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Actress Amanda Schull shares 'Suits' scoops and style tips
Show and Tell
When it comes to appointment television, we've got pretty high standards: characters must enjoy frequent verbal sparring, plots must center around a multi-million dollar law firm, and, most importantly, outfits must consist of high-end designer labels.
Suits fits all that to a luxurious, silk-blend tee. So, when we got word that actress and Punahou graduate Amanda Schull was returning to the USA Network original series as senior associate Katrina Bennett, we just had to chat. Read on for Amanda's inside scoop on her character's amazing clothes, style tips, favorite places to shop, and more.
What can we expect from your character this season?
Katrina is a very strong woman. She's not afraid to make enemies and butts heads with Mike (Ross, fellow associate) in particular. She's very determined to make a name and place for herself at the firm. Unfortunately, some people don't appreciate her place as much she does!
Everyone is always so impeccably dressed! What labels do you wear on the show?
The women who do the wardrobe (for Suits) are the best I've ever worked with. They know what looks right on which bodies and have all my outfit choices hanging on a rack when I walk into the room. One of the designers they like for my character is Burberry, and the look is always very form-fitting. One dress I wore was like a second skin – I could barely pull it off my body! I also wear a lot of Gucci and my shoes are from Alice and Olivia.
Did you pick up any style tips?
A designer label really makes a difference – the tailoring and quality is amazing compared to knock-offs and bargains. Everything is so sleek. But the ultimate tip I use into my own life is that tailoring a piece can turn a decent outfit into an extraordinary one. On Suits, they tailor every single piece impeccably. If you spend a little bit of money to make that pencil skirt just a little more snug and a little bit higher, it will elongate your body and make a world of difference.
Any fun moments on set?
There are quite a few giggling fits. When we're doing a dramatic scene, it can get really serious and wordy with all the legal jargon, and then someone breaks down and we all start laughing because it's just so contagious. Also, almost everyone on the show has a dog and they all bring their dogs to work. Gabriel (Macht, Harvey Specter) has a really adorable Shih Tzu named Lucky. Last time I was there, Lucky was running around wardrobe and decided to relieve himself right in front of the dressing room! I couldn't believe it.
Photo credit: Lara Solanki for Lifetime.
What else are you working on?
I did a movie that will be airing on Lifetime this Saturday called Hunt for the Labyrinth Killer. I'm a lawyer in that one as well, but my character, Shelby Cook, is much more emotionally charged. Her father is accused of being a serial killer and she has to defend him in court.
Where do you like to shop when you come back to Hawaii?
My mom and I were just dicussing our shopping strategy this morning! It sounds silly, but we could spend hours at Ala Moana Center. I love it because there are so many designer stores in one place, whereas Los Angeles is so spread out, you have to drive to different neighborhoods and malls to visit them. I also go to Place in Nuuanu. The owner, Mary Philpotts, is a family friend and she always has unique and interesting work by local artists in her shop.
What else do you like to do?
I take my niece to the farmers' market (at Kapiolani Community College). We love to go around and taste all the local flavors, especially the fruits, vegetables, and jams. I love OnoPops – I went to high school with (co-owner Joe Welch). Before he started the business, he showed up at my girlfriend's house for a potluck dinner and had everyone move their cars out of the driveway so he could plug in his truck. Turns out, he brought an entire freezer of OnoPops! We had free reign over every flavor and it was so good. I like to be naughty and get the Kona coffee one.
People still recognize you from Center Stage. Do you still dance?
Not professionally, but I do dance recreationally for exercise. When I'm not working, I'll take classes three to four times a week. Plus, I still keep in touch with all my San Francisco Ballet friends and my mom is the president of Ballet Hawaii, so I stay involved with the dance community that way.
Catch Amanda in Suits tonight at 10 p.m. on USA Network and in Hunt for the Labyrinth Killer this Saturday at 5 p.m. on Lifetime. Follow Amanda on Twitter @AmandaSchull1. Suits publicity stills courtesy of NBCUniversal.


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Once you enter the Big Tent of Apple, it's exceedingly hard to find the exit.
Over its 33-year history, Apple has consistently elected to limit consumer choice, creating a situation known as "lock in." As soon as you start buying stuff from Apple, you'll find it difficult to move to products made by someone else without losing everything you've already paid for.
Of course, many people don't want to leave Apple's tent. After all, it's filled with iPhones and MacBooks and other cool stuff. And Apple is hardly the only business that tries to lock in customers–wireless carriers (including Apple partner AT&T) are probably the worst offenders. Nor is Apple the only vendor to use one product as leverage to push others onto consumers (let's declare Microsoft the champion there).
But no other technology company exercises the same amount of control over what its customers can and can't do with the things they bought. Part of this approach is due to Apple's deep belief that a closed digital ecosystem with limited options benefits both Apple and its customers. Part of it is due to an all-consuming desire for control on the part of the ringmaster, otherwise known as Steve Jobs.
The bottom line: Apple makes great products, but its marketing practices limit your choices and cost you more money. Here are five classic examples of how the company has done it.
1. iPod and iTunes
When the iPod arrived in fall 2001, followed by the iTunes Music Store in spring 2003, few early adopters realized the commitment they were making by buying their media player and their media from the same source.
Due to Apple's digital rights management setup, until April 2007 any music you bought from iTunes could play in only three places: on an iPod, within registered iTunes software on a limited number of computers, or on certain Motorola phones (that nobody bought).
If you wanted to move the songs you bought at a buck apiece to a cheaper player from a competing manufacturer, you had two options: an onerous process in which you burned your songs to a CD and then reripped them as MP3s, or quasilegal software that essentially did the same thing using your hard drive instead of a disc.
The last vestiges of DRM-protected music vanished from iTunes two years later. Apple offered to remove the DRM from the music that iPod owners had already bought, as well as to bump up the sound quality, for an additional 30 cents a track. (Gee, thanks, Apple.) Of course, movies and TV shows sold on iTunes are still copy-protected and cannot be legally converted to a DRM-free format.
Locking content to hardware cost consumers money–especially when first-, second-, and third-generation iPod batteries began failing. Consumers could either shell out the cash for a new iPod or pay Apple as much as $100 (plus shipping) to put a new battery in their existing device. In June 2005 Apple settled a class-action suit filed by iPod battery victims, offering a $50 voucher toward future Apple purchases (excluding downloads) and another year of warranty support.
Over the last three years, consumers have filed multiple antitrust suits against Apple alleging that the tight connection between the iPod and iTunes constitutes a monopoly; these have been consolidated in a federal class-action suit currently under way in Northern California [PDF].
Daring Fireball blogger John Gruber acknowledges Apple's lock-in advantage with iTunes, but echoes what many Apple supporters often claim: The company's hands are tied by content providers.
"When you buy a movie through your Apple TV, and the movie is in a DRM-protected format that will not work on home theater systems from other companies, it makes you less likely to switch," he says. "But what choice does Apple have? They can sell DRM-protected movies, or they can sell no movies at all."
Actually, Apple has at least two other choices. It could license its Fairplay DRM technology to other hardware manufacturers and allow multiple devices to play media purchased on iTunes, as Amazon does with its video-on-demand service. Or it could use its market power to push for one of the industry-wide DRM schemes proposed by Disney, Sony, and other parties. (Given the close ties between Steve Jobs and Disney, though, Apple might eventually endorse the digital rights scheme that the Mouse House favors.)
2. iPhone and the App Store
It's sad but inescapable: If you want a sexy iPhone in the United States, you also have to date its ugly stepsister, AT&T. Your alternatives? Take your chances with iPhone unlocking software (and hope that Apple doesn't release an OS update that turns the phone into a brick), or move to Europe, where you have a somewhat broader choice of carriers. Locked (though heavily subsidized) phones are an unfortunate fact of life in this country, a situation not unique to the iPhone.
The iPhone's software shop, on the other hand, is a dictatorship. Apps for the iPhone are available only from the App Store in iTunes. And North Korea's Kim Jong-il has nothing on the people who run the App Store, whose decisions about what apps may be sold seem more capricious as time goes on. Apps that duplicate (or improve upon) features available from Apple or AT&T are strictly forbidden–hence the ongoing controversy over Google Voice, an application that would allow VoIP calls over the iPhone, if only Apple would approve it.
iPhone owners have had the option of jailbreaking the handset, which allows them to install apps not approved by Apple while voiding the warranty (see the dangers of unlocking, above). With changes that Apple has made to the iPhone 3GS, however, jailbreaking may no longer be possible.
Apple claims that jailbreaking the iPhone violates its copyrights and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Digital-rights organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation beg to differ.
The EFF's Fred von Lohman argues that iPhone owners should be free to tinker with their phones, especially when they can add capabilities that App Store programs don't yet provide. He notes that "the courts have long recognized that copying software while reverse-engineering is a fair use when done for purposes of fostering interoperability with independently created software, a body of law that Apple conveniently fails to mention."
By comparison, things are slightly different for the open-source mobile OS Google Android, whose owners can buy apps from multiple online stores (including AppVee, Handango, and MobiHand). Android apps also undergo an approval process; Google says about 1 percent of apps are rejected. Still, according to Wired, several iPhone developers booted from the App Store are opting for the friendlier environs of Google's mobile OS, which some say allow them to be freer with both the OS code and the phone features when they're creating apps.
With each major mobile platform developing its own app stores, more differences may emerge. As its competitors grow in popularity, the iPhone App Store may have to relax some of its restrictions or risk driving away more developers.
3. Mac Computers and Mac OS
Ever since the Second Coming (aka the return of Steve Jobs to Apple in 1997), the Mac has been a tightly controlled, closed system. The result? High prices and limits on the options you can get with Mac hardware.
For example, you still can't buy an Apple machine with support for Blu-ray drives. And although Apple has cut prices–in part due to some aggressive Microsoft marketing–the average Mac still costs some $900 more than the average Windows PC, according to the latest figures from The NPD Group's retail tracking service.
"The Mac showcases the traditional lock-in method of tying software to hardware," says Rob Enderle, principal analyst with The Enderle Group. "This is the act of making the OS and certain core software inexpensive or free, and subsidizing it by high-margin hardware. It's a classic misdirection, and it works as long as there isn't a third party who can compete with a more reasonably priced package (which is what Psystar is trying to do)."
Psystar's attempts to market hardware capable of running the Mac OS have resulted in an ongoing legal battle between it and Apple; few observers give Psystar much chance of winning that fight.
The main advantage to the marriage of Apple hardware and software is "a unified source of service," notes Jake Widman, who has written about Apple for two decades, most recently for bMighty's blogs. "You made everything in this box; you fix it."
Reopening the Mac OS to third-party manufacturers, as Apple did in the mid-1990s, might lower prices but increase support pain, Widman adds. "I recently compared the cost of a Psystar with that of a Mini (and the old Mini, before the recent bump), and ended up wondering how much hassle one was willing to put up with in order to save $120."
Has the closed Apple ecosystem resulted in more-reliable, better-supported systems? Apple has traditionally fared well in consumer hardware-reliability surveys (including PC World's). This year, however, Apple fell to a distant second behind netbook maker Asus in reliability data collected by Rescuecom, an independent customer-support vendor. Recent glitches with the Snow Leopard OS and performance problems with the newly introduced iMacs also suggest that the Mac platform could be losing its purported quality advantage.
4. Installed Software and Extra, Unwanted Apps
Apple has a history of taking advantage of its iTunes-iPod/iPhone headlock to promote its other products and services. For example, in March 2008 many Windows users were surprised to find Apple's Safari browser installed on their systems–a little gift left by the latest iTunes update.
At the time, Mozilla CEO John Lilly lit into Apple for the practice. "It undermines the trust relationship great companies have with their customers, and that's bad–not just for Apple, but for the security of the whole Web," Lilly wrote.
After enough people complained, Apple made an infinitesimal change, creating a "new software" category in its update app but leaving installation as the default.
In July 2008 Apple's iTunes update began quietly installing the company's MobileMe online data-sync service without any notification to the user.
In September of this year, Windows blogger Ed Bott noted that again Apple tried to use updates to an existing software program (Boot Camp) to install an iPhone Configuration Utility, even though he had never used an iPhone. Apple subsequently removed that program from its Windows Update utility. To this day, if you update the QuickTime video player, it will also look to install iTunes, regardless of whether you've ever owned an Apple device.
With the exception of MobileMe, which costs $99 to $149 a year, none of these software programs generate revenue for Apple. But they do serve to pull users further into Apple's ecosystem.
5. Shoes and Spies
In March 2007, Apple applied for a patent on technology that allowed it to pair a garment with an electronic sensor, as it had done with the Nike iPod Sport Kit. That kit allowed owners of Nike shoes to track their speed, mileage, and other data on their iPods. Apple's objective in the patent: to prevent users from removing the sensor from the Nike shoe and putting it into shoes from a different manufacturer–what New Scientist's Paul Marks called "DRM for your wardrobe."
Two months later the company filed for a patent on technology that would prevent Apple devices from accepting a charge during certain circumstances. This tech would prevent a thief from recharging your iPhone or iPod, but it could also keep you from charging the device if you tried to sync it with an "unauthorized" PC. And last August the company filed for a patent on sensors that would record "customer abuse events" on Apple products; the data from these sensors would presumably be used to deny warranty repair claims by documenting damage that was the customer's fault.
Apple is certainly within its rights to patent such technologies; what these applications show, though, is that there is seemingly no limit to what the company wants to control.
Many such lock-in examples exist, to be sure, and we'd like to hear yours, in the comments below.
The question is, do Apple fans care? Widman, for one, says, "Choice is overrated. As a consumer, I'm more interested in something that works."
It's a reasonable argument–but also a costly one. Is it really worth it?
When not outraging the Apple faithful, Contributing Editor Dan Tynan tends his geek-humor empire at eSarcasm. He would also like to point out that, no matter what you might think, he is not a Microsoft Fanboy.

