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Bright, White, and Inviting Family Home
A mostly white palette—clean, calming, and sophisticated
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Mother Nature knows how to make things beautiful. She also knows how to problem-solve. Take the winter months. When trees and plants are bare and scraggly, she robes them in exquisite crystalline snow. A designer's transformation of a room dressed with luxe fabrics and furnishings is like the impressive impact of a sudden blizzard—only more lasting.
Designer Gail Plechaty's project for Larry and Deborah Coven and their children, Max and Sophia, didn't happen overnight, but the results are as beautiful as freshly fallen snow. She bathed the interiors of the Chicago-area home in a mostly white palette that is clean, calming, and sophisticated. As testament to the refined, neutral interiors that have garnered attention throughout her career, Plechaty was hired after the Covens saw firsthand her inimitable style during a charity fundraiser at a friend's house.
"When Deborah called," recalls Plechaty, "she expressed her desire for a similar aesthetic in the home she and Larry were building." (The design work that piqued their interest had been completed eight years earlier, only confirming the timelessness of Plechaty's style.) Despite an appreciation for a pale palette with longevity, practicality was a factor in a house with two children. Sensible fabrics and surfaces that can be easily wiped clean made the subdued color scheme possible.
"The interiors don't feel as white as they are," says Deborah. The family room where the children hang out features chocolate browns that are often textural. "We used family-friendly materials like pleather, which covers the kitchen chairs, throughout the house. So the white is really not an issue."
While luxurious furniture and fabrics are captivating elements of the design scheme, the interior shell of the French chateau-style home offers a lesson in classicism, blending refinement and drama into a background versatile enough to work with a variety of looks. The foyer is a compelling example. A graceful, sweeping staircase designed by Plechaty anchors it. Visible from most points on the main floor, the winding staircase is the centerpiece of the home. To focus on the staircase, the designer exercised restraint with nearby furnishings, choosing a carved table with a marble top and a bronze sculpture to enhance its presence. On either side of the foyer, the facing living and dining rooms engage in polite banter about which one of them is the more elegant. Warmed by natural light, the furnishings in both are thoughtfully edited.
Symmetry prevails in the intimate living room that eschews grand appointments in favor of pieces that are formal but not ostentatious. Pairs of silk velvet sofas, Louis XVI chairs, armchairs upholstered in embroidered silk, and antique tables with new wooden tops all center on a simple fireplace vignette. An intricate solid-brass frame on a mirror above the mantel serves as jewelry for the room. Finished with only a handful of accessories, the living room not only provides an uncomplicated background for objects the owners might buy later, but it is also calming.
Restfulness, Plechaty points out, is often sought by people who feel overwhelmed by highly decorated designs. "Too often I receive calls from people who live in homes that have too much going on, and they want a clean space for a clear mind," she explains. "My design is not only a look, it's a feel. The way I set up my basic, neutral backdrops leaves room for the client to add personal touches later. My interiors can handle an old master just as easily as a modern abstract. I set the background, then inject my aesthetic versions of the style the client wants."
The dining room has an equally serene attitude. Walls papered in a metallic covering that only appears to be flocked envelop a lacquered-top round table and chairs that Deborah spied on eBay. The chairs were painted and recovered in a glazed linen fabric with metallic threads that allude to the sparkle on the walls. Reflected in a 1930s mirror, a crystal chandelier gives the space a sexy, bejeweled kick.
While traditional French details that include ornate carvings and pleasingly worn paint prevail throughout the Coven home, the kitchen speaks in an edgy, modern voice. Sleek, high-gloss cabinet fronts and contemporary bar stools contrast with items in adjoining spaces, but continuity is maintained with a pair of small crystal chandeliers that illuminate the island.
Furniture from the Covens' former residence found a new home in the family room, designed to be frequented by children. A classic chocolate brown velvet works well with a pair of caned chairs. Plechaty tied the furnishings to the overall scheme using draperies fabricated with wide horizontal stripes in alternating cream and brown silk. Light blue pillows introduce the slightest hint of color.
Emphasizing the serene scheme, the master bedroom has a tranquil glow. The bed and chair frames are accented in blond wood to add warmth. Under a soaring, vaulted ceiling, an antique bed plus a settee and twin Louis XVI chairs dress the room for comfortable lounging that suits the rest of the house.
"My work is universal," says Plechaty. "These clients have gatherings frequently, so if they need extra furniture, what is in the bedroom can easily mix with what exists downstairs." Saturated mostly in white, the Coven home can remain as it is or evolve to embrace new treasures the family may gather. With classic interiors—a shell that can shift in many directions—the choice is all theirs.
"Gail really made it a point to pay attention and give us open space that's very comfortable—not only for us, but for our family and friends, whom we love to have over often," says Deborah. "This house has exactly what we wanted—quiet, timeless elegance."
Photography: Werner Straube
Produced by Hilary Rose
Architect: Robert W. Kirk, Group A Architecture Inc., 1100 Landmeier Road, Suite 202, Elk Grove Village, IL 60007; 847/952-1100, groupaarch.com.
Interior design: Gail Plechaty, Real Simple Design, 17405 E. Millburn Road, Old Mill Creek, IL 60083; 847/356-1111.
Contractor: Matthew L. Pollack, Red Rock Custom Homes Inc., Red Rock Development, LLC, 1549 Stratford Road, Deerfield, IL 60015; 847/374-8820, redrockdevelopmentllc.com.
Area rug: Stark Carpet, 212/752-9000, starkcarpet.com.
Mirror (antique); chandelier (antique); fauteuils (antique): owner's collection.
Fauteuil fabric ("Millerighe"/Antracite #1431-01): Dedar, 800/493-2209, dedar.com.
Coffee table (antique); table at window (antique): Ivy & Co., 847/681-8003, ivyandco.net.
Sofa (#52790); club chairs (#52728): Interior Crafts, 773/376-8160, interiorcrafts.com.
Sofa fabric ("Picasso," silk velvet): Fishman's Fabrics, 312/922-7250, fishmansfabrics.com.
Pillows on sofa ("Hunt Damask"/Ivory); trim ("Tulip Fringe"): Scalamandré, 800/932-4361, scalamandre.com.
Club-chair fabric ("Rigoletto"/Taupe #5568/2, by Rose Cumming): Dessin Fournier, 785/434-2777, dessinfournier.com.
Trim on club chairs ("Orsay"/Taupe #34607): Samuel & Sons, 212/704-8000, samuelandsons.com.
Floor lamp (antique): Ivy & Co., 847/681-8003, ivyandco.net.
Lamp shade: Lake Forest Lamp & Shade Co., 847/579-4499.
Drapery ("Shangri-La"/Crème de la Crème #03): Scalamandré, 800/932-4361, scalamandre.com.
Paint ("Greek Villa" #7551): Sherwin-Williams, 800/474-3794, sherwinwilliams.com.
Under the curvy staircase, an antique French table with worn painted wood was updated with a new marble top. A dark banister and steps provide striking contrast.
Table (antique): Antiques on Old Plank Road, 773/278-4040, oldplank.com.
Sculpture: San Juan Ventures, 312/612-1054, sanjuanventures.com.
Flooring (limestone): Chadwick's SurfacesInt'l, 847/680-3222, chadwickssurfaces.net.
Sconce in stairway ("Melissa" #MM-3001): Urban Electric Co., 843/723-8140, urbanelectricco.com.
Rug ("Wigwam," Tibetan, by Yardo??): Minasian Rug Co., 847/864-1010, minasian.com.
Stair railing: Matthew L. Pollack, Red Rock Custom Homes Inc., 847/374-8820.
Dining Room
To define the perimeter in style, painted white wood floors are bordered in silver-leaf stripes.
Chandelier ("Dupont"): Dennis & Leen, 310/652-0855, dennisandleen.com. Available through Holly Hunt, 312/661-1900, hollyhunt.com.
Table (designed by Gail Plechaty): Real Simple Design, 847/356-1111.
Chairs: owner's collection.
Fabric on chair front ("Paparazzi"/Diamond, by John Hutton, discontinued): David Sutherland, 312/205-7700, davidsutherlandshowroom.com.
Chair-back fabric ("Seaton Stripe" #1161/06): Classic Cloth, 785/434-7200, dessinfournir.com.
Cabinet (Provence, c. 1910); mirror (Italian, 1930s); prints (antique): Ivy & Co., 847/681-8003, ivyandco.net.
Wall covering ("Charleston Damask" #RK4134L79, by Ronald Redding): Area International, 312/644-0595, areainternationalchicago.com.
Hand-painted silver-leaf floor: Karen Nelson, 847/414-8081.
Dining Room Details
The dining room chandelier from Dennis & Leen is frosted with intricate beadwork, which sparkles in the light.
Home Office
A Lucite desk provides transparency and allows attention to be focused on the silver-leaf harlequin pattern on the floor.
Lucite base for desk; glass desktop: Real Simple Design, 847/356-1111.
Hand-painted silver-leaf floor: Karen Nelson, 847/414-8081.
Chairs (antique): Ivy & Co., 847/681-8003, ivyandco.net.
Chair fabric (discontinued): Scalamandré, 800/932-4361, scalamandre.com.
Drapery ("Academy" #36288-3): Scalamandré, 800/932-4361, scalamandre.com.
Wall covering ("Raw Silk"/Smoked Silver): Maya Romanoff, 773/465-6909, mayaromanoff.com.
Ceiling and trim paint ("Greek Villa" #7551): Sherwin-Williams, 800/474-3794, sherwinwilliams.com.
Kitchen and Breakfast Room
The contemporary tone of the breakfast area complements the streamlined kitchen. Leather armchairs from West Elm surround an oval table. Vintage French posters from the Covens' art collection decorate the walls.
Cabinetry: Binova, binova.com. Through Haute Living, 312/329-9000, haute-living.com.
Countertop ("Blizzard" #2141): CaesarStone, 800/666-8201, caesarstoneus.com.
Cooktop (by Wolf); refrigerator (by Sub-Zero): Sub-Zero/Wolf, 800/222-7820, subzero-wolf.com.
Wall ovens: Gaggenau, 800/828-9165, gaggenau-usa.com.
Sink fixtures (by Kallista): Studio 41, 847/266-1900, shopstudio41.com.
Chandeliers ("Powder Room Chandelier"): Dennis & Leen, 310/652-0855, dennisandleen.com. Available through Holly Hunt, 312/661-1900, hollyhunt.com.
Chairs ("Glooh Counter Stool" #SH62-100, by KFF): Haute Living, 312/329-9000, haute-living.com.
Flooring: white oak, custom stain.
Table (by Barbara Barry): Kohler, 800/456-4537, kohlerinteriors.com.
Chairs (discontinued): West Elm, 866/428-6468, westelm.com.
Chandelier (discontinued): Restoration Hardware, 800/910-9836, restorationhardware.com.
Powder Room
Along with its black marble sink surround and painted black-framed mirror, the handsome powder room features a whimsical tree-patterned wallpaper.
Vanity and sink ("Easton" #EAW506): Waterworks, 800/899-6757, waterworks.com.
Faucets ("Victorian Series, by Harrington Brass); toilet (by Toto): Studio 41, 847/266-1900, shopstudio41.com.
Mirror: Matthew Pollack, Red Rock Custom Homes, 847/374-8820.
Wall covering ("Kurt"/Black on White, by Hinson & Co.): Donghia, 800/366-4442, donghia.com.
Sconces (antique market find): owner's collection.
The French-style Chicago home was built in 2010.
Sconces: Sea Gull Lighting, 800/347-5483, SeaGullLighting.com.
Hanging lantern (antique): Kimball & Bean, 815/444-9000, kimballandbean.com.
Urns: Trellis & Trugs, 847/784-6910, trellisandtrugs.com.
My interiors can handle an old master just as easily as a modern abstract," says designer Gail Plechaty.
Family Room
Filled with furniture from the Covens' former home, the family room demonstrates how pieces with classic lines can find purpose anywhere.
Drapery (designed by Gail Plechaty): Real Simple Design, 847/356-1111.
Drapery fabric ("Shangri-La"/Crème de la Crème; and "Shangri-La"/Marion): Scalamandré, 800/932-4361, scalamandre.com.
Drapery hardware (Nostalgia Collection): Brimar, 800/274-1205, brimarinc.com.
Sofa; chairs; benches: owner's collection.
Blue pillows ("Folio"/Turquoise #36283): Scalamandré, 800/932-4361, scalamandre.com.
Patterned pillow fabric: owner's collection.
Chandelier (from auction): owner's collection.
Area rug: owner's collection.
Mantel (custom): Red Rock Custom Homes Inc., 847/374-8820, redrockdevelopmentllc.com.
Paint ("Greek Villa" #7551): Sherwin-Williams, 800/474-3794, sherwinwilliams.com.
Master Bedroom
The master suite is steps from nature, with a terrace accessible through French doors. "Whether my clients are inside in front of the fireplace or out on their terrace, they have plenty of private space where they can sit, talk, and read," says Plechaty.
Bed; settee; chairs: Real Simple Design, 847/356-1111.
Fabric on headboard, footboard, and back of settee and chairs ("Millerighe"/ Antracite #1431-01): Dedar, 800/493-2209, dedar.com.
Fabric for front of settee and chairs ("Folio" #36283-7): Scalamandré, 800/932-4361, scalamandre.com.
Duvet and pillows: Scandia Down, 847/205-1010, scandiadown.com.
Coverlet: Restoration Hardware, 800/910-9836, restorationhardware.com.
Pillows on settee ("Hunt Damask"/Ivory); trim ("Tulip"): Scalamandré, 800/932-4361, scalamandre.com.
Drapery ("Shangri-La"/Creme de la Creme" #03): Scalamandré, 800/932-4361, scalamandre.com.
Drapery hardware (Versailles Collection): Brimar, 800/274-1205, brimarinc.com.
Table (antique): Ivy & Co., 847/681-8003, ivyandco.net.
Area rug (#280758A): Stark Carpet, 212/752-9000, starkcarpet.com.
Chandelier (from auction); table lamp (from auction): owner's collection.
Paint ("Linen White" #912): Benjamin Moore & Co., 888/236-6667, benjaminmoore.com.
Flooring: white oak, painted.
Master Bedroom Detail
Antique prints by Auguste Rodin frame a unique mirror in the master bedroom. The bench is upholstered in a creamy fabric by Nancy Corzine.
Bench; mirror: Ivy & Co., 847/681-8003, ivyandco.net.
Bench fabric ("Diamante"/Chalk): Nancy Corzine, 312/645-4500, nancycorzine.com.
Antique prints (by Auguste Rodin): owner's collection.
Dressing Room
Painted soft gray, the dressing room features mirrored doors and a stainless-topped island.
Paint ("Timeless Grey" #8632W, discontinued, for similar "Talcum" #2351W) and ("European Grey" #8631W, discontinued, for similar "Ice Wine" #2352W): Color Guild, 614/231-1642, or colorguild.com for nearest location.
Cabinetry (custom): Matthew Pollack, Red Rock Custom Homes, 847/374-8820.
Cabinetry hardware ("Alno 22mm Crystal Knobs"): Studio 41, 847/266-1900, shopstudio41.com.
Chandelier (antique): owner's collection.
Master Bathroom
Silk window panels, a crystal chandelier, and a framed charcoal drawing give the bathroom subtle opulence.
Paint ("European Gray"): Benjamin Moore & Co., 888/236-6667, benjaminmoore.com.
Drapery (designed by Gail Plechaty): Real Simple Design, 847/356-1111.
Drapery fabrics ("Venezia"/White, and "Venezia"/Celestria): Fishman's Fabrics, 312/922-7250, fishmansfabrics.com.
Drapery hardware: Restoration Hardware, 800/910-9836, restorationhardware.com.
Cabinetry hardware (20mm crystal knob, by Alno Inc.); tub (by Kohler): Studio 41, 847/266-1900, shopstudio41.com.
Tub fixtures (Victorian Series): Harrington Brass Works, 201/818-1300, harringtonbrassworks.com. Through Studio 41, 847/266-1900, shopstudio41.com.
Free-standing towel bar: Waterworks, 800/899-6757, waterworks.com.
Chair (antique, from auction); chandelier (antique, from auction): owner's colleciton.
Chair fabric: Nancy Corzine, 312/645-4500, nancycorzine.com.
Art (by Francine Turk): Francine Turk Gallery, 312/674-1818, francineturk.com.
Flooring: Calcutta Mosaic.
Can't get enough white and bright rooms? Click here to see our presentation of Showhouse Rooms Bathed In White.


