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Conquered my fears that is. {and got a really yummy recipe from the Deen Brothers too - scroll on down for that!}
My fear that this was my first ever blogging conference of any kind and I would be a complete goof and so out of place I would be a freak. I wasn't.
My fear that I was pretty much striking out solo with this soiree with no pre-arranged plans to meet up with any blogger buddies that I had befriended or even halfway, kinda sorta knew. Didn't matter.
My fear that I would be in the midst of a bunch of health conscious, super skinny gals who would judge me for being a fluffy, exercise-hatin', southerner who has a blog full of recipes containing butter and bacon and cream. Didn't happen.
Not to mention, the fear of being in the company of super-experienced and rockstar bloggers I knew of, like Ree, The Pioneer Woman, Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen, Elise Bauer of Simply Recipes, multi-media star Nadia G. of Bitchin' Kitchen - and more rockstars I didn't even know I should know, but who I have apparently have been missing out on - like David Leite of Leite's Culinaria, Shauna Ahern of Gluten Free Girl, and Michael Ruhlman, the swoon-worthy, most handsome blogger on the block, that everybody but me knew about.
Turns out, it was easy to be up close with and meet all of those famous bloggers who all seemed to actually be pretty authentic and true to their online personas. Everybody was, well... so normal! And nice.
The truth of the matter is, that there was exactly one and only one blogger, a pretty popular, low-fat food blogger, who I felt definitely dissed me, and in fact, walked off in the middle of what I thought was a conversation while we were chatting during one of the break-out tasting sessions. She didn't say excuse me, nice meeting you, nice talking to you, nothing. She just walked off in the middle of a conversation without saying a thing when she spotted someone apparently much more interesting than me across the room. C'est la vie.
Tip: If you have social anxiety about being around large groups of strangers, or about your age, looks or weight, please don't let that stop you from going to a blogging conference. I assure you that there were people of all ages, personalities, shapes and sizes at this food blogger event. And, truth is, if you really want to go and stay fairly anonymous, that is certainly possible. So go.The famous bloggers aside, I have to say I met some regular ole food bloggers who were a bit more like me in the blogging world, some familiar to me, some new to me, who, if they were judging me at all, sure didn't show it to my face. People were friendly, warm and welcoming, and chatty - happy to both talk to me about my blog as much as to talk to me about theirs. And most, like me, were also exhausted, so we all related to one another. Travel to the west coast from the eastern side of our country is not an easy trip. It usually is gonna involve not much sleep to trek to the airport at hours no human should be up (unless still partying from the night before), in order to catch a very early flight. I arrived for the conference the afternoon of the day before it officially started and literally hit the ground running and did not stop until I got home.
Tip: Be sure to order business cards before the conference. You don't have to spend a fortune on them, and don't worry if you don't have a proper "brand" and logo for your blog, but you'll want to have them since everybody exchanges cards.As soon as I arrived at the San Francisco airport, I grabbed a cab - not much under $50 with a tip for that ride - and checked in at the InterContinental Hotel on Howard about 2:30 that afternoon. The room was nice, though not cheap - total for the room and tax for the 3 days was $955 - although if you made your reservations early on you could have gotten a better rate than mine.
Tip: If you can afford it, definitely stay at the hotel where the conference is being held. This conference was loud. Excruciatingly loud. The buzz in the rooms during mealtimes, before some of the sessions, and in the hallways at every break out session, was at times overwhelming. Having the ability to break away from the session brain overload and the noise just long enough to go up to your room and refresh for a few minutes between sessions is so worth it. Also, if at all possible, try to give yourself a night and day there before the start of the conference and take it easy on the first night. Relax and take in a casual dinner, or even room service. You'll have time to acclimate yourself to the whole time change thing and wake up the next morning feeling refreshed, with a day to experience the city at your leisure before the work begins.
Cool bathroom, huh? While there were ice machines on the guest floors, there were zero vending machines anywhere, so your option for drinks and snacks were limited to the in-room bar, and you know what the costs are for that - things like $4 for a 6-ounce bottle of Diet Coke or a $12 can of nuts can add up quick. To see what the room looked like, you can visit Pioneer Woman's hotel room tour, because I had the same exact room, minus the separate sitting area. Turns out, I was actually in the bedroom half of a suite anyway, minus the key for the sitting area and the "big" door. Guess I shoulda asked for an upgrade, huh?!
Tip: If you don't mind having roommates you can significantly cut the hotel room costs by sharing the room with at least one other blogger, or even up to four folks in one room. Understand though that you will want to arrive early to check in to get two queen sized beds. My past experience in the resorts industry taught me that while a hotel will certainly make note of your room type (adjoining) and your bed type (king or queen bed) requests, they really cannot ever guarantee a room type will be available when you check in. It is a first come, first serve basis. So get there late and you might be real cozy with four people in one bed! Just sayin'...Once I got checked in, I had just enough time to get settled in the room, check in at home, take a quick shower to freshen up and change, and meet up in the lobby at 4:30 with the driver for Beringer who was picking me up, along with three other bloggers (none of whom I knew), for a Beringer Happy Hour event.
Tip: If you are preparing to head out for a conference, and you happen to be on Twitter, find out and include the Twitter hashtag for that conference, and use it when tweeting with others about the conference. Public relations companies follow those threads, and then check out your blog, and that is how you will receive invitations to parties and special events.By the way, my Canon died on me right before it was time to leave for the conference, so while I brought a point and shoot and my iPhone to the conference, I didn't manage to get a lot of pictures and the ones I did get were not very good ones.
Throughout 2010, the Deen Brothers participated with Beringer, in holding regional cooking contests across the country to pair up Beringer wines with the best steak recipes for the Beringer Great Steak Challenge finale. Each regional winner was participating in the final grill-off to be held at the Beringer Vineyards and this event I attended was the Happy Hour kick-off to that finale, hosted by Bobby and Jamie Deen. The grand finale cook-off is scheduled to be aired on The Cooking Channel sometime in December.
The event was held at Cellar 360, a gorgeous facility located in the Woolen Mill Building in Ghirardelli Square (yes, as in the chocolate) overlooking San Francisco Bay. That shot was the view out of one of the windows. Cellar 360 is a wine lovers dream, featuring over 200 wines from the best wine regions of four continents. There were plenty of great wines to sample, and tastes of some of the specialty foods they sold, plus Bobby and Jamie were going to cook for us!
The Deen Brothers were so kind and accessible you would never think of them as being the celebrities they are, and yes, they are as good lookin' in person as you think they are, but let me tell you - Mama the Queen Paula Deen has every reason to be so proud of her sons. Being a southerner and a southern mama, I can tell you, they were the epitome of true southern gentlemen.
They were even kind enough to give each of us a free, autographed copy of their latest cookbook - Take it Easy - a collection of 125 southern style, quick and easy recipes - that they also so graciously personalized for each of us!
Since it was such an intimate affair, they were even willing to take pictures with us. Even if some of them were shaky and blurry iPhone pictures taken with your eyes closed (though the gal taking it said it was "a good one").
I was wandering around the store and missed out on the group picture that was taken with all of the other bloggers. I made it around the corner just in time to snap this. Oh well...
It was a fun event, that culminated in the kitchen of Cellar 360 (where else!) where Bobby and Jamie chatted with the audience and made us laugh - who knew they were comedians too - after which they prepared Butter Braised Shrimp, a recipe from their cookbook, and one of their Beringer challenge recipes, this spicy mocha steak rub recipe below. For the demonstration they prepared the rub with flank steak and we were able to sample it. Try it - it really was delicious!
Though there was plenty of wine to be had, I was so tired that I had exactly one small glass the entire event. The rest of the bloggers I rode over with decided to wander around in search of some place to eat, but I passed. To be honest, all I could think about was getting back to the hotel, where I could kick off my shoes, shower, throw on some jammies, order room service (shrimp cocktail and a Cobb salad), and watch a few minutes of Grey's Anatomy, before collapsing in that comfortable bed. It would be an early start to the conference the next morning after all.
I wish I could tell you the names of the other three bloggers, but frankly we met for the first time in the hotel lobby, rode over to the event together and that was pretty much the extent of our association. I'm sure they don't remember me from Adam. See? I told you, it's easy to remain anonymous... if you really want to.
Stay tuned for Conference Days 1 and 2 if yer interested. In the meantime, check out this rub - it was mighty good y'all. Enjoy!
Spiced Mocha Steak Rub Recipe
Courtesy of Bobby and Jamie Deen
2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 teaspoon canola oil
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 (2 pound) boneless sirloin steak, abut 1-inch thick
Combine the brown sugar, chili powder, espresso, oil, salt and cocoa powder in a small bowl. Rub all over both sides of the steak.
Preheat a grill to medium high. Grease the grill rack and cook the steak to desired doneness, about 5 minutes per side for medium rare. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest for about 5 minutes before slicing.
Continue on to BlogHer Food 2010 Day 1 - The Sessions
Special thanks to Michelle Flores of Ruder Finn/West for the invite.
Follow the Deen Brothers or Facebook or Twitter
Follow Beringer Vineyards on Facebook or Twitter
Follow Cellar 360 on Facebook