subset: commoncrawl


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Julia Gillard Prime Ministership ended on Wednesday (26/6/13) and it worth looking at the role social media played in her down fall as a lot of people underestimate the power of social media. Looking at all of the evidence there is a strong argument to say that social media played the biggest part in forcing the Labor Party to remove Ms Gillard from office.
If you have heard the quote from Julia Gillard "I was young and naïve" in relation to her involvement in the AWU fraud it is because of social media and if you use social media you would have heard "there will be no carbon tax under the government I lead" to the point of driving you insane. I raise these two examples because one started on this site and they are sound bites that have been used on Twitter, Facebook and the comment sections of Blogs non-stop over the last 2 years.
The mainstream media have found it hard to explain why Julia Gillard's personal unpopularity dragged down the Labor Party vote so much. The answer is social media and its rise and rise in power.
It was not just the mistakes that Julia Gillard made and promises that she back tracked on or lied about. It was the fact that every mistake or lie, real or not, was pounded and pounded on social media 24hours a day, 7 days a week and 52 weeks a year for the entire term of her prime ministership on social media.
What is social media?
Wikipedia describes it as "Social media refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks" and "Social media technologies take on many different forms including magazines, Internet forums, weblogs, social blogs, microblogging, wikis, social networks, podcasts, photographs or pictures, video, rating and social bookmarking" (Click here to read more) It includes everything from Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Blogs.
Young and Naïve
Two weeks before the 2007 election Julia Gillard did an interview with News Ltd journalist Glenn Milne in relation to her involvement with her then in the AWU fraud in the 1990's. One thing she said was that she was "young and naïve". That is where it stopped until I published a post on the 7th August 2011 and wrote:
Julia Gillard said: "These matters happened between 12 and 15 years ago," "I was young and naive." Well Julia Gillard was a partner at the law firm Slater and Gordon and in her mid thirties. Slater and Gordon are not in the habit of appointing young and naive people as partners and being in her mid thirties hardly made her young. (Click here to read the post)
From there social media starting driving the post and quotes from it until the mainstream media picked up on it. One example is a site called Election Now which did a post on the 26/8/11 "Julia Gillard 'young and naive' when involved in $1 Million Union fraud case in 2007". and "UPDATE: Michael Smith of 2UE and Andrew Bolt appear to run with the kangaroocourtofaustralia." (Click here to read)
The point is for some 4 years from 2007 to 2011 the mainstream media said nothing. It did not take off until I wrote the post and it was driven by people on social media. Because of social media millions of people now know of her "young and naïve" excuse which was ridiculous as well as the broader AWB scandal. It is sound bites like "young and naïve" that can do the most damage to a reputation and drive an issue. Political Parties use sound bites or slogans all the time for good reason.
The above is just one example of the numerous amounts of information on Julia Gillard's failings that are driven home on social media whether or not the mainstream media do. Only a few years ago there were very few Blogs and no Facebook or Twitter but now they are here they are growing at a rapid pace and there reach and influence is unmatched when enough unite. And unite they did against Julia Gillard.
There are dozens if not hundreds of websites/blogs that specialise in areas such as climate change (Joanne Nova), finance (Barnaby is Right) and this site for example which is judicial corruption. A lot united to some degree in deciding that Julia Gillard and/or the federal Labor Government were a failure. Blogs linked back to each other and picked up on each other's stories even if the mainstream media did not. It was like a loose coalition with the same cause of holding the government and Julia Gillard to account just in different areas of expertise.
Combine the traffic of all the non-mainstream media Blogs that write about politics and it would be millions of page views per month and then add Facebook and Twitter etc. and you are looking at 20 to 30 million views a month. It is a powerful force when exposing a corrupt government and Prime Minister.
It does not matter who wins the next election whether that be Kevin Rudd or Tony Abbott. They will be getting the same treatment as Julia Gillard on social media and will become very unpopular very quickly. One lie here and one failure there and the social media will unload unrelentingly. The problem for someone like Tony Abbott if he becomes Prime Minister is that there is so much entrenched corruption when he takes over he have to deal with it. If Tony Abbott fails to deal with the corruption then he owns it and will be held accountable accordingly on social media.
Julia Gillard has only been gone a few days and it is almost like she was never there as far as the media is concerned and that is because there are bigger issues confronting this country than Ms Gillard now she has gone. If the political parties do not learn from her downfall and the role social media played in it then they will also suffer. There is a new level of accountability driven by social media which grows by the day and the political parties need to get with the picture. Just sending trolls out to dump their political spin in the comment sections of political websites and blogs will not do.
Individually social media users have no power, but combined they have tremendous power that I believe now outweighs the mainstream media. It is as Paul said in the comment section of a recent post about this site "This is the real media, right here. Its time everyone accepted this and stopped looking to the dailys, and the TV News to be informed. Make this site known far and wide. That is how new media works."
A few posts back someone said in the comment section words to the effect "what are we going to do just sit around and whinge on this site and do nothing" which is a fair comment. But this site and its supporters have played a part in holding Julia Gillard and the government to account which collectively with other social media has helped in Julia Gillard's downfall, so we have done more than just whinge.
Admin: This site is funded by myself, both time wise and monetary wise. The 2013 federal election is not far away and I will be trying to work full-time on this site as much as possible beforehand to try to drive issues and do interviews etc. If you would like to help it would be greatly appreciated if you make a donation using the bank account details below or click on the button to donate via PayPal.National Australia Bank Account Name: Shane Dowling BSB: 082 / 140 Account Number No: 122 243 908
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Categories: Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd, Tony Abbott