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In the new citizen science project (see: Sea Floor Explorer), numbers of seastars, scallops, crustaceans and other animals are counted. Already one can see a heavy bias in favor of seastars, both the fat and brittle kind.
I would be interested in why this creature is so succesful, especially if it is poisonous to e.g., crustaceans, and what poisons exactly are responsible.

subset: commoncrawl


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MARIANNA, FL -- Northwest Florida had hopes of a run to the national tournament this season, behind the play of the nation's top junior college recruit Chris Jones. But, the Raiders were forced to play most of Friday's semifinal game at the FCSAA State Tournament without their top player, and they paid the price.
Jones was ejected in the first half for arguing with officials, and Central Florida Community College took advantage, winning a hotly contested 74-71 game, advancing to the State Championship Game on Saturday night.
Jones, a Louisville signee, struggled in the early going on Friday, scoring just three points in the first 13 minutes of the game. He was quickly whistled for two technical fouls, ending his day.
CFCC took advantage of Jones' absence, leading 41-32 at halftime. But, the Raiders responded after the break, actually tying the game in the second half, before ultimately falling by three points.
Eugene McCrory led CFCC with 16 points. The Patriots now await the winner of Friday night's semifinal game between Chipola and Brevard. The State Championship Game will be played on Saturday night at 7:30 at Milton Johnson Health Center.
Lamin Fulton led four Northwest Florida players in double figures with 16 points. The Raiders, ranked third in the nation in the latest NJCAA poll, end the year with a 26-3 record.


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Apple MacBook Air reportedly back... in black
iPod-like multi-coloured Macs in the offing?
An interesting snippet of recent Mac history: Apple experimented with a black coating for the MacBook Air, which, according to current whispers, may be made available in that colour when it's refreshed shortly.
According to an alleged Apple employee corresponding with MacRumors, CEO Steve Jobs said no to a black Air after trial models failed to live up to his aesthetic standards.
Says the source: "The [black] coating looks good and holds up well, but it also soaks up body oils, making the palm rest look pretty gross."
The site had already reported rumours of a black MacBook Air, prompting the employee to get in touch.
It's worth noting that there have been many claims of coloured machines ever since Apple began offering aluminium-made MacBook Pros.
The technique is not new: there are many, many such coloured metal products out there - Apple's own iPod Nano and Shuffle, to name but two - and have been for years. The fact Apple hasn't used it so far, suggests that this isn't a design direction the company wants to pursue.
And if not black, then why not other colours too? ®
Sponsored: Detecting cyber attacks as a small to medium business