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Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees Dies From Cancer at 62
Robin Gibb, co-founder and one third of the Bee Gees, has died Sunday at 62 years old after a long battle with cancer.
According to a spokesperson, The family of Robin Gibb, of the Bee Gees, announce with great sadness that Robin passed away today following his long battle with cancer and intestinal surgery. The family have asked that their privacy is respected at this very difficult time."
About two years prior, Gibb suffered through colon and liver cancer. Though he made what he thought to be a "spectacular recover," an additional tumor presence combined with a bought of pneumonia was too much for his body to handle.
Robin, along with his brothers Maurice and Barry, formed the Bee Gees in 1949, although they didn't achieve mass popularity until a few years later after they moved to England from Australia and signed with managed Robert Stigwood. It was 'Saturday Night Fever' starring John Travolta and featuring the Bee Gees' falsetto voices that was the brother's first real claim to fame. Robin was featured on a number of the group's earlier hits, such as 'New York Mining Disaster 1941,' 'I Started a Joke' and 'Massachusetts.'
The only surviving member of the Bee Gees is Robin's older brother Barry.

subset: commoncrawl


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Birch wood flooring has always been a popular choice due to the fact that it is cheaper than oak yet is still a hard wearing wood floor with plenty of natural colour variation. It's worth checking out some pictures of birch flooring online so you know what i mean. As you can see its very different to oak flooring, yet both of these floors are the most popular solid woods sold today.
I believe its a trade off. Simply price over product. Oak is hard wearing and long lasting, but more expensive. Birch is cheap flooring, that is just not as hard wearing (or beautiful) as oak. People choose it because of price. Maple would be a better option for a light floor instead of birch, as it is more stable and harder wearing but it does not sell anywhere near as much volume. And that means it is simply down to price.
Of course now that engineered and multi-ply floors are getting more and more popular oak flooring has become even less expensive. But engineered birch flooring, would then also become cheap wood flooring if only it arrived on the wooden floor in some good volume. But as it is, it remains a niche and therefore very expensive product. And if thats not strange enough, due to lower volumes this less than high quality engineered wood is considerably less expensive than than its oak engineered flooring rival.
A good insight how a less quality product can become more expensive simple due to volume. Id say buy the oak any day. And if you really like the hard wearing but light floors, just buy some maple.


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Category:Bishops by city
These subcategories list articles on bishops by city, or other area of their title. Note that some titles are titular and do not really describe the area where the bishop resides. Also, some bishops are auxiliary bishops, and are given a title of a city in the see of another bishop.
Contents: | Top 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
(There may be more subcategories on other pages.)
This category has the following 17 subcategories, out of 548 total.
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2 Comments
I actually thought the Rose Garden fans were fairly casual in their reaction to the shot. Key Arena would have exploded. Just a bit more subdued than what I'm used to.
my favorite part is that pdx fans don't all wear matching nazi-like t-shirts as do fans in other cities.


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Special Feature
"I think that anybody who legitimately goes and watches my fights can see
that and see the improvement and see that I'm the real deal." - Ryan Couture
You might think that as the son of UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture, Ryan Couture has been walking a gold-paved road on his way up the MMA ranks and into the UFC. You would also be wrong.
Yet while being Ryan Smith or Ryan Johnson may not have gotten him a UFC contract after seven pro fights, the Las Vegan has more than earned his right to be in the UFC on FUEL TV co-main event against Ross Pearson this Saturday after scoring Strikeforce wins over Conor Heun, Joe Duarte, and KJ Noons. Yeah, the name of his father will inevitably pop up in any pre-fight related conversation, but Ryan Couture is his own man.
"We're still talking about Dad in every interview, so that will never change, but I feel like I've established myself as a legitimate fighter, and no one can argue that," said the 30-year-old. "I think especially once I get this first UFC win under my belt, then that will go that much further towards wiping out anybody who wants to naysay and say I'm just riding the coattails of the family name. That's always gonna be there to some extent, and there's always gonna be someone hoping to get a rise out of me or get some attention by talking like that, but I'm proud of what I've accomplished and happy with the work I've been able to put in and the improvements I've been able to make. I think that anybody who legitimately goes and watches my fights can see that and see the improvement and see that I'm the real deal."
Speaking of "The Real Deal," in England's Pearson, Couture isn't getting a fellow newcomer or a prospect on the rise for his first UFC bout. He's fighting a former Ultimate Fighter winner with as many Octagon victories as Couture has in his entire pro career (six), and a battle-tested vet who is coming off a main event knockout win over George Sotiropoulos last December. But that's just the kind of matchup Couture would expect for his UFC debut.
"I just fought KJ Noons," said Couture, who scored a split decision win over Noons on the final Strikeforce card in January. "That guy's a former champion, he's been in there with Nick Diaz on multiple occasions, so I wasn't expecting a step down from that. Ross is right on par with that level of competition that I expected, and I think it's good. I think I've worked hard and performed and shown them what I can do, and this is just a testament to that."
And even though Pearson admitted recently that he liked the bad blood leading up to his win over Sotiropoulos last year, he's not going to get any ammo from the classy and soft-spoken Couture in that regard.
"I'm a fan of his," he said of Pearson. "He's got a fun to watch, aggressive style, he's a dangerous striker, and that always makes for an interesting matchup with me, because if I can't get the fight to the floor, which is no easy thing to do against Ross, then it's gonna make for another exciting fight like the last one was, though hopefully without the near knockout issue I had against KJ."
Couture chuckles when referring to the segment of the Noons fight when he got rocked and was put in serious danger of being stopped for the first time in his career. You can do that when you weather the storm, clear your head, and come back to win a hard-fought decision, and after getting the biggest win of his two and a half year pro career, it's just another notch in his belt.
Yet despite the progression he's shown in his game ever since arriving on the MMA scene, Couture admits that without the Zuffa purchase of Strikeforce and the subsequent closing of the promotion, he was probably not going to be on track for a UFC berth so soon.
"I think the biggest reason that it has happened is that when Zuffa bought out Strikeforce, the learning curve got steep, and the make or break or turning point for me was that fight with Conor last March," he said. "That was my first big step up to an established opponent, and the way I was able to rise to the occasion and then really step things up in training and go out and perform as well as I did on fight night sort of set the tone. Then they kept raising the bar every fight out, and from that first experience I had the confidence to know that I was capable of working hard enough to go out there and win those fights, even though technically on paper I probably wasn't supposed to. So that was the turning point where it seemed attainable, but if you would have asked me just starting out how long it would take, I would have thought I'd still be a long ways away."
That long ways away has turned into one day away, and if Couture is nervous about his debut, he's not showing it. Then again, that's been a hallmark of his career thus far. Despite being the underdog against bigger names, when it came time to shut the gate and ring the bell, he was there to fight and he found a way to win. So when it comes to the first time UFC jitters, it's not a huge concern, especially since he's had a better insight into the big fight atmosphere than most debutants.
"Every fight I've ever had has been televised and has been on a pretty big show and been professionally run, and that fight week lead up for the last five fights now since the Zuffa buyout, the way that they do things is gonna be the same, even though it was Strikeforce and now it's the UFC," he said. "So all of that fight week stuff, I feel like it's gonna be old hat for me and very familiar, and then the experience of getting to corner Dad for some of his big fights, even the one overseas in Manchester, and being right there cageside at UFC events, including the Toronto show with 55,000 people there, I think that will take away some of the jitters that I would have had over the magnitude of the crowd. So I don't foresee it being a big issue. That said, before my first pro fight, I said 'I don't feel any more nervous than I did for the amateur fights,' and then afterwards, that release that I felt and that load off that I felt, I knew at that point that I had been feeling a lot of pressure and was trying to ignore it. So it could be the same story here; we'll see once the fight's over. But as of now, I feel like it's more of the same."
Sounds like a Couture is ready to fight.
Power Slap


text: Opticks is similar to commercial tools like ERDAS IMAGINE, RemoteView, ENVI, or SOCET GXP. Unlike other competing tools, you can add capability to Opticks by creating extensions. It supports the following file formats: NITF 2.0/2.1, GeoTIFF, ENVI, ASPAM/PAR, CGM, DTED, Generic RAW, ESRI Shapefile, HDF5, AVI, MPEG, JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP. It can zoom, pan, or rotate spatially large datasets. It can quickly layer GIS features, annotations, results, and other information over your data to provide context. It has many image display controls such as colormap, histogram, transparency, etc. Support for datasets larger than four gigabytes. Analysts can quickly combine steps using graphical wizards. Support for processing data in its native interleave of BIP, BSQ, or BIL. Extensions can add new processing algorithms, file formats, visualizations of the data, or data types.


