Blood tests showing high levels of pancreatic enzymes (amylase and lipase) usually indicate a diagnosis of pancreatitis. Elevated levels of the liver enzyme alanine aminotransferase (ALT) are very specific in identifying gallstone pancreatitis.
Imaging techniques are useful in confirming a diagnosis. Ultrasound is often used. A computed tomography (CT) scan, along with a number of laboratory tests, can determine the severity of the condition.
Other Conditions with Similar Symptoms. Acute appendicitis, inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis), pneumonia, stomach ulcers, gastroesophageal reflux and hiatal hernia, viral hepatitis, kidney stones, urinary tract infections, diverticulosis or diverticulitis, pregnancy complications, and even a heart attack can potentially mimic a gallbladder attack.
In patients with known gallstones, the doctor can often diagnose acute cholecystitis (gallbladder inflammation) based on classic symptoms (constant and severe pain in the upper right part of the abdomen). Imaging techniques are necessary to confirm the diagnosis. There is usually no tenderness in chronic cholecystitis.
Blood tests are usually normal in people with simple biliary colic or chronic cholecystitis. The following abnormalities may indicate gallstones or complications:
A high white blood cell count is a common finding in many (but not all) patients with cholecystitis.
Ultrasound of the Abdomen. Ultrasound is a simple, rapid, and noninvasive imaging technique. It is the diagnostic method most frequently used to detect gallstones and is the method of choice for detecting acute cholecystitis. If possible, the patient should not eat for 6 or more hours before the test, which takes only about 15 minutes. During the procedure, the doctor can check the liver, bile ducts, and pancreas, and quickly scan the gallbladder wall for thickening (characteristic of cholecystitis).
How well ultrasound can help in the diagnosis varies based on the patient's situation:
Endoscopic Ultrasound. In an ultrasound variation called endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), the physician places an endoscope (a thin, flexible plastic tube containing a tiny camera) into the patient's mouth and down the esophagus, stomach, and then the first part of the small intestine. The tip of the endoscope contains a small ultrasound tranducer, which provides "close-up" ultrasound images of the anatomy in the area. EUS is useful when the health care provider suspects common bile duct stones, but they are not seen on a regular ultrasound and the patient is not clearly ill. However, if common duct stones are detected, they cannot be removed using this method.
X-Rays. Standard x-rays of the abdomen may detect calcified gallstones and gas. Variations include oral cholecystography or cholangiography.
Cholescintigraphy (Also Called Gallbladder Radionuclide Scan or HIDA scan). Cholescintigraphy, a nuclear imaging technique, is more sensitive than ultrasound for diagnosing acute cholecystitis. It is noninvasive but can take 1 - 2 hours or longer. The procedure involves the following steps:
If the dye does not enter the gallbladder, the cystic duct is obstructed, indicating acute cholecystitis. The scan cannot identify individual gallstones or chronic cholecystitis.
Occasionally, the scan gives false positive results (detecting acute cholecystitis in people who do not have the condition). Such results are most common in alcoholic patients with liver disease or patients who are fasting or receiving all their nutrition intravenously.
Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) has been the gold standard for detecting common bile duct stones, particularly because stones can be removed during the procedure. (See "Surgery" section below for a description of the procedure.)
However, this technique is invasive and carries a risk for complications, including pancreatitis. With the advent of noninvasive imaging techniques, ERCP is now generally limited to patients who have a high likelihood of common bile ducts stones, which would need to be removed. It may also be used to diagnose biliary dyskinesia.
Computed Tomography. Computed tomography (CT) scans may be a valuable additional imaging technique if the doctor suspects complications, such as perforation, common duct stones, or other problems such as cancer in the pancreas or gallbladder. Helical (spiral) CT scanning is an advanced technique that is faster and obtains clearer images. With this process, the patient lies on a table while a donut-like, low-radiation x-ray tube rotates around the patient.
Magnetic Resonance Cholangiography (MRCI), or Magnetic Resonance Cholangiopancreatography (MRCP). These imaging techniques may be very useful for detecting common bile duct stones and other abnormalities of the biliary tract. A dye is injected into the patient's veins that helps visualize the biliary tract. MRCP is extremely sensitive in detecting biliary tract cancer. This imaging procedure may not detect very small stones or chronic infections in the pancreas or bile duct. It is most likely to be useful in a small subset of patients who have unclear symptoms that suggest gallbladder or biliary tract problems, but ultrasound and other routine tests have been negative. For these patients, performing a MRCP can eliminate the need for ERCP and its side effects.
Virtual Endoscopy. Virtual endoscopy is an experimental technique that uses data from CT and MRI scans to generate a three-dimensional view of various body structures. The images resemble those used in endoscopy (an invasive procedure), but the procedure is noninvasive. Virtual endoscopy may be able to detect smaller stones in the common bile duct than MRI.
Acute pain from gallstones and gallbladder disease is usually treated in the hospital, where diagnostic procedures are performed to rule out other conditions and complications. There are three approaches to gallstone treatment:
Guidelines from the American College of Physicians state that when a person has no symptoms, the risks of both surgical and nonsurgical treatments for gallstones outweigh the benefits. Experts suggest a wait-and-see approach, which they have termed expectant management, for these patients. Exceptions to this policy are people who cholangiography shows are at risk for complications from gallstones, including the following:
One study reported that very small gallstones increase the risk for acute pancreatitis, a serious condition. Some experts therefore believe that gallstones smaller than 5 mm warrant immediate surgery.
There are some minor risks with expectant management for people who do not have symptoms or who are at low risk. Gallstones almost never spontaneously disappear, except sometimes when they are formed under special circumstances, such as pregnancy or sudden weight loss. At some point, the stones may cause pain, complications, or both, and require treatment. Some studies suggest the patient's age at diagnosis may be a factor in the possibility of future surgery. The probabilities are as follows:
The slight risk of developing gallbladder cancer might encourage young adults who do not have symptoms to have their gallbladder removed.
Gallstones are the most common cause for emergency room and hospital admissions of patients with severe abdominal pain. Many other patients experience milder symptoms. Results of diagnostic tests and the exam will guide the treatment, as follows:
Normal Test Results and No Severe Pain or Complications. Patients with no fever or serious medical problems who show no signs of severe pain or complications and have normal laboratory tests may be discharged from the hospital with oral antibiotics and pain relievers.
Gallstones and Presence of Pain (Biliary Colic) but No Infection. Patients who have pain and tests that indicate gallstones, but who do not show signs of inflammation or infection have the following options:
Acute Cholecystitis (Gallbladder Inflammation). The first step if there are signs of acute cholecystitis is to "rest" the gallbladder in order to reduce inflammation. This involves the following treatments:
People with acute cholecystitis almost always need surgery to remove the gallbladder. The most common procedure now is laparoscopy, a less invasive technique than open cholecystectomy (which involves a wide abdominal incision). Surgery may be done within hours to weeks after the acute episode, depending on the severity of the condition.
Gallstone-Associated Pancreatitis. Patients who have developed gallstone-associated pancreatitis almost always have a cholecystectomy during the initial hospital admission or very soon afterwards. For gallstone pancreatitis, immediate surgery may be better than waiting up to 2 weeks after discharge, as current guidelines recommend. Patients who delay surgery experience a high rate of recurrent attacks before their surgery.
Common Duct Stones. If noninvasive diagnostic tests suggest obstruction from common duct stones, the doctor will perform endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) to confirm the diagnosis and remove stones. This technique is used along with antibiotics if infection is present in the common duct (cholangitis). In most cases, common duct stones are discovered during or after gallbladder removal.
Common bile duct stones pose a high risk for complications and nearly always warrant treatment. There are various options available. It is not clear yet which one is best.
