text:
The Exoskeletons Are Coming
Even if you lack the resources of Tony Stark, you can obtain a high-tech suit to enhance your natural abilities, or at least help you avoid a backache. Mechanical outfits, known as exoskeletons, are gaining a foothold in the real world.
The Japanese company Panasonic announced recently that it will start selling an exoskeleton designed to help workers lift and carry objects more easily and with less risk of injury. The suit was developed in collaboration with a subsidiary company called ActiveLink. It weighs just over 13 pounds and attaches to the back, thighs, and feet, enabling the wearer to carry 33 pounds of extra load. The device has been tested by warehouse handlers in Osaka, Japan, and is currently in trials with forestry workers in the region.
Panasonic's device is among a small but growing number of exoskeletons available commercially—less fantastic and more cumbersome versions of a technology that's been a staple of science fiction for some time. Though they have mainly been tested in medical and military settings, the technology is starting to move beyond these use niches, and it could make a difference for many manual laborers, especially as the workforce ages.
"We expect that exoskeletons, or power-assist suits, will be widely used in people's lives in 15 years," says Panasonic spokesperson Mio Yamanaka, who is based in Osaka, Japan. "We expect that they will be used for tasks that require physical strength, such as moving things and making deliveries, public works, construction, agriculture, and forestry."
The Panasonic suit includes a lightweight carbon-fiber motor; sensors activate the motor when the wearer is lifting or carrying an object. With ActiveLink, the company is testing another, much larger suit designed to help carry loads as heavy as 220 pounds.
Some other companies are showing an interest in technology that can assist workers and help prevent injury. In collaboration with ergonomics researchers at the Technical University of Munich, the German carmaker BMW has given workers a custom-made, 3-D-printed orthotic device that fits over the thumb and helps them perform repetitive tasks. Another German carmaker, Audi, is testing a wearable device from a company called Noonee, which provides back support for workers who need to perform repetitive crouching motions.
Another Japanese company, Cyberdyne, already sells exoskeletons for medical and industrial use. The company's technology, which was spun out of the University of Tsukuba, uses nerve signals to detect a wearer's intention to move before applying assistive force. Earlier this year, Cyberdyne signed an agreement with the Japanese automation company Omron to develop assistive technology for use in factories.
US Bionics a company cofounded by Homayoon Kazerooni, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, is also working to commercialize two exoskeletons—one for rehabilitation, which is currently being tested in Italy, and another for industrial use. These are designed to be very lightweight and conform well to a person's normal motion. Kazerooni says the industrial model, which he demonstrated at Harvard University's Wyss Institute last month, will be significantly lighter, cheaper, and more flexible. "The key is not just what the exoskeleton does in terms of lessening the load," he says. "It's also about preventing maneuvers the user could do without the device."
Exoskeletons have found commercial traction for rehabilitation and as walking aids. Earlier this week, a company called ReWalk, based in Marlborough, Massachusetts, announced the latest version of its device for people with spinal-cord injuries. The system enables people who normally require a wheelchair to walk with the aid of crutches (see "Personal Exoskeletons for Paraplegics"). Powerful exoskeletons have also been tested by the U.S. military for some time.
Progress in the underlying technology could help make exoskeletons more common. Conor Walsh and Robert Wood, two professors at Harvard University, are developing exoskeletons using novel materials and methods of assisting a wearer's motion, making them much lighter and more comfortable (see "Motorized Pants to Help Soldiers and Stroke Victims"). If this type of technology can be commercialized, it could make exoskeletons more appealing to workers and employers.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
[Psst: There's a newer version of this recipe on the site.]
Alex and I had an accidental date a few weeks ago, accidental in that we set out to take a walk but the conversation quickly turned to "I wonder if we could get a table at Lupa." The answer, by the way, should be no. One can never get a table at Lupa. They don't take many reservations, they're not very big and just about everyone in New York City loves to drop in there for a meal. It is for this pile of reasons that we've never been. Or we never had been. Because that evening, there was exactly one eensy little table free and there we were, having an impromptu dinner out on a weekday night, something that would have been nothing out of the ordinary, say, five months ago but as parents to a young dough ball, it was nothing short of earth shattering.