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Herceptin or Herceptin Combination May Be Most Effective Before Surgery
Two studies, published together in The Lancet, show that trastuzumab (Herceptin) or trastuzumab plus lapatinib (Tykerb) given with chemotherapy before surgery improve pathologic complete response in early-stage and locally advanced HER2 positive breast cancer.
Pathologic complete response means tests after surgery find no cancer cells in breast tissue or lymph nodes. It is an endpoint, or goal, of clinical trials that study neoadjuvant treatment (treatment before surgery).
Final results from the NeoALTTO trial confirm the study's earlier findings that trastuzumab and lapatinib, given before surgery with the chemotherapy medicine paclitaxel (Taxol), had more benefit than paclitaxel and trastuzumab or lapatinib alone.
The GeparQuinto study showed pathologic complete response modestly increased in cancers treated with cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan) and epirubicin (Ellence) plus trastuzumab followed by docetaxel (Taxotere) plus trastuzumab, over those treated with the same medicines combined with lapatinib rather than trastuzumab.
Reason for the Studies
HER proteins regulate cell growth, as well as other cell functions. When there is too much HER2 protein, breast cancer cells grow more rapidly and behave more aggressively. Both trastuzumab and lapatinib target the HER2 protein, interrupting this uncontrolled cell growth in different ways.
Researchers in the NeoALTTO trial wanted to consider the impact of combining these two medicines with docetaxel as a treatment before surgery. In the GeparQuinto study, researchers looked at the effectiveness and safety of combining lapatinib or trastuzumab with epirubicin and cyclophosphamide, followed by docetaxel before surgery.
Structure and Results of the Studies
NeoALTTO researchers randomly assigned 455 women with early-stage or locally advanced HER2 positive breast cancer to receive one of three treatments:
- Group 1 received lapatinib for six weeks, followed by lapatinib plus paclitaxel for 12 weeks
- Group 2 got trastuzumab for six weeks, followed by trastuzumab plus paclitaxel for 12 weeks
- Group 3 received lapatinib plus trastuzumab for six weeks, followed by lapatinib plus trastuzumab and paclitaxel for 12 weeks
After surgery, each group received three cycles of fluorouracil-epirubicin-cyclophosphamide (FEC) chemotherapy, for a total of 52 weeks of their assigned HER2-targeted therapy.
Final results showed 51.3 percent of women who received trastuzumab and lapatinib in combination with paclitaxel had a pathologic complete response, compared to 24.7 percent of those who received lapatinib plus paclitaxel, and 29.5 percent of those given trastuzumab plus paclitaxel. This difference was statistically significant, meaning it was unlikely to have occurred by chance, and suggests the combination of these medicines is a more effective treatment than either of them alone.
In the GeparQuinto study, 620 women with early-stage and locally advanced HER2 positive breast cancer were randomly assigned to receive 12 weeks of epirubicin and cyclophosphamide followed by 12 weeks of docetaxel; either trastuzumab or lapatinib was given throughout chemotherapy treatment. Both groups then received that same combination of docetaxel and trastuzumab or docetaxel and lapatinib for an additional 12 weeks.
Researchers found pathologic complete response was 30.3 percent for women who received trastuzumab before surgery, and 22.7 percent in those who received lapatinib. This suggests trastuzumab, when combined with these chemotherapy medicines, is the more effective of the two HER2-targeting treatments.
In the GeparQuinto study, severe diarrhea was more common in women who got lapatinib. Heart problems, a side effect of both medicines, were not seen in either study.
What These Studies Mean for You
If you have been recently diagnosed with HER2 positive breast cancer and have not yet had surgery, you may want to talk with your care team about whether neoadjuvant treatment is right for you. Chemotherapy combined with HER2-targeted therapy may change the kind of surgery you need.
Learn more about NeoALTTO and GeparQuinto.
Untch, M., et. al. Lapatinib versus trastuzumab in combination with neoadjuvant anthracycline-taxane-based chemotherapy (GeparQuinto, GBG 44): a randomized phase 3 trial. The Lancet Oncology, 13(2), February 2012.
Baselga, J., et. al. Lapatinib with trastuzumab for HER2-positive early breast cancer (NeoALTTO): a randomized, open-label, multicentre, phase 3 trial. The Lancet, 379(9816), February 2012.


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Reel Reviews – The King of Kong
Reel Reviews #62: "I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't do drugs… I play video games." A fascinating documentary about the pursuit for the world championship Donkey Kong score. A true David and Goliath tale that keeps sucking you in the whole time. Find out "what happens when a loser who needs to wins, faces a winner who refuses to lose."
Download from the AOL servers: Reel Reviews – The King of Kong (15:19 min 14.2MB)


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The study examined transporter proteins which are known to move compounds around the cell. The genes for these proteins are present in plants as well as the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum (known as clt and PfCRT respectively), so researchers used the model plant Arabidopsis to reveal that these proteins normally transport glutathione, an antioxidant which protects the cell from stresses.
In the malaria parasite (a single cell organism), this type of transporter protein has mutated so that it no longer functions normally, enabling it to remove the drug chloroquine from its cell and survive.
Plasmodium falciparum is the most dangerous of the malaria infections being transmitted by the female Anopheles mosquito. It has the highest rates of complications and mortality and is responsible for up to one million deaths per year, mostly children in Africa under the age of five. The evolution of drug-resistant Plasmodium strains, especially those resistant to chloroquine, has had major impacts on global public health. The economic toll is also huge with malaria infection destroying more than 1% of African GPD.
The work was led by Dr Spencer Maughan who began researching these genes in Prof. Chris Cobbett's lab in the Department of Genetics at the University of Melbourne and involved an international team from the Universities of Melbourne, Cambridge (UK), Heidelberg (Germany), Liverpool (UK) and Rothamsted Research (UK). It will be published in the prestigious international journal PNAS this week.
"Our findings set in motion the chance of reclaiming the efficacy of chloroquine which could turn the tide on the war against malaria and ultimately may help save millions of lives," said Dr Maughan.
"The transporter is normally essential to the survival of the malaria parasite and when mutated, provides the extra advantage of removing the drug chloroquine from its cell.
"We hope that understanding the normal role of the transporter in plants will be a key step in malaria research. Unlike in the plant, if the gene for the transporter is inactivated in malaria, the parasite dies, preventing more study into its role. The plant could therefore provide a useful tool in malaria research."
"These results describe the first missing link in understanding this class of proteins and could provide a two-pronged treatment approach- preventing malaria removing chloroquine from its cell and enabling the design of new drugs based on the shape of glutathione."
Dr Nerissa Hannink, Media Officer, University of Melbourne, firstname.lastname@example.com, Ph. 0430 588 055


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Artist Matthew Geller transforms a Flo Gris tree
The tree was planted by Miss Florence Griswold herself in the 1920s, back when Impressionists were roaming her Old Lyme property and painting iconic versions of the lush landscape.
Less than a century later, the tree began to rot and was cut down. But it is living a second, vibrant life as part of a new outdoor sculpture.
Last week, artist Matthew Geller turned a remaining piece of that Star Magnolia into the basis for a work of art, attaching steel branches. Even more intriguing, those perforated branches, complete with blossoms on top, will emanate mist and beam lights.
The Florence Griswold Museum will unveil the sculpture - titled "Anticipator" - on June 8.
The New York City-based Geller is a 1972 Connecticut College graduate, and he is widely known for his public art sculptures. His other projects have included creating a floating sidewalk for the Myrtle Avenue Plaza in Brooklyn and multi-sensory artwork for the New Mexico School for the Blind.
This is the second recent outdoor installation at the Flo Gris. From the summer of 2009 to March 2012, the museum grounds were home to Patrick Dougherty's "Stickwork: The Rambles" installation.
After that, museum staff began thinking about potential future outdoor sculptures. Florence Griswold Museum Curator Amy Kurtz Lansing says they were "keeping an eye out for people whose work we thought would strike the right balance between art and nature because that's something that works well for our site and our core story."
She learned about Geller when the Katonah Museum of Art in New York sent out information about a misting tree he created for that site. Kurtz Lansing thought that type of work could have real potential for the Flo Gris.
The whole idea behind "Anticipator" ties nicely, too, into the museum's current Agora Project. Funded via a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the project is about connecting what the Florence Griswold does inside its buildings - dealing with the story of the museum and the Lyme Art Colony - with the way its landscape is used. That means emphasizing the outdoor parts of the site as a community gathering place.
"Matthew's art just really seemed like the obvious choice because he really plans works that will induce a kind of community interaction by doing surprising things like putting out mist ..." Kurtz Lansing says. "He thinks of art as being a conversation starter, so he tries to create this moment where people will be forced to talk to each other to sort of figure out what's happening."
"Anticipator" will be far from a static work. The mist, Geller says, is affected by the humidity, wind and temperature. When the humidity is higher and the temperature is lower, for instance, more mist will be produced. He says the mist will cool the air about 20 degrees.
It's a concept that engages viewers. Geller has done other pieces with mist and recalls seeing how, at one at an El Paso, Texas, public park, children chased around the mist.
The sculpture will be operating throughout the winter - even when the temperature dips below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. When the water is off, a heater cable will keep it from freezing.
Geller was still determining what he would do with the LED lights that are part of "Anticipator." There are multiple options: they could, for instance, be in many colors or just one color; they could change seasonally; they could change in intensity.
One other aspect that will shift: The look of the Corten steel will morph over the course of the sculpture's existence, as the surface rusts.
According to a Flo Gris release, the sculpture "transforms the environment, influencing how visitors perceive light and air against the backdrop of the Lieutenant River, a subject of interest to the generations of artists who painted in and around the Florence Griswold House."
"Anticipator" references the Lyme Art Colony in another way, too. Geller notes that, before the Industrial Revolution, people tended to see nature as a place to get their food or their building material. It wasn't until after the Industrial Revolution that they began to romanticize nature. Artists came to Lyme and began to paint the landscape, seeing nature as "something beautiful, something to be appreciated," he says.
Those painters idealized nature, and Geller is, in a way, riffing on the notion of trying to improve on nature. And the mix of metal and wood branches plays off how the Industrial Revolution changed the way people view landscapes.
Flo Gris might do more outdoor installations in the future - but only when it's the right fit, says Kurtz Lansing. The museum isn't turning itself into a sculpture park. Visitors should be able to enjoy the beauty of nature but also appreciate occasional exterior art - art that reflects the Flo Gris site and incorporates the use of the landscape.
What: "Anticipator," a temporary
outdoor sculpture by Matthew Geller
Where: Florence Griswold Museum
grounds, 96 Lyme St., Old Lyme
When: June 8 through, probably,
summer or late 2014; 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Tues.-Sat. and 1-3 p.m. Sun.
For more details: (860) 434-5542,
Push against Native American logos, team names reopens question in Montville
Thomas Markle calls Prince Harry and his daughter Meghan 'lost souls'
Yale New Haven Health screening severely ill patients for Chinese virus
Trump impeachment trial to begin with rules fight, long days
Redevelopment plan for State Pier expected to be more costly than projected


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There is always room for improvement. With a little decorating savvy, you can replace a boring or unnecessary door with a more artistic and expressive door curtain. At The Gifts Shop there's a door curtain to complement every decorating style.
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I knew this year was going to be a slow one in the garden. After all, Joshua was born when I would typically get going in the garden, so I was a tad distracted this spring. Anyway, we did make some progress last weekend: Ed finally brought home composted manure from his parents' cows. Last year, he had plenty of help ammending the garden soil, see?
Who cares if I had a little trouble dumping the wheelbarrow? I was a lot more helpful last year! Looking at this old photo made me wonder if I'll ever fit into those jeans again. But then I remembered those jeans had a hole in the knee and I cut them up to make a skirt, which I never finished. Oh well, no rush to lose the baby weight, then!
Back to the garden… Ed had no help from me this year, as I was busy with the baby. I did manage to get outside and take one picture of him shoveling manure. Here it is!
But then I got distracted and instead took some pictures of the baby. It was much more fun!
I also visited our friend's garden center and picked up some rhubarb to replace the plant that something dug up, seed potatoes and seeds. We plan to spend Mother's Day getting everything planted, at my request!
How's your garden doing?