Experts are currently debating the choice between laparoscopy and ERCP. Many surgeons believe that laparoscopy is becoming safe and effective, and should be the first choice. Still, laparoscopy for common bile duct stones should only be performed by surgeons who are experienced in this technique.
Oral drugs used to dissolve gallstones and lithotripsy (alone or in combination with other drugs) gained popularity in the 1990s. Oral medications have lost favor with the increased use of laparoscopy, but they may still have some value in specific circumstances.
Oral Dissolution Therapy. Oral dissolution therapy uses bile acids in pill form to dissolve gallstones, and may be used in conjunction with lithotripsy, although both techniques are rarely used today. Ursodiol (ursodeoxycholic acid, Actigal, UDCAl) and chenodiol (Chenix) are the standard oral bile acid dissolution drugs. Most doctors prefer ursodeoxycholic acid, which is considered to be one of the safest common drugs. Long-term treatment appears to notably reduce the risk of biliary pain and acute cholecystitis. The treatment is only moderately effective, however, because gallstones return in the majority of patients.
Patients most likely to benefit from oral dissolution therapy are those who have small stones (less than 1.5 cm in diameter) with a high cholesterol content.
Patients who probably will not benefit from this treatment include obese patients and those with gallstones that are calcified or composed of bile pigments.
Only about 30% of patients are candidates for oral dissolution therapy. The number may actually be much lower, because compliance is often a problem. The treatment can take up to 2 years and can cost thousands of dollars per year.
Contact Dissolution Therapy. Contact dissolution therapy requires the injection of the organic solvent methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) into the gallbladder to dissolve gallstones. This is a technically difficult and hazardous procedure, and should be performed only by experienced doctors in hospitals where research on this treatment is being done. Preliminary studies indicate that MTBE rapidly dissolves stones -- the ether remains liquid at body temperature and dissolves gallstones within 5 - 12 hours. Serious side effects include severe burning pain.
Surgeons are now increasingly using laparoscopy with cholangiography instead of ERCP when common duct stones are suspected. Laparoscopy with cholangiography should only be done in centers with expertise in this procedure. This procedure should be done for the following reasons:
The procedure usually involves the following steps:
Experts are debating whether this procedure is better than ERCP. Many surgeons believe that laparoscopy is becoming safe and effective, and should be the first choice of treatment. Still, laparoscopy for common duct stones should be performed only by experienced surgeons.
Choledocholithotomy, or common bile duct exploration, is used:
In this procedure, the doctor performs open abdominal surgery and extracts gallstones through an incision in the common bile duct. Routinely, a "T-tube" is temporarily left in the common bile duct after surgery and the doctor x-rays the bile duct through the tube 7 - 10 days after surgery, to determine whether any stones remain in the duct.
The gallbladder is not an essential organ, and its removal is one of the most common surgical procedures performed on women. It can even be performed on pregnant women with low risk to both the baby and mother. The primary advantages of surgically removing the gallbladder over nonsurgical treatment are that it can eliminate gallstones and prevent gallbladder cancer.
Open Procedures Versus Laparoscopy. Until the early 1990s, open cholecystectomy (the removal of the gallbladder through a wide abdominal incision) was the standard treatment. Now, laparoscopic cholecystectomy (commonly called lap choly), which uses small incisions, is the most commonly used surgical approach. First performed in 1987, lap choly is now used in most cholecystectomies in the United States. Of concern is a significant increase in its use in patients who have inflammation in the gallbladder but no infection or gallstones, and in those who have gallstones but no symptoms.
Laparoscopy has largely replaced open cholecystectomy because it offers some significant advantages:
Some experts believe, however, that the open procedure still has a number of advantages compared to laparoscopy:
The type of surgery performed on specific patients may vary depending on different factors.
Appropriate Surgical Candidates. Candidates for gallbladder removal often have, or have had, one of the following conditions:
The best candidates are those with evidence of impaired gallbladder emptying.
Pregnant women who have gallstones and experience symptoms are also candidates for surgery.
Timing of Surgery. Cholecystectomy may be performed within days to weeks after hospitalization for an acute gallbladder attack, depending on the severity of the condition.
General Outlook. Although cholecystectomy is very safe, as with any operation there are risks of complications, depending on whether the procedure is done on an elective or emergency basis.
Long-Term Effects of Gallbladder Removal. Removal of the gallbladder has not been known to cause any long-term adverse effects, aside from occasional diarrhea.
The Procedure. With laparoscopy, gallbladder removal is typically performed as follows:
Risk Factors for Conversion from Laparoscopy to an Open Procedure. In about 5 - 10% of laparoscopies, conversion to open cholecystectomy is required during the procedure. The rate of conversion to open surgery is higher in men than in women. This may be due to the higher rate of inflammation and fibrosis in men with symptomatic gallstones. Other reasons for conversion from laparoscopic to open surgery include:
Complications and Side Effects of Surgery
Patients should not be shy about inquiring into the number of laparoscopies the surgeon has performed (the minimum should be 40). Obese patients were originally thought to be poor candidates for laparoscopic cholecystectomy, but recent research indicates that this surgery is safe for them.
Before the development of laparoscopy, the standard surgical treatment for gallstones was open cholecystectomy (surgical removal of the gallbladder through an abdominal incision), which requires a wide incision and leaves a large surgical scar. In this procedure, the patient usually stays in the hospital for 5 - 7 days and may not return to work for a month. Complications include bleeding, infections, and injury to the common bile duct. The risks of this procedure increase with other factors, such as the age of the patient, or the need to explore the common bile duct for stones at the same time.
Candidates for whom cholecystectomy may be a more appropriate choice:
Older patients. Patients who are over 80 years old are likely to have lower complication rates from open cholecystectomy than laparoscopy, although laparoscopy may also be appropriate in these patients.
Whether or not to insert a drain in the wound after surgery is under debate. Many surgeons implant drains to prevent abscesses or peritonitis. That practice may change. One analysis found that patients who received drains had a dramatically increased risk of wound and chest infection, regardless of the type of drain used.
Reasons for performing the procedure:
The ERCP and ES Procedure. A typical ERCP and endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES) procedure includes the following steps:
Complications. Complications of ERCP and ES occur in 5 - 8% of cases, and some can be serious. Mortality rates are 0.2 - 0.5%. Complications include the following:
ERCP and ES are difficult procedures, and patients must be certain that their doctor and medical center are experienced. ERCP can usually be performed successfully by an experienced surgeon, even in critically ill patients who are on mechanical ventilators.
ERCP and Gallbladder Removal (Cholecystectomy). ERCP is often performed after gallstones in the common duct are discovered during cholecystectomy.
In some cases, stones in the gallbladder are detected during ERCP. In such cases, laparoscopic cholecystectomy is usually warranted. There is some debate about whether the gallbladder should be removed at the same time as ERCP, or if patients should wait.
Gallstone fragmentation by extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) may be an appropriate therapy for some patients who cannot undergo surgery, but it is no longer widely used. The treatment works best on solitary stones that are less than 2 centimeters in diameter. Less than 15% of patients are good candidates for lithotripsy. The typical procedure is performed as follows:
Complications. Complications include pain in the gallbladder area and pancreatitis, usually occurring within a month of treatment. In addition, not all of the fragments may clear the bile duct. Adding erythromycin to the treatment regimen may help remove these fragments. About 35% of patients who are left with fragments are at risk for further problems, which can be severe. The chance of recurrence is high with this procedure, and in one study, 45% of patients eventually required surgery. Elderly people may have a lower risk for recurrence than younger adults.
