text:
Running SPECjAppServer2004 benchmark on Geronimo
Still not a success, your help needed!
This article shows how to measure the performance of the Geronimo application server using the industry standard SPECjAppServer2004 benchmark.
Issues still exist that prevent SPECjAppServer2004 from running on Geronimo.
This article is not a success story, but a collection of notes on the progress that has been made in this direction.
Current issue that requires your help is: #Running the benchmark
Disclaimer: This article is created to write down the existing experience and to make it reproducible. It is not targeted to be a comprehensive guide on either product or on merging them together. It's not also a replacement to the products' documentation, but just a step-by-step guide on how to make things work in a simple configuration, as it worked for me. Make sure you at least look through the documentation on both products before you proceed.
SPECjAppServer is a trademark of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. (SPEC). The SPECjAppServer2004 results or findings in this publication have not been reviewed or accepted by SPEC, therefore no comparison nor performance inference can be made against any published SPEC result. The official web site for SPECjAppServer2004 is located at http://www.spec.org/jAppServer2004/.
This article is written for SPECjAppServer2004 v1.05 and Geronimo v1.1. For other versions some stages may be different. Version of this article for Geronimo v1.0 is available here.
The described configuration uses as many Geronimo components as possible, including the built-in Derby database and the built-in Jetty or Tomcat servlet container. In fact, the configuration only uses Java, Geronimo, an external servlet container (e. g. Tomcat) and SPECjAppServer2004. To plug external components (most probably, a database), you have to change your configuration accordingly.
This configuration also assumes that all the components (except, possibly, the SPECjAppServer2004 Driver and the SPECjAppServer2004 Supplier Emulator and its servlet container) are run on the same machine. If you want to run the Distributed workload, your configuration will be different.
This configuration uses the Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 operating system, Cygwin shell, Sun Java SE 1.4.2 and Tomcat v5.0.30 to write this article. If you use another OS, Java or servlet container, some stages may be different.
This article uses forward slashes ( / ) for command lines, adjust to backslashes ( \ ) accordingly if you use Windows command prompt.
This article has the following structure:
- #General information
- #Obtaining products
- #Conventions and environment
- #Installing products
- #Configuring Geronimo
- #Configuring SPECjAppServer2004
- #Deploying components
- #Deploying the Supplier Emulator
- #Running the benchmark
- #Processing results
General information
About Geronimo
Geronimo is the Apache Software Foundation Java EE 1.4 certified application server. It is developed under Apache License and can be downloaded freely.
Apache site: http://apache.org
Product site: http://geronimo.apache.org
Documentation page: http://geronimo.apache.org/documentation.html
The best document available is "Apache Geronimo Development and Deployment" book by Aaron Mulder: http://chariotsolutions.com/geronimo/geronimo-html-one-page.html
The second necessary doc is the Wiki page: http://wiki.apache.org/geronimo/
About SPECjAppServer2004
SPECjAppServer2004 is a commercial benchmark for measuring the performance of Java EE application servers.
SPEC site: http://www.spec.org
Product site: http://www.spec.org/jAppServer2004/
FAQ: http://www.spec.org/jAppServer2004/docs/FAQ.html
User's Guide: http://www.spec.org/jAppServer2004/docs/UserGuide.html
Run and Reporting Rules: http://www.spec.org/jAppServer2004/docs/RunRules.html
Obtaining products
Obtaining Geronimo
The latest Geronimo version for now is 1.1.
General download page: http://geronimo.apache.org/downloads.html
Two builds of Geronimo exist, with Jetty or Tomcat servlet container enabled by default. You can download either one at http://geronimo.apache.org/downloads.html, they are slightly larger than 60 MB in size. This document was written primarily using Jetty version, but Tomcat version works fine also.
Obtaining SPECjAppServer2004
SPECjAppServer2004 costs $2000, you can order it online. See FAQ for details.
The latest version is 1.05 coming as the
SPECjAppServer2004-Kit-v1.05-050425.jar file, 12 MB in size.
Conventions and environment
This section contains important notions that mark the important hosts and directories.
This article is written in terms of the following machines:
geronimo.host– the machine where Geronimo is run, with SPECjAppServer2004 deployed.
emulator.host– the machine where the SPECjAppServer2004 Supplier Emulator is deployed.
driver.host– the machine where the SPECjAppServer2004 Driver is run. If you use configuration with multiple Drivers, you have to repeat all the operations for this host on all Driver hosts.
master.host– the main, Master
driver.hostin configurations with multiple Drivers.
emulator.host and the
driver.host may be the same machine.
geronimo.host and the
emulator.host may be the same machine, moreover, the SPECjAppServer2004 Supplier Emulator may be deployed into a Geronimo built-in servlet container (Jetty or Tomcat).
geronimo.host and the
driver.host may be the same machine, but you have to adjust the Geronimo configuration, as both Geronimo and the SPECjAppServer2004 Driver create RMI Registry on the default port (1099) and would conflict on that.
geronimo.host with
emulator.host or
driver.host is contradicting with the SPECjAppServer2004 documentation and would impact the performance severely and invalidate the benchmark results. However technically this is possible.
This section lists important directories that are futher addressed in this article. They can be chosen arbitrary, but should not overlap.
<GERONIMO>– directory at the
geronimo.hostwhere Geronimo is installed.
<SPEC>– directory at the
geronimo.hostwhere SPECjAppServer2004 is installed.
<KIT>– directory at the
geronimo.hostcontaining the files attached to this article.
<TOMCAT>– directory at the
emulator.hostwhere Tomcat is installed.
<DRIVER>– directory at the
driver.hostthat is a copy of the
<DRIVER_GERONIMO>– directory at the
driver.hostthat is a copy of the
JAVA_HOMElocation at the
<OUTPUT>– directory at the
driver.hostwhere the SPECjAppServer2004 Driver will store its output.
<DUMP>– directory at the
driver.hostwhere the SPECjAppServer2004 Driver will store its temporal files.
It was reported that some components may work incorrectly if working paths are too long or contain spaces. So it's recommended that you avoid long paths and spaces in them.
Installing products
First, save the files attached to this article to a local directory. This will be your
<KIT> directory.
Installing Geronimo
You can easily install Geronimo using the
.zip or
.tar.gz archive.
Extract the downloaded archive to a local directory. The
geronimo-1.1 directory is created, that is your
<GERONIMO> directory.
Installing SPECjAppServer2004
java -jar SPECjAppServer2004-Kit-v1.05-050425.jar
Click Next, read and accept the license agreement, and type in the directory you want the SPECjAppServer2004 to be installed to. This directory will be your
<SPEC> directory.
Click Install.
Wait until the installation completes, then click Ready.
Configuring Geronimo
Adjusting configuration
Adjust the EJB configuration by adding the
allowHosts attribute to the
<GERONIMO>/var/config/config.xml file, as shown below.
This is necessary to allow the SPECjAppServer2004 Driver to remotely access the EJBs deployed in Geronimo.
If your
geronimo.host and your
driver.host are the same machine, you have to adjust the port number of the Geronimo RMI Registry (to e. g. 1199), otherwise it would conflict with the SPECjAppServer2004 Driver that uses the default port of 1099:
Starting Geronimo
Go to your
<GERONIMO> directory.
Start Geronimo by typing:
java -jar bin/server.jar
It will take some time to start. After that, you will see:
If you get another result, particularly, if network errors show up, then something has gone wrong.
Sometimes, the startup fails because some local network addresses are inaccessible. This could happen, for example, if you have used a VPN interface that is disconnected now. By default, Geronimo uses the first local address it comes across to access its components, and may try to use a stale address, causing startup errors.
You may try disabling and then re-enabling the unused network interfaces to resolve such issues.
Accessing the console
Open your web browser and connect to the Geronimo Console at
Log in using the user name and password you provided during the installation (system and manager by default).
Now you may investigate the console if you wish.
Creating the database
Go to the downmost link in the console, DB Manager.
Create the benchmark database by typing its name (SPECDB) in the Create DB field and clicking Create.
Locating the SQL files
To create database tables, you can use the default SQL scripts provided in the
<SPEC>/schema/sql directory. However, the directory includes five scripts, and they contain
DROP TABLE commands that would fail if you try to execute them in the console when tables are not yet created.
Instead, it is recommended that you use the allTablesNoDrop.sql file, if you are creating the tables from scratch, or allTables.sql file if you want to drop and recreate the tables. Both files were created from the
<SPEC>/schema/sql files by simple concatenation, allTablesNoDrop.sql also has
DROP TABLE commands removed.
Creating the tables
Make sure SPECDB is selected in Use DB field and then copy-paste the SQL code to SQL Command/s frame. Click Run SQL button above it.
After a short delay, the frame will clear and the Result field below it will say SQL command/s successful. If not – check what you did wrong and try again.
If you use multiple SQL scripts, repeat the operations above for each of them.
Configuring SPECjAppServer2004
Basic configuration
deploy directory
Go to the
<SPEC>/src/deploy directory and copy the
reference subdirectory with its contents with the name
geronimo.env file
Go to the
<SPEC>/config directory.
Put the attached geronimo.env template file there. Edit it, make sure you set the values for the following variables:
Use forward slashes ( / ) as directory separators!
You may leave the other variables intact.
appsserver file
Edit the
<SPEC>/config/appsserver file – replace the word default there with the word geronimo.
run.properties file
Edit the
<SPEC>/config/run.properties file. Note that it will be used on the
driver.host and make sure the following variables have correct values:
Url = http:/
outDir = <OUTPUT>
dumpDir = <DUMP>
setenv.bat file
Edit the
<SPEC>/bin/setenv.bat file, make sure you set the values for the following variables:
Building the application
Go to the
<SPEC> directory.
Clean-up your installation:
ant/bin/ant clean
Build the application and configure it for Geronimo:
ant/bin/ant -Dappserver=geronimo
You will get the BUILD SUCCESSFUL diagnostic.
Make sure the files
SPECjAppServer.ear and
Emulator.war are created in the
<SPEC>/jars directory.
emulator.war to
Preparing database configuration
In the described configuration, the same database is used for all tables.
Go to the
<SPEC>/config directory. Replace the content of each of the
*db.properties files you find there with the contents of the attached db.properties template file. Make sure the
pipeDir variable there points to a valid temporary directory, adjust if necessary.
Loading the tables
ant/bin/ant -Dappserver=geronimo loaddb
After some time, you will get the BUILD SUCCESSFUL diagnostic.
Deploying components
At this stage you need to deploy the configured components to Geronimo.
Note that if your
geronimo.host and your
driver.host are the same machine, and you changed the port number of the Geronimo RMI Registry, you should specify that port number in all deployer commands, like this:
java -jar bin/deployer.jar --port 1199 ...
Deploying database connector
To deploy a connector to the Derby SPECDB database you created earlier, go to the
<GERONIMO> directory and run:
java -jar bin/deployer.jar --user system --password manager deploy repository/tranql/tranql-connector-derby-embed-xa/1.1/tranql-connector-derby-embed-xa-1.1.rar <KIT>/sjas-db.xml
You will get the Deployed SPEC/SPECjAppServerDB/1.05/car diagnostic.
Deploying JMS connector
To deploy an ActiveMQ JMS connector for SPECjAppServer2004, go to the
<GERONIMO> directory and run:
java -jar bin/deployer.jar --user system --password manager deploy repository/geronimo/ge-activemq-rar/1.1/ge-activemq-rar-1.1.rar <KIT>/sjas-jms.xml
You will get the Deployed SPEC/SPECjAppServerJMS/1.05/car diagnostic.
Deploying the main application
To deploy SPECjAppServer2004 on Geronimo, this configuration uses the deployment plan that was originally found in Geronimo sources at http://svn.apache.org, modified and updated for Geronimo version 1.1.
Go to the
<GERONIMO> directory and run:
java -jar bin/deployer.jar --user system --password manager deploy <SPEC>/jars/SPECjAppServer.ear <KIT>/sjas2004.xml
You will get the Deployed SPEC/SPECjAppServer/1.05/ear diagnostic.
Verifying the deployment
At this stage you may check that the deployment has been done correctly and that SPECjAppServer2004 is operational.
Atomicity tests
Open the deployed SPECjAppServer2004 page:
In the left-hand menu, click the Atomicity Tests link.
You will see the results of three atomicity tests' runs. If all three of them are marked as PASSED, your deployment is correct.
Manual transactions
Open the deployed SPECjAppServer2004 page:
In the left-hand menu, click the Go Trade Autos! or Go Build Cars! link.
Log in with the default credentials (
1) by clicking Log in.
You should see the program interface and be able to perform transactions.
Deploying the Supplier Emulator
To deploy the SPECjAppServer2004 Supplier Emulator at the
emulator.host, use one of the following:
The Geronimo built-in servlet container (in case the
emulator.host and the
geronimo.host are the same machine); or a stand-alone servlet container on the
Note that SPECjAppServer2004 documentation requires that the Supplier Emulator servlet container should have the
keep-alive option turned off. You can ignore this requirement, but that would impact the performance severely.
Using the Geronimo servlet container
Go to the
<GERONIMO> directory and run:
java -jar bin/deployer.jar --user system --password manager deploy <SPEC>/jars/Emulator.war <KIT>/sjas-emulator.xml
You will get the Deployed SPEC/Emulator/1.05/war @ http://geronimo.host:8080/Emulator diagnostic.
Using a stand-alone servlet container
This configuration assumes that your stand-alone servlet container on the
emulator.host is Tomcat running on the default port (8080).
Install Tomcat to your
<TOMCAT> directory on the
Do not bother editing
<SPEC>/config/tomcat.env file or running
ant/bin/ant -f tomcat.xml.
Both files are obsolete, they generate the
Emulator.war file, which has already been created at #Building the application phase.
Copy the
<SPEC>/jars/Emulator.war file to the
<TOMCAT>/webapps directory and remove the
<TOMCAT>/webapps/Emulator directory if it exists.
Go to the
<TOMCAT> directory on the
emulator.host and start Tomcat:
bin/catalina run
Veryfying the deployment
Go to the page
http://emulator.host:8080/Emulator/. It should load normally and contain a single directory,
dtd, with two files inside,
delivery.dtd and
Go to the page
http://emulator.host:8080/Emulator/EmulatorServlet. You should see a page with text like this:
Emulator Servlet seems to work OK
JAS_HOST : emulator.host
Servlet URL : Supplier/DeliveryServlet
Number of Transactions : 0
Servlet invoked without command specified
Running the benchmark
Copy the
<GERONIMO> directory to the
driver.host, the copy will be your
<DRIVER_GERONIMO> directory (in fact you only need some jars from it).
Copy the
<SPEC> directory to the
driver.host, the copy will be your
<DRIVER> directory.
In the
<DRIVER>/config/geronimo.env file adjust the
JAS_HOME variable to the
<DRIVER> directory and
J2EE_HOME variable to the
<DRIVER_GERONIMO> directory.
Go to the
<DRIVER> directory on the
driver.host and run:
This configures the environment to run the Driver.
To start the Driver itself, run:
If you wish to run a distributed load with multiple Drivers, then after the Driver is started on the first host (the
master.host), start the Driver on other driver hosts like this:
bin/driver.bat master.host
After starting the Driver, you should see the output like this:
This means the Driver started normally.
Note the times for Rampup, SteadyState, Rampdown and Finish to figure out the time needed for the benchmark to complete.
You can interrupt the run at any point with
Sometimes binding exceptions or other problems may occur at the Driver startup. In such a case, interrupt the test run with
Ctrl-C and rerun it again. Sometimes it helps.
It's recommended to reload the database tables before each run, particularly if previous run was not finished correctly. Otherwise, errors like this may occur:
During the run, the following diagnostics may appear in the Driver window:
and in the same time, various
TransactionRolledback and other exceptions of the same kind are being printed in the Geronimo shell.
These diagnostics are probably caused by the fact that TranQL version 1.3 used in Geronimo version 1.1 does not provide the necessary transaction isolation level. Hopefully, this problem will be fixed in TranQL version 1.3.1.
After the run has completed successfuly, you will see the output like this:
The number of JOPS is a final benchmark metric.
For now these values for Geronimo are terribly low, and don't depend on the hardware being used. Probably this is due to some configuration issues that still exist or due to TranQL issue mentioned above.
Processing results
When driver is run, a subdirectory with a numerical name is created in the
<OUTPUT> directory. The subdirectory with the largest number corresponds to the latest run. After the Driver run is complete, the
result.props file is created there, it contains the raw results from the benchmark.
Go to the
<DRIVER>/reporter directory, copy the file
Sample_Submission.txt under arbitraty name (e. g.
Your_Submission.txt) and edit the copy, as described in SPECjAppServer2004 User's Guide :: Section 5 – Results, add the raw data from the
result.props file.
Run the following command to generate an HTML benchmark report, it would be named
java -cp reporter.jar reporter Your_Submission.txt
Run the following command to generate a text-only benchmark report, it would be named
java -cp reporter.jar reporter -a Your_Submission.txt
For the details on how yo submit your results, see SPECjAppServer2004 User's Guide :: Section 5.3 – Submitting the Results