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Even with the human genome in hand, geneticists are split about how to deal with issues of race, genetics and medicine.
Some favor using genetic markers to sort humans into groups based on ancestral origin – groups that may show meaningful health differences. Others argue that genetic variations across the human species are too gradual to support such divisions and that any categorisation based on genetic differences is arbitrary.
These issues have been discussed in depth by a multidisciplinary group – ranging from geneticists and psychologists to historians and philosophers – led by Sandra Soo-Jin Lee of Stanford University, California.
Now the group has released a set of 10 guiding principles for the scientific community, published as an open letter in this week's Genome Biology.
Here is my commentary on each of the "commandments":
1. All races are created equalThis is a vague statement that is false for two reasons: (i) for any particular single trait, there is a wealth of evidence that one race may be genetically better than another, e.g., Caucasoids are inherently more likely to get skin cancer than Negroids. (ii) there is no way set-in-stone to rand two groups based on a number of many different traits. But, this is an obvious statement: if someone is beautiful and dumb and another one is ugly and intelligent, then you can't say that one is better than another: it depends on what importance you assign to different traits.
No genetic data has ever shown that one group of people is inherently superior to another. Equality is a moral value central to the idea of human rights; discrimination against any group should never be tolerated.
2. An Argentinian and an Australian are more likely to have differences in their DNA than two ArgentiniansCorrect, although populations are hardly mixing at a very high rate even in our interconnected world, but definitely more so than in pre-Columbian times.
Groups of human beings have moved around throughout history. Those that share the same culture, language or location tend to have different genetic variations than other groups. This is becoming less true, though, as populations mix.
3. A person's history isn't written only in his or her genesEssentially correct, since groups and individuals differ both because of genes and because of culture.
Everyone's genetic material carries a useful, though incomplete, map of his or her ancestors' travels. Studies looking for health disparities between individuals shouldn't rely solely on this identity. They should also consider a person's cultural background.
4: Members of the same race may have different underlying geneticsCorrect in the sense that there is variation within races. Also, in the sense that socially-defined races such as "black" and "Hispanic" do not correspond perfectly to biological races. "Blacks", at least in the United States are usually thought of as partial Negroids, and "Hispanics" are usually thought as Spanish speakers who tend to have a variable amount of Caucasoid and American Mongoloid ancestry.
Social definitions of what it means to be "Hispanic" or "black" have changed over time. People who claim the same race may actually have very different genetic histories.
5. Both nature and nurture play important parts in our behaviors and abilitiesEssentially correct. However, this statement is often used to "ease the blow" of the fact that races may indeed have genetic differences that affect outcomes irrespective of environments, or at least in the range of environments that people tend to find themselves in in the 21st century.
Trying to use genetic differences between groups to show differences in intelligence, violent behaviors or the ability to throw a ball is an oversimplification of much more complicated interactions between genetics and environment.
6. Researchers should be careful about using racial groups when designing experimentsNo disagreement here.
When scientists decide to divide their subjects into groups based on ethnicity, they need to be clear about why and how these divisions are made to avoid contributing to stereotypes.
7. Medicine should focus on the individual, not the race
Although some diseases are connected to genetic markers, these markers tend to be found in many different racial groups. Overemphasising genetics may promote racist views or focus attention on a group when it should be on the individual.
Focusing on the individual is a noble goal for the future. Doctors don't have infinite time and resources to study the individual in all its particulars, so they work by placing him and his condition in a few relevant categories, e.g., "old white male". The category "white" may be of little relevance depending if one has a broken limb but of greater relevance if one has a skin pathology.
Individuals are real, but we don't really perceive individuals: we perceive a cloud of categories and attributes about individuals, as time, knowledge, and interest allows, and one of these categories -and not an insignificant one- is their race.
8. The study of genetics requires cooperation between experts in many different fields
Human disease is the product of a mishmash of factors: genetic, cultural, economic and behavioral. Interdisciplinary efforts that involve the social sciences are more likely to be successful.
Scientists should try to make scientific results accessible to the public without fueling misconceptions. A big part of this is being honest about race-related research, something which many scientists holding a politically correct "races don't exist/races are social constructs" seem unwilling to do.9. Oversimplified science feeds popular misconceptions
Policy makers should be careful about simplifying and politicising scientific data. When presenting science to the public, the media should address the limitations of race-related research.
10. Genetics 101 should include a history of racismGenetics 101 should focus on the science of genetics, nothing more and nothing less. It should impart on the student correct notions about the science, and about differences between groups.
Any high school or college student learning about genetics should also learn about misguided attempts in the past to use science to justify racism. New textbooks should be developed for this purpose.
UPDATE (July 19):
The Genome biology open letter on which the New Scientist article is based.


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Leaky and MuggleNet to Face Off in Trivia Battle at Podcast; More Vegas and Podcast Updates
Jul 27, 2006
The rumors are true: the PotterCast team from Leaky and the MuggleCast team from MuggleNet will face off in the ultimate Harry Potter trivia battle at the end of the LeakyMug podcast on Saturday. It will be hosted and moderated by the Harry Potter Lexicon. Be there for the grudge match.
The podcast starts at 6:30pm at the J.W. Marriott in Las Vegas; we'll be giving out wristbands starting at 4pm at Lumos. If you're a registered Lumos attendee you get preferred seating, but you don't have to be registered to see the show. If there are more of you than there are seats, we will have a live video feed in a different room at the convention, so you won't have traveled all that way without seeing the show. Can't wait to see you!
Meanwhile, Lumos has started and we're having a great time. If you can't be with us, follow the blogs of those who are here, or add your own on the LeakyMug website. Meanwhile we'll be adding pictures to the galleries continually here.
Also, Official Scholastic podcast at the Barnes & Noble in Summerlin on Monday was another big success. The audio for the Chicago event is now online. Our next stop is in Los Angeles on July 30 at the Barnes & Noble at The Grove at 1pm. We hope you'll come see Emerson, Cheryl and me if you're in the area! And don't forget, we're doing another live LeakyMug podcast in New York City on August 2nd at the Union Square Barnes & Noble at 12:30pm.