Percutaneous Cholecystostomy. Percutaneous cholecystostomy is a procedure that may be used in seriously ill patients with severe gallbladder infection who cannot tolerate immediate surgery. It is also the standard treatment for patients with acalculous cholecystitis (gallbladder inflammation without stones). This procedure uses a needle to withdraw fluid from (aspirate) the gallbladder. A drainage catheter is inserted through the skin and into the gallbladder while the fluid drains out. In some cases, the catheter may be left in place for up to 8 weeks. After that time, if possible, laparoscopy or an open cholecystectomy may be performed. Without a laparoscopy, recurrence rates with this procedure are high.
Gallbladder Aspiration. With this procedure, fluid is removed while the gallbladder is viewed using ultrasound. It does not require leaving a catheter in the abdomen afterward, and may have fewer complications than percutaneous cholecystostomy.
Mini-Laparotomy Cholecystostomy . Mini-laparotomy cholecystostomy uses small abdominal incisions but, unlike laparoscopy, it is an "open" procedure, and the surgeon does not operate through a scope. The surgical instruments used are very small (2 - 3 mm in diameter, or about a tenth of an inch). Eventually, this technique may reduce operative time and enable surgeons to obtain better results than with laparoscopy.
Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES). A new procedure may enable surgeons to remove the gallbladder with less pain and a faster recovery time than conventional laparoscopic surgery. In the NOTES procedure, doctors pass an endoscope through a natural opening in the body (such as the vagina in the case of the gallbladder), and then through an internal incision in the stomach, vagina, bladder, or colon. There are no external incisions. This procedure is still considered investigational.
Afdhal NH. Diseases of the Gallbladder and Bile Ducts. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D. (eds.). Cecil Textbook of Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007.
Chambrlain RS, Sakpal SV. A comprehensive review of single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) and natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) techniques for cholecystectomy. J Gastrointest Surg. 2009 May 2 [Epub ahead of print].
Chari RS, Shah SA. Biliary system. In: Townsend CM, Beauchamp RD, Evers BM, Mattox KL. Sabiston Textbook of Surgery. 18th ed. St. Louis, MO: WB Saunders;2007:chap 54.
Dray X, Joy F, Reijasse D, et al. Incidence, risk factors, and complications of cholelithiasis in patients with home parenteral nutrition. J Am Coll Surg. 2007;204(1):13-21.
Gurusamy, KS, Samraj K. Cholecystectomy versus no cholecystectomy in patients with silent gallstones. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2007;(1):CD006230.
Ito K, Ito H, Whang EE. Timing of Cholecystectomy for Biliary Pancreatitis: Do the Data Support Current Guidelines? J Gastrointest Surg. 2008 Jul 18 [Epub ahead of print].
Konstantinidis IT, Deshpande V, Genevay M, Berger D, Fernandez-del Castillo C, Tanabe KK, et al. Trends in presentation and survival for gallbladder cancer during a period of more than four decades. Arch Surg. 2009;144(5):441-447.
Liu B, Beral V, Balkwill A, Green J, Sweetland S, Reeves G, et al. Gallbladder disease and use of transdermal versus oral hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal women. BMJ. 2008;337:a386. Doi: 10.1136/bmj.a386.
Portenier DD, Grant JP, Blackwood HS, et al. Expectant management of the asymptomatic gallbladder at Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2007; 3(4):476-479.
Rosing DK, de Virgilio C, Yaghoubian A, et al. Early cholecystectomy for mild to moderate gallstone pancreatitis shortens hospital stay. J Am Coll Surg. 2007;205(6):762-766.
Strasberg SM. Acute calculous cholecystitis. N Engl J Med. 2008;358(26):2804-2811.
Tse F, Liu L, Barkun AN, Armstrong D, Moayyedi P. EUS: a meta-analysis of test performance in suspected choledocholithiasis. Gastrointest Endosc. 2008;67(2):235-244.
Verbesey JE, Birkett DH. Common bile duct exploration for choledocholithiasis. Surg Clin N Am. 2008;88(6):1315-1328.
Williams EJ, Green J, Beckingham I, et al. Guidelines on the management of common bile duct stones (CBDS). Gut. 2008;57(7):1004-1021.


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Grammy Awards Given to Artists on Naxos and LPO Labels
- 4 February, 2010
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On January 31, 2010, The Recording Academy® honored artists from the Naxos and LPO (London Philharmonic Orchestra) labels with two Grammy® Awards. American composer Jennifer Higdon took home the Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition for her Percussion Concerto (London … Read More →
CSO Resound Releases a Recording of Mahler Symphony No. 2
- 21 November, 2009
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Recording conducted by Bernard Haitink featuring the Chicago Symphony Chorus, soprano Miah Persson and mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn Naxos of America and the CSO present a sweepstakes to celebrate the launch of distribution of CSO Resound by NOA – click sweepstakes … Read More →
The Skinny on NONCLASSICAL: An Interview With Gabriel Prokofiev pt.2
- 2 October, 2009
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Today the Nonclassical label officially hits the streets (in shops and online) in North America. Here is the rest of the interview with Gabriel Prokofiev.
Well inspiration can come from anywhere really. I might hear certain rhythmic approach, or an orchestral sound in a piece of music, and then start compose something inspired by that… but often that will only be a initial kernal in the beginning of a bigger piece. A more common inspiration for me is often hearing sounds for the environment around me: I might here a distant rhythm from a train, combined with the accelaration of a car, and then some garbage rattling in the wind, these 'atmospheric' sounds can often inspire a melodic or rhythmic idea. I often get intial inspiration for a piece when I'm cycling to my studio in the morning, the experience of motion seems to be quite effective in getting the creative juices going, along with all the stimulus of cycling through a busy city. Of course visual art can also be very inspiring, especially abstract painting, which can inspire the idea to create something that has similar shapes, rhythms and form; though I've yet to compose a piece directly inspired by one piece of art.
For Turntables it's as near a classical concerto score as possible.
The DJ part is similar to a percussion part, with rhythms given and approximate hi/lo pitch indication, but with clear written comments giving the type of scratching technique to be used, and indicating with sample should be used by the DJ. There is a little bit of flexibility for the DJ to improvise the finer details of some of the rhythmic scratching, and so that the most important part of the score is to give the cue points.
In the fourth movement, when the DJ plays pitched material the score is given at pitch, and is played just like a normal pitch-instrument part. And, in each movement there is a cadenza, where the DJ is free to improvise with the samples & develop new ideas.
Fanta Bottles and the rest of IMPORT/EXPORT (the 32 minute piece it is part of) is done as normal percussion score, with clear descriptions of each technique used. A loop pedal is used to create denser textures & rhythms at some points in the piece, and the record & playback point are also clearly marked. For some of the gestures like rubbing two glass fanta bottles together, graphical notation is used to visual represent the movements of the bottle.
Generally I try to use existing notation techniques, even though sometimes classical notation isn't ideal; I find that real subtleties of rhythmcan be hard to notate with exact accuracy (with out looking ridiculously complicated), so it's often best to use words as well to describe the 'feel' of how something should be played.
It's exciting, but also distracting. A couple of years ago I realised that I was spending most of my days just writing emails and talking on the phone; fortunately I know have a few other people, including the brilliant Dave Halliwell helping me run the label. I think it's so important for any music maker to have an outlet for their work, and Nonclassical provides that for me which is great, and ofcourse we release works by other composers and performers as well, so hopefully we can become a bigger and bigger force for new music.
I'm not sure if we are completely 'leading the charge for a re-energized classical scene' as you say, but we're are certainly doing what we can to get more contemporary classical music out into the 'real world'. There are plenty of really good young composers and ensembles out there, and I just don't understand why more people haven't thought of putting on classical club nights and the like so that this good music can get more exposure (only in the last few years have more alternative classical nights really started appearing) . It's our responsibility to be pro-active and make sure the music is heard… I don't really understand how classical music has allowed itself to get stuck in such a straight jack of tradition -so that young composers barely have their work heard except for in college end of term concerts and occasional lunch-time concerts or small festivals; imagine telling a Rock band that their songs would only get performed once every 2 years, if at all!
