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Cover Shot! is a regular feature here at the Café. I love discovering new covers, and when I find them, I like to share. More than anything else, I am consumed with the mystery that each new discovery represents. There is an allure to a beautiful cover. Will the story contained under the pages live up to promise of the gorgeous cover art?
I think this is a pretty cover, and I wish I was the one walking barefoot on the beach. I know I would not wear a floaty, frothy dress if that was me wading in the water….
In stores August 2013
His heart is unavailable.
Luckily, her interest lies in the rest of him…Though she was just a girl when they first met, Caroline Tolbertson's infatuation with David Cameron remains undimmed. Now fate has brought the handsome Scotsman back to Brighton for what promises to be an unforgettable summer. Soon, Caroline will have to choose a husband, but for now she is free to indulge her curiosity in things of a passionate nature.
That is, if David will agree to teach her.
Past mistakes have convinced David he'll make a terrible husband, though he'll gladly help the unconventional Caroline find a suitor. Unfortunately, she has something more scandalous in mind. As the contenders for her hand begin to line up, her future seems assured…provided David can do the honorable thing and let them have her.


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Techwin high-power SLD (SLED) light source is a high-stability source designed for scientific research and industrial production; internally installed high-power, broadband SLD (SLED) module. Aiming at special characteristics of SLD (SLED) laser, Techwin SLD (SLED) light source employs specialized protective measurement on circuit design and optical path processing in order to protect the laser from the reflected light and the surge of current or voltage, thus ensuring that the light source can operate safely and stably in a long time.
Techwin SLD (SLED) source covers different interval within the scope of 800~1650nm, the typical wavelengths include: 840nm, 980nm, 1060nm, 1310nm, 1550nm, etc. There are plenty of choices for output power and spectral width. In addition, Techwin also offer low polarization ratio SLD source to satisfy demands for different applications according to the requirement of the user.

subset: commoncrawl


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Ford Escape, Lincoln MKC Plug-In Hybrids Coming In 2019
At Ford, electrification means mostly hybrids, but a few plug-ins are included in the mix.
While some analysts are making heady predictions about Ford being "all in" on electric vehicles, reports of actual product in development would seem to reflect a rather more conservative approach. According to Automotive News, the remaining yet-to-be-named benefactors of the Dearborn-based company's much ballyhooed $4.5 billion electrification effort will be hybrids.
With 13 vehicles known to be effected by the program in total, and others previously revealed, the final outline now seems to be in place. Although only one all-electric seems to be in the mix, a 300-mile, crossover planned for 2020, we can take some solace that they include a number of Energi (Ford's plug-in hybrid drivetrain) models.
If the AN's source is to be believed, the remaining vehicles include the plug-ins Escape Energi, along with its Lincoln twin, the MKC (no word on whether Lincoln models will get Ford's Energi badging). The 15-mpg (city) Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigators are named as future recipients of a hybrid option. These are all planned to debut in 2019.
To recap the vehicles known so far, adding to the four mentioned above, we have the F-150 hybrid, Mustang hybrid, Transit Custom hybrid, Transit Custom Energi, two "electrified police vehicles" (most likely plug-less hybrids based on existing hybrids), and the aforementioned all-electric 300-mile CUV. These were all made known to us in January. Trademark discoveries made last May should add a Focus Energi and Explorer Energi to this list, along with the Kuga, the European rebadge of the Escape.
While we are encouraged by news of more plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), we had hoped for a more aggressive turn towards all-electrics. Perhaps we'll learn of an update to this plan when CEO Jim Hackett speaks to investors about Ford's future on October 3.
Considering, though, a recent post by the Blue Oval's Vice President of Autonomous Vehicles and Electrification Sherif Marakby that argues hybrids have range and refueling profiles that work better than electrics with autonomous vehicles (really? I mean, REALLY???), we don't expect any major surprises.
Source: Automotive News
Categories: Ford
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60 Comments on "Ford Escape, Lincoln MKC Plug-In Hybrids Coming In 2019"
Escape was not hybrid because CMAX was, that sort of "thinking" gets them going backwards.
The Escape was hybrid for a while. they licensed Toyota's HSD.
They should've worked to get the Escape to step up to a PHEV but they put their efforts into the Fugly CMax Energi.
A PHEV Escape would've sold much more.
No, they licensed some Toyota patents in a deal where Toyota got some injection tech.
Yes, that was back in 06 when the old Escape did offer a hybrid.
The old Escape Hybrid was a nice small SUV. It started to sell fairly well when gas prices went up, unsurprisingly.
When Ford asked Aisin to build more Escape CVT's so that Ford could sell more Escape Hybrids, Aisin said, "Sorry, no can do!"
Oddly enough, Aisin is owned in large part by Toyota… 😉
Now they should be copying BMW's REX design.
With a large battery and a small region engine.
But, it's really too late, We're all going to wait for the Tesla Model Y.
BMW's 600cc engine and 2 gallon gas tank is absolutely useless. You would be better off buying a generator at Home Depot and strapping it to the top of the car for longer trips.
That's hilarious. The cmax IS an escape. The only difference is the power train and wheel size. I have both sitting in my driveway.
They went for the C-Max because the Escape ws threatened by the Prius v and they thought they could compete better by hybridizing the C-Max.
Then gas prices fell and it turned out that the C-Max's numbered weren't real.
The C-Max was victim to a tragedy of errors by Ford. Once the MPG fiasco happened, it was pretty much dead as far as a future in the US.
Never updating the CMAX killed it.
Management commitment was Zero.
They eliminated the cargo space by putting the batteries in the hatch back opposed to under the seats where they belong.
Not to mention the 17mi EV range.
Hopefully we see decent cargo space and a 40mi EV range on the 2019 Escape Energi
And of the two, they picked the wrong vehicle to make the PHEV.
Ford…….not thanks.
I just hope the 2nd generation of Energi models gets a bit of a range boost. 30 miles Ford, just give them at least 30 miles!
By now, 40 should be the goal. The Volt did that 7 years ago.
Affordable (at a profitable price) sound be the goal, not a particular EV range target.
They should put in 16KWH. Maximize the tax-credit.
Yeah, with as cheap as battery cells are getting, the difference between a smaller and larger battery is becoming less significant. In the not too distant future the hardware surrounding the cells will make up an equal part of the total pack cost.
Ford has tons of credit vehicles available, so no excuse for putting anything less than 16kwh. Even that amount will be laughable in two years.
AWD? Disappointing and ironic if not.
It's a MIRACLE! Finally, someone is bringing some SUV PHEVs. OK, it is not until 2019 but at least something is on the way!
Not SUV, CUV.
Article says a Ford Expedition hybrid and an Explorer Energi (PHEV) are coming, plus police vehicles. Not sure what your definition of "SUV" is. Those are large vehicles.
I own a hybrid Explorer. I'd consider in an SUV. A small SUV but still an SUV.
Explorer is a big SUV with third row seating , and large cargo area after the third row
"hybrid Explorer". I wasn't aware Ford made a hybrid version of the Explorer. What model year is this?
Aaaaand we've heard from Ford in the great greenwashing sweepstakes.
Wow hybrids….I'd be excited if this was still 2005.
Bring me that Transit Custom hybrid NOW! For out west this would be much more useful than the VW Bus.
The Transit Custom is for Europe only
Battery prices are falling. And as they fall, one must ask themselves: when will PHEV and EREV technology become obsolete?
Battery cell prices might reach below $100/KWH by 2020. By 2025 cell prices could be $75/KWH???
If Ford brings out a bunch of PHEV in 2019 and so on, and they have a product life of 6 years each, then perhaps by 2025 no one will want a PHEV?
A lot can happen in 8 years. And that includes improving on the super charging infrastructure problem, which we're having in some areas.
For bulky non-aerodynamic vehicles like SUVs & pick-ups….I think it will be a while before PHEV technology is obsolete for them.
You can certainly make them pure electric but the batteries would be huge and it would push the price up high. But most of these cars only drive 20 to 50 miles a day so why not go PHEV such that you slash gasoline usage by 50 to 80%. When then need to go fare then filler up.
I understand your comments, and it certainly is a possibility we'll see PHEV in trucks & large SUVs for a while.
However… I live in a "hick town" outside of Seattle, and see large pickup trucks on the roads all the time. They're always empty – owners never haul anything with those trucks. The attraction to these large trucks & SUVs does appear to be emotional. Consequently, I think there will be a period of time where trucks & SUVs will be somewhat smaller until battery prices fall significantly below $100/KWH.
(I own a small SUV – same size as a Ford Escape / Toyota RAV-4 / etc – and haul stuff in it all the time, including appliances. It meets my needs. If I need to haul something big – like a mattress – then I rent a trailer.)
Again, the BMW REX design is really superior to all other hybrid designs, because it's mostly an EV, has the power, the acceleration, the quiet, and the efficiency of an EV.
But, if you drive out of the EV range circle you can still fall back on a gas engine in rural America.
Turning on the REX engine on the highway, you literally cannot hear it. ( So, coding the REX is the optimal solution. )
Only run the REX between destination cities/towns. Then you never hear it but get the full benefit.
The Chevrolet Volt is really just as capable of a PHEV as the i3 Rex. While it does have less EV range, it's still plenty fast in EV mode (and can even outrun an i3 Rex) and has a more capable gas engine for those longer trips at high speed. I speak of this objectively since we have both an i3 and a Volt. Both are great cars, but the technology in the Volt is actually superior aside from the smaller battery pack.
And….WHERE are GMs EREV Suvs???
GM is squandering their excellent lead with their Votec tech here.
Yep. It is crazy. And they are the ones doing the BEST despite stupid mistakes like the gussied up Volt land yacht known as the Caddy ELR.
I can go with this. Regarding the Volt, I've written several times on these message boards that you can always try to sell an AWD CUV to a sedan shopper. But… you can't sell a sedan to an AWD CUV/SUV shopper looking for real utility.