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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is amplifying recommendations it's made for years: Don't eat raw or undercooked ground beef. And the call may take on new significance in the wake of reports released last week about a multi-state outbreak of Salmonella in which nearly half the victims reported eating a raw ground beef dish at the same restaurant.
But raw meat seem to be making a bit of a comeback in the food world, thanks to renewed interest in raw food in general and the raw meat aficionados building off the paleo diet trend, so could steak tartare be next?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says seven of the 16 people who were sickened reported eating kibbeh, a Middle Eastern dish made with Bulgar wheat, ground lamb or beef in this case, and spices, at the same restaurant before becoming ill back in December. There are traditionally both raw and cooked versions.
According to this USDA release, the meat was served at a restaurant in Macomb County, Mich., near Detroit.
No deaths have been reported, but more than half of those sickened have been hospitalized. The other illnesses were reported in Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Arizona.
The restaurant acquired the meat from two retailers who have both recalled about 500 pounds of ground beef each. One is Jouni Meats,Inc., the other is Gab Halal Foods.
While many cultures keep traditions involving raw meat, it also seems to be moving more into the mainstream. Is it the manly appeal?
According to this article from the blog Honest Cooking, steak tartare is "raw food for the masculine eater." And there is the perception that it's safer and even healthier to eat meat that's underdone:
"It got almost extinguished when words like Salmonella, E.coli and Mad Cow disease became a part of the vocabulary, kick-starting the 'kill by overcooking'-religion in many kitchens."
And how does steak tartare taste? "The raw, soft and creamy beef is perfectly balanced by the sharp and pungent flavors from capers, mustard and onions and by the crisp fries," says writer Brian Lambaek.
But is eating raw meat worth it? CDC would say definitely not.
Illnesses from salmonella usually last four to seven days. Typical symptoms include fever and diarrhea, although the illness can be life-threatening to those with compromised immune systems, infants and the elderly.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Surgery Overview
Rhinoplasty is surgery to reshape the nose. It can make the nose larger or smaller; change the angle of the nose in relation to the upper lip; alter the tip of the nose; or correct bumps, indentations, or other defects in the nose.
During rhinoplasty, the surgeon makes incisions to access the bones and cartilage that support the nose. The incisions are usually made inside the nose so that they are invisible after the surgery. Depending on the desired result, some bone and cartilage may be removed, or tissue may be added (either from another part of the body or using a synthetic filler). After the surgeon has rearranged and reshaped the bone and cartilage, the skin and tissue is redraped over the structure of the nose. A splint is placed outside the nose to support the new shape of the nose as it heals.
Rhinoplasty may be done using general or local anesthesia. It is usually done as an outpatient procedure but sometimes requires a 1-night stay in the hospital or surgery center.
Surgeons who do rhinoplasties typically have training in either plastic surgery, otolaryngology (ear, nose, and throat specialty), or both.
What To Expect
The splint and bandaging around your nose will be removed in about a week.
Your face will feel puffy and the area around your eyes and nose will be bruised and swollen for several days. Cold compresses can help minimize the swelling and reduce pain. Your doctor may also recommend pain medicine. It takes about 10 to 14 days before most of the swelling and bruising improves.
You may need to keep your head elevated and relatively still for the first few days after surgery. It may be several weeks before you can return to strenuous activities.
Why It Is Done
Rhinoplasty can change the size, shape, and angle of your nose and bring it into better proportion with the rest of your face.
Rhinoplasty may also correct structural problems with the nose that cause chronic congestion and breathing problems.
How Well It Works
The results of rhinoplasty may be minor or significant, depending on what kind of correction you want. It is important that you and your plastic surgeon agree on the goals of the surgery. If your expectations are realistic and your plastic surgeon shares them, he or she will probably be able to give you the results you want.
The results of rhinoplasty are permanent, although subsequent injury or other factors can alter the nose's appearance. Cosmetic surgery should only be done on a fully developed nose. Complete development has usually occurred by age 15 or 16 in females and by age 17 or 18 in males. If surgery is done before this time, continued development of the nose can alter the surgical results and possibly cause complications.
You can always expect temporary swelling and bruising around the eyes and nose after rhinoplasty. Other problems that may occur include:
- Bleeding.
- Injury or holes to your septum (the wall that separates your nostrils).
- Skin problems, including breakdown of skin tissue (skin necrosis) and irritation from the tape and bandaging.
- Infection. Preventive antibiotics may be given after surgery to reduce the risk of infection.
- Serious nasal blockage caused by swelling inside the nose.
- Complications of anesthesia.
It is also possible that the cosmetic results of the surgery will not be what you wanted.
What To Think About
If you choose to have local anesthesia, be prepared for the sounds of your doctor working on the bones and cartilage of your nose.
One of the prominent features of the face, the nose can have a big impact on your self-image and appearance. If you're unhappy with your nose and have been so for a long time, rhinoplasty is a reasonable option to consider. As with other cosmetic procedures, you are more likely to be happy with the results of rhinoplasty if you have clear, realistic expectations about what the surgery can achieve and if you share these with your plastic surgeon.
Most insurance companies will not cover the costs of rhinoplasty unless it is being done to correct a functional problem or a defect caused by disease or injury. Even in these cases, be sure to check with your insurance company to find out what portion of the costs it will cover. Costs of surgery include not only the surgeon's fee but fees for the operating facility, the anesthesiologist, medicines, splints, and other services and materials.
Current as of: April 1, 2019
Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:Anne C. Poinier, MD – Internal Medicine & Adam Husney, MD – Family Medicine & Martin J. Gabica, MD – Family Medicine & Keith Alan Denkler, MD – Plastic Surgery
Current as of: April 1, 2019
Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:Anne C. Poinier, MD – Internal Medicine & Adam Husney, MD – Family Medicine & Martin J. Gabica, MD – Family Medicine & Keith Alan Denkler, MD – Plastic Surgery
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated, disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. Learn how we develop our content.


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We're heading back to Las Vegas with Player XT to cover the Most Beautiful Latina Search presented by El Pinto Salsa that will take place at The Palms, and we've put together a slideshow of some of the beautiful contestants who will be participating in the event. The models are from all over the world, from Costa Rica to Spain to Argentina! The event will take place this Saturday night (October 9th) at the world famous ghOstbar located at the top of The Palms, 55 floors above the Las Vegas Strip.
You'll recognize several of the models, including Angie Quesada and Cristy Mendivil, two amazing models that we shot on location at previous Player XT events. So come out and join us on Saturday night at The Palms if you're in Vegas, and you can contact Player XT if you're interested in VIP packages!
You can follow us on Twitter and Facebook for content updates. Also, sign up for our email list for weekly updates and check us out on Google+ as well.
Posted in: Lifestyle, The Opposite Sex, Travel
Tags: Angie Quesada, Barbara Magrini, Brittania Ochoa, Carolina Yepes, Cecila Roldan, Claudia Serven, Cristi Medevil, Daniela Kelly, Fabiola, ghOstbar, Las Vegas, Las Vegas casinos, Las Vegas events, Las Vegas hotels, Las Vegas nightclubs, Latin models, Melba Doblado, Most Beautiful Latina Search, Myriam Britt, nightclubs, Player XT, The Palms, VIP travel


