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Welcome to the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship blog. Throughout the tournament, you will be able to read about our impressions from in and around the rinks in Calgary and Edmonton, Canada.
January 5 / Calgary / Martin MerkA huge number of volunteers have helped to make sure that the biggest IIHF World Junior Championship would run smoothly in Calgary and Edmonton.While most of them came from Alberta, the organizers went the extra mile to guarantee the Latvian team host would be able to communicate in the Latvian language. They went as far as...Nashville, Tennessee.Karlis Zirnis is the volunteer who came from furthest away. And he's even familiar with the IIHF's World Junior competitions, as he once wore a Latvian jersey as a player himself."I played twice with the U20 national team in the B-Pool – it was in Ukraine and Poland, and U18 in Ukraine," Zirnis recalled. "These were great experiences and great competitions. You can't get any of these experiences anywhere else in the world."Zirnis was a teenager when Latvia regained its independence."I grew up under the Soviet regime and the Soviet style of hockey. It was more kind of military-run," Zirnis said. "When the country became independent, I had the opportunity to leave the country, to come to the States and play there."Despite the language barrier, he went over to the United States to play junior hockey before moving into college hockey at the University of Alabama-Huntsville, where he also met his future wife.After graduating, Zirnis enjoyed a high-scoring career in the minor leagues of the southern United states, including the CHL (Central Hockey League) and SPHL (Southern Professional Hockey League). There, he notched up to 66 points a season before ending his career in 2009.Now Zirnis wants to support junior hockey players in Tennessee – and in Calgary, ones from his native Latvia."I'm coaching 15-, 16-year-olds in southern Nashville to prepare them for junior and college level," Zirnis said.When the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship organizers were looking for volunteers, he was contacted through friends. He also got in touch with the Latvian Hockey Federation, and ended up as a team host for three weeks in Alberta."I've been doing lots of different things, from cutting videos to helping the team in any way I can," Zirnis said."There were funny moments. I had great laughs with the staff and boys. Now I just hope it will end well for the team," he said after the first period of the crucial Latvia-Denmark game that would determine who stayed in the top division and who went back to Division I.It was a happy ending for Zirnis and the Latvians juniors, who scored a 2-1 overtime win over the Danes, and will go to Ufa next winter.
January 5 / Calgary / Lucas AykroydReally, is there any better way to prepare for a major international hockey game than by eating doughnuts?Prior to today's Russia-Sweden final, I acquired a batch of World Junior-themed doughnuts from Jelly Modern Doughnuts, a gourmet bakery located a few blocks from my downtown hotel.That's right – in Canada, even the local, organic, handcrafted pastries reflect hockey on special occasions.Since neither Don Koharski nor Jim Schoenfeld was around to help me out, I just started eating when I got back to my room.Like a doughnut-loving fool, showing poor discipline in a key situation, I devoured both doughnuts emblazoned with a hockey puck and stick before I realized this would make a fine blog entry. (According to the accompanying literature, apparently the puck-and-stick version was a "Bismark style three bite yeast doughnut hand filled with maple pastry creme and finished with madagascar bourbon vanilla glaze tinted red." Yum.)At least I left one with a red Maple Leaf, showing respect for the host country.There may or may not have been players in World Junior history who enjoyed doughnuts a tad too much. But you can do your own Googling to figure that one out, just like with Don and Jim.Here at IIHF.com, we're trying to stay focused on the task at hand. Granted, we can't personally win gold medals, but there are still some medal-worthy doughnuts left to finish off with my colleagues, from classic jelly to hand-filled coconut.
January 4 / Calgary / Martin MerkMost hockey fans in Calgary might be sad about the fact that Canada just plays for bronze, but many of them have a local hero to cheer on.Swedish forward Victor Rask will play for the first Swedish U20 gold medal since 1981 tomorrow against reigning champion Russia. It will be a re-match of the New Year's Eve game the Swedes won 4-3 in overtime.Born in 1993, Rask may not get that much ice time and registered just one assist in five games, but he certainly enjoys the experience and might be back stronger next year in Ufa."It was a huge win for us," Rask told IIHF.com after the shootout win against Finland in the semi-finals. "We had patience the whole time. In our last preliminary-round game against Russia we also came back late, so we know what we can do in the third period."Rask even draws parallels to Russia's team last year that had comeback wins in all three stages of the final round, including the unforgettable gold medal game against Canada one year ago in Buffalo."Maybe we can do the same thing," he said with a smile.Rask spent his whole career in his hometown of Leksand until 2011, an idyllic hockey town almost in the middle of the country at Lake Siljan, famous for the wooden Dalarna horses and one of the oldest knäckebröd (crispy Swedish bread) factories of the country. New Jersey Devils goalkeeper Johan Hedberg is one of the best-known sons of the town and Oliver Ekman-Larsson played for the club just before joining the Phoenix Coyotes.Last summer Rask transferred from Sweden, where he spent a season with Leksand's pro team in the second-tier Allsvenskan, to the WHL's Calgary Hitmen."I'm feeling really good here. It's a lot bigger here than in my hometown in Sweden," Rask said. "It's really cool to play here [with Sweden]. I'm down here all the time during the season."In his rookie season the 18-year-old has collected 29 points (16+13) in 34 WHL games."I have had a good season so far. I think right now it's been the right decision to play here."But now the full focus is on gold, and defeating Russia again to write history."It was definitely our goal to win gold when we came here. Now we have a really good chance to do it," Rask said. "Our strength is that everybody is really working for everybody. Nobody on the team is selfish. Everybody is working hard."
January 2 / Calgary / Lucas AykroydIn a distinctive touch throughout the Saddledome, signs are displayed that encourage fans not to use coarse language while attending hockey games.Similarly, on IIHF.com, we also avoid swearing. As any hockey journalist can attest, it's sometimes challenging to find a suitable substitution when a player expresses his joy or frustration in colourful terms in a post-game interview. However, that's what [square brackets] are for.The signs illustrate interesting cultural differences."In Europe we don't see these signs," said a Swiss-based journalist. "In Switzerland, people need to be reminded not to smoke inside the arena."It may be difficult for fans at the sold-out arena to live up to the spirit of the sign if Canada loses its late semi-final matchup versus the winner of Russia-Czech Republic on Tuesday. However, the odds are quite good that proper linguistic decorum will be preserved in the end, since Canada has advanced to play in the last 10 World Junior finals.
January 1 / Calgary / Lucas AykroydU2 once sang, "All is quiet on New Year's Day." But at the Calgary Olympic Plaza, site of the 1988 medal ceremonies, things were hopping on January 1. A celebration of the IIHF World Junior Championship took place from 11 am to 2 pm, attended by hundreds of happy Calgary-area fans.Jim Peplinski, co-chair of the 2012 tournament, and Bob Nicholson, president of Hockey Canada, were among the dignitaries who made speeches welcoming everyone to the festivities.With temperatures slightly below freezing, kids happily skated and played hockey on outdoor rinks set up in front of the stage.
Alumni of Canada's national junior team, dating back to the 1982 establishment of the Program of Excellence, posed for a group photo with Calgary minor hockey players. Names in attendance included Todd Harvey, Mike Moller, Garth Butcher, Frank Caprice, Sheldon Kennedy, Pat Elynuik, Jason Podollan, Rob Brown, and Scott McCrady, among others.
Inside the nearby Calgary Municipal Building, art lovers feasted their eyes on mural-sized hockey paintings created by six artists from the the artsASTRAY collective. Depicting scenes from this year's World Juniors, the 19 paintings done over 10 days will also be available for viewing at the World Junior Fan Zone at the Big Four Building on the Calgary Stampede grounds next to the Saddledome.
Another unique piece of artwork was the art installation put together by Matthew Bourree with hockey sticks. Viewers were invited to submit their own suggestions for what it should be named, while two-time World Junior participant (1998, 1999) and ex-Calgary Flame Daniel Tkaczuk did an interview in front of it.
Hockey Calgary also had a booth promoting its local minor hockey programs. Overall, the event was a great testament to the love Albertans have for this game.
January 1 / Calgary / Martin MerkIf you're into combining hockey and art, goalie masks are a natural fit. While some netminders might have rather unspectacular masks, others like it to keep it stylish in the modern era of the sport. Designing masks has become a business in its own right, with mask artists all around the world of hockey.At the World Juniors, most goaltenders have special masks featuring the colours of their countries. Sami Aittokallio seems to feel perfectly comfortable with his blue-and-white Finland mask, posting a tournament-best 98.67 save percentage.Andrei Vasilevski has a Russian flag in the middle of his mask, while Petr Mrazek's is totally Czech-themed. Jack Campbell's mask is designed with Stars and Stripes, naturally, and Denmark's Sebastian Feuk's mask is painted red and white.Others don't change anything, like Slovakia's Juraj Simboch, who has a white-dressed man on his mask. Switzerland's Lukas Meili and Latvia's Kristers Gudlevskis sport their club team logos on their masks.And then there are the Canadians. Needless to say, it's unlikely that any of the goalies would go out with a normal mask not featuring the red Maple Leaf while representing their country in front of roughly 17,000 spectators.The layout of the masks, however, was not chosen by the goalies, but selected through the Bauer Design-A-Mask contest for the ninth consecutive year. Over 1,000 teenagers and kids worked on their entries this year before a jury picked the winners. Justin Ross of Lucan, Ontario, was the winner in the 13-to-18 category, and sees his design on the mask of Scott Wedgewood.Mark Visentin is wearing a design by Curtis Abernethy of Cambridge, Ontario, who won in the U12 contest.Both young men who won the contest won't just see their designs worn during the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship, but will also receive their own masks autographed by the Team Canada players.