Anyway, all in all I'm very excited by our classical club nights, and feedback we get for each CD we release; so I am very happy with what we're doing, but it's still early days really.
I would love to run our club in cities all over the world… but the problem is finding the time to set-up new club nights. We have previously done one-off Nonclassical nights in New York (at Le Poisson Rouge), in Austin (part of SxSW), at Rock Festivals in Oxfordshire, and Yorkshire, and at The SouthBank Centre, London. We are hoping to run more regular events in New York, and hopefully in Holland and Portugal as well. Ideally we will find 'partners' who can help run other events, and then we will curate the nights, and some of the Nonclassical regulars will go over and perform. We will be back in the USA in March 2010 for SxSW, and will certainly stop off in NY, but hopefully we can do something before christmas.
Like most people involved in music, I really enjoy my food. I eat almost every type of food, and love the variety that's out there so it's too hard to find a favourite. It's like music, different food works for different moods & occassions. If I was to combine several favourite dishes into an imaginary 'symphony' of cuisines it could consist of something like:
I Dim Sum, II Fresh Sea Food platter (oysters and fresh crab), III Cochon de lait Roti IV French Cheese Plate (Chabichou, Pont-l'Evêque, etc..) V Marquis de Chocolat….
And then there are the wines….
The big problem with digital download is that many people just download single tracks, so that the experience of listening to a whole album by one artist is becoming less popular. And for classical music this is really tough, because many compositions are conceived as complete works of several movements that need to be listened together and that compliment each other. Also, some listeners might just check a 1 minute sample of a track before buying it digitally, and with classical music 1 minute rarely gives a balanced impression of what a piece of music will be like. Also there is the problem of sound quality; and though higher quality mp3s can be bought online, I don't think everyone is aware of the reduced sound quality they will be getting with an mp3. CDs always give a much higher sound quality.
However digital can be a quick way for people to dip-into and discover new music without commiting to buying a whole album, so that can be a positive way for listeners to broaden their musical horizons.
phew… that's always the hardest question… there's plenty:
Big fan of Russian music (surprise, surprise): old and new: Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, S Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Schnitke, Gubaidulina
French: Ravel, Debussy,
Bach of course, late Beethoven, Schubert.
20th century classics like Berio, Ligetti, some Stockhausen, Xenakis
And of course young, living composers!: Tansy Davies, John Richards, Larry Goves, are 3 young UK composers doing great stuff at the moment.
But I know I've missed out plenty…
I was recently introduced to the music of irish composer Gerald Barry, so I bought a CD that contained 'chevaux-de-frise' – seriously heavy weight orchestral texture, no compromise.
A CD that I need to buy is one that has Mossolov 'Iron Foundry'; it was performed in the same program as my Conerto for Turntables by the RSNO in the Glasgow festival hall last year, and is a killer piece, the original version of techo circa 1928! – I believe NAXOS might have released a recordin of it….
There were quite a few challenges (several of which you've identified). The immediate challenge was, can the Turntables really function as a musical instrument and play with an orchestra? also notation was of course an issue -not only how to notate? but will the DJ be able to read music?
Firstly, what sounds should the DJ be using on his Turntables?
Yes that was the first most important question.
Immediately I was aware that having a DJ scratch a bunch of standard scratch samples and breaks over an Orchestra would probably sound a bit cheesy, and though I was keen to take on board influences from hip-hop, anything too literal in terms of sound material might sound cheap, so the obvious solution seemed that the DJ should scratch with sounds from the Orchestra he is playing with. So I chose various phrase that the orchestra were going to play and decided that we should record them & give them to the DJ. However DJ Yoda had explained that besides using 'breaks' (short, loopable musical phrases) there were certain classic scratch sounds that were particularly effective for more elaborate scratching, which are used by most DJs through out the world, like the ubiquitous "ahhhh" and "fresh" voice sounds (sampled from "Change Le Beat" by Fab Freddy Five) and even the simple test-tone sound. To fully represent the extent of what the Turntable can do we would need sounds like them. I realised that these sounds could come from the Orchestra too, but in a less conventional way. So that the loud yawn and then the 'cough' from the conductor at the beginning of the 3rd movement actually become useful scratch sounds for the DJ. Then in the 4th movement, a loud gasp/inhale from the flute player is used, and also a long flute note is looped into a test-tone like sound which the DJ then uses to play melodies.
A main approach I took to composing the DJ part, was that in each movement a few different 'Scratching' & DJing techniques would be performed by the DJ, and that created quite a good framework for the piece. Many of the classical DJ techniques, like 'scribbling' for example have a very distinct sound which they bring to the original sound that is being scratched with, so that it wasn't all about just playing-back existing sounds at all. A lot of the writing was done as if I was writing for a very expressive percussion instrument; so I was working rhythmically but also bearing in mind that I as using sounds and phrases that had already been played by the orchestra -sometimes it was almost like having 2 orchestras: one live, one on the turn-table, and of course that was fun. The opening of the 2nd movement plays with that; and the DJ play-back the opening opening string phrase, but then brutally stops it; then once the strings enter he plays it back slightl;y out of sync with the live strings creating an interesting jerking, skipping texture.
The notation for the 4th movement was different, and I could write for a pitched instrument as the DJ was using the pitch-control to play exact melodies (though the tuning of the turntable was less than exact).
Thirdly, how to notate for the DJ?
I notated the DJ part in a similar way to a percussion part, with rhythms given and approximate hi/lo pitch indication, but with clear written comments giving the type of scratching technique to be used, and indicating with sample should be used by the DJ. There is a little bit of flexibility for the DJ to improvise the finer details of some of the rhythmic scratching, and so that the most important part of the score is to give the cue points.
In the fourth movement, when the DJ plays pitched material the score is given at pitch, and is played just like a normal pitch-instrument part. And, in each movement there is a cadenza, where the DJ is free to improvise with the samples & develop new ideas.
There are a couple of specific DJ-notation methods that have been developed, but they would take quite some time to learn, and I wanted the score to be something most people could look at and understand quite quickly. I don't think my notation was perfect but it communicates enough information; I prefer to be pragmatic in these situations, rather than try to get all clever and re-invent the wheel.
What have you found is the most common reaction of an audience listening to your music for the first time?
hmmm, tough question, it does depend on the gig. But generally people seem to engage, and follow where the music is taking them.
With your cutting-edge, modern style, do you find that your music draws a predominantly younger, hip audience?
I suppose there are aspects to my music to which younger audiences can immediately relate to, but in fact I've had stuff performed to older, more typically 'classical' audiences and it's gone down really well; so hopefully a whole range of people can appreciate my music. But if I can appeal to audiences who might not usual consider listening to classical music that's a very positive thing too.
What do you like to do in your free time (if you have any)?
Ha ha… Sometimes my free-time does. But once I get away from work, I'm quite good at relaxing and distracting myself with other activities.
I love to travel; and besides seeing a lot of Europe, I've enjoyed trips to the USA, and also spent quite a lot of time in Tanzania, East Africa where I did one years voluntary work when I was 19; I learnt Kiswahili and actually wrote my student dissertation on Tanzanian music; and I've also become a fan of African literature and history. I also love theatre and dance, and used to do a lot of acting when I was a teenager, even considered going to drama school!