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Relationship Too Close, Who Goes on the Family Tree, Tips on Interviewing, Disappearing Marriage Record
Rhonda's Tips, January 2, 2003
Relationship Too Close?
Q: I am currently dating someone and my mother has told me that we are 6th cousins. Previously she mentioned that we are 1st cousins, 5 times removed or something like that. I was wondering if it is legal for us to get married in Minnesota? -- Julie
A: First let me say that my daughter would probably sympathize with you in the fact that your mother even knows that the two of you are related at all. Genealogists do seem to have this type of obscure information squirreled away and to many others it would probably be deemed as "useless knowledge." You are to be commended for being concerned about the laws of relationship and how your relationship to this person may be affected by them.
First, in most states, I believe the law is that 1st cousins cannot marry. I will discuss your 1st cousin relationship below as it is not the same thing. The 1st cousin relationship mentioned in the laws is the child of your aunt or uncle, that is the child of your father's or mother's sibling. The concern is that such a marriage sometimes results in offspring that have all the bad genes of the family. This is because the genes of both parents are so similar since both parents share the same set of grandparents.
Beyond the 1st cousins, I do not believe there are any laws, though it wouldn't hurt to check the specifics for your state. Given the two relationships you described to me, however, you are perfectly fine as far as the laws go.
If the two of you are 6th cousins, this means that the common ancestor is seven generations back. From a medical and legal standpoint that is perfectly safe. You will find that you probably have many 6th cousins, most of whom you don't even know, and they certainly didn't come to any family gatherings. In my own research I have discovered that my maternal grandparents were 7th cousins. They had no way of knowing until I began to research the family tree.
I doubt that you and the other person are 1st cousins 5 times removed. The counting of "removeds" is the result of the other person's descent from the common ancestor running out of generations before yours does. While this is a common thing, it would mean that the other person was probably born in the mid to late 1800s in this case (allowing 25 years per generation) and I doubt that you are dating someone who is that old. So while you may have heard the 1st cousin and felt that you were breaking the law, even if you were 1st cousins 5 times removed the common ancestor would still be 7 generations back for one of you.
So while you are apparently related, your relationship is not in against the law. Should you decide to marry and have children, your common tie is so far back that there isn't any risk to children.
Who Goes on the Family Tree
Q: I was helping my 6 year old with a school project creating a family tree. I wanted to add my father's father and his wife (my grandfather and grandmother never married) but my parents both told me that it was incorrect to include her in the family tree even if I listed her as a spouse of my grandfather. My parents have indicated that I should not include "Step" members in the family tree, but I disagree because I think if they married then they should be included even if they are not a blood line relative. -- Renee
A: This actually is a two fold answer. There are certain times when such individuals should be included and other times when they shouldn't. Certainly you should be recording all marriages and births of everyone that is connected to the family tree if for no other reason than to preserve the information. But when displaying the information, there are times when you would not include these individuals.
In regard to your paternal grandfather and his wife. If the project was to show a family tree, in a pedigree style, then she wouldn't be listed. A pedigree chart is the biological road map of the ancestral generations that connect to the primary individual, in this case your 6-year-old. So while the paternal grandparents never married, these are the child's blood line and the ones that should be included.
Other charts and trees would certainly allow you to include the wife, including a family group sheet, which has a space for listing other spouses. A descendant style tree is another that includes all spouses of the individual, showing first your father connected to his parents and then any children that resulted from the grandfather's marriage under that union.
Stepchildren are a slightly different issue. I am assuming that you are referring to stepchildren who, until the marriage of the two individuals, were not related. They are still not blood relations, but you would want to mention them as offspring of the first marriage, or whatever, of Mary Smith who first married John Smith. She then married secondly John Johnson and they had these children. Again, only the direct lineage would be included on a pedigree chart, and only the children of the one specific union would be included in a family group sheet. To include all the children you would create multiple family group sheets; one for each marriage or union that resulted in offspring.
Tips on Interviewing
Q: I'm working on putting together a family member's biography. I was wondering if you can assist me in getting a list of questions to ask and other interviewing tips/techniques. -- Hannah
A: Interviewing a family member can sometimes take on the feel of an interrogation. I am sure that there are plenty of family members who have felt just as though they were in the austere room on the hard steel chair with the light shining in their eyes as questions are fired at them left and right.
Part of the problem with interviewing them is that we are just so eager to get the information. We also expect them to know it. We want them to know when their parents were born and where. We want them to tell us when certain people died. The problem with dates is the same problem that we experienced when we were in high school suffering through history class -- we can't remember the dates after we take the test. Dates are boring and easily forgotten.
When it comes to asking our family members to remember things, we need to give them something to associate the date with. Life events and major historical events that they were present for at least the announcement of are good anchors. Asking someone what they were doing on 22 November 1963 may result in a blank stare. Asking that same person what they were doing the day that John F. Kennedy was shot (and yes, that was 22 November 1963) will result in a response. By the same token, asking someone when Aunt March was born may result in a response that the person doesn't know. Asking that same person how old Aunt March was at the family reunion five years ago may give an age, and from that you could get the year of birth and you have something to work with.
When it comes to asking questions for a biography, you'll certainly want to ask important questions about vital events but you should also look at the person as a whole, getting his or her feelings on any number of subjects. Such information will make a biography not only interesting to read but also a well rounded piece of work. One book to check out for more information is To Our Children's Children, Preserving Family Histories for Generations to Come by Bob Greene and D.G. Fulford.
Disappearing Marriage Record
Q: We were married in Franklin, Indiana on 10/2/1952 at 1300 hrs. Recently, we wrote to the county court (Johnson County) for a copy of the marriage license and sent an SASE. We received a letter that the event did not happen. I know it happened, though, I was there! Where do I go from here? Thank you in advance. -- Ron and Val
A: First, the event happened. As you said, you were there. I suspect what the letter said was that the requested marriage license could not be found in their files. This is slightly different.
First, you may need to either go in person of call the county courthouse to see what options you have available to you. Explain why you need the marriage license. Sometimes if they understand how important it is, they will spend a little extra time looking for it.
Your message didn't indicate if the surname could have had an alternate spelling. It is likely that the clerk was using an index to look for the certificate number. If the names in question were misindexed or there was a variant spelling, perhaps whoever was indexing the record misread the names on it, that could explain why the marriage record was not found.
In some states you would have the alternative of getting a copy through the state registrar's office. In Indiana, though, this does not appear to be an option. The information I was able to find in many different sources all indicates that for copies of marriage records that you must contact the county in which the marriage took place.
With that being the case, if the county courthouse still cannot find the marriage record, you will have to ask them what you can do to recreate this document. I have not heard of a delayed marriage record, like the delayed birth records that were filed for the most part prior to 1950 in many states.
One option, if you were married in a church, is to see if the church is still in operation. If they are, you could contact them and see what registers or other records they have of marriages that took place in 1952. You would want to be sure and explain the situation so that they don't just dismiss you to the county courthouse.
Rhonda R. McClure is a professional genealogist specializing in celebrity trees and computerized genealogy. She has been involved in online genealogy for fifteen years. She is an award-winning author of several genealogy how-to books, including The Complete Idiot's Guide to Online Genealogy, The Genealogist's Computer Companion, and Finding Your Famous and Infamous Ancestors. She may be contacted at [email protected].
See more advice from Rhonda in her columns Expert Tips, Tigs and Trees, and Overheard in the Message Boards.