January 28 / Calgary / Szymon SzembergThe Preliminary Round is over, the Playoffs and the Relegation Round are about to start. Now that all teams have played four games, let's take a look at some numbers and facts which indicate why some teams are doing better than others.
December 31 / Calgary / Lucas AykroydThere's a charm to old hockey rinks that modern multipurpose entertainment facilities can't always match, even if the newer ones can hold more spectators.The 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship is expected to set a new all-time attendance record, and that's because for the first time, this tournament is using two NHL arenas: Edmonton's 16,839-capacity Rexall Place and Calgary's 19,289-capacity Scotiabank Saddledome.The Saddledome is the NHL's sixth-largest building, but watching an NHL game prior to that arena's 1983 opening was a very different experience for fans in Calgary.
From 1980 to 1983, stars like Kent Nilsson and Lanny MacDonald had to strut their stuff in the old Stampede Corral (also known as the Calgary Corral), which opened in 1950 and accommodates just 6,745. That might be a normal capacity for a European pro team, but by NHL standards – even in the 1980s – it was miniscule.
To put it in perspective, the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria, Canada – where the WHL's Victoria Royals play – can fit in 7,400 for hockey. And even if the NHL decided to expand to 40 teams and relocate a bunch of faltering franchises at the same time, the chances of Victoria getting an NHL club are about as good as the Beatles reuniting in Antarctica.However, back in the day, the Flames were able to sell some 10,000 full and half-season ticket packages at the Corral, and the team rewarded its fans with moderate success. There was a run to the 1981 Campbell Conference final, where Calgary fell in six games to the Minnesota North Stars. Two years later, the Flames bowed out in five in the opening round to their archrival, the Wayne Gretzky-led Edmonton Oilers.An entire book could be dedicated to the Corral's history.There was the first big hockey championship in 1954, when the Calgary Stampeders (not to be confused with the Canadian Football League franchise) won the Lester Patrick Cup, emblematic of supremacy in the Western Hockey League (an old pro circuit, not to be confused with today's major junior league). There were more pro and junior teams that graced the building, including the WHA's Calgary Cowboys (1975-77), the WCHL's Calgary Centennials (1966-77), the WHL's Calgary Wranglers (1977-87), and the WHL's Calgary Hitmen (1995-96), who still play at the Saddledome. And there have been rock concerts (Blue Oyster Cult, Rush, Stone Temple Pilots) and pro wrestlers (Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, "Lethal" Larry Cameron) aplenty.This year, the Corral is serving as the media centre for the World Juniors. Come back in July to experience it as part of the Calgary Stampede, the world's largest annual outdoor rodeo.
December 31 / Edmonton / Andrew PodnieksI don't go to casinos. I don't play online poker. I don't buy lottery tickets or play Pro Line or gamble in any way. I just don't. There's no thrill or excitement in those sorts of money-tossing, time-wasting activities. And yet, during yesterday's Czech-U.S. game, when a 50-50 seller named Lisa wandered through the press box selling her wares, I bit."One for five, three for ten, ten for twenty" was the extent of her pitch. I went three for ten. Much to my disappointment, she merely printed off a receipt-like piece of paper for me. I had been expecting those little tickets you get from those incredibly annoying places that make you lineup to buy the voucher and then line up again to use the voucher for food and drink. "It's all automated," Lisa explained, "so they can keep a running count."Actually, I think the main reason I bought a ticket was because I laughed every time the French p.a. voice referred to the 50-50 as "moitié-moitié." His tinny accent and the use of the word moitié just always made me laugh. The word means half, but to me it's an awkward translation for something as mathematical as splitting a pot 50-50. Why not use the obvious "cinquante-cinquante"?Indeed, the scoreboard periodically flashes an update of how much the 50-50 pot is, and it gets bigger before our eyes as sales are recorded. During the U20, the prize money has been ridiculously high, often over $80,000 (or so it seems, to me. I have no idea what a standard pot is, really).Much to my incredible annoyance, a few days ago one of the winners was Mike Futa. Know that name? Geez, I met him a thousand years ago when he was with the St. Mike's Buzzers. I talked to him at St. Mike's Arena, corner of St. Clair and Bathurst in Toronto. We're like 50-50 bros, I thought. He'll win, then me (whatever). By the by, he has been a scout for the L.A. Kings for the last few years.Tickets are sold until early in the third period, and then a random – I hope it's random – draw takes place in some mysterious locale deep in the underbelly of Rexall Place late in the third. As it turns out, the pot for my game was $63,000, and because I am writing this and still in Edmonton, you know I didn't win.Now I'm thinking of buying again for the Canada-U.S. exhibition game tonight, which I hope doesn't get too chippy. They're expecting the pot to go over 100K, which would shatter the record. But I just tossed a sawbuck out the window for an ugly piece of receipt paper. Naw. Sorry, Lisa, I think I'm a one-time customer.
December 30 / Edmonton / Martin MerkPrior to the Finland-Denmark game Mika Sulin, the General Secretary of the Organizing Committee for the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, addressed the media at Rexall Place in Edmonton.He was certainly at the right spot for speaking to journalists knowledgeable about international hockey from Canada, the U.S. and some European countries.The 2012 edition in four months will be the first time that two countries will join forces. Originally Finland was supposed to host it alone and Sweden the year after before the national ice hockey associations came together to ask the IIHF Congress for co-hosting the Worlds in Helsinki and Stockholm in two consecutive years."Two rivals in hockey organize for the first time in history the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship together," Sulin said. "It will be played in to great capital cities in Helsinki and Stockholm. It's only a 55-minute flight between the two cities, or an overnight ferry journey."He also draws parallels with the ongoing World Juniors, where two rival cities in Alberta have put up a great event so far."We have two great and full arenas here in Edmonton and Calgary, and we try to do the same in Helsinki and Stockholm," Sulin said.The Finns and Swedes hope to break the attendance record of 552,097 set 2004 in the Czech Republic. The target is 650,000 fans who will visit the games in Helsinki and Stockholm in 2012, and again in 2013.For 2013 there's even hope that the new national football stadium beside the Globen Arena will be open. The venue with a retractable roof is currently under construction and could possibly host games with a capacity for 40,000 spectators."It's the biggest annual winter sport event before Sochi 2014," Sulin said before presenting the new format with two teams of eight teams each that play a preliminary round and quarter-finals in Helsinki and Stockholm, before the semis and medal games will take place in Helsinki for 2012 (and Stockholm in 2013)."The new format helps us that two teams can play in their home countries. And all fans know where their seven preliminary-round games will be played," Sulin said. "Our ticket sales are very fan-friendly. We will also have follow-your-team packages for visiting fans."Currently, tickets are sold in packages that include tickets for two to four games. Those for the final weekend are almost sold out already. Single-game tickets will be released at the latest four weeks before the start of the event.The crew from Europe also had some souvenirs with them for the media crowd."As Santa Claus comes from Lapland, Finland, we brought some presents," he said. It was some HockeyBird memorabilia. The mascot was developed by the Finnish makers of the successful mobile-phone game Angry Birds. And it will likely be a top seller in the fan shops in Helsinki, Stockholm and on the internet.Follow the press conference in the video below. For more information on the event, visit www.iihfworlds2012.com.
December 30/ Calgary / Szymon SzembergAs his grand-grandfather immigrated to Canada from the Polish Kaszuby region in the mid-1800s, the co-chair of the 2012 World Juniors and Your Designated Blogger share the same roots. We also share another bond. We were both in the exact same place inside the Montreal Forum on May 25, 1989.But while the Calgary Flames co-captain Jim Peplinski (the other was Lanny MacDonald) was posing for photos with the Stanley Cup and drinking champagne amidst the craziness that was the Flames' dressing room after the game-six victory against the home Montreal Canadiens, Your Designated Blogger had to do a reporting job, while somewhat irked.After all, had the Canadiens won, they would today have 25 Stanley Cups, not only 24. Furthermore, in the 72 years that the Montreal Forum existed, only one team other than the Canadiens won the Cup on the revered arena's ice – Peplinski's Flames.More than 22 years after that day, Your Designated Blogger was introduced to Jim Peplinski prior to the start of our common project, the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship. And you know what? The co-chair of the 36th World Juniors is the nicest guy, although he doesn't speak a word of the language of his Polish ancestors. (His mother has Irish roots).Eleven years into retirement from the NHL, Jim is a successful businessman, a highly respected fixture in Calgary, and very much entrenched in its social fabric. He owns an automotive leasing company with branches in Edmonton, Toronto, and Montreal and is involved in real estate business in Toronto, where he played his junior hockey with the Marlboros.Peplinski's career – which also included representing Canada at the 1988 Olympics in Calgary – lasted a relatively modest ten seasons given his skills. He could easily have played longer, but at 30 he felt it was time to prepare for real life."Immediately after we won the cup in 1989, I knew I wanted to do something else," said Jim during a chat between World Junior games. "And I was fortunate to live in the right place, where if you try hard, make an honest effort and have some luck, you can have a measure of success."Apart from his corporate interests outside of hockey, Jim has been associated with the Calgary Flames' off-ice operations since 2001, but he points out that his involvement with the club has nothing to do with the sports side. He is the vice-president of the club's business development, and it was this way he became involved with Calgary's bid for the World Juniors five years ago and eventually with the event itself."Once the event starts, it goes so fast that you sometimes forget to enjoy the experience," he said. "This tournament is so great and you must take the time to enjoy it, not losing sight of the things which are the most important ones, the spirit, all the people coming together and the memories. Sometimes we talk too much about financial issues and forget the human experience."When we take the picture outside of the Flames dressing room, with the photo of the 1989 Cup team and all the names on the wall, Peplinski says with a measure of regret: "We should have also won the 1986 finals [against the Canadiens, too]. We won game one at home and game two went into overtime…"And that's where the hockey gods took over. Montreal's Brian Skrudland scored the fastest goal in Stanley Cup history after nine seconds and after that momentum swing the Canadiens went on to win the Cup in five games against the Peplinski-captained Flames.Jim, you can't win them all. But thanks for a great World Juniors tournament and a wonderful stay in Calgary.
