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biology pearson campbell chapter 17 plants vascular plants fungi
sequence of the four major groups of plants in the fossil record, from most ancestral to most recent
bryophytes, seedless vascular plants, gymnosperms, angiosperms
The following evolutionary adaptations contributed to the ability of bryophytes to colonize land
waxy cuticle
A flowering plant, which forms seeds inside a protective chamber called an ovary. Ex. Oak Tree
meiosis in an ovule results in a
spore that develops into a female gametophyte which produces and egg
Which of the following correctly defines alternation of generations
life stages that cycle between haploid and diploid phases
Reproduction of plants differs from reproduction of animals in that
plants have a distinct, multicellular haploid phase
Gingko biloba, a common urban shade tree, is a gymnosperm with a life cycle that is like that of the pine. Which of the following would be haploid?
In angiosperms, pollination is the transfer of pollen grain to the _____ of a flower on the same plant or another plant of the same species.
Which combination of traits would you expect in the female and male flowers of a wind-pollinated plant?
emale: drab with large sticky stigmas; male: drab with many large anthers
Yeasts reproduce asexually through _____, and molds reproduce asexually through _____.
budding ... spores
Which of the following represents a case of an opportunistic fungal pathogen?
A common mold called Aspergillus can cause severe respiratory and systemic infections in people with HIV.
Many people see some fungi as dangerous pathogens or destroyers of crops and food. Which of the following claims concerning the beneficial nature of fungi is true?
Healthy plants and forests could not be sustained without mycorrhizal fungi and fungal decomposition.
Which correctly pairs a challenge to living on land with the relevant plant adaptation
water loss ... cuticle
Ferns have vascular tissue, an adaptation to life on land, but they have an ancestral reproductive trait that tends to limit them to moist habitats. What is it
flagellated sperm
Pine trees and other gymnosperms have _____ but not _____, which is/are present only in angiosperms
seeds ... fruit
Four Challenges of Living on Land
1. Maintaining moisture
2. Obtaining resources
3.Being able to support itself
4. Reproducing
vascular plants include
seedless plants (ferns, club mosses)
seed forming plants (gymnosperms and angiosperms)
Have well-developed roots and rigid stems, which means they can grow much taller than mosses.
Are most diverse in tropical regions. Have flagellated sperm, and so need water to swim to the egg for fertilization (just like mosses).
Gymno means naked; sperm means seed. These seeds are not enclosed within a fruit, but lie "naked" on the scales of cones.
are an important adaptation for life on land. They can lie dormant for years until conditions are favorable for germination.
Gymnosperms include all
conifers (evergreens) such as pines, spruces, firs, and hemlocks, as well as cycads and ginkgoes
All reproductive stages of a conifer are housed in a cone! example Redwood Blue spruce Cedar
Seed Plants: Angiosperms
The most successful (and most colorful!) type of plants on earth. Includes all flowering plants. All have a dominant sporophyte generation - the plant itself.The flower houses the gametophytes.
Angiosperm Reproduction 2
Ovules inside the ovary contain spores which develop into female gametophytes to produce the eggs
Angiosperm Reproduction 3
Pollen grains from the anthers can land on the stigma and grow a pollen tube down to the ovule, where a sperm can fertilize the egg, producing a zygote
Angiosperm Reproduction 4
Pollination occurs when pollen sticks to the stigma, either blown there by the wind or delivered by an animal pollinator.
Angiosperm Reproduction 5
A pollen tube grows toward the ovule in the ovary, carrying 2 sperm cells that were held in the pollen grain.
Angiosperm Reproduction 8
The other sperm joins with other cells in the ovule to produce the endosperm, a source of stored food for the embryo.
Why make fruits?
Plants go to all the trouble of making fruits in order to be sure their kids leave home! seeds must be dispersed away from the parent plant so there is less competition for resources like water, soil minerals, and light.
Fungi are actually heterotrophic organisms, but they don't "eat" or ingest their food like animals do. Instead...
they secrete enzymes to digest their food outside their bodies and then absorb the small nutrient molecules into their cells!
Many hyphae tangled together into a thick mass; comprises the bodies of multicellular fungi
Fungi can reproduce either asexually
When food and moisture are plentiful, fungi reproduce asexually, producing haploid spores.
Or sexually
When conditions become unfavorable, most fungi can reproduce sexually. The nuclei of adjoining hyphae fuse to form diploid zygotes, which undergo meiosis to form durable haploid spores.
These are the only fungi with flagellated spores and are common on lakes, ponds, and soil.
Some are decomposers, while others are parasitic on protists, plants, and animals.
These fungi include fast-growing molds such as black bread mold and molds that rot fruits and vegetables. Many of the preservatives added to prepared foods discourage growth of these fungi.
This diverse group of "sac fungi" produce spores in saclike structures called asci.
They include unicellular yeasts, morels and cup fungi
These fungi produce spores at the ends of club-like structures called basidia. This is the most familiar fungal group, and includes mushrooms, puffballs, and the shelf fungi that grow on rotting logs.
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GREENFIELD — The state Department of Public Utilities will hold two final local public hearings on Tuesday to gauge how utility companies responded to the Oct. 29 snowstorm, which caused massive damage and left some Western Massachusetts communities without power for more than a week.
Both DPU sessions will be held this evening at 7 p.m. in Greenfield and Brookfield.
The Greenfield session, which will focus on Western Massachusetts Electric Co.'s storm response and preparedness, will take place at Greenfield High School, 1 Lenox Ave.
The Brookfield session, which will focus on National Grid's handling of the storm, will take place at Brookfield Town Hall, 6 Central St.
Previous DPU hearings were held in Belchertown, East Longmeadow and Springfield, and some of the citizens who attended the sessions criticized utility officials for poor communication during the outages.
Major points of contention for critics included a general perception that both WMECO and National Grid responded too slowly, and general frustration over power restoration estimates that rarely proved accurate.
In some instances, National Grid upgraded restoration estimates to sooner than originally predicted, only to later downgrade those estimates to much later than originally predicted – crushing some customers' optimism for a timely resolution to the problem.
Northeast Utilities, the Hartford-based parent company of WMECO and Connecticut Light & Power, expects the storm's price tag to exceed $202 million.
The company, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week, said the bulk of the costs – around $163 million – stem from restoration efforts at CL&P.
At the height of the storm, about 830,000 Connecticut customers were without power. At the height of the storm in Massachusetts, which is served by several utility companies, around 700,000 customers lost power, including more than 200,000 in the western portion of the state.
Northeast Utilities said around $23.5 million will pay for WMECO restoration costs, while $16.2 million will go toward a third subsidiary, Public Service Co. of New Hampshire.
The utility company predicted its fourth-quarter earnings would not be significantly affected by the nor'easter, except for an $18 million charge to investors – or 10 cents per share – for a fund to reimburse some costs for residential customers.
Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.

subset: commoncrawl


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Buttery biscuits packed with cheddar cheese, chunks of bacon, and fresh chives are perfect for munching on any time of day.
In another life I own a little cafe and bakery. Every morning I bake up cookies, pies, and biscuits from scratch and people come to eat and enjoy my food. And that makes me very happy.
Serving up cookies and slices of pies is probably no surprise to those of you who know me even a little bit. But my love for biscuits is more of a secret, though I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because biscuits are one of the more homely baked goods, or maybe because they most often play a supporting role to something else.
I absolutely adore biscuits. They're quick and easy— done in 30 minutes tops— and extremely adaptable. Not to mention their flaky texture and buttery flavor get me every single time.
These cheddar, bacon and chive biscuits are high up on my long list of favorite biscuit variations and would definitely be on the menu in my make believe bakery.
They're a perfect little meal all by themselves, but are also a great accompaniment to a salad or soup and they go great with a breakfast scramble. We've even used them to make little sandwiches with leftover ham or turkey.
Regardless of what time of day you choose to bake these biscuits, or how you plan to serve them, they're sure not to last long. They certainly don't in our house!
Keep it cold
A key factor in the rise of these biscuits, and an even bigger part of their texture, is the little bits of cold butter that melt and make steam. If the butter is too warm it will incorporate into the dry ingredients and those little pockets of butter and steam will be gone.
Make sure you start with cold butter and milk, and work the dough quickly so the butter doesn't have a chance to warm up.
- 2 cups (240 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- ¾ cup (175 ml) buttermilk, cold
- 3 slices cooked bacon, diced
- 1 cup (113 grams) shredded cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup (10 grams) chopped fresh chives
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the cubed butter and use a pastry blender to cut it into the dry ingredients until the butter is the size of small peas. Add the cheese, bacon and chives and toss to combine with the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and add the milk. Stir with a large spoon until it forms a thick sticky dough. Use your hands if needed to bring it all together.
- Use a large spoon or ice cream scoop to portion dough and drop onto prepared sheet pan. Bake until the bottoms just turn golden brown, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately and store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Note: this recipe was originally published in February 2010. Photos have been updated and some improvements made to the recipe.
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11 Responses to Cheddar, Bacon and Chive Drop Biscuits
Diane C. says:
I'm writing to you from Bon Appétit magazine and would love to use your photo for a blog post round up of what people are cooking at home (from the magazine). If you can send me an email letting me know that I have the permission to use your photo and link your blog to our site as soon as possible, that would be awesome-
Diane Chang
lena t says:
i am so excited to try them this morning… looking forward to beautiful aromas in my house…
thanks for sharing this recipe… If you are okay I shared this post on my blog as well…
Bernideen says:
This looks wonderful. Your blog is exceptional and I can hardly believe you have only been married 2 years and are doing this! Wow! Did you bake and cook at home as a youth? You must have!
Emily R says:
These look so delish!
Flavia says:
These look fantastic, Annalise! I adore biscuits and I'm still working on perfecting them. I like the ease of making drop biscuits-the faster I can get them into the oven, the sooner I can eat them! P.S. I have a bakery/cafe dream too. 🙂
Emily says:
These look SO dang good!
I make garlic cheddar drop biscuits all the time, and never thought about sprucing them up. I love the idea of adding bacon and chives!
I'm a huuuuuge biscuit lover, too. These little babies look delicious, you combined some of my absolute favorite flavors!
xo, Elisa
Bri | Bites of Bri says:
These look outstanding. Love the flavors!
These look delightful! We have breakfast for dinner once a week, these are definitely going to be tried next week!!
Chels says:
I love drop biscuits. They are completely fool-proof and always so delicious. I love this flavor combo!
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about meHi, I'm Annalise and I love to bake! Welcome to my blog, where you'll find recipes, baking tips and tricks, and more.
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New college programs have been added to the curriculum for the upcoming school year for Oregon Connections Academy and the school's summer enrollment season is now underway. A free Parent-to-Parent meeting will be held in Oregon City, Thursday August 1st for families interested in exploring tuition-free online public education for their children. The meeting will start at 6:30 pm at the Carl's Jr., 19761 Highway 213 in Oregon City.
Oregon Connections Academy is the largest tuition-free virtual public charter school in the state with an enrollment of more than 3,400 students in grades K-12 during the last school year. Students work with certified teachers online and on the phone while a parent or other adult "Learning Coach" monitors progress in the home.
At the meeting, parents with students attending the school will share their experience with this exciting way learning, explain how children benefit from the personalized education and answer questions. Oregon Connections Academy provides a high-quality, personalized, and flexible approach to education. The school offers a highly qualified teaching staff, top-notch curriculum and technology tools.
Several free parent meetings are underway statewide throughout the summer to fulfill the growing number of requests for information from families who might want their students to attend Oregon Connections Academy for the 2013-14 school year.
At the Parent-to-Parent meeting, families interested in enrollment will have an opportunity to ask questions from parents with students currently enrolled in the program. A complete list of other in-person and online information sessions can be found online: http://www.connectionsacademy.com/oregon-school/events.aspx.
A complete schedule of enrollment meetings with dates and locations is available online or by calling (800) 382-6010.


