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SQL Server Developer Tools – Codename Juneau vs. Red-Gate SQL Source Control
So how do the new SQL Server Developer Tools (previously code-named Juneau) stack up against SQL Source Control? Read on to find out.
At the PASS Community Summit a couple of weeks ago, it was announced that the previously code-named Juneau software would be released under the name of SQL Server Developer Tools with the release of SQL Server 2012. This replacement for Database Projects in Visual Studio (also known in a former life as Data Dude) has some great new features. I won't attempt to describe them all here, but I will applaud Microsoft for making major improvements. One of my favorite changes is the way database elements are broken down. Previously every little thing was in its own file. For example, indexes were each in their own file. I always hated that. Now, SSDT uses a pattern similar to Red-Gate's and puts the indexes and keys into the same file as the overall table definition.
Of course there are really cool features to keep your database model in sync with the actual source scripts, and the rename refactoring feature is now touted as being more than just a search and replace, but rather a "semantic-aware" search and replace. Funny, it reminds me of SQL Prompt's Smart Rename feature. But I'm not writing this just to criticize Microsoft and argue that they are late to the party with this feature set. Instead, I do see it as a viable alternative for folks who want all of their source code to be version controlled, but there are a couple of key trade-offs that you need to know about when you choose which tool set to use.
First, the basics
Both tool sets integrate with a wide variety of source control systems including the most popular: Subversion, GIT, Vault, and Team Foundation Server. Both tools have integrated functionality to produce objects to upgrade your target database when you are ready (DACPACs in SSDT, integration with SQL Compare for SQL Source Control). If you regularly live in Visual Studio or the Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) then SSDT will likely be comfortable for you. Like BIDS, SSDT is a Visual Studio Project Type that comes with SQL Server, and if you don't already have Visual Studio installed, it will install the shell for you. If you already have Visual Studio 2010 installed, then it will just add this as an available project type. On the other hand, if you regularly live in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) then you will really enjoy the SQL Source Control integration from within SSMS. Both tool sets store their database model in script files. In SSDT, these are on your file system like other source files; in SQL Source Control, these are stored in the folder structure in your source control system, and you can always GET them to your file system if you want to browse them directly.
For me, the key differentiating factors are 1) a single, unified check-in, and 2) migration scripts. How you value those two features will likely make your decision for you.
Unified Check-In
If you do a continuous-integration (CI) style of development that triggers an automated build with unit testing on every check-in of source code, and you use Visual Studio for the rest of your development, then you will want to really consider SSDT. Because it is just another project in Visual Studio, it can be added to your existing Solution, and you can then do a complete, or unified single check-in of all changes whether they are application or database changes. This is simply not possible with SQL Source Control because it is in a different development tool (SSMS instead of Visual Studio) and there is no way to do one unified check-in between the two. You CAN do really fast back-to-back check-ins, but there is the possibility that the automated build that is triggered from the first check-in will cause your unit tests to fail and the CI tool to report that you broke the build. Of course, the automated build that is triggered from the second check-in which contains the "other half" of your changes should pass and so the amount of time that the build was broken may be very, very short, but if that is very, very important to you, then SQL Source Control just won't work; you'll have to use SSDT.
Refactoring and Migrations
If you work on a mature system, or on a not-so-mature but also not-so-well-designed system, where you want to refactor the database schema as you go along, but you can't have data suddenly disappearing from your target system, then you'll probably want to go with SQL Source Control. As I wrote previously, there are a number of changes which you can make to your database that the comparison tools (both from Microsoft and Red Gate) simply cannot handle without the possibility (or probability) of data loss. Currently, SSDT only offers you the ability to inject PRE and POST custom deployment scripts. There is no way to insert your own script in the middle to override the default behavior of the tool. In version 3.0 of SQL Source Control (Early Access version now available) you have that ability to create your own custom migration script to take the place of the commands that the tool would have done, and ensure the preservation of your data. Or, even if the default tool behavior would have worked, but you simply know a better way then you can take control and do things your way instead of theirs.
You Decide
In the environment I work in, our automated builds are not triggered off of check-ins, but off of the clock (currently once per night) and so there is no point at which the automated build and unit tests will be triggered without having both sides of the development effort already checked-in. Therefore having a unified check-in, while handy, is not critical for us. As for migration scripts, these are critically important to us. We do a lot of new development on systems that have already been in production for years, and it is not uncommon for us to need to do a refactoring of the database. Because of the maturity of the existing system, that often involves data migrations or other additional SQL tasks that the comparison tools just can't detect on their own. Therefore, the ability to create a custom migration script to override the tool's default behavior is very important to us. And so, you can see why we will continue to use Red Gate SQL Source Control for the foreseeable future.
Legacy Comments
Jonathan Scion
|re: SQL Server Developer Tools – Codename Juneau vs. Red-Gate SQL Source Control
there's another option when it comes to SQL Server version control. Check this out:
(I work for Nob Hill Software)
|re: SQL Server Developer Tools – Codename Juneau vs. Red-Gate SQL Source Control
Way over due for MS to have these things.


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For the record, I can�t abide a thief. And just so you are sure, a murderer is the worst kind of thief, robbing the victim of life and getting nothing of value in return.
A woman made my list of despicables this week when she decided she not only had to rob, but shoot and kill, a storekeeper who was committing the act of running his business and supporting his family. It�s not the first time Paresh Shah had encountered someone willing to do him harm. He was robbed and cut in a store he ran in High Point a year ago. That thief stole cash and lottery tickets and sent Mr. Shah to the hospital with a knife wound.
I am betting Mr. Shah felt safer in the Gibsonville community, where he owned and operated Ken�s Quickie Mart. Yet, according to the surveillance camera he had recently installed in his store, he was slain Saturday night by the woman who came into his store with no good intentions. The 61-year-old man put up a fight. He was shot three times but still managed to follow his attacker out the door before he died in a puddle of his own blood. How long he laid there before being attended is still an unanswered question. So is the inventory of stolen goods, if any.
What happened to Mr. Shah is the nightmare of any man or woman who works behind a cash register in a retail store. It�s the nightmare of the widow or widower who has to bury a mate, the nightmare of the children or grandchildren left behind.
I didn�t know Mr. Shah. I had stopped by his store to buy gas about 10 hours before he was slain. I didn�t go into the store, but I am willing to bet he was there working. Small business owners don�t work 9 to 5 unless they intend to go out of business quickly.
No, people who run stores like Mr. Shah�s work many hours a day every day. There are shelves to be stocked, gas to be pumped, all manner of merchandise to be sold. There are bills to be paid, vendors to accommodate. There are deadbeats who won�t leave a penny but don�t mind taking one. There are drunks needing more drink and little kids with nickels wanting a dollar�s worth of candy. There are people who don�t have quite enough for that loaf of bread. There are people who only drop in to use the bathroom and are out the door before you realize they stuck a roll of toilet paper in the john for kicks. There are underage kids who want malt liquor, little old ladies who can shoplift you blind, people who want credit, and loafers who just want to chew the fat.
Mr. Shah was doing what millions of people do every day, trying to make an honest living. By all accounts he was a pleasant man and had only been running the store since May.
I feel a kinship with Mr. Shah because, in my youth and young manhood, I often worked alone in my father�s store in the Pleasant Hill community, a store not unlike Mr. Shah�s place. Granted, armed robberies of stores were not as prevalent as they are today, but they were always a very real possibility. There were some unusual customers from time to time but, by the grace of God, we were never held up at gunpoint.
But that�s not to say we were never robbed. We were, many times. Thieves would bully open the door in the dead of night, take all the cigarettes they could carry, and the next morning we�d arrive to a mess. We never left cash in the store, but my father would usually leave the silver in the till which, of course, would be gone. Even the pennies.
In the late 1960s, my father invested in a new store building with more updated fixtures. My mother had her beauty salon in the same building, separated by a common wall. It didn�t stop the thieves from breaking in. In fact, it made it easier because now the grocery carts we furnished our customers were perfect for the thieves to load down with goods so they wouldn�t have to fatigue their arms.
With that first break-in at the new store, we initiated the armed sleepover. Either my father or I slept at night in the beauty salon. An air vent in the common wall gave us a straight shot, as it were, into the store and the cash drawer. Beside that hole, the size of one cinderblock, we kept the rifle. I�m glad to report this security measure worked. No one attempted to break into the store during this period. We were lucky.
Every time I drive by Mr. Shah�s store from now on, be it returning from a visit with my sister, or traveling to some farm to buy veggies or berries, or throwing out candy at the Gibsonville Christmas parade, I�ll have a prayer for the men and women who risk their lives just to sell a loaf of bread, a gallon of gas, or a pack of smokes.
There�s a reward for information in this case. $5,000. It�s one reward I�d cheer to see paid out.
Jay Ashley is managing editor of the Times-News. E-mail firstname.lastname@example.com