So far so good… At least I'm not aware of any serious negative feedback. But I think that may be some people in the Classical world might have disregarded what we're doing with Nonclassical Records as 'cross-over'; because we have 'remixes' on most of our releases. I think that's a real shame, because the remixes we have on our releases are a very interesting, daring, and provocative musical 'experiment', which are in no way a callous attempt to 'cross-over', and are an exploration of the boundaries of different genres… something that can be of interest to any curious about new directions in music.
Artists from Naxos of America Family of Distributed Labels Win Six Grammy® Awards, Including Best Classical Album
- 11 February, 2009
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John Corigliano's Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan Garners Two Wins: Best Contemporary Classical Composition and Best Classical Vocal Performance; The Pacifica Quartet Wins Best Chamber Music Performance for Elliott Carter's String Quartets Nos. 1 & 5; The … Read More →

subset: commoncrawl


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Former President Obama grillout buddy and self-described communist Bill Ayers came out this month to discuss how leftists can mold America to their liking: through access to schools.
Ayers is famous for, in 1969, helping found Weather Underground, a self-described communist revolutionary group that bombed public buildings including police stations, the Pentagon, and the U.S. Capitol to provoke social unrest. Ayers also directed a school that allowed no grades or report cards in an effort to discourage competition.
A 1973 book Ayers coauthored was dedicated to Sirhan Sirhan, the convicted assassin of Robert Kennedy. He has spoken and written frequently on education and assisted former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley in reshaping the city's schools in the 1990s.
Sol Stern has written in City Journal: "Calling Bill Ayers a school reformer is a bit like calling Joseph Stalin an agricultural reformer."
In this video, obtained by EAGnews.org [2], Ayers gives leftists advice on how to change the country from "movements on the ground."
"If we want change to come, we would do well not to look at the sites of power we have no access to..." Ayers says. "We have absolute access to the community, the school, the neighborhood, the street, the classroom, the workplace, the farm, the shop."


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What are the pros and cons on this?
I am thinking on security, ease of replacement and maintainance, ...
What are the pros and cons on this?
I am thinking on security, ease of replacement and maintainance, ...
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closed as primarily opinion-based by HopelessN00b Dec 5 '14 at 12:26
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This doesn't work for all cases since it requires a network connection, but I've been doing development/testing in a sandbox domain running entirely on virtual machines. I have two virtual NICs on the dev machine spanning the sandbox and corporate network and sufficient resources to run Visual Studio comfortably. So I just Remote Desktop in to work.
I've been impressed with the experience because I can easily revert to older snapshots if necessary (as I had to do recently when I forgot to turn off automatic updates). As long as source files are checked in, there is nothing on the machine that needs to be persisted.
This doesn't fit all usage scenarios, but for ease of replacement and maintenance it's very good.
Before you consider any other points, first decide if you can justify the increased security risk from laptops.
If employees have laptops they can take home, there is significantly increased risk for either the hardware or data getting stolen or copied. Outside of your corporate network the machines are at a higher risk of infection for virii, spyware, etc. If they connect to the net in a public place they risk sending data in cleartext that should never be seen outside your company. And if the unthinkable happens and a laptop is physically stolen, there is a very small - but very real - chance of the source code to your company's entire code base getting in to the wrong hands.
I don't want to sound like the end of the world here, but letting your data leave the company premises is a major potential risk. There are ways to secure this (forcing data to go through a company VPN, etc), but those will take time and effort from you.
With reasonable laptops going so cheap nowadays, I would suggest that the middle way is the best: a powerful desktop for day-to-day operations and a laptop too for travel, work from home, VPN+RDP to the desktop from anywhere, etc.
This solution has better chances of keeping developers productive and data safe, since a stolen laptop will be less likely to have tons of information on it. Convenience will always erode security -- it is easier to keep everything nicely encrypted (TrueCrypt FTW!) on a side machine, that is not in constant use.
Notebooks: Developers can easily work at home (even after hours :-)
What I always liked about laptops for developers is all you need is an extra monitor to run dual, a huge benefit.
Most laptops come with 5400 RPM drives which just doesn't cut it and increases compiling time, so be mindful of the build. Sure you can lock the laptop down with drive encryption and other things, but they just make the developer whinny and they go out of their way to disable them.
I prefer a desktop for home and a desktop for work. This way, I can have dual monitors running. I know peeps say 'use the notebook display + an external', but that's not big enough / good enough, for me.
Security? Because it's not mobile, it's as secure as the location you work at. if anything, i won't loose it or break it (eg. drop it, etc).
Work from home? sure!! VPN + Remote Desktop to your machine.
Can u work at a cafe? nope :( Care factor though? zero :)
I love the new Macbook pro's and want one bad. But i couldn't do my programming on it because i'm greedy now and need 2x 24" LCD's. I can't go back. I've bitten the apple.
If u don't need 2x LCD's, then i would be all over a macbook pro for everything.
How about using a notebook connected to a big 19+ LCD at the office ? You can get both the comfort of working with big monitor and the ease of carrying your computer anywhere you like.
I used to work with a dell XPS (switched to a macbook pro now) and connect it to a 19" samsung LCD at the office.
I think a high spec'd laptop is the way to go as long as it has a easy docking station when in the office or at home which easily connects to mulitple monitors and external keyboard and mouse.


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The 10 Most Bizarre Military Experiments
#5. The Stargate Project
Sadly having nothing to do with fighting aliens who pretend to be Egyptian gods, the Stargate Project was the CIA's way of saying goodbye to $20 million, but getting a fun story to tell the grandkids as a result. The project was an effort to discover if psychic remote viewing was real, because if it was then that would make spying a whole lot easier.
The Plan:
Apparently the Commies were spending a lot of money on paranormal research during the Cold War. So if they were doing it, the CIA wanted a slice too, before the Reds whipped out some dude who could kill the President with his mind. They started the Stargate project in the '70s with a crack team of gifted psychics provided by the Church of Scientology. Seriously.
What went wrong:
They realized right away there probably wasn't anything to the whole psychic/remote viewing thing. And by "right away" we mean 25 years later. The project lasted until 1995.
Research into the project's validity concluded that while the remote viewers could get some details right, they were also doing a stellar job of getting a shitload wrong. In fact, many say the results were exactly the same as having a group of random hobos make wild guesses, and that you could just as accurately uncover enemy hideouts by having a camel spit at a wall map.
Hey, did we mention that we spent $20 million to find that out? Don't feel bad, the Soviets spent 500 million rubles to find out the same thing.
#4. The Gay Bomb
In terms of great military plans, from the first ape-man who threw a rock at some other asshole ape and likely stretching into our Jetsons-like future with lasers and nanobots that will melt the faces of those who displease us, nothing is likely to ever top the Gay Bomb. The Gay Bomb is exactly what it sounds like; a weapon that would rend our enemies asunder with gay. Actual, weaponized gay.
The Plan:
Wright Laboratory in Ohio proposed a number of non-lethal weapons to the Pentagon, as methods of crowd control are highly in demand these days and tear gas is about as cool as hippie daisies and beaded curtains. Instead, why not bathe your targets in an aphrodisiac chemical so strong that it caused all the enemy combatants to line up for mustache rides?
So maybe it's not a room full of stoners coming up with these ideas, maybe it's a house full of frat guys.
What went wrong:
In concept, it's probably true that an enemy is less effective when engaged in a massive, frenzied man-orgy. However, science has not actually perfected a way to make this happen to just any group of males.
Apparently the "how" was not the job of the idea department here, as the same lab proposed other weapons that would make bugs and rodents attack enemies, give them bad breath or mark them with a stink so they couldn't hide in general population. Again, that's all fine and good, if and when ways of doing those things actually exists.
Despite that, the Pentagon kicked this idea around for at least seven years, perhaps based on nothing more than the private fantasy of one frustrated general.