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All | Editorial | General Tech | Graphics Cards | Networking | Motherboards | Cases and Cooling | Processors | Chipsets | Memory | Displays | Systems | Storage | Mobile | Shows and Expos
Introduction, Specifications and Packaging
With newer and faster SSDs coming to market, we should not forget those capable controllers of yesteryear. There are plenty of folks out there cranking out products based on controllers that were until very recently the king of the hill. Competition is great for the market, and newer product launches have driven down the cost of the older SandForce 2281 SATA 6Gb/sec controller. ADATA makes a product based on this controller, and it's high time we gave it a look:
The ADATA XPG SX900 launched mid last year, and was ADATA's first crack at the eXtended capacity variant of the SandForce firmware. This traded off some of the spare area in the interest of more capacity for the consumer.
Introduction, Specifications and Packaging
It has been just under a year since Intel released their 520 Series SSD, which was their second 6 Gb/sec SATA unit. Sporting a SandForce controller, that release helped bridge a high speed storage gap in their product lineup. One year prior, Intel dabbled in the mSATA form factor, releasing a 310 Series model under that moniker. The 310 showed up here and there, but never really caught on as the physical interface was admittedly before its time. While in hindsight it was a very good way to go towards establishing a fixed standard, the industry had already begun fragmenting on these smaller interfaces. The MacBook Air had already launched with a longer 'GumStick' shaped SSD, and Ultrabook makers were following suit with units that were physically identical yet not pin-compatible with that used in the Apple product.
The Intel 520 Series SSD helped push Intel into 6Gb/sec SATA territory.
It's taken a while for the industry to favor defragmentation (pun intended) enough for mSATA to really start catching on, and that time appears to be nearing with Intel's launch of the SSD 525 Series:
Introduction, Specifications and Packaging
OCZ has been in the SSD game for quite some time, and has previously done quite well mixing and matching hardware from other vendors into solutions of their own. It was a good way to put out a large array of products, fitting many a niche for a decent cost. Further, OCZ has always been known as somewhat of an underdog who tailored their parts more towards the power user / tweaker crowd. All of that said, they have been taking steps to become more of a major player in the SSD market, and the fruits of that labor begin their payoff today, with the release of the OCZ Vector:
A new Indilinx Controller?
The Vector comes equipped with a bunch of firsts for OCZ. The controller is OCZ's first 100% in-house part, and has been engineered from the ground up to be as high of a performing part as possible. There has been a paradigm shift within OCZ lately, and the Vector went through a large beta test phase *before* release, as to avoid the need for a series of rapid fire firmware updates just after the product ships. Vector should perform at or near its maximum potential today, not after some firmware updates seen months from now. Here's a look at the controller functional block diagram:
Introduction, Specifications and Packaging
It's been a short while since we've seen a consumer SSD release from Intel, and with pressure coming from Samsung in the form of lower cost/GB 20nm flash, it was high time Intel followed suit. The Intel 335 Series launches today, and is essentially the same SandForce-driven product as their SSD 520 Series released earlier this year. The key change is this time around that controller will be driving Intel 20nm flash. This should bring a much needed price reduction to the SSD arena, as the 335 is not being marketed as a 'Pro' unit (like the Samsung's 840 Pro). So long as this new model performs similarly to the 520 Series, we should be in for a good, low cost SSD just in time for the Christmass shopping season.
Wireless storage for PC, Mac, iOS and Android
Today we are taking a look at the new Patriot Gauntlet 320 external USB 3.0 and wireless hard drive, available starting at $149 at Newegg.com.
The premise is quite simple: take a portable hard drive with USB 3.0 support and add in the ability to share the unit wirelessly with up to 8 different machines and power it by a lithium-ion battery. Not only does the Gauntlet show up in your network as a mountable drive in Windows and Mac OS, the Gauntlet supports using free applications for iOS devices and Android devices to share and stream media.
There are some limitations that you might want to consider including the inability to access network-based devices when using the pass through Internet capability the Gauntlet provides. Also, data transfer performance on the wireless connectivity that the Gauntlet provides seemed pretty low, even with the 802.11n support.
Potential uses cases for the Gauntlet include any time you need a shared data source like working on group projects for school or the office, on-the-go storage for devices like Ultrabooks with smaller hard drives and users that have large media collections they want to use with smart phones and tablets.
Check out our full video review below!
Note that in the video, our early sample of the Gauntlet 320 has the "node" label on it; the Gauntlet Node is a separate device that is only a DIY enclosure WITHOUT an included hard drive. Originally there was a sticker cover the "node" label but incorrectly removed it before filming. Just a heads up!
Introduction and Internals
The Western Digital RAID Edition line of hard drives has been around for some time now, and has largely impressed us with each subsequent release. Since the launches of the RE4-GP and later, the faster spinning RE4, WD's enterprise line had been capped at the 2TB mark. Now that has changed with the introduction of a new line: simply named the RE Series:
Yup, that's right. 4 TeraBytes! With the Green and Red series capped at 3TB, this new RE is the largest capacity drive available from Western Digital. The catch is that, since it's tailored and built for enterprise use, it comes at a rather hefty price premium.
Introduction, Specifications and Packaging
Last week, Samsung flew myself and a few of my fellow peers in the storage review community out to Seoul, Korea. The event was the 2012 Samsung SSD Global Summit:
At this event, Samsung officially announced their new 840 Pro, which we were able to obtain early under NDA and therefore publish in concert with the announcement. The 840 Pro was largely an incremental inprovement over their 830 Series. Newer, faster flash coupled with a higher clocked controller did well to improve on an already excellent product.
As the event closed, we were presented with the second model of the lineup - the 840. This model, sans the 'Pro' moniker, is meant more for general consumer usage. The first mass marketed SSD to use Triple Level Cell (TLC) flash, it sacrifices some write speed and long-term reliability in favor of what should become considerably lower cost/GB as production ramps up to full capacity. TLC flash is the next step beyond MLC, which is in turn a step after SLC. Here's a graphic to demonstrate:
Introduction, Specifications and Packaging
Samsung has been at this SSD thing for quite some time now. The first SSD I bought was in fact a Samsung unit meant for an ultraportable laptop. Getting it into my desktop was a hack and a half, involving a ZIF to IDE adapter, which then passed through yet another adapter to convert to SATA. The drive was wicked fast at the time, and while it handily slaughtered my RAID-0 pair of 74GB VelociRaptors in random reads, any writes caused serious stuttering of the drive, and therefore the entire OS. I was clearly using the drive outside of its intended use, but hey, I was an early adopter.
Several SSDs later came the Intel X25-M. It was a great drive, but in its earliest form was not without fault. Luckily, these kinks were worked out industry-wide, and everyone quickly accelerated their firmware optimizations as to better handle random writes. Samsung took a few generations to get this under control. The first to truly get over this hump was the 830 Series, which launched earlier this year. It utilized a triple core Arm 9 CPU which was able to effectively brute force heavy random write workloads. It also significantly increased the speed and nimbleness of the 830 across the board, which combined with Samsung's excellent reliability record, quickly made it my most recommended series as of late.
...and now we have the 840 Series, which launched today. Well, technically it launched yesterday if you're reading from the USA. Here in Korea the launch started at 10 AM and spanned a day of product press briefings leading to the product NDA expiration at 8 PM Korea time. This review will focus on the 512GB capacity of the 840 Pro model. We will follow on with the 840 (non-pro) at a later date:
Read on for the full review!
Introduction and Internals
I'm going to let the cat out of the bag right here and now. Everyone's home RAID is likely an accident waiting to happen. If you're using regular consumer drives in a large array, there are some very simple (and likely) scenarios that can cause it to completely fail. I'm guilty of operating under this same false hope - I have an 8-drive array of 3TB WD Caviar Greens in a RAID-5. For those uninitiated, RAID-5 is where one drive worth of capacity is volunteered for use as parity data, which is distributed amongst all drives in the array. This trick allows for no data loss in the case where a single drive fails. The RAID controller can simply figure out the missing data by running the extra parity through the same formula that created it. This is called redundancy, but I propose that it's not.
Continue on for our full review of the solution to this not-yet-fully-described problem!
An overview of Thunderbolt Technology
The promise of Thunderbolt connectivity has been around for a couple of years now. Today, Thunderbolt is finally finding its way to the PC platform in the form of motherboards from ASUS and MSI. First unveiled as "Light Peak" at the Intel Developer Forum in 2009, the technology started out as a way to connect multiple devices to a system over a fiber optic cable (hence the 'light' in the name), though the final products have changed the implementation slightly.
The first prototype implementations actually used a USB-style connection and interface. It further required fiber optic cables. When it was renamed to Thunderbolt and then released in conjunction with a new lineup of Apple MacBook laptops, not only did the physical interface move to a mini-DisplayPort connection but the cable was made to use copper rather than fiber. Without diving too far into the reasons and benefits of either direction, the fact is that the copper cables allow for modest power transfer and are much cheaper than fiber optic variants would be.
Thunderbolt's base technology remains the same, however. It is a transfer standard that allows for 10 Gbps of bandwidth for each channel (bi-directional) and concurrently supports both data and display connections. The actual interface for the data path is based on PCI Express and connected devices actually appear to Windows as if they are internally connected to the system which can offer some interesting benefits – and headaches – for hardware developers. The display connection uses the DisplayPort standard and can be used along with the data connection without affecting bandwidth levels or performance.
For current Intel processor implementations, the Thunderbolt connection is supported by a separate controller chip on the motherboard (or a riser card) – and some routing is required for correct usage. The Thunderbolt controller does not actually include a graphics controller, so it must be fed an output from another graphics processor, obviously in this case directly from the Ivy Bridge / Sandy Bridge processors. In theory, these could be from other controllers, but with the ubiquitous nature of integrated processor graphics on IVB and SNB processors, this is going to be the implementation going forward according to motherboard and system designers.
Continue reading our review of Thunderbolt on Windows and the ASUS P8Z77-V Premium!!
ioSafe: Introduction and Internals
Cloud storage is all the talk these days, and our own Tim Verry has been hard at work detailing as much of it as he can keep up with. While all of us at PCPer currently use cloud based solutions for many of the day-to-day goings on, it's not for everyone, and it tends to not be for very large chunks of data, either. Sometimes local storage is just the way to go – especially when you want to be the one in absolute control of the reliability and integrity of your data.
The general rule for proper backups is to have your local copy, a local backup (RAID is *not* a backup), and an additional off-site backup to cover things like theft, fires or floods. So lets say you simply have too much sensitive data for your internet connection to support bulk transferring to an off-side / cloud storage location. Perhaps the cloud storage for that much space is simply cost prohibitive, or your data is sensitive enough that – despite encryption – you don't want it leaving your network and/or premesis? Perhaps you're just stubborn and want only one backup of your data? I think I might have the answer you've been looking for – behold the ioSafe SoloPRO:
What is this thing, you may ask? On the inside it's one of the available 1, 2, 3, or even 4TB 3.5" hard drives. On the outside it's a very durable and solid steel enclosure. The hard drive is wrapped in a thermally conductive yet water resistant 'HydroSafe' foil that enables water resistance rated at a 10 ft depth for 3 days with no data loss. The bonus, however, is not the water resistance - that featuer is present primarily to battle the side effects of something much more drastic - the ioSafe is fire-proof. That feature comes from what sits between the steel casing and the shrink wrapped hard drive - something ioSafe calls a DataCast (pictured below):
I'm going to break from my normal warranty voiding and show a photo from this past Storage Visions conference at the Consumer Electonics Show, where an ioSafe was already cracked open for our viewing pleasure:
Inside and Out
When you are a little fish in the great big pond of PC builders, you need to do something to stand out from the rest. The people behind DV Nation apparently were well aware of that when entering the system vendor business and offering up SSDs to every single system configuration. Through a new system they are offering, provocatively named the "RAMRod PC", DV Nation provides a pre-built system that has some very unique components and configuration settings.
Built around the Antec Three Hundred Two chassis, the first glance at the RAMRod doesn't really indicate anything special is going on under the hood. But let's take a quick look at the specs:
- Intel Core i7-3820 @ 4.4 GHz
- 64GB DDR3-1600 Memory from G.Skill
- Radeon HD 6990 4GB
- 2x Seagate Momentus XT 750GB Hybrid HDD in RAID-0
- OCZ RevoDrive 3 X2 480GB PCIE SSD
- RAMCache: SuperSpeed Supercache 8GB on PCIE SSD, 8GB on Momentus
- RAMDisk: 42GB ROMEX Primo rated at 8000 MB/s
- Cost: $5,400
Obviously there is a LOT of storage work going on in the RAMRod and the purpose of the rig is to be the fastest pre-configured storage available anywhere. If you are looking for a cheaper version of this system you can get a base model with 16GB of memory, 10GB RAMDisk, 2GB RAMCache, 240GB PCIe SSD, single standard hard drive and even at GTX 680 for $2999.
Let's take a quick walk around the rest of the system before diving into the benchmarks!
Background and Internals
A little over two weeks back, Intel briefed me on their new SSD 910 Series PCIe SSD. Since that day I've been patiently awaiting its arrival, which happened just a few short hours ago. I've burned the midnight oil for the sake of getting some greater details out there. Before we get into the goods, here's a quick recap of the specs for the 800 (or 400) GB model:
- PCIe 2.0 x8 LSI Falcon 2008 SAS HBA driving 4 (or 2) Hitachi Ultrastar SAS controllers, each in turn driving 200GB of IMFT 25nm High Endurance Technology flash memory, all on a triple stacked half-height PCB.
- 400GB model yields (r/w) 1GB/s / 750MB/s sequential and 90,000 / 38,000 4k IOPS.
- 800GB model yields (r/w) 2GB/s / 1GB/s sequential and 180,000 / 75,000 4k IOPS.
- 800GB 'performance mode' (r/w) 2GB/s / 1.5GB/s sequential and 180,000 / 75,000 4k IOPS.
"Performance Mode" is a feature that can be enabled through the Intel Data Center Tool Software. This feature is only possible on the 800GB model, but not for the reason you might think. The 400GB model is *always* in Performance Mode, since it can go full speed without drawing greater than the standard PCIe 25W power specification. The 800GB model has twice the components to drive yet it stays below the 25W limit so long as it is in its Default Mode. Switching the 800GB model to Performance Mode increases that draw to 38W (the initial press briefing stated 28W, which appears to have been a typo). Note that this increased draw is only seen during writes.
Ok, now into the goodies:
It's been a long while since we've looked at a hard drive, and how fitting that it be a new model of the Western Digital VelociRaptor! Western Digital appears to be on a somewhat fixed 2-year cycle with these, as out 600GB VelociRaptor Review went up two Aprils ago, and the 300GB two years prior to that. Well then, let's take a look at this new model!
(from left) 300GB, 600GB, and finally the 1TB VelociRaptor
Here's the old school VelociRaptor logo (from back when they were less than 100GB!)
Continue reading our review of the Western Digital 1TB VelociRaptor hard drive!!
OCZ Vertex 4 512GB SSD Initial Review - Vertex Returns to its Indilinx Roots (Firmware Progression Testing)
Introduction, Specifications, and Packaging
OCZ has been in the SSD game for quite some time now. Their first contender was the OCZ Vertex, which we reviewed back in Febuary of 2009. While the original Vertex was powered by an Indilinx BareFoot controller, the Vertex line switched over to SandForce for the second and third generations. The fourth generation brings Indilinx back to the Vertex, this time with the Everest 2. You may recall Everest made its first appearance in the OCZ Octane, which has already proven itself to be a solid contender in the market.
Before we get into the meat and portatoes, we'll kick this off by saying this will not be a typical Vertex 4 review. We had benches run on 512GB and 256GB Vertex 4 samples, but the numbers we were seeing seemed 'off', so OCZ provided me with an alpha/engineering level firmware late last night. I suspect most other reviews you read today will include results from the 1.30 initial shipping firmware, or perhaps from the 1.31 bugfix firmware (which corrected an issue with secure erasure), but this piece will cover both 1.30 and a newer 1.52 interim build. Sometimes it's necessary to burn the midnight oil in the interest of presenting the full picture (or one as complete as possible) to our readers, and this was one of those pieces. We will revisit the Vertex 4 again very soon in the form of a more final product review, but for now we'll go with what we've got.
Introduction, Specifications, and Packaging
Samsung has been in the SSD business for a good long while now. My first "serious" SSD setup consisted of a pair of 32GB G.Skill 'FlashSSD's in a RAID. A few months later I upgraded to an Intel X25-M, starting working for PCPer, and have since seen a slew of different controller types come and go. Of those, Samsung and Intel both come to mind as the most reliable controllers out there. Of those two, Samsung has always been the primary choice of PC OEMs. It may have been because the Samsung controllers have always leaned towards the slow-but-steady approach. Other fire breathing controllers would be quick out of the gate but slow over time as fragmentation effects set in, while Samsung controllers would take the hit on random IOPS, but they maintained that lower level even after repeated and sustained abuse. They were not the fastest, but as a testament to their consistency, I continue to use one of the two aforementioned G.Skill drives in the PCPer Storage Testbed to this day.
Overcoming Hurdles
A paper, titled "The Bleak Future of NAND Flash Memory" was recently jointly published by the University of California and Microsoft Research. It has been picked up by many media outlets who all seem to be beating the same morbid drum, spinning tales of a seemingly apocalyptic end to the reign of flash-based storage devices. While I agree with some of what these authors have to say, I have reservations about the methods upon which the paper is based.
TLC and beyond?
The paper kicks off by declaring steep increases in latency and drops in lifetime associated with increases in bits-per-cell. While this is true, flash memory manufacturers are not making large pushes to increase bits-per-cell beyond the standard MLC (2 bits per cell) tech. Sure some have dabbled in 3-bit MLC, also called Triple Level Cell (TLC) which is a bit of a misnomer since storing three bits in a cell actually requires eight voltage level bands, not three as the name implies. Moving from SLC to MLC doubles density, but the diminishing returns increase sharply after that – MLC to TLC only increases capacity by a another 1.5x, but sees a 2-4x reduction in performance and endurance. In light of this, there is little demand for TLC flash, and where there is, it's clear by the usage cases that it is not meant for anything beyond light usage. There's nothing wrong with the paper going down this road, but the reality is that increasing bits per cell is not the envelope being pushed by the flash memory industry.
Wait a second – where is 25nm MLC?
Looking at the above we see a glaring omission – 25nm MLC flash, which has been around for close to two years now, and constitutes the majority of shipping flash memory parts currently in production. SLC was also omitted, but I can see the reason for this – it's hard to get your hands on 25nm SLC these days. Why? Because MLC technology has been improved upon to the point where 'enterprise MLC' (eMLC) is rapidly replacing SLC even despite the supposed reduction in reliability and endurance over SLC. The reasons for this are simple, and are completely sidestepped or otherwise overlooked by the paper:
- SSD controllers employ write combination and wear leveling techniques.
- Some controllers even compress data on-the-fly as to further reduce writes and provisioning.
- Controller-level Error Correction (ECC) has improved dramatically with each process shrink.
- SSD controllers can be programmed to compensate for the drift of data stored in a cell (eMLC).
Continue reading our editorial on the not-so-bleak future of NAND Flash Memory!!!
Introduction, Specifications, and Packaging
Today we take a look at Intel's newest 6Gb/sec SATA SSD - the 520 Series. This is the second non-Intel controller to appear in one of their products. The first was the Marvell controller, which appeared in the 510 Series last March. This time around, Intel has gone with SandForce. This should leave at least one SATA 6Gb/sec model to be released. Taylorsville is the code name for the next SATA 6Gb/sec native-Intel controller, which has been on their roadmap since mid-2010 but has yet to actually materialize. While Taylorsville development continues, Intel has stop-gapped the 6Gb/sec slot with the 510 and now the 520 Series. Intel seemingly worked wonders with the stock Marvell firmware, and while the Marvell controller was much improved over stock, it still lagged far behind other higher performing SATA 6Gb/sec solutions. The SandForce was one of the much more capable controllers eating the 510's lunch, but how much further could Intel improve upon the SandForce firmware?
I guess a good question to answer up front is - What took them so long?!?! The answer is a bit complicated. Intel has actually been working on getting the 520 out the door for over a year now. They had to start with the same base SandForce firmware but accomplish two things for their version to be successful:
- Optimize to perform better than other equivalent SandForce models (from competitors).
- Pass Intel's stringent validation testing.
They didn't say so directly, but I can only imagine Intel's process was plagued by multiple 'back to the drawing board' moments. Trying to one-up competition like OCZ can't be easy as they've been tweaking SandForce firmware since the very beginning. There's also those nasty bugs that would cause random BSOD's or even permanently brick the drive. Such failures have no place in an Intel SSD. Intel's upper limit for each SSD line is a 0.75% annual failure rate, and we've seen SandForce SSD's failing at a higher rate than that this past year.
With each tweak made, Intel would have to once again pass their drives through another round of full validation testing. This is no small task for Intel. As an example: It took Intel just a couple of weeks to recreate and correct the long-term performance issue I discovered back in 2009, but despite mountingpressure, they could not release the updated firmware until it had successfully passed their validation a full three months later. Intel takes this testing very seriously, and that's what leads people to trust their reliability.
Introduction, Specifications, and Packaging
A couple of days ago we looked at a pair of SSD's from Patriot. Next up is a pair of SSD's from Corsair. These are another two SandForce controlled units, but this time it's Async IMFT flash vs. Sync IMFT flash:
We'll carry the Patriot Pyro (IMFT Async) into the results for comparison, and keeping the other benchmark OCZ and Intel models in with the mix of results. The OCZ Vertex 3 and Agility 3 will again share the same SandForce controller, but OCZ has been known to add many performance tweaks to their firmware. Let's see if Corsair was able to use 'tweaked' firmware or instead went with the stock one provided by SandForce.
The Corsair Force 3 and Force GT are both available in the following capacities:
The added capacity points are a bonus of how IMFT can stack their dies in 'odd' multiples (i.e. 3 per package, making a 24GB TSOP). Varying slightly from low to high capacities (and across the two models), specs range from 490 to 525 MB/sec writes and 550 to 555 MB/sec reads. 60GB models get 80,000 4K IOPS and the rest get a rating of 85,000 4K IOPS. Corsairs specs indicate IOMeter 2008 was used for this test, and it's important to note that 2008's writes were a repeating pattern that is easily and fully compressible by the SandForce controller, meaning those specs were derived using fully compressible data.
Introduction, Specifications, and Packaging
Today we're going to take a look at a pair of SSD models from Patriot. While they both share the same SandForce controller, that's where the differences end. This won't be your typical review - because this time we're pitting an Async IMFT flash unit against a Toshiba Toggle-mode flash unit:
We're also tossing a few OCZ and Intel models into the mix. The OCZ Vertex 3 and Agility 3 will again share the same SandForce controller, but OCZ has been known to add many performance tweaks to their firmware. This will give us a chance to see the 'baseline' SandForce firmware in action.
Patriot has their drive specs spread out over several pages. Here's a consolidated list for these two models. We will be reviewing a 120GB sample from each of the two product lines.
- Wildfire 120GB:
-Sequential Read & Write Transfer: 555MB/s read | 520MB/s Write
-Max Random Write IOPS: Up to 85,000 (4K aligned)
- Wildfire 240GB:
-Sequential Read & Write Transfer: 555MB/s read | 520MB/s Write
-Max Random Write IOPS: Up to 85,000 (4K aligned)
- Wildfire 480GB:
-Sequential Read & Write Transfer: 540MB/S Read | 450MB/S Write*
-Max Random Write IOPS: Max 4K Random IOPS: 40K*
- Pyro 60GB:
- Sequential Read & Write Transfer: 520MB/s read | 490MB/s Write.
- Max Random Write IOPS: Up to 80,000 (4K aligned).
- Pyro 120GB:
- Sequential Read & Write Transfer: 550MB/s read | 515MB/s Write.
- Max Random Write IOPS: Up to 85,000 (4K aligned).
- Pyro 240GB:
- Sequential Read & Write Transfer: 550MB/s read | 515MB/s Write.
- Max Random Write IOPS: Up to 85,000 (4K aligned).
I've highlighted a few outlier specs in the above list. While the Pyro sees the now expected dip in performance when transitioning from 120GB down to 60GB - due to a reduction in the communication channels to the (fewer) flash chips, the Wildfire sees a seemingly opposite and more drastic effect. This is not due to a change in the number of data paths - it's a limit inherent in the SandForce controller itself, and is not limited to Toggle-mode flash. The difference caused by the Toggle-mode flash is the missing 60GB model - caused by the intermix of capacity points and configuration needed for this different type of flash memory.
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Foster, Nicholas HD (2010) The Law of Islamic Finance. In: Islamic Finance and Financial Markets: An alternative to the Anglo-American Finance Model?, 4 March, University College London. (Unpublished)
Full text not available from this repository.
|Item Type:
|Conference or Workshop Items (Paper)
|Additional Information:
|Seminar organised by Global Development Initiatives (University College London student society)
|SOAS Departments & Centres:
|Faculty of Law and Social Sciences > School of Law
|Depositing User:
|Nick Foster
|Date Deposited:
|09 Aug 2010 09:50
Item downloaded times since 09 Aug 2010 09:50.