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Hello friends! I hope everyone had a great weekend! Hubby and I spent the weekend doing some organizing and cleaning, bye bye dust bunnies! I can tell you that Will doesn't need another stuffed animal. We have run out of room for any more stuffed animals, yet I bet we will continue to buy them for him!
I always love Monday's since I have the opportunity to introduce you to a fabulous reader, what would we bloggers do without our readers? I have the great pleasure of introducing you to Kellie of Women's Life Link. Kellie is a one of those bloggers that amazes me, she has 6 kiddos and yet has an amazing blog that offers fabulous help for Women, she is truly a resource for all issues related to women. I knew why I instantly liked Kellie when she said that she is a huge fan of Alias, I never missed an episode, secretly I think in another life I wish I was a CIA agent. Now go grab a cup of joe and come back and get to know my friend Kellie, you won't be sorry!
Kellie R. Stone, founder/administrator for Women's Life Link
I am the mom of six - all fantastic in ways that I don't have room to list here. My oldest daughter will be a quarter of a century old this December (that's a reality check) and is married to a fellow sailor in the U.S. Navy. The other grown daughter (23) is currently in Cosmetology school and loving every minute of it! In the middle, I have two teen daughters (17 and 13) who try to tolerate each other only when they want to borrow each other's things. My boy is 12 and loves to cook, play video games, and irritate his sisters. Gotta love his unique ability to live with all these girls and survive. On the other end of the age scale, there is my Missy Moo. At 15 months, she is on her way to being either a rock star or a prima ballerina...or a blogger =).
How did you start blogging?
Several years ago I began to envision an organization that allowed women to network and share their experiences, beauty tips, health awareness, and their creative journeys. I had some health challenges through that time so it never really got off the ground as a "live" women's group. However, I never let the dream leave my mind and heart. When I met my daughter's boyfriend (a web developer and SEO specialist), he spoke to me about blogging and how to obtain a web presence that could eventually bring an income for me. I have always loved writing and sharing my thoughts with others; it seemed to be a natural fit. It took about a year after that conversation, but Women's Life Link was finally launched in March of this year. I've been dedicated to making it a vital blog ever since.
What is your parenting philosophy?
Well, after parenting for almost twenty-five years, I hope that I've got something to say about it. The first thing I learned is that no mother is perfect (especially me). And whenever I try to be, it always backfires in the form of rebellion and over-the-top competition amongst my children. They need to know that it's OK to make mistakes...and so does every parent. Second, the best thing I can do for them is know their strengths and their weaknesses, their passions, and their fears. When we truly understand who our children are as people, we can then gently lead them into a productive, fulfilling adulthood. And third, I had to learn how to love them. We all have different love languages, according to Gary Chapman, author of the Five Love Languages and many other books on the subject. Children, especially young ones, don't care about the complications of the world; they just want to know that you love them and need that love to reach them on their level. For that matter, the older ones are much the same; they just care more about gaining independence and finding their place in the world. Lastly, they will always need me no matter how old they get.
What is your blogging philosophy?
Though I haven't been at it long, I have developed a sense of who I am as a daily blogger. Women need to know that other women care, feel, think, create, love, hate, make mistakes, and even royally screw up from time-to-time. It is my job to portray a real person with a real life. And if I can make that interesting and occasionally amusing then I've succeeded as a blogger.
You will never find me without...
My coffee, my laptop, my lip gloss, my phone, ibuprofen, and normally my toddler; in which case, I would not be without at least one diaper, wipes, and some sort of snack food. As well, I try not to leave my brain, my wit, and my patience behind.
Day job:
At this time, I consider myself to be a SAHM who happens to be a writer (aspiring novelist), a blogger, and a Journey Coach. I've been doing the latter for years but just haven't received an income from it. Eventually, I hope to attract some "paying clients" through the blog and other means of promotion. I will also continue to do pro-bono work for women who can't afford the service. My areas of specialty are wellness, beauty, image consulting, self-awareness, and confidence building.
Favorite Stuff:
Music: I love Jazz, Blues, Piano instrumentals, and any artist who has written lyrics worth listening to, (like John Mayer, Gavin Degraw, Norah Jones, Led Zepplin, Evanescence, Michael W. Smith, and so many more.
Food: I could live on Asian food. Sushi and Chinese rice are my favorites. I would kill for the world's last piece of Tirimissou and often salivate for caramel popcorn. And if someone ever does away with coffee, I'd would become something inhuman.
Tv/ Movies: My all-time favorite TV show is Alias. I've watched the series three times all the way through; it never gets old. Currently, I enjoy all three of the CSI's, Secret Life (watch it with the teens), Fringe (can't wait till it starts again), Ghost Hunters, and random design shows on HGTV (I was an interior designer in my past life). =) As far as movies, you can pretty much gather from my TV list that I like the paranormal genre, crime/psychological thrillers, and detective dramas; among my faves are, Deja Vu, Butterfly Affect, Somewhere In Time, Frequency, Man on Fire, and 13 Going on Thirty (the whole time travel thing is pretty cool).
Reading: Again, I enjoy the thriller genre; Dean Koontz is my hero. I like Stephen King, Sandra Brown, and Lisa Gardner. Also, I try to read as many self-help books as I can, and the occasional decorating book slips in there.
If you had to wear a T-shirt with your favorite saying on it what would it be?
Honestly, I really hate wearing T-shirts that say things; I think people are staring at my boobs. But if I had to, I guess one that said "Inspired" would be OK.
Favorite stores to shop at:
Well, if I have the rare opportunity to buy clothes for myself and the ability to afford them, I'd be at The Limited, Banana Republic, Forever 21, or DSW. For home furnishings, I love Pier One, Pottery Barn, and stores that carry Moroccan style decor.
If you could trade with a blogger for the day who would it be?
I would trade with Genny at My Cup to Yours because she was one of the first bloggers to befriend me when I was brand spanking new and she is so gifted, Tammy from A Mom in Red High Heels because she has the inside scoop on a mom's beauty needs and a smokin' following, and there's Amy from A Bitchin' Wives Club; she is so free and hilarious (potty mouth...but who cares) with every post whether its about her recent surgery or a piece of clothing that she hates. Frankly, I give every woman credit who puts themselves out there on the web. Go Bloggers!!!
Other good stuff from Kellie:
One thing I've learned about women is that not every thing is always as it seems. So, just when I think someone is happy, or sad, rich, or poor, successful, or in the gutter, I take a step back and try not to base my opinion on what the surface may be presenting to me. I always try to give friendship time to grow and for the special people in my life to emerge from the crowd one day at a time. I hope to meet more fabulous women on my blogging journey. Be well-be beautiful.
Please be sure to leave some comment love for Kellie in this post and visit her site at Women's Life Link.
If you would like to be a featured reader (now don't be shy) please send me a email to firstname.lastname@example.com with a link to your blog. If you are a regular reader and I haven't asked you about being featured shame on me, send me an email licky split!