I ordered a beer and the spaghetti, well, the bavette or linguini fini, but for the purpose of this story, it will be spaghetti because it was just that humble. When I trust that a place won't disappoint, I have a tendency to order the plainest thing on the menu, hearkening back to my deep-seated belief that great chefs make you wonder why you've wasting so much time with gimmicky sea salts and foie anything when you could be eating a perfect bowl of spaghetti. And this cacio e pepe? It sang to me. Well, sang and then admonished, as food often does in my presence, "seriously, lady, why haven't you made this yet?"
Now, a little bit about cacio e pepe, which I have spent the last few weeks obsessing over and even auditioning a overpriced, lackluster version at a nearby restaurant named after the dish: someone who lived in Rome would probably laugh at the idea of using a recipe. It's just grated Pecorino Romano cheese, freshly ground black pepper and pasta water. Many would argue that fat (such as oil or butter) doesn't belong in it and you probably don't want to know what they'd think of a Cooks Illustrated version that includes heavy cream. And mentally, I fought the dish because water and cheese? How does that gel together? It could not, it would not emulsify, no matter which method I auditioned.
And then I just let it go. I fell in love with the dish at a Batali restaurant, I looked up Batali's recipe and in it, he does not tell you to miraculously merge oil and water, he tells you to throw it all together and let it happen. And so I did. And it did. And now I don't have to pray for the extraordinary confluence of
babysitters grandparents visiting plus a free table at Lupa to have it anymore. But I could go for a few more impromptu Wednesday night dates that involve beer.
One year ago: Toasted Coconut Shortbread and Devil's Chicken Thighs + Braised Leeks
Two years ago: Seven-Yolk Pasta Dough and Best Chocolate Pudding
Spaghetti with Cheese and Pepper [Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe]
Adapted very loosely from Mario Batali
As I've mentioned, for something with such a simple ingredient list this dish manages to fall all over the map. Some versions use just oil, no butter, some use neither oil of butter; some stud the sauce with large, barely cracked peppercorns and half-melted pebbles of romano; some opt for a smoother cheese, cacio de roma, which I located, auditioned and discovered I liked the saltier and more accessible Pecorino Romano better. There are a lot of ways to approach the dish and people who will find something inauthentic with each of them. I say ignore them all and just enjoy your spaghetti.
Serves 4 as a main, 8 as a first course
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound dried spaghetti
2 tablespoons butter
4 ounces Pecorino Romano cheese, finely grated
1 1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
Salt (optional)
Cook spaghetti in well-salted water to your al dente tastes in a large, wide-bottomed pot. (You'll have fewer dishes to wash if you use this pot to assemble the dish as well.) Drain spaghetti, reserving 1 1/2 cups of pasta cooking water.
Dry out your pot, then heat the olive oil over high heat until almost smoking. Add drained spaghetti and 1 cup of reserved pasta water and jump back, this will splatter mightily, also known as "I made this three times, and never once learned my lesson. Do as I say, not as I do."
Add butter, 3 ounces cheese and ground pepper and toss together with tongs. Taste, adding more pasta water, cheese, pepper or salt (which should not be neccessary, as Romano is very salty) to taste.
Serve immediately, sprinkling with reserved cheese and an extra grind or two of black pepper.


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August 25, 2005
No longer seen as Dana Scully, Gillian Anderson is moving on from the X-Files.
FULL TRANSCRIPT (the video clip ends half way through this transcript):
The interview was done mainly by Andrew Castle (AC), but Kate Garraway (KG) was also there and asked a couple of questions.
AC - How Are You?
GA - I'm good, I'm surprisingly awake.
AC - This not your time, is it?
GA - Um, now is, but not 2 hrs ago when I got up to get here.
AC - Did the car get there ok?
GA - Everything was fine.
AC - Knock on the door�
GA - It was a nice morning.
AC - Now, do tell me about The Mighty Celt, give me an outline, if you don�t mind.