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While looking toward the future with our comprehensive slate of current content, we'd also like to recognize our rich past by drawing upon our extensive (and mostly free) online archive of work dating back to 1997. In an effort to highlight the best of what's gone before, we'll be bringing you a weekly blast from BP's past, introducing or re-introducing you to some of the most informative and entertaining authors who have passed through our virtual halls. If you have fond recollections of a BP piece that you'd like to nominate for re-exposure to a wider audience, send us your suggestion.
We tend to think of trades only in regard to how they affect on-field performance, but every swap comes with a whole host of off-the-field logistical issues. Kevin described the process in the piece republished below, which originally ran as a "Future Shock" column on August 6, 2009.
This year's trade deadline might have been the craziest ever, not in terms of actual trades, but in terms of the talk about potential deals. Between all of the various outlets generating the rumors, those that simply aggregate them, and social networking sites like Twitter, trying to figure out everything that was happening became a 24/7 operation, while also requiring a sizeable filter to find the nuggets of truth. After the trade is done, everyone in the media chimes in once again to talk about who 'won' a trade, or what the prospects might become, but what about the prospects themselves. What happens when you are suddenly dealt?
Strangely enough, new Orioles third baseman Josh Bell found out about his trade in the same way everyone else does: via the internet. "A couple of teammates were saying there was a rumor going around, and I didn't really think anything of it," said Bell. "I showed up at the park on Friday, went online, and the Dodgers already had an announcement up early about adding [George] Sherrill to the bullpen, then buddies starting calling and congratulating me."
Normally, teams call players before trade information is public, but the Dodgers jumped the gun a bit with their release, and team Assistant GM of Player Development De Jon Watson called Bell once all of the medicals were cleared and the trade was official. "He basically called me and thanked me for everything I've done, told me I was traded and wished me good luck with the Orioles," Bell explained.
Twenty minutes later, Watson's equal with the Orioles, John Stockstill, called Bell and the 48-hour whirlwind began, with some assistance from Bell's agent, Josh Kusnick.
Kusnick is not the kind of agent who gathers a media crowd at the Winter Meetings. He founded Double Diamond Sports Management in 2002 with his father, Howard, and has developed and grown a small stable of clients from the ground up. He represents several prospects that are well on their way to the big leagues, including Josh Bell. As an agent with previous experience in having his clients involved with deadline deals, Kusnick immediately knew what his first responsibility was.
"Call his mom," Kusnick said laughingly. "Josh has a very close-knit family and the first thing I did was call Jackie," he explained. "I talked to her for an hour and just assured her, like I did with Josh, that this is a good thing, and something that could move up his timetable to the big leagues, and that's what this is all about."
For Bell, it was a mix of emotions. "This is the team that drafted me… the team I've been with for four years now. I've been around many of my teammates for all of this time, grown up with them, trained with them, made friends, some best friends and now it's like starting all over again," said Bell. "It's uncomfortable when our clients get traded because one of their first thoughts is that they'll never see any of these people again," added Kusnick.
The first thing Bell had to do was get back to Chattanooga and pack. As the Lookouts were on the road at the time of the deal's consummation, he caught a flight the next morning, and had less than a day to gather his belongings from the townhouse he shared with teammate Adam Godwin. "I had pretty much everything I own there," said Bell. "I filled up two big suitcases and made sure I had my computer, and figured that would be enough for the one month left in the season," he continued, noting that he left two bags behind that an aunt, who lives a couple hours drive away, will pick up later. "Then I called the landlady and told her this was my final month," he added.
Finding new roommates is a constant part of being in the minors, be it from trades or promotions, so even though he had nothing to do with the deal, Godwin, and 11th-round pick making a minor league salary, needs to find a new roommate for his final month in the Southern League. As far as moving expenses go, those are on the player as well.
One common problem, setting up new living arrangements, won't be an issue for Bell. Also traded from the Dodgers and assigned to Bowie was right-hander Steven Johnson, a Maryland native who Bell will live with during the season's final weeks. "It made life substantially easier having him get traded somewhere that he had a built-in roommate and place to live," Kusnick noted.
Meanwhile, Kusnick began doing the work to get Bell ready for his new organization. "He needed new stuff, obviously, because he can't wear blue with the Orioles" said Kusnick. "We have a relationship with many companies so we quickly ordered new equipment for him and had it over-nighted so he'd be ready with it day one," he added. "Players have enough going on with their entire careers suddenly getting turned around, these little things is what we are there for." As an aside, Josh likes his new colors, saying, "Black and orange… it gets to be Halloween every day."
Less than 48 hours after the deal, Bell arrived in New Britain for a road game, and was immediately put in the third spot in Bowie's batting order for the night. "The manager came up to me and introduced himself, showed me the signs, told me I was in the lineup, then we stretched and got in the game, so in that way, it was like any other day," said Bell.
Bell nonetheless noted that it was one of the strangest days of his career. "It was the weirdest feeling I've had in baseball, even weirder when I first signed," he explained. "You're just suddenly on a new team, and they know each other and there's chemistry there and they know the coaching staff and the way the team plays."
He went on to add, "There's a freedom in knowing a team and the core system there. It's really the unknown that I was worried about; it was a combination of excitement and nervousness, but in the end, this is a big opportunity for me."
Thank you for reading
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By Sally Milano, USTA.com
It will be an all-American Wimbledon boys' singles final at the All England Club, as No. 6 seed Stefan Kozlov and unseeded Noah Rubin won their semifinal matches Saturday and will square off for the championship on Sunday.
Kozlov, 16, advanced to the final with a 6-3, 7-6 (7) win over No. 8 seed Johan Sebastien Tatlot of France. Rubin, 18, defeated fellow American Taylor Fritz, 6-4, 6-2, to reach his first Grand Slam final.
Kozlov, currently sixth in the ITF World Junior Rankings, has posted excellent results in junior Grand Slam play this year, finishing runner-up at the Australian Open and reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros.
He is also still alive in the doubles draw at Wimbledon, reaching the final with partner Andrey Rublev of Russia. Seeded No. 1, Kozlov and Rublev will take on No. 3 seeds Orlando Luz and Marcelo Zormann of Brazil for the title.
Rubin's prior best result at a junior Grand Slam was an appearance in the quarterfinals at the French Open in 2012.
The last time two Americans met in the Wimbledon boys' final was in 1977, when Van Winitsky defeated Eliot Teltscher, 6-1, 1-6, 8-6, for the championship.


