text:
Jack O'Brien, Elford Alley
#6. The Indians Weren't Defeated by White Settlers
The Myth:
Our history books don't really go into a ton of detail about how the Indians became an endangered species. Some warring, some smallpox blankets and … death by broken heart?
When American Indians show up in movies made by conscientious white people like Oliver Stone, they usually lament having their land taken from them. The implication is that Native Americans died off like a species of tree-burrowing owl that couldn't hack it once their natural habitat was paved over.
But if we had to put the whole Cowboys and Indians battle in a Hollywood log line, we'd say the Indians put up a good fight, but were no match for the white man's superior technology. As surely as scissors cuts paper and rock smashes scissors, gun beats arrow. That's just how it works.
This is all the American history you'll ever need to know.
The Truth:
There's a pretty important detail our movies and textbooks left out of the handoff from Native Americans to white European settlers: It begins in the immediate aftermath of a full-blown apocalypse. In the decades between Columbus' discovery of America and the Mayflower landing at Plymouth Rock, the most devastating plague in human history raced up the East Coast of America. Just two years before the pilgrims started the tape recorder on New England's written history, the plague wiped out about 96 percent of the Indians in Massachusetts.
In the years before the plague turned America into The Stand, a sailor named Giovanni da Verrazzano sailed up the East Coast and described it as "densely populated" and so "smoky with Indian bonfires" that you could smell them burning hundreds of miles out at sea. Using your history books to understand what America was like in the 100 years after Columbus landed there is like trying to understand what modern day Manhattan is like based on the post-apocalyptic scenes from I Am Legend.
"They call it 'The city that never sleeps' because the only guy who lives there is a notoriously sarcastic rapper."
Historians estimate that before the plague, America's population was anywhere between 20 and 100 million (Europe's at the time was 70 million). The plague would eventually sweep West, killing at least 90 percent of the native population. For comparison's sake, the Black Plague killed off between 30 and 60 percent of Europe's population.
While this all might seem like some to lay on a bunch of second graders, your high school and college history books weren't exactly in a hurry to tell you the full story. Which is strange, because many historians believe it is the single most important event in American history. But it's just more fun to believe that your ancestors won the land by being the superior culture.
Yay for apocalypse profiteering!
European settlers had a hard enough time defeating the Mad Max-style stragglers of the once huge Native American population, even with superior technology. You have to assume that the Native Americans at full strength would have made powerfully real for any pale faces trying to settle the country they had already settled. Of course, we don't really need to assume anything about how real the American Indians kept it, thanks to the many people who came before the pilgrims. For instance, if you liked playing cowboys and Indians as a kid, you should know that you could have been playing vikings and Indians, because that actually happened. But before we get to how they kicked Viking ass, you probably need to know that …
#5. Native Culture Wasn't Primitive
The Myth:
American Indians lived in balance with mother earth, father moon, brother coyote and sister … bear? Does that just sound right because of the Berenstain Bears? Whichever animal they thought was their sister, the point is, the Indians were leaving behind a small carbon footprint before elements were wearing shoes. If the government was taken over by hippies tomorrow, the directionless, ecologically friendly society they'd institute is about what we picture the Native Americans as having lived like.
"Our foreign policy can be summed up with one word: peyote."
The Truth:
The Indians were so good at killing trees that a team of Stanford environmental scientists think they caused a mini ice age in Europe. When all of the tree-clearing Indians died in the plague, so many trees grew back that it had a reverse global warming effect. More carbon dioxide was sucked from the air, the Earth's atmosphere held on to less heat, and Al Gore cried a single tear of joy.
One of the best examples of how we got Native Americans all wrong is Cahokia, a massive Native American city located in modern day East St. Louis. In 1250, it was bigger than London, and featured a sophisticated society with an urban center, satellite villages and thatched-roof houses lining the central plazas. While the city was abandoned by the time white people got to it, the evidence they left behind suggests a complex economy with trade routes from the Great Lakes all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico.
Herb Roe
Contrary to what museums told us, the loin cloth was not the most advanced Native American technology.
And that's not even mentioning America's version of the Great Pyramid: Monk's Mound. You know how people treat the very existence of the Great Pyramid in Egypt as one of history's most confounding mysteries? Well, Cahokia's pyramid dwarfs that one, both in size and in degree of difficulty. The mound contains more than 2.16 billion pounds of soil, some of which had to be carried from hundreds of miles away, to make sure the city's giant monument was vividly colored. To put that in perspective, all 13 million people who live in the state of Illinois today would have to carry three 50-pound baskets of soil from as far away as Indiana to construct another one.
"What if we built a middle finger large enough to flip off God?"
So why does Egypt get millions of dollars of tourism and Time Life documentaries dedicated to their boring old sand pyramids, while you didn't even know about the giant blue, red, white, black, gray, brown and orange testament to engineering and human willpower just outside of St. Louis? Well, because the Egyptians know how to treat one of the Eight Wonders of the World. America, on the other hand, appears to be trying to figure out how to turn it into a parking lot.
World Pyramids
But think of all the parking!
In the realm of personal hygiene, the Europeans out-hippied the Indians by a foul smelling mile. Europeans at the time thought baths attracted the black humors, because they never washed and were amazed by the Indians' interest in personal cleanliness. The natives, for their part, viewed Europeans as "just plain smelly" according to first hand records.
The Native Americans didn't hate Europeans just for the clouds of awfulness they dragged around behind them. Missionaries met Indians who thought Europeans were "physically weak, sexually untrustworthy, atrociously ugly" and "possessed little intelligence in comparison to themselves." The Europeans didn't do much to debunk the comparison in the physical beauty department. Verrazzano, the sailor who witnessed the densely populated East Coast, called a native who boarded his ship "as beautiful in stature and build as I can possibly describe," before presumably adding, "you know, for a dude." This man-crush wasn't an isolated incident. British fisherman William Wood described the Indians in New England as "more amiable to behold, though dressed only in Adam's finery, than … an English dandy in the newest fashion." Or, with the removed, "Better looking than any of us, and they're not even trying."
"Oh yeah, this is just my walkin' around paint."
OK, now that we got that out of the way, we can tell you about the historical slash-fiction your history teacher forgot to tell you actually freaking happened.
#4. Columbus Didn't Discover America: Vikings vs. Indians
The Myth:
America was discovered in 1492 because Europeans were starting to get curious about the outside world thanks to the Renaissance and Enlightenment and Europeans of the time just generally being the first smart people ever. Columbus named the people who already lived there Indians, presumably because he was being charmingly self-deprecating.
"I don't know what we'll call the people from actual India. That's the future's problem."
The Truth:
Here's what we know. A bunch of vikings set up a successful colony in Greenland that lasted for 518 years (982-1500). To put that into perspective, the white European settlement currently known as the United States will need to wait until the year 2125 to match that longevity. The vikings spent a good portion of that time sending expeditions down south to try to settle what they called Vineland — which historians now believe was the East Coast of North America. Some place the vikings as far south as modern day North Carolina.
"The South will pillage again!"
After spending a couple decades sneaking ashore to raid Vineland of its ample wood pulp, the vikings made a go of settling North America in 1005. After landing there with livestock, supplies and between 100 and 300 settlers, they set up the first successful European American colony … for two years. And then the Native Americans kicked out of the country, shooting the head viking in the heart with an arrow.
So to recap, the vikings discovered America. They were camping off the coast of America, and had every reason to settle America for about 500 years. Despite being the biggest badasses in European history, one tangle with the natives was enough to convince the vikings that settling America wasn't worth the trouble. If you think the pilgrims would have fared any better than the vikings against an East Coast chock-full of Native Americans, you either don't know what a viking is or you're placing entirely too much stock in the strategic importance of having belt buckles on your shoes.
If the Indians had been at full strength in 1640, white people might still be sneaking onto the East Coast to steal wood pulp. That's as far as the vikings got in 500 years, and they were sailing from much closer than Europe and desperately needed the resources — the two competing theories for why the viking settlements on Greenland eventually died out are lack of resources and getting killed by natives — and, perhaps most importantly, they were goddamned vikings.
So why did your history teachers lie? This should have been history teachers' version of dinosaurs: a mostly unknown period of violent awesomeness they nevertheless told you about because they knew it would hook every male between the ages of 5 and 12 forever.
Consider this one a freebie, Hollywood.
It turns out that many of the awesomest stories had to be paved over by the you memorized in order to protect your teachers and parents from awkward conversations. Like the one about how …
#3. Everything You Know About Columbus Is a Calculated Lie
The Myth:
Columbus discovered America thanks to a daring journey across the Atlantic. His crew was about to throw him overboard when land was spotted. Even after he landed in America, Columbus didn't realize he'd discovered an entire continent because maps of America were far less reliable back then. In one of the great tragedies of history, Columbus went to his grave poor, believing he'd merely discovered India. Nobody really "got" America's potential until the pilgrims showed up and successfully settled the country for the first time. Nearly 150 years might seem like a long time between trips, but boats were really slow back in those days, and they'd just learned that the Atlantic Ocean went that far.
"Pile into a tiny boat with dozens of filthy people for months on end" isn't the world's most attractive sales pitch.