This is the same thing with Pushi – you guys are proven wrong yet you continually mouth lies.
Car and Driver declared the ELR the best handling hybrid EVER.
It certainly is nothing like other cadillacs – except maybe the highest performance models – I haven't driven them.
And it is totally different in size and construction from a VOLT, and even though both are GEN 1's I've had both and they are NOT alike.
But I'm sure you guys will mouth the same things later – just like the SuperDope.
I'm not saying it was bad car. It wasn't. It was just poorly targeted car. The Caddy market just wasn't the plug-in market. I know you love yours but if you look at the ELR sales numbers…it just didn't sell.
The only real problem with the ELR was that it was waaaaaay overpriced.
If it was $55k instead of $75k, it might have actually sold decently.
"land yacht known as the Caddy ELR."
ELR is no land yacht. It is the shortest/smallest Cadillac offered and way smaller/shorter than a Tesla Model S.
FNX-R Concept looks pretty good.
But no prototype yet.
Escape PHEV would sell well.
It is interesting that both the "late comer" FCA and Ford are doing the "right thing" by building PHEV version of the Minivan and CUVs.
You would think GM who is the leader of PHEV in the US would have at least working on a PHEV version of the Equinox… But not a peep of anything.
Let us hope 2018 NAIAS would surprise us. Then again, I have been saying that for at least 2 years now.
Agreed, I would like a vehicle like this for my next vehicle (currently in a Volt), but I won't upgrade until something like it is available. I know I'm not the only one that feels this way, if GM doesn't get their act together they will lose all of the good will they built up with the Volt, as if someone else does a good CUV plugin with a decent (18-20kwhrish) battery I'll be one of the first in line.
Either way GM won't be getting another purchase from me unless they make something like it.
80% of Outlander's in the EU are PHEV's, if ford want to stay in the EU they need Focus, Fusion, Escape, Fiesta, phev's by 2021. They could also go with some BEV's in the mix as well.
Ha! Thanks for letting us know that….that's probably why Ford is finally making the Escape into a PHEV!
Escape is the next best selling vehicle after F-Series trucks and it makes perfect sense to add a plugin. Ideally they should add a hybrid also to Escape.
Since MKC shares the same frame and powertrain, they can apply it to that model.
And for C-Max, they have to get the lighter European version which should net 50 MPG+ for the hybrid and a 30 mile AER for plugin.
Had Mark Fields (previouse CEO) done this, he could have saved his job. He deliberately delayed it.
They used to have a Hybrid Escape…I owned one. It was OK but like so many American hybrids, the hybrid aspect was so wimpy that it was hardly worth it. The battery & motor were too small.
The PHEV better have 16KWH MINIMUM for the PHEV. And not much less for hybrid.
Please make Escape hybrid with 2.0t and electric motor awd. That would be awesome!
Ford', bring a truck company and their financial commitment to the combustion engine is holding them back. EVs are in competition or a disruption to their core business. Which is why 99% of their 'electrification' efforts will come with a combustion engine, and all its maintenance/parts revenue generation opportunities dealerships expect.
The expectation is that NA and Europe will at least get 31 EV miles from the PHEV since China requires this for incentives.
But Ford does need a separate EV business. Which it sounds like they are planning for this in China, and maybe exporting EVs to the rest of the world, since they are willing to export the Focus back to the US.
However, Ford's EV commitment will be tied an actual EV platform along with a battery factory, which they have not committed to or shown evidence of either.
And that 300 mile EV is now to be a 'small' CUV, which sounds like a next gen C-Max EV….somethign similar to the Bolt. A small vehicle designed for low volume.
Bot expecting much from Ford as it relates to EVs, since Ford really has not offered much.
Even an Escape PHEV could be pretty impressive. The Escape is available with AWD and Adaptive Criuse Control and is rated to tow up 3,500 pounds. But I'm never again buying anything that burns gas.
I would much rather spend my money on extra battery capacity than an extra motor. I want an electrified SUV but if PHEVs is all Ford has got coming I'll happily wait with my FFE and my gas burner SUV that only gets used to haul loads. A lot of manufacturers are talking about building real BEV SUVs so I don't think I'll have to wait long.
First one with a 30+ mile, plugin, hybrid, AWD CUV wins. Seriously, I want this car. I don't need 50 miles, I don't need it to be fast.
My mind is blown that Chevy isn't doing this already. Their tech is impressive, they just need to pull the trigger.
Just stuff a version of the Volt powertrain in something shaped like an Equinox or Colorado. Mileage will drop to 30 and it won't be fast. That's OK. Just make it efficient, quiet, versatile, and able to handle driving through 8″ of snow.
Seriously, this is starting to get frustrating.


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Sharks' Vlasic finds spotlight with his effective waysby Eric Gilmore
SAN JOSE -- While playing hockey as a young boy in Montreal, San Jose Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic was different from most of the other kids on the ice, who loved scoring goals and racking up points.
Vlasic produced plenty of points, but what drove him was his absolute hatred for giving up goals.
"I wasn't big on points," Vlasic said after a morning skate at SAP Center. "I did get a lot growing up, but I remember between 7 and 11 or maybe even earlier that that, every time I was on the ice for a goal against I'd cry because I hate being minus. I was big on making sure that didn't happen. It's still big for me."
He doesn't cry as much these days, but not much else has changed in Vlasic's approach to the game. He still despises giving up goals.
Vlasic grew up to become one of the most reliable, consistent and stingy defensemen in the NHL. This season he led the Sharks with a career-high plus-minus, spending most of his time on the ice matched up against the most dangerous offensive threats in the NHL.
At the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Vlasic earned a gold medal with a Canadian team that allowed only three goals in six games and never trailed. He was in the lineup all six games, paired with the Los Angeles Kings' Drew Doughty, who led Canada with four goals and six points.
Vlasic, 27, is in his eighth NHL season and has already played 600 regular-season games, but until this year he was basically San Jose's secret weapon. That was before he made the Canadian team for the Olympics then earned a permanent spot in coach Mike Babcock's lineup.
As the Canadian team approached its quarterfinals game against Latvia, Babcock raved about Vlasic, saying he's "way better" than most people realize.
"He's a really, really good player," Babcock said at the time. "Doughty gets to do anything he wants and Vlasic is always in a great spot. He's a good defender, he's become harder. He used to be a thin kid. Now he's a thick man. He's hard, he's smart, he skates, he moves the puck and he's safe."
Vlasic sounds both amused and amazed that it took him eight years in the NHL to "get recognized" outside of San Jose for being an elite defenseman. Even so, he said he was surprised when he learned he had made the Olympic team, simply because there are so many great Canadian defensemen.
"Once I was over there and started practicing with the guys, played a couple games, I knew I belonged with those guys," Vlasic said. "Just being around all those players, the best in the world, the way they carry themselves, was a huge boost to my confidence and helped me grow as a player.
"The Olympics were an unbelievable experience. It was awesome. There's nothing like it, and especially to come back with a gold medal is pretty incredible. Since the Olympic break I feel my game has gone up a notch. I feel more confident out there, with and without the puck."
Sharks defenseman Justin Braun said a lot of people outside of the West Coast were "shocked" when Vlasic made Canada's Olympic team because they haven't watched him play often enough.
"He's not that offensive, flashy player, but he's a guy that will shut down any type [of] line," Braun said. "That's what you have in the Olympics, and that's what they got him for. That's what he did. He looked great out there, taking care of Doughty out there. It was great to watch him."
Sharks defenseman Jason Demers, Vlasic's partner for much of the season, played against him in minor hockey then in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Demers said Vlasic still plays the same dependable, error-free style he played as a kid.
"We all used to call him The Robot because he'd just never make a mistake and he was calculated in how he played," Demers said, recalling their QMJHL days. "I don't think he's changed at all over the years.
"He's an unbelievable player. You know what you're getting night in and night out. We harp on it a lot, but it's consistency that's made him such a good player. To night in and night out play that way and play elite, it's great to see."
The Sharks chose Vlasic in the second round (No. 35) of the 2005 NHL Draft. One season later, he made the team as a 19-year-old and played 81 games for the Sharks as a rookie, making the NHL's All-Rookie team.
Sharks defenseman Scott Hannan was Vlasic's first partner. Vlasic also skated with Rob Blake, an elite-level defenseman who is now the Kings' assistant general manager, early in his career.
"When he first got here he was the same type of player," Hannan said. "Poised under pressure, never really got rattled, skated well, saw the play well, read the play well. And I think that's only grown as a player. He keeps adding a little more and becoming better at the things he does.
"He's not somebody you're going to look at the end of the night and see all the points on the score sheet, but you always know that he's had a solid game. His plus-minus is always good. He's very steady. He's a calming influence out there on the blue line."
Vlasic's game has followed a steady upward arc since he began his NHL career as a teenager. He's become bigger, stronger and more experienced.
"I want to get better every year," Vlasic said. "For me if you're not getting better -- because everybody else is getting better -- you're actually getting worse. Every year, I try to improve my skating, my shot and my strength. Every year, I try to create more offensively, try to join the rush more, always without taking risk, but in the right time creating without giving anything up."
Vlasic, of course, won't do anything that increases the risk of giving up a goal. That's a big reason he has a plus-minus rating that's off the charts.
"It's a point of pride to have a plus-30 and to play against the top players," Vlasic said. "That's huge. When you play [Sidney] Crosby, [Patrice] Bergeron, [Rick] Nash, [Jonathan] Toews and you end up plus-30, you're doing something right; because you could easily be minus against [Alex] Ovechkin, [Phil] Kessel, [Ryan] Getzlaf and all those guys. So to be plus-30 against those guys and every other top player in the League is what I pride myself on."


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Smartphones to play bigger role in shopping
You've just entered the mall to do some holiday shopping, and your phone buzzes with alerts for coupons at nearby stores.
You walk into your favorite shop, and a store employee uses an iPad to pull up the wish list you made online at home and brings you the merchandise. Then you skip the line and check out directly with the employee.