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About Duke Divinity School
Duke Divinity School's mission is to engage in spiritually disciplined and academically rigorous education in service and witness to the Triune God in the midst of the church, the academy, and the world. We strive to cultivate a vibrant community through theological education on Scripture, engagement with the living Christian tradition, and attention to and reflection on contemporary contexts in order to form leaders for faithful Christian ministries.
As the spiritual center of a great research university, Duke Divinity School is the embodiment of Duke University's motto: Eruditio et Religio—Knowledge and Faith. Founded in 1926 as the first of the university's graduate professional schools, the Divinity School attracts students from across the nation and around the world. One of 13 seminaries founded and supported by the United Methodist Church, the school has from its beginnings been ecumenical in aspiration, teaching, and practice. With many diverse theological perspectives represented here, students find common ground through immersion in Scripture and the church's tradition for addressing the challenges of faith in contemporary contexts.
Learn about anti-racism efforts at Duke Divinity.
We seek to build a diverse and inclusive community consistent with the scriptural vision that: "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female: for all of you are one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). It is in this light that, as part of its mission to prepare leaders for the church, the academy, and the world, Duke Divinity is committed to the importance of diversity. At a practical level, Duke Divinity recognizes the need to prepare students for ministry, teaching, and leadership in multi-cultural and multi-faith contexts, whether in the United States or elsewhere. To do this well, our own community must seek to wrestle with and embody diversity in its faculty, staff, and student body. Given the historical legacies, social locations, and confessional commitments of Duke Divinity, diversity in this context is particularly focused on, but not limited to, gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic background, denominational affiliation, age, sexual orientation, learning styles, and physical ability. Encountering and learning alongside others not like us offers opportunities for all of us to deepen our understanding of ourselves, our society, and our roles as pastors, ministers, teachers, and leaders. Attention to and inclusion of diversity helps foster more faithful, hopeful, and loving forms of common life.
Furthermore, a diverse faculty, staff, and student body helps generate an environment for deeper and broader theological reflection and formation. We believe that students who have the opportunity to interact with many varied perspectives and backgrounds will be better prepared to address fruitfully the historical legacies of injustice and conflict where they serve; critically and sensitively engage the different cultural contexts they will encounter in their vocations after graduation; and be able to develop robust theological and pastoral responses to an ever-changing environment. A diverse and hospitable community opens up more opportunities for potentially transformational experiences that assist students in developing the skills necessary to serve a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multi-faith world with integrity and wisdom.
As part of its mission, Duke Divinity seeks to foster a cohesive theological vision that is neither narrow nor homogeneous—one that is deeply rooted in critical engagement with Scripture and honors a range of theological traditions in conversation with a plurality of historical, geographic, and social settings.
The Divinity School Bylaws (pdf) include the school's articles of organization, bylaws of the faculty, and policies and procedures.


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"The new song Dre has in his pocket, it's called Under Pressure. It's a new song by Dr. Dre and Jay-Z…"
The head of Interscope records is confirming what's been speculated for a little over a week now, that a legendary musical collaboration was made featuring Dr. Dre and Jay-Z.
As previously reported, rumors were swirling that the two collaborated for a new single after a series of tweets from Michael Yo of Y100 Miami and a picture surfaced of Dre and Jay in the studio.
While there was no confirmation then, Dre's "Beats By Dre" partner and head of his longtime label home cleared up the rumors himself.
In an interview with NESN's Game Day Live, Iovine and Dre were promoting their Beats By Dre headphones at the Boston Red Sox's batting practice.
When Jimmy was asked by the interviewer what song he'd like to her before a game, he proudly replied:
"The new song Dre has in his pocket, it's called Under Pressure. It's a new song by Dr. Dre and Jay-Z. That's the song I would use."
When asked the same question, Dre agreed saying,
"Me too. Under Pressure, it's so fitting…."
No word on when the single will be released but be on the lookout for it on the net soon.
Check out the footage from NESN below.
Someone file this under #EPIC.


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Lee Pacesetter 3-Die Set 300 Winchester Magnum
AvailabilityLow Stock
BrandLee Precision
Product Code
Legal CategoryNone
Lee PaceSetter Dies include the exclusive Lee Factory Crimp Die to produce factory-like ammunition with improved utility and accuracy. The die set also includes a conventional bullet seater and roll crimper. You can choose the type of crimp you desire. These dies are your best buy. They also include a shell holder, powder dipper, load data and are packed in the nicest storage box ever designed. Most of these extras are unavailable at any price from other suppliers.
These are the most copied dies in the world. Every die comes with a written lifetime warranty, 2 year guarantee and guarantee of accuracy or your money back!
This set is recommended for assembling ammunition for hunting purposes as the finished rounds chamber easily and can withstand rough handling of the firearm action.
- Full Length Sizer
- Bullet Seater & Roll Crimper
- Factory Crimp Die
- Built in Stuck Case Remover
- Long Guided Expander
- Shell Holder
- Ppwder Dipper
- Load Data & Instructions
Product Questions
Good product for an excellent price... or should it be an excellent product for a good price.
Everything you need for making your own quality ammunition.
Posted on


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Affected operating systems will include various flavors of Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Windows 7. Various versions of Microsoft XP, Office 2003, Office 2007, and Office 2101. Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server 2007 doesn't escape either.
That's a serious line-up of flaws. However, according to this story from Mathew J. Schwartz, many companies may be planning to skip December and patch next month instead:
Expect enterprises to punt many of these patches until 2011. "The high number of advisories will present a challenge to all Windows system administrators, especially with the holidays shortening the available working hours," said Wolfgang Kandek, CTO of Qualys.
Bad plan.
All types of attackers bank of the fact that IT teams are unstaffed and over-partied during the holiday season. In fact, if your organization is being targeted expect an escalation of breach attempts during the holidays. The attackers know you are short staffed. They know your mind is elsewhere. And they know it's human nature to try to put off any absolutely unnecessary work until next year.
Don't be surprised to see a significant amount of exploit software and attacks targeting these vulnerabilities as we head closer to the new year.
So do yourself and your organization a favor: test and deploy these patches before shutting down for the year.
For my security and technology observations throughout the day, find me on Twitter.