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Member Since: December 18, 2012
December 10, 2013 at 11:38pm
The sad reality is that most Republicans also want BIG Government only they think it can be run more efficiently or should be used for causes they favor. I know Paul Ryan is the fiscal darling of many conservatives but if you actually read his Roadmap for America, it essentially locks in federal spending at 23-24% of GDP and taxes at 19% of GDP through around 2050. Beyond that the deficit comes down as the baby boomer are all dead so Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are assumed to shrink. The fist surplus is assumed to occur in 2063! Levin is right, this whole thing is MIckey Mouse and shame on true conservatives if they allow Republican leaders to get away with it. The Sequester is the law of the land. Live with it!
August 10, 2013 at 11:49am
ObamaCare is not "a" step toward a single-payer system, it is "the" step. If you want to remove the private sector completely from healthcare and have a government run system like the UK, then you develop a law/system that will create financial incentives for: 1. employers to stop providing health insurance (that's why the employer penalties are so low), 2. insurance companies to raise premiums (no pre-existing conditions, expanded coverage) and 3. doctors to stop seeing patients (low Medicare reimbursement rates). History shows that the people will blame "greedy corporations" and "doctors" for this outcome rather than the politicians that created this mess and will demand government "do something". Ultimately, ObamaCare is about "nudging" us toward "choosing" a government run system where we all will have equal access (except the ruling class which will have better service, doctors and facilities) to a healthcare system that, like all government run monopolies, will provide substandard care at a rather high cost to taxpayers.
In reply to the story Harry Reid: Obamacare Just a Step Toward Eventual Single-Payer System
August 10, 2013 at 3:19pm
NigelTufnel responded:
August 12, 2013 at 3:23am
MostlyLib responded:
January 24, 2013 at 9:04pm
I work in the utility industry and would like to provide some facts to this discussion. There are issues associated with smart meters but property access is not one of them. I don't know the specific tariffs of this particular utility but in general when a person requests service they are granting the utility access to their property so the utility can install and maintain the equipment necessary to provide such service. The irony in this case is that the homeowners are objecting to workers being on their property yet that likely occurs every month when the meter is read. One advantage of a smart meter is that no one will ever step foot on their property again to read a meter because that will be done remotely. As to the RF issues, I can only assume that these people don't own cell phones, wireless routers, iPads, etc. If RF is their concern they should be demonstrating at the local Apple Store. The biggest issues with smart meters are cost vs. benefits and cyber security. It has been demonstrated that they can be hacked into to turn off service or alter readings. Security has improved but like anything cyber, the hackers will take up the challenge. As to cost, the biggest driver of installations has been federal stimulus money because absent this subsidy, they would not be cost effective yet in most cases. My utility can't make the numbers work to save customers money. A number of utilities who installed smart meters are struggling to justify the costs and lack of savin
In reply to the story Woman Arrested While Refusing Smart Meter Installation on Her Property Tells Us Her Story
January 24, 2013 at 9:24pm
piplovestheUSA responded:
January 24, 2013 at 9:53pm
duek responded:
January 24, 2013 at 10:42pm
piplovestheUSA responded:
December 17, 2012 at 10:06pm
As sad as the CT murders are, the reality is that according to the Center for Disease Control, almost 50% more children aged 0-14 are killed in vehicular accidents than by violent acts (which are not all guns). In fact, almost as many children drown every year as are killed by violent acts. Why no presidential and congressional outrage over these deaths? Are children who die in cars and swimming pools less important than those killed by guns? Shouldn't we be doing more to protect children in cars so that this carnage doesn't continue? Perhaps we should put speed limiters on cars and require full roll cages, 4 point safety harnesses and helmets. Aren't our children worth it?
The data is similar for all people. Almost 36,000 people die in auto accidents annually compared to less than 9,000 gun deaths. How many more people must die in cars before we put the appropriate limits on car ownership?
In reply to the story After School Shooting, Anti-Gun Advocates Want NRA President, Members to Be Shot
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© Submitted photo
Holland College Hurricanes
The Holland College Hurricanes will host the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) menŌĆÖs volleyball championship in 2015.
Eight of the nation's top teams will compete in the three-day tournament from March 12 to 14. As hosts, the Hurricanes are automatically entitled to a berth.
ŌĆ£They say timing is everything, and Holland College is perfectly poised to host menŌĆÖs volleyball,ŌĆØ said tournament chairman Albert Roche, who is the collegeŌĆÖs athletic director. ŌĆ£We are eager to impress the CCAA with our hospitality.ŌĆØ
The Hurricanes are currently ranked second in the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA) and the institution has hosted seven regional and national championship tournaments in the past three years alone.
This yearŌĆÖs tournament will be hosted in Moose Jaw, Sask., from March 5 to 8.