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Visit our main website at www.StDavids.com
Editorial Staff and Contributors
Sperm passes from the testes to the penis in tubes called the vas deferens. A vasectomy is a surgery that blocks these tubes. This makes a man unable to make a woman pregnant.
Copyright © Nucleus Medical Media, Inc.
The surgery is done to make you sterile. This means that you are unable to cause a pregnancy.
A vasectomy is done as permanent birth control. This option is for men who are sure they will not want to father a child in the future. There is a surgery to reverse a vasectomy. However, the reverse is not always successful.
If you are planning to have a vasectomy, your doctor will review a list of possible complications with you, which may include:
Factors that may increase the risk of complications include:
Your doctor may do the following:
Talk to your doctor about your medications. You may be asked to stop taking some medications up to one week before the procedure.
In the days leading up to your procedure:
Local anesthesia will be used. It will numb the area. You may also be given medication to help you relax.
There are three techniques for a vasectomy:
Conventional vasectomies take about 30 minutes. No-scalpel procedures take about 20 minutes.
Anesthesia prevents pain during the procedure. You can expect some soreness for a few days. Take pain medications as directed by your doctor.
When you return home, do the following to help ensure a smooth recovery:
A vasectomy may not make you sterile right away. Tests will be done to look for any sperm in the semen. The tests may be done at your doctor's office or with a home test kit. These tests are done to make sure that the procedure was effective.
After arriving home, contact your doctor if any of the following occurs:
In case of an emergency, call for emergency medical services right away.
Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Copyright © EBSCO Publishing. All rights reserved.
Women's Center of Texas12221 N. Mopac Expwy.Austin, TX 78758Telephone: (512) 478-3627Map & Directions


text:
Introducing FCM 360.
Designed to give you a better perspective on your travel program.
The FCM 360 program delivers an all-encompassing travel experience to transform your business travel. Offering every option your organisation needs to effectively manage corporate travel, from a full spectrum of specialist travel services, through to best practice technology platforms and travel booking options, the FCM 360 experience provides real solutions for travellers, travel bookers and decision makers alike.
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PEORIA — A pizza delivery driver thwarted an armed robbery involving a male he recognized early Thursday on the East Bluff.
Someone ordered a pizza from Bacci's Pizzeria about 2:40 a.m. to a home that was later found to be vacant in the 700 block of East Kansas Street.
When the driver arrived, a black male with a long ponytail and short beard, wearing a black hoodie, blue jeans and black gloves, approached the vehicle and pressed a handgun to the deliveryman's side.
"Put everything down and empty your pockets," the robber told the victim, according to a report on the incident.
The victim said he didn't have anything, then grabbed the gun from his attacker when the robber looked beyond the victim to survey the contents of the vehicle. The robber reached into the car and retrieved the gun before fleeing on foot.
The victim told police he recognized the robber as a 17-year-old male whom he could name. Police searched for the suspect but did not immediately apprehend him.


text:
Travel Guide of Providence, Rhode Island for: Hampton Inn & Suites Providence DowntownProvidence, Rhode Island, United States
Providence Summary
- Charming historic buildings reminiscent of Boston's Colonial aesthetic
- Thriving culinary scene (with very low prices)
- Thriving LGBT community
- Location on water keeps it warmer than inland New England
- Easily accessible from Boston
- Beautiful scenery nearby at Narragansett Bay; beaches nearby
- Cold winters can bring harsh storms
- The city is safe, but still changing: car theft rates are 2.5 times the national average
- City shuts down relatively early; most places are closed by 1 a.m. (a pro for some)
What It's Like
The "blink-and-you'll-miss-it" state's capital has seen some serious revitalization over the years. Shopping centers and high-end boutiques are now the main attractions in downtown Providence, which not long ago was home to nothing more than abandoned warehouses and factories. Rivers that were once paved over have been uncovered and turned into a system of canals with parks along their banks. A thriving artistic and creative community has brought with it music venues and theater productions. Once seen as the estranged little sibling of Boston, the city itself is starting to directly compete for visitors and is actually drawing native Bostonians away for quick weekend trips.
The culinary scene in Providence is red hot: The city reportedly has more restaurants per capita than anywhere else in the country. Quality is not diminished by quantity, though, and most restaurants are of Boston and New York quality at a fraction of the price. Once the kitchens close, droves of students from nearby universities (Brown, Johnson & Wales and RISD are in the area) keep the city's nightlife bustling, but bars and restaurants do close on the earlier side (usually by 1 a.m. on weekdays, 2 a.m. on weekends).
Where To Stay
The East Side is a gorgeous area, flanked by College Hill's cozy streets and shops, but downtown is home to the majority of Providence's hotels. This isn't a bad thing: This will put you within walking distance of the gorgeous State House grounds, Waterplace Park, shopping centers and a short cab ride away from a strip of phenomenal dining on Atwells Ave.


text:
- Inside Athletics
- Tickets
- Fan Zone
- Media Zone
- Social
- Shop
- E Fund
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (February 17, 2006) - Saturday's matchup, pitting ETSU vs. Belmont, will be a battle between two of the A-Sun heavy weights with Belmont (17-5, 13-2 A-Sun) leading the conference, and ETSU (17-5, 11-4 A-Sun) sitting in third place. Both teams have already clinched spots in the upcoming championship tournament. Game time is set for 3 p.m. CST, in Curb Event Center.
The Bruins have only two A-Sun losses this season, one of them coming at the hands of the Lady Bucs . ETSU upped
Scouting the Bruins ...
Rookie Alysha Clark leads a high-powered Bruin offense, averaging 20.4 ppg. The freshman also leads the team on the boards at 10.5 rebounds a clip. Tonisha Jones and Jenny Conkle are next in line in the scoring ranks, averaging 9.5, and 9.0 ppg, respectively. Jessica Bobbit is the team's second-best rebounder, pulling in 6.5 boards a game. The Bruins, on a nine-game win streak, have been especially tough at home this season, posting a 9-1 overall record, and a perfect 8-0 in the A-Sun. The Bruins' only A-Sun losses this season have come against ETSU and an overtime loss at Mercer.
The Series ...
ETSU won game one of the season series, 66-52, in its first-ever A-Sun contest, on Dec. 1, in Johnson City. The programs have met a total of four times over the years, with ETSU holding the 3-1 advantage.


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Cycling: Bakelants finally emerges, big names lurk behind
Just when it looked like Jan Bakelants might never live up to the potential he showed in his younger days, the Belgian came good at long last in Sunday's second stage of the Tour de France, as the controversy that marred Saturday's opener took a back seat.
There were no mass crashes or farcical incidents involving buses on the 156-kilometre ride across Corsica from Bastia to the island's largest city Ajaccio, the birthplace of former French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.
A rumoured protest by the peloton amid safety concerns on the back of Saturday's mess amounted to nothing either.
Instead, there was plenty of to-ing and fro-ing on the collection of tricky climbs across the island's interior before Bakelants broke away from a small group of fellow escapees and made for the line, coming home a second clear of a mass pack who tried frantically to play catch-up.
So unheralded was Bakelants that French television commentators were completely caught out, confidently declaring that Spaniard Markel Irizar had crossed the line first.
But this was to be Bakelants' day, with the RadioShack-Leopard team rider finally recording a major stage victory at the age of 27.
This is his debut Tour de France, but bigger things might have come sooner for someone who won the Tour de l'Avenir in 2008, had "bad luck", as he puts it, not got in the way.
"I've had a lot of bad luck," said Bakelants, who hails from the Belgian town of Oudenaarde, a cycling-mad town in a cycling-mad nation that is home to the museum of the Tour of Flanders.
"I fell in 2010 in the Tour of Lombardy and fractured my right knee and left elbow. Things like that need time for you to recover and come back.
"I remember at L'Aquila in the Giro d'Italia when I fell on the last curve too. I had my opportunities but something was missing, just a bit of luck.
"Today, I had a bit of everything. I attacked at a good time and my legs went well, and finally it has happened."
And yet Bakelants, who graduated in bio-engineering at Leuven University before turning professional at the age of 23, so nearly did not get the chance.
"This year started in a very difficult way for me too. I had an operation on my right knee, then I came back again in the Tour of Romandie but had another injury in my other knee, so after that I worked very hard to come back and be the old Jan Bakelants that was capable of winning."
He is unlikely to hold on to the overall race leader's yellow jersey for long, though. Indeed, he and the rest of his teammates are focused primarily on Andy Schleck's GC bid.
The fragile Luxemburger has lost the edge that allowed him to grapple with Alberto Contador for Tour glory in 2010, but Bakelants hopes his stage win can help Schleck come back out of his shell.
"I saw a strong Andy today," he said. "I think Andy is in really good shape and also my victory will give him more belief in what he can achieve.
"I am starting to believe Andy can come really far. For him also this victory is really good. The stress that could have been put on to him is now a bit lower."
It was a decent day for those being touted as likely overall Tour winners, with pre-race favourite Chris Froome displaying his intent with an energetic attack on the final climb of the stage near the finish in Ajaccio.
Froome later declared it was mission accomplished, saying: "The main objective for us was to stay out of trouble today, stay at the front, and not lose any time to the main contenders."
Meanwhile, Cadel Evans rode solidly and also came in a second behind Bakelants, while Contador proved that he is over the shoulder injury suffered in a fall on Saturday.
"The first few days are always tough, especially after a fall," said the Spaniard.
"I felt a bit uncomfortable at the start of the day but improved as it went on.
"The serious stuff has not started yet."