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Communication and versatility - key elements in the creation of connected objects
Connected objects are inevitable future players in all of our lives, contributing and leading to significant changes in our habits. Whether managing health, supporting simple tools or whole cities, aiding in the fields of education, recreation, and agriculture or vital accessories to simplify everyday life.... these objects have endless applications. In 2015 their numbers worldwide were estimated to be 13.4 billion. According to research by the American consulting firm, Gartner, this figure is expected to soar to 20.8 billion by 2020. Figures could even go higher, flirting with the number of 38.5 billion connected objects that Juniper Research expects to see in use by 2020.
What exactly is a connected object?
To facilitate this intense technological development, human beings are needed - mainly engineers - to design and make the connected objects. An overactive imagination and unusual but specific skills are also necessary for the development of these modules. To be ready for this we need to know exactly what a connected object is. It is defined as a combination of different areas: electronics, mechanics, design, and telecommunications through the wireless and the web. The intelligent device must have the ability to communicate with other elements and be able to "make decisions" based on the data it collects or receives. In addition, it should also have a certain autonomy that allows it to fit discreetly into the lives of its users.
How existing courses on connected objects operate
Several engineering colleges and polytechnics now offer courses that are dedicated to connected objects. A search through their different prospectuses appears to show that the emphasis of courses is on programming (via the web or mobile devices) or on the network itself. The technology skills required seem to be the classic ones. These curricula also place a great emphasis on the students ability to understand the concept of a network and the interdisciplinary processes that surround a smart object and its operation. User experience, usability, and programming language all coexist within these structures.
Connected objects - a world of total integration
Franck Crison is a research engineer in the digital world of engineering based at the ESIEA School. When interviewed for "The Digital Factory" he highlighted the fact that young engineers must have an overall view of the system in which the connected object will be embedded. In the not so distant past, innovative devices could be designed to operate independently of the rest of the world. In the connected universe this is not possible. An intelligent designer must be able to integrate objects into real life: their communication and collaboration with other parts of the same project are totally fundamental.
For inquiries about our products or our services, please contact us.


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Ebola treatment
Ebola Virus: Lessons from a Unique Survivor
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
There are new reports of an outbreak of Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This news comes just two years after international control efforts eventually contained an Ebola outbreak in West Africa, though before control was achieved, more than 11,000 people died—the largest known Ebola outbreak in human history [1]. While considerable progress continues to be made in understanding the infection and preparing for new outbreaks, many questions remain about why some people die from Ebola and others survive.
Now, some answers are beginning to emerge thanks to a new detailed analysis of the immune responses of a unique Ebola survivor, a 34-year-old American health-care worker who was critically ill and cared for at the NIH Special Clinical Studies Unit in 2015 [2]. The NIH-led team used the patient's blood samples, which were drawn every day, to measure the number of viral particles and monitor how his immune system reacted over the course of his Ebola infection, from early symptoms through multiple organ failures and, ultimately, his recovery.
The researchers identified unexpectedly large shifts in immune responses that preceded observable improvements in the patient's symptoms. The researchers say that, through further study and close monitoring of such shifts, health care workers may be able to develop more effective ways to care for Ebola patients.


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Spring 3.1 Caching and @Cacheable
However, the Guys at Spring have now devised a simple to use caching system based around a couple of annotations: @Cacheable and @CacheEvict.
The idea of the @Cacheable annotation is that you use it to mark the method return values that will be stored in the cache. The @Cacheable annotation can be applied either at method or type level. When applied at method level, then the annotated method's return value is cached. When applied at type level, then the return value of every method is cached.
The code below demonstrates how to apply @Cacheable at type level:
@Cacheable(value = "employee") public class EmployeeDAO { public Person findEmployee(String firstName, String surname, int age) { return new Person(firstName, surname, age); } public Person findAnotherEmployee(String firstName, String surname, int age) { return new Person(firstName, surname, age); } }
The Cacheable annotation takes three arguments: value, which is mandatory, together with key and condition. The first of these, value, is used to specify the name of the cache (or caches) in which the a method's return value is stored.
@Cacheable(value = "employee") public Person findEmployee(String firstName, String surname, int age) { return new Person(firstName, surname, age); }
The code above ensures that the new Person object is stored in the "employee" cache.
Any data stored in a cache requires a key for its speedy retrieval. Spring, by default, creates caching keys using the annotated method's signature as demonstrated by the code above. You can override this using @Cacheable's second parameter: key. To define a custom key you use a SpEL expression.
@Cacheable(value = "employee", key = "#surname") public Person findEmployeeBySurname(String firstName, String surname, int age) { return new Person(firstName, surname, age); }
In the findEmployeeBySurname(…) code, the '#surname' string is a SpEL expression that means 'go and create a key using the surname argument of the findEmployeeBySurname(…) method'.
The final @Cacheable argument is the optional condition argument. Again, this references a SpEL expression, but this time it's specifies a condition that's used to determine whether or not your method's return value is added to the cache.
@Cacheable(value = "employee", condition = "#age < 25") public Person findEmployeeByAge(String firstName, String surname, int age) { return new Person(firstName, surname, age); }
In the code above, I've applied the ludicrous business rule of only caching Person objects if the employee is less than 25 years old.
Having quickly demonstrated how to apply some caching, the next thing to do is to take a look at what it all means.
@Test public void testCache() { Person employee1 = instance.findEmployee("John", "Smith", 22); Person employee2 = instance.findEmployee("John", "Smith", 22); assertEquals(employee1, employee2); }
The above test demonstrates caching at its simplest. The first call to findEmployee(…), the result isn't yet cached so my code will be called and Spring will store its return value in the cache. In the second call to findEmployee(…) my code isn't called and Spring returns the cached value; hence the local variable employee1 refers to the same object reference as employee2, which means that the following is true:
assertEquals(employee1, employee2);
But, things aren't always so clear cut. Remember that in findEmployeeBySurname I've modified the caching key so that the surname argument is used to create the key and the thing to watch out for when creating your own keying algorithm is to ensure that any key refers to a unique object.
@Test public void testCacheOnSurnameAsKey() { Person employee1 = instance.findEmployeeBySurname("John", "Smith", 22); Person employee2 = instance.findEmployeeBySurname("Jack", "Smith", 55); assertEquals(employee1, employee2); }
The code above finds two Person instances which are clearly refer to different employees; however, because I'm caching on surname only, Spring will return a reference to the object that's created during my first call to findEmployeeBySurname(…). This isn't a problem with Spring, but with my poor cache key definition.
Similar care has to be taken when referring to objects created by methods that have a condition applied to the @Cachable annotation. In my sample code I've applied the arbitrary condition of only caching Person instances where the employee is under 25 years old.
@Test public void testCacheWithAgeAsCondition() { Person employee1 = instance.findEmployeeByAge("John", "Smith", 22); Person employee2 = instance.findEmployeeByAge("John", "Smith", 22); assertEquals(employee1, employee2); }
In the above code, the references to employee1 and employee2 are equal because in the second call to findEmployeeByAge(…) Spring returns its cached instance.
@Test public void testCacheWithAgeAsCondition2() { Person employee1 = instance.findEmployeeByAge("John", "Smith", 30); Person employee2 = instance.findEmployeeByAge("John", "Smith", 30); assertFalse(employee1 == employee2); }
Similarly, in the unit test code above, the references to employee1 and employee2 refer to different objects as, in this case, John Smith is over 25.
That just about covers @Cacheable, but what about @CacheEvict and clearing items form the cache? Also, there's the question adding caching to your Spring config and choosing a suitable caching implementation. However, more on that later….
Reference: Spring 3.1 Caching and @Cacheable from our JCG partner Roger Hughes at the Captain Debug's Blog blog.


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BEIJING (REUTERS) - Complaints about air pollution in the Chinese capital of Beijing more than doubled in the first five months of 2014, the city environment authority said, a sign of rising public anger about the cost of rapid economic growth.
The Beijing Municipal Environmental Bureau revealed late on Friday that 12,599 formal complaints about smog were lodged by members of the public from January to May, 124 per cent higher than the same period of last year.
Beijing, routinely shrouded in hazardous smog, has been on the front line of a "war against pollution" declared by Premier Li Keqiang in March in a bid to head off growing discontent about the state of the country's skies, rivers and soil.
Smog was involved in 72.6 per cent of the total number of environment-related complaints submitted to the Beijing authorities from January to May, the environmental bureau said.
In a bid to defuse potential sources of unrest, China's leaders have been desperate to show they are firmly on the side of the public in the battle against pollution, setting up hotlines, task forces and rapid response teams, and encouraging the public to participate in campaigns against violators.
A newly amended environmental law also stipulates that authorities must ensure transparency and accountability, and also promises to improve access to the court system for people harmed by pollution.
In a separate notice, the Beijing environmental bureau said as many as 114 firms had been punished this month after its latest week-long campaign targeting environmental violations in the catering, car manufacturing and car repair sectors.
It said the firms were ordered to pay a total of 2.45 million yuan (S$493,560) in fines.