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2 killed in White Marsh morning crash
Crash happened at Route 40, White Marsh Boulevard
UPDATED 3:24 PM EDT Jul 12, 2013
Two people have been killed in an early-morning crash in eastern Baltimore County.
County police were called to the intersection of Route 40 and White Marsh Boulevard in White Marsh around 5:30 a.m., when a car hit a tree, killing William Gialamas, 23, of Perry Hall, and Laura Campbell, 19, of Chase.
Police are still trying to determine how the crash happened.
Stay with WBALTV.com and 11 News for updates as they become available.
Copyright 2013 by WBALTV.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Judging for the annual Christmas Lighting Contest for Waggaman residents will be held from Monday through Wednesday. Gift certificates for first- and second-place winners will be delivered to a total of 14 homes no later than Dec. 22.
For the contest, Waggaman is divided into seven areas: Waggaman sign to the east side of Modern Farms, including Manor Lane; Westside of Modern , including Daryl Courts, River Road up to Dandelion Drive; Dandelion Drive (both sides of the street) to Azalea (both sides of the street) from River Road to Four O'Clock Lane; Dandelion Drive (both sides of the street) to Azalea (both sides of the street) from Four O'Clock to Iris; Helis to Jeffer from River Road to Dolores); Helis to Jeffer from Dolores to McGehee Court and Rivet Road; and Rivet Road to the St. Charles Parish line.
Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church thanks all who donated blood during the recent blood drive.
The Camardelle family extends their special thanks to those who donated at the church's blood drive in Glenn J. Camardelle's name.
The CYO is collecting toys and socks for children. For more information, call the parish office at 504.436.4459.
One year ago, the Rev. Bobby Malbrough left the position of pastor at the First Baptist Church of Waggaman to take a full-time ministry position in Metairie. Since that time, pastors in the supply group from the Louisiana Baptist Seminary have been preaching at the church, which is located at 401 Azalea Drive.
On Dec. 4, the church voted unanimously for the Rev. Francisco "Frank" Romero to serve as the new pastor, beginning Jan. 1. Romero has been active as associate pastor and youth leader in area churches. He is a student at Delgado and the Baptist Seminary in New Orleans and works at Northrop Grumman.
On behalf of the First Baptist Church of Waggaman, church member Sylvia Labat, said "We would like to welcome Rev. Frank Romero and and his lovely wife, Sharmon, and their family. He is a very busy man, and we look forward to him being our shepherd."
The women's group "Buddies" meet monthly for a craft night on the last Thursday of the month at 6 p.m. and wish to invite those interested in the community to join them.
The women's Bible study meets on Monday, followed by pot luck and quilting, crocheting and embroidery. For more information on either of these activities, call the office at 504.431.7568; Labat at 504.431.3734; or Ann Colvin, church pianist, at 985.785.6019.
Sandra Smith is a Waggaman resident who writes about people and events of community interest. She can be reached at email@example.com 504.343.6916.