#3. The Pain Ray
The Active Denial System, often referred to as the Pain Ray, is a futuristic sounding way of making sure someone is about to have a really terrible day or improperly cooked microwave burritos. Designed as a method of crowd control, the ADS does just what the nickname suggests, it causes pain. At a distance!
The Plan:
In certain situations, it seems the military doesn't want its own people getting too close to the danger, but at the same time doesn't want to start picking off rowdy crowds with a sniper hidden on some kind of grassy knoll because that makes for very bad press. So developing non-lethals that make people do what you want has recently become very popular.
Thus the Active Denial System is born, a long-range weapon that uses electromagnetic radiation at a high frequency and can be directed at targets close to 500 yards away. It causes the water molecules in a person's skin to get "excited," which is a pleasant way of saying it microwaves you. But not in a permanently damaging sort of way. Maybe.
What went wrong:
Nothing, yet. They've built the thing, and it works. The ADS was first developed over a decade ago and after many trials and tests, the US military seems to have a hankering to get them into Iraq very quickly.
A lack of research into long-term effects or prolonged exposure to the weapon have some people wondering if it's such a great idea, since probably no one has volunteered to have their eye microwaved yet to see what that's like, but meh. It's called the Pain Ray, not the Rainbow Shooter. That's what you get for not dispersing on your own, angry mob!
#2. Malodorants
Another non-lethal method of crowd control and also a psychological weapon, malodorants, or stink bombs, are supposed to create a stink the likes of which you can't imagine. Worse than rotten meat, backed-up sewage or another trip to the dump with dad to find mom an anniversary present.
The Plan:
Military forces have been playing with this idea for decades. A number of smells have been patented, including the smell of human feces, which makes us think we probably owe a hell of a lot of royalties to someone every day at about 8AM. In the Second World War, some intrepid people invented the hilariously named Who Me? as a way to make Germans disperse as well as humiliate them by making them smell worse than people on the bus.
The US has something called US Government Standard Bathroom Malodor which is apparently so bad, people who have experienced it actually start screaming within seconds. Written accounts describe it as smelling like every bad smell you can think of, put together, times ten. Reports say it actually creates visible cartoon stink lines in the air. The military thinks that's as hilarious as we do and wants to throw it at people.
What went wrong:
Though the ideas are still being developed, the fact is, historically, they don't work out so well on account of you're going to end up smelling like unbelievable ass too. Back in WWII, Who Me? couldn't really be effectively used since it not only made the target stink, it made the bomber stink and the entire area where the bomb went off stink.
Stink is a fickle mistress, and obeys no master.
#1. Project Acoustic Kitty
When you think of spying, odds are you think of jamming a radio inside of a cat so it can listen in on stuff. And if you don't, you really need to have a good, long think about what kind of person you are. Anyway, in the '60s, the CIA hatched this idea to make a cat into a listening device and stick it to some dirty Commies.
The Plan:
The how and why of this project was probably torn up and shat on by whoever came up with it in an effort to save a shred of dignity, but nonetheless, what has survived is a plan to implant a battery and a microphone in a cat, with the antenna running up through its tail. They could let the cat loose and no one would be any the wiser of the mystery cat sitting nearby.
What went wrong:
Public transportation. It turns out, in a strange twist of logic, that once you put a battery, a microphone and an antenna inside a cat, it is not immune to taxis. So, after spending several millions of dollars and years in research, the CIA released their spy cat on its test run and a cab ran it over.
The project was then scrapped and no one spoke of it again.
If you liked that, you just might enjoy last week's article about 7 Insane Conspiracies That Actually Happened. Then go watch a smug 60 Minutes reporter get zapped with the Pain Ray. You know, for the sake of journalism.


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I'm flying into Zadar Friday evening next week. On Saturday morning I need to get down to Split. There's limited information on Wiki and so on - any suggestions? Need to be there by noon, and could bus or train or drive, depending on what makes the most sense.
There are trains via Knin, which means a large detour inland (there just isn't a coastal line). The train journey is slow (5 hours) and the trains are infrequent, so you won't be able to get there in time.
There are buses, running approximately every half-hour on Saturday morning then down to every hour or so later in the day. The journey takes about 3 hours.
My friends recommend the buses, as the trains are more expensive.
According it, there are several buses from Zadar to Split, about 3 hours to ride. Unfortunately, there are no prices in english version:
*Last column is a carrier name.
According to the Croatian version, price is from 110 HRK (Croatia bus d.d. u stečaju carrier) up to 184 HRK (Autobusni promet d.d. u stečaju carrier).
I think it depends. If you there to see something, i.e. on vacation, I would recommend to drive by yourself. The route there is really nice and you will see a beautiful landscape with a lots of possible stops between that are worth a visit, e.g. Trigor! The road is also very nice, directly at the coast with a lot of small nice beaches.
I personally drove there some years ago and can really recommend it.
But if you just want to get there as fast as possible, I would agree with VMAtm and use the bus.
As others have said if you want to get to Split the best public transport offering is by bus. There are many different bus lines between the two cities. Check this page for a time table in English. You can also ride on one of those that have final stop further south like the ones that go to Makarska or Dubrovnik, as most of these will stop in Split too.


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"Trauma and Chemical Use and Addiction" will be presented on by Dr. Tana Bridge, Ph.D., LMSW; MSW Program Director, School of Social Work, Eastern Michigan University. Current research highlights the relationship between chemical use, addiction and trauma. This presentation by an award-winning trauma expert will review events involved with trauma exposure, trauma specific symptomology, the impact trauma has on the brain and on coping and subsequent substance use, and how to aid individuals struggling with trauma and addiction.
This program is part of the FREE, annual Dawn Farm Education Series. All programs are free and open to anyone interested. Registration is not required. 1.5 hours of free C.E. approved by MCBAP (Michigan Certification Board for Addiction Professionals) is offered for each workshop. A certificate to document attendance is provided on request. The Education Series is organized by Dawn Farm, a non-profit community of programs providing a continuum of chemical dependency services.
For information, please contact Matt Statman, LLMSW, CADC, Education Series Coordinator, at 734-485-8725 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
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The 6 Weirdest Ways Wild Animals Are Having to Adapt to Us
#3. Toxic Waste Is Turning Birds Gay
The ibis bird lives in marshes, which as you can guess are areas characterized by massive amounts of freestanding water. Unfortunately, a lot of that water is polluted with toxic runoff from mines and burning coal, which includes chemicals like mercury. We've known for a long time the dangers for the development of wildlife when they are exposed to large amounts of mercury, but then came a twist no one saw coming.
While scientists were concerning themselves with the effect of mercury on local fish populations, they noticed a startling number of male birds in the same habitat boning each other.
Seeing as the latter was far more interesting, they did an experiment. They subjected a group of ibis birds to the same amount of mercury they would ordinarily get from their diet in the wetlands, and they found that the more mercury a male bird ingested, the more likely he was to pair with another male. This turned out to be because mercury caused testosterone levels to plummet.
"Pfft. The only mercury we're concerned with is of the Freddie variety."
This naturally affects the birds' reproduction rates, and the newly gay males have all but given up on any of the usual courtship rituals, which is exactly one of the luxuries men joke about when they say how easy it would be to just date their guy friends. The difference is, these birds actually have the courage to go through with it. The courage, and also massive amounts of mercury.
"Suddenly I care that it's after Labor Day."
#2. Mice Are Getting Fatter
Obesity is a serious problem for humanity, with over 1 billion people globally trundling around under the weight of their own bodies as their insides churn food into Crisco. Yet aside from lazy, overstuffed house pets and livestock, we never really see fat animals. There are no winded, pudgy cheetahs that have to break for a breather and a soda before they get back to sprinting across the savannah.