These are just some of the scenarios shoppers will encounter this holiday season as they and retailers increasingly make use of smartphones and other technology.
PLAY OUR GAME: USA TODAY/First Insight Holiday Shopping Survey
GET A HEAD START: Black Friday sales start earlier on Thanksgiving
Almost 70% of smartphone owners plan to use the devices for holiday shopping, according to a survey of more than 5,000 consumers by Deloitte. Smartphone ownership is on the rise -- 46.1% of consumers have one, up from 39.7% last year, according to an October survey of almost 9,000 shoppers by consumer research firm BIGInsight. Tablet ownership doubled in that time, going from 10.5% to 22.4%, the survey shows.
"This is the year mobile is really going to make a big difference in retail," says Larry Freed, president of ForeSee, a company that helps retailers analyze their stores' customer experience.
The biggest boon for retailers is the opportunity to present tech-toting customers with more reasons to buy a product from them vs. somewhere else, whether it's because of the ease of scanning a QR code and purchasing the product from your phone, browsing additional inventory on an iPad or heading to a store because your phone just alerted you to deals there.
Technology is ultimately helping retailers combat showrooming -- using stores to browse products while buying them for less online -- as much as it's helping consumers practice it, Freed says.
"If I were a retailer, I would embrace showrooming, and I'd be more worried about a competitor's mobile experience being in my store," he says. "If I can make (my) mobile experience compelling, now I can not only keep my competitor out, I can actually make the shopping experience better."
Bring on the technology
That's what many are trying to do, whether with apps, tablets that let consumers browse additional products that may be out of stock or show video tutorials with styling tips, and mobile checkout capabilities that reduce long lines by being able to complete a sale from anywhere in the store.
CONFIDENT CONSUMER: Great deals can be found before Black Friday
BLACK FRIDAY SALES: Walmart releases promos early
"The art here is being able to use the technology in a way that can influence the purchase," says Sandeep Bhanote, head of mobile retail solutions at VeriFone, a payment technology company that works with at least 50 retailers on mobile payment solutions.
-- Mobile checkout. Expect to encounter more mobile-equipped store employees, and shorter lines as you complete your holiday shopping, Bhanote says. J.C. Penney and Nordstrom are among retailers phasing out cash registers in favor of mobile checkout, and others, such as Finish Line, are also adopting the technology in time for the holidays.
Finish Line's mobile deployment wasn't just about serving customers, but equipping employees with more information, says Terry Ledbetter, chief information officer for the company. "(Customers) are coming in sometimes with more information on our products than our associates know," he says.
The mobile devices that employees carry have apps that provide extensive product information and training, such as what a shoe is made of and its best uses. Entering a customer's loyalty program number in the device also allows employees to track purchase history and make subsequent product recommendations, Ledbetter says.
-- Tablet-assisted shopping. Retailers including Guess and PacSun are setting up iPad kiosks in stores that let customers browse "look books," as well as additional inventory, and purchase items through the tablet.
Teen apparel retailer Aéropostale opened a new store on Long Island, N.Y., in October to test certain technology during the holiday season. IPads in dressing rooms let customers choose their own music, and additional iPad kiosks throughout the store provide the ability to look at style guides, build outfits that can be e-mailed to yourself or friends, or simply shop the retailer's website.
Target is also piloting iPad-assisted experiences in some stores, with employees in the beauty department using them to help customers sort through products across brands and provide advice.
-- Geofencing- Coupon code site RetailMeNot has updated its mobile app for the holidays to include this capability, which sends users notifications for deals at stores they're near at the mall. The app is still in test mode, but will be compatible with stores in about 500 malls by Black Friday.
The technology "effectively sets up a digital boundary," says John Faith, senior vice president of mobile at RetailMeNot. "When you cross that digital boundary, a notification appears on your phone."
The notification alerts you to real-time deals or coupons for nearby retailers, which can be redeemed by scanning the bar code from the RetailMeNot app or an associate entering the code manually. In a survey RetailMeNot conducted in the spring, more than a third of respondents said they would be more likely to make an in-store purchase if they could find a coupon on their phones.
-- Mobile-specific deals. Target and L.L. Bean are two retailers offering mobile deals or experiences for the holidays. L.L. Bean will run a new promotion on its mobile site every day for the 16 days leading up to Christmas.
Target has identified a list of top 20 toys for the holiday season that are on display in stores. Each has a corresponding QR code that shoppers can scan to purchase a toy directly from their phones and have it shipped for free wherever they want.
By providing in-store technology or developing apps optimized for in-store use, the retailer has more control of the customer's experience, Freed says. "You'd rather them use your experience than pull their phone out and look for the product on Amazon," he says.
-- Wi-Fi. More retailers this year will have enabled Wi-Fi in stores to support services such as mobile checkout and give ease of access to consumers using phones or tablets to research or make purchases. Retailers including Target, Home Depot and Saks Fifth Avenue now offer Wi-Fi.
"This is a huge trend," says Joseph DeStasio, manager of Boingo Wireless, a company that provides wireless capability to more than 40 shopping centers. "People have come to expect Wi-Fi connectivity everywhere they go."
Between 20% and 30% of retailers have deployed Wi-Fi in stores, and DeStasio expects that to jump to 30% to 40% of retailers in the next couple of years.
Wi-Fi also allows for cloud-based services that retailers are expected to start adopting, such as a shopping cart that Finish Line plans to roll out in December. If a customer shopping Finish Line's website adds products to a cart or wish list, a store employee can pull up that list via mobile or tablet once a customer is in the store and complete the transaction.
Going all in
While the holidays are a great time to test new strategies due to the high volume of traffic, Bhanote says, at least one store has already embraced a 100% mobile strategy.
C. Wonder is a VeriFone client and women's apparel and accessories shop that opened last fall. The brand has 10 stores, with one more opening in time for the holidays outside Philadelphia, and none house traditional cash registers.
DEALS: Get a jump on Black Friday, check out a preview of retailers' sales
UPDATES: See latest updates to retailers' Black Friday deals
While the stores have a "concierge" desk in the center, which includes cash drawers, all employees carry mobile checkout devices and can ring customers up from anywhere in the store, usually from smaller "mobile checkout units" stocked with wrapping, bags and receipt printers. Depending on the size of the store, it could have between 15 and 30 mobile checkout devices, says President Amy Shecter.
"The store efficiency and the productivity of the store becomes so much more as a result of not having to devote real estate to registers," she says. "And it's so much faster to check out."
Customers can even check out from the dressing room, where they can push a button from inside the room to call for assistance from a store associate. Small touch screens in each room allow customers to choose their own lighting and music while they're trying clothes on.
For C. Wonder, implementing a tech-friendly environment is all about creating a more memorable, and efficient, shopping experience, which Shecter says is especially important for time-strapped holiday shoppers.
"We believe we have a big responsibility as a brand that opened in the 21st century to think about technology," she says, adding that she thinks that a completely mobile approach will be integrated by mainstream retail in the next five years. "(Women) want technology that's more relevant and will make their experience more enjoyable."
In the never-ending and increasingly competitive bid for consumer dollars, integrating technology that makes for an easier and more enjoyable shopping experience isn't just about besting competitors, it's about winning over shoppers.
"If I can create a better customer experience, I'm going to win that customer," Freed says.


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SOURCE: Morria Biopharmaceuticals Plc
February 19, 2013 08:30 ET
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Feb 19, 2013) - Morria Biopharmaceuticals Plc (OTCQB: MRRBY) (the "Company"), an emerging growth biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel first-in-class, synthetic, multi-functional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, announced today that its American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") representing its ordinary shares have commenced trading on the OTC Bulletin Board in the United States under the ticker symbol MRRBY.
To enable the trading of Morria's ordinary shares in the United States, the Company's ordinary shares must be deposited with Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, the Company's depositary bank for its American Depositary Receipt (ADR) program. Each ADS represents two ordinary shares of the Company.
Mark Cohen, Executive Chairman of Morria, commented, "The commencement of trading of our securities in the U.S. is an important step for Morria and positions us for broad and diversified investor exposure. As we move forward with clinical development of our product candidates, we believe that having our ADSs publicly traded in the U.S. will help us in meeting our financing needs."
The quotation of Morria's ADSs on the OTC Bulletin Board has been approved by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. ("FINRA"). In November of 2012, the Company became a publicly reporting company under the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, by filing a Form 20-F Registration Statement with the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). A Form F-6 Registration Statement for the registration of the Company's ADSs has been declared effective by the SEC.
About Morria Biopharmaceuticals
Morria Biopharmaceuticals is an emerging growth biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of first-in-class, multi-functional non-steroidal, synthetic anti-inflammatory drugs. Morria has developed a class of synthetic drugs termed MFAIDs (Multi-Functional Anti-Inflammatory Drugs) representing a new class and therapeutic platform for the treatment of a wide range of inflammatory diseases such as allergies and autoimmune diseases. Morria currently has two lead product candidates in its clinical pipeline, both of which have completed first-in-patient clinical studies: MRX-4, a nasal spray for treating allergic rhinitis (hay fever), and MRX-6, a topical cream for treating contact dermatitis (a common type of eczema); and pre-clinical programs in ophthalmology, cystic fibrosis, and inflammatory bowel disease. Morria's business strategy is to expand and build a biopharmaceutical business to focus on a spectrum of inflammatory diseases based on its current and upcoming first-in-class product candidates, that will address the current unmet need for safe and potent alternatives to steroids. www.morria.com.
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text:
Michiel Sweerts (Flemish, Brussels 1618 - 1664 Goa [India])
Self-Portrait, ca. 1656-58
Oil on canvas
37 1/4 x 28 7/8 in. (94.5 x 73.4 cm)
R. T. Miller, Jr. Fund, 1941
Listen to a podcast about this artwork here
An inventive Flemish painter of religious scenes, genre paintings and portraits, Sweerts has represented himself as a gentleman-artist, posed dramatically before a mountainous Italianate landscape.