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It's one thing to have a federal lawsuit by former so-called student athletes against the NCAA. It's quite another to have current players suing the premier college sports regulator. And it is even more cataclysmic if the case is certified as a class action allowing innumerable student athletes to share the consequences. That is the revolution that some have advocated for decades. Yet an unceremonious court ruling days ago lighting a match to this war has been little more than a back page blurb or a verbal footnote in talk radio and sportscasts.
The discreet little ruling last week was from federal judge Claudia Wilken in a case where the lead plaintiff is former UCLA star basketball player Ed O'Bannon. He and several other former players claim the NCAA has been fixing the price of an athlete's image and likeness in a way that virtually eliminates a player from sharing in the value they created. The suit alleges the NCAA colludes with its member schools, TV networks and videogame manufacturers in violation of anticompetitive provisions of federal antitrust law. The claimed relief includes a share of the billions in revenue generated from the current system.\
Continue the story at www.forbes.com/sites/rogergroves/2013/07/10little-known-federal-court-ruling-hints-at-ncaa-showdown-with-current-student-athletes


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Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Fungi Americans
It's time once again for my collection of wine wisdom culled from countless wine blogs. I learn so much as I surf the Net reading all the many and wise bloggers. Much of this will seem trivial, perhaps useless, but, in fact, much of what is really interesting about wine is trivial. Of course, in a real sense, everything about wine is trivial. What passes for debate on wine blogs is truly just the mindless yammering of asylum inmates convinced that their delusions are reality and that convincing others of that is paramount. In fact, if you read the comments section of blogs in the voice of, say, Shepard Smith, or some other professional psychopath, they actually start to make sense in a pathetic way. And it's a fun party game! Not my stable of commentators, of course, I'm talking about other blogs. If I have any commentators left. Anyhow, more wine wisdom from the blogosphere.
Not every wine region in France is subject to Appellation laws. In a few places you are required to marry your sister or first cousin as designated by the Appalachian rules. This is true in Burgundy.
In Italy, winemakers often determine if grapes are ready to be harvested by throwing them against the wall to see if they stick.
Native yeast prefer to be known as Fungi Americans.
Pinot Noir is distantly related to Liberace.
Many traditional French fishermen age their catch in expensive barrels but have to be careful they don't get a rash from the poisson oak. When finished the barrels are then sold to Sterling.
The most difficult part of the M.S. exam is the obstacle course. Most candidates are unable to climb Larry Stone Right without pitons.
Taste is 70% smell, 30% body odor.
Organic vineyards are allowed to use tiny roach motels for phylloxera.
The person who makes wine is a vintner, the person who makes barrels is a cooper, the person who makes numbers up about wine is an idiot.
"Chateauneuf-du-Pape" means "new home of David Ortiz."
Sancerre is a highly effective douche. Pouilly-Fume is great for destroying ant nests.
Walla Walla is best known for beriberi, tsetse flies and Russ Meyer starlets. Walla Walla is Native American for "Nice gazongas." Left, natives of Walla Walls
Much like the brandy for Port, all Oregon Pinot Noir is the same and is aged for a year in the Spruce Goose.
Wines that are unfiltered are a greater risk for cancer.
Scientists have proven that grapes can feel pain, especially when planted in the Malibu mountains.
In the 1855 Classification of Bordeaux there were actually Eight Growths, but two Growths were surgically removed and the other turned out just to be gas. Chateau Pavie is that Eighth Growth.
Robert Parker is still dead, but is planning a new book on the wines of Purgatory. They're a lot like Madeira.
All the Champagne bottles aging in caves in France laid end to end would nearly encircle Marvin Shanken.
8 comments:
I've noticed many single malt Scotch whiskies claim to be aged in old wine barrels. Perhaps you might make a notation of which wines are matured in old whisky cooperage?
What is it that's so special about wines bottled in blue-colored glass, anyway?
If your dear, precious and lovely Samantha is "sans dosage," why do you find her so sweet? Is it, perhaps, you're simply a "Brut"? (Parenthetically, I find her to be rather charming, despite her feisty attitude.)
What's all the fuss about "Orange" wine? Are there now vineyards in Florida?
Alice and her Feiring Squad are making a lot of noise about "natural" wines. Why do so many of these taste un-natural?
Why are there so many blogs about wine? Some of them seem to be about as interesting as Arnie Applebaum's World of Crutch Tips web blog or Eddie Eppelstein's Amazing Collection of Vintage Paper Clips.
Now I know why Robert Parker is a hell of a writer. Thanks for shedding light on that hot topic.
- August 26, 2009 at 8:44 AM
- Samantha Dugan said...
Who you callin' charming nameless one?!
- August 27, 2009 at 8:12 AM
- vickibarkley said...
There's some wisdom here, yes indeed.
- August 27, 2009 at 12:01 PM
- Charlie Olken said...
Gee Ron, I don't know who is more attractive in the pix above--you masquerading as Larry Stone or the three dancing virgins of the Napa Valley.
On second thought, I do know.
- August 27, 2009 at 1:53 PM
- Ron Washam, HMW said...
Hey Anon 1,
When you use parentheses you don't really need to start with "Parenthetically." That's repetitiously redundant.
Wines bottled in blue are for cleaning toilets.
My Gorgeous Samantha,
Don't mind him, he's just jealous of us. Who isn't?
Vicki Darling,
There's wisdom here? Oops, my mistake. I'll try to keep it out next time.
- August 27, 2009 at 1:57 PM
(( Thanks, Ron. ))
<< Samantha: That would be you. >>
{{ Mr. O, Ron is much taller than Larry of the Family Stone. }}
- August 27, 2009 at 2:06 PM
- Arthur said...
Was ther text here accomanying the photo of lovely maidens?
- August 27, 2009 at 6:08 PM
Liberace---Dead or Alive-If alive-- how about a new Christmas Album--If dead--he looks great--Keep up the good work Ron-----Bill Melater,Pasadena
- August 27, 2009 at 7:20 PM


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The Real Hero of Star Wars
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Our Hero, an astromech service droid whose only purpose in life is to assist a predominantly antidroidist race known as humans, is stationed aboard a diplomatic cruiser. Short, squat, and generally taciturn, Our Hero spends a lot of time hanging around with a comic-relief sidekick whose primary function as a protocol droid has led to affecting a prim demeanour and matching British accent. Artoo Detoo, as Our Hero is commonly known, is entrusted by the human Leia with stolen schematics to the evil Empire's Death Star, even as said Empire is capturing Artoo's ship. Artoo and sidekick See Threepio escape in a pod without being fired upon by the Empire, thanks to the anthropocentric design of the Empire's sensors, which ignores the droids aboard. Besides, the Force is with Artoo.
The droids crash land on perhaps the most godforsaken rock in the galaxy, Tatooine. No environment could possibly be worse for a droid's mechanical systems, except maybe the humid swamps of Dagobah. Fortunately this planet is also home to one of the few humans capable of abetting Artoo, Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi. Threepio is pessimistic as always and, because he has worked as a protocol droid for so long that he suffers from antidroidism himself, never grasps the importance of Artoo's mission and deprecates it at every chance. Threepio abandons Artoo, leaving Our Hero to brave the wilds of Tatooine alone. The separation is moot, however, as both are captured by the nomadic, piratical, slave-trading, sub-human Jawas, who assault them with painful stun blasters and affix to them the droid equivalent of leg irons: restraining bolts.
The droids are soon sold to the moisture-farming family of the human commonly assumed to be the hero of this story: a snot-nosed, headstrong, whiny punk named Luke. The Force is strong with Luke, thanks only to heredity and not to his own development, and the punk is oblivious to the importance of the information Artoo carries. Artoo soon realises this and cons Luke into removing the restraining bolt so that Our Hero may strike out across the desert in search of Obi-Wan.
The next morning, Artoo has nearly reached Obi-Wan's residence when Luke arrives, attempting to re-enslave Artoo, and making enough noise with his landspeeder to attract sandpeople from miles around. Fortunately for Artoo—and because the Force is with Our Hero—Obi-Wan soon arrives and takes them home. While Obi-Wan and Luke engage in a backstory-of-the-Force conversation, and Threepio rudely ignores his companion by shutting down, Artoo repeatedly attempts to gain the attention of the humans. Obi-Wan, who is kind enough to call Artoo "my little friend," quickly grasps the weight of Artoo's burden and determines that they must all leave the planet. Luke, the dead weight of the group, delays their departure twice: first by insisting that he has to stay on Tatooine for the harvest, then by running home in a futile attempt to save the lives of two humans who, by their inaction against the Empire, are little better than sheep.
At Mos Eisley, while Obi-Wan locates a ship and Artoo and Threepio avoid capture, Luke stumbles into the path of stormtroopers and a drunken outlaw, both times saved by Obi-Wan. They manage to escape Tatooine aboard the freighter of another antidroidist: Han Solo. Solo's first mate and mechanic, Chewbacca, clearly is much friendlier to droids, perhaps because Wookiees are also regarded as second-class citizens. (Chewie's egalitarianism is also apparent in the sequels.)
Soon the blundering humans have taken Our Hero to the very target of Artoo's mission, the dreaded Death Star. Rather than panic, Artoo spots an opportunity. Our Hero sends Obi-Wan off to disable the tractor beam, and knowing that Obi-Wan is the one human to whom Artoo needs not "talk down," flashes the route to the beam control so quickly on the computer screen that only a droid or a Jedi master could have followed it. Artoo discovers the one human so far who has shown trust in Artoo, Leia, and sends the other humans and Wookiee off to "rescue" her. (In truth, we know that Artoo could have done just as well without them, and sent them as a diversion, and to do what humans do best: run amok and blast things.)
The entire time the group is aboard the Death Star, Artoo and Threepio are rarely out of sight of the ship they flew in on, yet Artoo is able to hack deep into the main computer. Despite the fact that "the entire system is alerted to [their] presence," Our Hero circumvents the security system, creates diversions throughout the station, and even is able to free the humans from the traps they create for themselves, all the while avoiding capture and downloading huge amounts of information about the Death Star. By the time the tractor beam is down and the humans have returned, Artoo has added a complete set of "as-built" specs to the original design plans first stolen by Rebel spies. Of course, no escape would be complete without delay and near-capture caused by Luke, as he single-handedly spoils the excellent distraction provided by Obi-Wan's saber-duel with Darth Vader.
On Yavin 4, it takes the analysts no time at all to download Artoo's cache and find that Our Hero has already completed an analysis of the Death Star's defences and a tactical plan for attack. Of course, the humans give Artoo no credit for the plan. Because it is assumed that Luke "owns" Artoo, Our Hero is forced to ride shotgun on Luke's fighter. While the novice tries hard to get the fighter shot out from under them, Artoo makes dangerous repairs, reprograms the targeting systems of the photon torpedoes so they'll hit the exhaust port accurately, and in a last act of altruism, takes a direct cannon hit to save his ship. Yet only Threepio shows concern at Luke's announcement, "I've lost Artoo!" The kid does the monkey's job of pulling the trigger, Artoo's pre-programmed torpedoes hit the target, and the Death Star is destroyed.
Back on Yavin 4, Luke is given credit for the kill, and a giant pageant is staged for the human saviours. Droids are almost entirely absent. The surviving humanoids that brought Artoo to complete his mission are given medals as Threepio stands silently nearby. Artoo arrives, newly repaired and with chrome shining, and proudly announces himself. Leia, who owes her very life to Artoo, merely nods gently at Our Hero with a doting, "you should know your place" smile. Only Chewbacca attempts to defend Artoo's claim with a loud roar, but he is ignored.
And Artoo Detoo, brave little droid we all have come to love, quietly and ungrudgingly returns to the one role life has to offer: that of servant to a race that shows no appreciation or respect for a job well done.
Further proof of this narrative's claims, plus a new idea: Artoo is a potty-mouthed wiseacre.