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CRS: Cluster Munitions: Background and Issues for Congress, June 27, 2008
From WikiLeaks
About this CRS report
This document was obtained by Wikileaks from the United States Congressional Research Service.
The CRS is a Congressional "think tank" with a staff of around 700. Reports are commissioned by members of Congress on topics relevant to current political events. Despite CRS costs to the tax payer of over $100M a year, its electronic archives are, as a matter of policy, not made available to the public.
Individual members of Congress will release specific CRS reports if they believe it to assist them politically, but CRS archives as a whole are firewalled from public access.
This report was obtained by Wikileaks staff from CRS computers accessible only from Congressional offices.
For other CRS information see: Congressional Research Service.
For press enquiries, consult our media kit.
If you have other confidential material let us know!.
For previous editions of this report, try OpenCRS.
Wikileaks release: February 2, 2009
Publisher: United States Congressional Research Service
Title: Cluster Munitions: Background and Issues for Congress
CRS report number: RS22907
Author(s): Andrew Feickert, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
Date: June 27, 2008
- Abstract
- Cluster munitions are air-dropped or ground-launched munitions that release a number of smaller submunitions intended to kill enemy personnel or destroy vehicles. Cluster munitions were developed in World War II and are part of many nations' weapons stockpiles. Cluster munitions have been used frequently in combat, including the early phases of the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Cluster munitions have been highly criticized internationally for causing a significant number of civilian deaths, and efforts have been undertaken to ban and regulate their use.
- Download


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As some of you may be aware, I really don't like to work too hard. So any tool or shortcut I can use to lower my workload is always appreciated. Anyone who has used an ET is familiar with the black smut that covers the tractor pieces after they have been removed from the solution. They are also are aware that the positive sacrificial plates build up an amazing amount of gunk while the tank is working. Because I believe in working smarter rather than harder, I found a new way to clean the smut/gunk/goop/residue off things that come from the electrolysis tank (ET).
Water, yes, plain ordinary water will clean both the donor, or good part, and the receptor or sacrificial plates. Read on and you may find that post-electrolysis cleaning is easier than you think.
- It Is All About Delivery
Most of us have seen the blasting effect a pressure washer has when used on a driveway, wood siding, or whatever. Humor me for a moment while I review some high school physics. Force is defined as mass times acceleration. Water has a mass as do sand particles and almost everything else I can think of. But water sitting in a cup is not doing any work. To get the water to work for us, we have to accelerate it. The reason a pressure washer works is that water has mass and that mass is accelerated. When the speeding water droplets hit a surface, BOOM! anything that is loose on the surface is blown away.
What we need then is a device to deliver water under some pressure, kinda' like a water jet sprayer. That has already been taken care of. See the Shade Tree article Shade Tree Moderate Pressure Washer.
- "Here Comes The Smut, Martha"
When you remove the, no longer rusty, part from the ET, there is a coating of black powder on the piece. There may also be some residual paint which is loosened but still on the part. You can wait for the piece to dry, then use a wire brush to remove as much of the smut and residue as you can. Or you can use the moderate pressure sprayer to part of the task. The part will still have to wire brushed, but using the water jet first will allow you to see if the part is truly ready to be wire brushed. In addition, the jet removes fine material that would otherwise turn into fine dust with the wire brush. All this is "well and good", but hardly enough improvement in my life to get excited about. For the exciting part of Electrolysis Tanks and Water Jets, read on...
- Gunk, Deposits, Residue, Call It What You Will. It Is Nasty!
The real benefit of the water jet in maintaining an Electrolysis Tank is cleaning the sacrificial plates. As the electrolysis proceeds, the bare metal sacrificial plate is coated with some nasty looking, slimy, gunk. Truly nasty stuff. If it were just nasty, we could leave the plates alone and attend to other, more important matters.
But as this residue builds up on the plates, the effectiveness of the ET starts to decline. If enough gunk is deposited on the plates, the tank will work so slowly that you will think your power supply has died. The tank works because the rust on the surface of the good part is broken down and deposited as a solid on the sacrificial plates. But this process can only work if the plates can receive the deposits. When they are covered in gunk, they no longer conduct as much current flow so the process slows down. If the plates became completely covered, the process would stop. Here are some plates that came out of my tank after removing the rust from a 54 blade. Notice the plate on the right looks different from the others.
The traditional way to clean the plates is to remove them from the tank, wait for them to dry, then wire brush the deposits. If the plates are not completely dry before wire brushing starts, you will be flinging nasty mud everywhere. When the deposits get nice and dry, they also get nice and hard. But what happens if you take the water jet and use the force of the spray to remove the deposits while the plates and the deposits are still wet? Here are the same plates as shown above, but looking distinctly cleaner.
Now you know why one plate in the earlier photo looked different. Using the water jet to blow off the deposits allows you to:
- shorten the maintenance cycle on the ET, no need to wait for the plates to dry
- eliminate the dust caused by wire brushing the dried deposits
- control the disposal of the deposits more closely, you can hose them off in another barrel
- clean the plates more often because plate maintenance is reduced
- Technique
I started off using the water jet like a garden hose sprayer, leaving a couple of feet between the end of the jet and the plate. The results were marginally acceptable. When I moved closer and rested the tip of the water jet on the plate surface, the results were great. And it allowed me to better control the spray to minimize "self-soaking".
- Downsides?
About the only downside I can see is the amount of water used to remove the deposits. Although the small jet size goes a long way to minimizing water consumption. In addition, the amount of time spent with the water jet is small. The plates in the photos are about 6" x 30", and cleaning both front and back of all 4 plates takes about 12 minutes.
The only other drawback is that you can get wet if you stand too close to the plate. The solution to that is to have a longer "wand" on the water jet. that way you can stand back several feet and still get the plates clean.


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One of the poster wrote this suggestion in our site:
"How do you deal with a husband that keeps a secret journal and never tells me he is unhappy about anything?" This reader is hitting at the heart of the passive aggression problem.
We need to remember first that this kind of behavior
a) is not caused by or originated with the present marriage;
b) has deep roots in his childhood and family of origin;
c) is connected with some kind of long forgotten trauma, still active inside him.
This short description is necessary because there can be so many misconceptions obscuring the understanding of his present behavior. The wife is not guilty of his present passive aggression, because he has been functioning in this way to protect himself from life's hazards and tribulations for a very long time.
So, why the need for secrecy? If the original trauma and all the feelings included has to do with his parents, or a parent substitute as uncles, godfathers, or ministers, it could never be opened up. The victim, in this case your husband, had to keep everything inside as a way of colluding with his parents who decided that the situation was normal enough not to merit a comment or a defensive reaction. If the child was abused, emotionally oppressed or humiliated in some way, this was never talked about, because the loyalty to parental figures was stronger. Then and there, secrecy was the main line of defense: don't say a word about what hurts you. Tragically, this "defense" ends up exterminating all humanity in relationships, because then the humiliated child has nobody to defend his integrity, and every one of the adults is a accomplice of the hurt.
The last thing a PA person will do is to complain about his own past or present unhappiness. He is still a five years old child inside, convinced that there is no justice in this world, that talking will get him punished and still will get no justice, and that opening up could end up in more ridicule, punishment or humiliation. No, he can't say a word....which doesn't mean that he is not hurt, resentful and dreaming of revenge!
This secrecy pact is what makes it so difficult to live with him...produces the impression that he is still more loyal to the people of his past life that then and there damaged him, than to his present situation and loving companion. Secrecy will make also impossible to provide him with the satisfaction and nurturing his own needs demand, and will generate resentment on both sides: on her side because she is willing to give love that he finds impossible to accept and from his side because whatever he can receive is not answering his deep needs for love and security coming from his past starvation.
Secrecy also gives him the illusion of conserving his own power; if nobody knows what hurts him, he can deny that some hurt exists in his heart forever. "Me keeping a grudge against my parents? Why would I do such a thing?"
Denial is a wall that blocks connection in marriage. It signals a whole part of his soul is not included in the marriage bargain. Allows withdrawal and isolation, and predicts more isolation, but the illusion of power and control.
So, what can you do? First, accept that this is his reality; no amount of coaching or preaching will make him leave this cave when he feels the need to be protected there. Perhaps allowing him to keep his secrets, giving him permission to withdraw in his cave and sulk there, is the only way of giving him what he needs. And feeling that he has not to fight for his right to some privacy, so he can feel secure enough of being respected as he is, could invite him to leave his cave more often.
SIGH? nobody said that this kind of marriage was going to be easy, right? Anyhow, isn't this fact that you didn't cause his passive aggression healing a bit your self esteem? What about your karma could be now putting you in this pickle?