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Austerity Isn't Working; It's Time for a Plan B
Published: Monday, 6 Jun 2011 | 8:15 AM ET Text Size
By: Matthew West
Associate Web Producer, CNBC
Ever since the financial crisis of 2008 it feels as if markets are never that far away from another bad news story.
Riot policemen push back demonstrators as they try to approach the finance ministry in Athens.
Take the last month for instance. Japan fell back into recession as did Australia. Greece looks like it will need a second bailout or a "re-profiling" or restructuring of its debt – with both terms sounding suspiciously like the other.
The Portuguese Socialists lost the election, the Spanish government suffered losses in local elections because of drastic spending cuts aimed at keeping it from going to the IMF for help. So did the German government despite the German economy being by far and away the healthiest of the European economies.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) lowered its gross domestic product growth forecast for the United Kingdom, while Moody's rating agency put 14 British banks on warning that they faced a downgrade in their credit ratings.
The United States was warned of a negative outlook on its economy and possible downgrade of its credit rating by Standard & Poor's and failed to reach agreement over raising the Federal debt ceiling having barely managed to reach agreement over the Federal budget.
And yet - despite the threat of bankruptcy in August if no agreement is reached with Congress - 10-year US bond yields fell to historic lows as investors sought safety from the volatility elsewhere.
While the US has pursued a policy of easy money and low interest rates, much of Europe has over the last twelve months adopted fiscal austerity measures, cutting public spending in an effort to deal with deficits and in order to convince the bond markets their economies are on a stable footing.
Mixed Results
However, such austerity measures have had mixed results.
In Germany three quarters of negative growth in 2008 during the financial crisis have been followed by positive growth ever since, with GDP in the first quarter of 2011 standing at 1.5 percent. This has been in spite of spending cuts of 80 billion euros ($116.8 billion) introduced in June 2010 by which time the German economy had seen four quarters of positive growth already.
In Portugal, the reverse has been true. In November 2010 Portugal voted through an austerity package that aimed to cut the budget deficit from 9.3 percent to 7.3 percent by the end of the year and to reduce it to 4.6 percent by the end of 2011.
But GDP in Portugal fell by 0.7 percent in the first quarter of 2011, having fallen by 0.3 percent the previous quarter, after recovering at the start of 2010 - before austerity measures were introduced - from the previous year's recession in which the economy declined by 1.7 percent overall.
Meanwhile, in the UK, having appeared to have dug its way out of the worst recession the country had experience since the Great Depression - and a total decline in GDP of 9 percent between the third quarter of 2007 and the second quarter of 2009 according to the Office of National Statistics - growth appeared to stall at the end of 2010.
The economy shrank by 0.5 percent in the final quarter of the year only to recover 0.5 percent in the first quarter of 2011 effectively meaning it stood still and there have been growing calls for policy makers to consider a plan B even though the government's spending cuts have yet to fully take hold.


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|Episode Description
|Thursday, Feb 14, 2013 - 7:00 AM
"Flea to Be You and Me/Kiss and Tell"
Flea to Be You and Me - Pal is itching like crazy and the culprit is Pepe, an Italian circus flea. To save himself from being "squeeshed," Pepe enthralls Kate, Pal, and Amigo with the story of his heartbreaking separation from brother Sale -- followed by an incredible journey across four continents! Kiss and Tell - Emily returns from her summer in Paris with the amazing news that she's been kissed . by a boy! Just like in a fairy tale! Now D.W. D
Mountain Time
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H.R.2055 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012112th Congress (2011-2012)
|Rep. Culberson, John Abney [R-TX-7] (Introduced 05/31/2011)
|House - Appropriations | Senate - Appropriations
|Committee Reports:
|S. Rept. 112-29; H. Rept. 112-94; H. Rept. 112-331 (Conference Report)
|Latest Action:
|12/23/2011 Became Public Law No: 112-74. (TXT | PDF) (All Actions)
|Roll Call Votes:
|There have been 15 roll call votes
|The measure is the vehicle for making appropriations for most federal government operations for the remainder of FY2012.
This bill has the status Became Law
Here are the steps for Status of Legislation:
- Introduced
- Passed House
- Passed Senate
- Resolving Differences
- To President
- Became Law
Subject — Policy Area:
- Economics and Public Finance
- View subjects
Amendments: H.R.2055 — 112th Congress (2011-2012)All Information (Except Text)
See amendments glossary definition
1-1 of 1
- 1. S.Amdt.553 — 112th Congress (2011-2012) Purpose: To eliminate the additional amount of $10,000,000 not included in the President's budget request for fiscal year 2012, appropriated for the Department of Defense for planning and design for the Energy Conservation Investment Program. Sponsor: Sen. McCain, John [R-AZ] (Submitted 07/14/2011) (Proposed 07/14/2011) Latest Action: 07/20/11 Proposed amendment SA 553 withdrawn in Senate. (consideration: CR S4702) (All Actions)


text: Ultra quality, Originality and Unique transition movement sound (futuristic fast sweep) effect, made on a synthesizer – NI Massive with a lot of filters stuff. Can be used in websites, radio, tv, podcasts, games, web, interface, software, films, cartoon music production. Providing a cool and underground sounding to your projects.


text:
As most houseboaters know, conventional house construction comes to its limits when building in maritime areas. That fact alone does plenty to drive up interest in the liveaboard lifestyle of houseboating, both in the U.S. and abroad.
Capitalizing on this growing interest is the Aqua House-an uncompromisingly maritime alternative to conventional housing. The vicinity to water and nature is taken into account in the interior design. The whole inner area is covered with teakwood floors. Spacious terraces in all Aqua House types invite to stay. When planning the Aqua houses the focus is on environmental care. The aim was to find a reasonable balance bet-ween longevity, economy and ecological materials. The input of unscented resins and natural material, e.g. jute, are a functional symbiosis for the environmental compatibility of Aqua Houses.
The excellent insulation (German insulation factor: 0.28) in combination with the modern heat pump saves a great amount of energy. Yet the heat pump does not need external energy input. The electrical consumption is comparable with that of an average refrigerator. The completely biological purification unit saves water and its discharge parameters are those of industrial water. All sandwich plates used in Aqua Houses are unscented and chemically neutral after having matured. All varnishes and painting substances used under and above the waterline have been chosen with regard to environmental compatibility. The woods for decks and internal construction all come from controlled forestry.
Other characteristic features of the Aqua House concept:
* mobility
* solid long - lived building method
* big rooms with 2.50 metres ceiling height
* all-year round inhabitable because of a special insulation
* outside a yacht, inside a house with all its comforts
* low price· harmless to the environment
* low expenses for energy supplement
* self-sufficient
Sound interesting? Find out more at www.aquahouse.se.
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The difference between building the software behind an entire operating system and the design for a California mountainside mansion? Um, massive. Unless, that is, you happen to be Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
This California home was actually designed by Woz in 1986 and -- like his other well-known products -- has pretty well stood the test of time. Look at the place. It looks like an Apple store inside. Now, the Los Gatos house is back on the market, listed at $4.395 million.
According to Zillow, "The home hasn't passed through many owners since Wozniak and was recently renovated, but much of the home retains its original design. Measuring 7,500 square feet, the 6-bedroom, 8-bath house includes an indoor kids' play area, outdoor koi pond, pool with waterfall and plenty of indoor and outdoor spaces for entertaining."
And, because it was built in the '80s, a totally rad stained-glass skylight.


text: Glad to hear it! Our DDs sound similar -I'm always trying to get her to drink more from her bottles at daycare (she's a grazer). I'm used to DS - when he was this age he was chugging them down. AND she loves to be warm and cozy at night. She wakes a lot if she's cold, I've found out.