Sweerts's Self-Portrait belongs to a long tradition in Netherlandish art, that of painters depicting themselves with the implements of their craft. He was probably aware of the series of engraved artists' portraits compiled by Domenicus Lampsonius and published in Antwerp in 1572.1 His elegant garb, and particularly the emphasis on the aristocratic, tapering hand holding the paintbrush, also recalls the portraits of artists in Anthony van Dyck's Iconography, published in Antwerp between 1636 and 1641. Raupp notes that such elegantly formed hands command respect and indicate inner nobility; the overall message of artists' likenesses in the Iconography--and the same might be said of Sweerts's Self-Portrait--is one of self-control and inner order and harmony, a virtuoso ideal combining aristocratic bearing, intellect and prestige.2
There are at least two other self-portraits by the artist extant, and others are mentioned in contemporary sources.3 Each painting presents the artist in a different context, with different attributes.
An early likeness, probably painted about 1648-50, shows the artist as "bohemian," wearing a beret with a swooping feather.4 In another self-portrait, probably painted about 1655, the artist points to a skull as a vanitas reminder.5 A third "self-portrait," attributed to Sweerts by Ben Broos, is probably not by him.6
Martin, in 1907, dated the Oberlin Self-Portrait to about 1656, based on a comparison with the only dated portrait by the artist, the Portrait of a Young Man of 1656.7 Stechow dated the painting somewhat later, about 1658-60, based on the painting's more "Dutch" character, as well as on an erroneous assumption that the artist was born in 1624.8 Kultzen has suggested that the Oberlin Self-Portrait was "fairly certainly" executed in Amsterdam (thus either implying a date of ca. 1660 for the portrait, or that Sweerts was in Amsterdam by 1658-69), because of its similarities to the fashionable ideal represented in that city in the portraits of Bartholomeus van der Helst (1613-1670), as well as to that artist's specific coloristic effects.9
However, the Oberlin painting appears to depict a man in his mid- to late thirties, making a date of about 1656-58 more convincing. Moreover, this date, during Sweerts's Brussels period, is further supported by the artist's documented interest in the training and professional status of artists. At this time he not only operated a drawing academy from 1656, but also published a series of prints designed to serve as artisticexempl², and painted numerous scenes of drawing lessons and artists' studios. It seems reasonable that Sweerts would choose to depict himself as a gentleman-painter, to honor and ennoble his profession as he sought to impart his knowledge and experience to young artists.
Sweerts reproduced the painting (in mirror image) in an etching inscribed Michael Sweerts Eq. Pi. et fe.10 The artist claimed the title "Eques" (knight) or "Cavaliere" from as early as 1651, although it is not clear how he might have acquired the title. The artist apparently presented the Brussels St. Luke's Guild with a self-portrait in 1660, the year after he joined the guild.11 Schaar12 and others have tentatively identified this work with the Oberlin painting, as an appropriate monument to Sweerts's conception of himself and his profession.
M. E. Wieseman
Sweerts was baptized in Brussels on 29 September 1618. By the mid 1640s, he was living in Rome, where he remained until at least 1652. Back in Brussels, Sweerts opened an academy for life drawing in 1656, and became a member of the St. Luke's Guild in 1659. During a brief stay in Amsterdam in about 1660-61, he became a lay brother in the Lazarist Société des Missions Étrangères, and joined their mission to the Orient in late 1661. He was dismissed from the mission in 1662 because of his mental instability and ungoverned zeal, and died at the Portugese Jesuit colony at Goa in 1664.
In addition to portraits, Sweerts painted genre scenes and history paintings that combine stark chiaroscuro and blunt realism with a serene, almost classical simplicity.
General References
Martin, Willem. "Michiel Sweerts als schilder." Oud-Holland 25 (1907), pp. 133-56.
Kultzen, Rolf. Michael Sweerts (1624-64). Hamburg, 1954.
Kultzen, Rolf. Michael Sweerts en Tijdgenoten. Exh. cat., Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam, 1958.
Kultzen, Rolf. Michael Sweerts, Brussels 1618-Goa 1664. Translated and edited by Diane L. Webb. Doornspijk, 1996.
Collection William Twopenny, London
Collection Edward Twopenny, Woodstock Castle, Sittingbourne, Kent
His sale, London (Foster), 5 March 1902, lot 57 (as "Portrait of Gerard Terborg [sic]"; £189, to Buttery)
With Thomas Agnew and Sons, London
Collection Washington B. Thomas (1857-1929), Boston, ca. 1902-1929
By descent to Mr. & Mrs. William Tudor Gardiner (née Thomas), Gardiner, Maine, 1929-ca. 1941
With M. Knoedler & Co., New York, from whom purchased in 1941
Boston, Copley Society, 1903. A Loan Collection of Pictures by Old Masters and Other Painters. Cat. no. 86.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, 1939. Art in New England. Paintings, Drawings, Prints from Private Collections in New England. 9 June - 10 September. Cat. no. 129.
Rotterdam, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, 1958. Michael Sweerts en Tijdgenoten. 4 October - 23 November. Cat. no. 43 (also shown at Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Palazzetto Venezia [Michael Sweerts e i Bamboccianti]).
Kenwood, London County Council, 1962. An American University Collection: Works of Art from the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, Ohio. 3 May - 30 October. Cat. no. 32.
The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1973. Dutch Art and Life in the Seventeenth Century. 10 July - 2 September. No cat.
The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1975-76. Extended loan for exhibition with permanent collection. 9 April 1975 - 22 December 1976. No cat.
The Hague, Mauritshuis, 1990-91. Great Dutch Paintings from America. 28 September - 13 January 1991 (also shown at The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco). Cat. no. 64.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, 1993-94. The Age of Rubens. 22 September - 2 January (also shown at Toledo Museum of Art). Cat. no. 57.
Moes, E. W. Iconographia Batavia. Vol. 2. The Hague, 1905, cat. no. 7756.
Martin, Willem. "Michiel Sweerts als schilder." Oud-Holland 25 (1907), pp. 136, 138-40, 145, no. 1.
Wurzbach, Alfred von. Niederländisches Künstler-Lexikon. Vol. 2. Vienna and Leipzig, 1910, p. 684.
Trautschold, E. In U. Thieme and F. Becker. Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. Vol. 32. Leipzig, 1938, p. 348.
Allen Memorial Art Museum Acquisitions 1941-1942. Oberlin, 1942, cat. no. 16.
Stechow, Wolfgang. "Die Sammlung des Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio." Phoebus 2, no. 3 (1949), p. 121.
Bloch, Vitale. "Nederland en Italië." Maandblad voor Beeldende Kunst 26 (1950), p. 218.
Stechow, Wolfgang. "Some Portraits by Michiel Sweerts." Art Quarterly 14 (1951), pp. 211-14, and n. 18.
Stechow, Wolfgang. "A Self-Portrait by Michael Sweerts." Allen Memorial Art Museum Bulletin 9, no. 2 (Winter 1952), pp. 64-65.
Ebbinge Wubben, J. C. "Een Romeins straattafereel door Michael Sweerts." Bulletin Museum Boymans Rotterdam 4 (1953), p. 4 n. 3.
Kultzen, Rolf. Michael Sweerts (1624-64). Hamburg, 1954, vol. 1, pp. 139-141, 143; vol. 2, p. 300, no. 69.
Kultzen, Rolf. Michael Sweerts en Tijdgenoten. Exh. cat., Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam, 1958, pp. 25, 54, cat. no. 43.
Gerson, Horst. "Michael Sweerts en tijdgenoten: Tentoonstelling in het Museum Boymans." Het Vaderland, 15 November 1958, p. 14.
Waddingham, Malcolm R. "The Sweerts exhibition in Rotterdam." Paragone 9 (1958), p. 71.
Kultzen, Rolf, et al. Michael Sweerts e i Bamboccianti. Exh. cat., Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Palazzetto Venezia, Rome, 1958-59, pp. 50-51, cat. no. 44.
Incisa della Rocchetta, G. "La mostra di Michael Sweerts a Roma." Arte Antica e Moderna 2 (1959), p. 117.
Hamilton, Chloe. "Catalogue of R. T. Miller, Jr. Fund Acquisitions." Allen Memorial Art Museum Bulletin 16, no. 2 (Winter 1959), cat. no. 44; no. 3 (Spring 1959), ill. p. 237.
Schaar, E. "Michael Sweerts e i bamboccianti, Ausstellung im Palazzo Venezia in Rom." Kunstchronik 12 (1959), p. 44.
Bedo, R. "Ein doppelporträt des Michael Sweerts." Acta Historiae Artium 8 (1962), p. 107.
N[icholson], B[enedict]. "Current and Forthcoming Exhibitions." The Burlington Magazine 104 (1962), p. 310.
Hall, H. van. Portretten van Nederlandse beeldende kunstenaars. Amsterdam, 1963, p. 323.
Stechow, Wolfgang. Catalogue of European and American Paintings and Sculpture in the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College. Oberlin, 1967, pp. 145-46, fig. 66.
Bloch, Vitale. Michael Sweerts. The Hague, 1968, pp. 24-25, fig. 25.
Portretten van Kunstenaars 1400-1800. Exh. cat., Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam, 1969, p. 50.
Bodart, Didier. Les Peintres des Pays-Bas méridionaux et de la principauté de Liège à Rome au XVIIième siècle. Vol. 1. Brussels, 1970, p. 424 n. 2.
Bader, Alfred. "An Unknown Portrait of Michael Sweerts." The Burlington Magazine 114 (1972), p. 475.
Bader, Alfred, and Wolfgang Stechow. Milwaukee, 1974, under no. 24.
Sutton, Denys. "A Collection for Connoisseurs." Apollo 103, no. 168 (1976), p. 85, ill. p. 82.
Waddingham, M. R. "Michael Sweerts, Boy Copying the Head of a Roman Emperor." The Minneapolis Institute of Arts Bulletin 63 (1976-77), pp. 59, 64 n. 14.