The Truth:
First of all, Columbus wasn't the first to cross the Atlantic. Nor were the vikings. Two Native Americans landed in Holland in 60 B.C. and were promptly not given a national holiday by anyone. Columbus didn't see the enormous significance of his ability to cross the Atlantic because it wasn't especially significant. His voyage wasn't particularly difficult. They enjoyed smooth sailing, and nobody was threatening to throw him overboard. Despite what history books tell kids (and the Internet apparently believes), Columbus died wealthy, and with a pretty good idea of what he'd found — on his third voyage to America, he wrote in his journal, "I have come to believe that this is a mighty continent which was hitherto unknown."
"Unknown" in this context means "inhabited by tens of millions."
The myths surrounding him cover up the fact that Columbus was calculating, shrewd and as hungry for gold as the voice over guy in the Cash4Gold ads. When he couldn't find enough of the yellow stuff to make his voyage profitable, he focused on enslaving Native Americans for profit. That's how efficient Columbus was — he discovered America and invented American slavery in the same 15-year span.
There were plenty of unsuccessful, mostly horrible attempts to settle America between Columbus' discovery and the pilgrims' arrival. We only hear these two "settling of America" stories because history books and movies aren't huge fans of what white people got up to between 1492 and 1620 in America — mostly digging for gold and eating each other.
When people talk about traditional American values, this is what they mean.
They also show us white Europeans being unable to easily defeat a native population that hadn't yet been ravaged by plague. It wasn't coincidence that the pilgrims settled America two years after New England was emptied of 96 percent of the Indians who lived there. According to James W. Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me, that's generally how the settling process went: The plague acted as a lead blocker for white European settlers, clearing the land of all the natives. The Europeans had superior weapons, but they also had superior guns when they tried to colonize China, India, Africa and basically every other region on the planet. When you picture Chinese or Indian or African people today, they're not white because those lands were already inhabited when the Europeans showed up. And so was America.
American history goes to almost comical lengths to ignore that fact. For instance, if your reading comprehension was strong in middle school, you might remember the lost colony of Roanoke, where the people mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind only one cryptic clue: the word "Croatan" carved into the town post. As we've covered before, this is only a mystery if you are the worst detective ever. Croatan was the name of a nearby island populated by friendly Native Americans. In the years after the people of Roanoke "disappeared," genetically impossible Native Americans with gray eyes and an "astounding" familiarity with distinctly European customs began to pop up in the tribes that moved between Croatan and Roanoke islands.
"It must be written in a cypher of some sort. Let's just go ahead and call it alien abduction."
#2. White Settlers Did Not Carve America Out of the Untamed Wilderness
The Myth:
The pilgrims were the first in a parade of brave settlers who pushed civilization westward along the frontier with elbow grease and sheer grizzled-old-man strength.
The Truth:
In written records from early colonial times, you constantly come across "settlers" being shocked at how convenient the American wilderness made things for them. The eastern forests, generally portrayed by great American writers as a "thick, unbroken snarl of trees" no longer existed by the time the white European settlers actually showed up. The pilgrims couldn't believe their luck when they found that American forests just naturally contained "an ecological kaleidosocope of garden plots, blackberry rambles, pine barrens and spacious groves of chestnut, hickory and oak."
"We have hours of weeding ahead of us, but by the grace of God, we will persevere."
The puzzlingly obedient wilderness didn't stop in New England. Frontiersmen who settled what is today Ohio were psyched to find that the forest there naturally grew in a way that "resembled English parks." You could drive carriages through the untamed frontier without burning a single calorie clearing rocks, trees and shrubbery.
Whether they honestly believed they'd lucked into the 17th century equivalent of Candyland or were being willfully ignorant about how the land got so tamed, the truth about the presettled wilderness didn't make it into the official account. It's the same reason every extraordinarily lucky CEO of the past 100 years has written a book about leadership. It's always a better idea to credit hard work and intelligence than to acknowledge that you just got luckier than any group of people has ever gotten in the history of the world.
"Holy crap, it's already wired for Wi-Fi!"
Nobody's role in settling America has been quite as overplayed as the pilgrims'. Despite famous sermons with titles like "Into the Wilderness," the pilgrims cherry-picked Plymouth specifically because it was a recently abandoned town. After sailing up and down the coast of Cape Cod, they chose Plymouth Rock because of "its beautiful cleared fields, recently planted in corn, and its useful harbor."
We're always told that the pilgrims were helped by an Indian named Squanto who spoke English. How the hell did that happen? Had he taken AP English in high school? The answer to that question is the greatest story your history teachers didn't bother to teach you. Squanto was from the town that would become Plymouth, but between being born there and the pilgrims' arrival, he'd undergone an epic journey that puts Homer's Odyssey to shame.
And at the end, instead of bangin' his hot wife, he had to teach white people how to bury dead fish with corn kernels.
Squanto had been kidnapped from Cape Cod as a child and sold into slavery in Spain. He escaped like the boy Maximus he was, and spent his better years hoofing it west until he hit the Atlantic Ocean. Deciding that swimming back to America would take too much time, he learned enough English to convince someone to let him hitch a ride to "the New World." When he finally got back home, he found his town deserted. The plague had swept through two years before, taking everyone but him with it.
when the pilgrims showed up, instead of being pissed at the people from the Continent who had stolen his ability to grow up with his family, he decided that since nobody else was using it, he might as well show them how to make his town work.
This is especially charitable of him when you realize that, while the pilgrims were nicer than past settlers, they weren't exactly sensitive to Squanto's plight. According to a pilgrim journal from the days immediately after they arrived, they raided Indian graves for "bowls, trays, dishes and things like that. We took several of the prettiest things to carry away with us, and covered the body up again." And yet Squanto taught them how to make it through a winter without turning to cannibalism — a landmark accomplishment for the British to that point.
Compare that to Jamestown, the first successful settlement in American history. You don't know the name of the ship that landed there because the settlers antagonized the natives, just like the vikings who came before them. The Native Americans didn't have to actively kill them. They just sat back and laughed as the English spent the harvest seasons digging holes for gold. The first Virginians were so desperate without a Squanto that they went from taking Indian slaves to offering themselves up as slaves to the Indians in exchange for food. Enough English managed to survive there to make Jamestown the oldest successful colonial settlement in America. But it's hard to turn it into a religious allegory in which white people are the good guys, so we get the pilgrims instead.
If this were accurate, the settlers would be in bushes while the Indians told them which leaves were safe to wipe with.
#1. How Indians Influenced Modern America
The Myth:
After the natives helped the pilgrims get through that first winter, all playing nice disappeared until Dances with Wolves. Even the movies that do portray white people going native portray it as a shocking exception to the rule. Otherwise, the only influence the natives seem to have on the New World and the frontiersmen is giving them moving targets to shoot at, and eventually a plot outline for Avatar.
It's pretty much just this and Kevin Costner until Wounded Knee.
The Truth:
The fake mystery of Roanoke is a pretty good key for understanding the difference between how white settlers actually felt about American Indians and how hard your history books had to ignore that reality. Settlers defecting to join native society was so common that it became a major issue for colonial leaders — think the modern immigration debate, except with all the white people risking their lives to get out of American society. According to Loewen, "Europeans were always trying to stop the outflow. Hernando De Soto had to post guards to keep his men and women from defecting to Native societies." Pilgrims were so scared of Indian influence that they outlawed the wearing of long hair.
Ben Franklin noted that, "No European who has tasted Savage Life can afterwards bear to live in our societies." While "always bet on black" might have been sound financial advice by the time Wesley Snipes offered it, Ben Franklin knew that for much of American history, it was equally advisable to bet on red.
"It's this, or powdered wigs and sexual repression."
Franklin wasn't pointing this out as a critique of the settlers who defected — he believed that Indian societies provided greater opportunities for happiness than European cultures — and he wasn't the only Founding Father who thought settlers could learn a thing or two from them. They didn't dress up like Indians at the Boston Tea Party ironically. That was common protesting gear during the American revolutions.
For a hundred years after the American Revolution, none of this was a secret. Political cartoonists used Indians to represent the colonial side. Colonial soldiers dressed up like Indians when fighting the British. Documents from the time indicate that the design of the U.S. government was at least partially inspired by native tribal society. Historians think the Iroquois Confederacy had a direct influence on the U.S. Constitution, and the Senate even passed a resolution acknowledging that "the confederation of the original thirteen colonies into one republic was influenced … by the Iroquois Confederacy, as were many of the democratic principles which were incorporated into the constitution itself."
If we'd incorporated their fashion sense, C-SPAN would be more interesting.
That wasn't just Congress trying to get some Indian casino money. The colonists came from European countries that had spent most of their time as monarchies and much of their resources fighting religious wars with each other. They initially tried to set up the colonies exactly like Western Europe — a series of small, in-fighting nations stacked on top of each other. The idea of an overarching confederacy of different independent states was completely foreign to them. Or it would have been. But as Ben Franklin noted in a letter about the failure to integrate with one another:
"It would be a strange thing if six nations of ignorant savages should be capable of forming a scheme for such a union and be able to execute it in such a manner as that it has subsisted ages and appears insoluble; and yet that a like union should be impracticable for 10 or a dozen English colonies."