GA - It�s a small lovely family film which takes place in Belfast which has various storylines running through it, one is a single mother played by myself who's trying to raise her son with some sense of normalcy post troubles, and a coming of age story of the young boy and his relationship with a dog, a greyhound that he's trying to raise for the races, and then there's Robert Carlyle who has a sort of romantic relationship with, well yes it is romantic but he's been gone for 15 years and they used to have a relationship and now they re-investigating the possibilities.
AC - He sounds a menacing character.
GA - Oh no, not at all, not at all.
AC - Is he not?
GA -No.
AC - He's not?
GA - Why?!
AC - I don't know, I read it and he returns...
GA - There is a return but apparently he's returning in a much milder form than he used to be.
AC - Let's take a look at a clip.
(They show the 'get in the car' scene.)
AC - Well it didn�t take you long to have a look at the options.
GA - That was a clip?! (laughs) "I don't need you" (playfully mimics the Irish accent)
AC - How was the accent and everything else?
GA - It's hard.
AC - Was it?
GA - It is, yeah, apparently it's one of the hardest but I don�t... I haven�t done that many accents but it's very challenging.
KG - 'Cos sometimes Americans cant tell the difference, can they, I mean you're clearly different, but, between the English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish.
GA - Is that true? I don�t know. They're quite different.
KG - You've had to work all that out, haven't you?
GA - Yeah. I mean I don't know, I've never done a Scottish accent before but I must say, I imagine that might even be harder than an Irish accent.
AC - But you're very mixed, aren't you though.
GA - I'm very mixed. (flirting) A Mixed bag�
AC - Mixed Old Bag!
GA - Yeah, (laughs) a mixed old bag!!
AC - 'Cos you grew up here, I imagine, or was it the United States?
GA - I grew up here until I was about 11 and then we went back to the states, but my parents still had a flat here, a run down old little thing that we used to visit in Harringay every summer so I had a connection for years.
Video Clip Ends Here.
AC - And when did acting just become you, 'cos it�s a rather nice story wasn�t it at school? See, I've read all my notes!
GA - You have! You know more about me than I know about m'self!
AC - Wasn't it of Romeo and Juliet?
GA - Oh my goodness! I don't know - well, my Mom tells this story that I don�t remember.
AC - Well, were you a natural?
GA - I don't know!! She remembers this scene that I did and I rehearsed in the house, and she was like 'Oh, God. (rolls eyes) Ok, come on, give it to me'. Apparently she for the first time thought that I might be able to do something based on how I'd presented that scene. But I have no memory of that whatsoever.
AC - Mmhm, 'cos you work with a young man who's making his first appearance on film: Tyrone McKenna.
GA - Yeah, I know.
AC - Is he fourteen years old?
GA - Yeah, I know. He's an angel.
AC - 'Cos he was good, he was a natural.
GA - He's incredibly natural, he blew us all away, and we'd just look at each other, the crew, and we'd be like (pulls an 'Oh My God' face). He just blew us all away.
AC - Like, 'why have we all been trained, when a child can produce this'?!
GA - Yeah, I know! (laughs) I'm gonna quit now! He's lovely, really lovely.
AC - Easy to work with.
GA - Yeah.
AC - And good to work with Robert Carlyle too.
GA - Always.
AC - Um, treading the boards at all?
GA - Um, I hope to. I mean there's lots of theatre's that I'd still like to work in, and, um� It makes me so nervous that I have to ...that the gaps in between the plays keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger!
KG - X-Files, there could be another film coming out?
GA - I've been hearing that for about a year and a half now.
AC - You do need to hear about it for it to happen, you are fairly central!
GA - Yeah, I know. (laughs) I know, yeah. Well there's something holding it up right now and I'm not quite sure what it is, but I'm ready whenever they are.
KG - Would you like to do it?
GA - I'd love to. it think it'd be fantastic.
AC - They're probably trying to find your enormous fee!
GA - Oh, stop! (all laugh) No, y'see, apparently we're being paid nothing! (smug look). No, I think it's all about the fun and the reunion of it.
KG - That was a great series for you wasn�t it?
GA - It was. I'm very, very blessed to be a part of it. I mean it's well respected and it was a character I didn�t get sick of. I mean we did it for 9 years. That�s a long haul to live with an alt- (alter ego) ...you know, another personality.