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Although some of the images below may look familiar from my earlier posts, I am recycling them to illustrate and identify key components of the product that we discussed on the call. Any of the images can be enlarged for closer examination by clicking on them.
Keeping It Simple
As I have mentioned before, the folks at Ancestry.com have attempted to keep the science involved with interpreting the genetic data simple for the layman and have done a very good job of presenting the ancestry information in a straightforward, easy-to-understand fashion. There are many informational pop-ups that explain what the customer is seeing on their screen as well as easy-to-use tools that assist the customer in identifying the common ancestor(s) with their matches.
Ken Chahine, Senior VP in charge of DNA, perhaps in response to my earlier characterization of their new product, specifically emphasized that this is cutting edge science (especially their BGA feature) and that they definitely want to serve both the beginner and the advanced genetic genealogist with their AncestryDNA product, adding, "I hope going forward that people realize that while we made the user interface very, very straight-forward that it does not in any way represent 'dumbed down science' and to the contrary, to be able to give you...[the specific genetic ethnicity labels]... is taking what I would consider probably the best population genetics research that is out there right now." Some of their statements regarding progress in this area (detailed later) sound promising, so I will reserve further judgment until I get a chance to thoroughly investigate the final product.
Streamlining the work of autosomal DNA matching
This is probably the most significant advancement for genetic genealogists who are using their autosomal DNA to identify common ancestors with other genealogists. At AncestryDNA your matches' trees are automatically compared and shared surnames and birth locations are clearly listed. When possible, shared common ancestors are even identified with those familiar little "shaky leaf" symbols. You can view a seven generation pedigree of your match's tree right on the screen with a link to the actual tree for exploring more generations. According to Chahine, by having the trees readily available on the site with their commonality instantly identified, thus cutting down on the legwork traditionally associated with tracking down the common ancestor between matches, they have produced quick and easy confirmation of common ancestors between many of the Beta testers. I'm not surprised to hear this and look forward to exploring my own results. (The only problem is that I will have to ask these confirmed relatives to test at 23andMe or FTDNA, so I can get the specific segment information to add to my chromosome mapping charts.)
Admixture Analysis Tool - "Genetic Ethnicity"
As I've said before, this is a very strong feature with impressive and attractive graphics. They are presently using 22 different labels to identify the unique populations to which they are matching our DNA with the "Genetic Ethnicity" feature. These are drawn from reference samples from many different sources, both public and proprietary. The number of specific categories will likely increase. (Population reference samples are compiled from "anchors" which are individuals whose families have been in one place for generations.) These categories include Jewish and both Native North American and Native South American. There is also an "Uncertain" label that is used when your DNA matches one or more ethnic regions with too little information to confidently predict. In some cases, they stayed away from geography for the "ethnicity" labels since that isn't always representative of ancestry. I learned that they are not yet showing Beta testers the African detail that we saw on the Blair Underwood WDYTYA episode, but plan on doing so in the future. While stating that this has "never been done to the level we have done it", they repeatedly emphasized that this feature is still in Beta and will undergo changes and improvements based on the Beta test feedback.
Genetic ethnicity versus family tree
AncestryDNA explores the relationship between your Ancestry.com family tree and your genetic results. They do this by comparing your predicted "ethnicity" to the actual birth locations of your ancestors in your tree. The birth locations from your tree are also shown in total percentages in order to make it easy to compare to your "genetic ethnicity" percentages. If none of the places in your tree match up to some of the hints your DNA is giving, perhaps there are new avenues to explore that might result in overcoming genealogical brickwalls, by giving clues to the "ethnicity" of your ancestors with unknown origins.
Common Ancestral Origins Between Matches
AncestryDNA will compare your "genetic ethnicity" to that of each of your matches and attempt to isolate the "genetic ethnicity" of your common ancestor based on the overlap. In the second image below you can see that there is only a small commonality between these two participants' admixture results, so the idea is that the common ancestor is very likely to be of the identified shared "ethnicity". This allows you to focus in on a particular branch of your family tree or provides a hint of what may lie just beyond one of your genealogical brickwalls.
Plotted Birth Locations
One screen plots birth locations on a map, pulled from both your match's tree and from your own, highlighting common locations (seen in the first image above). Ken Chahine said that this feature has been "a remarkably valuable tool" so far in the Beta phase, explaining "that when you can't find the common ancestor, frequently what you find is common locations of individuals who have been in tiny towns in the East Coast of the United States in the 1800s", thus giving the ability to hone in on locations that may have only had several thousand people a few generations ago, offering an "opportunity to look at the research" in a unique way.
Relative Matching with Confidence Levels
The confidence levels shown on the right hand side of the match list is based on tests run using 200 real individuals with 30,000 or more possible relationships between them. This confidence number tells you what percent of the time the AncestryDNA's relationship range predictions corresponded with the actual real data in their experiments. For example, in the graphic below, you can see a 96% confidence level for Match #2. Chahine explains, "We ended up...calibrating our algorithm, so that we could tell the customer, if we find a 4th cousin how confident we are that that person really is a 4th cousin, and...about 96% of the ones we identified in our experiments were, in fact, 4th cousins." (It was later clarified that he meant that they will fall within the predicted range, which for 4th cousins as seen in the image below is 4th - 6th.) He went on to say, "I would argue for the 4th cousins you should be trying pretty hard [to find a common ancestor] because our data suggests that this person has a very, very strong likelihood to actually be a 4th cousin."
They also just added a pretty useful little sliding bar for easy filtering of matches of different degrees of predicted relationships, allowing you to focus in on closer relatives or, instead, explore all of those more speculative matches who may share an ancestor with you in the last ten generations or so by including the "Distant Cousin" category (5th cousins or further) in your display.
Chahine noted that even at the 50% confidence level, some Beta testers have been able to confirm a common ancestor with their matches. He recommended (in line with my usual advice) that testers at least look over these more distant matches to determine if there is any low hanging fruit, such as already identified common ancestors, surnames or locations.
It was explained that the matching system is "dynamic" with data "pulled live" when you confirm a common ancestor with a match, thus "increasing the power of the product".
One other convenient feature is that the person who administers the kit is listed in addition to the actual match's "name". As genetic genealogists well know, they are not always the same person. It is also noted how long the administrator has been a member of Ancestry.com and their last sign-in date.
The DNA interface observes the global privacy settings that each customer has on their account, meaning that if your Ancestry.com tree is private, it will not be linked to your results. Your matches will be required to contact you for permission to view your tree, as is always the case on the site. No privacy settings have been or will be compromised.
On another note, I have heard from Beta testers that recently more and more of their matches are attaching their family trees to their DNA results. This is quite essential for success.
Timeline and Beta
The test is currently in a private Beta phase. They advised us that the results that we have seen so far are in "no way the final product". They explained that AncestryDNA wanted to put something "lean" out there for Beta in order to receive feedback and get a better sense of what the needs of their customers are before finalizing the product.
We were told that more results should be out in the "next few days". Whether that meant for our group specifically or the next wave of Beta testers, I am not sure. Either way, they said that they "will be getting it out to more and more customers throughout this year". They also commented that their team has "a lot to add" to what we have already seen in Beta and said these additions are "right around the corner".
Feedback from Beta
They have been very happy with the constructive feedback they have received. John Pereira, VP of Business Development, said they are "absolutely inundated with feedback so far and they have to sift through that" before the general release. They have also been "incredibly surprised" with the quality and quantity of confirmed matches already. Chahine enthused, "It has been amazing how many have already found their common ancestors!"
Plans for the future
The team said that their goal is to provide "the very best test that is out there" and "they really want to be a leader in the space". Pereira emphasized that their focus is to combine the genetic information with already existing Ancestry content for ease of use, but assured that they do intend to "get more tools out there to help the customers" streamline their advanced research. He said to expect the product to change rapidly and advised us to "keep coming back to the site because there will be lots of new changes". We were advised that providing the raw genetic data and specific segment matching information are "in the queue" of potential future additions to the product, as is allowing raw data uploads from 23andMe and FTDNA. They made it clear that they are not opposed to these ideas, but they cannot guarantee what will be included with this product in the future because "it is a moving target" with "priorities changing every day" in response to feedback from the testers. (So, if the actual genetic data is important to you, please let them know!) Pereira shared that they will likely add points throughout the site where advanced customers can "dive down into the science", while keeping the basic user interface relatively simple (this may include more detailed genetic info) and that they definitely have plans to answer the questions in regard to the deeper science once they have a good sense of what those questions really are. The team said that they are very happy with the product they have put forward so far, but are "even more excited" about the improvements that are expected in the future.
Responding to my query, Chahine acknowledged that they are looking at solutions for the challenges of relative matching for endogamous populations like Ashkenazi Jews and that it is "really high on the list" to come up with special algorithms that deal with various populations that are not predicted well with the current matching algorithm.
They plan to eventually send email updates to customers, advising them of new matches and possible common ancestors like they currently do with family tree hints.
They have no information on future pricing at this time.
Other interesting tidbits
Ken Chahine confirmed my suspicion that Y-DNA was used in conjunction with autosomal DNA in the WDYTYA Blair Underwood episode that caused some controversy over the seemingly exaggerated exactness of the 10th cousin prediction. Chahine explained, "We were able to take Blair's African component from an autosomal test and actually assess that...his DNA signature was most closely associated with a tribe that was identified in Northwest Cameroon and then we ended up using a Y-DNA marker to help us identify a potentially distant cousin, which we did, and the episode introduced Blair to that distant cousin. What I was really amazed about was how well the science integrated, so on the ethnicity side, the match and the ethnicity were very, very close to each other in terms of geography."
We've all been waiting for what seems like an eternity to see what Ancestry.com will do with this new test. I appreciated the opportunity to get a good look at it and to be able to share it with my readers. As I have stated before, this test has a lot of potential for encouraging the masses to try out DNA testing, but it needs to go further with the details of what's happening "under the hood" to satisfy the serious genetic genealogy researcher. I think they realize this and will take steps in this direction. Will it be enough to win over the genetic genealogy community? Time will tell and I will keep you updated, as always.
**Update - Leave it to Blaine Bettinger to pull it all together for us! He blogged about his thoughts from this same call over at The Genetic Genealogist and his take is well worth the read: Ancestry.com's AncestryDNA Product. **
[10/26/12: This test is now out of Beta, so you can order it here.]