Chiarini, Marco. "L'Autoritratto di Michael Sweerts già nella collezione del cardinale Leopoldo di Medici." Paragone 30, no. 355 (1979), pp. 63-64.
Gli Uffizi. Catalogo Generale. Florence, 1980, p. 1014, under no. A920. Sutton, Peter C. A Guide to Dutch Art in America. Grand Rapids, Mich., 1986, p. 211.
Kultzen, Rolf. "Michiel Sweerts als Bildnismaler." Wiener Jahrbuch für Kunstgeschichte 40 (1987), p. 217.
Broos, Ben, and J. Roeding. In Great Dutch Paintings from America. Exh. cat., Mauritshuis, The Hague, and The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1990-91, pp. 442-47.
Langendijk, Karla. Die Selbstbildnisse der Holländischen und Flämischen Künstler in der Galleria degli Autoritratti der Uffizien in Florenz. Florence, 1992, p. 188, fig. 35a.
Pestilli, Livio. "'The Burner of the Midnight Oil': A Caravaggesque Rendition of a Classic Exemplum. An unrecognized self-portrait by Michiel Sweerts?" Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 56, no. 1 (1993), pp. 132-33, fig. 10.
Wieseman, Marjorie E. In The Age of Rubens. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1993-94, pp. 388-90.
Kultzen, Rolf. Michael Sweerts, Brussels 1618-Goa 1664. Translated and edited by Diane L. Webb. Doornspijk, 1996, pp. 1 n. 6, 7 n. 46, 9 n. 53, 25, 60, 62, 63, 67, 116, cat. no. 89, ill. frontispiece and pl. 88.
Technical Data
The painting is in good structural condition, but there are areas of extensive damage to the paint surface.14 The canvas was lined prior to acquisition by the Museum, probably in the early 20th century. A partial removal of overpaint in the area of the palette was conducted in 1954; varnish and overpaint were removed and losses inpainted in 1957; and the painting was cleaned and the inpainting adjusted in 1983. There are scattered losses throughout the painting, a thin line of loss in the sitter's proper right forehead, and large flake losses in the paint and ground layers at the top and bottom edges, which have been filled and repainted. Additional lines of loss parallel to the edges of the canvas at the right and left edges were probably caused by the flexing of the canvas over the stretcher. These losses, and the frayed and torn edges of the original canvas (tacking margins have been lost), suggest that the canvas was extremely slack and poorly mounted prior to relining. A toned varnish (old restoration) in the sitter's proper right sleeve minimizes extensive abrasion in this area.
The ground is applied in two thin layers: the lower white, containing chalk; the upper grey, probably charcoal in a matrix of white lead. The grey "halo" around the head of the sitter was examined by Mark Bockrath in 1983 with a microscope and under ultraviolet and infrared lights, and was determined to be the artist's original intent and neither pentiment nor restoration. The light tones of the sky are painted into and over the hair and blended in an alla prima technique to produce an effect of backlighting in the outline of the hair. The pigments on the palette held by the sitter were analysed in detail in 1954 by Richard Buck and R. J. Gettens, and can be identified as (counterclockwise, from upper right): vermillion, red lake (madder?), white lead, yellow ochre, red ochre or Venetian red, terra verte, a warm brown lake, a cool brown pigment (unidentified), raw sienna, Van Dyck brown (or carbon black), and unidentified (pigment lost; possibly originally blue).
1. Dominique Lampson. Les effigies des peintres célèbres des Pays-Bas, facscimile ed. by J. Puraye (n.p., 1956); for an analysis of the text, see J. Becker, "Zur niederländischen Kunstliteratur des 16. Jahrhunderts: Domenicus Lampsonius," Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 24 (1973), pp. 45-61.
2. Hans-Joachim Raupp, Untersuchungen zu Künstlerbildnis und Künstlerdarstellung in den Niederlanden im 17. Jahrhundert (Hildesheim and New York, 1984), pp. 96-126, passim; see also Ben Broos and J. Roeding, in Great Dutch Paintings from America (exh. cat., Mauritshuis, The Hague, and The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1990-91), pp. 445-46.
3. Pjer Strolenberg, of The Provenance Index, Getty Art History Information Program (letter dated 17 January 1990), notes a self-portrait by Sweerts listed in the inventory of Geertruyd Bicker (wife of Joan Deutz the elder [1618-1673]), Amsterdam, 16 April 1712: "Conterfijtzel van Swart door hemzelffs" (notary Wm. Denijs; GAA, NA 6670, fol. 601). Also mentioned in the inventory are a "conterfijtsel van de Hr Deutz door Swarts" (fol. 599) and a "vlugt van Egipten door Swarts" (fol. 601). Deutz and his brothers Jeronimo and Joseph purchased several paintings directly from the artist in Rome around 1650, including portraits "na't leven" (from life) (mentioned in the cash books of their mother, Elisabeth Coymans [Amsterdam, Gemeentearchief, Deutzen Hofje Archief 234, nr. 276], entries dated 31 December 1650 [p. 367] and 31 December 1651 [p. 535]). As there are at least two other self-portraits by the artist, it is not possible to identify the Oberlin portrait with the painting listed in the inventory of 1712. Coymans's cash books do not specifically mention a self-portrait by Sweerts, and it is not known whether the family had any subsequent contact with the artist.
4. Oil on canvas, 54 x 43 cm, Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi, inv. 1633; see Marco Chiarini, "L'Autoritratto di Michael Sweerts già nella collezione del cardinale Leopoldo di Medici," Paragone 30, no. 355 (1979), pp. 63-64.
5. Oil on canvas, 78.7 x 60.3 cm, Milwaukee, collection of Dr. and Mrs. Alfred Bader; see Alfred Bader, "An Unknown Portrait of Michael Sweerts," The Burlington Magazine 114 (1972), p. 475; and Alfred Bader and Wolfgang Stechow, Selections from the Bader Collection (Milwaukee, 1974), under no. 24.
6. Oil on canvas, 66 x 48.3 cm, Cambridge, Mass., Fogg Art Museum, The Harvard University Art Museums, inv. 1941.110; see Ben Broos and J. Roeding, in Great Dutch Paintings from America (exh. cat., Mauritshuis, The Hague, and The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1990-91), pp. 444-45. This painting has been attributed to Jan van Dalen in E. P. Bowron, European Paintings before 1900 in the Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, Mass., 1991), p. 104, 176 ill.
7. Oil on canvas, 114 x 92 cm, St. Petersburg, Hermitage, inv. 3654; Willem Martin, "Michiel Sweerts als schilder," Oud-Holland 25 (1907), p. 136.
8. Wolfgang Stechow, "Some Portraits by Michiel Sweerts," Art Quarterly 14 (1951), p. 211.
9. Rolf Kultzen, Michael Sweerts (1624-64) (Hamburg, 1954), p. 143; and idem, Michael Sweerts, Brussels 1618-Goa 1664, trans. and ed., Diane L. Webb (Doornspijk, 1996), p. 62. Kultzen notes, however, that van der Helst's influence was laready noticeable while Sweerts was still in Brussels (ibid., p. 9). The relationship with van der Helst was noted also by Wolfgang Stechow, "Some Portraits by Michiel Sweerts," Art Quarterly 14 (1951), p. 211.
10. Bartsch 3; AMAM inv. 41.84.
11. A. Wauters, "Essai historique sur les tapisseries...," Bulletin des commissions royales d'art et d'archéologie 16 (1877), p. 306.
12. E. Schaar, "Michael Sweerts e i bamboccianti, Ausstellung im Palazzo Venezia in Rom," Kunstchronik 12 (1959), p. 44.
13. For self-portraits by Sweerts mentioned in contemporary documents--which may or may not be identical to the present work--see above, note 3.
14. For a detailed discussion, see the condition report and treatment proposal compiled by Richard D. Buck, 8 March 1954, with an addenda dated 13 October 1954 (ICA no. 12/54); and the condition report by Mark Bockrath, dated 2 January 1984 (ICA no. 32/84) (museum files).


text: Hi, I've managed to put together a simple 2-node cluster using Debian etch , OpenMPI , FAI & Cfengine. I'm looking for ideas that can help me with building a better self-healing cluster. Right now I'm making rule files for cfengine and would acknowledge any input on sample files and important configurations that need to be made for the cluster's health. (Although it's site-specific but I'm sure I can get good hints out of them) However I'd also be glad to see if you have any monitoring system in mind that can cooperate with cfengine in the maintenance job. I've looked briefly into Ganglia and Nagios so far. It seems Ganglia is mostly meant for large (groups of) clusters and focuses on hw resources. Nagios seems to be better-suited for my job, but the gurus at cfengine mailing list believe that cfenvd & cfexecd can provide equal monitoring & recovery capability (in terms of response time). What's your take on either of them? Thanks beforehand for any input. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://www.beowulf.org/pipermail/beowulf/attachments/20070830/1baeb379/attachment.html>


text:
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text:
If you know of any issues that customers might encounter during the transition to IPv6, please add a subheading to this page and explain both the problem and how to address it.
A small number of users have some kind of misconfiguration or bug in their internet connection that makes them unable to properly access dual-stacked web sites. More often than not, these users have no problems accessing IPv4-only sites, which causes them to perceive the dual-stacked site as the one having problems. A web site operator can detect these users using JavaScript and potentially warn them about the problem, see Warning broken users with JavaScript.
The existence of these users is unfortunately causing content providers to put off enabling IPv6. For more information, see these presentations by Yahoo (https://sites.google.com/site/ipv6implementors/2010/agenda/07 Fesler Y\!atGIPv6ImpConf.pdf?attredirects=0), Google, and Redpill Linpro. There's also an article about the problem in Wikipedia.
This section attempts to document the most common causes as to why this happens, and how end users can solve it. It is based on real operational experience from running dual-stacked web sites.