Join, or die (or plagiarize from the Indians).
In 1987, Cornell University held a conference on the link between the Iroquois' government and the U.S. Constitution. It was noted that the Iroquois Great Law of Peace "includes 'freedom of speech, freedom of religion … separation of power in government and checks and balances."
Wow, checks and balances, freedom of speech and religion. Sounds awfully familiar.
One of the strangest legacies of America's founding is our national obsession with the apocalypse. There's a new JJ Abrams show coming this fall called The Revolution about a post-apocalyptic America, and of course The Hunger Games. We go to a gift shop in Arizona and see dug-up Indian arrowheads, and never think "this is the same thing as the stuff laying around in Terminator or The Road or that part in The Road Warrior where the feral kid finds a music box and doesn't know what it is."
We love the apocalypse as long as nobody acknowledges the truth: It's not a mythical event. We live on top of one.


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News November 12, 2013
Special Collection for Victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan
A special collection for the victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan will be held in the Diocese of Dallas on the weekend of November 30 - December 1.
Over the past few days, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded destroyed entire villages and devastated cities across the Philippines and Vietnam. More than 10,000 people are feared dead in Super Typhoon Haiyan and more than 9 million more are injured and homeless.
Our Church mourns the terrible suffering of our brothers and sisters affected by this powerful storm. The Bishops of the United States request that a special collection be taken up in all of our parishes as soon as possible. In the Diocese of Dallas this collection is to be taken up on the weekend of November 30 - December 1.
Bishop Farrell thanks you all for assisting our diocese in expressing our community's compassion, love and solidarity with the people of the Philippines and to all those in the path of this disastrous typhoon.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Secaucus Town Council introduced the $47.2 million municipal budget on Tuesday, March 26. Municipal taxes are one of three parts of the overall tax rate, which also includes school and county taxes. It will be up for a final vote at a council meeting on Tuesday, April 23.
Financial Chairman Councilman Robert Costantino announced that for the second year in a row, residents will see no municipal tax increase. Last year's budget was $50.1 million.
"We're real proud of this budget," said Costantino.
Residents will get to speak out or make suggestions before the final vote.
Two-year streak
"We were able to maintain a zero increase by utilizing cost attainment measures and increasing the amount of surplus used to achieve this goal," said Costantino.
"Since the new administration has taken office, we have looked for and are implementing cost containment measures to help future budgets," said Mayor Michael Gonnelli in his budget notes. "We have also looked at this year's budget with future budget years in mind. We are not trying to produce an artificially low tax rate by mortgaging our future."
Gonnelli said that the town is able to reserve a surplus of $600,000 this year, much higher than $68,000 in last year's budget.
The town was able to negotiate new healthcare coverage for town employees.
Major increases in expenses
Gonnelli said that the town was able to negotiate new health care coverage for town employees during the middle of last year, reducing expenses by $525,000 this year.
"The mayor and the council worked very hard in trying to keep the municipal tax rate as stable as they possibly can," said Town Administrator David Drumeler. "While we had a lot of expenses related to [Hurricane] Sandy, we didn't have any real losses."
Officials said that the city had to deal with more than $400,000 in unanticipated expenses due to the hurricane, but are hopeful the money will be reimbursed by FEMA.
Vanessa Cruz can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Always Innovating's Smart Book breaks the traditional netbook into pieces. A touchscreen VoIP phone, a tablet, and a keyboard. Use them apart, or combine them into a full-powered device when you have to. Buy one device, carry what you need.
As if hardware transformation on the fly weren't clever enough, the Smart Book includes a switch they say will instantly swap OSes. That's right—click bewteen Android, Chrome, Ubuntu, or their own AIOS. And underneath all this design sophistication is some decent hardware muscle—an ARM Cortex-A8 processor (speed unspecified), 512 MB of RAM, and 256 MB of built-in flash storage, along with the usual 802.11 b/g/n WiFi.
The whole scheme is a bit extravagant, and probably not a dream device for someone seeking simplicity—and the whole "dude on a couch" aesthetic doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the train out of vaporwareville. But Always Innovating is taking pre-orders for the whole system at $549, so if the novelty (and potential functionality) appeal to you, maybe take a wait and see stance here. [Always Innovating via CrunchGear]


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The following sections explain how to tune the persistent store, which provides a built-in, high-performance storage solution for WebLogic Server subsystems and services that require persistence.
Before reading this chapter, Oracle recommends becoming familiar with WebLogic store administration and monitoring. See Using the WebLogic Persistent Store in Configuring Server Environments for Oracle WebLogic Server.
The following sections provide information on using persistent stores.
Each server instance, including the administration server, has a default persistent store that requires no configuration. The default store is a file-based store that maintains its data in a group of files in a server instance's
data\store\default directory. A directory for the default store is automatically created if one does not already exist. This default store is available to subsystems that do not require explicit selection of a particular store and function best by using the system's default storage mechanism. For example, a JMS Server with no persistent store configured will use the default store for its Managed Server and will support persistent messaging. See:
Using the WebLogic Persistent Store in Configuring Server Environments for Oracle WebLogic Server.
Modify the Default Store Settings in Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Help.
In addition to using the default file store, you can also configure a file store or JDBC store to suit your specific needs. A custom file store, like the default file store, maintains its data in a group of files in a directory. However, you may want to create a custom file store so that the file store's data is persisted to a particular storage device. When configuring a file store directory, the directory must be accessible to the server instance on which the file store is located.
A JDBC store can be configured when a relational database is used for storage. A JDBC store enables you to store persistent messages in a standard JDBC-capable database, which is accessed through a designated JDBC data source. The data is stored in the JDBC store's database table, which has a logical name of
WLStore. It is up to the database administrator to configure the database for high availability and performance. See:
When to Use a Custom Persistent Store in Configuring Server Environments for Oracle WebLogic Server.
Comparing File Stores and JDBC Stores in Configuring Server Environments for Oracle WebLogic Server.
Creating a Custom (User-Defined) File Store in Configuring Server Environments for Oracle WebLogic Server.
Creating a JDBC Store in Configuring Server Environments for Oracle WebLogic Server.
Each JMS server implicitly creates a file based paging store. When the WebLogic Server JVM runs low on memory, this store is used to page non-persistent messages as well as persistent messages. Depending on the application, paging stores may generate heavy disk activity.
You can optionally change the directory location and the threshold settings at which paging begins. You can improve performance by locating paging store directories on a local file system, preferably in a temporary directory. Paging store files do not need to be backed up, replicated, or located in universally accessible location as they are automatically repopulated each time a JMS server restarts. See JMS Server Behavior in WebLogic Server 9.x and Later in Configuring and Managing JMS for Oracle WebLogic Server.
The Diagnostics store is a file store that implicitly always uses the
Disabled synchronous write policy. It is dedicated to storing WebLogic server diagnostics information. One diagnostic store is configured per WebLogic Server instance. See "Configuring Diagnostic Archives" in Configuring and Using the Diagnostics Framework for Oracle WebLogic Server.
For subsystems that share the same server instance, share one store between multiple subsystems rather than using a store per subsystem. Sharing a store is more efficient for the following reasons:
A single store batches concurrent requests into single I/Os which reduces overall disk usage.
Transactions in which only one resource participates are lightweight one-phase transactions. Conversely, transactions in which multiple stores participate become heavier weight two-phase transactions.
For example, configure all SAF agents and JMS servers that run on the same server instance so that they share the same store.
Add a new store only when the old store(s) no longer scale.
The location of the JDBC store DDL that is used to initialize empty stores is now configurable. This simplifies the use of custom DDL for database table creation, which is sometimes used for database specific performance tuning. For information, see "Create JDBC stores" in Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Help and "Using the WebLogic Persistent Store" in Configuring Server Environments for Oracle WebLogic Server.
The following section provides information on tuning File Stores:
The following section provides general information on tuning File Stores:
For basic (non-RAID) disk hardware, consider dedicating one disk per file store. A store can operate up to four to five times faster if it does not have to compete with any other store on the disk. Remember to consider the existence of the default file store in addition to each configured store and a JMS paging store for each JMS server.
For custom and default file stores, tune the Synchronous Write Policy.
There are three transactionally safe synchronous write policies:
Direct-Write, and
Direct-Write-With-Cache is generally the best performer of these policies,
Cache-Flush is generally the least performant, and
Direct-Write is the default. Unlike other policies,
Direct-Write-With-Cache creates cache files in addition to primary files.
Disabled synchronous write policy is transactionally unsafe. The
Disabled write-policy can dramatically improve performance, especially at low client loads. However, it is unsafe because writes become asynchronous and data can be lost in the event of Operating System or power failure.
See Guidelines for Configuring a Synchronous Write Policy in Configuring Server Environments for Oracle WebLogic Server.