AC - And you wrote and directed one of the episodes.
GA - I did, yeah.
AC - There's a lot you can do isn�t there? (he's flirting!)
GA - Yeh, there is (cute and sarcastic, flirty flirt flirt) - I'm multi talented! (laughs)
KG - I sense chemistry! She's getting a little bit flirty isn�t she?!
GA - (Keeps laughing)
AC - I think Gillian Anderson is very interesting.
GA - The old bag!
AC - Yeah, for a mixed old bag she's all right! (laughs) Yes, The Mighty Celt, I shall look forward to seeing that if I can get my dvd player working in my house.
GA - Well it opens in theatres tomorrow, so�
AC - Well, ok I shall rush out and get the matinee screening!
Gillian laughs.
Thank you very much to MADDY for the transcript!


text:
Is it a flying saucer? Is it a frisbee? Is it an apple pie? No! It's a Green Beanie I finished knitting!
I did a little bit during each of my commutes to and from work. Knitting really makes the time fly right by. (Plus I have a bad habit of 'people watching' on the bus and subway, so by knitting and looking down at my needles, I'm no longer being 'nosy'…hehe!)
The funny thing? Although this is the third one I've made using the same pattern, I think my first attempt (the yellow hat) came out the best! How did that happen? Beginner's luck?
There are soooooo many mistakes in this green one, even though I tried to be really careful. Being a beginner, I sometimes couldn't tell when I made a mistake until it was too late to fix it.
Nevertheless, I will still wear and love this green beanie! After all, you know that I'm a greeeen fieeend! 😉 And I actually like how no two hats come out exactly the same – one-of-a-kinds are awesome!
What was exciting to find out after I made this was that the yarn sometimes looks green, but in certain lighting, there seems to be some brown showing! When I looked more closely at the yarn, it's apparently not a straight green. I love nice surprises like this!
In this post, I'll show you a few progress photos from start to finish, as well as the hat at different angles and in different lighting. You'll also find links to the free online pattern I used and the two other beanies I knit (yellow and purple).
I urge you all to try your hand at knitting this. Not only is it fun and rewarding, but it's verrrry challenging for a beginner. So…when you finish it, you'll be pleased with the outcome, even if you made lots of mistakes like I did! 🙂 The lumpiness of the pattern conceals even major errors!


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A Look At The Magic Behind Jim Henson's Labyrinth
For many who grew up in the 1980s, Jim Henson's works were an indelible part of childhood. The visionary writer, director and puppeteer created lushly realized worlds populated with fascinating characters that have an awe-striking tangibility as they mix it up with their human co-stars. Henson's preference for pushing the boundaries of practical effects and his extraordinary puppetry skills make features from The Dark Crystal to The Great Muppet Caper and Labyrinth timeless films that are still enchanting kids today. And as an adult, it's a joy to sit back bewildered, wondering how his wondrous worlds were constructed.
Well, we have a little insight on Labyrinth thanks to io9's uncovering of a vintage behind-the-scenes clip that focuses on the mesmerizing juggling skills of Jareth the Goblin King, played memorably by David Bowie. With his sly smile, feathered locks and preference for codpieces and plenty of eye shadow, he became a confusing crush object for countless audience members. But—not to detract from the glory of Bowie—not all of Jareth's intoxicating performance came from the sexy British rocker. In fact, the role of Jareth's crystal ball-juggling right arm was played by master juggler Michael Moschen. See how that worked below:
One of the many things about Henson I have long admired is his willingness to show the secrets of his productions, sharing his ingenuity in a way that inspires. His generosity opens the doors to so many would-be puppeteers, special effects artists and filmmakers, and it's wonderful that the Henson Company is continuing his legacy by offering a wide array of behind-the-scenes videos that are easily accessible on their You Tube page. Say goodbye to productivity today and give in to the urge to geek out.
Your Daily Blend of Entertainment News
Staff writer at CinemaBlend.