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A reader writes:
I'd love to see you discuss the following on your blog: in the rhetoric of those pushing for forced contraception provision in health-insurance plans, there seems to be an implicit "fatalistic adversarialism" (to coin a phrase). When you listen to the contraception party's statements, they seem to claim "Women are being restricted from obtaining contraception by this or that employer." What's inherent in such statements is (a) an assumption that a woman employee has no where else to go for employment, that some how she is stuck with the offending employer (this is the "fatalistic" portion); and (b) an assumption that the employer, simply by not providing something for free, is somehow restricting the rights of or trespassing upon the freedom of the employee (this is the "adversarial" portion).
Where do you think this mindset comes from? Is it feigned for the sake of politics, or is it a POV genuinely held by the contraceptionists.
It's bunk. Nobody is owed contraception as "health care" so they can have consequence-free sex just as nobody is owed 2% chocolate milk as "health care" so they can be a glutton. And besides, come on: people who are allegedly desperate for contraception can get it at Wal-Mart for $9. Contraceptives are so cheap and easily available they are screwing up the water supply.
People want Catholics out of their bedroom? Great! Then they have no right to drag us in and force us to pay for what they do there. This is bullying by the God King Administration. That's all. Caesar is a jealous god.


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Marvin L. Ritter
Marvin Lee Ritter, 59, of Boyce, Va., died Thursday, July 25, 2013, at his home.
Mr. Ritter was born in June, 1954, in Winchester, Va., the son of Marshall and Carrie Ritter of White Post, Va.
He was self-employed as a construction contractor. He was an avid hunter, fisherman and golfer, and loved horse racing. He never met a stranger and everyone who knew him, loved him. He was a devoted husband and loving father.
Marvin married Robin Hutzler on April 19, 1985, in Winchester.
Surviving with his wife and parents are two daughters, Melissa D. Ritter, of Middletown, Va., and Heather N. Ritter, of Boyce, Va.; three grandchildren, Ravyn Rouse, Aydan Willis and Donovyn Willis; a sister, Karen Compher, of Inwood; a brother, Marshall Ritter Jr. and wife, Diane; nieces and nephews; and countless friends that he adored.
He was preceded in death by a brother, James D. Ritter.
There will be a viewing from 9 to 11 a.m. Monday, July 29, with the funeral to follow at 11 a.m. at Omps Funeral Home, South Chapel, with Minister Chip Smith officiating. Interment will be in Shenandoah Memorial Park, Frederick County, Va. Please view obituaries and tribute wall at www.ompsfuneralhome.com.