Transitional IPv6 connectivity (6to4 or Teredo), is usually less reliable than IPv4. For this reason, the end user's web browser should prefer to use IPv4 when attempting to access dual-stacked site. This is well documented in I-D.vandevelde-v6ops-harmful-tunnels, as well as by researchers Emile Aben and Geoff Huston.
6to4 router functionality is implemented and often enabled by default in a large number of home gateway products made by several different vendors. This is unfortunately in accordance with Microsoft's requirements for Windows-compatible home routers. Due to the fact that not all operating systems and applications de-prefer transitional IPv6 connectivity, it is recommended to disable it (especially 6to4) whenever possible.
Due to the operational problems with 6to4, the IETF has recently moved towards deprecating it and discouraging any further use of it, by adopting I-D.ietf-v6ops-6to4-to-historic as a IETF v6ops Working Group document.
Earlier versions of Android preferred transitional IPv6 connectivity above IPv4, as its system resolver did not implement RFC 3484.
Solution: Upgrade Android to version 2.2 Froyo or later.
Mac OS X, in versions earlier than 10.6.5, do not de-prioritize 6to4 compared to IPv4.
Solution: Upgrade Mac OS X to the latest available version.
At the time of writing, the patch that de-prioritizes 6to4 is only available for the «Snow Leopard» series (10.6.x). Avoiding 6to4 entirely is the best solution, but might not always be possible or feasible when another device in the network is announcing itself as a 6to4 router.
Users on old PowerPC systems have no upgrade path from 10.5.
Work-around: Use the latest version of Google Chrome, which will mask the underlying problem.
Work-around: Disable IPv6 completely in the operating system: System Preferences -> Network -> Advanced -> TCP/IP -> Configure IPv6 -> Off.
The GNU C Library will de-prefer transitional IPv6 connectivity if the local IPv4 address is not a private one (RFC 1918), due to a strict interpretation of RFC 3484 (see SW#11438).
Solution: Upgrade the Linux distribution to Debian Squeeze, Fedora 13 Goddard, Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx, Mandriva 2010.1 Spring, openSUSE 11.3, Gentoo 2010-04-25, or any later versions.
Alternative solution: Add the following lines to the file /etc/gai.conf (create it if it doesn't exist):
scopev4 ::ffff:169.254.0.0/112 2 scopev4 ::ffff:127.0.0.0/104 2 scopev4 ::ffff:0.0.0.0/96 14
MS Windows automatically enables Teredo and 6to4 whenever possible. The system resolver library will de-prioritize their use, but not all applications use the system resolver library and will therefore end up preferring the less reliable transitional IPv6 connectivity.
Solution: Disable 6to4 and Teredo, by entering the following commands in an Administrator shell:
netsh interface ipv6 6to4 set state disabled netsh interface teredo set state disabled
Alternatively, visit Microsoft KB#929852, and choose the Disable IPv6 tunnel interfaces fix (solution 50443).
If Internet Connection Sharing is enabled on any interface (it doesn't even have to be connected), the Windows hosts will announce itself as an IPv6 router to the local network. This will in turn cause problems for other operating systems that doesn't de-prioritize transitional IPv6 connectivity, notably Mac OS X (see above).
Solution: Disable 6to4 and Teredo as described above, and also ensure Internet Connection Sharing is disabled whenever unused.
The Opera web browser uses its own resolver library, and would in versions earlier than 10.50 (on Microsoft Windows) and 10.63 (on Mac OS X and Linux) prefer transitional IPv6 connectivity above IPv4.
Solution: Upgrade Opera to the latest available version.
The AirPort and Time Capsule wireless base stations will advertise the prefix ::/64 on their LAN interfaces if they are set up with IPv6 mode tunnel while having a private (RFC 1918) address assigned to their WAN interfaces. As the resulting auto-configured addresses are invalid, hosts on the LAN will suffer dual-stack breakage. The bug was last reported in firmware version 7.4.2, and is confirmed to be fixed in firmware version 7.5.2).
Solution: Upgrade the firmware of the AirPort/Time Capsule to the latest available version (instructions).
Certain AVM FRITZ!Box models (at least 7270 International v2) is known to have ULA (RFC 4193) functionality based on recommendations from I-D.ietf-v6ops-ipv6-cpe-router revision 07 or earlier (the advertised router lifetime is greater than 0). When IPv6 is enabled on the device, it will announce a ULA prefix, which is withdrawn as soon as a global prefix is available, including a 6to4-derived one. Like ULA, 6to4 is enabled by default by the overall IPv6 configuration setting.
If the device is used in a IPv4-only environment with CGNAT/NAT444 where the WAN interface is numbered using RFC 1918 addresses, 6to4 is never activated and the ULA addresses will continue to be announced. Because ULAs are globally scoped addresses that are not special-cased in RFC 3484, this will cause hosts on the LAN to attempt to use them when connecting to dual-stacked destination, which cannot work.
Solution: Ensure ULA functionality is disabled. This can be done from the router's web interface - instructions follows:
These models (and possibly others which share the same code) offers by default DHCPv6 service that assigns addresses to the LAN hosts from the documentation prefix 2001:db8::/32. However, no ICMPv6 Router Advertisements are being sent in this case, which causes the LAN hosts to not have a default route, thus causing the host operating stack to generate fast internal failures when IPv6 is attempted.
They also enable 6to4 router functionality by default. If 6to4 is active (i.e. if the WAN interface is numbered using a public IPv4 address), ICMPv6 Router Advertisements will be transmitted to the LAN segment, containing a Prefix Information Option for the 6to4 prefix.
Luckily, the networking stack in Microsoft Windows will immediately remove the DHCPv6-assigned bogon address from 2001:db8::/32 upon receiving an ICMPv6 Router Avertisement. As Microsoft Windows is the only major operating system that supports DHCPv6 (and uses it even when there are no ICMPv6 RAs), end users are unlikely to experience brokenness due to this issue.
The recent firmware revisions disable both 6to4 and the DHCPv6 service with the bogon addresses by default, solving all known problems.
Solution: Upgrade the router firmware to the firmware version indicated below (or newer):
Select the Downloads tab on the pages linked to above in order to acquire the latest firmware image and its corresponding release notes.
As of 10/8/2011, the E2000 link above is 404 and the E4200 link leads to firmware 1.0.03 (released 9/28/11).
Firmware 1.0.03 of E4200 suffers from the same problem as the Fritz in that it provides ULA addressses which Windows 7 uses as source addresses. There does not appear to be a way to disable ULA on the E4200 router in 1.0.03.
On a related note: Firmware 1.0.00, which performs tunneling by default, but does not provide ULA, works out of the box. Do not update to 1.0.03 if your configuration is working.
IPv6/6to4 settings can be configured from (assuming 192.168.1.1 is the IPv4 address of the device):
This model (and possibly others) uses the bogon range 2005:123:456:789::/64 as its default DHCPv6 pool. These addresses cannot be used to communicate with the IPv6 internet, and their presence on end-user hosts will cause end-user brokenness.
Solution: Ensure the router is operating in IPv4-only mode. This setting is found under Setup -> IP Versions in its web interface.
Several D-Link models from the DSL series (at least DSL-584T, DSL-G604T, DSL-G624T, DSL-G664T, and DSL-G684T), do not correctly forward DNS responses for hostnames with both A and AAAA records published. What it does is to stuff the first 32 bits of the AAAA record into the A record that's being returned to the end user's computer. In other words, getipv6.info will incorrectly resolve to 126.96.36.199 (the 2001:0500: part of the IPv6 address). If the operating system or web browser prefers to use IPv4, it will be unable to connect to the destination.
Italian ISP Wind/Infostrada is reported to have distributed the DSL-G624T to its customer base over a period of several years.
It doesn't happen all the time - it appears to be timing-dependent. Older Mozilla Firefox browsers are hit particularly bad, due to the fact that they will request AAAA lookups even if the local host does not have an IPv6 address.
Work-around: Disable DNS forwarding support in the router. This will cause the D-Link to advertise the ISP's upstream DNS resolvers (instead of itself) in DHCPv4, and the hosts on the LAN will query them directly. Instructions follows:
Log in to your D-Link box as user 'admin'.
On the Home page, select DNS from the left hand menu.
[This is not shown in the documentation, and may not be
in the same menu in all devices. If you cannot find it,
there may be no easy solution for this model.]
On the DNS page, select DNS Relay Selection/Disable DNS Relay
Then click Apply and Save.
To make the change permanent, go back to the Home page, select
Tools/System/Save & Reboot. Your D-Link will then take a minute or
so to restart itself.
Apple iOS is not able able to fall back from IPv6 to IPv4, if the initial IPv6 connection attempt fails due to blackholing. An error message is displayed after a timeout of about 60 seconds instead. If errors are generated by the network, on the other hand, it will successfully fail over; either instantly (TCP RSTs), or after four seconds (ICMPv6 unreachables).
Short of ensuring that any IPv6 connectivity present work perfectly, there is no known workaround. IPv6 cannot be disabled in iOS.
This bug is reported to Apple in #8702877. The latest iOS version the bug has been confirmed to be present in is 4.3.
Solution: Upgrade iOS to the latest available version - it is reported to be fixed in iOS 5, which includes an «Happy Eyeballs» implementation.
When attempting to connect to a dual-stacked destination when the system has only link-local IPv6 addresses (but at the same time a default IPv6 route), a 75 second timeout is incurred per AAAA record. IPv6 is preferred over IPv4 in this case due to lack of support for RFC 3484 in Mac OS X's system resolver. A system will be vulnerable to this bug if it has received an ICMPv6 Router Advertisement message that does not contain any Prefix Information Options, for example.
Portugese ISP SAPO is known to distribute a CPE to its customers (Pirelli A1000G) that emits such RAs by default, and the D-Link DIR series of routers will do so as well (at least DIR-635, DIR-655, DIR-825, and DIR-855).
Hosts running Microsoft Windows (at least Vista) with Internet Connection Sharing enabled can also emit such prefix-less RAs, in certain situations (possibly limited to when two network interfaces are bridged).