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Balloons are used to construct a scale model of the Earth, Earth's Moon and Mars in relation to each other. Students use this model to predict distances and reflect on how scientists use models to construct explanations through the scientific... (View More) process. The lesson is part of the Mars Education Program series; it models scientific inquiry using the 5E instructional model and includes teacher notes and vocabulary. Next Generation Science Standards are listed. (View Less)
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This article describes an approach designed to decrease math anxiety and teach students about the use of mathematical symbols simplifying radicals. A deck of cards is used in a demonstration, and a problem set using real life examples to master the... (View More) use of radicals is included. This resource is from PUMAS - Practical Uses of Math and Science - a collection of brief examples created by scientists and engineers showing how math and science topics taught in K-12 classes have real world applications. (View Less)
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This is a lesson about radiation and the use of the scientific method to solve problems of too much radiation. Learners will build snow goggles similar to those used by the Inuit (designed to block unwanted light, while increasing the viewer's... (View More) ability to see in a bright region) to understand some of the engineering challenges encountered while protecting the solar cells on the Mercury MESSENGER. This is Lesson 2 of 4 at the middle level in the module, Staying Cool. (View Less)
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NBA Looks To Add Sponsor Logo's On Their Jerseys
The NBA is doing something new in the future, at least if new NBA Commissioner Adam Silver gets his way.
Silver told an audience at the IMG World Congress of Sports on Wednesday that sponsor logos would most likely be coming in the next five years on the jersey of NBA players.
"It just creates that much more of an opportunity for our marketing partners to get to get that much closer to our fans and to our players", said NBA Commissioner Adam Sliver.
In 2011, it was Silver who said putting logos on jerseys would be worth about $100 million dollars a year to the NBA.
The big snag is incorporating local and regional sponsor onto jerseys while the National TV Partners in ESPN and Turner may have competing corporate sponsors on their networks already and may compromise those relationships.
The current idea is for the NBA to allow a single patch for each team. Each sponsor logo patch would be 2 1/2 inches by 2 1/2 inches.
Personally, I think its a genius idea. I'm all about creating more revenue which only helps the brand and overall product on the field of play.
In addition, it would in my opinion, also create opportunities for new deals to be brokered. Some business and corporate partners I think would be more adapt to entering the NBA world as a sponsor if they are guaranteed the type of exposure jersey sponsorships would create.
The WNBA already has such sponsor as well as other professional leagues including Nascar and it seems not only to be a good fit, but a great way to stream more revenue.
Not quite sure why there would be any resistance from the fans or viewers, so as long as they can figure out how to not compromise current sponsorship relations, it seems like a slam dunk.


text: Korean Job Discussion Forums :: View topic - Koreans and Suicides Speak Korean Now! Korean Job Discussion Forums"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!" FAQ Search Memberlist Usergroups Register Profile Log in to check your private messages Log in Koreans and Suicides Goto page 1, 2, 3 Next Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Off-Topic Forum View previous topic :: View next topic Author Message Jake E. LeeJoined: 08 Mar 2004 Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 12:54 am Post subject: Koreans and Suicides Last week a 30 year old Seoul National University Law School student was strangled and thrown out the window of her 10th floor apartment by her psychotic ex-boyfriend after she refused to get back together. He also jumped after her. Last month a high school student succumbed to the extreme academic pressures and killed herself by jumping from the roof of a building. Both were close friends of two of my students. I read in Korea Times that Korea ranks number 4 (behind Finland, Hungary, and Japan) in suicides. More than 200 people die every week from suicides in Korea. That is a staggering statistic. What is it with Koreans and suicides? I'm inclined to believe that it's due to a lack of self-esteem brought on by parents who showed their children little or no affection during their formative years. I was really saddened by the women's deaths. Tragic. Back to top kermoJoined: 01 Sep 2004Location: Eating eggs, with a comb, out of a shoe. Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 1:13 am Post subject: Last month, a student from the middle school next to my elementary school killed herself. If I had to play armchair psychologist, which I'm pitifully underqualified to do, I would say that Korean culture puts a great deal of pressure on individuals to succeed materially, academically, and to be quite good-looking to boot. The Confucian ethos means everything you do reflects on your family, so many young people find themselves played as pawns rather than nurtured as individuals. There have been links on this board recently pointing to chronic high stress and breakdowns in sexual relationships in marriage, which is a hot pot to stew in. Back to top stvwrdJoined: 31 Mar 2005 Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 4:51 am Post subject: Interesting that I live on campus at Seoul National University and I only hear news about it from this message board. Back to top MerlynJoined: 08 Dec 2004Location: Korea Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 6:11 am Post subject: From what I see on tv and in music videos, a lot of Koreans seem to have no control over their feelings at all and over react. They seem to break down and cry, or completely blow up, over everything that happens, be it an ended relationship, or what have you. I'm not saying that this is the way it is in real life, but perhaps some Koreans have been influenced to some degree by what they've see on tv and believe that driving their cars into water and just letting themselves sit there is normal behaviour when something doesn't go their way. For that matter I've never seen so many videos with the drowning theme either. Back to top Jake E. LeeJoined: 08 Mar 2004 Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 7:52 am Post subject: I didn't mention the name of the school to get recognition. So what if you live on campus? The incident occurred last Tuesday. FU for putting a taint on my report, douchebag. Back to top stvwrdJoined: 31 Mar 2005 Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 8:07 am Post subject: um... huh? I just meant funny how no one talks about this stuff that goes on. Like the guy that got the crap beat out of him a few weeks ago in the library. Not that I blame people for not talking about it I guess, I would just expect to hear .something about it. didn't mean anything by it. I should be more explicit when implying something. Sorry, the suicide really is a tragedy. It's something I studied as a Sociology major and Psychology minor and take it seriously Back to top Apple ScruffJoined: 29 Oct 2003 Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 8:39 am Post subject: Merlyn wrote: a lot of Koreans seem to have no control over their feelings at all and over react. Jake E. Lee wrote: I didn't mention the name of the school to get recognition. So what if you live on campus? The incident occurred last Tuesday. FU for putting a taint on my report, douchebag. Emotional retardation is not exclusively a Korean trait. Back to top Ya-ta BoyJoined: 16 Jan 2003Location: Established in 1994 Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 3:36 pm Post subject: Reincarnation puts a different spin on it, for those who believe in it. Back to top KonundrumJoined: 28 Feb 2005Location: Boston Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 6:44 pm Post subject: Quote: Reincarnation puts a different spin on it, for those who believe in it. I don't think it has much to do with reincarnation at all...I think it has more to do with "saving face". They feel like they are inadequate or cannot face their self perceived short comings so suicide is the answer over societal ridicule. Just look at all the businessmen, high school officials and government officials who have been caught or accused of misdeeds...many have killed themselves rather than face consequences or trials. Back to top chest rockwellJoined: 16 May 2005Location: Sanbon Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 8:40 pm Post subject: madness! My middle-school students told me just the other day that teen suicide in Korea is massive because theres 2 much pressure on them to perform. I mean how many academies do they attend after theyve actually finished going to school? And school on Saturday? What the hell! Back to top Pyongshin SangjaJoined: 20 Apr 2003Location: I love baby! Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 9:47 pm Post subject: Maybe it's because they don't eat enough. Back to top Swiss JamesJoined: 26 Nov 2003Location: Shanghai Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 10:51 pm Post subject: I heard it was because of confucianism/kimchi/their colonial past/being too conservative/spitting on the street etc. Back to top inkoreaforgoodJoined: 15 Dec 2003Location: Inchon Posted: Tue May 31, 2005 3:27 am Post subject: Swiss James wrote: I heard it was because of confucianism/kimchi/their colonial past/being too conservative/spitting on the street etc. Hmm, I could see that, people dying because they spit on the street. Then the bus goes flying by, hits the brakes and slliiiiiiiip!!! Back to top Ya-ta BoyJoined: 16 Jan 2003Location: Established in 1994 Posted: Tue May 31, 2005 4:02 am Post subject: Quote: I don't think it has much to do with reincarnation at all...I think it has more to do with "saving face". I agree that saving face has a lot to do with the short term part of it. But those who believe in reincarnation look at it as a chance to start over. Death doesn't have the same sense of finality as it does to non-believers. The famous definition of suicide as a long term solution to a short term problem doesn't make the same kind of sense to a believer in reincarnation. Back to top Jake E. LeeJoined: 08 Mar 2004 Posted: Tue May 31, 2005 8:40 am Post subject: Reincarnation, like heaven above us, or nirvana for some, are concepts, and as long as they remain so our earthly desires and want for justice will trump any fantasies. I'm pretty sure that was one of the messages behind the Enlightenment. So who would choose religion over humanism? Middle school girls jumping off of buildings didn't do it out of religious beliefs. They did it because life fucking sucked and it wasn't fair. Korea, Japan, Finland and Hungary must have something in common. Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Off-Topic Forum All times are GMT - 8 HoursGoto page 1, 2, 3 Next Page 1 of 3 Jump to: Select a forum Forums:----------------FAQJob-related Discussion ForumGeneral Discussion ForumOff-Topic ForumTravel ForumCurrent Events ForumTechnology ForumBuy/Sell/Trade Forum You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling. Contact Dave's ESL Cafe Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved. 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Luis Zambrano
J.D., in progress at UC Berkeley Law School (2013); B.A., Government, Harvard University (2010)
Legal Intern: Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic; Berkman Center for Internet and Society; Housing Intern: East Bay Community Law Center
Copyright, IP Litigation/Transactions, Communications, Privacy
I was born in Ecuador and lived there for eight years before moving permanently to the United States. I then grew up in Los Angeles, attended undergraduate school in Massachusetts, and came back to California for law school. When I am not opening dozens of tabs with articles about domestic and foreign political developments, I like to hang out with friends, read about the tech industry, keep up with Internet culture, and play video games.