However, recent studies show there's at least one animal in the wild that is starting to get fatter, and the problem isn't diet, it's us.
"It turns out we humans are the true animals, Mr. Cheesington."
Well, it's air pollution to be exact. Researchers have found that mice and rats turn into tiny pie wagons just by gulping in the average amount of particulate pollution from an urban environment. In controlled tests, two sets of young mice were given the same diet, and the only difference was that one set was exposed to increased levels of air pollution. By the simple virtue of being exposed to the equivalent of "city air," mice experience increased fat buildup and increased blood sugar levels. Both sets of mice were fed healthy diets, so this test doesn't even account for all the Cheez Whiz and unfinished doughnuts mice are inevitably scrounging in urban settings.
"Got any Doritos?"
But so what? Pests are getting fatter and slower -- if anything, that's a good thing, right? Actually, no. The test was designed to determine if pollution could have an effect on human obesity. It's not clear yet that there's a definite link, but it means that every time you decide to drive instead of walk, you're potentially not only making yourself fatter, but also contributing to everyone else's fat ass as well.
"I'm on a diet."
#1. Animals Are Getting Sexually Frustrated
Take a minute right now to stop and listen to everything around you. Chances are you will hear cars, a plane, maybe some music, people talking and at the very least the hum of your computer. The point is, you are almost always surrounded by man-made noise. We're just noisy creatures, and our technology has only amplified the problem. While most of us have gotten used to it, or even come to enjoy it, we're certainly not the only ones who have to listen to it.
For animals, we are the worst goddamn neighbors in the world. Aside from the light pollution and the very literal pollution that we're responsible for, we're also indirectly keeping animals from having sex with each other.
From bats, frogs and owls to dolphins and crabs, we're messing up their lives with all our noise. And for animals with mating calls (like frogs and birds), we are ruining their love lives. The main problem is that they just can't hear each other.
In the case of tree frogs, the male's mating calls can't compete with traffic noise. Environmentalists are so worried about it that they expect to see huge dips in population. With birds, the noise is causing them to leave cities in droves in favor of somewhere they can actually attract a mate.
Or at the very least a place where they can pay for it.
Some birds, however, have decided to stick it out and are forcing themselves to sing even louder. Nightingales in Berlin, for instance, have started singing at decibel levels equal to a motorcycle. Birds have actually made themselves hoarse doing it, which has researchers worried that this will lead to either birds leaving cities altogether or the evolution of a race of birds with supervoices.
Now think back to the entry about the cursing birds and imagine a future where the trees all scream slurs at us at a volume louder than a jackhammer.
It would basically be like playing at any New York sporting event.
Kathy helped write a charity book, which you can buy here. Karl didn't help write that book, but he did write all this, and he's also on Facebook.


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Find the area of the triangle whose sides are given by:
$$ {(b^2+c^2)}^{0.5} , {(c^2+a^2)}^{0.5}, {(a^2+b^2)}^{0.5} $$
I tried it by using hero's Formula but the equation becomes too complicated and cant get solved.
Is there is any easier method by which we can get the simplified answer.
Thanks in advance.


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Members of the media who wish to reach students, faculty, staff, or a spokesperson of the College, please email Media Relations or call 802-440-4399.
Bennington College
Office of Communications
One College Drive
Bennington, VT 05201-6003
A conversation between literature faculty member Camille Guthrie and visual arts faculty member Ann Pibal was published in the biannual literary arts journal Fence. Pibal's 2011 piece, FLS2, was featured on the front cover.
"My engagement with my work is fully steeped on precedent," said Pibal. "But I don't prioritize backward looking, or a reliance on the past to construct meaning, or to try to recast a story that is presupposed to be already 'understood.' I'm more interested generally in a proposal that is about forward motion, something unsettled - yes, but also perpetual. Something glowing with the light of transition rather than something smartly dusty."
Read the full interview here.


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The 5 Most Ridiculous Pop Culture Predictions That Came True
Predicting the future is always a matter of "throw guesses at the wall, then only brag about the ones that stick." The world is full of sci-fi stories and futurist essays, and some of them are bound to be right, just due to sheer volume.
Still ... sometimes they get a little too accurate. We're not accusing anyone of witchcraft -- all we're doing is presenting the evidence.
#5. An Apple Promo from 1987 Perfectly Predicts Their 2011 Product Line
The Prediction:
If you owned an Apple product in 1987, odds are it looked like this:
Business Week
The only way to use it for porn involved a pawn shop.
Back then, Apple wasn't the company that makes the sleek, sexy handheld devices you know today. They were all about primitive desktop computers and were just coming off from having booted Steve Jobs from the company (a desperate Apple would bring him back a decade later).
In the middle of all this, in an era when the World Wide Web was still years away and most people were still using rotary dial phones, Apple released this silly "technology of the FUTURE!" promotional video:
"Why yes, Bill Nye, I would like to conquer Africa!"
They called the concept the Knowledge Navigator, and it appeared to be several steps ahead of anything they were using in Star Trek.
It was a flat, tablet-shaped computer that would have featured a fully automated digital assistant, a front-facing camera with video chat, a multi-touch interface and voice-based Internet search (remember, at the time there was no "Internet" for this thing to be surfing -- that also was pure fantasy in 1987). Oh, and it was also a telephone as well as an e-reader.
"It will absolutely revolutionize the field of unsafe driving habits."
You already know how dead-on all of this was. Just check out Apple's recent iPhone commercial:
It turns out that when Apple has an idea, they run with it. Available technology be damned!
Here's Where It Gets Weird:
Not convinced yet? How about this:
If you pay close attention to the Knowledge Navigator video, you can see that the calendar says September 16, and the digital assistant mentions that a research paper was written "about five years ago" in 2006. That places this video on September 16, 2011. The new iPhone 4S with the Siri digital assistant -- the device that finally made everything you see there come true -- was released about two-and-a-half weeks after this video was to take place.
2015 is only three years away. Ball's in your court, Mattel.
#4. An '80s Show That Predicted Gadhafi's Death Within Months
The Prediction:
You probably don't remember the short-lived '80s TV show Second Chance. It came and went in 1987 after just half a season. Today it's only remembered for starring a pre-Friends Matthew Perry, and for making a startlingly accurate prediction 24 years in advance.
The show was about a man who dies in an accident in 2011 and gets sent back to 1987 to save his younger self from eternal damnation. Since it was dealing with what (to it) was the bizarre future of 2011, it did predict some things that didn't pan out, like hovercrafts and how Matthew Perry was going to look in 2011 (played by Kiel Martin).
"This, uh ... *burp* ... this meal is free, right?"
In the pilot episode, the character of Charles Russell appears in heaven with St. Peter, awaiting his eternal judgment. But before he makes his way up to the pearly gates, another man finds himself at St. Peter's mercy.
What kind of God lets people take machine guns into the afterlife? The best kind.
That man is Colonel Moammar Gadhafi, and according to this show, he dies on July 29, 2011.
Here's Where It Gets Weird:
If something about that video clip is making you want to pull up Wikipedia to do some fact checking, we'll save you a trip: Gadhafi was killed on October 20, 2011. OK, we'll admit: It's not the same date this show said it would be. It's a whole three months before it actually happened. For a prediction made 24 years in advance.
The show only lasted half a season. Who knows what kinds of things Second Chance would have predicted correctly if it had been allowed to continue, considering that at least one member of the writing staff was a wizard?
#3. Chris Rock Predicts O.J. Simpson's If I Did It
The Prediction:
Long before Chris Rock was a talking cartoon zebra, he was an up-and-coming stand-up, and in 1997, he got his own series on HBO. The show was a sketch comedy/late night talk show that eventually earned Rock a Primetime Emmy Award (also: one of the writers was Louis C.K.).