December 30 / Edmonton / Martin MerkCanada wouldn't be Canada if the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship were not visible throughout their host cities. Huge billboards hang from skyscrapers, but also the West Edmonton Mall, the biggest shopping mall in North America and one of the biggest of its kind in the world, just a few kilometres from downtown.Founded by brothers who immigrated to North America from Iran in the '40s, the concept was inspired by traditional urban bazaars of Persia, where shopping and entertainment were plentiful and operated in tandem. The result is a shopping and entertainment Mecca on almost 500,000 square metres (5.3m sq ft) and the reputation of being one of the main tourist attractions in the province of Alberta.Stroll among the 800 shops to the dining area at Bourbon Street and you won't miss a giant jersey of Team Canada hanging from the roof – the same one the U20 national junior team wears at the World Juniors. It is accompanied by a man-high World Juniors puck and a disc-shape fountain that's surrounded with photos from current or former junior national team players from the participating nations.TVs tuned to TSN are located in the area and in some of the restaurants so you won't miss the hockey action in Edmonton, Calgary and elsewhere in the world.Go a bit further to see the other attractions, and apart from a water park and amusement park you will certainly not overlook the Ice Palace surrounded by shops and juice bars.The Ice Palace, right now with World Juniors boards, is an NHL-size ice rink according to the owner – frankly spoken, it might be a not too much downscaled version of it – mainly used for recreational skating from 11am to 9pm.However, since the opening in the '80s, the Edmonton Oilers have had several practices there. It's self-explanatory that it drew huge crowds to the mall when Wayne Gretzky and his teammates used to practise there.Shopping without hockey? Not in Edmonton!
December 29 / Calgary / Lucas AykroydAs much as I've been enjoying my steady diet of chicken wings, samosas, and popcorn at the Saddledome during the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship, I felt it might be wise to try out a new nutrition program for lunch on Thursday. One that would make me hockey-fit – just in case a Group A team requires an emergency replacement under extraordinary circumstances and is willing to overlook small matters like my passport, birth certificate, and skating backwards fast.So off I went to Calgary's Bridgeland district, home to The Main Dish. Specializing in fresh, healthy sandwiches, salads, hot dishes, and so on, this casual restaurant offers sit-down and take-out fare that appeals to athletes. The clientele has included two-time Olympic gold medalist and Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla, plus other notable Flames names like Brendan Morrison, Mark Giordano, and Theoren Fleury.
One of the regular patrons here is former World Junior star (2008, 2009) and current Calgary forward Mikael Backlund. The 22-year-old Swedish centre, who lives in a nearby condo, regularly chows down on sun-dried buckwheat and blueberry pancakes, smoked turkey sandwiches with no mayonnaise or cheese, specialty soups, and the Vital Greens Salad with spinach, cranberries, cashew nuts, and so on.Naturally, to be more like Mikael, it was important that I sample all these dishes at once for lunch.
After getting the necessary fuel for me to cover the Latvia-Russia showdown, I could understand why The Main Dish even recently got to cater a Thanksgiving dinner for Sidney Crosby and his trainer, Andy O'Brien of The Edge School for Athletes.With some spare time before I had to head off to the arena, I decided to check out the brand-new TELUS Spark science centre, which opened in late October. The futuristic-looking, 14,214-metre (153,000-square-foot) facility with four interactive galleries, a demonstration theatre, and a "creative kids museum" is a great place for parents to take a time-out with their children.
But most importantly, does TELUS Spark enable Calgary youngsters to learn about physics, human anatomy, and creative self-expression through the power of hockey? I wanted to find out. And guess who I met when I entered the airy, central atrium? Pat Quinn!Okay, it wasn't actually the 2002 Olympic gold medal-winning coach who also led Canada's 2009 World Junior entry to a home ice title in Ottawa. But his name was Pat Quinn, which is cool in itself. Pat Quinn gave me some tips on how to track down the hockey nuggets at TELUS Spark.
In the Open Studio, dedicated to hands-on activities for kids, I discovered a "toy mashup" where some ingenious individual had assembled a tiny bionic robot hockey player.
Amid contraptions that let visitors measure their heart rate, check their reaction times, and create strange musical sounds, I found a hockey puck in an exhibit that assessed people's compatibility in relationships. Never before had I realized that I was meant to be with a Calgary Flames fan. Hmm.
The wacky "Chain Reaction" display in the Energy & Innovation gallery, with balls rolling along metal passageways, reminded me of the Jollyball machine that graced the Swiss pavilion at EXPO 86, the 1986 World's Fair in Vancouver. It charmingly incorporated Micron Mascot skates and Sher-Wood PMP 6087 hockey sticks.
It was an afternoon that epitomized the words of the Roman poet Juvenal, "A sound mind in a sound body." (At least in theory.) Thanks, Calgary.
December 29/ Calgary / Szymon SzembergIt's still early. The ten World Junior teams have all played two games each, but you can see some trends emerging. Here are some interesting facts & figures prior to Thursday's games.
December 27 / Calgary / Szymon SzembergWhen Chris Reynolds, the General Manager of the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship's Calgary venue, is asked to describe the passion Canadians have for hockey, he pulls out a five-dollar bill.The reverse side depicts children engaged in winter sports, including sledding, ice skating, and hockey; this is accompanied by a quotation from Roch Carrier's famous short story, "The Hockey Sweater" which reads:"The winters of my childhood were long, long seasons. We lived in three places - the school, the church and the skating rink - but our real life was on the skating rink."As hockey today is played in 70 countries, it is still fair to say that nowhere runs the passion for the game as high as in this country which invented the game in the mid-1800s. One way this shows is the recruitment of volunteers, the men and women of all ages, who help out with everything from transportation to getting quotes from players for reporters.They are easily identified by their Alberta-wheat-coloured vests. Nowadays, you can't run a major sporting event without volunteers, and in many countries organizers struggle to find people who have to give up their free time, very often taking unpaid vacations to serve others for two weeks for free.But again, this is Canada. So not only are there 1,200 volunteers working the 2012 World Juniors, but the organizing committee had to turn down 1,300 applicants. More incredibly, the 1,200 who were finally recruited had to pay a $50 "commitment fee". Yes, you read it correctly. In Canada you pay to be a volunteer at a hockey event!"On the first day of the tournament, the 700 volunteers in Calgary logged 2,000 hours," Reynolds said. "It's all about passion, and this province is incredibly passionate about the game and everybody wants to be part of it. How else can you explain 13,000 fans in the arena for the Slovakia-Latvia game on Tuesday?"The explanation is simple. It's Canada, and it's hockey.Footnote: Below links for those who want to read about, watch or listen to the short story "The Hockey Sweater". Enjoyment enhanced if you like the Montreal Canadiens and have heard about "Rocket" Richard.http://archives.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/clips/10372/http://www.nfb.ca/film/sweater/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hockey_Sweater
December 27 / Calgary/ Lucas AykroydCanada Olympic Park, the sliding sports and ski jumping venue for the 1988 Winter Olympics, has become a hockey mecca this year. Operated by WinSport Canada, it's home to Hockey Canada's glistening new headquarters, including four ice sheets where this year's World Junior teams are practising in Calgary. And another must-see for hockey fans is the brand-new location of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, which opened its door back on Canada Day (July 1).Featuring a Grand Hall that branches off into 11 different galleries, this spacious museum covers more than 60 sports, and naturally, hockey's front and centre.A stylized statue of Wayne Gretzky in his 1987 Canada Cup jersey welcomes visitors.
A special World Junior exhibit, running through May 2012, commemorates the history of the IIHF's showcase U20 event with artifacts like Marc Habscheid's 1982 gold medal with Team Canada as a player. (Habscheid, a 1988 Olympian, would later coach Canada to silver at the 2002 and 2003 World Juniors, plus Worlds gold (2004) and silver (2005), among many other international feats.)
Jerseys from each of the participating teams are accompanied by stories about historic moments in each nation's World Junior history.
In the permanent hockey exhibits (keeping in mind that with the Hall's collection of 95,000 artifacts, things rotate and there's always a reason to come back), you'll discover everything from the sweater of Ab Renaud of the 1948 RCAF Flyers to Cassie Campbell's 2002 women's Olympic jersey, from Ken Dryden's rookie card to collectibles from the historic 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union.