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Welcome to Los Angeles, baseball paradise, where the weather is warm, the money flows like Niagara Falls, and where the sport has been given a shot of life.
When Magic Johnson, Mark R. Walter, Todd Boehly, Bobby Patton, Boston native Peter Gruber, and Stan Kasten bought the team from Frank McCourt for $2.2 billion, the outlay of money didn't stop there.
They took on some $260 million in contracts by acquiring Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, and Adrian Gonzalez from the Red Sox. They had previously traded for Miami's Hanley Ramirez and Seattle's Brandon League. The Dodgers didn't make the playoffs, but they thought they faced an uphill fight even with all the moves.
They are investing big time in Latin America. In the future, they will be huge players in the Japanese and Cuban markets. They will be big free agent players this offseason. They are hiring good baseball people, such as Gerry Hunsicker, the former Astros general manager who had been one of the Rays' top talent evaluators.
Kasten, the new team president, who has built teams in Atlanta and Washington, feels like he's died and gone to heaven. General manager Ned Colletti has a new contract, and available resources that would make Theo Epstein jealous.
The Dodgers have the opportunity and the brainpower to build the greatest baseball organization ever.
Now, they can build their scouting departments and major league depth. Prior to this, Colletti couldn't go after top free agents. He had to be careful of the budget and bottom line. Now, if there's something he needs to have, he gets it.
He told the new owners when they took over that they needed to start going strong in Latin America because he needed to build his inventory of players. And that's exactly what they've done.
For the first time in Colletti's eight-year tenure, he doesn't have to worry about which prospects he can deal. When he needed to make the deal with the Red Sox, he didn't hesitate to give up pitching talent such as Rubby De La Rosa and Allen Webster to do it.
"It's always tough giving up young players," Colletti said. "For many years here we weren't in a spot to go after the top free agents. You can build it two ways. In this market, this fan base and this franchise, we needed to fast-forward it some. You can wait on prospects forever, and you might wait forever, and that's just a general comment. The Red Sox deal was one of those deals we thought we could get better.
"We did it with an eye on 2013, 2014 more than we did for 2012. We knew 2012 was going to be a battle, and it was. And we knew we were going to have a battle when we lost the players we lost in midseason. It's not like we traded prospects for rentals for two months. We traded a lot of good players who could end up in the big leagues. How well they do, the game will tell. This organization needed to restart with players we feel, in every case, are in the midst of their prime. They're not at the end of their careers but in the midst of their prime.
"It gives our system a chance to catch up a little bit. We had to rush guys, and when you rush guys, 1, they're not ready to play every day or start every fifth day; and 2, with some guys, you give them a sense of entitlement that they're already done. You keep your club strong when you have kids in the system who have to earn their way and not come up because someone got hurt and you can't fill it from outside."
And so Colletti was comfortable trading for Crawford, who then had Tommy John surgery but is scheduled to be ready for Opening Day, or close to it.
"He's still a dynamic player," Colletti said. "A couple of years ago, he was one of the most sought-after free agents in the game for good reason. People in Tampa saw it a lot. People in the AL East saw it a lot — a combination of abilities not many players have. In this league, the ability to hit and steal, doubles and triples — this is a tough park for home runs sometimes — his ability to create things offensively with speed and ability to hit."
Colletti loves his lineup, which will include Crawford, Gonzalez, Matt Kemp, Ramirez, and Andre Ethier.
"It's the best lineup we've put out since I've been here," he said.
But Colletti has more to do. He needs another starter. He is also "trying to keep our bullpen strong. In this league and in this division, the bullpens are strong and have good depths to them. You have to continue to have depth and inventory in some ways. So, the bullpen is one of our strengths and we have to maintain."
He has to settle on his shortstop and third baseman. Either Ramirez is the shortstop, or he's the third baseman and Dee Gordon takes over at short. Never rule out another move, either. Some have hinted the Dodgers could be a landing spot for Alex Rodriguez.
But the question marks are dwindling.
The Dodgers weren't able to land Ryan Dempster from the Cubs at the deadline, but may be able to in the offseason. They could also be in on Zack Greinke and Jake Peavy. They could make a big play for Tampa Bay's James Shields.
Right now, there's really not much this franchise can't do.
The Dodgers are back. And the rest of baseball may soon be blue.
Apropos of something
The last three Red Sox managers certainly had their issues with the team.
Terry Francona's book with the Globe's Dan Shaughnessy, which will be out in January, won't paint Red Sox ownership in a positive light. Bobby Valentine also has been firing away recently, though his beef is more with coaches and some players than with the owners. Obviously, Grady Little left on poor terms, fired because he left Pedro Martinez in too long in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS.
Valentine, the latest casualty, responded to recent criticism on comments made about David Ortiz, and letters he said he wrote to incoming manager John Farrell.
On Ortiz: "What I said was a statement of fact. At that point, there was nothing for David to play for or to risk his career. I merely said what was true, that David stopped playing. Don't know how that can be construed as throwing David under the bus. I never did that. If there was something at stake I knew he would push through, but after the trade, it was clearly a lost season, so why risk it?"
On the letters: "It was a joke. It's one of the oldest jokes in baseball. Dick Williams used to say it. I said it when I got fired in Texas, when I got fired in New York. It's too bad that no one has enough experience to understand old-time baseball jokes. I obviously didn't leave letters."
Valentine said of the media, "A lot of media is fake outrage . . . big deals made out of little things or nothing at all."
There are managerial openings in Colorado, Miami, and Toronto, but Valentine was mum on whether he would like to be considered. Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria came close to hiring Valentine a few years ago, but it appears he's now looking for a cheaper, younger manager since he owes Ozzie Guillen $7.5 million.
Francona has moved on to manage the Indians after a year at ESPN. When the book hits, it's probably going to be a little awkward with a manager of another team being critical of the Red Sox. Little is retired after managing the Dodgers following his departure from Boston.
Apropos of nothing
1. As the Red Sox give the godfather of sabermetrics, Bill James, more authority on baseball decisions, one veteran scribe pointed out, and it's true, "You have two teams in the World Series who are the least sabermetrics-oriented teams in baseball."
2. A partial list of recently retired or nearly retired players who could manage: Luis Gonzalez, Jorge Posada, Mark DeRosa, Brad Ausmus, Bill Mueller, Mike Lowell, Jason Varitek, Jason Giambi, Kevin Cash, Ellis Burks, and Omar Vizquel.
3. AT&T Park could be the best ballpark in baseball, and that's a lot for me to acknowledge after being a longtime admirer of Camden Yards.
4. Must say, Giants female PA announcer Renel Brooks-Moon is outstanding.
5. While longtime scouts are losing jobs at an alarming rate, it's great to see the Nationals have hired veteran Bob Johnson as their advance scout.
6. One of the reasons Tim Bogar turned down the job as Astros bench coach is because the team was making candidates commit through 2015, not being able to interview for managerial openings.
7. Wonder if the Red Sox will go with the recent trend of having two hitting and pitching coaches? The Giants have been successful using Dave Righetti/Mark Gardner for pitching and Hensley Meulens/Joe Lefebvre for hitting. The Cardinals also do it. The Phillies are adopting it. The Sox once tried two hitting coaches with Ron Jackson and Mike Barnett, but it didn't work.
8. The Red Sox need to promote more from within. Never understood why, if you hire someone to coach your prospects and Triple A players, he isn't good enough to instruct your major league hitters and pitchers.
9. Heard Terry Francona also talked to the Marlins about their job, but wanted the Indians all along.
10. As I sit here at Dodger Stadium, it reminds me that Frank McCourt owns 300 acres around this stadium. Is there a possible NFL stadium in his sights?
Updates on 9
1. Marco Scutaro, 2B, Giants — As long as Scutaro accepts a reasonable salary, the 36-year-old will have a job with the Giants next season. He has sold himself to management, which may opt for the tough Scutaro over the injury-prone Freddy Sanchez. Scutaro earned $6 million this season, but likely would have to sign for less to stay, which he may be willing to do considering his age and the fact he enjoys the Bay Area, where he spent four seasons with the A's. Second base is clearly Scutaro's best position.
2. Hiroki Kuroda, RHP, free agent — According to the Japanese media, who know him well, the 38-year-old is content signing a one-year deal at this stage in his career. The Yankees were able to sign him to a one-year, $10 million deal, and Kuroda could opt for a similar deal to stay in New York, or even return to Los Angeles, where the Dodgers could surely use him. Kuroda wants to maintain flexibility in case he wants to return to Japan after next season. He also is of the mind-set that he doesn't want to become complacent as the result of a long-term deal. Management's dream.
3. Josh Hamilton, OF, free agent — There's mounting evidence that Milwaukee could be one of the teams that emerges in the market. Being in the Midwest would cater to Hamilton's needs, and the Brewers, who led the National League in runs, have nonetheless not replaced Prince Fielder. A Hamilton-Ryan Braun duo would be devastating. The Brewers are at least looking into the possibility, though their top priorities remain a starting pitcher and a revamped bullpen.
4. Shane Farrell, amateur scouting assistant, Cubs — The son of Red Sox manager John Farrell will be learning the ropes from former Sox scouting director Jason McLeod. He's 23 and was in demand after spending the summer watching players in the Cape Cod League.
5. Shohei Otani, RHP, Japan — The 18-year-old phenom has the usual suspects after him, the Dodgers, Cubs, Red Sox, and Rangers among the most notable. Given the Dodgers' resources, don't be surprised if they beat out the competition. Otani's fastball has been clocked at 100 miles per hour. The Red Sox are said to very interested, hoping this won't turn out like Daisuke Matsuzaka. While the Cubs appear to be big players, Theo Epstein recently expressed trepidation about plunging into the Japanese market again.
6. Larry Bowa, MLB Network — Bowa has interviewed for two managerial jobs this offseason, the Astros and Marlins. Would love to see Bowa get back in. Loved his fiery style, but he's also learned to incorporate sabermetrics into his approach, which gives him a nice combination of old school and new school.
7. Nomar Garciaparra, ESPN — Garciaparra has made it known that he'd like to get back on the field as a coach or manager.
8. Jose Bautista, OF, Blue Jays — Bautista said he's ahead of schedule in recuperating from wrist surgery, which saw him miss the final 70 games. "I'm in the strengthening stage right now," he said. "I expect to be ready in spring training. Anxious to get back."
9. Brad Ausmus, special assistant to the GM, Padres — The one managerial job Ausmus wanted was with the Red Sox. He turned down a chance to go further in the interview process with the Astros, and turned down a chance to interview in Miami. It may be unlikely that Ausmus agrees to manage any team but the Red Sox, but teams will try to lure him.
Short hops
From the Bill Chuck Files: "There were 79 players who hit 20-plus homers this season, the same number as did it in 1987. The high point was in 1999, when 103 batters hit 20-plus dingers." Also, "Miguel Cabrera and Derek Jeter were the only two this season with 200-plus hits, down from the five (Melky Cabrera, Starlin Castro, Jacoby Ellsbury, Adrian Gonzalez, and Michael Young) who did it last season." And, "Shin-Soo Choo may be a natural for Fenway Park. This season, the lefty went to the opposite field 143 times and hit .364 with four homers and 20 doubles." . . . Happy birthday Tim Bogar (46), Bob Melvin (51), Sammy Stewart (58), and Bob Veale (77).Nick Cafardo can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickcafardo. Material from interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.