Note:Certain older versions of Microsoft Windows may incorrectly report storage device synchronous write completion if the Windows default
Write Cache Enabled setting is used. This violates the transactional semantics of transactional products (not specific to Oracle), including file stores configured with a
Direct-Write (default) or
Direct-Write-With-Cache policy, as a system crash or power failure can lead to a loss or a duplication of records/messages. One of the visible symptoms is that this problem may manifest itself in high persistent message/transaction throughput exceeding the physical capabilities of your storage device. You can address the problem by applying a Microsoft supplied patch, disabling the Windows
Write Cache Enabled setting, or by using a power-protected storage device. See
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/281672 and
When performing head-to-head vendor comparisons, make sure all the write policies for the persistent store are equivalent. Some non-WebLogic vendors default to the equivalent of
Depending on the synchronous write policy, custom and default stores have a variety of additional tunable attributes that may improve performance. These include
InitialSize, and
MaxFileSize. For more information see the JMSFileStoreMBean in the Oracle WebLogic Server MBean Reference.
Note:.The JMSFileStoreMBean is deprecated, but the individual bean attributes apply to the non-deprecated beans for custom and default file stores.
If disk performance continues to be a bottleneck, consider purchasing disk or RAID controller hardware that has a built-in write-back cache. These caches significantly improve performance by temporarily storing persistent data in volatile memory. To ensure transactionally safe write-back caches, they must be protected against power outages, host machine failure, and operating system failure. Typically, such protection is provided by a battery-backed write-back cache.
For most default and custom file stores, Oracle recommends using the
Direct-Write-With-Cache synchronous write policy; it typically provides the best performance while still providing transactionally safe disk writes. It is typically not as performant as the
Disabled synchronous write policy, but the
Disabled policy is not a safe option for production systems unless you have some means to prevent loss of buffered writes during a system failure.
Direct-Write-With-Cache file stores write synchronously to a primary set of files in the location defined by the
Directory attribute of the file store configuration. They also asynchronously write to a corresponding temporary cache file in the location defined by the
CacheDirectory attribute of the file store configuration. The cache directory and the primary file serve different purposes and require significantly different locations. In many cases, primary files should be stored in remote storage for high availability, whereas cache files are strictly for performance and not for high availability and can be stored locally.
When the
Direct-Write-With-Cache synchronous write policy is selected, there are several additional tuning options that you should consider:
Setting the
CacheDirectory. For performance reasons, the cache directory should be located on a local file system. It is placed in the operating system temp directory by default.
Increasing the
MaxWindowBufferSize and
IOBufferSize attributes. These tune native memory usage of the file store.
Increasing the
InitialSize and
MaxFileSize tuning attributes. These tune the initial size of a store, and the maximum file size of a particular file in the store respectively.
Tune the
BlockSize attribute. See Tuning the File Store Block Size.
For more information on individual tuning parameters, see the JMSFileStoreMBean in the Oracle WebLogic Server MBean Reference.
Consider the following when tuning the
Direct-Write-With-Cache policy:
There may be additional security and file locking considerations when using the
Direct-Write-With-Cache synchronous write policy. See Securing a Production Environment for Oracle WebLogic Server and the
CacheDirectory and
LockingEnabled attributes of the JMSFileStoreMBean in the Oracle WebLogic Server MBean Reference.
The JMSFileStoreMBean is deprecated, but the individual bean attributes apply to the non-deprecated beans for custom and default file stores.
It is safe to delete a cache directory while the store is not running, but this may slow down the next store boot. Cache files are re-used to speed up the file store boot and recovery process, but only if the store's host WebLogic server has been shut down cleanly prior to the current boot (not after
kill -9, nor after an OS/JVM crash) and there was no off-line change to the primary files (such as a store admin compaction). If the existing cache files cannot be safely used at boot time, they are automatically discarded and new files are created. In addition, a
Warning log 280102 is generated. After a migration or failover event, this same
Warning message is generated, but can be ignored.
If the a
Direct-Write-With-Cache file store fails to load a
wlfileio native driver, the synchronous write policy automatically changes to the equivalent of
Direct-Write with
AvoidDirectIO=true. To view a running custom or default file store's configured and actual synchronous write policy and driver, examine the server log for WL-280008 and WL-280009 messages.
To prevent unused cache files from consuming disk space, test and development environments may need to be modified to periodically delete cache files that are left over from temporarily created domains. In production environments, cache files are managed automatically by the file store.
Deprecation Note:The
AvoidDirectIO properties described in this section are still supported in this release, but have been deprecated as of 11gR1PS2. Use the configurable
Direct-Write-With-Cache synchronous write policy as an alternative to the
Direct-Write policy.
For file stores with the synchronous write policy of
Direct-Write, you may be directed by Oracle Support or a release note to set
weblogic.Server options on the command line or start script of the JVM that runs the store:
Globally changes all stores running in the JVM:
For a single store, where
store-name is the name of the store:
For the default store, where
server-name is the name of the server hosting the store:
AvoidDirectIO on an individual store overrides the setting of the global
-Dweblogic.store.AvoidDirectIO option. For example: If you have two stores, A and B, and set the following options:
-Dweblogic.store.AvoidDirectIO=true -Dweblogic.store.A.AvoidDirectIO=false
then only store B has the setting
Note:Setting the
AvoidDirectIO option may have performance implications which often can be mitigated using the block size setting described in Tuning the File Store Block Size.
You may want to tune the file store block size for file stores that are configured with a synchronous write policy of
Direct-Write (default),
Direct-Write-With-Cache, or
Cache-Flush, especially when using
Direct-Write with
AvoidDirectIO=true as described in Tuning the File Store Direct-Write Policy or for systems with a hard-drive-based write-back cache where you see that performance is limited by physical storage latency.
Consider the following example:
A single WebLogic JMS producer sends persistent messages one by one.
The network overhead is known to be negligible.
The file store's disk drive has a 10,000 RPM rotational rate.
The disk drive has a battery-backed write-back cache.
and the messaging rate is measured at 166 messages per second.
In this example, the low messaging rate matches the disk drive's latency (10,000 RPM / 60 seconds = 166 RPS) even though a much higher rate is expected due to the battery-backed write-back cache. Tuning the store's block size to match the file systems' block size could result in a significant improvement.
In some other cases, tuning the block size may result in marginal or no improvement:
The caches are observed to yield low latency (so the I/O subsystem is not a significant bottleneck).
Write-back caching is not used and performance is limited by larger disk drive latencies.
There may be a trade off between performance and file space when using higher block sizes. Multiple application records are packed into a single block only when they are written concurrently. Consequently, a large block size may cause a significant increase in store file sizes for applications that have little concurrent server activity and produce small records. In this case, one small record is stored per block and the remaining space in each block is unused. As an example, consider a Web Service Reliable Messaging (WS-RM) application with a single producer that sends small 100 byte length messages, where the application is the only active user of the store.
Oracle recommends tuning the store block size to match the block size of the file system that hosts the file store (typically 4096 for most file systems) when this yields a performance improvement. Alternately, tuning the block size to other values (such as paging and cache units) may yield performance gains. If tuning the block size does not yield a performance improvement, Oracle recommends leaving the block size at the default as this helps to minimize use of file system resources.
Deprecation Note:The
BlockSize command line properties that are described in this section are still supported in 11gR1PS2, but are deprecated. Oracle recommends using the
BlockSize configurable on custom and default file stores instead.
To set the block size of a store, use one of the following properties on the command line or start script of the JVM that runs the store:
Globally sets the block size of all file stores that don't have pre-existing files.
Sets the block size for a specific file store that doesn't have pre-existing files.
Sets the block size for the default file store, if the store doesn't have pre-existing files:
-Dweblogic.store._WLS_server-name. BlockSize=block-size
The value used to set the block size is an integer between 512 and 8192 which is automatically rounded down to the nearest power of 2.
BlockSize on an individual store overrides the setting of the global
-Dweblogic.store.BlockSize option. For example: If you have two stores, A and B, and set the following options:
-Dweblogic.store.BlockSize=8192 -Dweblogic.store.A.BlockSize=512
then store B has a block size of 8192 and store A has a block size of 512.
Note:Setting the block size using command line properties only takes effect for file stores that have no pre-existing files. If a store has pre-existing files, the store continues to use the block size that was set when the store was first created.
You can verify a file store's current block size and synchronous write policy by viewing the server log of the server that hosts the store. Search for a "280009" store opened message.
To determine your file system's actual block size, consult your operating system documentation. For example:
Linux ext2 and ext3 file systems: run
/sbin/dumpe2fs /dev/
device-name and look for "Block size"
Windows NTFS: run
fsutil fsinfo ntfsinfo
device letter
: and look for "Bytes Per Cluster"
If the data in a store's pre-existing files do not need to be preserved, then simply shutdown the host WebLogic Server instance and delete the files to allow the block size to change when the store is restarted. If you need to preserve the data, convert a store with pre-existing files to a different block size by creating a version of the file store with the new block size using the compact command of the command line store administration utility:
java -Dweblogic.store.BlockSize=
Type help for available commands.
Storeadmin->compact -dir
See "Store Administration Using a Java Command-line" in Configuring Server Environments for Oracle WebLogic Server.