One of the segments was called "Chris Rock Remembers." It involved Chris Rock showing the audience the backstage area, where he reminisced about famous people and events that took place there. Here's one from 1999:
Near the end of the sketch, he talks about the time O.J. Simpson stopped by to promote his new video entitled I Didn't Kill My Wife ... But If I Did, Here's How I'd Do It.
Here's Where It Gets Weird:
If I Did It; or, The Importance of Eyeballing Your Glove Size
The picture on the left is the joke video that Chris Rock had made for the skit. The book on the right, though, is the very real book by O.J. Simpson called If I Did It, about the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. The book was published in 2007, almost a decade later. O.J. even planned a video much like the one Rock had on his show -- a television special called O.J. Simpson: If I Did It, Here's How It Happened was planned but quickly canceled when everyone came to their collective right minds and put a stop to it.
"Man, it sounded like such a good idea when O.J. first pitched it to us. He has such a compelling vision."
Now, we have to acknowledge the unthinkable: that O.J. saw the Chris Rock sketch and from that, got the idea to write the book. If so, it has to be the most gruesome example of life imitating art in history. We think we'd prefer to just fall back on our "one of the writers was a wizard" explanation again (they did have Louis C.K. on the staff, after all).


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Military News App by Military.com
Download the new Military.com News App for Android on Google Play or for Apple devices on iTunes!
This article is provided courtesy of Stars and Stripes, which got its start as a newspaper for Union troops during the Civil War, and has been published continuously since 1942 in Europe and 1945 in the Pacific. Stripes reporters have been in the field with American soldiers, sailors and airmen in World War II, Korea, the Cold War, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Bosnia and Kosovo, and are now on assignment in the Middle East.
Stars and Stripes has one of the widest distribution ranges of any newspaper in the world. Between the Pacific and European editions, Stars and Stripes services over 50 countries where there are bases, posts, service members, ships, or embassies.
Stars and Stripes Website
The U.S. Navy directed three warships and the Marines aboard last week to remain on standby near the coast of Israel as a security precaution as the Gaza Strip conflict between Israel and Hamas continued to escalate.
"This is being done as a precautionary measure to allow the Marine team to respond to any crisis or contingency, whatever is out there," said Cmdr. Marc Boyd, spokesman for U.S. Naval Forces Europe/Africa. "It is a prudent measure."
The USS Iwo Jima, the USS New York and the USS Gunston Hall had completed recent port visits in Europe and were expected to return to Norfolk, Va., on Nov. 28 after their eight-month deployment when they were redirected toward Israel, Boyd said. The ships will remain in the region until further notice, Boyd said. There are roughly 2,300 Marines and sailors embarked on the ships.
The Marines are assigned to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit out of Camp Lejeune, N.C.
The U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv was operating with reduced staffing and limited services Monday and U.S. citizens in Israel were encouraged to exercise caution, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said during a Monday news briefing.
The seven-day conflict has killed more than 100 Palestinians and three Israelis, according to The Associated Press.
Israel seeks a halt to the rocket attacks and an end to arms smuggling into Gaza, while Hamas wants a lifting of the six-year-long Israeli blockade of goods into Gaza.
Israel is intensifying its attacks on the Gaza Strip in what may be a last burst of fire ahead of a cease-fire ending its weeklong offensive in the Palestinian territory.
Heavy bursts of fire from tanks in southern Israel and gunboats off Gaza's coast could be heard late Tuesday. The target isn't immediately known, and no casualties were reported.
The fire took place amid growing signals that a cease-fire is close. A top Hamas official says a deal could be wrapped up soon, and Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel would be a "willing partner" in a diplomatic solution.
Israel launched its offensive to halt months of rocket fire. More than 130 Palestinians, including dozens of civilians, and four Israelis have been killed in the fighting.
-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Related Topics
|Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Palestinian Territories
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here a first attempt on Monument valley VR.
i forget to remove my camera bag from the pictures so you can see some photoshopping on the rocks ...
What do you think ?
Have a good one !!
here a first attempt on Monument valley VR.
i forget to remove my camera bag from the pictures so you can see some photoshopping on the rocks ...
What do you think ?
Have a good one !!
I click on the thumbnail and all I get is a white screen.
Are you using IE8 ?
because i tried on Chrome, Firefox, IE7, Safari, and everything is working.
One guy on a different forum seems to have the same issue and using IE8...
i'll check it tonite.
Sorry for the incovenience...
Are all VR not working ?
Vincent posted tours that had the same issue. He never got it resolved. I gave up trying to view his work.
None of your panoramas load.
Why not changing Web explorer ?
I have IE9 with Win7 and its working... i'm sorry but have no idea how to fix it ...
i'll have a look today
All Right,
it seems there is an issue with PanoPress Plugin and IE8.
one french guy develop another pluging quite similar with PanoPress and its working with IE8, but somehow in my case the pano is not loading (all grey and blurry).
i'll try to fix it by today.
Hello gepetto,
According to the PanoPress forum, Omar has stated "we already fix all the reported IE issues as part of the next release (beta 2) coming out really soon." so hopefully this will solve the issues with IE8.
It is worth noting that there have also been issues with IE9, but my panos created with Pano2VR are working OK in IE9.
Great pano, saves me the airfare!
Last edited by Hugh; 09-06-2012 at 11:53 AM.
hey guys
panopress 1.0b1 actually does work w IE, but only certain preview/panobox configurations as detailed here -
so for now, if you use a preview image + panobox like this it should work fine in IE
try using panopress shortcode as below
[pano file="path/my-pano.xml" preview="path/my-pano.jpg" panobox="on"]
[pano file="path/my-pano.html" preview="path/my-pano.jpg" panobox="on"]
i believe omer does have these IE + other issues sorted out, and we are hoping to release b2 very very soon (really), sorry for the delays, been a busy summer w the NYC2012 ivrpa conference and all that :)
Last edited by Sam Rohn; 09-06-2012 at 07:38 PM.
Sam Rohn :: 360° Panoramic Photography :: Location Scout :: New York City :: www.samrohn.com
PanoPress :: WordPress Plugin for 360° Panoramas in Flash & HTML5 :: www.panopress.org
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I understand your position, changing web browser was just a kind of jokes ;)IE9 and the other third party web browsers have too many compatability issues with other software. Each has its own set of great features but in the end, they all have issues. I use IE8 because it has the fewest problems with the work I do. If I were to tell my customers that they need to switch to FireFox or something else in order to run my software, they would hire a different contractor. Too many corporations have very strict software rules that cannot be violated. IE8 is accepted so I continue to use it.
i'll try to fix this issue !
Last edited by gepetto; 09-07-2012 at 12:02 AM.
For me IE9 and all browser are working, but i'm on Win7.
It seems Win XP + IE8 is not working somehow...
I'm waiting the Beta 2 and see if this is sorted or not... in the meantime, Roland Dufour, develop a kind of similar plugin which is working with IE but for the moment he only use Panotour and KRPano not Pano2VR, I need to send some data, and he should be able to upgrade his plugin (http://rdpano.rd-creation.fr/)
Glad you like it :)
I'm really glad you like it.
I used my Sigma 10-20mm @10mm (which giving me hard time for indoor Pano);
Yes i saw afterward that i forget to limit the zoom ... but i want to improve my editing of the rock, where my camera bag was ... i'm not really happy with the results ...
I use the shortcodes as you state (from viewing your forum) and have no problem with IE9.
I just noted the comment as some were having a problem and maybe v2 will have the answer.
I trust that a busy summer means a productive summer!
Keep up the good work (I like PanoPress), Hugh.