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The political maneuvering continues in Washington as lawmakers debate how to extend about-to-expire payroll tax cuts and jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed.
As Frank James writes over at It's All Politics, House Republicans are appearing "ever more isolated" after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) urged them to drop their opposition to the Senate-approved plan to extend those measures for another two months.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) spoke up to say that he'd be happy to start negotiations with the House on a longer extension as soon as that two-month plan is passed.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) isn't budging yet, though. He tweeted a short time ago that the two-month extensions are nothing more than "short-term gimmicks."
Now, President Obama is weighing in again. He just took to a stage in one of the office buildings adjacent to the White House to say "this is about people, this is about the American people and whether they win."
The $40-a-week or so that a family with an annual income of $50,000 would lose if the payroll tax cut expires is important to millions of Americans, Obama said. Some House members, he added, "don't think that $40 is a lot of money. But anyone who knows what it's like to stretch a budget, knows that at the end of a week or the end of a month $40 can make all the difference in the world."
The president then talked about the #40dollars Twitter hashtag the White House started to collect stories about how losing $40 a week would affect people.
"What's happening right now is exactly why people get so frustrated with Washington," Obama said of the political stalemate. Noting that there's bipartisan agreement that the programs need to be extended, Obama said "even when people agree to things we can't do it! ... Enough is enough."
Update at 1:21 p.m. ET. Nothing's Changed?
CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller just had this to say on his Twitter page:
"So where do we stand? Same as yesterday. Everyone holding firm to their positions, no one giving in."
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – December 11, 2012 – 23andMe. Inc., the leading personal genetics company, today announced it has raised more than $50 million in a Series D financing. Participants in the financing include Yuri Milner, a new investor, as well as existing investors Sergey Brin, 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki, New Enterprise Associates, Google Ventures and MPM Capital. This investment will help the company achieve its growth goal of one million customers.
The Power of One Million People
Expanding the company's ability to reach and serve one million individuals supports 23andMe's goal to revolutionize health and wellness. It also will accelerate 23andMe's ability to create a powerful platform that enables researchers around the globe to make meaningful discoveries significantly faster than is currently possible. With this expansion, 23andMe, which currently has more than 180,000 customers, will aim to:
- Enable groundbreaking research by creating an exponentially larger collective of actively engaged, genotyped individuals;
- Help accelerate development of new treatments;
- Improve understanding of wellness and disease prevention; and
- Broaden access for people seeking to manage their health and well-being through direct access and greater understanding of their own genetic data.
Broadening Access: Lowering Price to $99
The Series D investment, combined with rapidly decreasing costs associated with genetic testing technologies, enables 23andMe to reduce the price of its Personal Genome Service to $99, effective immediately. The company will continue to evaluate optimal pricing strategies.
The investment also enables 23andMe to expand the necessary infrastructure to support growth in its research and operational capabilities, including product development, genetic research, software development, recruitment and marketing.
About 23andMe
23andMe, Inc. is the leading personal genetics company dedicated to helping individuals understand their own genetic information through DNA analysis technologies and web-based interactive tools. The company's Personal Genome Service® enables individuals to gain deeper insights into their ancestry and inherited traits. The vision for 23andMe is to personalize healthcare by making and supporting meaningful discoveries through genetic research. 23andMe, Inc., was founded in 2006, and the company is advised by a group of renowned experts in the fields of human genetics, bioinformatics and computer science. More information is available at 23andMe.
Be one of the million that will change the world - order your $99 23andMe kit now!
[**Update: The price of upgrades from v2 to v3 has also dropped to only $95.]


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The college in Boston will rename the school - for one day only - the Ron Burgundy School of Communication on Dec. 4 to honor the fictitious television anchorman.
Actor Will Ferrell, in character, is scheduled to share his path to journalism greatness with students. His visit will include a news conference, the renaming ceremony and a screening of "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues." Ferrell, as himself, will introduce the movie.
College President Lee Pelton says Burgundy "understands the power of media, as well as hairspray, firsthand."
Burgundy, known for telling people he's "kind of a big deal," says he hopes to let students know how hard it is to make it to the top, in his words, "especially if you don't have good hair."


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text: Partner with TU to Protect the Fish We All CherishToday, water is a vital element of sucessful business planning. Whether used in agriculture, manufacturing or as a backdrop for recreation, cold clean water is an essential part of doing business today. TU has a wide variety of programs that could use your support, ranging from conservation to protection and restoration. Even sustaining interest in the resource through our youth and veterans programs are available.Learn how Coca-Cola Company partnered with Trout Unlimited to create a better future for the stakeholders on the Sun River.Learn how Tiffany and Co. Jewelers partnered with Trout Unlimited to protect Alaska's Bristol Bay from a misguided mine.Learn how Orvis partnered with Trout Unlimited to reconnect over 1,000 miles of rivers across the US by removing and replacing faulty culverts.Learn how Mendocino Redwood Company partnered with Trout Unlimited to protect California's native steelhead and salmon.Learn how Telos Corporation partnered with Trout Unlimited to introduce the healing power of water and fly fishing to American veterans.Your support of TU is vital, and we'll direct your corporate donations to the project or program that most interests you, or best serves your business. What's more, we'll let our 300,000 members and supporters know that your business is a proud sponsor of TU and its efforts to protect, reconnect and restore our nation's trout and salmon habitat—and the opportunity to fish for trout and salmon from coast to coast.Donations to TU are tax deductible—TU is registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a 501c(3) non-profit organization.


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Well, it's hard for me to objectively address most of these charges, but I can say that the longest I've ever kept a patient waiting is 23 minutes.
I hate sites where you can anonymously rate doctors. Anyone can put up a scathing review, even if they didn't actually see you. Maybe they're pissed off that you don't take their insurance, or wouldn't give them the extra 40 Percocets they wanted.
The sites don't check to make sure that they really saw you. For all you know you're being rated by a person angry that your kid beat theirs in the school spelling bee (don't tell me people aren't that petty. They are.). And because we're doctors, we can't really defend ourselves. After all, we took an oath to keep your health concerns in confidence.
Let's look at this the other way: what if I were to create an online public forum where doctors could rate patients by name. Of course, while we'd be encouraged to write only about our own patients, who's to make us do so? What if you're someone who dinged my car at Costco this weekend, or the barista who can never get my order right? I could use the site just for the hell of it.
"Probably a drug seeker. I wouldn't touch her."
"Very whiny and needy. Calls staff all the time."
"Dumb as a rock. Can't remember his meds."
"Argues incessantly about his crappy $15 co-pay".
"Needs to buy a toothbrush and some deodorant."
Best of all, we doctors could put it up anonymously. You'd have absolutely no way to know who wrote it (you could guess). In fact, even if I never saw you, and say, just didn't like you based on meeting you somewhere, I could write whatever I wanted. And you'd have absolutely no legal recourse. Sure, you could post something in your own defense, but, do you have time for that?
Of course, that would never happen. Besides being unethical, it's frankly illegal for a doctor to do that. Patients, however, have a free reign to anonymously say whatever the hell they want about us. Even if they've never actually seen you and are making it all up.
The other problem that affects these rating sites is simply human nature. When something goes well, we expect it and say nothing. But when something goes wrong, we get angry and want the world to know. So the reviews are predominantly written by people pissed-off enough to take the time to find a ratings site, create an account (maybe several), and write one or more bad reviews. The people who thought the doctor was awesome may outnumber them 100 to 1, but won't write anything. So, as in everything else, a small but vocal minority can drown out the truth.
Besides, it's so much more fun to write a bad review than a good one. Most of us learned this in high school, whether through writing a book report, gossiping about others, or reading Perez Hilton.
For these sites, and those who contribute to them, I think we have to keep in mind the words of the finest restaurant critic in history, Mr. Anton Ego:
"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and theirselves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so."