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Imagine you're at a restaurant. You study the menu. Nothing speaks to you. Then the waiter comes along, eager to announce the specials. He gushes about the filet mignon and the rack of lamb, but the roasted Chilean sea bass with caramelized onions gets his most hearty endorsement. "You've never had Chilean sea bass?" he asks. "You've got to try it! It's a flaky, white fish that is exceptionally tender and moist. People love it."
Sound irresistible? Don't take the bait, say conservationists, environmentalists, and a growing number of American chefs. They are campaigning against consumption of Chilean sea bass almost as energetically as President Bush campaigned for brother Jeb before last week's election.
This South American specialty has been all the rage for about the past six years (and especially from 1999 until 2001, when consumption doubled). Unfortunately, its popularity has also been its downfall. Pirate fishing fleets often catch about 10 times as much as the legal limits.
To save the fish, campaigns such as "Take a Pass on Chilean Seabass," spearheaded by the National Environmental Trust (NET), have become increasingly common. Many factors are at play: a world population that continues to swell, stepped-up publicity about the health benefits of seafood, and consumers who are more conscious of food sources and savvier about making ecologically friendly choices.
You might remember all the talk about dolphin-safe tuna. Or Chesapeake Bay rockfish. And more recently, the widespread campaign to "Give Swordfish a Break." These fish have recovered, more or less.
Marine biologist Ellen Pikitch thinks this grass-roots action to protect Chilean sea bass is just like the one that helped save the swordfish. "That campaign was instrumental in getting international agreement on a rebuilding plan for North Atlantic swordfish," she says, "an agreement that is now showing big dividends."
But still, not everyone is convinced that these campaigns - or boycotts -have a lasting impact on fish populations.
"They are often misguided," says Richard Gutting Jr., president of the National Fisheries Institute. He supports the conservation of Chilean sea bass and eliminating illegal practices, but, he notes, none of the illegally caught fish is coming into the US market because of strict monitoring of each vessel and its catch.
"This boycott is diverting attention away from the real problem," he says. "Consumers and chefs should channel their energy into urging the government to crack down on the black market in other nations."
Others point out that boycotts can be confusing for consumers, and sometimes hurt fishermen. "I'm not a boycott signer," says Chris Douglass, chef and co-owner of Icarus restaurant in Boston. "They tend to be oversimplistic, focusing on only one fish. I've also seen how boycotts can turn around and bite you in the back. They bring lots of attention to an issue, which can be good. But with swordfish," he explains, "many East Coast fishermen were hurt by it even though they were practicing good fishery management, sticking to quotas as well as size and weight limits."
Paul Parker, a fishermen for five years, has recently become executive director of the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fisherman's Association. He believes that these boycotts are now a "necessary fact of life." But he knows firsthand about the confusion they can cause. "People hear about the Chilean sea bass campaign and assume there's something wrong with eating striped bass," he says. "I am constantly having to clarify the difference between them, which is vast."
For boycotts to be most effective, Mr. Parker says, they need to take place on a more local level, closer to home. He explains that the issues regarding a particular fish on one coast may not apply to that same species on the other coast.
The swordfish boycott of 1998 to 2000,for example, was intended to help preserve the Atlantic stocks fished with longlines. (These are set just below the water's surface, stretch for miles, have hundreds of hooks, and take in a lot of "bycatch" - nontargeted fish, sea turtles, and seabirds.) But those who caught Pacific swordfish and used harpoons to catch swordfish also lost business.
While Nora Pouillon, chef/owner of two acclaimed restaurants in Washington, is sympathetic about the fallout of boycotts for fishermen, she insists that they are effective. History proves this, she says. The first moratorium that the Austrian-born chef is aware of took place 20 years ago. "The rockfish from Chesapeake Bay was at first plentiful," she explains, "then it was completely decimated from overfishing." When a well-publicized campaign to stop buying rockfish started, it was thought that the fish stocks would need about 10 years to recover. But the rockfish population recuperated in only five years.
Another example, says Ms. Pouillon, is swordfish, which was severely depleted until after the "Give Swordfish a Break" campaign. She was the first chef to sign on to the campaign. Though swordfish has not completely come back, it's at 94 percent of levels considered healthy, according to conservation organizations. "I hope Chilean sea bass will do as well," she says.
When she first took swordfish off the menu at Restaurant Nora, where she serves an average of 200 diners each night, Pouillon was inundated with angry letters and phone calls from fishermen.
"I told them to be patient, that supply would return, and then they could go back to their trade." Without the moratorium, she adds, swordfish might have become extinct, and their livelihood would be wiped out forever.
All the controversy about seafood campaigns and their effectiveness can make one's head swim with conflicting opinions. And dipping into the facts via charts or lists, such as those published online by the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Audubon Society of America, could make things even blurrier. Within every species, each type of fish has its own issues.
Shrimp, for instance, comes in 20 varieties, and it can be partially or not at all sustainable, depending on whether it is wild or farmed, domestic or imported.
Among other issues: Some fish are being caught at unsustainable levels. Others are caught by methods that haul in a lot of bycatch, and still others are farmed in ways that some consider problematic. (For specifics, see the box of websites on page 19.)
Michael Princhinello, a New Yorker who cooks seafood three or four times each week, recommends reading up on all the issues and asking lots of questions. He starts with his favorite fishmonger, who, he says, is always well-informed. He might ask him: Where is this fish from? Is it farmed or wild? And how was it caught?
Mr. Princhinello is glad that restaurant chefs are taking a stand against cooking fish that are dwindling in numbers, but he's not such a stickler as to steer clear of those whodo. "Lots of times they just don't know better," he says.
But cooking teacher Karen Adler takes a bolder approach. Just the other day, when Ms. Adler noticed Chilean sea bass on the menu of a popular Kansas City restaurant, she said to the waiter: "I'm curious why the chef is offering Chilean sea bass despite the national campaign." She was told that the chef had wanted to take it off his menu, but his customers balked - even after he told them about its precarious future.
Many of Adler's students enroll in her classes because they're intimidated by the idea of cooking seafood.
Because so many consumers eat fish only at restaurants, rather than cooking it at home, Andrea Kavanagh of the National Environmental Trust believes chefs can have tremendous influence. "They are the opinion leaders of the food world," she says.