This will especially affect users of Mozilla Firefox older than version 4.0, as it will request AAAA records even though the system does not have any global IPv6 addresses (see bug #614526), and will attempt to connect to the IPv6 addresses in preference to falling back to IPv4. Safari also suffered from this problem up until Mac OS X 10.6.4. It will also affect users of the virtualisation software Parallels Desktop (regardless of the browser used), because its virtual network interfaces have site-local IPv6 addresses assigned, in turn making the AI_ADDRCONFIG flag to getaddrinfo() ineffective.
Similarly, the "ssh" client application (accessible in a MacOS X shell) initiates connections to global scope IPv6 addresses even if the OS only has link-local addresses in its interfaces. Bug with ID 8820407 is open with Apple.
Solution: Upgrade to Mac OS X 10.6.8. The bug is fixed there by sorting IPv6 addresses last in getaddrinfo()'s result set when there's only link-local IPv6 addresses present on the host.
There is no fix this bug available for older versions of Mac OS X like «Tiger» and «Leopard». While it is preferred to upgrade to «Snow Leopard» to get the bug fixed properly, this might be undesired due to it not being a free upgrade, or entirely impossible if the hardware used is PowerPC-based. One of the following work-arounds might help for users of old Mac OS X versions:
Work-around: If the user is using Mozilla Firefox, ensure it is upgraded to version 4.0 or newer. This might avoid the problem by suppressing AAAA lookups.
Work-around: Use the latest version of Google Chrome, which will mask the underlying problem.
Work-around: Disable IPv6 completely in the operating system: System Preferences -> Network -> Advanced -> TCP/IP -> Configure IPv6 -> Off.
When receiving an Router Advertisement packet with a lifetime of 0, Mac OS X-based hosts will incorrectly install a default route. It appears that a Prefix Information Option must be present in the RA packet for the bug to take effect.
The technique of using a lifetime of 0 to announce an IPv6 router without global connectivity is used by devices conforming to RFC 6204 in the case where ULA addressing are used within the residental site. In this situation the Mac OS X host will attempt to use ULA IPv6 addresses for global connectivity, leading to timeouts towards dual-stacked content.
Apple bug ID: 8705091.
Solution: Upgrade to Mac OS X 10.6.8, where this bug is fixed.
There is no fix this bug available for older versions of Mac OS X like «Tiger» and «Leopard». While it is preferred to upgrade to «Snow Leopard» to get the bug fixed properly, this might be undesired due to it not being a free upgrade, or entirely impossible if the hardware used is PowerPC-based. One of the following work-arounds might help for users of old Mac OS X versions:
Work-around: Use the latest version of Google Chrome, which will mask the underlying problem.
Work-around: Disable IPv6 completely in the operating system: System Preferences -> Network -> Advanced -> TCP/IP -> Configure IPv6 -> Off.
When a router in the network responds to a TCP SYN packet with an ICMPv6 Destination Unreachable, Mac OS X will re-transmit the TCP SYN packet five times with intervals of one second before giving up, even though the ICMPv6 code indicates that the situation is permanent and further attempts are pointless (e.g. Code 2 - Beyond scope of source address). In other words, an avoidable four-second timeout is incurred for every outgoing TCP connection.
Work-around: Use the latest version of Google Chrome, which will mask the underlying problem.
Work-around: Upgrade to Mac OS X 10.7 «Lion», which will mask the underlying problem (only works if Safari is used)
If a Windows Vista/7 machine has a SLAAC-assigned IPv6 address that becomes deprecated (due to its Valid Lifetime countdown timer reaching zero), it fails remove the deprecated flag after receiving an RA with a Valid Lifetime for the same prefix of >0 (the timers themselves will however be refreshed). This could happen for example if the user's CPE router intentionally deprecated the prefix in response to a WAN link failure event (and later attempted to un-deprecate it after the WAN link came back up and was assigned the same prefix), or if the computer was suspended/hibernated for a duration longer than the remaining Valid Lifetime and then woken up again (while remaining connected to the same network as before).
In the typical case, the problem will cause IPv4 to be used in preference to IPv6 in situations where it should have been the other way around. It will therefore not cause a «dual-stack brokenness» problem for content providers, however it might lead to an performance impact in the case where the IPv4 connectivity is inferior to IPv6 (for example if there's a CGN in the IPv4 path).
Solution: Install update KB2563894. This is available through Windows Update as an important update, and may also be downloaded from security bulletin MS11-064.
Microsoft Windows appears to ignore received ICMPv6 Destination Unreachable completely, instead falling back on the overall connection timeout mechanism. This causes a completely avoidable 21 second long timeout to occur for every outbound TCP connection.
Mozilla Firefox does not set the AI_ADDRCONFIG flag when looking up names using the system getaddrinfo() library function, which causes it to solicit AAAA records even though the system has no IPv6 addresses (non-loopback and non-linklocal). This can trigger other problems, such as the D-Link AAAA mangling bug and the Mac OS X bug regarding the use of link-local IPv6 addresses when connecting to global destinations. The bug is fixed as of Firefox 4.0, see the bug report
Solution/work-around: Upgrade to Firefox version 4.0.
When Opera, in versions older than 11.10, is used on a Mac OS X machine that has Parallels Desktop installed, it is unable to connect to dual-stacked web sites (except if the machine in question also has connectivity to the IPv6 internet). This is Opera Software bug DSK-326913.
Solution: Upgrade Opera to version 11.10 or later.
The NTT Next Generation Network includes the physical last-mile infrastructure (the local loop) to the customer's premises. Other ISPs lease these lines in order to provide internet service, similar to a LLU arrangement.
However, the NGN infrastructure also includes a walled-garden IPv6 deployment, which is used to deliver IPTV services, at least. While this IPv6 connectivity cannot communicate with the Internet at large, it uses globally scoped IPv6 addresses that looks just like ordinary IPv6 internet connectivity to the devices on the residential LAN. To compensate for this, the NGN centrally spoofs TCP RST packets for all connections that attempt to cross the walled garden boundary and get out to the global Internet. While this limits the impact on end users, it still is known to cause at least 1-second connection timeouts and failed image loading on (older) MSIE browsers. There's also a concern that the central TCP RST generators won't be able to keep up with the load, once a significant number of popular destinations on the Internet deploy IPv6.
Work-around: Use the latest version of Google Chrome, which will mask the underlying problem.
Work-around: Install a modified RFC 3484 policy table that specifically de-prefers the use of the NGN IPv6 prefixes for communication with global destinations, see http://www.attn.jp/maz/p/i/policy-table/ for more information.
Alternate work-around: Disable IPv6 in the operating system.
Especially if you have users on Vista.
It does this IPv6 tunnelling thing that on the surface
appears really cool. When you try and talk IPv6 to
something other than link-local: (in order)
You can help, though - here's the problem:
6to4 uses protocol 41 over IP. This doesn't go through NAT, or stateful firewalls (generally). Much like GRE.
Because of this, if you're a enterprise-esque network operator who runs
non-RFC1918 addresses internally and do NAT, or you do stateful firewalling, PLEASE, run a 6to4 relay on 188.8.131.52 internally, but return
ICMPv6 unreachable/admin denied/whatever to anything that tries to send data out through it. Better yet, tell your firewall vendor to allow you to inspect the contents of 6to4 packets, and optionally run your own 6to4 relay, so outgoing traffic is fast.
Even if you don't want to deploy IPv6 for some time, do this at the very least RIGHT NOW, or you're preventing those of us who want to deploy AAAA records alongside our A records from doing so. If you need configs for <vendor/OS B/C/J/L>, post a message to the NANOG list and I'll write some templates.
I see this sort of IPv4 network quite commonly at universities, where students take their personal laptops and throw them on the campus 802.11 network. While disabling the various IPv6 things in Vista at an enterprise policy level might work for some networks, it doesn't for for a university with many external machines visiting. So, if you're a university with a network like this (ie. most universities here in NZ, for example), please spend a day or two to fix this problem in your network - or better yet, do a full IPv6 deployment.
--Nathan Ward
Ensure that your firewalls allow through ICMPv6 types 1-4 and 128/129 as per NIST recommendation. In particular if you inadvertantly block type 2 (Packet too big), you may find that users behind tunnels can connect to a web site but not get any content back.
--John Gibbins
If you do deploy an IPv6 network for your content, set up a Teredo relay, and point 2001::/32 at it. Your viewers/users will automatically use this relay when accessing your content, and their traffic to you will be over IPv4, all they way from their PC to your network - so, equivalent performance as IPv4. Note that I say relay here, not server.
Mozilla.org are doing this for example. Cue Matthew Zeier.
--Nathan Ward
Check out Enabling IPv6 on a Mail Server.
It may be tough to get IPv6 AAAA records for your nameservers into the DNS Glue records, depending on your registrar.
Check out DNS Registrars IPv6 Support Status, let's build a list of who does and does not.
The following steps should be followed in order. After each step, try testing again to see if your problem has been resolved. In general, keep your operating system and software up to date.
Go to http://update.microsoft.com for the latest version.
Go to the Apple menu, choose Software Update, and update all available updates.
Go to http://update.microsoft.com and follow the instructions.
Firefox is normally updated automatically, but you can easily check.
In Firefox, click Help, then Check for Updates. Get the New Version, then Restart Firefox.
If a wrench icon appears on the browser toolbar, click it. Select "Update Google Chrome" then Restart.
Go to http://www.opera.com/download/ to get the latest version, and follow the prompts.
Should have been updated when you updated your operating system: Go to the Apple menu, choose Software Update, and update all available updates.
Check the website of your gateway vendor to learn how to update it.
Go to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929852 and select the "Disable IPv6 tunnel
interfaces" fix.
Or, from a Windows command prompt: Click Start > Run > cmd (enter).
Then type (without the quotation marks) "netsh interface ipv6 6to4 set state disabled" and press enter.