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Happy Friday everyone! As many of you are probably looking forward to a relaxing and tasty cup of coffee tomorrow morning, here's a little tip — if you use a drip coffee maker, be sure to use non-bleached filters. The bright white ones (which most people use) are chlorine bleached and some of this chlorine will be extracted from the filter during the brewing process!
So instead, opt for healthier filters that are chlorine-free (and often brown like the one pictured here) and keep your morning brew on the up and up. Bonus points for drinking organic ;)
Here is one brand that makes 100% chlorine free filters: Melitta
Enjoy the last days of April!


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Finish: A fine textured surface with low reflectivity.
Colour: A dark black-brown marble with fine black veining.
Choose up to 9 different samples throughout our product range.
Your free samples will be delivered to your nominated address, completely free of charge.
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Tap a button below to download or view a Brochure PDF file.BENCHTOPS
Tap a button below to download or view a Technical Data document PDF file.SDS High Pressure Laminate High Pressure Laminate Availability Guide BENCHTOPS and Laminate care Green Label Certificate MATERA laminate
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Brain Cancer
The world-renowned experts at the OSUCCC – James are transforming the way brain cancers are prevented, detected and treated.
Today, cancer is no longer solely defined by location or even by stage. We know there is no routine cancer, and there is no routine brain cancer.
Brain cancer is a complex disease. Each patient's cancer is different, behaving differently in the bodies they're in and calling for a tailored, individualized treatment plan for each patient.
To deliver the most effective brain cancer detection and treatment, our nationally renowned experts identify and understand cancer at the biologic and genetic levels, unlocking the molecular code of a patient's disease and pinpointing what makes each cancer grow — then discovering what stops it.
Our team of brain cancer subspecialists spans a broad range of disciplines: from neuro-oncologists and radiation oncologists to neurosurgeons, neuropathologists, genetic scientists and more — all specializing in brain cancer (and only brain cancer) research, prevention, detection, treatment and cure.
It's that subspecialization and singular focus that enable us to discover, develop and deliver the most targeted therapies for each individual brain cancer patient.
And that means our collective expertise leads to improved outcomes, faster responses, fewer side effects and more hope for cancer patients everywhere.


text:
"Rainbows End", Vernor Vinge, 2006, 0-312-85684-9, U$25.95/C$34.95
%A Vernor Vinge
%C 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
%I Tor Books/Tom Doherty Assoc.
%O U$25.95/C$34.95 email@example.com www.tor.com
%O http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312856849/robsladesinterne
%O http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312856849/robsladesin03-20
%O Audience i+ Tech 2 Writing 3 (see revfaq.htm for explanation)
%P 364 p.
%T "Rainbows End"
It is always a pleasure to read something from Vinge. His characters are interesting, his plots sufficiently convoluted, and his writing clear and flowing. In addition, for the geek, his understanding of the technology is realistic and fundamental, which makes a change from so many who merely parrot jargon they do not comprehend.
Of course, this is future technology we are talking about, so none of it is (currently) real. But it could be, without the wild flights of illogic that so abound in fiction.
In this book, we have a future with interconnectedness around the globe. Of course, this means that there are dangers, in regard to identity and authentication. The new technology protects against these dangers with a Secure Hardware Environment. (Or SHE, and, since the DHS mandates that everyone must use it, does that make it SHE-who-must-be-obeyed?)
Encryption is, of course, vital to the operations, and so is used a lot, often in multiple layers. It is probably a measure of the enjoyability of Vinge's work that I really didn't take note of the fact that two of the characters were named Alice and Bob. Not, that is, until late in the volume, when the author also briefly introduces a character named Eve Mallory.
copyright, Robert M. Slade 2013 BKRNBSND.RVW 20130525


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McLaren's New P1 Hybrid Supercar
WSJ gets a sneak peek at the McLaren P1 ahead of its official unveiling at the Geneva Motor Show on Tuesday.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... the ... LULU ... because of ... what we forgot the wealthy ... here everything is carbon fiber the interior in the exterior panels everything ... of which is a bit of a new packaging concept with the store told ... upwards area to the Turbos of the car has one hundred sixty PS ... will do zero to sixty in under three seconds ... the goal of the three hundred ... in less than seventeen seconds ... with a heartbeat would last


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Back to the basics: It took this week on TSF for us to remember that Trophy Watch is just that: watching the trophies. The tour trots the globe and the globe is a creative, eccentric place. And where better does it come out than the trophies we get to see every weekend?! Sure, the clothes are great. The tournament sites are entertaining. But these trophies? There is nothing better.
Mountain mayhem: Spanish man Marcel Granollers climbed a big one this weekend, downing Fernando Verdasco in the Swiss Open at Gstaad, 6-4 3-6 6-3 to win his second career title and first since 2008.
Include us next time, please. On the creative process to come up with this gem. Alexandr Dolgopolov (and his head band) ruined the chances of hometown hero Marin Cilic in Umag, Croatia. Dolgopolov won 6-4 3-6 6-3.
Smile, Mr. Bear. Serena Williams and Marion Bartoli were smiling just fine for the camera, though that brown bear on the right looks rather bummed out that he, too, wasn't awarded a crystal bowl. Next time, fuzzy buddy! Serena tore through the field at Stanford, beating Bartoli 7-5, 6-1 in the final.
Earnestly Ernests: He ernested that one, right? OK, we'll stop. But is there a more fun name to say than Ernests Gulbis on the tour right now? The hard-hitting Latvian upstaged hometown boy Mardy Fish in the final, winning the Farmers Classic with a 5-7 6-4 6-4 win on Sunday at UCLA. | More: TSF's LA coverage


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Celebrate Banned Books WeekTuesday, September 27th, 2011
September 24th through October 1st is Banned Books Week! Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.
Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Library Association; American Booksellers Association; American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression; American Society of Journalists and Authors; Association of American Publishers;Â and the National Association of College Stores.Â
To celebrate Banned Books Week, read a banned or challenged book, learn more about censorship, or come to the CFCC Wilmington Campus Library and add your favorite banned book title to The Wall.
To learn more about Banned Books Week, you can go to the American Library Association website:
To see a list of banned and challenged classic books, go to:


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Finished Dragons last week...for the most part, I liked it the beginning was a little slow but the end made up for it. Way better than Crows...I can see how these are really books 4a and 4b but I could see that they could have been together with some really heavy editing. The count starts now for Winter...I'll guess 4 years from now
Reading Game of Thrones right now. Surprised to find how closely the series followed the book...at least so far.
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(Updates with details from Massachusetts health department)
By Tim McLaughlin and Toni Clarke and Aaron Pressman
BOSTON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - A Massachusetts company that mixes drugs for hospitals on Wednesday gave up an attempt to distance itself from an affiliated pharmacy linked to a deadly U.S. outbreak of fungal meningitis.
Ameridose LLC agreed to close down for 12 days while state and federal officials investigate the New England Compounding Center, which distributed thousands of vials of a contaminated steroid made at a shabby brick complex next to a waste and recycling operation in a western suburb of Boston.
The pharmacies are owned by Gregory Conigliaro, an engineer, and his brother-in-law, Barry Cadden, a pharmacist who was in charge of pharmacy operations at NECC. The waste and recycling facility is another of Conigliaro's business interests.
Ameridose and NECC mix, dilute and prepare drugs into formulations not typically available through pharmaceutical manufacturers from facilities in Massachusetts. NECC has surrendered its license and recalled its products in the wake of the meningitis outbreak, which has claimed a dozen lives.
In the late 1990s, Conigliaro invented a way to turn the plastic in old computers and television sets into an asphalt substitute to repair roads. The product generated national attention. One headline read: "Pothole Filler Gives New Meaning to Information Highway."
Hazel O'Leary, the U.S. Energy Secretary at the time, praised the company's recycling efforts in 1995 during an "Eco Expo" in Boston.
Such plaudits are now few and far between.
Ameridose said in a statement that as part of an agreement with the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Pharmacy, Cadden has agreed to resign all corporate positions at Ameridose, where he was listed in its latest annual report as a manager.
According to O'Neill and Associates, a public relations firm hired by Ameridose, Cadden holds a minority ownership stake in Ameridose but was not involved in its pharmacy operations.
In early 2011, Ameridose moved out of its Framingham, Massachusetts, facility - which was near NECC's operations - and into a modern, 70,000-square-foot building in nearby Westborough to accommodate its growing operations.
Dr. Madeleine Biondolillo, director of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Bureau of Healthcare Safety and Quality, said that there is no evidence Ameridose's products have been compromised and it has not requested a recall.
NECC had come to the attention of state and federal regulators following complaints going back to 2002.
Cadden's own personal pharmacist license is subject to a restriction preventing him from practicing, at least for now, according to public records. More details were not available.
Alaunus Pharmaceutical, a drug distributor which is also owned by Cadden and Conigliaro, will temporarily cease distribution of all products made by Ameridose or any other company under shared ownership, regulators said.
Compounding pharmacies such as NECC are permitted to make medications based on specific prescriptions for individual patients.
State and federal regulators are investigating how thousands of vials of preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate were shipped to healthcare facilities in multiple states and infected 138 people in several across multiple states.
In 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy inspected NECC and in 2006 the FDA issued a warning letter, taking NECC to task for opening sterile products and repackaging them in a way that could damage human health. It said it was particularly concerned about NECC's splitting of the cancer drug Avastin into multiple doses to be used to treat an eye condition.
"Microbes could cause endophthalmitis, which has a high probability for significant vision loss," the agency said in its warning letter. "The absence of control over storage, and delays before use after repackaging, only exacerbate these concerns."
Erica Jefferson, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said that the FDA's legal authority to regulate compounded drugs is complex and has been challenged vigorously by the compounding industry both in courts and Congress.
The FDA also warned NECC in 2006 that it was against the law for it to sell compounded drugs without first receiving a prescription for an individually identified patient.
"Your firm has reportedly also told physicians' offices that using a staff member's name on the prescription would suffice," the letter said.
NECC did not respond though its public relations firm to questions asking whether it had rectified the problems identified by the FDA six years ago. The Massachusetts Department of Health also did not respond to questions about whether it followed up on complaints made against NECC and reflected in the FDA's warning letter.
"Our shared investigation with our federal partners at the FDA continues and will be comprehensive," Biondolillo said at a press conference. "This includes quality and safety across the corporate entity, including but not limited to, corporate ownership and governance structures at NECC and Ameridose."
Ameridose was formed in February 2006 and has built itself into one of the country's leading providers of prefilled syringes and premixed intravenous and epidural pain medications. Recent clients have included Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield, California, which this year renewed a deal for up to $1 million, public records show. It has also won contracts with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Army Medical Command.
"There are no other sources known that would provide products to support our patients," the Army said in a July 2012 contract disclosure notice.
In June, Ameridose won a contract to compound and repackage drugs for Brentwood, Tennessee-based HealthTrust Purchasing Group LP, a consortium of hospitals and surgery centers with combined annual purchasing volume of more than $20 billion and whose owners include hospital giant HCA Holdings Inc .
In 2008, Ameridose recalled 155 injectable doses of the narcotic painkiller fentanyl because of concerns they were too potent, FDA records show. And it fought a battle with Irving, Texas-based Novation LLC, which purchases products on behalf of a network of clients using its group purchasing power to negotiate discounts.
The two recently settled a lawsuit in which Ameridose claimed it had been slandered by Novation spreading word that Ameridose's quality control standards were subpar, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts.
Novation said in a statement that while it "vigorously disputed each and every claim made in the lawsuit" the parties ultimately agreed to settle. It declined to say why.
(Reporting by Toni Clarke; Editing by Martin Howell and David Gregorio)
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Keywords: MENINGITIS AMERIDOSE/NECC


text:
Back in 1988, Samsung decided that a little future gazing could help it sell its products. Looking back, though, it got a few things wrong.
Samsung lauded steak as the health food of 2010, and claimed its microwave would be the ideal device for health freaks to cook it in. Wishful winking which, sadly, hasn't come true on either count.
Elsewhere, Samsung suggested that trash TV pioneer Morton Downey, Jr. would become president in 2008—he died of lung cancer in 2001—and tried to sell consumers a TV on which to watch his speeches, as well as predicting that a robot-presented Wheel of Fortune would be world's longest running game show in 2012. We're still waiting for robot TV presenters. [Smithsonian]


text: Phil French started his company in Hawaii in 1976 with one employee and a mixer from Sears. Now, his Con-Fab California Corp. occupies two dozen acres in Lathrop and builds precast parts for parking garages, highways and the like. Company President Mike Hein shows off some of the projects, including parts destined for Cupertino and Petaluma.