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Debugging a Firefox freeze on Ringtail and Sid
I recently went on an upgrading spree on my main computer. In the hope of getting more up-to-date libraries, I updated my Ubuntu to 13.04 "Raring Ringtail", and Debian to unstable "Sid". Most things went fine -- except for Firefox.
Under both Ringtail and Sid, Firefox became extremely unstable. I couldn't use it for more than about fifteen minutes before it would freeze while trying to access some web resource. The only cure when that happened was to kill it and start another Firefox. This was happening with the exact same Firefox -- a 21.0 build from mozilla.org -- that I was using without any problems on older versions of Debian and Ubuntu; and with the exact same profile. So it was clearly something that had changed about Debian and Ubuntu.
The first thing I do when I hit a Firefox bug is test with a fresh profile. I have all sorts of Firefox customizations, extensions and other hacks. In fact, the customizations are what keep me tied to Firefox rather than jumping to some other browser. But they do, too often, cause problems. I have a generic profile I keep around for testing, so I fired it up and used it for browsing for a day. Firefox still froze, but not as often.
Disabling Extensions
Was it one of my extensions? I went to the Tools->Add-ons to try disabling them all ... and Firefox froze. Bingo! That was actually good news. Problems like "Firefox freezes a lot" are hard to debug. "Firefox freezes every time I open Tools->Add-ons" are a whole lot easier. Now I needed to find some other way of disabling extensions to see if that helped.
I went to my Firefox profile directory and moved everything in the extensions directory into a new directory I made called extensions.sav. Then I started moving them back one by one, each time starting Firefox and calling up Tools->Add-ons. It turned out two extensions were causing the freeze: Open in Browser and Custom Tab Width. So I left those off for the time being.
Disabling Themes
Along the way, I discovered that clicking on Appearance in Tools->Add-ons would also cause a freeze, so my visual theme was also a problem. This wasn't something I cared about: some time back when Mozilla started trumpeting their themeability, I clicked around and picked up some theme involving stars and planets. I could live without that.
But how do you disable a theme? Especially if you can't go to Tools->Add-ons->Appearance?
Turns out everything written on the web on this is wrong. First, everything on themes on mozilla.org assumes you can get to that Appearance tab, and doesn't even consider the possibility that you might have to look in your profile and remove a file. Search further and you might find references to files named lightweighttheme-header and lightweighttheme-footer, neither of which existed in my profile.
But I did have a directory called lwtheme. So I removed that, plus four preferences in prefs.js that included the term "lightweightThemes". After a restart, my theme was gone, I was able to view that Appearance tab, and I was able to browse the web for nearly 4 hours before firefox hung again. Darn! That wasn't all of it.
Debugging the environment
But soon after that I had a breakthrough. I discovered a page on my bank's website that froze Firefox every time. But that was annoying for testing, since it required logging in then clicking through several other pages, and you never know what a bank website might decide to do if you start logging in over and over. I didn't want to get locked out.
But then I was checking an episode in one of the podcasts I listen to, which involved going to the link http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/moreorless/rss.xml -- and Firefox froze, on a simple RSS link. I restarted and tried again -- another freeze. I'd finally found the Rosetta stone, something that hung Firefox every time. Now I could do some serious testing!
I'd had friends try this using the same version of Firefox and Ubuntu, without seeing a freeze. Was it something about my user environment? I created a new user, switched to another virtual console (Ctrl-Alt-F2) and logged in as my new user, then ran X. This was a handy way to test: I could get to my normal user's X session in Ctrl-Alt-F7, while the new user's X session was on Ctrl-Alt-F8. Since I don't have Gnome or KDE installed on this machine, the new user came up with a default Openbox session. It came up at the wrong resolution -- the X11 in the newest Linux distros apparently doesn't read the HDMI monitor properly -- but I wasn't worried about that.
And when I ran Firefox as the new user (letting it create a new profile) and middlemouse-pasted the BBC RSS URL, it loaded it, without freezing.
Now we're getting somewhere. Now I knew it was something about my user environment.
I tried copying all of ~/.config from my user to the new user. No hang. I tried various other configuration files. Still no hang.
The X initialization
I'll skip some steps here, and just mention that in trying to fix the resolution problem, so I didn't have to do all my debugging at 1024x768, I discovered that if I used my .xinitrc file to start X, I'd get a freezy Firefox. If I didn't use my .xinitrc, and defaulted to the system one, Firefox was fine. Even if I removed everything else from my .xinitrc, and simply ran openbox from it, that was enough to make Firefox hang.
Okay, what was the system doing? I poked around /etc/X11: it was running /etc/X11/Xsession. I copied that file to my .xinitrc and started X. No hang.
Xsession does a bunch of things, but one of the main things it does is run every script in the /etc/X11/Xsession.d directory. So I made a copy of that directory inside my home directory, and modified .xinitrc to execute those files instead. Then I started moving them aside to see which ones made a difference.
And I found it. /etc/X11/Xsession.d/75dbus_dbus-launch was the file that mattered.
75dbus_dbus-launch takes the name of the program that's
going to be executed -- in this case that was x-session-manager, which
links to /etc/alternatives/x-session-manager, which links to
/usr/bin/openbox-session -- and instead runs
/usr/bin/dbus-launch --exit-with-session x-session-manager.
Now that I knew that, I moved everything aside and made a little
.xinitrc that ran
/usr/bin/dbus-launch --exit-with-session openbox-session.
And Firefox didn't crash.
So it all comes down to dbus. I was already running dbus: ps shows /usr/bin/dbus-daemon --system running -- and that worked fine for everything dbussy I normally do, like run "gimp image.jpg" and have it open in my already running GIMP.
But on Ringtail and Sid, that isn't enough for Firefox. For some reason, on these newer systems, Firefox requires a second dbus daemon -- it shows up in ps as /usr/bin/dbus-daemon --fork --print-pid 5 --print-address 7 --session -- for the X session. If it doesn't have that, it's fine for a while, and then, hours later, it will mysteriously freeze while waiting for a network resource.
Why? I have no idea. No one I've asked seems to know anything about how dbus works, the difference between system and session dbus daemons, or why any of it it would have this effect on Firefox.
I filed a Firefox bug, Bug 881122, though I don't have much hope of anyone being interested in a bug that only affects Linux users using nonstandard X sessions. But maybe I'm not the only one. If your Firefox is hanging and you found your way here, I hope I've given you some ideas. And if anyone has a clue as to what's really happening and why dbus would have that effect, I'd love to hear from you.
[ 20:08 Jun 09, 2013 More linux | permalink to this entry | ]


text:
TORONTO – Even after his amazing week, this one took Linsanity to a whole new level. Against Toronto on Tuesday, it was Lin for the win!
Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with less than a second to play to cap his finishing flurry of six straight points and New York rallied to beat the Raptors 90-87, extending its winning streak to six games.
"I'm just glad it went like this so we can calm the Linsanity down," cracked Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni.
No chance of that. The NBA's first American-Taiwanese player, Lin scored 27 points and added a career-high 11 assists in his first game since being named Eastern Conference player of the week.
"He continues to impress every night," New York's Jared Jeffries said. "Every game he plays better, he does more and more to help us win basketball games. You can't ask any more of a kid coming into this situation."
While he's the one standing in the spotlight, Lin said sharing success with his teammates is as big a reward.
"It's not because of me, it's because we're coming together as a team," Lin said. "We started making these steps earlier but we were still losing close games and so obviously it wasn't fun. But when you win, that solves a lot of problems. We've been winning and we've been playing together."
Making just his fifth career start, Lin had no hesitation in taking the decisive shot.
"I'm thankful that the coach and my teammates trust me with the ball at the end of the game," he said. "I like having it at the end of the game. I'm just very thankful."
The season-high crowd of 20,092 roared as Lin shot over Jose Calderon and drained a pull-up jumper from the top with half a second to play, giving the Knicks their first lead since the opening quarter.
D'Antoni declined to call timeout before Lin's winning shot, saying it would only give the Raptors time to draw up their defense. Even so, D'Antoni was impressed with the calm and confidence Lin showed in letting the clock run down.
"You just watch and you're in awe," D'Antoni said. "He held it until five tenths of a second left. He was pretty confident that was going in, no rebounds, no nothing. That ball was being buried."
Toronto's Rasual Butler airballed his attempt at the buzzer as the Knicks swarmed their newest hero at center court.
"The kid made a great shot," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "(Calderon) had to give him space or he was going to give up a driving path and (Lin) made a tough shot."
But Casey was left steamed at his team's failure to hold a lead, especially after the Raptors made nine turnovers in the final quarter.
"It should not have come to (Lin's) play," Casey said. "We had some many boneheaded plays to get to that play and to make that play relevant. We should have taken care of business before that."
Amare Stoudemire returned from a four-game absence with 21 points and Tyson Chandler had 13 for New York.
Calderon scored 25 points, Linas Kleiza had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and DeMar DeRozan scored 14 for the Raptors.
Up 75-66 to start the fourth, Toronto widened its lead with a three-point play by Barbosa before the Knicks stormed back with a 10-0 run, cutting it to 78-76 and forcing the Raptors to call timeout with 6:22 remaining.
Kleiza stopped the run with a driving layup, Amir Johnson added a hook shot and, after Lin made one of two from the line, Barbosa's layup made it 84-77 with 4:49 to go.
Toronto led 87-82 with less than two minutes to go when Iman Shumpert stole the ball from Calderon and drove in for an uncontested dunk. After a missed shot, Lin completed a three-point play, tying it at 87 with 1:05 left.
Barbosa missed a 3 for Toronto and, at the other end, Shumpert missed a jumper but Chandler grabbed the rebound. Lin took the ball near midcourt and let the clock run down to 5 seconds before driving and pulling up against Calderon to launch the decisive shot, touching off the latest instance of Linsanity.
"(Calderon) was trying to push me left," Lin said. "He was giving me a little bit of space. I just tried to take it down as low as I could. I figured it's probably not going to be possible to get to the basket with the help that they had."
Calderon was surprised to see Lin pull up for the game-winner.
"I thought he was going to drive," Calderon said. "That's why I tried to give him his left hand but he made a great shot."
Calderon was held scoreless in the final quarter, with D'Antoni crediting Shumpert for keeping the Toronto guard in check.
"He did a great job," D'Antoni said. "Shump got on Calderon and changed up everything."
The Raptors had a photo of Lin on their team website in the hours before the game, and his visit generated major interest among Toronto's Asian community, estimated at over 280,000 people, or more than 11 percent of the local population. The Chinese Canadian Youth Athletics Association and the Taiwanese Canadian Association of Toronto both sent groups of almost 300 fans as Toronto sold out for the second time in 13 home games. One group of fans in the upper deck wore white T-shirts spelling out his name.
Not all the fans were so positive: Lin was booed several times throughout the game.
Local media also took note; some 75 reporters and 16 cameras packed a Tuesday morning press conference to hear Lin speak, with dozens more turned away to prevent overcrowding. More than 25 Chinese Canadian journalists were due to cover the game, including one who presented Lin with a book of "Year of the Dragon" stamps from Canada Post and asked him to record a message in Mandarin, which he did.
Even D'Antoni was shocked by the size of the throng upon walking in Tuesday morning for his turn at the microphone.
"Are we in the playoffs now?" D'Antoni joked as he made his way to the front of the room.
It was Calderon, coming off a career-high 30 points in Sunday's loss to the Lakers, who was hot early, scoring 12 points in the first as the Raptors led 28-21 after one. Lin missed his first shot and didn't score until a driving layup with 3:46 left in the first. He had four points and four assists in the opening quarter.
Lin turned the ball over on three straight possessions early in the second and Toronto took advantage with a 6-0 run, widening its lead to 13 points. He also missed a running bank shot as the half ended as the Raptors took a 47-36 lead into the break.
Stoudemire scored seven points and Lin had six points and four assists as the Knicks scored 30 points in the third, but still trailed 75-66 heading into the fourth.
NOTES: Lin matched a career high with eight turnovers. ... Stoudemire returned after missing the past four games following the death of his older brother, Hazell, who was killed in a car crash. ... Raptors G Jerryd Bayless (left ankle) missed his third straight game. Casey said Bayless could be available for Wednesday's game against San Antonio. ... Before the game, Chandler presented Casey with his NBA championship ring. Both were with Dallas last season when they beat Miami. ... Carmelo Anthony (right groin) missed his fourth straight game. ... New York's 17-point comeback was the biggest by a Toronto opponent this season. ... Musician and actor Steven Van Zandt watched from a courtside seat.