Important:NFS storage may not fully protect transactional data, as it may be configured to silently buffer synchronous write requests in volatile memory. If a file store Directory is located on an NFS mount, and the file store's Synchronous Write Policy is anything other than Disabled, check your NFS implementation and configuration to make sure that it is configured to support synchronous writes. A Disabled synchronous write policy does not perform synchronous writes, but, as a consequence, is generally not transactionally safe. You may detect undesirable buffering of synchronous write requests by observing high persistent message or transaction throughput that exceeds the physical capabilities of your storage device. On the NFS server, check the synchronous write setting of the exported NFS directory hosting your File Store. A SAN based file store, or a JDBC store, may provide an easier solution for safe centralized storage.
Oracle strongly recommends verifying the behavior of a server restart after abrupt machine failures when the JMS messages and transaction logs are stored on an NFS mounted directory. Depending on the NFS implementation, different issues can arise after a failover or restart. The behavior can be verified by abruptly shutting down the node hosting the Web Logic servers while these are running. If the server is configured for server migration, it should be started automatically in the failover node after the corresponding failover period. If not, a manual restart of the WebLogic Server on the same host (after the node has completely rebooted) can be performed. Specifically, if Oracle WebLogic Server does not restart after abrupt machine failure when JMS messages and transaction logs are stored on NFS mounted directory, the following errors may appear in the server log files:
Example 8-1 Store Restart Failure Error Message
MMM dd, yyyy hh:mm:ss a z> <Error> <Store> <BEA-280061> <The persistent store "_WLS_server_soa1" could not be deployed: weblogic.store.PersistentStoreException: java.io.IOException: [Store:280021]There was an error while opening the file store file "_WLS_SERVER_SOA1000000.DAT" at weblogic.store.io.file.Heap.open(Heap.java:168) at weblogic.store.io.file.FileStoreIO.open(FileStoreIO.java:88) ... java.io.IOException: Error from fcntl() for file locking, Resource temporarily unavailable, errno=11
This error is due to the NFS system not releasing the lock on the stores. WebLogic Server maintains locks on files used for storing JMS data and transaction logs to protect from potential data corruption if two instances of the same WebLogic Server are accidentally started. The NFS storage device does not become aware of machine failure in a timely manner and the locks are not released by the storage device. As a result, after abrupt machine failure, followed by a restart, any subsequent attempt by WebLogic Server to acquire locks on the previously locked files may fail. Refer to your storage vendor documentation for additional information on the locking of files stored in NFS mounted directories on the storage device. If it is not reasonably possible to tune locking behavior in your NFS environment, use one of the following two solutions to unlock the logs and data files.
Use one of the following two solutions to unlock the logs and data files:
Manually unlock the logs and JMS data files and start the servers by creating a copy of the locked persistence store file and using the copy for subsequent operations. To create a copy of the locked persistence store file, rename the file, and then copy it back to its original name. The following sample steps assume that transaction logs are stored in the
/shared/tlogs directory and JMS data is stored in the
/shared/jms directory.
Example 8-2 Sample Steps to Remove NFS Locks
cd /shared/tlogs mv _WLS_SOA_SERVER1000000.DAT _WLS_SOA_SERVER1000000.DAT.old cp _WLS_SOA_SERVER1000000.DAT.old _WLS_SOA_SERVER1000000.DAT cd /shared/jms mv SOAJMSFILESTORE_AUTO_1000000.DAT SOAJMSFILESTORE_AUTO_1000000.DAT.old cp SOAJMSFILESTORE_AUTO_1000000.DAT.old SOAJMSFILESTORE_AUTO_1000000.DAT mv UMSJMSFILESTORE_AUTO_1000000.DAT UMSJMSFILESTORE_AUTO_1000000.DAT.old cp UMSJMSFILESTORE_AUTO_1000000.DAT.old UMSJMSFILESTORE_AUTO_1000000.DAT
With this solution, the WebLogic file locking mechanism continues to provide protection from any accidental data corruption if multiple instances of the same servers were accidently started. However, the servers must be restarted manually after abrupt machine failures. File stores will create multiple consecutively numbered .DAT files when they are used to store large amounts of data. All files may need to be copied and renamed when this occurs.
Note:With this solution, since the WebLogic Server locking is disabled, automated server restarts and failovers should succeed. Be very cautious, however, when using this option. The WebLogic file locking feature is designed to help prevent severe file corruptions that can occur in undesired concurrency scenarios. If the server using the file store is configured for server migration, always configure the database based leasing option. This enforces additional locking mechanisms using database tables, and prevents automated restart of more than one instance of the same WebLogic Server. Additional procedural precautions must be implemented to avoid any human error and to ensure that one and only one instance of a server is manually started at any give point in time. Similarly, extra precautions must be taken to ensure that no two domains have a store with the same name that references the same directory.
You can also use the WebLogic Server Administration Console to disable WebLogic file locking mechanisms for the default file store, a custom file store, a JMS paging file store, and a Diagnostics file store, as described in the following sections:
Follow these steps to disable file locking for the default file store using the WebLogic Server Administration Console:
If necessary, click Lock & Edit in the Change Center (upper left corner) of the Administration Console to get an Edit lock for the domain.
2. In the Domain Structure tree, expand the Environment node and select Servers.
In the Summary of Servers list, select the server you want to modify.
Select the Configuration > Services tab.
Scroll down to the Default Store section and click Advanced.
Scroll down and deselect the Enable File Locking check box.
Click Save to save the changes. If necessary, click Activate Changes in the Change Center.
Restart the server you modified for the changes to take effect.
The resulting
config.xml entry looks like:
Example 8-3 Example config.xml Entry for Disabling File Locking for a Default File Store
<server> <name>examplesServer</name> ... <default-file-store> <synchronous-write-policy>Direct-Write</synchronous-write-policy> <io-buffer-size>-1</io-buffer-size> <max-file-size>1342177280</max-file-size> <block-size>-1</block-size> <initial-size>0</initial-size> <file-locking-enabled>false</file-locking-enabled> </default-file-store> </server>
Use the following steps to disable file locking for a custom file store using the WebLogic Server Administration Console:
If necessary, click Lock & Edit in the Change Center (upper left corner) of the Administration Console to get an Edit lock for the domain.
In the Domain Structure tree, expand the Services node and select Persistent Stores.
In the Summary of Persistent Stores list, select the custom file store you want to modify.
On the Configuration tab for the custom file store, click Advanced to display advanced store settings.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and deselect the Enable File Locking check box.
Click Save to save the changes. If necessary, click Activate Changes in the Change Center.
If the custom file store was in use, you must restart the server for the changes to take effect.
The resulting
config.xml entry looks like:
Example 8-4 Example config.xml Entry for Disabling File Locking for a Custom File Store
<file-store> <name>CustomFileStore-0</name> <directory>C:\custom-file-store</directory> <synchronous-write-policy>Direct-Write</synchronous-write-policy> <io-buffer-size>-1</io-buffer-size> <max-file-size>1342177280</max-file-size> <block-size>-1</block-size> <initial-size>0</initial-size> <file-locking-enabled>false</file-locking-enabled> <target>examplesServer</target> </file-store>
Use the following steps to disable file locking for a JMS paging file store using the WebLogic Server Administration Console:
If necessary, click Lock & Edit in the Change Center (upper left corner) of the Administration Console to get an Edit lock for the domain.
In the Domain Structure tree, expand the Services node, expand the Messaging node, and select JMS Servers.
In the Summary of JMS Servers list, select the JMS server you want to modify.
On the Configuration > General tab for the JMS Server, scroll down and deselect the Paging File Locking Enabled check box.
Click Save to save the changes. If necessary, click Activate Changes in the Change Center.
Restart the server you modified for the changes to take effect.
The resulting
config.xml entry looks like:
Example 8-5 Example config.xml Entry for Disabling File Locking for a JMS Paging File Store
<jms-server> <name>examplesJMSServer</name> <target>examplesServer</target> <persistent-store>exampleJDBCStore</persistent-store> ... <paging-file-locking-enabled>false</paging-file-locking-enabled> ... </jms-server>
Use the following steps to disable file locking for a Diagnostics file store using the WebLogic Server Administration Console:
If necessary, click Lock & Edit in the Change Center (upper left corner) of the Administration Console to get an Edit lock for the domain.
In the Domain Structure tree, expand the Diagnostics node and select Archives.
In the Summary of Diagnostic Archives list, select the server name of the archive that you want to modify.
On the Settings for [server_name] page, deselect the Diagnostic Store File Locking Enabled check box.
Click Save to save the changes. If necessary, click Activate Changes in the Change Center.
Restart the server you modified for the changes to take effect.
The resulting
config.xml entry looks like:
Example 8-6 Example config.xml Entry for Disabling File Locking for a Diagnostics File Store
<server> <name>examplesServer</name> ... <server-diagnostic-config> <diagnostic-store-dir>data/store/diagnostics</diagnostic-store-dir> <diagnostic-store-file-locking-enabled>false</diagnostic-store-file-lockingenabled> <diagnostic-data-archive-type>FileStoreArchive</diagnostic-data-archive-type> <data-retirement-enabled>true</data-retirement-enabled> <preferred-store-size-limit>100</preferred-store-size-limit> <store-size-check-period>1</store-size-check-period> </server-diagnostic-config> </server>


text:
CINCINNATI (WKRC) - A Vevay, Indiana mother is accused of flipping her car on I-71 while under the influence of heroin while her twin toddlers were in the backseat. Ashley Davis was arraigned on charges of child endangering, OVI, and drug and traffic charges.