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PostgreSQL 8.2.6 Documentation | ||||
Prev | Fast Backward | Appendix E. Release Notes | Fast Forward | Next |
Release date: 2006-01-09
This release contains a variety of fixes from 8.0.5.
A dump/restore is not required for those running 8.0.X. However, if you are upgrading from a version earlier than 8.0.3, see the release notes for 8.0.3. Also, you might need to REINDEX indexes on textual columns after updating, if you are affected by the locale or plperl issues described below.
Fix Windows code so that postmaster will continue rather than exit if there is no more room in ShmemBackendArray (Magnus)
The previous behavior could lead to a denial-of-service situation if too many connection requests arrive close together. This applies only to the Windows port.
Fix bug introduced in 8.0 that could allow ReadBuffer to return an already-used page as new, potentially causing loss of recently-committed data (Tom)
Fix for protocol-level Describe messages issued outside a transaction or in a failed transaction (Tom)
Fix character string comparison for locales that consider different character combinations as equal, such as Hungarian (Tom)
This might require REINDEX to fix existing indexes on textual columns.
Set locale environment variables during postmaster startup to ensure that plperl won't change the locale later
This fixes a problem that occurred if the postmaster was started with environment variables specifying a different locale than what initdb had been told. Under these conditions, any use of plperl was likely to lead to corrupt indexes. You might need REINDEX to fix existing indexes on textual columns if this has happened to you.
Allow more flexible relocation of installation directories (Tom)
Previous releases supported relocation only if all installation directory paths were the same except for the last component.
Fix longstanding bug in strpos() and regular expression handling in certain rarely used Asian multi-byte character sets (Tatsuo)
Various fixes for functions returning RECORD s (Tom)
Fix bug in /contrib/pgcrypto gen_salt, which caused it not to use all available salt space for MD5 and XDES algorithms (Marko Kreen, Solar Designer)
Salts for Blowfish and standard DES are unaffected.
Fix /contrib/dblink to throw an error, rather than crashing, when the number of columns specified is different from what's actually returned by the query (Joe)


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What Would Nature Do?: In Depth
- What Would Nature Do? Not Wall Street
- Share
What Would Nature Do? Not Wall Street
Models for a healthy down-to-earth economy are all around us.
With proper care and respect, Earth can provide a high quality of life for all people in perpetuity. Yet we devastate productive lands and waters for a quick profit, a few temporary jobs, or a one-time resource fix.
Our current expansion of tar sands oil extraction, deep-sea oil drilling, hydraulic fracturing natural gas extraction, and mountaintop-removal coal mining are but examples of this insanity. These highly profitable choices deepen our economic dependence on rapidly diminishing, nonrenewable fossil-energy reserves, disrupt the generative capacity of Earth's living systems, and accelerate climate disruption.
A global economy dependent on this nonsense is already failing and its ultimate collapse is only a matter of time. For a surprisingly long time, we humans have successfully maintained the illusion that we are outside of, superior to, and not subject to the rules of nature. We do so, however, at a huge cost, and payment is coming due.
To secure the health and happiness of future generations, we must embrace life as our defining value, recognize that competition is but a subtext of life's deeper narrative of cooperation, and restructure our institutions to conform to life's favored organizing principle of radically decentralized, localized decision making and self-organization. This work begins with recognizing what nature has learned about the organization of complex living systems over billions of years.
Our Original Instructions
Some indigenous people speak of the "original instructions." Chief Oren Lyons, of the Onondaga Nation, summarizes the rules in "Listening to Natural Law" in the anthology Original Instructions:
"Our instructions, and I'm talking about for all human beings, are to get along … with [nature's] laws, and support them and work with them. We were told a long time ago that if you do that, life is endless. It just continues on and on in great cycles of regeneration. … If you want to tinker with that regeneration, if you want to interrupt it, that's your choice, but the results that come back can be very severe because … the laws are absolute."
The human brain evolved to reward cooperation and service.
Modern neuroscience affirms that the human brain evolved to reward cooperation and service. In other words, nature has hard-wired the original instructions into our brain. Extreme individualism, greed, and violence are pathological and a sign of physical, developmental, cultural, and/or institutional system failure. Caring relationships are the foundation of healthy families, communities, and life itself.
We are living out the consequences of our collective human failure to adhere to the original instructions—the organizing principles of healthy living systems readily discernible through observation of nature at work. These are the principles by which we must rethink and reorganize human economies.
So how would nature design an economy? An economy is nothing more than a system for allocating resources to productive activity—presumably in support of life. In fact, nature is an economy, with material and information exchange, saving, investment, production, and consumption—all functions we associate with economic activity. Absent human intervention, as Lyons says, "It just continues on and on in great cycles of regeneration."
Nature surrounds us with expressions of the organizing principles that make possible life's exceptional resilience, capacity for adaptation, creative innovation, and vibrant abundance. Earth's biosphere and the human body are two magnificent examples.
Wall Street |
Nature |
Defining value | Money | Life | ||
Primary performance indicators | Growth, financial returns, flows, and assets | Life's abundance, health, resilience, and creative potential | ||
Primary dynamic | Competition to maximize self-interest | Cooperation to optimize self- and community interest | ||
Decision-making power | Global, top-down, centralized, and concentrated | Local, bottom-up, and distributed | ||
Time frame | Immediate return | Sustained yield | ||
Local character | Uniform | Diverse | ||
Resource control | Monopolized | Shared | ||
Resource flows | Global, linear, one-time use from mine to dump | Local, circular, perpetual use, zero waste | ||
Deficits of concern | Financial | Social and environmental | ||
Measure of efficiency | Returns to financial capital | Returns to social and natural capital | ||
Growth | Infinite growth of money and material consumption | A stage in life's endless regenerative cycles of birth, growth, death, and rebirth |
The Economy of the Biosphere
Earth's exquisitely complex, resilient, and continuously evolving band of life—the biosphere—demonstrates on a grand scale the creative potential of the distributed intelligence of many trillions of individual self-organizing, choice-making living organisms. Acting in concert, they continuously regenerate soils, rivers, aquifers, fisheries, forests, and grasslands while maintaining climatic balance and the composition of the atmosphere to serve the needs of Earth's widely varied life forms. So long as humans honor the original instructions, the biosphere has an extraordinary capacity to optimize the capture, organization, and sharing of Earth's energy, water, and nutrients in support of life—including human life.
In nature, species and individuals earn a right to a share in the bounty of the whole as necessary to their sustenance through their contribution to the well-being of the whole. Over the long term, those that contribute prosper, and those that do not contribute expire. The interests of the whole are protected against rogue behavior by natural limits on the ability of any individual or species to monopolize resources beyond its own need to the exclusion of the needs of others.
Individuals and species may compete for territory and sexual dominance, but the amount of territory or number of mates nature allows an individual or species to claim is local, limited, and subject to continuous challenge. Until humans began to create the imperial civilizations characteristic of our most recent 5,000 years, the idea that any species, let alone a few individual members of a species, might claim control of all of Earth's living wealth to the exclusion of all others was beyond comprehension.
The Economy of the Body
The human body is a more intimate demonstration of the creative power of life's organizing principles. The individual human body comprises tens of trillions of individual living cells, each a decision-making entity with the ability to manage and maintain its own health and integrity under changing and often stressful circumstances. At the same time, each cell faithfully discharges its responsibility to serve the needs of the entire body on which its own health and integrity depend.
Working together, these cells create and maintain a self-organizing human organism with the potential to achieve extraordinary feats of physical grace and intellectual acuity far beyond the capability of any individual cell on its own.
We would favor local, cooperative ownership and control.
Each decision-making, resource-sharing cell is integral to a larger whole of which no part or system can exist on its own. Together they create regulatory mechanisms internal to the whole that work to assure that no part asserts dominance over the others or monopolizes the body's stores of energy, nutrients, and water for its exclusive use. Resources are shared based on need.
All the while, the body's cells self-organize to fight off a vast variety of viruses, cancer cells, and harmful bacteria, adapt to changing temperatures and energy needs and variations in the body's food and water intake, heal damaged tissues, and collect and provide sensory data to our conscious mind essential to our conscious choice making.
Another of the many impressive expressions of the body's capacity to self-organize is the process by which our cells continuously regenerate while maintaining the body's integrity as a unified organism. The cells lining the human stomach have a turnover of only five days. Red blood cells are replaced every 120 days or so. The surface of the skin recycles every two weeks. The cells of the body are constantly reproducing, growing, and dying.
A Human Economy Based on Nature
If nature were in charge of creating an enduring human economy, she would surely apply the same principles she applies in natural systems. Her goal would be a global system of bioregional living economies that secure a healthy, happy, productive life for every person on the planet in symbiotic balance with the non-human systems on which we humans depend for breathable air, drinkable water, fertile soils, timber, fish, grasslands, and climate stability. Each bioregional economy would meet its own needs for energy, water, nutrients, and mineral resources through sustained local capture, circular flow, utilization, and repurposing. Decision making would be local and the system would organize from the bottom up. Diversity and redundancy would support local adaptation and resilience.
The challenge is epic in its proportion and long overdue.
This should be our goal and vision. With the biosphere as our systems model, we would design our economic institutions and rules to align with nature's rules and organizing principles. We would replace GDP as the primary measure of economic performance with a new system of living system indicators that assess economic performance against the outcomes we actually want—healthy, happy people and healthy, resilient natural systems. These indicators might be based on Bhutan's Gross National Happiness Index. We would redirect the time, talent, and money we currently devote to growing GDP, material consumption, securities bubbles, and Wall Street bonuses to producing the outcomes we really want.
We would favor local, cooperative ownership and control. Organizing from the bottom up in support of bioregional self-reliance, our economic institutions would support local decision-making in response to local needs and opportunities. Cultural and biological diversity and sharing within and between local communities would support local and global resilience and facilitate life-serving system innovation.
The result would be an economy based on a love of life that honors the original instructions and conforms to the organizing principles of nature, real markets, and true democracy. The challenge is epic in its proportion and long overdue.
We are Earth's children; she is our mother. We must honor and care for her as she loves and cares for us. Together we can forge an integral partnership grounded in the learning and deep wisdom of her 3.8 billion-year experience in nurturing life's expanding capacities for intelligent self-organization, creative innovation, and self-reflective consciousness.