text:
Based in the Hiroshima region, an area famous for making needles, Tulip has a history of making the needles that their customers rely on. Since their founding in 1948, they have primarily manufactured sewing needles, crochet hooks and knitting needles. The needle sets made for the home economics classes of elementary schools compromise the top share in Japan, and Tulip brand crochet hooks have been exported to more than 40 countries globally for many years.
Tulip needles are made through a process consisting of over 30 steps, using traditional needle-making techniques that have been handed down through generations of skilled Tulip needle craftsmen, each of whom has an almost stubborn obsession with quality. At the same time, while making full use of the "cutting, grinding and polishing" technology used in their needle manufacturing that they have accumulated through the years, they are also constantly striving to achieve new technical innovations in order to develop and produce products that are not only of the highest quality, but also make positive contributions to society.


text:
Introduction Storage is one of those things that we can never get enough of, both in capacity and in performance. This article is going to compare a large set of RAID performance data and perhaps debunk some storage myths. I ran a large set of tests for my Intel ICH8R hot-swap platform and compared it to other RAID solutions on the market. See gallery of performance numbers here. I also want to give a special thanks to Eugene of StorageReview.com, who let me use a large set of RAID performance data on other non-Intel RAID controllers. I've been a longtime fan of StorageReview.com, which offers in-depth storage articles and performance databases.
Hardware and software configuration:
- Intel DG965WH G965-based motherboard
- On-board Intel ICH8R Southbridge 6-port RAID controller
- Intel Core2 Duo E6600 2.4 GHz dual core CPU
- On-board G965 graphics
- Four Seagate ST3500641AS-RK 500 GB 7200 RPM SATA-II HDD
- AMS DS-3151SSBK hot-swap pass through SATA cage
- See this blog entry for photos of this system
- Windows Vista x86 OS
- IOMeter for testing storage performance
As you can see from the throughput chart, the RAID5 (with four drives), all out sequential performance is out of this world at 218 MB/sec (1.744 gbps) read and 193 MB/sec (1.544 gbps) write, which comes second only to "Quad," which is four standalone drives being driven by four independent workers in IOMeter. As you can see, there is a computational cost to pushing gigabit throughput with parity calculations. At peak RAID5 sequential write throughput, the Intel 2.4 GHz dual core processor is pushed to a whopping 32% CPU utilization. [UPDATE 1:45PM - Note that the high CPU utilization ONLY applies to all out RAID5 writes at a blistering 193 MB/sec. All of the server-oriented I/O performance benchmarks in the next few pages never caused the CPU to go above 3%.]
This would have been completely impractical before the era of cheap commodity dual-core CPUs, and it would have used almost all of the CPU resources on a Pentium 4 3 GHz processor. It used to be that to get any kind of decent RAID performance, you had to buy a hardware RAID controller costing hundreds of dollars. A decent 8-port RAID controller capable of delivering anywhere close to this level of performance would have cost about $300. But with cheap dual core processors from both Intel and AMD costing just over $100, the era of cheap, high-performance software RAID in the sub 8-port market is upon us. As Intel and AMD move quad core processors into the mainstream next year, we'll begin to see software RAID solutions threatening the hardware RAID business at 8 ports and beyond.
With a capacity of 1.5 terabytes in a cheap hot-swap configuration, this is a superb solution for a business or a home. 1.5 terabytes is enough to store a 250-movie DVD library or 119 hours of miniDV (Standard Definition Digital Video) or HDV (1080i High Definition Digital Video). This also makes a massive high-performance fault-tolerant file server for a business.
<Next page - Why RAID10 (0+1) superiority is a myth>
Why RAID10 (0+1) superiority is a mythAs much as we love raw sequential throughput, it's almost worthless for most database applications and mail servers. Those applications have to deal with hundreds or even thousands of tiny requests per second that are accessed at random on the hard drives. The drives literally spend more than 95% of the time seeking data rather than actually reading or writing data, which means that even infinite sequential throughput would solve only 5% of the performance problem at best. The use of extent-level striping in MS SQL Server allows even distribution of data and workload. The kind of storage performance that matters most for these applications is I/O (Input/Output) transactions per second, and it heavily favors read performance over write at a typical ratio of 80:20.
The widely accepted assumption in the storage world has been that RAID10 (or 0+1) is the undisputed king of the hill when it comes to I/O performance (barring RAID0 write I/O performance because of unreliability in RAID0), and anyone questioning that assumption is considered almost a heretic within many IT circles. This is all based on the assumption that applications are incapable of using more than one storage volume at a time or that it shouldn't be done.
In my last career before I became an IT blogger last year with ZDNet and TechRepublic, I was an IT consultant, and storage engineering was part of my job. I worked with a Fortune 100 company that used SAP with Microsoft SQL Server 2000 on the backend. The SQL transaction times were getting so slow that they even considered building a whole new database server. I looked at the performance data and saw that the CPU never went above 10% utilization, and memory was nowhere near capacity. The choke point was the storage subsystem, which is almost always the culprit in database applications.
The storage subsystem was a high-performance SAN using a 20-drive RAID10 array comprising 10K RPM native fiber channel hard drives on a 1-gigabit FC (fiber channel) SAN. The knee-jerk assumption was that an upgrade to 2-gigabit would solve the performance problem, but I offered a non-conventional solution. The storage industry now pushes 4-gigabit FC SAN because that's the easy number to market. I knew that even during peak loads during the day, the raw throughput on the database server never exceeded 200 mbps, let alone one gigabit. The problem was the use of RAID10. I suggested using independent sets of RAID1, which was hard for the team to swallow, and it took some time for me to convince them to try it. It went against all conventional wisdom, but I was lucky to have a boss who trusted me enough to try it, and it was my neck on the line.
I replaced the massive 20-drive 10K RAID10 array with 8 pairs of RAID1 consisting of 16 15K RPM drives. The new 15K RPM drives had roughly a 10% I/O performance advantage over the 10K RPM drives they were replacing, but there were 20% fewer of the newer drives -- which meant that drive speed was more or less a wash. The biggest difference would be the RAID configuration. Microsoft SQL Server fortunately permits seamless distribution of its data tables among any number of volumes you can throw at it. The use of
row-level extent-level striping in MS SQL Server allows even distribution of data and workload across any number of volumes, and I used that simple mechanism to distribute the database over the 8 pairs of RAID1.
[Update 7/28/2007 - Microsoft has corrected me that it's extent-level striping instead of row-level striping. An extent is a 64KB block of data which is the smallest unit of data.]
As a result of this change in RAID configuration, the queue depth (the number of outstanding I/O transactions backed up due to storage congestion) dropped a whopping 97%! This in turn resulted in a massive reduction in SQL transactions from a painfully slow 600ms per transaction to 200ms per transaction. The result was so dramatic that it was hard for everyone to believe it during the first week. They had thought that perhaps there was some mistake or anomaly and that this might be due to a drop in usage, but doubts subsided as time went on and the performance kept up. Even the engineer from the storage vendor who initially doubted the effectiveness of this solution became a believer after he ran some tests to verify that the load evenly distributed across the 8 RAID1 pairs.
But even with this success under my belt, it was always an uphill battle to convince other companies and their IT staff to consider using independent RAID1 volumes over RAID10. A big part of the problem was that Oracle lacked the ability to seamlessly split a table evenly over multiple volumes. It was still possible to divide up the location of the hundreds of tables that made up a typical database, but it required manual load measurements and manual distribution, which is something that many DBAs (database administrators) refused to do. It also required annual maintenance and a redistribution of tables because workloads change over time. Without extent-level striping, it becomes a question of whether the DBA and IT department want to deal with the additional management overhead.
For something like a Microsoft Exchange Server, you're required to have multiple mail stores anyway, so having multiple RAID1 volumes fits naturally into an Exchange environment. Too many Exchange administrators follow the RAID10 advice, and it results in a massive waste in performance.
The other major obstacle I had to overcome was the fact that most storage consultants believe in RAID10 (or even RAID5, which is horrible on write I/O performance) because this was conventional wisdom and they weren't in the mood to listen to my heresy. So instead of trying to argue with them, I'll just present the following quantitative analysis comparing the various types of RAID.
<Next page - Performance comparison of various RAID type>
Performance comparison of various RAID typesRead I/O performance with the Intel ICH8R controller
[Update 5/5/2007 - Note that this image and the next 3 images were updated. I had to shift the results for 2xRAID1 to the right by a factor of 2 and shift the "four drives" result to the right by a factor of 4. This is to account for the fact that I had 2 and 4 times more threads (more IOMeter workers) than the other single volume results, which is the equivalent of 2 and 4 times more depth on the outstanding queue. This didn't change the standings but narrowed the gap in performance.]
As you can see, 2xRAID1 (two pairs of RAID1) and four independent drives are the fastest I/O performers. The red and blue lines actually run so close together that the red line blots out part of the blue line. The four drives were put there for reference only, since you wouldn't actually use it in a server environment for lack of redundancy. 2xRAID1 achieved the best scaling while losing half the capacity to redundancy. RAID10 was a distant runner-up, and RAID5 was the worst 4-drive RAID solution. The orange line on the bottom merely shows the baseline performance of a single hard drive. It's clear that independent sets of RAID1 beat every other type of RAID, so long as you can make use of the additional volumes, which is trivial for most server applications. This is why my 8-pair RAID1 solution for that Fortune 100 company had such dramatic results.
Write I/O performance with the Intel ICH8R controller
When it comes to write performance, 2xRAID1 came in as the best 4-drive RAID solution again, and RAID5 was a distant last, dipping far below single-drive performance. If you're wondering why RAID1 has just over half the write I/O performance as read I/O, it's because RAID1 allows individual drives in the mirrored pair to read information while write operations must be synchronized.
Comparison of 4-drive read I/O performanceIncludes data from StorageReview.com for non-Intel controllers
This chart shows the Intel-based ICH8R solution flying high above the pack when two pairs of RAID1 are used. Note that this particular chart includes the use of "half stroking," which is only the first half of the drive platter being used. The half stroking is responsible for part of the performance game but boosted the results by only roughly 18%. The ICH8R running RAID10 configuration is nearly identical to the other RAID controllers, and you can barely see its line hidden behind the 3Ware performance line. I used this half-stroked 2xRAID1 configuration to illustrate the maximum potential in a production environment. When we go to an 8-drive or 16-drive comparison, the difference in performance between the independent RAID1 pairs and the single-volume RAID array grows even wider.
Note: The previous charts used 32KB read/write I/O transactions, whereas this chart and the charts below use the "File Server" data pattern. The File Server pattern uses 512-byte to 128KB but most heavily weighted toward 4KB transactions.
Comparison of 4-drive write I/O performanceIncludes data from StorageReview.com for non-Intel controllers
In write performance, the delta is even greater, and independent RAID1 sets continues to excel. One thing that stands out in this chart is the fact that the Intel ICH8R controller in RAID10 is far ahead of the pack running RAID10. Note that these numbers may not be directly comparable since I didn't run the tests on the LSI, 3Ware, and Silicon image controllers, and they may not have had WriteBackCaching turned on.
<Next page - RAID controller comparisons>
RAID controller comparisonsThis page contains a mix of my data and data from StorageReview.com for non-Intel controllers.
RAID10 File Server read I/O performance
This comparison shows how RAID10 performance between the four controllers is nearly identical.
RAID10 File Server write I/O performance
Intel seems to spike up above the pack for write performance. This may be due to WriteBackCaching, which benefits the Intel ICH8R on RAID0, RAID10, and heavily benefits RAID5 throughput. WriteBackCaching actually harms RAID1 sequential throughput performance.
RAID5 File Server read I/O performance
Intel ICH8R RAID5 performance was excluded because the File Server pattern wasn't run for this test. The 32KB results for the ICH8R are slightly below the rest of this pack but would have probably had similar results if a File Server pattern was used.
RAID5 File Server write I/O performance
Intel ICH8R RAID5 performance was excluded because the File Server pattern wasn't run for this test. The 32KB RAID5 write results are still significantly higher on the ICH8R, but that may be due to the WriteBackCache.
<Next page - LSI Logic, and 3Ware, and Silicon Image RAID performance>