Some might say that the Chilean sea bass campaign has already had an impact.In fact, demand has dropped by 40 percent in the past year,says Sam Wong, general manager of American Fish and Seafood Co., a major distributor of fish in the US. But, he adds, that decline could be due to steeper prices. In March , his business sold Chilean sea bass for $7 per pound. Now it's $10 per pound.
And representatives from 160 countries have been meeting since Nov. 3 in Santiago, Chile, to consider adding the sea bass to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. This decision has the potential to reduce and possibly even eliminate illegal fishing for this species, advocates say.
The goal of the NET's Chilean sea bass campaign is to cutdemand drastically in the US, thereby putting a halt to unlawful fishing that threatens the survival of this large, slow-to-mature species. This campaign started in six major US cities, where the NET asked chefs to agree to stop serving the fish until populations begin to recover. So far, more than 1,000 restaurant chefs have taken the South American fish off their menus, offering substitutions such as Alaskan halibut, hook-and-line-caught cod, or striped bass, and informing customers - via menu notes and a well-briefed wait staff - about its plight.
Most people hadn't even heard of Chilean sea bass 10 years ago, even though this large, prehistoric-looking species has been harvested off the southern coast of Chile, even as far down as Antarctica, since the early 1980s. But in recent years, marketers worked hard to put it on plates everywhere, first by changing its name from Patagonian toothfish to a more attractive, sophisticated-sounding moniker.
The timing was perfect, as consumption of seafood was already rising because of a flurry of publicity touting its nutritional benefits. In 2001, Americans ate 3.4 more pounds more fish per person than the year before, increasing their annual consumption to 17.4 pounds. (That same year, they also ate 34 pounds more poultry and 21 pounds less red meat.)
Also working in favor of the popularity of Chilean sea bass, typically an expensive fish, has been increased affluence of diners, as well as cultivation of more sophisticated palates. And the fact that this fish is one of the most forgiving to cook is a major draw for restaurants.
With all this attention being given to the trendy toothfish, one might think it's the only fish in the sea. Its cause just happens to be uppermostthese days. But many proponents of the "Take a Pass on Chilean Seabass" campaign want consumers to make other choices that also support sustainable seafood. Next on their list: promotingwild Alaskan salmon overfarmed Atlantic salmon.
To help supply the global demand for seafood, fish farms - where fish, shrimp, and shellfish are raised typically in large nets in ocean waters - have been opening at a rapid rate. Today, almost 20 percent of the world's seafood comes from fish farms. The ecological impact of this varies depending on the type of species, how it is raised, and where the farm is located.
Sixty percent of the world's salmon, the third-most-popular seafood after shrimp and tuna, is now farmed, mostly in the Atlantic Ocean. Originally, these farms were thought to be the solution to a dwindling supply, but since then, complications have been discovered.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium says farm-raised Atlantic salmon is riddled with problems. For starters, this organization reports, with thousands of fish concentrated in one net, the ocean water can quickly become polluted with their waste.
The aquarium also says that these salmon are more prone to disease, which can be spread to wild species when they escape from the pens, which happens often. And after an escape, they could also encroach on the habitat of the wild fish, and mix up the gene pool.
In addition, farmed salmon are fed small wild fish, such as anchovies, which are an important part of the underwater food chain.
Some groups urge consumers to buy wild Alaskan salmon (king, sockeye, and chum, to name a few) instead of consuming farmed salmon. Wild is considered both sustainable and renewable since it can be harvested only within federally designated fishing seasons and, within those seasons, under the supervision of federally designated fisheries.
Even those who are opposed to farming Atlantic salmon are not necessarily against seafood farming altogether. For example, Adler, who is also a cookbook author ("Fish & Shellfish Grilled & Smoked"), often buys farmed catfish from Mississippi. "They have figured out how to do it right," she says. "And the quality is outstanding."
One has to be a bit skeptical, she adds, of hype about the dangers of fish farms. "You don't know if it's being generated by a competitor or if it's being exaggerated," she explains. "For the most part, I believe fish farms make ecological sense."
When it really comes down to it, says chef Douglass, most people don't think too much about where their restaurant meal comes from. And despite his advocacy of sustainable seafood, he isn't on a mission to educate them. "People are interested in how their meal tastes and how it's prepared," he says. "And I try to make the best decisions possible."
Among those decisions is one to serve mostly fresh, local seafood with the exception of wild Alaskan salmon and halibut. So the Chilean sea bass campaign isn't much of an issue for him.
"I don't like to get fish from so far away, and I never understood the huge appeal [of the fish] anyway," he says.
Douglass is a champion of cod fishermen who catch their fish off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, using hook-and-line methods instead of gill nets. Critics frown upon the latter, sayingthe nets entangle and kill fish - as well as other marine life - in their webbing, which sits at the ocean bottom.
The hook-and-line method, on the other hand, is an age-old technique where a fish isbrought on board the ship alive, one line and one hook at a time, allowing fishermen to return itto the sea if it istoo small.
Using this approach, which many now call "artisanal" fishing, commercial fishermen who work off the coast of Cape Cod can bring in about 1,500 pounds of cod per day for each boat. Each of the boats typically includes up to three fishermen - a captain and two-man crew. And they don't get slapped with fines for catching fish that are too small.
While Douglass acknowledges that cod stocks are at "dangerously low levels," he supports this method. Fishermen who are rigging with hooks, he explains, are taking only targeted species at the legal size and returning the undersized fish to the sea.
"I believe it's wrongheaded," he says, "not to encourage and support those in the trenches who are trying to do the right thing."
To learn more about current seafood issues and the choices suggested by conservationists, visit these websites:
• Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch, www.mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp • The Audubon Society's Seafood Guide From Living Oceans, www.audubon.org/campaign/lo/seafood/index.html
Atlantic cod: Hook-caught Atlantic cod, Alaskan lingcod, Black cod
Orange roughy: Catfish, Striped bass
Grouper: Mahi-mahi
Farmed salmon: Wild Alaskan salmon
Shrimp: California trap-caught spot prawns, Atlantic northern pink shrimp, Certified turtle-sage shrimp
Dredged clams: Farmed clams
Dredged mussels: Rope-cultured native mussels
Dredged oysters: Cultured or farmed oysters
Dredged scallops: Farmed scallops
Lobster: Mature farmed crawfish
Striped bass, a well-managed species all along the Atlantic coast, can be used as a substitute for many species of depleted fish, such as black sea bass, Pacific rockfish, groupers, snappers, and Patagonian toothfish (Chilean sea bass).Source: Seafood Lovers Almanac(by National Audubon Society's Living Oceans Program)