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The toys people just can't get enough off
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How mangroves help in reducing flooding and coastal erosion
Inhabitants of low lying delta areas are particularly exposed to flooding and erosion caused by storms and hurricanes. These pressures increase with climate change and sea level rise. Coastal wetlands, such as mangroves, can play a key role in damage mitigation during disasters, as well as in stabilising coastlines. They also contribute to aquaculture and fisheries. Integration of ecosystem-based coastal protection in climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction policies and resulting measures to conserve these landscapes are essential if mangroves are to keep protecting us. Full article featured in Outreach Magazine.
Mangroves may help to mitigate disaster risk and damage in three ways, complementing other measures in a coastal defense strategy. First, mangroves can reduce storm surge levels by up to half a meter for each kilometer of mangrove that the storm surge passes through. Secondly, the height of wind and swell waves is reduced by 13 to 66 per cent within the first 100m of mangroves. These waves can be superimposed on top of storm surges, so their reduction can make a critical difference to storm impacts. Even during 'everyday' conditions, when such waves may be small, they still contribute to coastal erosion if their energy is not dissipated by a dense tangle of mangrove roots and branches. Their devastating impact is felt for example in parts of Central Java, where the coastline retreated hundreds of meters in a decade due to a mix of mangrove deforestation, aquaculture development, soil subsidence and sea level rise. Thirdly, mangroves can help to stabilise sediments, both through their active growth and deposition of organic matter and by capturing sediments.
To perform these functions effectively and to constitute a resilient mangrove, the mangrove green belt should be wide enough, and contain enough diversity of species and age groups. Relatively wide mangrove belts are still present in many countries, including large parts of South America, the USA, West and Central Africa, Bangladesh, India, Southeast Asia and Australia, although in many of these places they are severely threatened by deforestation and unsustainable land-use practices, such as the conversion of mangrove forest to fish and shrimp ponds.
Often the automatic response to erosion is to construct hard engineered structures, such as breakwaters, which limit sediment input even more, thereby aggravating erosion. In order to stop the erosion process and regain a stable coastline, the loss of sediment needs to be reversed. The best way to do this is through 'building with nature', using engineering techniques in combination with natural processes. For example, by placing well-designed permeable structures made of local materials such as bamboo, twigs or other brushwood in front of the coastline.
These structures mimic the function of mangrove roots and branches as they dissipate waves and trap sediment. Once the sediment is sufficiently stable and enough elevation has been gained mangroves will naturally recolonise and once again protect the coast. In the Netherlands this approach has been applied with salt marshes for a century and the governments of Indonesia and Vietnam are now testing it for mangrove-mud coastlines. 'Building with nature' solutions are often cheaper than conventional solutions and become stronger over time as the ecosystems mature. Local ownership and participation is of course key to success.
Acknowledging that mangroves are crucial in the face of climate change, a major concern of country delegates has been that mangroves may be lost as sea levels rise. The latest evidence suggests however that in many areas mangroves may be able to keep pace with rising sea levels when the conditions are right. They do so by capturing sediments and organic matter, thus building up soils (and storing carbon in the process). This highlights the need to maintain and restore healthy mangroves and their sediment supplies. In many areas sediment supply and hydrology have been severely disturbed because of upstream dams and coastal infrastructure. In areas where mangrove soils may not be able to keep pace with sea level rise, space should be allowed for mangroves to move landward.
Careful mangrove management, in combination with soft or hard engineering measures, will maintain or restore immense value and help to secure a safer future for many coastal populations. Article featured in Outreach Magazine.
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Not so surprisingly, the new blood sugar targets they urge are very similar to those that are emerging from research connecting blood sugar levels with complications with diabetes in people who are NOT pregnant. (Details HERE.)
Here, from the report in Science Daily are the findings:
Based on a study of more than 23,000 women in nine countries, Metzger and an international group of 50 experts concluded a fasting blood sugar level of 92 or higher, a one-hour level of 180 or higher on a glucose tolerance test or a two-hour level of 153 or higher on a glucose tolerance test constitute serious risks to the mother and baby.Science Daily: Gestational Diabetes: Blood Sugar Levels Once Considered Normal Are Not Safe for Baby, Mother
Compare these findings to the results in non-pregnant people that found that the presence in young men of a fasting blood sugar over 92 mg/dl predicted the development of diabetes a decade later, and that cardiovascular risk takes a major step up once the one hour glucose tolerance test result goes over 155. (Details HERE.)
Since complications kick in at these levels you would want to keep your blood sugar a bit lower, which is why I continue to suggest that you shoot for the "Five Percent Club" blood sugar targets. Note that the fasting number in our targets is higher, largely because so many people with diabetes will find the fasting number the hardest to lower. Most research, however, points to the post-meal numbers as being those that produce the complications.
The values before are for first thing in the morning fasting blood sugar and one and two hours after eating meals.


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NEW YORK – Syracuse and Georgetown, one more heavyweight clash in Madison Square Garden.
Two original Big East titans toe-to-toe on the New York stage.
Jim Boeheim. John Thompson.
OK, so it's John Thompson III now. Still a juicy matchup.
One ... last ... time.
And that's not all. How's this for a second act in the Friday night semifinals? Notre Dame against Louisville in the latest rematch of their five-overtime epic.
The final Big East tournament of this era is about to deliver. Big time.
"Unbelievable," Fighting Irish coach Mike Brey said. "We're trying to get our money's worth out of this thing."
Afternoon wins by top-seeded Georgetown (over Cincinnati) and fifth-seeded Syracuse (over Pittsburgh) in the quarterfinals Thursday set up the familiar game everyone was hoping to see again before the Big East goes bust.
The Hoyas own seven tournament championships, tied with Connecticut for the most among member schools. They won the first one 33 years ago in Providence, beating Syracuse in the final, and would love to put a bow on this era of Big East basketball by ending it with one more.
The Orange are next with five tournament titles, all under Boeheim. It will be the 14th meeting between these longtime rivals at the Big East championship.
"The doubleheader that's going to be here (Friday) night will be a great basketball night, I think. I think you're going to have arguably four of the best teams in the country playing here," Boeheim said. "It's a great way for this league to go out."
Georgetown is one of seven basketball-centric Catholic schools breaking away from the conference to create their own league, which will begin play next season and retain the Big East name. Syracuse, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh are headed to the ACC, with Louisville to follow a year later.
Rutgers leaves for the Big Ten in 2014-15.
"The whole thing is tragic," Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said. "Nobody cares about student athletes. All anybody cares about is money. Everybody in the NCAA, in college administration, they talk about academics and student athletes. If people cared about student athletes, West Virginia wouldn't be in the Big 12 with 10 teams flying 800 miles to their closest home game. That's really conducive to studying. The whole thing is a hypocrisy. ... The money has ruined it. If I was a fan, I'd be very disenchanted.
"The fact that we're sitting here and this is the last Big East tournament is beyond ridiculous," he added. "This is the greatest tradition in college athletics, this tournament, at one site for over 30-something years."
Boeheim and his father-son coaching counterparts at Georgetown have plenty to do with that. John Thompson coached the Hoyas to their first six tournament titles before John Thompson III won their last one in 2007, which followed consecutive championships for Syracuse.
The teams played twice this season and Georgetown took both games, including a 61-39 blowout last Saturday.
"Not too many teams have done that. I remember beating them twice, and the third time they beat us. That was in the Big East tournament. We're trying to pretty much return the favor," Syracuse senior guard Brandon Triche said. "That means a lot. Anybody that beats you by 20 points, you want revenge."
Louisville got some revenge against Notre Dame last Saturday, winning 73-57 one month after a 104-101 defeat in five overtimes at South Bend. It was the longest regular-season game in Big East history and maybe the most exciting contest in the country all season. It also was the only loss in the last 12 games for the Cardinals, the defending tournament champion.
Five of the last seven and six of the past nine matchups between Notre Dame and Louisville have gone to overtime. The Fighting Irish (25-8) reached the Big East semifinals for the fourth straight year, but they've never been to the championship game. The last two times the road ended against — who else? — Louisville.
"Here we go again," Brey said Thursday night after the sixth-seeded Irish held off Marquette. "When the games have been in overtime, that's when we've gotten our wins. When they've won, they've usually thumped us. I hope it's overtime. They're really good. We just played them last Saturday, and they're playing with a great rhythm, and it comes down to taking care of the ball."
Second-seeded Louisville (27-5) smothered Villanova 74-55, forcing the seventh-seeded Wildcats (20-13) into 25 unsightly turnovers. Russ Smith scored 28 points in a bittersweet homecoming, hours after the death of his esteemed high school coach.
Back home in New York, Smith received sad news early in the day about Jack Curran, the longtime coaching great at Archbishop Molloy High School, who died Thursday at 82. He was among the nation's winningest prep coaches in basketball and baseball.
"It was really hard for me for about 45 minutes when I was on the bus crying and stuff," Smith said. "It was almost heartbreaking to think about it.
"Today was definitely Coach Curran day for me, and it will be the rest of my life," he added. "I'm going to miss him. He was everything to me, and to my mom, my family. He treated everyone with respect. He taught me a lot of things."
Louisville coach Rick Pitino huddled his players after their morning shootaround and informed them of Curran's death, then led the team in a prayer.
"Russ had a heavy heart tonight," said Pitino, who also called Curran a good friend. "I just told Russ we have to play this tournament and the NCAAs for Coach Curran."
No. 4 Louisville has won eight straight games — seven by at least 14 points.
After the game, the Cardinals received a surprise visit from President Bill Clinton. A longtime basketball fan, he and Pitino have been friendly since Pitino was at Kentucky and introduced Clinton on campus.
"We got the chance to take a lot of pictures. It was a big treat for our guys," Pitino said. "It was a lot of fun. ... He was just telling a lot of stories."
No. 5 GEORGETOWN 62, CINCINNATI 43
Conference player of the year Otto Porter Jr. scored 18 points, making all 11 of his free throws to offset a 3-for-9 performance from the field.
Markel Starks had 14 points and reserve D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera added 13, including a tiebreaking 3-pointer that sparked a game-turning run for the Hoyas (25-5). They improved to 15-1 as the tournament's top seed, with the lone loss coming against West Virginia in the 2010 championship game.
Georgetown, looking to land a No. 1 seed in the NCAAs, squandered an early 16-point cushion and fell behind briefly in the second half before clamping down with its signature defense.
Cashmere Wright hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 points for ninth-seeded Cincinnati (22-11).
No. 19 SYRACUSE 62, No. 17 PITTSBURGH 59
James Southerland had a second straight great effort from 3-point range and Michael Carter-Williams scored Syracuse's last seven points.
Southerland had 20 points as he did in the second-round win over Seton Hall. The senior was 6 for 6 on 3s against Pittsburgh a day after going 6 for 9 from beyond the arc against the Pirates.
Carter-Williams had 11 points and seven assists for the Orange (25-8).
Lamar Patterson had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Panthers (24-8) in their final Big East game.
No. 24 NOTRE DAME 73, No. 12 MARQUETTE 65
Pat Connaughton scored 18 points on six 3-pointers and Jack Cooley had two big offensive rebounds in Notre Dame's game-changing run.
Jamil Wilson had 16 points for the third-seeded Golden Eagles (23-8), who shared the regular-season title with Louisville and Georgetown.