text:
Flying over the Bering Sea.
Moving food.
Apparently coffee is not as well known in China as it is in Seattle.
Whoops - pants split.
Hutong area not too far from my hotel.
Very nice lady who let me take her picture.
This guy kept waving the dog at me until I took his picture.
I'm thinking this is not a genuine copy of Windows.
In a silk shop.
The new China.
That's right - those are scorpions on a stick. And they're alive. And moving.
It's the lighter trifecta - Saddam, Bin Ladin, Audrey Hepburn.
Cooking at the night market. I have no idea what any of these things are. Nor did I eat any of them.
Some sort of slug things, grasshoppers, centipedes on a stick at the night market.
We saw this same picture over and over at restaurants. Yum?
Yup. Duck's tongue.
At the silk market.
Love this artwork at the silk market.
In front of the hotel.
This was the broadcasting booth for the 2008 Olympics.
My Aussies & me: Doug, (me), Ken.
The bird's nest.
Birds nest up close. It was very cool.
Shuilian & Xin who showed us around Beijing & took us to the Birds Nest.
Doug & Ken inside the Birds Nest.
Inside the Birds Nest.
The stadium where the swimming competition was held.
Ken & Amy.
That's are cut up cucumber in vinegar.
In the arts district.
For some reason, this surprised me.
After they shot this pic, they told me this was a girl I was kissing. Whoops. Heh.
Loved this piece.


text:
All Red Pepper Quilts patterns are now also available here:
Friday, January 8, 2010
Bricks and Stones Quilt Pattern
All Red Pepper Quilts patterns are now also available here:
34 comments:
Congratulations! That's ONE beautiful quilt!!!ReplyDelete
Just ran over to Etsy and purchased! Love the quilt, Rita! See, now I'll have the quilt to keep for myself (when I win it!) and can be kind a make one for someone else. :-)ReplyDelete
Rita-Congrats on your first accomplishment for the New year. I just purchased the pattern on ETSY, and of course I have all of the fabric in my esty store. But of course, I still would very much love to win the one you made, it would be such an honor to have your work in my collection. Plus one of my new years resolutions is to finish my UFO's so I don't know when I'll ever be able to start a new quilt. Love the quilt, love the fabric, lover the pattern! Great job, very inspirational.ReplyDelete
congratulations on reaching such a major goal!!! it is fantasticReplyDelete
Congratulations to you for writing this pattern! What a beautiful design and as you know I think your work is wonderful! Best of luck to you in your pattern writing endeavor. Off to Etsy!ReplyDelete
Whoa Rita....been busy!:) That sure is a nice way to start the new year!:)ReplyDelete
Love the new profile picture and header pic....one day I hope to own a RPQ!!:)
Congratulations on writing your first pattern. As a fellow pattern writer, I know how great it feels to bring your vision to life to share with others.ReplyDelete
Oh I'm so glad! I'll order one come pay day!ReplyDelete
Loved it.Must get some more practice before I tackle this, though. Within a short time, I hope.ReplyDelete
I have been wanting to do a quilt like this! I'm a new quilter!ReplyDelete
I think it's beautiful!
I am so happy you chose Brick and Stones as your first pattern!! It is amazing!! Congratulations! Humm, I wonder, should I wait until after Monday to buy the pattern?ReplyDelete
Just incredible. Congratulations! I'm putting this on my list for sure.ReplyDelete
Congratulations on your accomplishment...especially in such a short time! I'm headed to Etsy now. Actually, my first time to purchase anything, ever on Etsy. Still wouldn't mind winning your giveaway though!ReplyDelete
Love the quilt! The fabrics really make this quilt pop!ReplyDelete
That is one very pretty quilt. Count me in!ReplyDelete
Rita , A thousand congratulations . That first leap into patterns really makes your head hurt - but it will get easier.... The quilt looks beautiful.ReplyDelete
How exciting Rita! Can't wait to see all your quilts as patterns :-)ReplyDelete
Congratulations Rita! I know how tricky it is and fantastic that you have the first quilt pattern down.ReplyDelete
Congratulations on writing your first pattern and achieving a new year's resolution so early on in the year. Your quilts and your blog are truly inspirational - I never would have started my own blog in December without you and the bloggers you like to read have become some of my favourites too.ReplyDelete
Woohoo! How exciting! Congrats on already meeting a goal for 2010!ReplyDelete
Congratulations on your first pattern - we are fortunate that you are sharing your expertise, too!ReplyDelete
Awesome quilt. Off to etsy...ReplyDelete
My what a beautriful quilt! You are so amazing! Thanks for letting us in on the drawing as well.ReplyDelete
Well done Rita!! I can't wait to get my hands on a copy...heading over to etsy now xReplyDelete
Thanks so much for making your pattern available on Etsy. I couldn't click through fast enough to purchase it! So now, even if I don't win your giveaway I can make one of my own. Maybe I'll cut in to those fabulous feedsack reproductions I've been hoarding....ReplyDelete
Your quilt is awsome and beautiful and I would really enjoy winning it. I have only been reading blogs for a few weeks and have really enjoyed reading the sewing blogs.ReplyDelete
Lynn in TX
Patterns are not easy to write. Good for you!ReplyDelete
well congratulations! I thought about writing a pattern for the airplane quilt I've created and working on but when I mentioned it to hubby, instead of saying, cool, I got a funny look. Then he said, I don't think it's all that special. Thanks hun. Good for your support system! I'm just going to have to teach hubby he was wrong for me. Maybe in 2011, though. ;)ReplyDelete
Congrats on your first pattern! Thank you for your detailed instructions, I think this will be a perfect project for me. Thank you also for the tip re moving the needle position if you don't have a 1/4" foot, that will certainly make life easier!ReplyDelete
Wonderful Rita. This quilt is lovely!ReplyDelete
well done! I'm so happy to see you will be writing quilt patterns and pdf! woohooReplyDelete
well done on taking the leap and I know you'll be successful!
The pattern looks wonderful. Writing a pattern is still on my to do list! I can't believe I missed out on the quilt giveaway. I guess it doesn't count that it's not the 11th yet in the USA! LOLReplyDelete
Congrats on writing your first pattern. The quilt is lovely.ReplyDelete
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French Textbooks
Browse New & Used French Textbooks
C'est fantastique! Even a Francophile will be impressed with these finely planned and structured French Textbooks. Learn it all - everything from formal French to the latest hip lingo. For the first time, learning French is fun and even easy. You learn words and phrases the same way you learned your native tongue as a small child. And although you won't be aware of it, this learning method is scientifically researched and planned to help you learn quickly and retain what you learn. You remember new vocabulary and pronunciation, mentally retaining it without grueling hours of study. Nothing is dull or repetitious in these exciting French college text books. (Quel heureux!) And all this fabulous knowledge is available in used textbooks as well, so you can learn French on a serious budget. For cheap textbooks can be thrifty and valuable learning tools. Before you realize it, you will be reading and speaking French like a native. You'll be able to order from sophisticated restaurant menus and converse with French friends and acquaintances with ease, without consulting French textbooks. And you won't need to carry around a French dictionary or constantly refer to your cell phone's online language sites for help. You will be proud to use the French vocabulary you have mastered, and you'll be able to recall new French words without difficulty. In other words, you'll be ready to go to France and speak like the French do. (Bon voyage!)
Is French not the subject you are looking for? You can buy geometry textbooks or find other textbooks by subject and buy or sell them on the marketplace.