Don't miss the chance to take computer-driven shooting lessons from Calgary Flames captain and two-time Olympic gold medalist Jarome Iginla (according to Jarome, my slapshot is a little wild). Play the role of broadcaster and call the play-by-play for Bobby Orr's 1970 Stanley Cup-winning goal, or do your best Hockey Night in Canada impression on camera in front of a Canadian NHL rink.And if your adrenalin is absolutely on overdrive after visiting Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, you can take it to the edge by experiencing another winter sport: four-man bobsleigh.IIHF.com took this wild $169 ride down the official '88 Olympic track, piloted by 2010 Olympic silver medalist Helen Upperton. When you're experiencing extreme G-forces through 14 turns, covering 1,450 metres in approximately 60 seconds, it's nice to have someone in charge who knows what she's doing. With all due respect to the amusement parks of Southern California, which we recently experienced, this perilous plunge is even more intense than 95 percent of the roller coasters out there. (Let's put it this way: it's right up there with overtime in a World Junior gold medal game!)
December 27 / Calgary / Szymon SzembergAl Coates is the Executive Director of the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship. The IIHF, Hockey Canada and the Host Organizing Committee are fortunate to have a championship boss with nearly four decades of pro hockey front-office experience in charge of the prestigious tournament.Coates, originally from the Kitchener-Waterloo area in Ontario, has been involved with NHL clubs Detroit, Calgary, Anaheim and Toronto. He was the GM of the Flames for five years, 1995-2000, and of the Ducks for the 2004-2005 season. He was part of the two clubs' Stanley Cup winning organizations in 1989 (Calgary) and 2007 (Anaheim). His last NHL position before assuming the World Junior assignment was Director of Player Personnel with the Leafs in 2008-2009.But from the international perspective, it is his pioneer days with Detroit's European farm club London Lions that are the most intriguing. You see, the 1973-74 edition of the classic British team (the original Lions existed 1924-33) was unique in the history of hockey. Can you name any other team that played 72 exhibition games during a "season" and then folded?Background: Detroit owner Bruce Norris wanted to create a European pro hockey league in the early 1970s, and he had the London Lions tour the continent as promotion for those ambitions. For European NHL fans the London Lions were as close as you could get to watching a real NHL team on a regular basis. Apart from Swedes Ulf Sterner, Tord Lundström and goalie Leif "Honken" Holmqvist (all IIHF Hall of Famers), all players were North Americans, the jerseys almost a replica of the Red Wings' and the logo a winged lion.In the early '70s, when it could take two days to get NHL scores – and week-old old grainy game footage a couple of times a month was the only visual proof that the league really existed – the London Lions had almost a religious following in Europe. The Lions won 52 of their 72 games, touring as hockey's version of the Harlem Globetrotters in 11 European countries.Some of the barn-storming stories Al told this blogger the other day are not fit to print, but these are facts."We lived in hotels for seven months and had a three-month road trip during the season. I was trainer, part-time interpreter, road secretary, and equipment man. One night, as we stood five hours at the Czechoslovak border and the guards wouldn't let us in, I finally bribed our way in. We had a game in Prague the next day.""We were a travelling road show. We had wives and kids with us. And the way we got through is that everyone just pitched in. We got billed as either the Canadian national team or a real NHL club, so everywhere we went everyone was geared up to beat us."In 1974, when Bruce Norris realized that the European resistance against his pro league was too strong, the London Lions were dissolved. But among young European fans of North American hockey, never to be forgotten.For more on the legendary London Lions: http://www.angelfire.com/space/u_line/london.htm


text:
Kaiser Family Foundation: If ObamaCare Increases the Cost of Your Coverage, That's a 'Benefit'
Jonathan Gruber, one of ObamaCare's biggest defenders, estimates that even after accounting for the law's tax credits and subsidies, nearly 60 percent of consumers in Wisconsin's individual market (for example) will pay an average of 31 percent more for health insurance. Some will pay more than twice as much as they did pre-ObamaCare.
Inexplicably, the Kaiser Family Foundation, another defender of the law, counts everyone in the individual market—including those who would pay more—in its estimate of "the number of people who would benefit from the financial subsidies."

subset: commoncrawl


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text: Minutes of the regular meeting of Tuesday, May 1, 2001 (As approved amended June 5, 2001). The San Francisco Public Library Commission held its regular meeting on Tuesday, May 1, 2001 in the Koret Auditorium, Main Library. The meeting was called to order at 4: 05PM by Vice President Steiman. The following members were noted present: Vice President Steiman, and Commissioners Chin, Coulter, and Swig. The Secretary noted Commissioners Bautista and Higueras were excused attendance. Commissioner Streets joined the meeting at 4:09PM. Vice President Steiman announced that Agenda item #4 Carnegie Branch Library Landmarking Report would be taken up out of order and then the rest of the agenda would follow as posted. AGENDA ITEM #4 CARNEGIE BRANCH LIBRARY LANDMARKING REPORT Commissioner Tim Kelly, President of the San Francisco Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board gave a very detailed presentation on the history and unique architectural features of the seven historic branch libraries, which were created through a $750,000 gift to the city from industrialist philanthropist Andrew Carnegie between 1914 and 1922. Commissioner Kelly then discussed in greater detail aspects of the various Carnegie Branch Libraries noting the construction dates of each. The President of the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board noted that all were excellent examples of what he described as a then new kind of building purposefully built as a branch library. Commissioner Kelly noted that all of the proposed landmark structures fully met the three criteria for landmarking. He pointed out they were each unique individual structures. He observed they each exhibited special character and historical significance. And lastly, Commissioner Kelly reported each had architectural and aesthetic significance. Commissioner Kelly further commented that the landmarking process facilitated retaining buildings of historic character or significance, but still fully allowed for necessary modernization. The President of the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board informed the Library Commissioners that once the branch libraries had been designated as landmarks the Library would be required to obtain a "Certificate of Appropriateness" from the Planning Department before undertaking significant work. He noted that upon such an application the Landmarks Board would consult with expert designers and conduct a public hearing prior to approving a Certificate. Mr. Kelly noted specifically that the this process applied only to "character defining" elements of these buildings, such as their exteriors, the Main Reading Room, and symbolic entrances, such as paneled vestibules and historic entry patterns. Commissioner Kelly suggested that landmarking the Carnegie Branch Libraries would still allow for their adaptation for contemporary uses of interior spaces of less significance such as former Children's Rooms. The President of the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board suggested that the Landmarks Board would work as a cooperative partner with the library to develop goals and objectives for renovation of the Carnegie Branch Libraries. Public comment on AGENDA ITEM #4 CARNEGIE BRANCH LIBRARY LANDMARKING REPORT. An anonymous member of the public recalled that many of these branch libraries were identified by number, noting that the South Park Branch lost after the 1906 Earthquake had been No. 2, and that the façade of the Park Branch still displayed its No.5 . The anonymous member of the public commented favorably on this proposal, but urged caution noting potential conflict between the need for disabled access and the concerns of history. This anonymous member of the public cited the Noe Valley and Golden Gate Valley Branches as having insufficient space for wheelchair ramps. This individual reported being enthralled by the proposed statement of goals, noting that the speaker was right about the significance of these issues to the Library. This individual then concluded with a quotation attributed to Andrew Carnegie. Mr. Ed Regan commented that he was 100% in support of this proposal and that his only concern that it did not go far enough in proposing preservation of all of the historic branches as the backbone of the education system. Mr. Peter Warfield noted that he was unclear on the issues involved and expressed regret that documents about this proposal had been unavailable prior to the meeting. Mr. Warfield requested that he be provided with a copy of the information in Commissioner Kelly's presentation and asked why these specific branches were chosen for landmark status. Mr. Warfield observed that there were other beautiful branch libraries worthy of landmarking and that it was unfortunate the old Main Library, a Carnegie Grant building, had been lost and pointed out that the Park Branch was not a Carnegie building. Commission comment on AGENDA ITEM #4 CARNEGIE BRANCH LIBRARY LANDMARKING REPORT. Commissioner Coulter inquired concerning the challenges which landmark status might pose during the branch bond program renovations, citing the experience of the Mission and the Chinatown Branch projects as examples of good and bad situations. Commissioner Kelly responded by noting that the Richmond Branch had significant potential to be greatly expanded while maintaining the integrity of its historic fabric. He further discussed the Landmarks Board's positive experience with the renovation and expansion of the historic Laguna Honda Muni Station, noting that an entirely new but sympathetic structure had been constructed and joined with the historic building to make an improved whole. Commissioner Kelly then discussed various thoughts with the way in which seismic bracing had been installed in the Chinatown Branch and concerning the loss of the original staircase at the Mission Branch. Commissioner Coulter pointed out that landmarking would add an additional layer of process to that already required involvement of Art Commission and the Planning Department thus increasing the complexity of carrying out these projects. Vice President Steiman expressed strong support for preserving all of the historic libraries but noted that a major concern of the Commission must be how well these buildings functioned as working libraries for patrons and staff. Vice President Steiman observed that it was imperative that everything be done to maximize the value of every bond dollar spent. Commissioner Kelly responded that the landmarking process was designed to address concerns about modernization and accessibility in historic buildings. He further noted that landmarking these buildings made available the assistance of the Landmarks Preservation Board experts as well as the advice and assistance of the preservationist community in renovating the branch libraries. Mr. Kelly noted that while this landmarking proposal was specifically focused on the Carnegie Branch Libraries there were other branch libraries worthy of consideration to be landmarked. Commissioner Steiman noted that these buildings must be usable as libraries not library museums . In response to questions by Commissioner Chin, President Kelly