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SCons / GSoC2007 / Proposal
The SCons wiki has moved to https://github.com/SCons/scons/wiki/Proposal
How To Write a Good Proposal
This page outlines what is needed in a proposal that will be acceptable to SCons. For a source of potential tasks, look at the ideas page. You can also look at the mentors page for information about the people who will be doing the evaluations.
As a student, you must be willing to meet the following requirements, in addition to the Google eligibility requirements:
- You must not overbook yourself. Working on your SCons project should be your main activity for the entire summer.
- You must be prepared to stay in regular contact with your mentor via email, IRC, or other mutually-agreed method.
- You must already know Python and you should have at least cracked open the code and taken a look inside so that you have an understanding of the codebase with which you will be working.
- You will be expected to learn how to use the needed developer tools if you don't already know them, including Subversion and QMTest.
- You must be willing to discuss what you are doing on the SCons mailing lists. You will be expected to submit a status report to the developers' mailing list at least weekly. At a minimum, the status report should contain these three points:
- What did you do this week?
- What problems are you having (if any)?
- What do you plan to do next? By far the most important item is the first. Google pays for thirteen weeks, five days a week, eight hours a day. We can be flexible to some extent to allow for vacations and the like, but if you can't provide us with 520 hours before the completion deadline, save us both some time and don't apply.
Ground Rules
You can submit more than one proposal, but it's better to pick something where you feel that you can do a great job, and concentrate on writing one outstanding proposal, with lots of detail about what you plan to accomplish.
The results must be maintainable and clean. If you submit a quick hack or something we would have to rewrite from scratch, we will not accept the project as completed, even if the code works as advertised. We would rather have a maintainable, clean, and incomplete piece of code that we could extend than a complete but unmaintainable piece of code.
Do your own work. On the one hand, don't hesitate to ask the community for assistance, but on the other hand, don't expect us to debug your code for you.
The results must be released under the terms of the X/MIT Open Source License. If you are planning to incorporate material from any other source (including translations and transliterations), the source must have a compatible license.
The Process
Write a short note to the developers' mailing list (if you aren't already subscribed, you should be) and tell us what you're thinking about doing. If the response is favorable, go ahead and start preparing the proposal.
Create a wiki page named GSoC2007/Your****Name (if you don't have a wiki account, you should create one) and put your proposal in it using the template below. Don't underestimate the value of a good proposal. Be prepared to spend quite a bit of time on it as it is a major element by which you are judged. Take the time to dot your i
's and cross your _t_'s and use the correct terminology because you can be sure that you're competing against others who will do so. And if the proposal is interesting but not complete in some way, be prepared to spend even more time with the mentors to expand and refine the proposal into something we can sponsor.
The more thoroughly you demonstrate an understanding of SCons and the work entailed by your proposal, the greater the chance that we'll accept it. Your proposal needs to convince us that you understand what needs to be done and that you have the skills to do it. Don't just repeat what we already have on the ideas page; show some insight into the why and how of the problem.
You'll have a lot to learn before you can begin coding your project, so plan to spend some time orienting yourself. And there will need to be some time while others try out your results and report bugs and other problems that will need to be fixed. Think about this when creating your schedule. Remember, no project is trivial—all of them represent a significant investment of time and effort.
Proofread and spellcheck your proposal, then have someone else check it. Yes, this isn't an English contest and not everyone is a native speaker, but if the application is hard to understand, the mentors are less likely to look upon it kindly. We're primarily an English-speaking team and will expect you to be able to write good code comments, documentation, email messages, and IRC chat in English. Plus, communication skills are important in distributed development such as you see in open source projects, and this is one of the few chances the mentors will have to evaluate that. Moreover, it's not uncommon for a better-written proposal to trump a better proposal even in the commercial world, so it's worth making sure that your proposal is the best you can make it.
Once the proposal has enough information in it to make discussion feasible, drop a note to the developer's mailing list and tell us about it. Be prepared to defend your proposal, but expect that a number of changes, potentially major, will probably be needed.
Apply at Google (((REF))) with an abstract of the proposal and include a link to the wiki page above.
Proposal Template
A strong proposal will cover the relevant portions of this information:
- Project Title
- Contact Information - Name, email, and timezone at a minimum. Other information, such as a phone number, home page, or IM handle, is at your discretion. Accepted proposals will be published (by Google) and are potentially visible to spambots, so don't put anything in them that you don't want publicly known. In particular, consider obscuring your email address so it won't be picked up by spammers.
- Synopsis - A couple of paragraphs describing what the project will do. Obviously, conciseness counts, but it should be complete enough to show the full scope of the work. Use your own words; it's important to show us that you understand what you write and are not just parroting back what you found somewhere else.
- Benefits to the SCons Community - A good project will be both fun (for you) and generally useful (to users).
- Project Details - About one to two pages of what the project entails. In general, you can't be too detailed, but stay focused; a rambling fifteen-page document doesn't help your cause, either. (If you have an external design document that covers some of these elements, it's sufficient to give the link and then cover the remaining topics in your proposal.) It should include most of these elements:
- Analysis - What the completed project will provide. Explain to us your take on the problem and how you would solve it. "This could be implemented with that technique." "This API will offer that functionality." If you don't know, say so. "I need to research these areas." "I'll need help sorting that out."
- Compatibility - SCons takes backward compatibility very seriously, so include a review of existing SCons features that will be affected and explain how your new work will coexist with that functionality.
- Techniques - Any unusual approaches, specialized algorithms, or outside tools. If there are interactions between components, a sketch of the anticipated API.
- Plan - How will your project integrate into SCons? Describe what you're going to do and how you think you will do it, and possibly even what you will do if your initial approach does not work.
- References - Include academic references, such as links or brief quotes, which back up your ideas. That kind of stuff impresses us. On the other hand, do not include a dozen pages of reference materials; we won't read it. Summarize. If the project is related to research already in progress at your school, tell us how you are involved; it allows us to evaluate your approach, as well as giving us the assurance that you are serious about your topic and have already done background work.
- Examples - Sometimes the best way to keep the proposal concise is with a short, well-chosen example, usually just a few lines long.
- Deliverables - It is very important to list quantifiable results here, such as "Implement new feature X" or "Improve Y and Z to do foo" or "Speed up bar by A%". Deliverables must also include tests and documentation. The deliverables should be tied to the schedule; on average, a deliverable should be provided every two or three weeks.
- Project Schedule - How long will the project take? Provide an estimated timeline, so we know what to expect. In general, tests should be one of the first things done, before the start of coding. Please also include other information on your summer plans which might be relevant to planning development. And give yourself some slack to allow for unexpected developments. This is, arguably, one of the most important sections, so do not overlook it!
- Other Proposals - If you submit multiple proposals (either to SCons or to other organizations), tell us about them. If you have a preference for a particular proposal or particular organization, tell us that, too. It won't affect your ranking, and it will give us a chance to try and get you the project you prefer.
- Brief Biography - Who are you? What interests you? What makes you the best person to work on this project?
- A short resumé or CV is appropriate, but informal is both fine and preferred.
- Focus on relevant prior experience that would make you the best choice.
- If you know anyone in open source who can vouch for your code quality and/or diligence, use them as a reference.
- Include anything else you'd like us to know.
The following tips, although not required, will give you the best chance of having your proposal accepted. Note that the first six points are effectively identical to the advice in the Writing Your Application section of Google's Advice for Students page (we both started with the same source ;-)).
- Promote your idea - Describe your idea in detail. What is its ultimate goal? What components will it have? How does it benefit the project itself and the SCons community? How do you plan to achieve completion of your project? If a specification already exists, what will you do that will go above and beyond expectations?
- Promote yourself - Convey your passion for the project. Talk about what makes you stand out from the rest of the crowd. Talk about your past experiences, what makes you tick. Why are you interested in open source software, and SCons in particular? What interests do you have, and how do these interests relate to SCons? There is a basic assumption that people applying for Summer of Code have at least some programming skills already, so rather than a lot of time elaborating on these (though by all means, do tell us what you know), spend time talking about you.
- Show enthusiasm - Summer of Code is a very exciting opportunity, and SCons is an extremely exciting project to work on. We're not looking for people who want a summer job to pass the time; we're looking for devoted people who are excited about SCons and about open source, who will remain part of our community even after the project is done.
- Tailor your application to the project - Some people may send applications to more than one project, and copy/paste large parts (or even the entirety) from one application to the next. It is painfully obvious when this is done, and it is a sure-fire way for your application not to be taken seriously. Each application you send should be targeted and tailored for the specific mentoring organization and project to which you are applying.
- Get feedback from the community - Discussing your idea with some established SCons folks is highly recommended. Try to have your application reviewed by someone before you submit it, whether that be the mentor for a particular project or a person with expertise in a certain area. If your idea duplicates existing efforts or code (and does not provide a very convincing reason for doing so), it will be rejected. Don't be afraid to ask the community for help; we want you to succeed just as much as you do.
- Don't wait until the last minute - Applications received in the beginning of the submission process will generally be reviewed more thoroughly than those received in the last hours before the interface closes. Mentors are also more eager to read applications in the beginning and suggest revisions to make your proposal more acceptable. Start preparing your proposal when you first hear of Summer of Code, not a day or two before the deadline. Start planning your application as soon as possible! Even start working on the project; if you can offer some preliminary results to show that your project will succeed, your chances of being accepted are improved.
- Be bold - Do you have a brilliant idea that's not on the ideas page? Great! Don't be afraid to suggest innovative and ambitious approaches to solve hard problems. Ultimately, we're looking for new major contributors for our projects and a bold proposal makes us think you might be a candidate. If you know enough about SCons to suggest an interesting project, that lets us know you're serious about us, and in turn, makes us more likely to pick you.
- Be realistic - Google requires you to complete a project by the deadline; don't be so bold that your proposal can't be finished. If you think the project as suggested is too large and you can only feasibly complete part of it, make sure your proposal covers a reasonable subset of the functionality (that is, something which is useful without the rest of the project being implemented). Or consider proposing a prototype that can be extended as time permits. In general, we'd rather you had time left over at the end that you could spend on polishing (or working on some other task) rather than running out of time.
- Be original - Many students submit nearly-identical proposals based on recent "hot" papers from academic publications. Such a proposal is a reasonable thing to suggest (we do want to stay current in our implementation techniques), but if you do make a proposal based on a current hot area, make sure to make another application in an unrelated area, because you'll have plenty of competitors. It seems counter-intuitive, but the best applications we've received haven't remotely resembled any of the ideas on the ideas page. Since SCons is a general-purpose tool, there's a lot that can be done, and we don't have the same focus and solid list of objectives that other GSoC projects might have.
- Be sooner - If you are already a contributor to SCons, your odds improve tremendously. Contribute in any way you can, but if you can, submit a few patches. Having a proven track record of code is a great indication that you will deliver some value in a GSoC project. That way, by the time the selection rolls around, you'll be a known quantity.
Some of the material above is adapted from writings of the fine folks at Drupal and Adium, of Josh Berkus of the PostgreSQL Project, and of Thiago Macieira of KDE. We thank them for allowing us to use it.