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By Carly Levy


text:
The Covid-19 crisis escalated fast, both globally and in Estonia. On 16 March, the government closed all education institutions, except kindergartens. For the 24 000 VET students, 2 100 VET teachers and 32 VET schools in Estonia, it meant an abrupt transition to distance learning.
As the organisation of VET is very flexible, the sudden transition to distance education did not cause administrative or legal problems. Both the admission of students and the completion of studies take place throughout the year. Admission conditions are determined by the VET schools themselves. Every VET school has the right to make decisions on the reorganisation or prolongation of study period. Normally, the school year would have ended mid-June. Assuming that the restrictions will be lifted by the summer, the schools have planned to continue studies during the summer. It gives students the opportunity to complete their studies and does not overburden the schools next autumn.
Regulatory flexibility has facilitated the transition to the new reality. Nevertheless, VET schools needed to act quickly. Sigrid Ester Tani from Tartu Vocational Training Centre (VEC) explains: 'We are the biggest VET school in Estonia with just under 3 000 students from very diverse target groups, starting from 16-year-olds to adult learners whose digital skills are quite uneven. In a big school, the key is to make sure everybody gets correct information fast. We agreed to use the school intranet notice board for communication and sent a clear message: learning will go on according to the agreed schedule.'
For all VET schools, the biggest challenge was provision of practical training at a distance and online. In Estonia, nearly 90% of VET studies are school-based, but the ratio of practical work and assignments is generally at least 50%, 70% at EQF level 2 and 35% in upper secondary VET.
The alternatives depended on the field of study. The Vocational Education Institutions Act does not regulate the timing of school breaks. School-based practical training and in-company training in the areas subject to restrictions under the emergency situation (such as catering and hospitality) have been postponed. As Estonia was not in complete lockdown during the crisis, in-company practical training could be resumed in some areas (metalwork) if safe conditions were ensured by the training provider. Also, parts of the practical training could be completed online.
To reorganise work-based learning, VET schools communicated with their partner enterprises, students and parents, and made decisions case by case; sometimes this meant postponing or temporarily terminating practice in enterprises, and sometimes continuing it. In all cases, health and safety has been the priority. Student participation in on-site practical training is voluntary, and protective equipment and disinfectants are provided.
VET schools were advised to use the distance-learning period for theoretical studies but the challenges of online learning needed to be addressed. The transition was smoother in schools where the use of digital learning and communication environments was common even before the crisis.
'Our strategy was to use online platforms that are familiar to our school already, such as G-Suite' said Roosi Nemliher from Tartu Art School. 'We decided to follow the usual school timetable, keeping in mind that students need more time than usual.'
At Tartu VEC, e-learning days have been a part of the schoolwork for five years already. Last year, curricula-based Moodle hubs were created to systematically collect e-learning resources. For the past two years, the educational technologist has been delivering weekly training to staff and teachers. During the crisis, the team of master teachers and technologists provided round-the-clock support to their colleagues.
The schools adjusted their work in accordance with quick online feedback from students and teachers, which helped to identify the weak points and areas in need of rapid response. During the initial weeks, information about equipment needs and lack of internet connection was collected, and students in need were provided with necessary devices.
During the crisis, the education ministry and its subordinate agencies kept regular contact with the schools and tailored the state-level support to the feedback from schools; this included short webinars, Facebook groups, answers to FAQs about school management, and organisation of studies. Guidelines for distance-learning environments were offered at the State level. It became evident that more e-learning resources have to be developed centrally, and more virtual and augmented reality equipment would be needed to have more practical training in simulation environments. There has been an open call for teachers to share their digital learning materials, e-courses and digital learning objects.
From the student point of view, the two months of distance learning posed a real challenge in terms of self-regulation and time-planning. Although online seminars and tutorials, group discussions, shared working environments and simulations were used, students still had to cope with an increased amount of school-work, and to overcome lack of motivation and distractions. In their feedback, they stressed the need for a fixed daily agenda and more individual support. In VET schools, the support staff moved to web-platforms to be available for students. For parents, online seminars were organised and helpdesks were set up. Nevertheless, the dropout rates are expected to increase as the distance learning period had the hardest impact on students who were already struggling before.