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Newark, N.J. -- The Browns passed on Jets quarterback Geno Smith with their No. 6 overall pick in this year's draft, and there are at least 21 reasons to suggest they made the right decision.
But Jets offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg, who worked for Browns CEO Joe Banner in Philadelphia for a decade, is still high on Smith despite his 21 picks this season -- second-most in the NFL to Eli Manning's 25 -- and four losses in his last five games for a 6-8 mark.
"I'm even more certain now than I was earlier that he could be a really good one,'' Mornhinweg told the Associated Press and other Jets reporters this week. "I don't think there's any question.''
Smith, who tumbled to the second round of the draft -- No. 39 overall -- was pressed into service when incumbent Mark Sanchez went down with a shoulder injury in preseason and has been wildly inconsistent all season. He's got only 10 TD passes to go along with his 21 interceptions, and five of those picks have been returned for touchdowns.
But Smith -- who will face the 4-10 Browns today at MetLife Stadium -- had the Jets out to a 5-4 start and engineered some fantastic finishes along the way. He became the first quarterback since the 1970 merger to lead four gamewinning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime in his first seven outings. He also broke Sanchez's club record for passing yards by a rookie and defeated the liked of New England and New Orleans in his first nine games.
"He's got skill and ability," Mornhinweg, who's coached Brett Favre, Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick, said. "He's a bright young man. We've talked about this before, but he's got instincts. So he's got a lot of things, really good things, and they show. Now, from afar or if you're not really in it, it's probably hard to see the great progress. (But) he's certainly progressed.
Smith's 62.9 rating is last among starting quarterbacks and took a beating during a seven-game stretch in which he threw one TD pass against 11 interceptions. But many good quarterbacks had inauspicious starts including Hall of Famer Troy Aikman, who went 0-11 as a rookie in Dallas with eight TDs, 18 interceptions and a 55.7 rating. Future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning threw 28 picks as a rookie and earned a 71.2 rating.
"(He's) taken some pretty good steps forward and then we've taken some steps back and then taken some steps forward," Mornhinweg said. "I felt like we had to restart almost a few weeks back."
Mornhinweg benched Smith in favor backup Matt Simms recently, but went back to him to let him work out the rookie kinks on the field. Over the last five games, he's thrown only two TDs and eight picks, but in the last two he's thrown two of each to go 1-1. He's also rushed for 94 yards and a TD on 11 carries over the last two outings and is third on the team with 274 rushing yards. He also leads with four rushing TDs.
"Everybody progresses at a different rate at really all positions, but particular the quarterback," Mornhinweg said. "There's a select few who come in seamlessly and are on, typically, fantastic football teams. There are others that, man alive, it might take a year or two. Shoot, there have been some really good quarterbacks where it's taken longer than that."
Jets coach Rex Ryan is also still bullish on his rookie quarterback, although the jury's still out as to whether or not they'll keep him as their starter for next season.
"Anytime you're starting a rookie quarterback trying to adapt to this league, it's not easy," Ryan said on a conference call Wednesday. "Geno had to get used to the three-step, five-step and seven-step drops at the pro level. Ball security was certainly an issue. Are we still making mistakes? Absolutely, but I think he's done a good job. You don't want him to be so afraid of turning the ball over that he won't pull the trigger."
Smith, who's won over his teammates with a strong work ethics and good leadership skills, acknowledged the struggle it's been.
"I've had my ups and downs," Smith said on a conference call. "This season for me has all been about progressing and getting better and just continuing to develop. I'm proud of myself for the way I've competed through the ups and downs and the leadership I've showcased to my teammates and the respect I've earned in that manner. I'm working extremely hard to get to the point where I can be a very productive player. I have full confidence I'll do so."
The Browns brought the West Virginia product to Berea for a pre-draft visit and coach Rob Chudzinski also traveled to Florida to work him out privately, along with offensive coordinator Norv Turner. Ultimately, the opted to stick with Brandon Weeden for another year instead of taking a chance on Smith or Florida State's EJ Manuel, who was drafted No. 16 overall by the Bills, the first quarterback taken.
General consensus in the organization was that the 2014 crop of quarterbacks was better and that they'd wait it out instead of half-solving their QB problem.
Instead, the Browns drafted edge-rusher Barkevious Mingo, who's second among NFL rookies with five sacks.
"We went down and spent time with Geno," Browns head coach Rob Chudzinski said. "I really like him as a person. I really like him as a player. He has a lot of things that he can do and do well. It's a process for young quarterbacks to go through, and he's in the middle of the process right now of learning and working to get better."
Browns defensive coordinator Ray Horton, who's prepared for many a rookie quarterback in his day, acknowledged that Smith has been a typical rookie.
"It's a Leon McFadden story,'' said Horton. "If you're a rookie quarterback or cornerback, teams tend to come after you, and he has had an inconsistent year. He's looked good. They beat New Orleans lately, and the team follows him. If he's having a down game, they probably struggle to win, and when he's playing well, it gives them an opportunity. But I think he's having a typical rookie year, meaning it's inconsistent."
Smith hasn't had much help from a receiver standpoint. Leading receiver is Jeremy Kerley, who has only 33 catches, 413 yards and three TDs. The only player with four TD catches is tight end Jeff Cumberland. Tight end Kellen Winslow hasn't played much and has been limited to 27 catches and two TDs. Santonio Holmes, limited by foot and hamstring injuries, has only 18 receptions and one TD.
"A lot of his weapons have been down,'' said cornerback Joe Haden, who's questionable with a hip pointer. "He hasn't really had A.J. (Green), the Josh Gordon. He hasn't had those guys to throw it to. Santonio is hurt a lot. He's a really, really good player. He just hasn't had that many weapons to get the ball to. He's doing the best he can. He's getting better as the season progresses.''
Haden acknowledged that his eyes light up at the sight of Smith's 21 interceptions.
"Especially playing corner, you want opportunities,'' he said. "Twenty-one picks – I'm not trying to knock Geno at all, but that's something that jumps out at you and makes you feel as a DB that you can get your hands on some of those balls."
The Browns have struggled at times with mobile quarterbacks this season, and know they must contain Smith, who's 5-2 at home this season.
"He's using his legs very well when he gets in trouble,'' said T.J. Ward. "He's throwing some errant passes, but you can kind of expect that from a rookie. They try to keep it simple for him. He makes the simple plays when he needs to."
Added Tashaun Gipson, who had two picks last week including one for a TD: "I think that Geno Smith is a capable quarterback. He can make the throws. Of course, he makes mistakes and on the back end you definitely want to take advantage of his mistakes that he's going to make. Hopefully he gives us some balls, puts some the balls in the air. They've been controlling him a little bit, but hopefully come Sunday they let him air it out a little bit."
Smith said he's not looking to make the Browns regret not drafting him, but they'd love to confirm they did the right thing.


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Kyle Olasin of LaPlace will participate in a three-day cycling tour to raise money and awareness for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), considered a terminal neuro-muscular disease. Olasin will be among 400 men and women who will cycle in the 11th annual Tri-State Trek, a 270-mile charity bike ride July 19-20 from Boston, Mass. to Greenwich, Conn.
"I want to ride to show support for those with ALS, and I also want to send a message to everyone that a positive mindset will get you further than an 'I can't do it' attitude."
Since 2003, the trek has grown from 16 cyclists to more than 400 participants in 2012 and has raised more than $3 million for ALS.
People interested in donating to Olasin's efforts may visit tst.als.net/kyleolasin
Library news
The St. John Library in LaPlace will hold a Super Heroes party July 10 at 2 p.m. at the main library on U.S. 90. Children ages 3-10 may attend. It is limited to the first 30 children who sign up.
Also, the library recently held its bookmark contest in April. Winners were Rahmi' Johnson, first grade, Reserve branch; Amahre' Johnson, fourth grade, Reserve branch; Hailey Hilburn, fifth grade, LaPlace; and Josie Johnson, eighth grade, Reserve branch.
Runners-up were Dasani Joseph, kindergarten, Garyville branch; and Ronald Johnson, third grade, Reserve branch.
The top winners' original, hand-decorated bookmarks are being using for the summer reading program themes, "Dig into Reading" and "Beneath the Surface."
Business group meets
St. John Business Association held its June meeting at Petra's in LaPlace.
Arcelor Mittal general manager Raymond Hawkins spoke. about the local operation and how it ties in with the global company.
Greg Maurin, a LaPlace resident, writes about people and events in LaPlace. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Lobbying Tracker
Follow Washington influence using Sunlight's Lobbying Tracker tools for keeping up with K street. Keep checking this page as we add more resources and tools to LobbyTrack.
Lobbyist registrations
The lobbying registration tracker has a new home on Sunlight's Influence Explorer, and this version may not be up to date. Check out the new real-time lobbying registration tracker for the latest updates.
Williams & Jensen for Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service
Date received: Oct. 6, 2009
Issues: Postal
Specific issue: Postal legislative issues including H.R. 22 and similar legislation
Cooper, Benjamin Y
See original filing