discussed how these buildings would be included on California's list of historic properties, reporting an existing thematic nomination of all California's existing Carnegie Libraries, and responded to her comments concerning the Sunset and Chinatown Branches. Commission Chin raised the important question of which Commission would have the final authority to make decisions regarding the branch library buildings. She specifically recalled that there was a need to take demographic and use issues seriously recalling that at one time there was serious consideration of completely replacing the old North Beach/Chinatown Branch Library building with a larger structure. Commissioner Kelly responded by noting that the landmarking process provided a formalized way to address these issues, commenting that if an historic structure were totally destroyed there were procedures in place to remove it from the landmarks registry. In response to comments by Commissioner Streets regarding potential additional complications for the branch bond program if the Carnegie's were landmarked the City Librarian responded that library staff was prepared to work with the Landmarks Board to address concerns regarding the need to make changes in some of the interior spaces of some of the Carnegie branches. Ms. Hildreth acknowledged that while this process might help address some concerns about preserving the buildings it could add additional time and expense for some of the projects. In response to a question by Commissioner Chin, Commissioner Kelly conceded that there was no financial advantage to be gained for public buildings to be landmarked. Vice President Steiman noted that this could potentially create a situation where the Library Commission had responsibility for operating the libraries without the authority to make decisions on how they could best be renovated. Ms. Hildreth reported that President Higueras had been in close contact with Commissioner Kelly concerning this proposal, encouraging of the process, but with appropriate caution concerning the potential for additional expense. Commission Swig expressed support for the concept but inquired regarding the process that would be necessary to accomplish it. Commissioner Kelly then outlined in some detail the process used by the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board, the Planning Department, and the Board of Supervisors to designate landmarks. In answer to a question by Commissioner Chin regarding who might oppose the proposal, Ms. Hildreth noted that the Mayor's Office of Disabilities had mademaking the buildings fully accessible for the disabled a high priority. She further noted that the Library Commission had emphasized the high importance that the functionality of the buildings as working libraries. The City Librarian then discussed some of areas of concern with making needed ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) improvements to Carnegie branches with limited interior space such as Golden Gate Valley. Vice President Steiman suggested that perhaps there should be a formal statement from the Commission to the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board expressing its concerns with the landmarking of the Carnegie Branch Libraries. AGENDA ITEM #1 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF MARCH 6, 2001 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Public comment on AGENDA ITEM #1 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF MARCH 6, 2001 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING An anonymous member of the public cited Sec. 67.2-92 and other sections of the Sunshine Ordinance as requiring that public comment summary statements submitted as part of the Minutes be posted on the Library's website with the Minutes. The anonymous member of the public noted that previously public comment summary statements made available by email had been included with the Minutes on the library website. This individual chose not to continue to make these statements available when other public comment summary statements (provided in non-electronic format) were not included on the website. Mr. Ed Regan found his comments accurately reported, but requested that a page 5 comment on book collections be amended to specifically refer to non-fiction books. Mr. Peter Warfield noted the absence of public comment summary statements in some copies of the Minutes although all copies had the cover page for Appendix A Public Comment Summary statement, commented on the absence of public comment summary statements on the copies of the Minutes posted on the website, and observed that there should be a notice posted on the website calling attention to the fact that other copies of the Minutes contained public comment summary statements. Mr. Warfield suggested revisions to a page 3 discussion of comments attributed to him regarding the concept of a bond manager to oversee all aspects of a bond as was discussed at a CALTAC meeting that he had attended. Commission comment on AGENDA ITEM #1 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE MARCH 6, 2001 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING In response to a question by Commissioner Coulter, the Secretary explained why the mailed out copies of the Minutes lacked some public comment summary statements. The Secretary further explained why public comment summary statements were not being posted on the library website. In response to a question by Vice President Steiman, Deputy City Attorney Adine Varah reported that the Library had informed the City Attorney's Office that due to technical and resource limitations it was not possible for the Library to scan in every document received in a non-electronic format and then post such documents on the web. The Deputy City Attorney further noted that her office had advised the Library that the provisions of the Sunshine Ordinance required that such documents be posted on the Library's website "to the extent possible". In response to a query by Vice President Steiman, the Commission Secretary reported that no time limit had been set for the submission of public comment summary statements. He observed that when the Commission acted to approve a set of Minutes, that act completed those Minutes, subject only to a specific future motion to revise them. MOTION: by Commissioner Chin, seconded by Commissioner Coulter for approval of the Minutes. ACTION: AYE 5-0 (Chin, Coulter, Steiman, Streets, and Swig) AGENDA ITEM #2 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE MARCH 15, 2001 SPECIAL COMMISSION MEETING Public comment on AGENDA ITEM #2 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE MARCH 15, 2001 SPECIAL COMMISSION MEETING An anonymous member of the public called attention to mistakes in the footnotes referring to draft minutes and the number of members of the public who spoke at that meeting. Additionally this individual called attention to page 3 remarks that this person found summarized in a manner which was less colorful than what was actually said. Further, the anonymous member of the public called attention to page 4 comments by President Higueras that should have been highlighted in bold type. Mr. Ed Regan found his remarks accurately reported. Mr. Peter Warfield commented that all colorful comments should be reported as spoken. Then Mr. Warfield called attention to a page 3 description which he found to be editorializing and inaccurate in describing the strategic planning community and staff input and meeting process discussed in the City Librarian's Report as lengthy. Mr. Warfield noted that he felt that there had not been sufficient public input on the strategic plan. Mr. Warfield suggested that he had said that ending the City Librarian search process "might" taint whomever was selected and "might" raise questions about the selection process. Mr. Warfield noted that a Page 4 comment attributed to him simply asked if the copies of the strategic plan provided to the Commission were the same as those provided to members of the public. Mr. Warfield questioned the reporting of who had initiated the meting between the Mayor and the President and Vice President concerning the nomination of Ms. Hildreth to be City Librarian. Commission comment on AGENDA ITEM #2 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE MARCH 15, 2001 SPECIAL COMMISSION MEETING Vice President Steiman observed that the strategic plan staff and community input gathering and meeting process had indeed been lengthy. MOTION: by Commissioner Chin, seconded by Commissioner Swig for approval of the Minutes of March 15, 2001. ACTION: AYE 5-0 (Chin, Coulter, Steiman, Streets, and Swig) AGENDA ITEM #3 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES Of THE APRIL 3, 2001 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING. Public comment on AGENDA ITEM #3 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE APRIL 3, 2001 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING An anonymous member of the public commented that this individual had made comments at the April 3rd meeting which accused the President of the Commission of lying or of contradicting sworn testimony by the Commission given in a lawsuit filed by this individual concerning the selection of Regina Minudri to be City Librarian and found that the report of these remarks were both misleading and insufficiently informative regarding the substance of the controversy and its importance or of the point attempting to be made. Additionally, this individual noted that later in the discussion Vice President Steiman contradicted this individual's remarks by belittling the controversy and that the Commission had lost all creditability by not disproving their accuracy. Mr. Ed Regan found that his comments were accurately reported in these Minutes. Mr. Peter Warfield expressed appreciation for the Vice President's acceptance of corrections to his remarks in previous meeting minutes. Mr. Warfield called attention to page 4 remarks attributed to him regarding his comments on City Librarian's report discussion of library literature on the efficacy of fines in recovering Library materials and restated his view that the literature cited objectively proved that a no fine policy was more effective in recovering materials. Mr. Warfield finally requested that his comment on page 6 be changed to specifically refer to the purpose of the study rather than simply change. Commissioner Swig noted a mistake in reporting both herself and President Higueras as voting on a page 2 item and requested that the notation be corrected as they were not present at the April 3rd meeting. MOTION: by Commissioner Coulter, seconded by Commissioner Chin for approval of the Minutes of April 3, 2001 as amended. ACTION: AYE 5-0 (Chin, Coulter, Steiman, Streets, and Swig) AGENDA ITEM #4 CITY LIBRARIAN'S REPORT The City Librarian updated the Commissioners on the Fine and Fee Schedule recently approved by the Board of Supervisors noting that it would become effective on May 7th. Ms. Hildreth then discussed the discussions during the Board of Supervisors Finance Committee's approval of the supplemental appropriation for Main Library improvements. She noted that changes in this legislation from the request approved by the Library Commission included a reduced project reserve, and reserve funding for the audio visual and signage consultants at the request of the Budget Analyst and Supervisors. The City Librarian also informed the Commissioners that the Finance Committee had placed on Reserve the request for $230,000 for the radio repeater system pending receiving information verifying the project's costs from the Department of Technology and Information Services (DTIS). The City Librarian noted that review and re-evaluation of these projects could mean that the Library might have to go back to the Board of Supervisors and request additional funds to complete these projects. She reported that the Library had committed to the Finance Committee to complete all of the proposed projects. Ms. Hildreth noted that the supplemental request would have its first reading at the Board of