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This week's release of the 2012 World Development Report (Gender Equality and Development) forced me to reflect, not on the life of my grandmother or women her age, but on the women of my generation and girls the age of my three young adult sons, whose voices and life stories the report brought to us so poignantly.
If they have to live through the inequality the report unveils, how can we who are blessed to work in development deliver better on our mission to lift slightly more than half of humanity out of the status of "second best"?
It was thrilling to see World Bank staff sporting t-shirts marked "Think Equal" around the Bank's premises on Wednesday and I could not help thinking of what I believe the report is calling us to do. It invites us to do more than "Think Equal". We have to "Act Equal". In Gandhi's words, "be the change we want to see".
Happily, the WDR tells us what a better Africa we could achieve if we do indeed "Act Equal". Maize yields would increase by 11 to 16 percent in Malawi and by 17 percent in Ghana if women farmers got the same access as male farmers to farm inputs, extension services and technical know-how. Burkina Faso's agricultural production would rise six percentage points if farm inputs such as fertilizer were reallocated from men to women.
Imagine the difference this could have made in the man-made starvation we now witness in Somalia.
The "feel good" effect of knowing that the international community, through institutions like the World Bank, has moved significant resources into agriculture in Africa over the last few years does not prevent us from being haunted by how much more we could have achieved if we moved earlier, faster, delivered better, pushed ourselves more and kept the focus strictly on delivering results for the poor and the most vulnerable, among them women.
One of the report's key messages—gender equality is also smart economics—has been around a while, but reiterated within the context of the grim figures the report delivers—excess female mortality after birth and "missing" girls at birth account for an estimated 3.9 million women each year in low- and middle-income countries—it constitutes an urgent call to action, especially for African policymakers and those of us who work on the world's last development frontier.
Even the most macho policy- and decision-makers surely recognize the benefit countries, communities and companies would draw by reducing the productivity gap between male and female workers by one-third to one-half simply by eliminating barriers that prevent women from working in certain occupations or sectors. The gains accrued from increasing output per worker by three to 25 percent across a range of countries creates the kind of win-win that we must seek in order to deliver on the promise of development for Africa.
As a "knowledge bank", we must do a better job not only of disbursing development finance but of leveraging our resources to support countries across the continent to implement the recommendations of the report. The sales pitch is a winner: countries that create better opportunities and conditions for women and girls can raise productivity, improve learning and nutritional outcomes for children, make institutions more representative and advance development prospects for all. Period! No mention of money. Policy entrepreneurship is what Africa is sorely in need of.
We owe it to the 51 percent of Africans who just happen to be women and girls to ensure that their children's memory captures footage of women with a greater say in households and societies across the continent; women who earn equal pay for equal work and qualification; and women who lead truly better lives than my grandmother, my mother and I lived.
They deserve it. Our job warrants that we deliver for them. Our collective future depends on achieving and maintaining that gender equality.


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Black comfort fit trunks
This black colored brief for men comes in jersey cotton fabric
Data sheet
- Brand Name -
- Switcher
- Gender -
- Men
- Product Finish -
- Garment Washed
- Wash Instruction -
- Normal wash
- Country of Origin -
- Made in India
- Fabric Texture -
- Jersey Fabric
- Fabric Made From -
- Cotton Elastane
- Model Wearing -
- Medium Size
- Style Description -
- Flatlock Hemming Finish
We understand that a stunning piece like the above is simply irresistible and deserves a first-hand feel at the shortest time possible! While we make every attempt to deliver your product as fast as we can, we realise that our delivery timelines are a tad bit longer than others. This is because we are a manufacturer and not a repository of pocket-pinching brands. Since we fashion and curate our collection in-house, hence most of our orders are shipped within 3-4 working days of order placement.
Our delivery model is truly unique and customer-centric. Here's why:
1. Every time you place an order with us, your selection undergoes meticulous quality checks to ensure that only the finest of products is in your hands and you receive your items in an excellent condition.
2. Before dispatching your product, we do not forget to hand wash it as we want to delight you with a masterpiece that is ready to be used the moment it is unpacked! We emphasize a lot on personal hygiene. Hence, we make sure that all our returned goods are impeccably recleaned before they are resent to a different customer. This is our key differentiator as most of the other online stores do not take the effort to wash the returned items again due to their want of a washing facility.
3. We care for your health & satisfaction and believe in fostering lasting relationships. Hence, we take time to inspect every order to our satisfaction and only decide to ship it once we are thoroughly convinced that the order is in safe condition and is free from all faults.
Depending upon your location, our air shipping ensures delivery as per the below timeline:
3 to 4 days from the date of shipping to Metro cities
5 to 7 days from the date of shipping to other cities
7 to 9 days from the date of shipping to rural areas
Stellar pieces like ours are hard to disassociate with! In the rare event that the ordered product fails to meet your expectations or does not fit you appropriately, you may self-ship your return via any of your preferred and reliable courier services and we will refund the full amount to you in your wallet within 48 working hours. It's that simple!
While we appreciate that you may need to try on your tee or top for an up close and personal view of the fit, yet we would urge you to exercise caution and return the goods to us in their undamaged and unused condition along with their original tags.
Just in case you are unsure of the size or fit of a particular item of clothing on display and could do with some assistance, you may leave a missed call at +91 7200 060606 or message us via the chat box and we will get in touch with you shortly!


text:
Dear Bitchy,
Twenty-ONE years ago today your entry into this world taught me the meaning of true honest to God joy. I don't think I can adequately describe that feeling in my heart when I first laid my eyes on you. I've learned so many more things from you since then.
I've learned how to laugh from deep down in my soul. I've laughed at you, I've laughed because of you, and of late - I've laughed with you.
I've learned the true meaning of fear, and the many faces fear has: the first STEP fear; the bicycle with no training wheels fear; the dealing with mean girls fear and the watching you enter middle school fear.
But, my darling, when you turned 16, you showed my heart the toughest meaning of fear. The kind of fear that creeps into a mother's heart late at night and grips it so tightly it almost stops beating. I also learned to live with that fear, so that you could live your life, and make your own mistakes. (That was a tough one.) I've learned to harness that fear and turn it into hope.
You've also taught me that no matter how many mistakes I make, no matter how many times I embarrass you and no matter how many times I scream at you – you still love me. For that, I am most grateful.
And so, on this very special day, I want to tell you this. I loved the little girl who ran away from home to the backyard when I wouldn't make her soup; I loved the little girl who in middle school got detention for spraying perfume on Jack Sprat; and I loved the young woman who in high school learned some tough, heartbreaking, valuable life lessons. You took them to heart and paved a new path for yourself – and that made me very, very proud.
Most importantly, I love you for who you are right now.
You are a part of my heart, my soul and my dreams. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.
Happy Birthday my darling Bitchy. I love you more than you will ever know. Well, except when you have a bitchy of your very own. Then you will know........only then.
(It's a repost from last year- her 20th. However, I'm too verkelmpt to write a new one. Plus, we're meeting for a DRINK, and i have to get ready!!.)