Based on feedback from schools, the success factors that contributed to a relatively smooth transition to distance education were:
- sufficient digital skills among students and teachers to cope with the new situation;
- adequate digital infrastructure in VET schools and at homes;
- information and clear messages for organising distance learning;
- good governance, cooperation, partnership and information-sharing between stakeholders.
From 15 May onwards, schools are being gradually reopened. Until the end of the school year, school-based studies can be organised in smaller groups of up to 10 learners plus a teacher or tutor. Other restrictions also apply. In school buildings, people have to stay in groups, avoiding unnecessary contacts between the groups. Reopening is complicated by the fact that 48% of Estonian VET teachers are over 50 years old.
Further analysis will be needed to evaluate the impact the two months of distance education had on the quality of VET and the learning outcomes of the students. There are still worries about the organisation of practical studies and professional exams that were postponed. At the same time, guided by the famous words of Winston Churchill, the Estonian VET system did not 'let a good crisis go to waste'. We are definitely better prepared for the unforeseen future. Teachers and administrators are collaborating more than ever before in schools but also in wider professional learning communities. Lessons have been learned to improve online classes, new resources have been commissioned, partnerships with enterprises reinforced, and problem-solving skills of learners, teachers and administrators profoundly tested.


text:
Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
If your clothes catch fire, stop, drop and roll. Stop, drop to the ground, and cover your face with your hands. Roll over and over or back and forth until the fire is out.
Have smoke alarms in every sleeping room, outside each separate sleeping area, and on every level of the home, including the basement.
Make a home escape plan. Draw a map of each level of your home. Show all doors and windows. Go to each room and point to the two ways out. Practice the plan with everyone in your household.
Stay in the kitchen when you fry, boil, grill or broil food.
Don't use lit candles in bedrooms, bathrooms, and sleeping areas. Blow them out when you leave a room or home, or when you go to bed.


text:
With a desire to entertain both the eye and the individual, the projects of world-class US architect David Rockwell are united by their lively design narratives.
The son of a vaudeville dancer and a choreographer, Rockwell's unusual upbringing has led to a fascination with the theatrical and an eccentricity which permeates his creations. With projects ranging from fine hotels and restaurants to Broadway musicals and product design, Rockwell's approach combines powerful design and craftsmanship, while always aiming to create the possibility for pleasure.
Rockwell's rug collection is based on graphic and textural explorations derived from his diverse projects; the designs are at the same time sophisticated and playful.


text:
SimEarth: The Living Planet
An entire planet becomes your laboratory in this large-scale simulation game. Players help foster new life and promote its evolution into life-forms of higher intelligence. Guide civilization along the path of evolution until it can achieve Exodus, the ultimate goal of settling on another planet. The basic challenge of the game is to maintain a comfortable environment for the life-forms by adjusting atmospheric and geological parameters. Small organisms called Prokaryote and Trichordate will grow and evolve into a multitude of life-forms. Making a drastic change is a recipe for disaster. The key to success is to make small adjustments and watch how the life-forms react. SimEarth also includes planets with environments different from Earth, such as Mars and Venus. Try your hand at terraforming these planets with harsh conditions into a world where life can thrive.
This classic game is part of the Virtual Console service, which brings you great games created for consoles such as NES™, Super NES™ and Game Boy™ Advance. See more Virtual Console games for Wii.


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I'm at SolidWorks World 2013 this week (Orlando in the winter? Not a bad place to be), and the number of folks showing advancements in the 3D printing space came as a surprise to me. Two particular vendors I spent some time with were Mcor and Up 3D USA.
Mcor's claim to fame is that they actually do the printing on plain old printer paper. It gets combined with some kind of adhesive and stacked together to produce a real model. They've perfected the software such that they can produce something that's quite accurate.
Called the Iris, aptly named after the goddess of the rainbow, the system can print in more than one million hues simultaneously as it creates physical objects from 3D data. One of the important features of the Mcor solution is its cost -- not the cost of the printer, but the material. Basically, all you're paying for (besides the printer) is paper, ink, and glue. The only limiting factor is the size of the paper, which is either letter size or A4.