Supervisors the following Monday. Ms. Hildreth next reported that she proposed to bring recommendations from the staff working groups on changes in the first floor of the Main Library to the Commission for its consideration in June or July. Ms. Hildreth then outlined in some detail the ongoing branch site selection community meetings being held to discuss the selection of potential sites for replacements for the four branch libraries currently in rented facilities. The City Librarian reported that the process so far had narrowed the number of sites under consideration from 6 or 7 to 2 or 3 for each site. The City Librarian recommended that the Commission consider holding a special meeting to gather additional community input and discuss Commissioner's concerns with final site selections. Ms. Hildreth noted that the Library would make every effort to widely notify all those concerned about this special meeting and actively seek additional comment on these recommendations. Ms. Hildreth reported on a series of "focus group" meetings held to discuss the ongoing branch facilities plan. The City Librarian reported that summaries of these focus groups discussions would be included in the final report. The City Librarian then discussed plans for surveys to be conducted in the branches later in the month. Ms. Hildreth expressed a hope that these surveys would engage public interest in helping to make choices concerning what kinds of facilities and new services they would like to see in their branch library. The City Librarian announced that there would be an additional group of neighborhood meetings on branch renovations to be held on May 21st at the Excelsior Branch, May 22nd at the Marina Branch, May 24th at the Richmond Branch, May 30th at the Bayview Branch, May 30th at the Parkside Branch, and finally June 4th at the Eureka Valley branch. Ms. Hildreth reported that the Library had been successful in placing ads for these meetings in a large number of neighborhood newspapers and that each meeting would address library services issues in two Supervisorial Districts at each meeting. Ms. Hildreth next reported to the Commissioners concerning the California Library Associations' "Library Legislative Day in Sacramento" noting efforts for legislation such as SB 94 providing additional library funding and opposition to AB151 which would mandate internet filtering based on the model created by the federal Children's Internet Protection Act. She then reported on her visit to Washington, DC to participate in Federal Legislation Day with San Francisco's representatives in Congress. She noted that these discussions focused on efforts to expand the Library Technology Services Program and to oppose the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) efforts to mandate filtering library computers or face loss of federal library funding. Public comment on Agenda Item #43 CITY LIBRARIAN'S REPORT: An anonymous member of the public expressed concern with the library's use of focus groups to obtain information concerning branch library services the public might want. The anonymous member of the public then discussed Supervisor Yee's request for a City Attorney's Opinion concerning the proper use of Prop. E (Library Preservation Fund) moneys. This person remarked that the opinion provided by the City Attorney was addressed to the City Librarian and sidestepped responding to Supervisor Yee. This individual noted that of three elements in Prop. E, this opinion only addressed one. Mr. Ed Regan reported that he had been unable to find the branch library site selection meetings and requested that mailed notices be sent out to those expressing interest in attending. Mr. Peter Warfield agreed there was a need for more notice for these meetings and noted that he was unclear regarding what new services were being proposed. Mr. Warfield questioned the use of focus groups asking what questions asked, what objectives were discussed, and how the questions were pursued. Mr. Warfield noted that several of the items included in the supplemental appropriations request were not related to the POE. Commission comment on Agenda Item #4 CITY LIBRARIAN'S REPORT Vice President Steiman reported that the site selection community meetings she had attended were very lively and well attended as well as being very productive. Commissioner Chin expressed satisfaction that library staff was making special efforts to reach out to those who don't or cannot attend meetings. She particularly applauded the effort to focus on getting the views of those not normally heard. Vice President Steiman called for a brief recess of the meeting at 5:41PM. The Commission returned to session at 5:50PM. AGENDA ITEM #6 LIBRARY FEE AMNESTY City Librarian Susan Hildreth informed the Commissioners concerning the background of Supervisor Leland Yee's Library Fee Amnesty legislation. She noted that it had been viewed as a companion measure to the materials recovery program, but that the Board of Supervisors had eliminated the materials recovery program from the Fine and Fee Schedule which they approved. Ms. Hildreth announced that if the Commission agreed the Fine Amnesty would be held during June 1 -15, 2001. The City Librarian noted that the previous Fine Amnesty in March of 1998 had not been particularly successful in retrieving materials that were long overdue and that even greater publicity and outreach efforts would be made to try and make this over due book amnesty more successful. Ms. Hildreth then introduced Marcia Schneider, Library Director of Public Affairs who gave a detailed presentation on the extensive community outreach effort planned for the Overdue Book Amnesty. Ms. Schneider reported that the Library would undertake a bigger effort with greater outreach than previously done and noted that any input on how to make the publicity more effective would be welcomed. Ms. Schneider informed the Commissioners concerning the press releases, various planned activities, public service announcements, including announcements on the Muni electronic information boards, inclusion in calendar listings, notices in the neighborhood newspapers and newsletters, a prominent feature in At the Public Library, and a poster campaign featuring art work by Phil Frank urging patrons to " SHARE THE THRILL, RETURN THE BOOKS". The Director of Public Affairs next discussed various activities with awards to encourage the return of the longest overdue book, having the best excuse for not having returned a book, and the longest distance from which a book was returned. Ms. Schneider reported that staff would chart the various kinds of materials returned to measure progress during the amnesty and to have an accurate measure of how effectively the amnesty worked. The Director of Public Affairs promised outreach to all levels of educational institutions from colleges and universities to the San Francisco Unified School District and to private and parochial schools. She proposed announcements at Library public events, postings at every library, and a wide distribution of the poster with art work donated by Phil Frank, creator of "Farley". Ms. Schneider noted that Supervisor Leland Yee had offered to help publicize the Overdue Book Amnesty his legislation authorized and that the San Francisco Independent newspaper might offer a prize. The Director of Public Affairs also reported efforts to gain the assistance of the Council of Neighborhood Libraries the Friends and Foundation, and the Library Commission in publicizing the Overdue Book Amnesty. The City Librarian requested that the Commission act to approve the proposed dates for The Overdue Book Amnesty. Public comment on AGENDA ITEM #6 FEE AMNESTY An anonymous member of the public commented that this individual was disappointed to learn that the last fine amnesty had not been a success as City Librarian Regina Minudri had lauded it as a great success. This person observed that the previous fine amnesty had been confused by a double message by the inclusion of a food drive as part of the effort. The anonymous member of the public commented further that past fee amnesty's had been tied to the appointment of a new City Librarian an unpredictable event which occurred infrequently where as the last amnesty was merely three years ago and might send a message encouraging people to keep overdue materials for the next amnesty. This individual noted that owing the library money keeps patrons away, but too frequent fee amnesties may cause problems too. Mr. Ed Regan called for abolishing all library fines and recommended that a list be complied of all overdue, weeded, or stolen books. Mr. Peter Warfield suggested sending letters to all patrons with overdue items informing them of the amnesty, commented on varying reports on the success of the previous amnesty, and asked how the library planned to measure the success of this amnesty. Mr. Warfield observed that a single purpose amnesty could be more successful and expressed uneasiness about offering prizes as part of the amnesty. He noted that emphasis should be made that the Library shares its materials and patrons should be educated to bring back books so that others can check them out. Mr. Warfield noted that a union rep. had suggested a slogan such as "Got Books?" similar to the popular "Got Milk" campaign. Commission comment on AGENDA ITEM #6 LIBRARY FEE AMNESTY Commissioner Coulter congratulated Ms. Schneider for the extensive publicity efforts proposed and inquired as to how the Phil Frank art work was proposed to be used. In response to further questions by Commissioner Coulter, Ms. Schneider outlined how the Library proposed to measure the success of this amnesty, commented on the quality of existing records of what is missing, spoke about data made available by the Automation Department, and reported that there was no break down of information on materials checked out by students and children. Commissioner Swig suggested that notice of the amnesty be provided to movie theatres for inclusion in public service announcements. Vice President Steiman observed that there might be copyright issues with slogans such as "weakest link" or "Got Books". Deputy City Attorney Adine Varah pointed out that it might be possible to contact the owner of the intellectual property rights in a particular slogan and obtain permission to use it for the Library. Commissioner Chin expressed some discomfort with offering rewards for returning materials noting that this should be an occasion for a lesson in responsibility. MOTION: by Commissioner Coulter, seconded by Commissioner Chin that as authorized by the Board of Supervisors the Library hold an Overdue Book Amnesty during the period June 1 through June 15, 2001 to encourage the return of overdue materials. ACTION: AYE 5-0 (Chin, Coulter, Steiman, Streets, and Swig) Agenda Item #7 LIBRARY BUDGET UPDATE REPORT Library Finance Director, George Nichols provided the Commissioners with an extensive overview of the current status of the Library's FY 2001/2202 Budget. In particular Mr. Nichols outlined the budgetary challenges facing the city in the coming year while noting that Prop. E (Library Preservation Fund) protected the Library from the baseline budget cuts that could be required of other city departments. Mr. Nichols then gave an overview of the schedule of budget related activities for the remainder of the fiscal year. The Library Finance Director reported on a series of community budget hearings that were being conducted in neighborhoods across the city by the Board of Supervisors in preparation of their receiving the Mayor's Budget proposal at the beginning of June. Mr. Nichols next discussed several changes that had been made in the Library's Budget since its approval by the Library Commission. The Library's Finance Director informed the Commissioners that the Mayor had, despite the clear wish of the Commission, placed the $173,000 in funding for the Tool Lending Center in the Library's budget allocation. In addition Mr. Nichols reported on a $1.1 million cost related to the branch library telephone system. He indicated that although this was $600,000 