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Best storage Products of the Year 2008
Scores of excellent storage products were rolled out in the past year, introducing new technologies or adding significant enhancements to tried-and-true storage technologies.
| Traditional and not-so-traditional products and services earned honors this year, addressing such issues as data deduplication, solid-state storage and storage cloud services.
Storage managers didn't get much of a break in 2008 as the struggle to keep pace with growing capacity demands continued unabated, but there was still plenty of good news to hearten them. Scores of excellent products were rolled out in the past year, introducing new technologies or adding significant enhancements to tried-and-true storage technologies. As with most technological advances, "bigger" and "faster" were key themes; however, this year they were joined by "efficiency" and "cost savings," terms that provided even more encouragement to beleaguered storage pros who are quickly learning how to do more with less.
The editors of Storage magazine and SearchStorage.com, as well as a panel of judges -- including users, consultants and analysts -- pored through this bumper crop of new or improved products and selected the 15 we feel stood out based on innovation, performance, ease of integration, functionality and value. Congratulations to all of the storage Product of the Year winners!Click here to see a list of all of this year's Product of the Year finalists.
| Backup and disaster recovery software and services
GOLD: VMware Site Recovery Manager 1.0
It didn't take long for the server virtualization juggernaut to roar through data centers, forever altering the server landscape and even the meaning of the word "server." Led by VMware, virtualization applications have proven to be the most effective consolidation tool yet. But despite all of the benefits server virtualization brought, it's also responsible for causing a few headaches along the way. Just ask any storage administrator.
Virtualization has had a profound effect on the storage side of the shop, posing new challenges related to capacity allocation and data protection. Traditional methods can be used to back up virtualized servers for business continuity, but while the old methods work, they lack the efficiency and resiliency required in virtual environments.
There's no shortage of vendors addressing this problem, but it has taken the company most responsible for the storage shakeup -- VMware Inc. -- to come up with some truly elegant solutions, like VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) 1.0.
VMware SRM ranked high in all of our evaluating categories and topped all backup and disaster recovery (DR) software and services for value. "Increasing use of VMware makes this software incredibly valuable to every organization," notes one judge. While other judges point out that implementing SRM takes some planning, all agree that the effort is worth it.
With VMware SRM you can automate much of the DR process. You use it to create a DR plan that defines how virtual servers will failover based on the apps they host and their criticality (essentially documenting your DR process and creating a runbook). SRM then lets you test the automated failover scenarios without disrupting the production environment.
The automated recovery plans you build with SRM can be as sophisticated as necessary; you can control which servers are recovered first, the recovery sequence and which servers don't need to be recovered.
VMware SRM runs on a server at each site involved in the DR plan. It works hand in hand with replication apps from other vendors that tap into VMware "adapters" to integrate with SRM. EMC Corp.'s SDRF, FalconStor Software Inc.'s Continuous Data Protector and Hewlett-Packard (HP) Co.'s StorageWorks Continuous Access are just a few of the popular replication products that have been certified by VMware for SRM. VMware vCenter Server is required to run SRM.
Pricing for VMware Site Recovery Manager starts at a little more than $2,000 for a single-processor physical server and includes one year of support.
| Backup and disaster recovery software and services
SILVER: FalconStor Network Storage Server (NSS) 6.0
It's nearly impossible to understate the popularity and importance of server virtualization today, and FalconStor Software Inc.'s Network Storage Server (NSS) 6.0 offers a variety of functionality designed to ease storage management in virtual server environments. NSS 6.0 is a software-based SAN solution that acts as a storage virtualization and replication gateway to storage arrays from any vendor, provisioning virtual disks to VMware ESX.
NSS 6.0 is the first software-based storage virtualization and replication gateway to be certified by VMware as a storage virtualization device (SVD), and it enables VMware Site Recovery Manager capability on any VMware-certified storage hardware. NSS 6.0 also supports Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering and Hyper-V virtual server environments.
The product offers integrated support for Fibre Channel (FC), iSCSI and InfiniBand, and allows users to manage virtualized and non-virtualized storage from a single console. It uses thin provisioning to improve storage resource allocation and capacity management.
NSS enables VMware Site Recovery Manager with any VMware-certified storage array platform, and works with heterogeneous storage hardware at the primary data center and the disaster recovery site, which could translate into significant savings for many users. NSS 6.0's Application Snapshot Director for VMware complements VMware Site Recovery Manager to ensure that active application data can be replicated to a remote disaster recovery site with full transactional integrity. Finally, FalconStor's MicroScan Thin Storage Replication technology optimizes WAN utilization for more efficient replication and faster failback operations.
Our judges rank NSS 6.0 highly for its breadth of functionality, as well as for its innovation and performance. FalconStor NSS 6.0 is available as software only or as a turnkey appliance. Pricing starts at $2,000.
| Backup and disaster recovery software and services
BRONZE: Acronis Recovery for Microsoft Exchange
For most companies, email systems are communications lifelines linking them with their suppliers, customers and contractors; for many firms, doing business as usual means having fully functional, reliable email service.
Plenty of data protection vendors say they can protect and sustain this valuable corporate asset, but few do it as well and as easily as Acronis Recovery for Microsoft Exchange. Although not widely known in the enterprise realm, Acronis Inc. has established a worldwide presence, based largely on the success of its True Image line of bare-metal recovery apps. With Acronis Recovery for Microsoft Exchange, the company builds on that expertise and incorporates its trademark ease of use.
Acronis Recovery for Microsoft Exchange protects Exchange data stores at the brick or database level with near continuous snapshots of mail transaction logs.
A management console lets you remotely manage all instances of the application running on your network. From the console, you can install agents, set options on Exchange servers, and launch recoveries for any Exchange server running the agent.
Restores are essentially point-and-click affairs, allowing recovery of entire mail databases, or individual mailboxes or messages. You can also easily pick the point from which you want to recover. One of Acronis Recovery for Microsoft Exchange's most impressive features is its ability to bring the email system back up and available to users within minutes while it's busy recovering the email data in the background. Acronis calls this dial-tone service, providing users with at least basic mail service during recovery, rather than making them wait until the operation completes.
A host of wizards makes deploying, configuring and using Acronis Recovery for Microsoft Exchange easy enough for even those businesses strapped for IT resources to deploy it. One judge calls it "a solid SMB backup product." We agree, especially with a price ($999 per server) that puts it within reach of most companies. But we suspect plenty of enterprises will give it a long, hard look, too.
| Backup hardware
For storage pros charged with backup, data growth remains the biggest challenge. Given the implications exploding capacity has on the cost of storage and energy, management best practices, staffing considerations and even data center floor space, users tell us that data deduplication has become a core value proposition when it comes to backup hardware products. But users also say data deduplication vendors will have to push the scalability and performance of their products to keep up with their data growth.
Data Domain Inc.'s data deduplication products have achieved the broadest acceptance, with the company boasting more than 1,800 customers to date. The DD690 continues the company's scaling approach, which follows the curve of the commodity processor market; the DD690 adds quad-core processors along with 10 Gigabit Ethernet connections. The company's Stream Informed Segment Layout (SISL) architecture means throughput performance isn't dependent on disk I/O availability, so the throughput of Data Domain systems increases with each Intel processor performance improvement, according to the company.
Thus the DD690 boosts the single-stream throughput of Data Domain's dedupe to 600 GB per hour. The DD690 can be configured as a DDX array (up to 16 DD690 controllers in 20U of rackspace) to deliver up to 22 TB per hour of aggregate throughput and 28 petabytes (PBs) of usable capacity. One of our judges calls it "an evolutionary advance for Data Domain."
The DD690's flexibility adds to its appeal. It supports both virtual tape library (VTL) and NAS interfaces, as well as multiple, simultaneous protocols, including Ethernet and Fibre Channel. NAS for disk backup is gaining popularity, most notably among small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), which was one of the hottest storage markets in 2008. The NAS interface and enhanced performance also mean the DD690 can be used for nearline or secondary storage, rather than strictly for backup; Data Domain's Retention Lock software also allows it to be used for compliance archiving.
In addition, Data Domain's system addresses some of the other key storage issues facing storage managers this year, including disaster recovery, wide-area networking (WAN), and storage for remote and branch offices. Data Domain offers distance replication software that takes advantage of the data reduction to reduce bandwidth consumption when sending data over a WAN, and the boosted capacity of the box means the fully configured DDX version can support up to 60 remote sites.
| Backup hardware
Reacting to the significantly amended Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), many companies spent much of 2008 crafting their data-retention policies and deploying products to help them comply with the new guidelines for the legal discovery of electronic information. Other organizations deployed the same gear to archive inactive data and ease the impact of data growth on strained backup and management processes.
Typically retained for long periods, the growth of archived data can become as much of an issue as the one it's trying to solve. Maintaining data-retrieval performance and keeping ongoing ownership costs in check are critical as the archive repository grows. The ability to migrate data within the repository to take advantage of new technologies and economies of scale is also important. Toss in regulations like the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the situation is further complicated by the need for heightened security and data integrity.
Permabit Technology Corp.'s Enterprise Archive Data Center Series, introduced in early 2008, addresses those challenges with a combination of sub-file deduplication and compression, as well as a grid-based architecture called RAIN-EC. Dividing data among multiple hardware nodes in the grid yields several benefits: it boosts performance to up to 2 Gbps through parallel processing; keeps archive data available in the event of a node failure; allows for rolling migrations to new hardware over time; uses standard interfaces like CIFS, NFS and WebDAV that keep data accessible to multiple applications; and includes features such as data verification, replication, write once read many (WORM) and encryption for compliance.
The data integrity features and grid architecture also mean users can build the archive using space-efficient 1 TB drives, while avoiding lengthy RAID rebuilds in the event of a drive failure. All of that adds up to scalability -- up to 3 PB, to be exact. When asked about the product's appeal, one user of the Permabit archive simply repeated the IT pro's data-growth mantra: "Faster and more capacity."
| Backup hardware
If 2008's theme was ever more data growth, some storage vendors responded to the challenge by offering greater efficiency and more flexibility in their products. The Quantum Corp. DXi7500 data deduplication device was the first to offer users a choice between "in-line" and "post-process" data deduplication approaches. While other vendors bicker over the relative merits of the two methods, Quantum lets users decide which one works best for them.
The DXi7500 also allows both approaches to be used simultaneously for different backup jobs. If users don't want to get so granular with policy settings, the product's "adaptive mode" can automatically adjust the data deduplication process based on the data ingest rate.
The product gives users a choice when it comes to integrating physical tape into backup schemes, neutralizing another frequent bone of contention in the market for deduplicating virtual tape libraries (VTLs). Backup software certified with the device can initiate, track and control all writes to tape, or the DXi7500 can manage copies to tape with shadow tape creation. It can also write copies of backup files to a directly connected tape library, minimizing the overhead on the rest of the environment when creating tape copies.
The DXi7500 scales from 9 TB raw to 180 TB raw, and offers up to 4 TB per hour compressed throughput, according to Quantum. It can be used with the smaller models in the DXi product line to transmit backup data from remote sites to a central location. Replication is asynchronous, automated, encrypted and operates as a background process.
The influence of the DXi line extended well beyond Quantum in 2008. With vendors like Data Domain and Riverbed Technology Inc. already paying royalties for data deduplication to Quantum (based on a patent portfolio it bought with ADIC subsidiary Rocksoft in 2006), DXi was also picked up by EMC Corp. as the basis of a new data deduplication product line in May.
| Disk and disk subsystems
The strong point of BlueArc Corp.'s Titan unified NAS and iSCSI system can be summed up in one word: performance. Our judges consistently gave the Titan 3200 high marks for performance, and Titan customers often cite performance as the top reason for buying the BlueArc systems.
Bumping up performance was the main emphasis of the Titan 3200 that rolled out in March. The new system offers up to 200,000 IOPS and 20 GBps throughput. Both those numbers were doubled from the Titan 2000. BlueArc's new hardware also supports file systems of 256 TB, 64 virtual storage servers and eight cluster nodes for a maximum capacity of 4 PB, up from 2 PB with the 2000 series.
But BlueArc did more than bump up performance with the upgrade. It added a new set of open application programming interfaces (APIs) that lets BlueArc partners and other developers write applications for Titan. These applications include information lifecycle management (ILM), data virtualization, and data retention and reduction.