Police say Davis crashed on the highway in Silverton on Thursday. Narcan was used to revive her and she was taken to the hospital.
Her twins were properly restrained in the backseat and reportedly weren't hurt. They are currently with Davis' parents.
Investigators say they found heroin and a syringe in the car.
Assistant prosecutor David Wood said these drivers who ingest heroin are such a danger because they never know what they're getting from dealers: "They're shooting complete question marks every time they shoot up and when you put two young children, age 2, in a couple-thousand-pound car and get on the expressway after you've shot heroin, you have no respect or regard for other people, you have no respect or regard for your own children, and certainly you've lost all respect or regard for your own life."
Davis can get out of jail if she wears an electronic monitoring device. Her attorney said she'll seek treatment.


text:
The First Phone Call from Heaven
From the beloved author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven comes his most thrilling and magical novel yet — a page-turning mystery and a meditation on the power of human connection.
One morning in the small town of Coldwater, Michigan, the phones start ringing. The voices say they are calling from heaven. Is it the greatest miracle ever? Or some cruel hoax? As news of these strange calls spreads, outsiders flock to Coldwater to be a part of it.At the same time, a disgraced pilot named Sully Harding returns to Coldwater from prison to discover his hometown gripped by "miracle fever." Even his young son carries a toy phone, hoping to hear from his mother in heaven.As the calls increase, and proof of an afterlife begins to surface, the town — and the world — transforms. Only Sully, convinced there is nothing beyond this sad life, digs into the phenomenon, determined to disprove it for his child and his own broken heart.
Moving seamlessly between the invention of the telephone in 1876 and a world obsessed with the next level of communication, Mitch Albom takes readers on a breathtaking ride of frenzied hope.
The First Phone Call from Heaven is Albom at his best — a virtuosic story of love, history, and belief.


text:
A call for papers — with submission deadline of 15 February 2011 — has been issued for LVI 2011: Law via the Internet Conference, to be held 8-10 June 2011, at the University of Hong Kong in Hong Kong, China.
The conference will be hosted by the Hong Kong Legal Information Institute (HKLII).
LVI is the conference of the Free Access to Law Movement and the legal information institutes.
For LVI 2011, papers are invited on the following topics:
- Challenges and barriers in free access to law in Asia and elsewhere
- Multi-lingual legal databases and searching
- Legal issues in the provision of free legal information
- Governance and funding models for sustainability of free legal databases
- Making historical legal materials accessible online
- Social networking technologies and their implications for free access to law?
- Keeping track of legislative evolution online
- Quality control and timeliness of online legal services
- Standards for legal information on the web?
- Free access to law as community services
- International law on the web: Treaties, International Courts etc
- Finding law across the web – indexing and searching
- Litigation support on the web
- Innovative uses of online legal data
- Court registries and electronic filing / transactions
- Interactive and 'intelligent' legal services on the web
- Teaching law using internet resources
- Automation of large-scale legal data on the web
- Legal publishing via the web
For more information, please see the call for papers.


text:
Apache is functioning normally
When my husband and I got married nine years ago, we had an audacious dream of paying cash for our first home. At that time, it was very much a far-off dream — we were just trying to survive the rigors and expenses of law school without going in debt. That alone was a seemingly gigantic feat.
But after three years of law school, my husband did graduate without debt, passed the bar, and we started planning for the future. Since we'd been renting for almost four years, my husband had a good job, and our second baby was on the way, pretty much everyone expected that buying a house would be in our immediate future.
I mean, after all, isn't buying a house the responsible thing for a young couple to do? Well, maybe — or maybe not. We didn't have much money in savings, and we weren't sure how long we would be living in the town we were in, so we chose to go against conventional wisdom and continued renting.
Setting a Goal
Within the next six months, my husband lost his job, we relocated to another city so he could find work, I had some significant health problems in my pregnancy which resulted in numerous hospital and doctor's bills, and we had our second baby. Needless to say, we were incredibly thankful that we hadn't taken out a mortgage and then had to deal with the headache of trying to sell a house at the last minute — especially since the housing market was poor in our area.
It was around this time that we were first introduced to Dave Ramsey. While we didn't have any debt and had always lived on a strict budget, going through his Financial Peace University Class fired us up to set big financial goals and work hard to accomplish them.
One of the big goals we decided to aim for was paying cash for our first home. We crunched a bunch of numbers and realized that, if we continued to live simply and frugally and worked hard to bring in extra money through side jobs, we could save enough over the course of five years to pay cash for a starter home.
It felt like a mammoth goal and we weren't sure if we could do it, but we decided to go for it anyway. We figured that, even if we didn't make our goal in five years, we'd at least be a lot closer to it than if we didn't try at all! Plus, from our calculations, we'd be in a lot better position to wait to buy — even if it took seven years to save up enough for a house — than if we were to go ahead and get 15-year mortgage and pay it off early.
We knew that we could buy a decent starter home in the area where we were planning to move for around $100,000 to $110,000, so we divided $100,000 by 60 (since there are sixty months in five years) and set a goal to save $1700 every month. Because we didn't have any debt or school loans, and because we lived simply and frugally, we were able to live on significantly less than we were making, thus freeing up a good chunk of money to put towards our house savings each month.
Gazelle-Like Intensity
Once we set this goal and I blogged about it publicly, we were incredibly motivated to work as hard as we could and delay every purchase we could in order to put as much as possible into our house savings fund. We used coupons, ate a lot of meatless meals, shopped at thrift stores, cooked from scratch, brown bagged it, continued to use our old and worn-down furniture, didn't replace anything that wasn't an absolute necessity, limited our going out to eat, only had one car, stayed home a lot, used gift cards from Swagbucks to buy any non-necessities, bought eye glasses from Zenni optical, learned to be content with what we had, and continued to live on a strict written budget.
Meanwhile, we also looked for ways to increase our income. I blogged, wrote ebooks, and took on freelance writing jobs. My husband did contract work, started his own law firm, and helped me running the blogging business.
That first year, we didn't always make our monthly savings goals. We had some unexpected medical bills and car problems that ate up a portion of our savings. But we kept plugging away, throwing whatever extra we could squeeze out of our income toward savings.
The few years of long hours and hard work we'd put into blogging started to really pay big dividends and by the second year, we were meeting and exceeding our monthly savings goals every single month. As our house savings fund increased, we began to get so excited that we kind of went overboard and worked long, long hours in order to meet our savings goal even faster. I wouldn't recommend putting in such long hours, missing so many social events, or sleeping so little, but the effort paid off because, at the end of two and a half years, we paid 100% down on our first home!
Even though I wish we had given ourselves a little more breathing room and margin while saving, it was thrilling, fulfilling, and exciting to achieve this goal — in half the time we had initially planned. And we are thankful we chose to take a counter-cultural route and pay cash for our house. Not having a mortgage payment has freed us to continue to save aggressively toward other goals, increase our spending in areas that really matter to us, and give generously to needs in our community and around the world.
Source: getrichslowly.org


text:
Sprint Selects Airbiquity as a Technology Provider for its Sprint Velocity Solution
SEATTLE, Wash. – Nov. 29, 2012 – Sprint, a market leader in engineering and deploying innovative wireless communications services, today announced its selection of Airbiquity as a technology provider for its Sprint Velocity global connected vehicle solution. Airbiquity is a global leader in wireless connected vehicle services. The two companies have reached an agreement to use the Airbiquity Choreo service delivery platform within the Sprint Velocity solution for vehicle manufacturers.
"Sprint is leading the way in helping automakers more easily and affordably provide connected services in their autos and passenger trucks, and we are excited to expand our capability through pivotal relationships with market leaders like Airbiquity," said Wayne Ward, vice president, Emerging Solutions, Sprint. "Airbiquity's Choreo is a valuable addition to our Sprint Velocity ecosystem, providing a potent technology option for the integration of in-vehicle communication systems."
Sprint is actively working with industry-leading technology providers to pioneer mobile integration and enablement for auto manufacturers, as well as other connected transportation solutions. Connected transportation technologies play an increasingly important role in reducing environmental impact, supporting the development of smart grid/electric vehicle implementations, and minimizing driver distraction. Sprint and Airbiquity are also exploring additional market segments where they might collaborate, including other transportation and medical markets.
"Wireless operators have significant market reach and scale and are playing a pivotal role in the design of connected vehicle solutions," said John Canali, senior analyst of the Global Automotive Practice at Strategy Analytics. "Combining the scale of wireless operators with the capabilities of category specialists would be very attractive to a number of automotive companies."
"Sprint is a true wireless innovator and M2M market leader, and Airbiquity is pleased to contribute its expertise and experience to the groundbreaking Sprint Velocity connected vehicle solution," said David Jumpa, chief revenue officer, Airbiquity. "Our proven track record, matched with the flexible and resilient nature of our Choreo service delivery platform, will enable us to bring global solutions to market for the many complex M2M service challenges facing more and more industries."