greater than the initial estimate provided by DTIS, replacing the branch telephone system was necessary to improve public service and operational efficiency. Mr. Nichols explained that the current phone system was dysfunctional and that the new system would make of the library's phone systems compatible. Mr. Nichols further noted that this upgrade would be fully compatible with changes that are sure to occur during the branch library construction and improvement bond program. The Library Finance Director also discussed how the new phone system would be installed in phases with the hub of the network being installed in the Main Library and systems at the Chinatown, Mission, and Sunset branches, then in groups of eight branches per year at a cost of $247,000. Mr. Nichols reported that the overall budget was $668,000 greater than the budget the Commission approved in January. Mr. Nichols noted the Tool Lending Center costs, the branch library telephone system increased costs and then detailed the addition of $165,000 to fund work orders from other departments that the Library had to pay. Focusing on revenues Mr. Nichols informed the Commissioners of an additional $1.1 million in Prop. E baseline funds that the Controller had identified as due the Library in the current fiscal year which would roll over into next year's budget. He explained that this revenue mitigated the need for an allocation from the Library Preservation Fund reserve that was programmed to support the proposed budget. The Library Finance Director then discussed three POE related capital projects anticipated to be funded with $2.1 million from the Library Improvement Fund (Prop. A 1988). The improved signage program, improvements to the first floor Borrower's Services area, and improvements to the second floor including a possible bridge to the Children's Center. Mr. Nichols noted that these funds were included in the proposed budget for planning purposes, but that the Commission's review and approval would be necessary before any project went forward. Mr. Nichols concluded his report by explaining some of the materials that he had provided to the Commissioners reporting increases in spending in the book budget and again noting that 85% of the Library's budget was expended on staffing and materials. Public comment on Agenda Item #7 LIBRARY BUDGET UPDATE REPORT An anonymous member of the public reserved comment on the technical aspects of the report but observed that it appeared that despite the Commission's decision not to fund the Tool Lending Center with Library funds that it would bear watching to see if that were true. Ms. Sue Cauthen, Council of Neighborhood Libraries, expressed concern with how Prop. E moneys are expended and with the description of the Main Library as serving as a branch library. Ms. Cauthen discussed her involvement with the Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods, which she described as a coalition of 35 neighborhood organizations that had adopted a resolution and sent it to the Library echoed her concerns on these issues. Ms. Cauthen noted that the City Attorney had issued an opinion that stated that Prop. E (Library Preservation Fund) allowed such expenditures on the Main Library but expressed a wish that the Commissioners think very carefully before doing so. Ms. Cauthen then cited reported opposition to such use of Prop. E funds and any consideration of the Main Library as a branch. Mr. Peter Warfield noted that the budget materials had not been available prior to the meeting, and could not find any reconciliation of its figures with those in the budget that the Commission had adopted. Mr. Warfield expressed concern with the increases in the costs of the branch library telephone system and could find no connection to any increase in patron service. Mr. Warfield commented that the book budget at 9% of the budget was still below a previously cited figure of 15% as what was desired. Mr. Warfield found that the Library was very good at spending on everything but books and additional open hours. Mr. Warfield cited figures indicating that the book budget only now matched its funding in 1996-97. Commission comment on Agenda Item #7 LIBRARY BUDGET UPDATE REPORT Vice President Steiman explained that special one-time circumstance which didn't allow the library to make hires in the first year of Prop. E (Library Preservation Fund) spending in 1995-96 allowed for a massive increase in spending for books and materials. Vice President Steiman noted preference for a book budget in the range of 12 to 15% if funding allowed. In response to questions by Commissioner Chin, the City Librarian explained how the improvements in the branch telephone system would allow improvements in public service. Commissioner Swig left the meeting at 6:35PM. In response to a comment by Commissioner Coulter regarding how other libraries measured per capita spending on books and materials that should take into account San Francisco's very high labor costs, the City Librarian noted that our labor costs were the highest in the state. She proposed to review the figures and inform the Commission concerning a more accurate reflection of what percentage of budget was dedicated to books and materials. Agenda item #8 FRIENDS AND FOUNDATION REPORT Mr. Chuck Forester, Executive Director of the Friends and Foundation reported to the Commission concerning a special program by Thomas Kitteridge, a noted environmental author held the previous Monday. Mr. Forester then discussed programs offered by the Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center on transgender issues in a series of weekly programs during May. Mr. Forester next reported on the great opening success of the Book Bay at the Main, noting sales of $8,500 in its first week. Mr. Forester then described efforts by the Friends and Foundation to support the High School and Beyond Program to replace the initial grant funding that operated this valuable program. Mr. Forester noted that the Friends and Foundation during May sponsored 25 programs and two exhibits. Agenda Item #9 LIBRARY LABOR UNION REPORT None offered Agenda item #10 NEW BUSINESS Commissioner Chin requested a preview of the highlights of the upcoming American Library Association Annual meeting being held in San Francisco in June. Commissioner Chin also requested that a discussion be calendared at the Commission on ways in which the Library and the school district can cooperate in promoting teen literacy. Commissioner Chin also requested a report be calendared on the plans for promoting teen involvement in the Library's Summer reading program. Public comment on Agenda item #10 NEW BUSINESS An anonymous member of the public expressed interest in Commissioner Chin's comments observing that teenagers' faced a great deal of pressure, now even greater than before. This anonymous member of the public cited the library as one place where learning occurs without pressure and that anything that encourages that is important. This person also reminded the Commissioners of President Higueras' suggestion for a retreat on the Library's Strategic Plan. Mr. Ed Regan commented that every branch library should include a Labor Library, containing the full spectrum of information available to teens seeking employment. Mr. Regan cited draftsman as a position for which teenagers might be qualified. Agenda item #11 PUBLIC COMMENT An anonymous member of the public noted that April had been observed as National Poetry month and that this individual had planned a related comment that would be offered now. The anonymous member of the public emphasized that this was what libraries were all about, that each book in the library represented an individual's sacrifice and achievements in a life's work. This person noted that the act of creation had been likened to procreation, citing poets from Shakespeare and Whitman to Andrew Marvell. The anonymous member of the public concluded with an extensive quotation from Gerard Manley Hopkins "To R.B.". Mr. Ed Regan requested that the Library inspect all of its book collections to insure that there was uniformity in the non-fiction collections at the Main and in the branches. Mr. Peter Warfield commented on what he described as a stir in the Library world concerning a movement to retain original documents, books and newspapers instead of just microfilms. Mr. Warfield inquired concerning what the branch library planning process is doing to provide for more space for books and materials. Mr. Warfield noted that there had been reports of funding for branch planning but that he had heard nothing where the plans stood in regard to space for books and materials. Mr. Warfield requested that the Commission schedule an extensive discussion of these issues. Agenda Item #12 ADJOURNMENT MOTION: by Commissioner Streets, seconded by Commissioner Chin that the meeting be adjourned. ACTION: AYE 4-0 (Chin, Coulter, Steiman, and Streets) The meeting was adjourned at 7:04PM. Michael Housh, Commission Secretary 6/8/01 Please note: Copies of Commission Minutes and handouts are available in the Office of the Commission Secretary, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 The number of members of the public who spoke anonymously at this meeting. 1


text:
Some More Dubai Images ;-)
Having seen a few of the Dubai images posted on the Net recently, which were all created with the new Pentax DSLR as told (only by the K20D for what I can see so far), I am not overally impressed with some of the sample pics owing to quite some good reasons, including particularly the gloomy appearance and/or the colour response of many of them, unfortunately.
Here are a few of the sample picture page links if you are interested but have not yet visited those "review" sites before:-
1. http://www.trustedreviews.com/digital-cameras/review/2008/01/25/Pentax-K20D-Hands-On-Preview/p5
2. http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Pentax-K20D-DSLR
Well, as for the gloomy thing, I have already accepted the fact that as long as Pentax won't upgrade their "long-lasting" 16-segment multi-segment "advanced" and "sophisticated" metering system, it will be with us forever! However, for the new taste, feel and look of the colour response, I believe it would be just the magical result of the special chemical reaction of the new Samsung APS-C CMOS sensor used in conjunction with the latest Pentax highest grade digital Star lenses! ;-)
Btw, here is another Japanese review page which I found the pictures taken are looking (much) better (not at Dubai, but at their Japan motherland), despite that those pictures were also taken with a "beta" K20D (maybe the K20D would perform much better in Japan home than in Dubai? ;-D):-
Still, I DO like the colour response of those pictures made with the cheapo 18-55 kit lens more than the DA* ones.
Nevertheless, all the above Dubai pictures were posted just in recent days only after the Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) and its embargo ended on January 24, although it is believed that the images were taken during the days around when a Pentax's "secret" press conference was held at Dubai earlier this month, and that all those cameras used were on-loan demo units from Pentax. So, in the end, no one will face any legal consequence as no one dared to break the NDAs they had signed.
Well, well, well.. Now the key point and main concern must be: Do you want to view, inspect, pixel peep or even measur(e)bate more Dubai images?? Below are some of mine!! Just look yourself (if you can guess which camera I used to take the photos, I shall be glad! K20D? K200D, or ? ?):-
(Click to Enlarge)
Now, when you read here, have you become excited and finished downloading at least a few of them and have an intention to start some kinds of "inspection" and "comparison", or even did it already? If yes, then my big Congrats to you! You have the potential, tendency and pre-requisite to become a pixel peeper or even a measurbator ;-D (Just kidding, stay calm - "no offense intended"!)
So, which camera then? Just tell you and please don't tell other people even after you've known it: It's a ...