One ideal model for a solution like this one is where you just pay for the output. Hence, Mcor struck a deal with Staples, whereby you send Staples your model data, and they will print it for you on an Mcor printer. Called Staples Easy 3D, it's available today in parts of Europe, with the US expected to come on line shortly.
Up 3D USA caught my attention because of its price point -- $899. Yup, you can have one of these systems in your home office (or your home for personal use). It pulls the material from a spool, which looks like wire. Printing also takes a few hours, depending on the size and density of your model. But who would have thought you could do this for under $1,000?
Related posts:


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Page Compression Implementation
This topic summarizes how the Database Engine implements page compression. This summary provides basic information to help you plan the storage space that you need for your data.
The details of data compression are subject to change without notice in service packs or subsequent releases.
Page compression is similar for tables, table partitions, indexes, and index partitions. The following description of page compression for a table applies equally to page compression for all object types. The following examples compress character strings, but both prefix and dictionary compression apply the same principles to other data types.
Compressing the leaf level of tables and indexes with page compression consists of three operations in the following order:
Row compression
Prefix compression
Dictionary compression
When you use page compression, non–leaf-level pages of indexes are compressed by using only row compression. For more information about row compression, see Row Compression Implementation.
Prefix Compression
For each page that is being compressed, prefix compression uses the following steps:
For each column, a value is identified that can be used to reduce the storage space for the values in each column.
A row that represents the prefix values for each column is created and stored in the compression information (CI) structure that immediately follows the page header.
The repeated prefix values in the column are replaced by a reference to the corresponding prefix. If the value in a row does not exactly match the selected prefix value, a partial match can still be indicated.
The following illustration shows a sample page of a table before prefix compression.
The following illustration shows the same page after prefix compression. The prefix is moved to the header, and the column values are changed to references to the prefix.
In the first column of the first row, the value 4b indicates that the first four characters of the prefix (aaab) are present for that row, and also the character b. This makes the resultant value aaabb, which is the original value.
Dictionary Compression
After prefix compression has been completed, dictionary compression is applied. Dictionary compression searches for repeated values anywhere on the page, and stores them in the CI area. Unlike prefix compression, dictionary compression is not restricted to one column. Dictionary compression can replace repeated values that occur anywhere on a page. The following illustration shows the same page after dictionary compression.
Note that the value 4b has been referenced from different columns of the page.
When Page Compression Occurs
When a new table is created that has page compression, no compression occurs. However, the metadata for the table indicates that page compression should be used. As data is added to the first data page, data is row-compressed. Because the page is not full, no benefit is gained from page compression. When the page is full, the next row to be added initiates the page compression operation. The whole page is reviewed; each column is evaluated for prefix compression, and then all columns are evaluated for dictionary compression. If page compression has created enough room on the page for an additional row, the row is added, and the data is both row- and page-compressed. If the space gained by page compression minus the space that is required for the CI structure is not significant, page compression is not used for that page. Future rows either fit onto the new page or, if they do not fit, a new page is added to the table. Similar to the first page, the new page is not at first page-compressed.
When an existing table that contains data is converted to page compression, each page is rebuilt and evaluated. Rebuilding all the pages causes the rebuilding of the table, index, or partition.
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Everybody loves to pretend they know what wine is supposed to taste like. âWoodyâ and ânuttyâ are not things Iâd like to hear when describing a beverage, but who am I to judge? Wine has always been a big thing in Europe, however, and specifically France. They love the stuff; drink it like itâs water. Itâd sure be a shame if something infected the wine and made people sick, wouldnât it? Maybe even turn them into pus-spewing, murderous zombies? Sound far-fetched? Well, this is exactly what happens in Jean Rollinâs 1978 slow-paced gorefest: Les Raisins de la Mort, or to us âmericans, The Grapes of Death.
Aside from making several straight-up pornographic films, Rollin was best known for making erotic horror movies, many involving lesbian vampires. This is one of the few he made which isnât overtly sexual, though there are a fair amount of bare breasts. The main thing that can be said about this film is that itâs very, very French. There are long stretches of silence where the main character merely walks and the majority of scenes with dialogue consist of short, declarative statements. These are punctuated by scenes of incredibly graphic, sustained violence and gore that are among the most horrific Iâve ever seen, which are weirdly undercut by the sporadic, out-of-place harpsichord music that seems to disappear in the strangest of places.