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served nearly 56 million customers at the end of the third quarter of 2012 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The American Customer Satisfaction Index rated Sprint No. 1 among all national carriers in customer satisfaction and most improved, across all 47 industries, during the last four years. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 3 in both its 2011 and 2012 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation's greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com orwww.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.


text:
A perfectly legal move has landed a high school wrestler in court, charged with a sex crime. What exactly constitutes the feared but misunderstood "butt drag?"
In theory, it involves grabbing an opponent's behind to gain leverage when in a ground position. In practice, it often involves a finger or two slipping into the anus.
It's in the news because a California wrestler has been charged with sexual battery after using the move on a teammate during practice. (Three years ago, another wrestler was charged with rape after doing it to six opponents. He was convicted and sentenced to probation.)
The controversy has led to a number of matter-of-fact quotes that are giggle-inducing, like one coach who says the "checking the oil" part of the move isn't encouraged.
To think I'd ever instruct my guys to get on the mat and practice sticking their fingers in their teammates' rear end, it's stupid and ridiculous," longtime Fresno State wrestling coach Dennis DeLiddo said. "A butt drag isn't sticking your finger up a guy's [rectum]. That'd be illegal. That'd be counterproductive."
Then there's the executive director of the National Wrestling Coaches Association, who clarifies "it is never acceptable to insert fingers into the opponent's anus (regardless of duration)."
It's quite the dark, brown cloud hanging over wrestling. They've really got to knuckle down and come up with a solution before the competitors take matters into their own hands. Fisting joke.
Fresno court case alarms wrestling community [Fresno Bee]
[h/t Art]


text:
Women buy more trainers than high heels for the first time ever
Almost half of women aged between 35 and 44 (48 per cent) have bought trainers in the past year, compared to 30 per cent who have bought new heels.
The research by consumer analysts Mintel confirmed that 2016 is the first time more women have bought new trainers than high heels.
And experts say mature celebrities such as former Spice Girl Victoria, 42, are thought to be influencing sneaker sales.
Previously, trainers and high heels sales matched, with 35 per cent of women buying new heels and trainers in 2015.
Overall, flat shoes are still the most popular type of shoes purchased, at 51 per cent.
The research showed 30 per cent bought flat boots, while 25 per cent bought flat sandals came.
And sales of heels look set to fall flat, as 59 per cent of women said they preferred to buy flat shoes, compared to just 12 per cent who would rather don heels.
And that could be down to a desire for comfort over style, as three-quarters (74 per cent) who bought shoes last year said feeling comfortable was more important than fashion.
And 39 per cent said they opted for sporty or casual styles of shoes, compared to just one in five (21 per cent) who preferred formal styles of shoes.
Tamara Sender, senior fashion analyst at Mintel, said: "For the first time ever sales of trainers have overtaken high heels.
"The UK sportswear market has seen strong growth in the last year, and there has been a trend for consumers to integrate sports clothing into their daily wardrobes, meaning trainers have also become more popular among women, overtaking heels to become the second favourite item of footwear after flat shoes.
"Athletic footwear is increasingly being used for everyday non-sporting activities, showing that trainers are now more likely to be used for non-sports use.
"Women aged 35 to 44 have become the main trainer buyers, proving the trend is no longer limited to younger consumers."


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4. Report of R. J. Meigs to the Secretary of War on the inquiry into fraud re: selections, locations and sale of Creek Reserves, August 20, 1834.
5. Letter from R. J. Meigs and Leonard Tarrant to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs (Elbert Herring) re: claims of Vann and Ridge against the Creeks, October 16, 1834.
6. Letter from R. J. Meigs to the Secretary of War re: fraud in selling of Creek Reserves, June 11, 1834.
7. Letter from Elbert Herring to R. J. Meigs and Leonard Tarrant re: Vann and Ridge claim, July 7, 1834.
8. Letter from G. L. Floyd to R. J. Meigs re: fraud in sale of Creek Reserves, July 7, 1834.
9. Letter from R. J. Meigs to Judge White re: a proposition for removal of Creek Reserves, May 7, 1834.
10. Letter from R. J. Meigs to G. L. Floyd re: sale of Creek lands, June 13, 1834.
11. Letter of R. J. Meigs to the Secretary of War re: omissions in the Census and removal of Creeks who owned improvements, September 30, 1834.
Flap Folder IV
1. Creek delegation documents, 1883-1893:
a. Telegram from H. M. Teller to S. S. Benedict giving instructions re: investigation of Creek election of Principal Chief, December 26, 1883.
b. Draft of a telegram to Perryman from Grayson and Hodge re: Price's written opinion, February 4, 1884.
c. Printed statements of the Creek delegates in Washington, DC, February 9, 1893.
d. Two letters: (1) Delegates G. W. Grayson and D. M. Hodge to Commissioner Price (March 22, 1884); (2) E. L. Stevens, Acting Commissioner, to G. W. Grayson, et. al., re: balance of money owed to the Creeks ($728.77). May 13, 1884.
e. Statement prepared by G. W. Grayson to be submitted to the House of Warriors during the election controversy in December 1883. Circumstances changed, and the statement was never given. December 8, 1883.
f. Veto of Samuel Checote of an act relative to time of elections.
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Department of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering
Exploring sustainable engineering practices
The Department of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering involves the study of three major areas of engineering. Civil engineering looks at the construction of major infrastructure; mining engineering examines the processes involved in extracting minerals from the earth; and environmental engineering studies sustainable practices.
I chose environmental engineering because I was able to combine my interest in STEM subjects (such as maths and biology) with my passion for helping others and making a difference.Emma Congear
We have fantastic, engaging lecturers and we're given a lot of flexibility with the units we study. There's so many different elective units so we can tailor the course to our own interests and career goals.
Environmental Engineering student
Undergraduate courses
Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)
Civil Engineering major
Civil engineering studies the design, construction and maintenance of major projects, such as roads, bridges, canals, harbours, dams and buildings. This specialisation covers geotechnical and earthquake engineering, structural engineering, surveying, construction and transport engineering.
Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)
Environmental Engineering major
This specialisation provides detailed advice on environmental management and design, ecological engineering and design, environmental modelling, contaminant fate and transport, hydrology, environmental fluid mechanics and more. You'll gain the skills to use creative solutions for the environmental challenges facing our world.
Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)
Mining Engineering major
Mining engineering covers the processes used to extract minerals from the earth, including deposit evaluation, mine design, mine production and waste disposal. Specialising in this area will expose you to geology, finance and management, surface mining, underground mining, rock mechanics and mine design.
Interested in becoming a civil, environmental or mining engineer?
Complete UWA's Bachelor of Engineering (Honours), selecting either the Civil, Environmental or Mining Engineering specialisation.
Postgraduate courses
Our research areas
- Geotechnical Engineering
- Structural Engineering
- Hydrodynamics and Structural Engineering
- Environmental Engineering
- Mining Engineering
Our research clusters
Oceans research offers expertise in solutions for the development of resources for energy, minerals and food production in the ocean environment.Read more
Real time Optimisation Scheduling and Logistics
This group's research develops optimisation, scheduling and control solutions for the mining and offshore extraction sectors and associated operations, such as transport, energy supply and the servicing of remote communities.Read more
Automation and Robotics
Automation and Robotics researches engineering systems applications where continuous human presence is either undesirable or impossible.Read more
Our researchers contribute to advancing agricultural education and research through a range of groups, centres and programs focused on specialised areas.
Industry partnerships
The Department of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering has a range of partnerships with small and large organisations, assisting graduates into careers relating to their degree.
Our partners include:
- Pritchard Francis
- Georgiou
- Arup
- Atteris
- Main Roads
- Golder Associates
- Water Corporation
- Aurecon
- CMW Geosciences
Professor Phil Watson is also Shell Chair in Offshore Engineering.
View the Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering Industry Advisory Panel members
Our people
Professor Yuxia Hu
Professor Yuxia Hu is a soil behaviour expert within UWA's Department of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering.Read more about Yuxia Hu
Zachary Aman
Dr Zachary Aman is the Chevron Woodside Chair for the Centre in Long Subsea Tiebacks and the Program Chair of the Master of Engineering in Oil and Gas, with research specialities in flow assurance and gas hydrates.Read more about Zachary Aman
Brendan Kennedy
Dr Brendan Kennedy is Head of the Bioimaging Research and Innovation for Translational Engineering Lab (BRITElab) at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research and a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computing Engineering at The University of Western Australia (UWA).Read more about Brendan Kennedy
Our facilities
CO2 Lab
The CO2 Lab provides critical data to inform research into the most efficient and safe ways to process and transport CO2 for carbon storage purposes.Read more about CO2 Lab
The EZONE UWA Student Hub is a world-class learning space for engineering and mathematical science students, industry, alumni and community.Read more about EZONE
The BRITElab is a world-class laboratory facility for biomedical and bioengineering research in Western Australia.Read more about BRITElab
Monadelphous Integrated Learning Centre
The Monadelphous Integrated Learning Centre (MILC) is the result of an innovative alliance between The University of Western Australia and leading national engineering group Monadelphous. In this centre, world-class teaching and practical training in engineering combine to form a learning environment that is based on a simulated professional workplace.Read more about Monadelphous Integrated Learning Centre
Get in touch+61 8 6488 3552
Send an enquiry[email protected]
Find us on campusMap
Our staff
UWA students and staff, 8:30am to 4:30pm, Monday to FridayA-Z Staff Profiles


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The 70-200mm f/2.8 makes a great place to put down your peanut butter sandwich too!