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HPE 1 TB Internal HDD - 3.5" - Entry - SATA 6Gb/s - 7,200 rpm
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Additional information
|0.1 lbs
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Order Your Hot Stuff Dog Leash Today! Check below for matching accessories
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VLC media player 1.1.7
VLC (VideoLAN) is a multi-platform multimedia player. It can read DVDs, VCDs, MPEG, and DivX files and from a satellite card. It can also read a stream from a network sent by the VideoLAN Server or another source. The stream can be MPEG 2 TS in UDP or HTTP packets unicasted or multicasted on an IPv4 or IPv6 network.
Download: VLC media player 1.1.7 | Other Versions
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For the fifth year, Delta State University has received major funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks in American History and Culture program. Funding will allow the Delta Center for Culture and Learning to offer two week-long workshops focusing on the Delta's rich cultural heritage in June and July of 2014. Each workshop will serve 40 K-12 teachers who will come from Mississippi and all over the U.S.
Dr. Luther Brown, director of the Delta Center for Culture and Learning said, "The last time we did this we had over 400 applications, with participants coming from 47 states. This is a very exciting workshop and we hope to draw applicants from all of Mississippi and the rest of the country."
Classroom teachers and librarians in public, private, parochial and charter schools, as well as home-schooling parents are eligible to participate. They will receive a stipend to assist with expenses and gather with leading humanities scholars and Delta State staff to develop powerful lesson plans relating to the Delta's heritage and the heritage of their own home regions.
The workshops are titled "The Most Southern Place on Earth: Music, History and Culture in the Mississippi Delta." Participants will travel throughout the Delta as they visit sites where significant events occurred. They will discuss and learn about issues involving civil rights and political leadership, immigrants' experiences in the Delta, the Blues, the great migration, agriculture, and the Mississippi River, among other things. They will sample Delta foods, visit local museums and listen to the Blues. Field trips will roam as far as Greenville, Greenwood, Clarksdale and Memphis, with stops in between.
Participants can earn five graduate semester hours upon completion of the workshop.
Workshops will be held the week of June 22 and the week of July 13. Each begins on Sunday evening and runs through the following Saturday afternoon.
The Delta Center for Culture and Learning promotes the understanding of the heritage of the Mississippi Delta. It is the manager of the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area, a partnership between the people of the Delta and the National Park Service. The Center will be assisted during the workshops by faculty from the University of Mississippi, Sam Houston State University, the University of Memphis and other institutions of higher learning. Local Delta citizens will also tell their own stories and experiences.
There are only 17 Landmarks in American History and Culture topics offered during 2014. Their topics range from The American Skyscraper, to The Cold War Home Front in Southern California, to Crossroads of Conflict: Contested Visions of Freedom and the Missouri-Kansas Border Wars, with several workshops focusing on the Civil Rights Movement. A complete list can be found at http://www.neh.gov/projects/landmarks-school.html.
For more information about the Landmarks in American History and Culture workshops, visit the center's website at http://deltacenterforcultureandlearning.com/neh-workshop/ or contact the DSU Delta Center for Culture and Learning at 662-846-4311.
Caption: Dr. Luther Brown, director of the Delta Center for Culture and Learning, with Dr. Julia Nguyen, a program officer at the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington D.C. Nguyen is originally from Natchez.


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Apple iPhone 7 Plus 5.5 128GB ROSE GOLD GSM Unlocked AT&T T-Mobile Smartphone. Item Is In Excellent Condition. This item will not be in the original packaging and includes a Brand New Non OEM MFI certified power cable and UL approved power adapter. Fully functional with T-Mobile, AT&T, Jolt Mobile, Cricket Wireless, Go Smart Mobile, Metro PCS, Mint Mobile, Speed Talk, and other GSM Networks.It has been fully tested and is in excellent working order. The brightest, most colorful iPhone display yet. Almost everything you experience with your iPhone comes to life on its display. Its where you look at the photos, messages, news, and countless other things that make up your day. The iPhone 7 display uses the same color space as the digital cinema industry, so what you see will be noticeably more brilliant and vibrant.
Because we all deserve a bit more brightness in our day. When you use 3D Touch, your iPhone responds with subtle taps. So not only will you see what a press can doyoull feel it. The new Retina HD display on iPhone 7 deeply integrates 3D Touch throughout iOS. Two cameras that shoot as one.
IPhone 7 Plus doesnt have just one entirely new camera systemit has two. The same 12 MP wide-angle camera thats on iPhone 7 works with a 12 MP telephoto camera that can get even closer.That means you can get higher-quality zoom from farther away. And with an all-new depth-of-field effect (coming soon), portrait shots will look better than ever. Say hello to the worlds best photo op. Built to be water resistant. With its entire enclosure reengineered, iPhone 7 is the very first water resistant iPhone. So now youre protected like never before against spills, splashes, and even dust. The most powerful chip ever in a smartphone. IPhone 7 is supercharged by the most powerful chip ever in a smartphone.
Its not just faster than any previous iPhoneits also more efficient. Thats because the A10 Fusion chip uses an all-new architecture that enables faster processing when you need it, and the ability to use even less power when you dont. And with the longest battery life ever in an iPhone, you can work at twice the speed of iPhone 6 and still enjoy more time between charges. 3G Data Capable, 4G Data Capable, 4K Video Recording, Accelerometer, Ambient Light Sensor, Barometer, Bluetooth Enabled, Dual Rear Cameras, Fingerprint Sensor, GPS, Gyro Sensor, HDR Display, Internet Connectivity, MMS (Multimedia messaging), NFC Connectivity, Rear Camera, Retina Display, Speech Recognition, Streaming Video, Vibration, Video Calling, Water-Resistant, Wi-Fi Capable, Wireless Charging. 2G, 3G, 4G, Bluetooth, Dual-Band, GPS, NFC, Wi-Fi.
Please give us a chance to resolve any issues before posting a feedback. Changed your mind and don't want the item anymore? We back our products with a 60-DAY SATISFACTION GUARANTEE! Item must be in the original condition as it was received. Mobile phones and tablets MUST be restored to factory setting.
If your order arrives incorrect or the package is damaged in result of a carrier company, you must notify us within 4 days of receipt. Defective items will be credited only after matching the serial number with the one in our records. We are aware of all fraud cases and have all the items details in our records. We cannot be responsible for lost damaged packages. Monday - Friday : 9:30AM - 5:30PM Eastern Standard Time.
The item "Apple iPhone 7 Plus 5.5 128GB ROSE GOLD GSM Unlocked AT&T T-Mobile Smartphone" is in sale since Thursday, September 27, 2018. This item is in the category "Cell Phones & Accessories\Cell Phones & Smartphones". The seller is "buyspry" and is located in Gaithersburg, Maryland. This item can be shipped worldwide.


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State police say a 7-year-old Texas girl drove her family's damaged vehicle for about three miles for help after it crashed, killing her father.
State police Capt. Jimmy Glascock said 40-year-old Guillermo Montes of Bovina, Texas, was thrown out Saturday night when he apparently lost control of the vehicle on N.M. 77 and it rolled, coming to rest in a Curry County field.
His daughter, Elizabeth Kazza, realized he was dead, and drove for help until a passing motorist spotted her, Glascock said.
"(It took) a lot of courage. ... It's remarkable anybody could drive after something like that," Glascock said.
Authorities found Montes dead at the scene.
State police said Elizabeth told officers her dad was driving to Clovis, N.M., about 25 miles from Bovina, to get beer when they crashed.
A state police news release Tuesday evening said alcohol was a factor in the crash. Glascock said beer bottles were found at the scene, and that Elizabeth and her younger brother said Montes was drinking as he drove.
Police said Elizabeth and her 4-year-old brother were treated for minor injuries at a Clovis hospital and were turned over to their mother.