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(Opening statement)- "Good morning everybody. How are we doing? A couple things just to start off, a few announcements, in terms of the Pittsburgh game and last week Josh Cribbs is going to be named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week, which is outstanding and well deserved. He also won our offensive player of the game from last week. David Bowens was the defensive player of the game. Blake Costanzo was special teams [player of the week] and Titus (Brown) was the practice player of the week. Again, I can't emphasize enough how important the practice player of the week is. It was a short week, but Titus has been doing a great job so it was kind of a combination of things.
"In terms of Kansas City, I think there are a lot of similarities between where the two teams are right now. I've known Todd (Haley) for a long time. He was the offensive assistant in New York when I was the defensive assistant. I know his dad really well, Dick Haley, who is arguably one of the best personnel men in the NFL. Just getting to know Todd and working in that same capacity, even though it was on the other side of the ball, he is really smart, very, I think, innovative. He learned under Dan Henning and Charlie Weis and I see a lot of that in the offensive play calling. He's tough, in terms of what his expectations are and guys meeting those expectations. I think that even though they haven't won as many games as they would have liked, they've been in multiple games, won in overtime. A couple others they lost by six points or less. I see a lot of improvement as the season has gone on.
"Offensively, I know Matt (Cassel), [I] was there in New England when he first came in from USC and watched his development over the years. I thought he played really well against us last year when he was in New England. Matt has the ability to make big plays down the field. He has the ability, like a lot of the quarterbacks we've faced, to extend plays. His 44 rushing attempts I think is fourth behind, (David) Garrard, Aaron Rodgers and Vince Young, so he can create some plays like that. When he gets going he makes some really impressive throws. He's a smart guy, a really smart guy. I think the other thing that they've got going offensively is the running game has emerged. 5.2 yards a carry for (Jamaal) Charles. With the passing game, picking up Chris Chambers during the season, he's been a huge asset. The returner, Dwayne Bowe, with 86 catches last year, 33 before he had to sit out the four games. He's a guy that can hurt you all over the field.
"Defensively, it's really the third week in a row now we've faced a 3-4 defense. All these 3-4's we face, even though it's three down linemen, four linebackers, they're all different. Playing these guys in Arizona, playing this group of coaches in Arizona last year, one of the trademarks of that defense last year, and I see it here, is how hard the guys play, the way they pursue to the ball and they make a lot of plays, chase type plays, effort type plays, which it's coached. It was the same thing in Arizona. It's the same thing here. With Tamba Hali, I think his transition to the outside linebacker position has been a successful one. He leads the team in sacks. He creates a lot of pressure. He's going to get better as he gets more and more comfortable in that role. Mike Vrabel is a guy I've known for a long time. [He is an] Ohio native. He's right there with the rest of that group, with Rodney (Harrison) and (Tedy) Bruschi, in terms of his knowledge of the game. [He is] incredibly competitive. He could remember defenses that we ran two and three years prior and site them and give the specific play and how it worked. I imagine he'll eventually go into coaching and he'll be outstanding. I'm sure his leadership has been a good thing for them defensively.
"On [special] teams, they haven't really given up a lot of big returns at all this season. They've been excellent with their coverage units. In the return game, again with Charles, he had the 96-yarder against Pittsburgh. They blocked a punt against Baltimore, blocked another punt against Washington. [They have] done some creative things in the kicking game in terms of the fakes, two surprise onside kicks, so there's going to be a lot of areas we have to prep for there."
(On if Mike Holmgren is here today)- "No, he left, I believe, either this morning or yesterday night."
(On how his meeting with Holmgren went)- "I've known Mike for a while, not as well as maybe I know Andy (Reid) or Bill Parcells, but we actually had a good conversation at the owner's meetings a few years back. We had bought a home in Cape Cod and the importance of having one place where the kids could go every year and we were just talking about that and his thoughts on it. We actually revisited that conversation. He had given me some really good advice back then. We ended up getting the house and have been really happy with it. We talked a little bit. We visited some last year before the Seattle game, which was his last home game there. I think he's a good guy. I know him some through Andy Reid and through Bill Parcells. I thought it was a good conversation. He is obviously very talented as a coach. It was a good, positive conversation."
(On if he sensed a strong interest on Holmgren's part)- "I think this visit was something designed for both sides to get to know each other. That's really what it was."
(On if Holmgren could be a sounding board for him if he joined the team)- "I think anytime you can bring in someone with a wealth of experience as not just a position coach and coordinator, but as a head coach, it's great. It's great to have those guys. Bill Callahan was on the staff in New York and he had been a head coach and he was great. Some things come up where you're like, 'Hey what do you think about this? How would you handle it? What was your approach?' To hear another voice, it's positive. I've made calls, like Dick Vermeil, guys like that that maybe weren't on staff, but have that experience because they've been through most things. They've seen most things. They've handled a lot of different decisions. It's good to be able to bounce those ideas off somebody else."
(On if Holmgren seemed like he would take the offer to sit it on meetings and observe the team)- "We didn't really talk about that. My stance on that is really the same."
(On what he talked about with Holmgren)- "We talked about a lot of things. The team, different aspects of the season, things like that. I'm not going to go into the play-by-play of it."
(On if it is tough to trade away a veteran player)- "It always is. When you have a guy like Mike Vrabel, I mean he's a special guy. You can't coach his toughness. You can't coach his instincts. [He is] a guy that wasn't highly drafted, worked his way up. Really, we had brought him in initially as a special teams player and he established himself as a really good defensive player. Even talking to (Jason) Trusnik when he was a young guy first starting out, I talked to him about emulating a guy like Mike Vrabel whose work ethic, every day in practice [he] worked. He knew the defense, not just his assignment, knew the defense, could draw up the defense, could coach the defense. I'm telling you, I wouldn't be surprised if he's not coaching major college football or pro football at some point and be really successful. He's a wealth of knowledge."
(On Vrabel's versatility)- "He's got good hands. Mike used to be on the show team and he'd want to play safety on the show team. He'd disguise stuff. He used to frustrate Tom (Brady) to no end, because he'd disguise things. They'd go back and forth. It was great too, because it brought energy to the practice. He's get Tom all fired up. That whole show team, that whole period changes because now it goes from working on the plays to working on the plays and also wanting to throw touchdowns on Vrabel. It just increases the intensity."
(On his relationship with Scott Pioli)- "The first time we weren't together was when I went to New York as the head coach. Every other year we were together. Scott actually is responsible for me meeting Julie. On the relocation weekend to Baltimore, he was friends with Mark (Shapiro) and he was going out and he said, 'Hey, do you want to come out.' I said, 'Yeah, I'll go out,' and he said, 'We're going to meet my buddy's sister and her girlfriends and look, you can talk to any of the girls, just don't talk to my buddy's sister.' Which, of course, I sat next to her, we ended up talking and now we're married. He's responsible for that and I thank him for that. We lived together in New England when we first got there, myself and Jules and him and Dallas, so I've known him for a long time. I think he's another guy that just grinds and grinds and works. He's tough. He is demanding, all those things that you'd expect from someone who's achieved what he's achieved. Like I said, he was part of that same group of 20-20's that were here."
(On how his relationship ended up following the controversy in New England)- "I don't think there's a sense of it ever being a personal issue. It was just business."
(On if the talk of a football czar is unsettling)- "It's not unsettling at all. What I'm focused on and what I ask the players to be focused on is the task at hand, the opponent at hand. I'm really happy with the way the guys have been working. I'm happy with the progress we've made. I mean offensively, the last four games we've been the best team in the NFL in terms of not turning the ball over. That's real progress from where we've been. We've improved in almost every offensive category. It's the first time we've held two teams under 100 [rushing] yards in two years. There's good things going on and that's from everybody staying focused on the task at hand. Like I said, I'm all for anybody that can come in and help us organizationally be more successful. I think that's a great thing. The more smart people, talented people that you can put in the building, that have the same approach in terms of being focused on winning, that's the best thing you can have. You can't ask for a better situation, to get a group of people that are all focused on the same task. That's what you want. That's what you strive for organizationally. That's what you strive for as a team."
(On if he thinks Holmgren wants the job here)- "You have to talk to Mike about that. In terms of where things are, I think it was one of those meetings that was everybody getting to know each other and whatever decision is made, is made."
(On if he feels like Holmgren is an ideal candidate)- "Like I said, he has a wealth of knowledge, being a head coach as long as he was. You learn so much more about football than you do as a coordinator, because you have to see the big picture. You have to see how the fifth receiver fits into the special teams plan, how the third running back versus the third tight end versus the second fullback, how those things all fit, cutting guys, claiming guys, contract decisions. Everything is tied into everything else. You only have so many resources between draft picks, money, claiming position, things like that to improve the team. Each decision affects the other decision. I think sometimes as a coordinator or a position coach you get a little bit of tunnel vision, you see how it affects you. As a head coach, you have to see all of those things. He's got a wealth of experience, which is outstanding."
(On if he expects other candidates to interview)- "You know, Tony (Grossi), I'm really not looking to get that involved in the process. What I'm looking to do is coach the guys. That's what I want the guys to focus on, the coaches to focus on. It's Kansas City for us and that's the most important thing."
(On if there is any advantage to having a czar here before the end of the season)- "I haven't been involved in czar searches before, so I don't know what the best path is. I'm not sure what the best path is. I think the most important thing is to get the right person in place and to move forward, whether that's today, whether it's three weeks from now. Whatever point it is, the key thing is to get the right person and move forward organizationally."
(On if his coaching philosophy could mesh with Holmgren's)- "I think often times you're labeled with family trees and philosophies and things like that, but the philosophy that I think we all want is winning. Whether it's West Coast, East Coast, it's winning. Mike ran really physical, demanding training camps. I don't think there's anything inconsistent about that philosophy. His goal is to win. That's it. However you get to that point. Again, going back to Bill Callahan, one of the most attractive things about him was he brought experience in that system that we were able to incorporate offensively. Bring in Brian Schottenheimer, he's more the digit system offensively and that family tree and that was really positive. (Brian) Daboll brought, I don't know if there's any title to that offensive system, but whatever that is. Taking the best things from each component of that and building your system, I think, is the best approach."
(On if Holmgren's coaching philosophy would conflict with the type of players he is looking for)- "No, I think all coaches appreciate smart, tough, hard working guys, guys that are competitive and selfless and guys that football's important to. I think that's universal. Again, with drafting, it's the right guy and it's trying to figure out the right guy for you. Sometimes you have to appreciate a player's value, but know he's not right for you. Once you determine what's right for you then you determine the players that are right for you."
(On what was challenging about facing a Holmgren-coached team)- "It's been close to a year since we played them. I'd say there's a lot of challenging things about facing the West Coast offense. They're going to create levels, whether it's levels on the outside, levels on the inside. There's going to be quick hitting plays. There's going to be misdirection. There's going to be multiple personnel groups. All those things are components of it that come into play."
(On Jamaal Charles)- "With Jamaal, he's elusive. There are a lot of plays on tape, whether it's him as a kickoff returner or him as a running back or even him as a receiver. There's a great play where he catches, it's either a 40 or 60-yarder on (Antonio) Cromartie, was it Cromartie, it might have been (Quentin) Jammer. He's one-on-one with the corner, runs a double move, catches a great, I'm not sure if it was 40 or 60 [yards], but it was a pretty impressive catch that way. You get him into space, whether it's a check-down or screen, he can make a lot of people miss. What I really like about him is a lot of times the elusive backs aren't the most physical backs. They can make people miss. He can also run through some tackles. Each team that faces him is appreciating his ability to create plays in a couple different ways."
Transcript courtesy:
Dan Murphy
Cleveland Browns