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Artist: Marc Chagall (1887-1985)
Title: The soul of Elpenor Odyssea V1
Country: Russia
Medium: Color Lithograph
Marks: Not Signed
Paper Size: Vellum paper 14 7/8 x 11 1/2 inch, apart from limited edition book.
Printed: Germany 1989 by Verlag, authorized by Chagall's wife
COA: Certificate of Authenticity Is Included
Matted: with 8 ply acid free mat and archival quality material.
Framed: Gallery custom framed selected from the finest wood moldings
- 2" wide molding
- Inside frame size 16×20"
- Outside frame size 20×24" (Approximately).
- Unframed does not include matting & framing
Marc Chagall (1887-1985) Russian, one of the most successful artists of the 20th century, was director of the art Academy & art Director of the Moscow Jewish State Theater. Moved to France in1923, lived in USA in 1941 to 1948. He was an early modernist. He loved mythological floating figures in full colour. Chagall created works in virtually every artistic medium, including painting, fine art prints, book illustrations, stained glass, ceramic and tapestries, his artwork in many Museums across the world.


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A few weeks ago psychologist Dan Ariely, inspired by the holiday frenzy, pondered the hows and whys of gift-giving. Reading his piece—an endorsement of a behavioral economics view that challenges the rational economic contention that gift-giving is a largely irrational dilemma—at once brought to mind the story that has to me (and, I suspect, to many others) always epitomized the spirit of gifts and generosity: O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi."
Only a few pages long, the story may be O. Henry's most famous, its title almost a byword for a certain type of present. Say it, and chances are people will at once realize just what kind of gift you mean. A gift that is the real embodiment of quality over quantity, the value of thought over any amount of expenditure. A gift that puts the mere mention of a Holiday Wish List to shame. As O. Henry writes, "Eight dollars a week or a million a year—what is the difference? A mathematician or a wit would give you the wrong answer….Two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest."
Recent work suggests that O. Henry may have been more right than he knew. The gifts that Della and Jim gave to one another may have actually been the wisest even from the most rational—at least in the evolutionary sense—of views, despite the fact that for a homo economicus, their value would have been worse than nothing, as bad an economic exchange as could be expected: humans may be wired to be overly generous, and that proclivity can actually confer a large survival advantage.
A group of psychologists from UC-Santa Barbara set out to test the long-standing conundrum that even in anonymous, one-shot games—in other words, in situations where you know that (1) you will never again encounter your partner and (2) no one has any idea what decision you've made—people more often than not choose to incur costs themselves in order to allocate benefits to others; an irrational behavior by traditional economic standards if ever there was one. In their model, the team managed to isolate an asymmetry that had previous been ignored: in an uncertain world, it is far more costly to incorrectly identify a situation as one-shot when it is in fact repeated than it is to mistake an actual one-shot encounter for a repeated one. Put differently, it is better to always assume that we will in fact encounter the same partners over and over. So costly is it to make a mistake in the opposite direction that, even absent any reputational or other mechanisms, it makes sense for us to behave generously to anyone we encounter. As the study authors conclude, "Generosity evolves because, at the ultimate level, it is a high-return cooperative strategy…even in the absence of any apparent potential for gain. Human generosity, far from being a thin veneer of cultural conditioning atop a Machiavellian core, may turn out to be a bedrock feature of human nature."
So, it makes perfect sense for us to be as generous as we can. In fact, we may even like giving gifts more than we like receiving them—Jim's joy at seeing Della's happiness at her present was likely greater than his enjoyment of his own gift, and the opposite holds true for Della. In one study, subjects were given the choice to receive a very tangible material benefit to themselves—up to $128—or to donate money to a range of charities. Each charitable donation would decrease their own monetary endowment, while each choice that focused on their monetary interest would maintain their earnings.
Not only did the researchers find that all participants consistently chose to engage in costly donations, anonymously giving up an average of 40% of their endowment (around $51) for charity, but they also discovered surprising differences in neural activity for decisions that involved donating money versus receiving money. Specifically, while monetary rewards activated the mesolimibic reward system, including the dorsal and ventral striatum and the ventral tegmental area—as would be expected of something that gives us positive reward—when people donated money to a charity, the same network showed even greater activity—and the activity spread to the subgenual area (implicated in social attachment), which had remained inactive in the pure monetary reward choices. While we may not always agree, our brains seem to suggest that the joy of being a gift's giver may eclipse that of being its recipient.
But "The Gift of the Magi"—and Ariely's point—goes beyond simple generosity, to the thought that lies behind the gift itself. The act of giving is itself part of the gift, to be sure, but giving thoughtlessly is not enough. The actual value of a gift—which, in the story, ends up being negative in the immediate term to both Jim and Della—stems from the calculation which went into its choice: what will it actually mean to the recipient?
Ariely singles out this type of gift as one that makes the mental leap from your own vantage point to that of someone else. It's a leap that is incredibly difficult to take—exhibiting empathy, let alone perfect empathy to the point of complete confluence with the mind of another person, is a tough feat even in the most conducive of circumstances—but that may be worth taking all the same. For, even if you fail to make it as accurately as you may have wanted, the effort will be noted. The actual accuracy is somewhat beside the point. What matters is that you try to make the shift from your own mindset to someone else's, that you make the effort to think about what present would be best suited to another person. It's a generosity that presupposes generosity of time, not just of material expenditure: you may not have thought it out quite correctly, but at least you've taken the time to think.
True, a time investment may seem not worth the hassle. After all, isn't it easier to just ask what someone wants, or go online to check what they want, and leave it at that? Won't everyone be better off? Not necessarily. Generosity of time and thought may actually pay off in more ways than we think. Not only is the gift recipient likely to be appreciative, but we ourselves may benefit. Generosity—which in this definition actually includes generosity of time and generosity that is both unexpected and spontaneous (in stark contrast to the list-variety of present)—is one of the top three predictors of a successful marriage, a surprising addition to the expected culprits, sexual intimacy and commitment. It can make us feel better about ourselves. It can help us actually be happier and see the world as an overall better place. In short, it might be an initial investment that is worth making.
And, at the end of the day, it may well go further than any "ideal" present that was purchased off of an Amazon Wish List but required no actual thought of your own ever could. If Jim and Della had both officially requested their gift, they may have avoided the result of their overly generous impulses, but the effect would have been taken away entirely. The sheer fact of verbalizing the desire would have taken the resulting gifts out of the Magi realm altogether. As Ariely puts it, "Instead of picking a book from your sister's Amazon wish list, or giving her what you think she should read, go to a bookstore and try to think like her. It's a serious social investment."
Giving—and thoughtful, generous giving at that—may be more rewarding than receiving on numerous levels, from the neural, to the personal, to the social. And would a more generous, so to speak, gift be even more rewarding than a less generous one? While that remains to be tested directly, I'd be willing to bet that Jim and Della's ventral tegmental area and striatum went all sorts of crazy when they picked out one another's presents. And isn't it just the type of gift you'd most want to receive yourself?