Finally, type (without the quotation marks) "netsh interface teredo set state disabled" and press enter.
Teredo is not commonly used by Mac OS X. Updating to the latest version of OS X should resolve any problems with 6to4, but if you cannot upgrade, you may have to disable IPv6 altogether. Continue troubleshooting, until you have no other choice.
Ensure that your firewalls allow through ICMPv6 types 1-4 and 128/129 as per NIST recommendation. In particular if you inadvertantly block type 2 (Packet too big), you may find that users behind tunnels can connect to a web site but not get any content back.
If you are using tunnels intentionally, permit protocol 41 traffic.
If you are using an AVM FRITZ!Box, follow the directions above to disable ULA.
If you are using a Linksys WRVS4400N, follow the directions above to disable IPv6 on the gateway.
Mac OS X 10.7 «Lion» has high-level APIs that implement Happy Eyeballs-ish parallel connections, which efficiently mask any connection problems related to IPv6 (or IPv4 for that matter). More information about this here. Currently, Safari is the only major browser to utilise these APIs.
The latest version of Google Chrome has built-in robustness (Happy Eyeballs) when it comes to dual-stack brokenness, which will in the worst case result in a 300ms delay once per host, instead of long timeouts for every single connection. While it doesn't cure the underlying problem, it will mask the symptoms in a very efficient manner.
If no other workaround or attempted fix has remedied the problem, the last thing to try is to disable IPv6 outright. While this will prevent the user from successfully using IPv6 once the underlying problem has been fixed, it is likely to help improve the user experience in the short term.
Go to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929852 and select the "Disable IPv6 except for loopback" fix.
Go to the Apple menu, select System Preferences, then Network (make sure Built-In Ethernet is selected) and choose Advanced, TCP/IP, then Configure IPv6 and select "off." Then choose OK and Apply.


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Recognizing the limitations of both poll() and select() , the 2.6 Linux kernel* intro duced the event poll (epoll) facility. While more complex than the two earlier interfaces, epoll solves the fundamental performance problem shared by both of them, and adds several new features.
Both poll() and select() (discussed in Chapter 2) require the full list of file descriptors to watch on each invocation. The kernel must then walk the list of each file descriptor to be monitored. When this list grows large—it may contain hundreds or even thousands of file descriptors—walking the list on each invocation becomes a scalability bottleneck.
Epoll circumvents this problem by decoupling the monitor registration from the actual monitoring. One system call initializes an epoll context, another adds monitored file descriptors to or removes them from the context, and a third performs the actual event wait.
Creating a New Epoll Instance
An epoll context is created via epoll_create() :
#include <sys/epoll.h>
int epoll_create (int size)
A successful call to epoll_create() instantiates a new epoll instance, and returns a file descriptor associated with the instance. This file descriptor has no relationship to a real file; it is just a handle to be used with subsequent calls using the epoll facility. The size parameter is a hint to the kernel about the number of file descriptors that are going to be monitored; it is not the maximum number. Passing in a good approximation will result in better performance, but the exact number is not required. On error, the call returns -1 , and sets errno to one of the following:
The size parameter is not a positive number.
The system has reached the limit on the total number
of open files.
Insufficient memory was available to complete the
A typical call is:
int epfd;
epfd = epoll_create (100); /* plan to watch ~100 fds * /
if (epfd < 0)
perror ("epoll_create");
The file descriptor returned from epoll_create() should be destroyed via a call to close() after polling is finished.
{mospagebreak title=Controlling Epoll}
The epoll_ctl() system call can be used to add file descriptors to and remove file descriptors from a given epoll context:
#include <sys/epoll.h>
int epoll_ctl (int epfd,
int op,
int fd,
struct epoll_event *event);
The header <sys/epoll.h> defines the epoll_event structure as:
struct epoll_event {
__u32 events; /* events */
union {
void *ptr;
int fd;
__u32 u32;
__u64 u64;
} data;
A successful call to epoll_ctl() controls the epoll instance associated with the file descriptor epfd . The parameter op specifies the operation to be taken against the file associated with fd . The event parameter further describes the behavior of the operation.
Here are valid values for the op parameter:
Add a monitor on the file associated with the file
descriptor fd to the epoll instance associated with epfd , per the events defined in event .
Remove a monitor on the file associated with the file descriptor fd from the epoll instance associated with epfd .
Modify an existing monitor of fd with the updated events specified by event .
The events field in the epoll_event structure lists which events to monitor on the given file descriptor. Multiple events can be bitwise-ORed together. Here are valid values:
An error condition occurred on the file. This event is always monitored, even if it's not specified.
Enables edge-triggered behavior for the monitor of the file (see the upcoming section "Edge- Versus Level-Triggered Events"). The default behavior is level- triggered.
A hangup occurred on the file. This event is always monitored, even if it's not specified.
The file is available to be read from without blocking.
After an event is generated and read, the file is automatically no longer monitored. A new event mask must be specified via EPOLL_CTL_MOD to reenable the watch.
The file is available to be written to without blocking.
There is urgent out-of-band data available to read.
The data field inside the event_poll structure is for the user's private use. The contents are returned to the user upon receipt of the requested event. The common practice is to set event.data.fd to fd , which makes it easy to look up which file descriptor caused the event.
Upon success, epoll_ctl() returns 0 . On failure, the call returns -1 , and sets errno to one of the following values:
epfd is not a valid epoll instance, or fd is not a valid file descriptor.
op was EPOLL_CTL_ADD , but fd is already associated with epfd .
epfd is not an epoll instance, epfd is the same as fd , or op is invalid.
op was EPOLL_CTL_MOD , or EPOLL_CTL_DEL , but fd is not associated with epfd .
There was insufficient memory to process the request.
fd does not support epoll.
As an example, to add a new watch on the file associated with fd to the epoll instance epfd , you would write:
struct epoll_event event;
int ret;
event.data.fd = fd; /* return the fd to us later */
event.events = EPOLLIN | EPOLLOUT;
ret = epoll_ctl (epfd, EPOLL_CTL_ADD, fd, &event);
if (ret)
perror ("epoll_ctl");
To modify an existing event on the file associated with fd on the epoll instance epfd , you would write:
struct epoll_event event;
int ret;
event.data.fd = fd; /* return the fd to us later */
event.events = EPOLLIN;
ret = epoll_ctl (epfd, EPOLL_CTL_MOD, fd, &event);
if (ret)
perror ("epoll_ctl");
Conversely, to remove an existing event on the file associated with fd from the epoll instance epfd , you would write:
struct epoll_event event;
int ret;
ret = epoll_ctl (epfd, EPOLL_CTL_DEL, fd, &event);
if (ret)
perror ("epoll_ctl");
Note that the event parameter can be NULL when op is EPOLL_CTL_DEL , as there is no event mask to provide. Kernel versions before 2.6.9, however, erroneously check for this parameter to be non- NULL . For portability to these older kernels, you should pass in a valid non- NULL pointer; it will not be touched. Kernel 2.6.9 fixed this bug.
{mospagebreak title=Waiting for Events with Epoll}
The system call epoll_wait() waits for events on the file descriptors associated with the given epoll instance:
#include <sys/epoll.h>
int epoll_wait (int epfd,
struct epoll_event *events,
int maxevents,
int timeout);
A call to epoll_wait() waits up to timeout milliseconds for events on the files associ ated with the epoll instance epfd . Upon success, events points to memory containing epoll_event structures describing each event, up to a maximum of maxevents events. The return value is the number of events, or -1 on error, in which case errno is set to one of the following:
epfd is not a valid file descriptor.
The process does not have write access to the
memory pointed at by events .
The system call was interrupted by a signal before it
could complete.
epfd is not a valid epoll instance, or maxevents is
equal to or less than 0 .
If timeout is 0 , the call returns immediately, even if no events are available, in which case the call will return 0 . If the timeout is -1 , the call will not return until an event is available.
When the call returns, the events field of the epoll_event structure describes the events that occurred. The data field contains whatever the user set it to before invocation of epoll_ctl() .
A full epoll_wait() example looks like this:
#define MAX_EVENTS 64
struct epoll_event *events ;
int nr_events, i, epfd;
events = malloc (sizeof (struct epoll_event) * MAX_EVENTS);
if (!events) {
perror ("malloc");
return 1;
nr_events = epoll_wait (epfd, events, MAX_EVENTS, -1);
if (nr_events < 0) {
perror ("epoll_wait");
free (events);
return 1;
for (i = 0; i < nr_events; i++) {
printf ("event=%ld on fd=%dn",
* We now can, per events[i].events, operate on
* events[i].data.fd without blocking.
free (events);
We will cover the functions malloc() and free() in Chapter 8.
{mospagebreak title=Edge- Versus Level-Triggered Events}
If the EPOLLET value is set in the events field of the event parameter passed to epoll_ctl() , the watch on fd is edge-triggered, as opposed to level-triggered.
Consider the following events between a producer and a consumer communicating over a Unix pipe:
- The producer writes 1 KB of data onto a pipe.
- The consumer performs an epoll_wait() on the pipe, waiting for the pipe to contain data, and thus be readable.
With a level-triggered watch, the call to epoll_wait() in step 2 will return immedi ately, showing that the pipe is ready to read. With an edge-triggered watch, this call will not return until after step 1 occurs. That is, even if the pipe is readable at the invocation of epoll_wait() , the call will not return until the data is written onto the pipe.
Level-triggered is the default behavior. It is how poll() and select() behave, and it is what most developers expect. Edge-triggered behavior requires a different approach to programming, commonly utilizing nonblocking I/O, and careful checking for EAGAIN .
The terminology comes from electrical engineering. A level-triggered interrupt is issued whenever a line is asserted. An edge-triggered interrupt is caused only during the rising or falling edge of the change in assertion. Level-triggered interrupts are useful when the state of the event (the asserted line) is of interest. Edge-triggered interrupts are useful when the event itself (the line being asserted) is of interest.
Please check back next week for the continuation of this article