Is it making faces at me?
Dr. Retner's Famous Spam Carbonara
As they say, "When in Hawaii..." It was delicious.
Sunset from above the clouds, Maunakea
Ian getting a good shot of Silversword
It's cold at 9,000+ feet but he was prepared.
The Milky Way and the Volcano
The "light pollution" on the horizon is Kilauea's caldera...
Lava Tube, Volcanoes National Park
Looking for birds, Maunaloa
Saffron Finches
Whale Watching
Honu taking a nap in the sun


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Is College Worth It?
In 2010, the average annual tuition plus expenses at a private, nonprofit, four-year college reached about $35,000, according to U.S.News & World Report.1 This $140,000 investment for undergraduate students who graduate in four years represents the most expensive route to earning a degree available today. Considering the variety of less expensive options available, students and their families are asking a direct question: Is the costly investment of a private college or university really worth it? I contend the answer is a resounding "Yes!," even in the midst of tough circumstances.
With 7.6 million American people unemployed, students and families must exercise more fiscal caution than ever in selecting an institution of higher education. The realities of life in a resource-challenged economy prompt students to pursue the highest quality education at the lowest possible cost. While families everywhere grapple with affordability, few question the commonly understood benefits of postsecondary education. The most compelling motivators for pursuing a college degree include increased earning potential, career and/or vocational preparation, and quality of life. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, greater levels of education correspond to greater income. A college graduate will earn an average of $412 more per week or $21,424 per year. Master's and professional degree holders increase the annual financial advantages to $33,592 and $40,768, respectively. The Social Security Administration defines the normal retirement age as 67 years old. If a college graduate works from age 25 through age 67, a bachelor's degree will provide an $899,808 benefit, representing more than a 6 percent annual return on an investment of $140,000.
In addition to increasing earning potential, a college education has become a requirement for many entry-level employment opportunities. Many jobs previously secured by hardworking and intellectually astute high school graduates now require a bachelor's degree. Former University of Southern California President Steven Sample, Ph.D., explains, "The B.A. degree has even created a form of social shorthand in which knowing the university a person attended, and the subject in which he or she majored, provides a snapshot of a person's interests and abilities—a kind of intellectual first impression."2 The Public Policy Institute of California concurs and predicts "that 41 percent of jobs in 2025 will require a college degree." While content-specific knowledge that formerly allowed people to thrive in various careers remains essential, employers seek the breadth of experiences inherent in a college graduate. In fact, many require even more. In today's competitive marketplace, establishing a career calls for at least an undergraduate degree, often a master's degree, and substantial experience. With labor market activity indicating that many Americans will have an average of 11 jobs in their working career, a college education serves as a prerequisite for both marketability and flexibility.
Meeting the minimum qualifications for a variety of employment opportunities provides college-educated candidates the necessary fortitude to reinvent themselves in the marketplace. The discipline, persistence, and intellectual acumen required to successfully complete degree requirements are transferable skills. These skills prove relevant across diverse workplace environments, from boardrooms to mission fields. One of my first jobs after earning a Bachelor of Arts in History called for a computer science degree in the position description. Similarly, a thriving librarian I know earned an undergraduate degree in veterinary science. While it is not advisable for students to invest the resources of time and money into academic programs unrelated to their career interests, the extensibility of a college degree is noteworthy. Preparing students to critically evaluate, integrate, and apply knowledge, while demonstrating competence in the content and methods of their chosen discipline or professional program, effectively trains graduates for the world of work. This undoubtedly accounts for the lower unemployment rate among college graduates compared to those without a college education. The unemployment rate of those with a bachelor's degree is roughly half the rate of those without college experience. The rate drops to less than 2.5 percent unemployment with a master's degree, and less than 2 percent with a doctorate.3 In what might be called a survival-of-the-fittest economy, higher education produces the most viable contenders.
Clearly, the rigorous process of earning a college degree warrants the investment and effort regardless of institutional type. A degree from any appropriately accredited institution should correlate with financial returns and employability. Why then should students pay more in annual tuition to attend a private institution rather than a seemingly less expensive public college or university? As with all major purchases, there is more involved in the cost of a college education than simply the sticker price. Two significant factors make the actual cost of attending a private institution more cost effective: graduation rates and lost income. In an examination of graduation rates by private institutions comparable to the University of California (UC) system, the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities (AICCU) found that 71 percent of the students in private schools graduated within four years as opposed to only 58 percent in the UC system. The success rates of private institutions comparable to the California State University (CSU) system proved even more substantial, with 45 percent of students in private institutions completing in four years contrasted with only 18 percent within the CSU system. Delays in obtaining the bachelor's degree, which historically averaged four years to complete, represents lost income potential for students. The AICCU reports that the cost savings inherent in graduating from a private institution within four years in California, rather than a public institution that may take even longer, can total as much as $100,000. This significant cost savings, and the other advantages inherent in the 13–27 percent greater possibility of graduating within four years, mitigates the annual tuition differentials between public and private institutions.4
Understanding the advantages of pursuing higher education and the near equivalent cost of attending a public or private institution, discerning students and families must then examine the value of a school's mission and identity. This is where faith-based institutions in general, and APU in particular, stand apart. Advancing the work of God in the world through academic excellence in liberal arts and professional programs of higher education that encourage students to develop a Christian perspective of truth and life distinguishes the APU community and its graduates. Within and outside the classroom, students engage processes of intellectual and spiritual provocation that foster their growth, renewal, and transformation.
This is significant for students pursuing higher education as a means of financial viability and stability in the future, as well as those primarily directed toward vocational training and preparation in response to a divine call on their lives. Tearrah (Gamble '03) Brown, M.Ed. '05, who earned her bachelor's degree in liberal studies and master's degree in education, believes that APU provides "more than just a degree." When she sought a Christian institution, cost did not influence her decision as she received sufficient funding from scholarships and grants, and believed that "God would take care of the rest." Currently a full-time homemaker, she reaps the benefits of her education. "Even though I'm not using my degree in a school setting, I'm utilizing my learning to ensure the academic success of my children, which is worth all the money in the world."
Students and alumni in undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs attest to the transformative experience provided by the Christ-centered education at APU. John Wick '06, M.A. '08, a doctoral candidate for the Ed.D. in Educational Leadership with an emphasis in Teaching and Learning, confirms the value of education from a Christian perspective. "As a working professional, my main priority was to find a program that would help me to earn my B.A. quickly and still be held to high academic standards. APU's School of Adult and Professional Studies (APS) program and focus on Christian values solidified my decision to attend." The APS program offers accelerated bachelor's and master's degree programs in online and face-to-face formats, affording working professionals an ideal opportunity to pursue higher education.
Wick comments that after earning his B.A., he "was so impressed with the school, its Four Cornerstones [Christ, Scholarship, Community, and Service], and its dedication to spiritual and academic excellence that I continued to attend." Wick followed his B.A. in Human Development with a concentration in English with an M.A. in Education and two credentials. Currently, Wick serves as vice principal and technology coordinator at St. Justin Martyr Parish School in Anaheim, California.
Kirsten Garrett '11, an executive manager for Target, applies her business education and APU's service emphasis daily. "I'm challenged to constantly raise the bar, achieve more significant goals, and figure out ways to engage and inspire my team to achieve them," said Garrett. "Leading through service, as Christ did, never fails to drive results. APU challenged me to develop a servant leader mindset and integrate my faith into all situations. Because of this, I know I'm serving and glorifying God first, which is what we are all called to do, especially in our careers. I've applied this approach to my work and can see the fruit. You can't put a price on this!"
Overwhelming evidence makes a convincing case for higher education and debunks the myth that private institutions cost more than their public counterparts. Given this frame of reference, the overriding question shifts from whether a private college or university is worth it to: Which college or university provides an experience worth even more than the degree awarded at graduation? When students with this criterion search the college landscape, Azusa Pacific shines like an "illuminated city on a hill," as President Jon Wallace describes in the APU Shared Vision 2022. A closer look reveals the nature of that light—a God First mentality that permeates the campus and facilitates faith integration that enriches the mind and character of each student; advanced scholarship and research that create a dynamic and challenging intellectual environment that develops critical thinkers prepared to lead, envision, and innovate; and a global perspective across disciplines that captivates faculty and students and leads to real-world solutions that make a transformational impact on culture and society. Whether at APU or another reputable institution, students and their families can rest in the knowledge that the investments of financial resources, intellectual effort, and valuable time will unequivocally return dividends over a lifetime.
Posted: March 12, 2012