The story itself is a bit thin: the Roublès winemaking vineyard has started using a new pesticide developed by the owner. The workers, later revealed to be immigrants, who spray the pesticide begin to get sick. Elsewhere, a young woman named Elizabeth (Marie-Georges Pascal) rides a train bound for Roublès to live with her fiancé, the owner of the vineyard. One of the sick workers gets on the train, kills Elizabethâs friend, and chases Elizabeth off the train, his face oozing all the while. I think youâll agree, thatâs not what you want in public transportation. Turns out the pesticide her fiancé invented has a nasty side effect: it gets into the wine and makes the drinker rot from the inside out, manifesting in homicidal behavior and an unsightly skin condition. Oh, and there was a âNew Wineâ festival the previous weekend. This canât be good. From there we have a string of scenes with Elizabeth running across various infected people who talk to her before trying to kill her.
I honestly wouldnât be surprised if the screenplay to this movie was 18 pages long. Thereâs so little dialogue for such a long time that when two characters enter the movie in the last half hour and have actual conversations, itâs supremely off-putting. Most of the talking scenes play like any French film youâve seen, and thereâs even a scene toward the end where Elizabeth says âJe tâaimeâ in the middle of protracted silence. This doesnât, however, stop her from meeting increasingly weird people along the way. She meets a man and his daughter who seem fine at first, but turn out not to be; she meets a stumbling blind woman who got lost while looking for her guardian; she meets a creepy blonde woman who, though she has no outward signs of infection, might be the most insane of the bunch; and eventually she meets two beer-drinking hunters who are safe because they donât like wine.
What the film lacks in script, it makes up for in atmosphere. The film takes place in the French countryside, and the stone houses in the hilly village coupled with the dreary weather creates a very unsettling and bleak mood befitting a small-time apocalypse such as this. Rollinâs camera lingers on shots perhaps longer than he should, and sometimes the continuity between shots is wildly incorrect. The quality of the film looks great, but itâs clear itâs being made on the cheap. However, this cheapness gives the movie a strange and unsettling feel, which again is certainly not a detriment for something like this.
Earlier, I alluded to the shocking nature of the gore scenes. All of the âzombiesâ have gushing grotesqueries that are representations of them rotting from the inside out. Itâs not as elaborate as a Tom Savini effect in the George A. Romero movies, but it works. The violence, on the other hand, is right up there with ol' Tommy, maybe even better (I know thatâs blasphemous). This film came out the same year as Romeroâs masterwork, Dawn of the Dead, and while that is an infinitely better film with heaps and heaps of gore, this film is very effective with its few gore scenes. In an early scene, an infected man kills his less-infected daughter by tearing open her shirt (remember who the director is) and jamming a pitchfork into her abdomen. We then get a very long shot of the pitchfork through her as she wriggles around before dying. The effect is masterful and I was unable to tell for a bit if the girlâs abdomen was fake (no) or if it was a fake pitchfork (yes).
Perhaps the most shocking of these effects comes about midway through the film. Elizabeth and Lucie, the blind girl, have returned to her village. Elizabeth sees disfigured and butchered bodies everywhere, but doesnât wish to tell Lucie, who is still looking for her guardian, Lucas. She finds him while Elizabeth is investigating and the infected man begins weeping, knowing that he can no longer control himself. When Elizabeth returns, we see the door to a cabin swing open and Lucieâs dead, topless (again, the director) body is nailed to it. From within, Lucas appears with a machete and proceeds to hack Lucieâs head from her shoulders while shriek-laughing as Elizabeth screams. He then holds up her head and carries it the entire rest of the time heâs onscreen. Itâs maybe 30 of the most horrific seconds youâll ever find in a very slow movie.
While not any great work of horror, the salacious Jean Rollinâs least salacious film is one to be seen. Plus, if weâre lucky, itâll get remade to take place in Napa Valley so snooty rich people will think twice about that oaky bottle of red.