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British favorite Cal Crutchlow will not start tomorrow's British MotoGP race after crashing in the early stages of qualifying.
The Tech 3 rider had just started his third lap when he fell at the first left hand corner. Crutchlow fell heavily on his left side and was holding his left shoulder while he was still sliding along the tarmac.
Crutchlow was stretchered off and taken to the medical centre where he was found to have fractured his left collarbone and was suffering from concussion.
The injury comes only a week after team-mate Colin Edwards broke his right collarbone during free practice at the Catalunya GP.
Again another victim of a broken collarbone in the MotoGP paddock. This is getting out of control now. The riders have all been complaining about the Bridgestone tires for not getting up to temperature quick enough and lack of feel in most of the tires. We wonder if Cal's accident was attributed also with the tires.
It is a shame that the MotoGP paddock will again shrink for this weekends British GP. MotoGP organizers please take notice and get to the bottom of all these accidents.
UPDATE: Cal is currently at Oxford Hospital having a CAT scan due to the concussion and an operation on his left collarbone. He'll be kept there overnight.
We wish Cal a speedy recovery and hope to see him back on the grid very soon.
Source | MCN


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masslive.com/news offers real-time news, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from The Republican newsroom and MassLive.com staff.
Mayor sets up casino forum
CHICOPEE - The mayor's office has sent out 200 invitations to a forum Monday on casino gambling.
Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette has invited Clyde W. Barrow to share the findings in his most recent report "Maximum Bet: A Preliminary Blueprint for Casino Gaming and Economic Development in Massachusetts." The presentation is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday at Chicopee Public Library's community room on Front Street.
"I hope the Barrow study will provide some insight into the benefits and downside of bringing casino gambling to Western Massachusetts," Bissonnette said yesterday. "I'm just trying to advance the discussion."
The presentation will come a week before the Board of Aldermen is scheduled to vote again on whether to place a nonbinding casino question on the Nov. 6 election ballot. The question asks whether voters want the city to request proposals for a casino gaming complex in Chicopee.
On Aug. 7, the board unanimously voted against a request by Bissonnette to place the question on the ballot. Since then, the mayor's office has solicited enough signatures to force the board to vote on placing a nonbinding public opinion advisory question on the casino issue. The board meets on Sept. 4.
Barrow is the director for the Center for Policy Analysis at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. His most recent report on gaming in Massachusetts was published this month. It outlines a gaming strategy for the state if the Legislature ever votes to allow casino gambling.
The report recommends three casinos in Massachusetts: one at Suffolk Downs near Boston; one in the southeastern part of the state; and one in Western Massachusetts. The economic impact would generate approximately $400 million in new gaming revenue for the state and cities and towns in the first year, along with creating about 10,000 construction jobs and more than 10,000 resort casino jobs, the report says....
View photos from all around the Pioneer Valley!


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slalom board for 7.5
what do you recommend from isionic range for 12-20 knots slalom racing (70kg, 7.5 race sail)?
RE: slalom board for 7.5
I will go for the Isonic 101..
I am 73kg and and when I have to use 7.0 to bigger sails I will take out my 101 Isonic.
It will be a good choice for sure.
Taty Frans NB-9;)
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The weather may have been soggy, but the final game of the year was dry for New York Jets fans yesterday, forced to cheer their home team to victory without cold beer in hand.
Some learned of the "no alcohol" policy from security guards as they pushed through the turnstiles at the entrance to the now-infamous Gate D pedestrian ramp at Giants Stadium. Others read the news on concession stand signs. Many football fans were disconsolate.
"We want beer!" a disgruntled crowd chanted at half-time, as they surveyed a fleet of blue-uniformed State Police troopers and yellow-clad stadium security guards.
Security surrounded the newly gated-off Gate D ramps, or "spirals," where a very different chorus was heard during previous home games -- shouts from hundreds of men gathered there as part of a half-time tradition, loudly demanding the few women standing nearby flash their breasts. But in more vulgar terms.
The harassment, which has been captured on YouTube and included a groping incident, drew a swarm of media attention in recent weeks that prompted stadium officials to crack down. At yesterday's last home game, some hooting fans were verbally defiant of the increased security, saying it was all for show and they had no intention of returning to their seats.
While alcohol was served during the Giants-Patriots game on Saturday, the no-beer policy for Jets fans during yesterday's 4:15 p.m. game against the Kansas City Chiefs -- which the Jets won 13-10 in overtime -- was part of a response by stadium officials to the recently-spotlighted misbehavior at Gate D. The policy was enforced inside Giants Stadium, where both the Jets and Giants play.
Stadium authorities also increased security in the parking lots during tailgating, and limited access to the Gate D spirals from five minutes before the end of the second quarter until the start of the third quarter, according to the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which operates the stadium.
Senate President Richard Codey, D-Essex, who said he recently asked authority officials to review their fan control policy, praised the security response as he stood on the mezzanine at Gate D, calling it a "smoke-out."
"There's a little too much drinking," Codey said. "If you can't act responsibly, we don't want you at the game. Don't ruin it for everyone around you."
Read more in Monday's Star-Ledger.


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|Sacramento Valley Food Hub
A project of Soil Born Farms and Community Alliance with Family Farmers
Our vision to get more healthy locally grown food into the community through this hub mechanism has garnered a lot of interest from regional partners. We are currently working on next business planning steps with Sacramento Area Council of Governments. Stay tuned!
Read the Final Report: Establishing a Food Hub for the Sacramento Valley


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AUBURN, Alabama – For those still looking for a sentimental way to remember the famed Toomer's oaks, how about growing one of your own?
Several thousand clones of the oaks, grown from the very shoots that remained of the trees, are on sale.
Dr. Gary Keever, who works in Auburn University's Department of Horticulture, gathered cuttings after the oaks were poisoned, but his work was kept secret because the shoots were not guaranteed to survive, according to The Auburn Villager.
"They immediately collapsed; there was simply too much poisoning in them," Keever told the Villager.
But last summer, after the oaks had been cut down for good, he returned for more cuttings.
After more than a year of constant care – three-times-a-day irrigation, fertilization, pruning – more than 2,100 trees are available for purchase.
The trees cost $125 apiece, and each comes with a certificate of authenticity, information about the trees and instructions on care.
The funds raised will go to the Thomas H. Dodd Jr. Endowed Professorship in Horticulture at Auburn.
Anyone interested in buying a tree should call Amanda Nims, the development coordinator for the College of Agriculture, at 334-844-1475 or Heath Hoffman at 334-844-4660.
Read the full story from the Villager here.
In May, Auburn declared the soil at the corner, which was poisoned in 2010, safe from contaminants, clearing the way for Auburn to plant new trees in the area after a month-long excavation process at the site.


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Police fired multiple shots inside a Jersey City apartment building after a dog attacked an officer, authorities said.
At around noon yesterday, Jersey City police were conducting a search warrant in a three-story apartment building at 1162 Summit Ave., according to Jennifer Morrill, spokeswoman for Jersey City.
While police were attempting to execute the warrant, an officer was bitten by a dog and fired his weapon, Morrill said.
No one was injured, Morrill said, although there was no mention of whether the dog that attacked the police officer was injured or killed.
A tenant in the building, who declined to give his name, said the sound of seven gunshots coming from the third floor jolted him awake.
"It sounded like a war zone," the tenant said. "I didn't know where to go."
The tenant said the people on the third floor recently moved in, adding that he believed that they owned pit bulls.
He said that although there were large dogs in the apartment, they never seemed to cause any problems.
A female shop owner in an adjacent building, who declined to give her name, said big dogs are known to go in and out of the apartment building, but that she has never known them to cause issues.
The investigation of the shooting is being handled by the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office, as is the protocol whenever police officers discharge their firearms, Morrill said.