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It is only natural to expect some sort of animal encounter when one visits the vast continent that is Africa. And even though I prefer to travel without too many expectations these days, I would be telling a fib if I were to claim that I was not at all excited about seeing the animals that inhabit this region.
Images of cheetahs, elephants and giraffes, of lions and antelopes and zebras, of leopards and hippopotamuses, flashed before me during the 15 hour flight from New York City to Johannesburg a few days ago. And of course, I also thought of…penguins. Penguins?
Maybe I am telling a slight fib after all. The idea of observing some African penguins was admittedly not an idea that I spent much time dwelling on before the trip. At first, when I noticed that penguin spotting was on the itinerary, I believe I thought to myself, 'Penguins in Africa? Sounds nice.' And then I returned to thinking about lions and giraffes.
On the second day of my stay in South Africa, our small group of bloggers left our hotel and headed east with our guide Shaheed, traveling along the brilliantly stunning coastline that stretches out towards the Cape of Good Hope. Our main destination was Boulder's Beach, an area that is home to dozens of African penguins living in the wild.
And little did I know that this one experience would completely alter my view of these adorable black and white seabirds. Less than 2.8 seconds after we pulled into the small beachfront car park, spending time with penguins no longer sounded just 'nice'. Instead, observing African penguins actually waddle around, sit on their eggs, bellow out their donkey sounds (umm, penguin sounds I guess) and cuddle with each other on the beach and in the bushes, was infinitely more fascinating to me than I ever would have imagined.
We spent a good hour or so walking along the coastline, because, it turns out that watching penguins in the wild does not get old at all. You might think that once you've seen one penguin pop out of the ocean, waddle up a small sand dune and then playfully peck his wife's buttocks a few times, you don't need to see any more.
But again, I wanted to see more. 'Keep pecking!' I would shout. Actually, I did not shout anything, but that's what I was thinking as it all seemed surreal to be so close to these birds.
I really became a penguin addict.
In fact, I became so addicted to penguins that I went ahead and adopted one.
The day after our visit to Boulder's Beach, our group began the morning with a visit to a place called SANCCOB, or the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds. This centre is THE place for injured or displaced seabirds to be taken, not only in Capetown, but in all of Africa and even the Southern Hemisphere.
The work they do here, whether it be nursing sick penguins back to health in order to release them back into the wild, responding to oil spills and coordinating the efforts to save the affected wildlife or caring for seabirds that are simply too frail or injured to survive on their own, is more than impressive.
You can't help but respect not only the organization, but the passionate staff and team of international volunteers who keep this centre operating year round. And that is why, after being given a thorough tour of the premises, which included some time hanging out with their resident rockhopper penguin (which is not native to Africa and which somehow popped up on the South African coast one day), I had only one thing on my mind.
So, let me now introduce you to my penguin. His name is Elephant, and yes, I named him myself.
Unfortunately, however, adopting a penguin is not quite the same as adopting a child. With penguins, you do not get to take them home with you, which is probably a good thing considering that I don't have an actual 'home'. I'm sure many people try, probably by attempting to place their penguin in their jacket pocket and sneaking out the back door, but it really is not recommended, nor wise.
As adorable as your adopted penguin may be, trust me when I say that your penguin is much better off in the capable hands of the SANCCOB staff than at your home in New York City or Berlin or Melbourne or wherever it is you may live. Once your penguin is brought back to full health at the rehabilitation centre, it will then be released back into the wild, where it truly belongs.
I know what you're thinking. 'The penguins in the Jim Carrey film Mr. Popper's Penguins looked happy to be living in a big city apartment,' but remember, that's just the movies and in real life, penguins do not like to hang out inside of your freezer or in the toilet bowl and they aren't as fond of visits to the park as one might think. (And don't worry, I only watched that movie on a flight due to boredom.)
Anyway, even though I couldn't take Elephant home with me, I can't stop looking at his photo and thinking about him as I continue to travel around the rest of South Africa. And at this point, it really is difficult to believe that I began this trip barely excited about hanging out with some penguins and now I've gone ahead and introduced one into my family.
That's South Africa for you. An endless stream of surprises….
If you want to adopt a penguin, which you can do for yourself or as a gift, you can do so from the SANCCOB website. And if, or WHEN, you visit Capetown, this is one destination that should be on your list. You can take a tour, learn a great deal about penguins and you can also volunteer at the rehabilitation centre if you want to get even more involved!
So, who's adopting a penguin??


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Action on HIV/AIDS in the European Union and neighbouring countries 2006 - 2009
Building on its working paper entitled "Coordinated and integrated approach to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic within the European Union and in its neighbourhood", the European Commission is trying to bring together all of the interested parties in a joint action programme. In this paper the Commission lays down targets and measures to be implemented by the end of 2009 for each of the areas in which action is needed. More detailed proposals for the main areas of action for the period 2006 - 2010 are presented in the Annex.
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Bruxelles: ACT. Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament of 15 December 2005 on combating HIV/AIDS within the European Union and in the neighbouring countries, 2006-2009 [COM(2005) 654 final - Not published in the Official Journal]
There are signs of a decline in action on HIV/AIDS at the moment, particularly as regards prevention, surveillance and measures to combat discrimination. This trend runs counter to the targets which have been set, regarding for example the elimination of mother-to-child transmission and universal access to treatment.
In view of this, the European Commission plans to promote joint action at Community level to complement national and international initiatives. The measures to be taken under this initiative will be targeted on:
- the involvement of civil society;
- surveillance;
- prevention;
- testing;
- treatment, care and support;
- research;
- cooperation with neighbouring countries.
Involvement of civil society
The main objective in this area is to increase the involvement of civil society in all aspects of the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Several initiatives have already been taken with this aim in mind:
- representatives of civil society have become involved in the HIV/AIDS Think Tank;
- a forum of 30 European organisations has been set up to improve the exchange of information.
In future, the Commission plans to foster cooperation and dialogue with patients and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to ensure that they are even more actively involved in the design, implementation and follow-up of policy on HIV/AIDS. In an effort to strengthen its partnership with the private sector, the Commission is also inviting representatives of industry, including the Union of Industrial and Employers Confederations of Europe (UNICE), to strengthen their response to the epidemic and to play their part in implementing the EU's HIV/AIDS prevention strategy.
The objectives in the area of surveillance are as follows:
- to improve and harmonise surveillance systems to monitor the epidemic, risk behaviour and vulnerability to HIV/AIDS;
- to ensure effective provision of data and information on other sexually transmitted infections;
- to support surveillance of HIV testing.
Surveillance of HIV/AIDS in Europe has until now been coordinated by the EuroHIV network, which is co-financed by the Commission. In 2008 the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) will assume responsibility for this network.
The Commission plans to take the following measures, working with the Member States, neighbouring countries, the ECDC and other partners:
- help to introduce complete geographic coverage of HIV case reporting;
- reassess the objectives of AIDS surveillance and include its reporting in an integrated surveillance system;
- design a standardised approach for appropriate prevention indicators;
- develop estimates of HIV incidence in Europe;
- facilitate the setting-up of sentinel surveillance in high-risk groups;
- facilitate implementation of practical solutions to address the confidentiality obstacles.
The measures to be taken in the area of prevention will aim primarily:
- to facilitate the implementation of the measures adopted;
- to ensure that all citizens have access to information, education and services;
- to improve services for injecting drug users;
- to prevent discrimination against migrants;
- to support the monitoring and evaluation of the methods used.
In the absence of a vaccine or cure, prevention remains the most effective way to combat HIV/AIDS. In view of the situation within the European Union (constant increase in the number of cases), there is a need to step up prevention activities both among the general public and among specific groups (young people, women, sex workers, drug users, etc.).
The Commission therefore intends to promote:
- the implementation of prevention programmes, particularly for the most vulnerable groups;
- safe sex ;
- measures to address the increase in risk-taking behaviour among young people;
- the evaluation of the risks of mother-to-child transmission and the risks associated with drug dependence;
- the development of training programmes for healthcare staff and other professionals caring for those with HIV/AIDS.
Counselling, testing, treatment and support
The objectives in this field are:
- to combat discrimination against and stigmatisation of those living with HIV/AIDS;
- to promote universal access to effective treatment and care;
- to improve social and labour market integration;
These objectives are all interlinked. For example, affordable and accessible services and good treatment reduce stigmatisation and social exclusion. They also encourage responsible sexual behaviour, which helps to prevent the spread of the virus.
The measures to attain these objectives will focus on:
- capacity-building among service providers;
- enhancing the role of NGOs active in this field;
- further developing HIV/AIDS surveillance at European level;
- producing a set of European reference models for Member States and European Neighbourhood Policy partners;
- access to antiretroviral drugs, counselling and testing.
In this area the Commission plans:
- to increase commitments to research and development for vaccines and microbicides;
- to promote access to treatment by developing affordable treatments and diagnosis;
- to support public health research;
- to support private sector involvement;
- to support the use of behavioural prevention methods.
Since the entry into force of the Sixth Framework Programme of Research and Development research into HIV/AIDS has become a top priority for the European Commission. EUR 50 million has been allocated to financing research into prevention and treatment. There has also been an emphasis on the new Member States and neighbouring countries in eastern Europe, which have been invited to take part in both EU-funded proposals, such as the network of excellence on therapeutic clinical trials, and the evaluation process.
Reflecting the Commission's desire for continuity, the Seventh Framework Programme, soon to be negotiated with the Member States, will continue to give priority to HIV/AIDS research. The Commission has proposed an increase in the funding allocated to this programme, particularly in the area of biotechnology, translational research and delivery of healthcare.
HIV/AIDS and the European Neighbourhood Policy
The European Commission intends to increase the involvement of neighbouring countries #KEY" target="_blank">* in the EU's HIV/AIDS activities in order to perpetuate the exchange of information and best practice.
The Commission will also call on these countries to look into ways of developing a coordinated approach to the HIV/AIDS epidemic through the HIV/AIDS Think Tank and the Civil Society Forum.
Action Plan
The Action Plan annexed to the Communication sets out the measures to be taken according to a strict timetable by the parties involved in each of the priority areas. The various proposals stress in particular the exchange of best practice, training and programmes to raise public awareness.
|Key terms used in the act


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Associated Press
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — Fort Campbell has canceled Retiree Appreciation Day at the Fort Campbell Passenger Processing Center, saying the government shutdown and furlough of employees makes the event impossible.
Garrison Commander Col. David "Buck" Dellinger says a review of what services would be available would not make it worth the time for many retirees to travel to the military post on the Kentucky-Tennessee line.
The post commissary is closed until the furloughs and shutdown ends. However, all the PX facilities will continue to operate. Dellinger says there would also a limitation on what vaccinations would be offered and no Department of Veterans Affairs representation would be available.
It is unknown if the event, which had been scheduled for Saturday, will be reset for a future date.
Uploaded by Miranda Britt


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Mountain View Memory Gardens
Mountain View Memory Gardens are dedicated to helping you celebrate your life or that of a loved one with a funeral and memorial service befitting of the life lived. As part of the Dignity Memorial® network, the Mountain View Memory Gardens will ensure you not only receive the compassionate care you expect from a locally operated establishment, but also the value you deserve from North America's largest network of funeral, cremation and cemetery service providers.
Whether you're making funeral arrangements for a loved one or making advance arrangements for yourself, the professionals at Mountain View Memory Gardens will help you plan the funeral or memorial services that are right for you and your family.
Our services include Relocation Protection, Bereavement Travel Services, Child/Grandchild Protection, 24-Hour Compassion Helpline® and other programs designed to help you with the myriad questions and issues that arise when a death occurs. Mountain View Memory Gardens are also there for you if you'd like to plan your funeral, cremation or cemetery services in advance.