MZ-S! "Just"!!
Anyway, with my old trustworthy MZ-S, I could not and still cannot see gloomy pictures most of the time, no matter what films I used, including picky slides which have rather narrow exposure latitudes. And, the camera has always been so responsive in AF, night and day, and the shutter lag is less noticeable (than *any* Pentax DSLRs I have used). Moreover, the focus points achieved were usually very accurate, no matter what lens was used and under different light sources and lighting conditions. The TTL flash is far more accurate, too! (It's not the P-TTL anyway - I used the built-in flash for that dark environment picture). Pictures grainy? Yes, but those were scanned from negative films with an entry level historical (dead) Minolta film scanner anyway..


text: Jeanpaul wanted to buy several replacement spoons for his Gourmet Settings flatware set, but the company didn't seem to sell the pieces individually. After fruitlessly searching both the company's site and eBay, Jeanpaul wrote in asking if there was any way to replace just his missing spoons. Rather than turn him away spoonless, Gourmet Settings asked for Jeanpaul's address and then offered to send the replacement spoons free of charge.


text:
Power saving
Template:Article summary start Template:Article summary text Template:Article summary heading Template:Article summary wiki Template:Article summary wiki Template:Article summary wiki Template:Article summary wiki Template:Article summary wiki Template:Article summary wiki Template:Article summary end This article covers the configuration needed to turn on power saving features. Almost all of the features listed here are worth using whether or not the computer is on AC or battery power. Most have negligible performance impact and are just not enabled by default because of commonly broken hardware/drivers. Reducing power usage means reducing heat, which can even lead to higher performance on a modern Intel or AMD CPU, thanks to dynamic overclocking.
- 1 Configuration
- 1.1 Audio
- 1.2 Active state power management
- 1.3 Backlight
- 1.4 Bluetooth
- 1.5 Web-Camera
- 1.6 Kernel parameters
- 1.7 Network interfaces
- 1.8 PCI Runtime Power Management
- 1.9 SATA Active Link Power Management
- 1.10 USB Autosuspend
- 1.11 Device Power Management
- 1.12 Mount options
- 1.13 CD/DVD spin down
- 2 Tools and scripts
If you would like to create your own scripts and power saving settings such as by udev rules you can take the following settings as a reference.
By default, audio power saving is turned off by most drivers. It can be enabled by setting the
power_save parameter; a time (in seconds) to go into idle mode. To idle the audio card after one second, create
options snd_hda_intel power_save=1
for Intel, or use
options snd_ac97_codec power_save=1
for ac97.
Active state power management
To verify that ASPM is enabled:
$ cat /sys/module/pcie_aspm/parameters/policy
[default] performance powersave
[default] or
[powersave] means you do not need to force it on. Otherwise, it's either unsupported or broken on your hardware, or has to be forced on with
pcie_aspm=force on the kernel line.
- Forcing on ASPM can cause a freeze/panic, so make sure you have a way to undo the option if it doesn't work.
- On systems that don't support it forcing on ASPM can even increase power consumption.
When system starts, screen backlight is set to maximum by default. This can be fixed by specifying backlight level in the following udev rule:
## SET BACKLIGHT SUBSYSTEM=="backlight", ACTION=="add", KERNEL=="acpi_video0", ATTR{brightness}="1"
See Backlight for more information.
Blacklist the
hci_usb module if the driver is loaded automatically.
Alternatively, blacklist the
btusb and
bluetooth modules.
Another variant is to rfkill it:
# rfkill block bluetooth
Or with udev rule:
## DISABLE BLUETOOTH SUBSYSTEM=="rfkill", ATTR{type}=="bluetooth", ATTR{state}="0"
If you won't use integrated web camera then blacklist the
uvcvideo module.
Kernel parameters
This section uses configs in
/etc/sysctl.d/, which is "a drop-in directory for kernel sysctl parameters." See The New Configuration Files and more specifically systemd's sysctl.d man page for more information.
Disabling NMI watchdog
The NMI watchdog is a debugging feature to catch hardware hangs and cause a kernel panic. On some systems it can generate a lot of interrupts, causing a noticeable increase in power usage.
kernel.nmi_watchdog = 0
or add
nmi_watchdog=0 to the kernel line to disable it completely from early boot.
Writeback Time
Increasing the VM dirty writeback time can help to aggregate I/O together - reducing disk writes, and decreasing power usage:
vm.dirty_writeback_centisecs = 1500
To do the same for journal commits with ext4 and some other filesystems, use
commit=15 as a parameter in fstab or with the
rootflags kernel parameter.
Laptop Mode
See the kernel documentation on the laptop mode 'knob.' "A sensible value for the knob is 5 seconds."
vm.laptop_mode = 5
Network interfaces
Wake-on-LAN can be a useful feature, but if you're not making use of it then it's simply draining extra power waiting for a magic packet while in suspend. Disabling for all Ethernet interfaces:
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="net", KERNEL=="eth*", RUN+="/usr/bin/ethtool -s %k wol d"
To enable powersaving on all wireless interfaces:
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="net", KERNEL=="wlan*", RUN+="/usr/bin/iw dev %k set power_save on"
In these examples,
%k is a specifier for the kernel name of the matched device. For example, if it finds that the rule is applicable to
wlan0, the
%k specifier will be replaced with
wlan0. To apply the rules to only a particular interface, just replace the pattern
eth* and specifier
%k with the desired interface name. For more information, see Writing udev rules.
In this case, the name of the configuration file is important. Due to the introduction of persistent device names via
80-net-name-slot.rules in systemd v197, it is important that the network powersave rules are named lexicographically before
80-net-name-slot.rules, so that they are applied before the devices are named e.g.
PCI Runtime Power Management
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="pci", ATTR{power/control}="auto"
SATA Active Link Power Management
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="scsi_host", KERNEL=="host*", ATTR{link_power_management_policy}="min_power"
USB Autosuspend
To enable USB autosuspend after 2 seconds of inactivity:
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="usb", TEST=="power/control", ATTR{power/control}="auto" ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="usb", TEST=="power/autosuspend", ATTR{power/autosuspend}="2"
Other option is to use modprobe:
options usbcore autosuspend=2
Device Power Management
# echo auto | tee /sys/bus/i2c/devices/*/power/control > /dev/null # echo auto | tee /sys/bus/spi/devices/*/power/control > /dev/null
Mount options
You might want to use the
noatime option, see Fstab#atime options for more information.
CD/DVD spin down
To allow the CD/DVD rom to spin down after a while using udisks:
# udisks --inhibit-polling /dev/sr0
Tools and scripts
There are many scripts and tools which make use of the various settings described in the previous sections. These are notably:
- Powertop is a handy utility from Intel that displays which hardware/processes are using the most power on your system, and provides instructions on how to stop or remove power-wasting services. It's report functionality can also be used to identify the relevant parameters for the system.
- Powerdown
- powerconfAUR
- ftw-gitAUR
- Laptop Mode Tools
- pm-utils
If you do not want to take care of the settings by yourself it is recommended to use these tools. But be aware of running only one of these tools to avoid possible conflicts as they all work more or less similar.
Using a script and an udev rule
Since systemd users can suspend and hibernate through
systemctl suspend or
systemctl hibernate and handle acpi events with
/etc/systemd/logind.conf, it might be interesting to remove pm-utils and acpid. There's just one thing systemd can't do (as of systemd-204): power management depending on whether the system is running on AC or battery. To fill this gap, you can create a single udev rule that runs a script when the AC adapter is plugged and unplugged:
SUBSYSTEM=="power_supply", ATTR{online}=="0", RUN+="/path/to/your/script true" SUBSYSTEM=="power_supply", ATTR{online}=="1", RUN+="/path/to/your/script false"
Examples of powersave scripts can be found here: powerdownAUR, powerconfAUR, powersave.
The above udev rule should work as expected, but if your power settings aren't updated after a suspend or hibernate cycle, you should add a script in
/usr/lib/systemd/system-sleep/ with the following contents:
#!/bin/sh case $1 in pre) /path/to/your/script false ;; post) if cat /sys/class/power_supply/AC0/online | grep 0 > /dev/null 2>&1 then /path/to/your/script true else /path/to/your/script false fi ;; esac exit 0
Don't forget to make it executable!
Now you don't need pm-utils anymore. Depending on your configuration, it may be a dependency of some other package. If you wish to remove it anyway, run
pacman -Rdd pm-utils.
Print power settings
This script prints power settings and a variety of other properties for USB and PCI devices. Note that root permissions are needed to see all settings.
#!/bin/bash for i in $(find /sys/devices -name "bMaxPower") do busdir=${i%/*} busnum=$(<$busdir/busnum) devnum=$(<$busdir/devnum) title=$(lsusb -s $busnum:$devnum) printf "\n\n+++ %s\n -%s\n" "$title" "$busdir" for ff in $(find $busdir/power -type f ! -empty 2>/dev/null) do v=$(cat $ff 2>/dev/null|tr -d "\n") [[ ${#v} -gt 0 ]] && echo -e " ${ff##*/}=$v"; v=; done | sort -g; done; printf "\n\n\n+++ %s\n" "Kernel Modules" for mod in $(lspci -k | sed -n '/in use:/s,^.*: ,,p' | sort -u) do echo "+ $mod"; systool -v -m $mod 2> /dev/null | sed -n "/Parameters:/,/^$/p"; done