The Titan 3200 supports solid state, Fibre Channel, SATA and WORM-protected storage. Like previous Titan systems, it's best suited for applications requiring high bandwidth and IOPS, such as high-performance computing and Web-based services. Hitachi Data Systems sells the Titan 3200 as its high-performance NAS 3000 platform.
Like previous Titans, the 3200 implements its file system in silicon on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) rather than in software. One of our judges describes the Titan 3200 as the "fastest NAS in the market with its innovative FPGAs. The value is good because of the ability to consolidate multiple NAS systems, and scalability is impressive."
Starting price for the Titan 3200 is $100,000.
| Disk and disk subsystems
Intel Corp. planted its flag in the enterprise solid-state drive (SSD) market with the X25-E (for Extreme) device.
Intel's newest SSDs plug into 2.5-inch SATA drive sockets, and deliver up to 250 MBps sustained read, 170 MBps sustained write, 35,000 IOPS read and 3,300 IOPS write performance. The X25-E is available in 32 GB and 64 GB models. The 32 GB X25-E is capable of writing up to 4 PB (petabytes) of data over a three-year period (3.7 TB/day), and the 64 GB version can write up to 8 PB over that period.
What sets the X25-E apart from other early enterprise SSDs is the way it speeds the write process. Intel uses single-level cell (SLC) flash memory for its extreme drives, storing one bit per memory cell vs. two bits with the more common multi-level cell (MLC) flash memory. MLC drives have greater capacity, but SLC drives perform much faster writes. In the case of Intel's SSDs, its MLC versions write at up to 70 MBps vs. 170 MBps for the SLC drives. SLC SSDs are more expensive, as SSDs remain a premium play.
Verari Systems Inc. is shipping Intel X25-E SSDs in its HyDrive enterprise storage blade and BladeRack 2 X-Series blade servers. Sun Microsystems Inc. has also pledged support for the drives.
"Intel shook things up with this product," says one of our judges, a storage manager. He calls Intel "the first major player in the flash drive market that can really push the performance ceiling."
Flash will need strong performance to make a market impact; X25-E pricing begins at $695 for 32 GB.
| Disk and disk subsystems
By offering a SAS backplane and active-active controllers in a midrange storage system, Hitachi Data Systems is at least slightly ahead of its time.
Industry experts agree it's only a matter of time until SAS replaces Fibre Channel as the performance drives in storage arrays, but Hitachi got the ball rolling among major vendors with the AMS 2000 family. The systems are available with SAS or SATA drives.
Hitachi also rolled out a new Dynamic Load Balancing Controller for the platform. The symmetric active-active controller doesn't require logical unit number (LUN) assignments to match preferred paths from server to controller, and can send I/Os to any host port without a performance penalty. The system also monitors controller utilization rates and rebalances the load between controllers. The AMS 2000 series supports disk spin down when no I/O activity is taking place to save power.
The 2000 family comes in three versions: the AMS 2100, AMS 2300 and AMS 2500. Hitachi claims an IOPS cache burst rate of 400,000 for the AMS 2100 and 2300, and 900,000 for the 2500. The sustained throughput ranges from 1,250 MBps for the 2100 to 2,400 MBps for the 2500. Capacity scales to 118 TB on the AMS 2100, and to 472 TB on the AMS 2500.
"This is proof that midtier storage is growing up, with true active-active controllers," says one of our judges, a SAN architect. "It's a real big gain in stability, performance and management for real-world applications."
Hitachi AMS 2100 pricing starts at approximately $31,500.
| Networking equipment
Riverbed Technology Inc.'s RiOS operating system impressed our judging panel with its ability to consolidate and simplify remote-location infrastructure.
RiOS reduces the hardware footprint in remote locations by virtualizing edge services, accelerating application performance and simplifying remote-location administration. The RiOS OS powers the company's Steelhead WAN acceleration appliances, mobile client and Riverbed Services Platform (RSP).
Among the new features RiOS 5.0 introduced were the RSP data services platform that enables virtualized edge services without deploying additional physical servers. Application acceleration features now eliminate the burdensome storage requirement to support widely used applications, including Web-based apps. And an application-level protocol optimization for Microsoft Exchange 2007 adds to the OS's support for Exchange 2000 and 2003.
One judge remarks that Version 5.0 offers "major improvements for Steelhead customers."
The company claims its Steelhead appliances will improve simple file-sharing operations by a hundredfold, cut disaster recovery windows tenfold or more, and reduce WAN bandwidth utilization by 60% to 95%. The judges give RiOS 5.0 high marks for innovation, performance and functionality.
The Steelhead appliance models range in price from $3,495 to $129,995. Ten mobile client licenses cost $3,499, and can be purchased with the appliances or later. Riverbed estimates that organizations will require a license for every three to five mobile users, with the cost per user approximately $87.
| Networking equipment
The Brocade DCX Backbone network switching platform allows administrators to consolidate servers and SAN switches, while increasing application service levels and energy efficiency. One networking category judge calls it an "evolutionary upgrade" for the networking market.
Introduced in January 2008, the DCX Backbone provides 8 Gbps throughput, which allows broader server virtualization, data center consolidation, and energy and overhead cost savings.
Each DCX Backbone operates up to 384 ports. The eight-blade slot features 256 Gbps of throughput, which means the Backbone can deliver up to 3 Tbps of chassis bandwidth. Inter-chassis link ports can connect two DCX Backbones to deliver 6 Tbps of dual-chassis bandwidth. One judge calls it "crazy fast."
It received the highest performance marks in the networking category, with the judges commending it for functionality and ease of use.
Blade slots can be used to provide 10 Gbps FC connectivity, FCIP SAN extension and fabric-based applications; they can also support 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) and Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE) protocols, which simplifies LAN and SAN server connections.
The DCX Backbone uses less than .5 watts per Gbps, which the company says makes it 10 times more efficient than competitive products.
The network infrastructure environment can be administered with the new Data Center Fabric Manager application, and it's compatible with Brocade's B-Series and M-Series components. Brocade says DCX Backbone pricing begins in the low six figures and varies by configuration, software licensing and support options.
| Networking equipment
Network Executive Software (NetEx) Inc.'s HyperIP 5.5 software enables faster WAN data replication and recovery by accelerating TCP applications using standard Internet connections. HyperIP provides an alternative to dedicated point-to-point data lines, and is available in a 1U-sized appliance using standard, off-the-shelf components.
The judges give it high marks for ease of integration and value. One judge says HyperIP is "slick data transport optimization that works, is very reasonably priced and does what it says."
HyperIP technology compresses block-level data up to a 15:1 ratio, which enables it to increase WAN performance to up to 800 Mbps throughput for a single TCP/IP connection, the highest performance of any optimization appliance on the market, according to the company, and 25% to 100% faster than competing products.
As an appliance, it enables data transport at wire speed and leverages the proprietary HyperIP TCP application acceleration technology to mitigate latency and packet loss, and protect against variable circuit quality conditions.
The current HyperIP 5.5 release extends support for multisite configurations, which allows for large-scale, remote data replication deployments. It has more than 8,000 application TCP connections, thereby enabling concurrent replication, migration and recovery processes. A command line interface (CLI) provides single response commands, and multiple-system images let users install new software image upgrades while the software is running.
HyperIP is easy to implement by simply attaching it to a distance-separated Ethernet network segment, so users can leverage existing Ethernet/IP WAN infrastructure. Traffic is pointed to HyperIP via the network, server, NAS device or storage array routing statements. HyperIP parameters and feature options can be modified through the Web-accessible user interface.
Pricing for HyperIP 5.5 starts at $6,000.
| Storage management tools
Virtualization was one of the hottest topics in storage last year, fueled in no small part by the popularity of virtual server technology. Now VMware Inc., the leading server virtualization vendor, has extended its reach to storage and captured top honors in the management category with its Storage VMotion software.
Users had been asking for a storage version of VMware's VMotion tool, which moves running virtual machines (VMs) from one physical server to another. With Storage VMotion, VMware adds the ability to migrate running virtual machine disk files within and across data storage systems with no downtime, ensuring continuous service availability and transaction integrity.
Storage VMotion "set the standard for virtual guest availability," according to one judge. "It increases application uptime and IO flexibility -- the reason most [people] buy VMware today."
Storage VMotion works by moving a virtual machine's home directory (containing information on configuration, log files, etc.) to the new location before moving the virtual machine disk file. It creates a "child disk" for each virtual machine being migrated, and all disk writes are directed to that child disk once the migration starts. The parent, or original virtual disk, is then copied from the old storage device to the new one. The child disk is reunited and consolidated with the new parent disk, and the ESX host server is redirected to the new parent disk location.
The product is most useful for VMware customers who want to minimize service disruption while performing maintenance or migrating to new storage systems or different classes of storage. It's also helpful for balancing or optimizing storage workloads and addressing performance bottlenecks. Storage VMotion supports both FC and iSCSI SANs, and works with any operating system and application that runs on the VMware Infrastructure.
Customers who buy the Enterprise Edition of VMware Infrastructure 3 -- the server virtualization platform that includes VMware ESX Server 3.5 -- get Storage VMotion as part of the package. List price is $5,750 per two processors. Both VMotion and Storage VMotion require VMware vCenter Server (licensed separately) to enable central management of the entire VMware virtual environment from a single console.
VMotion and Storage VMotion are available as part of a standalone package for purchasers of the less expensive Foundation and Standard versions of VMware Infrastructure. The standalone price is $3,495 per dual processor.
| Storage management tools
Data deduplication took center stage in 2008, as major storage vendors rolled out backup products, and corporate IT managers either tested the waters or clamored for more information about the red-hot technology.
NetApp Deduplication claimed runner-up honors in the storage management competition, differentiating itself from other large vendors with its ability to work with primary storage data in addition to backup and archival data.
NetApp announced in July 2008 that customers of its V-Series family of storage virtualization products could also use the deduplication technology to reduce redundant copies of data on disk arrays from other major vendors, including EMC Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Hitachi Data Systems.
Judges awarded NetApp Deduplication technology the highest marks of any storage management entrant in the areas of "ease of integration into environment" and "ease of use and manageability." NetApp Deduplication is a simple command-based feature that's free to users of the company's Data Ontap operating system, which is part of all NetApp FAS Series and V-Series storage systems.
"Porting dedupe into the core OS is a winner," comments one judge.
NetApp Deduplication operates as a background process on FAS Series and V-Series systems, and the impact on read/write operations is minimal. Users can schedule deduplication for off-peak times, which can be especially important in minimizing performance hits with heavily used primary storage apps. They can also select the data sets that will produce the greatest benefit, leaving out sets such as encrypted data that won't deduplicate efficiently.
NetApp's Web site has a "deduplication calculator" for customers to compute the space savings they can expect to see.
| Storage management tools
Cloud storage generated a flurry of activity last year as a steady stream of products and services hit the market, so it's fitting that one of the promising new offerings, Nirvanix Inc.'s CloudNAS, rounds out the top products in storage management for 2008.
CloudNAS can transform any Linux or Windows server at a customer site into a virtual NAS gateway to the Nirvanix Storage Delivery Network's (SDN) encrypted offsite storage. The main distinguishing characteristic of the Nirvanix approach is the use of standard storage protocols to access the SDN online storage service.
Nirvanix CloudNAS mounts the SDN as a virtual drive that can be accessed via NFS, CIFS, FTP or as a virtual tape library (VTL) target, through supported archiving and backup applications. Other storage services, such as Amazon's Simple Storage Service (S3) and Rackspace Hosting Inc.'s Mosso, require development to an API.
Released in October 2008, Nirvanix CloudNAS hasn't had much chance to make an impact yet, but the judges rate the technology as highly innovative. One calls the Nirvanix approach a "great alternative for second-tier unstructured data" with "excellent multisite [disaster recovery] capability."
Once CloudNAS is installed on a server, an administrator can point existing applications and storage processes to it and set file, directory or access permissions. Users access the Nirvanix-mapped drive from their existing applications.
Behind the Nirvanix SDN is a clustered file system that includes all of Nirvanix's globally distributed storage nodes under a single namespace. CloudNAS claims to offer built-in data disaster recovery and automated policy-based data replication on up to three of the geographically dispersed storage nodes.
Data is transferred from CloudNAS via the Internet or Nirvanix cross connect services, which provides a direct connection from the customer site to one of Nirvanix's storage nodes.
CloudNAS is available as a free download for customers that have a contract with Nirvanix for 1 TB or greater. Optional round-the-clock support is available at $200 per month per server.
Related Resources
- Demystifying storage performance metrics –ComputerWeekly.com
- Containers and storage 101: The fundamentals of container storage –ComputerWeekly.com
- NVM Express, NAND Flash Energize Storage Vendors –SearchStorage.com
- Hybrid Flash: The Essential guide –ComputerWeekly.com