text: Joe Landman wrote: > Eric Thibodeau wrote: >> Joe Landman wrote: >>> Gus Correa wrote: >>> >>>> Otherwise, your "newbie scientist" can put his/her earbuds and pump >>>> up the volume on his Ipod, >>>> while he/she navigates through the Vista colorful 3D menus. >>> >>> Owie .... I can just imagine the folks squawking about this at SC08 >>> "Yes folks, you need a Cray supercomputer to make Vista run at >>> acceptable performance ..." >> Maybe they have a "tune options for performance" option ;) >>> >>> The machine seems to run w2k8. My own experience with w2k8 is that, >>> frankly, it doesn't suck. This is the first time I have seen a >>> windows release that I can say that about. >> A few questions (not necessarily expecting a response): >> >> POSIX? >> VERBS? >> Kernel latency and scheduler control? > > Don't mistake me for a w2k8 apologist. I reamed them pretty hard on > the lack of a real posix infrastructure (they claim SUA, but frankly > it doesn't build most of what we throw at it, so it really is a > non-starter and not worth considering IMO). They need to pull Cygwin > in close and tight to get a good POSIX infrastructure. It is in their > best interests. Sadly, I suspect the ego driven nature of this will > pretty much prevent them from doing this. Can't touch the "toxic" OSS > now, can they ... Cygwin...yerk, that emulation bloat is slow as hell and can barely run some of my basic scripts. A simple find would put the CPU in 100% usage state. Now I don't blame Cygwin for this per say but rather the way that windows (probably) runs this as a DOS(ish) app in a somewhat polled mode. My lack of interest in that OS stopped me from diggin deeper into why Cygwin is so slow. Given it's a more than mature project, I'd have expected such poor performance to have been addressed by now. > > IB Verbs? Well through OFED, yes. Through the windows stack? Who > knows. We were playing with it on JackRabbit for a customer > test/benchmark. ...and...the results? ;) > > Kernel latency? Much better/more responsive than w2k3. Scheduler > control? Not sure how much you have. I don't like deep diving into > registries ... that is a pretty sure way to kill a windows machine. Well, let's just say these are mechanisms I expect an HPC machine to have when "squeezing the last drop of performance" is mentioned. >> >> These are the real barriers IMHO, without minimally supporting POSIX >> (threads), there is very little incentive to use the machine for >> development unless you're willing to accept the code will _only_ run >> on your "desktop". >>> >>> The low end economics probably won't work out for this machine >>> though, unless it is N times faster than some other agglomeration of >>> Intel-like products. Adding windows will add cost, not performance >>> in any noticeable way. >>> >>> The question that Cray (and every other vendor building >>> non-commodity units) is how much better is this than a small cluster >>> someone can build/buy on their own? Better as in faster, able to >>> leap more tall buildings in a single bound, ... (Superman TV show >>> reference for those not in the know). And the hard part will be >>> justifying the additional cost. If the machine isn't 2x the >>> performance, would it be able to justify 2x the price? Since it >>> appears to be a somewhat well branded cluster, I am not sure that >>> argument will be easy to make. >> I just rebuilt a 32 core cluster for ~5k$ (CAD) (8*Q6600 1Gig >> RAM/node + gige netwroking). Bang for the buck? I can't wait to see >> the CX1's performance specs under _both_ windows and Linux. > > The desktop CPUs/MBs will get you best bang per buck, as long as you > don't mind no ECC, and 8GB ram limits per node. For your > applications, this might be fine. For others, with large memory > footprint and long run times, I see people need/require ECC (as memory > density increases, ECC becomes important .... darned cosmic > rays/natural decays/noisy power supplies/...) Well, the nodes I built have MBs that state that they can go as high as 8Gigs, but any one with a little experience with the 8Gig mix + 800+MHz RAM know that very little hardware (MB) can actually do it in a stable fashion. My recent experiences with "fast" RAM (800 -1066MHz) is that they end up costing you time ($$$) since it would seem most MBs claim to support it but they all seem to have some impedance problems of some sort (totally unstable). And if one reads the fine prints and the QVLs (Qualifies Vendor Lists), you notice these really high throughputs are for low memory density of the banks (a _total_ of 2-4 Gigs max). I'd personally say this is more of an issue than the ECCism of RAM. I work on "Clusering Algorithms", and not to confuse people, I mean the k-means type which we could call "data aggregation/mining" algorithms. They are long running and applied to sizable databases (1.2Gigs) which need to be loaded onto each node. This is where having multi-core nodes comes in quite handy as there is way less time lost in data propagation and loading (the databases). ...which brings me to wonder how the I/O is managed under the CX1...is it as basic as one I/O node and GFS or do all nodes have their own I/O paths. I mention this since I've too often seen people ignore the I/O (load times) ignored in their performance assessments ;)


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Israel News - Stay Informed, Pray Informed
Hamas terrorists operating out of the Gaza Strip fired two missiles at Jerusalem on Tuesday afternoon. Air raid sirens sounded throughout the capital as local residents rushed for bomb shelters.
Early reports were that both missiles landed south of Jerusalem, near two villages on the outskirts of Bethlehem. There were no reports of damage or injuries.
The air raid sirens were not a complete surprise to Jerusalemites this time around. The city had already been targeted by a missile from Gaza on Friday.
Israel responded to the attack on Jerusalem and a heavy barrage of missiles on southern Israel by launching a fresh wave of aerial strikes and artillery fire against terrorist targets in Gaza.
The attack on Jerusalem came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was meeting in the capital with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Ban is in Israel to try to push through a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. That is likely to prove easier said than done.
Having convinced the population of Gaza that it is winning the war, Hamas was the first to put forward ceasefire terms, which looked more like surrender terms for Israel. Hamas demanded that Israel halt all current and future missions to eliminate Hamas leaders, lift the limited blockade of Gaza, and open the borders between Gaza and Israel proper.
Naturally, Israel rejected those terms, and responded with its own: Hamas stops the rocket fire, and the war ends. Following a meeting with Germany's visiting foreign minister, Netanyahu said Israel "is seeking a diplomatic solution," but will continue to prepare for a ground invasion should Hamas remain intransigent.
Hamas and its allied terror groups refused to stop firing first.
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subset: commoncrawl


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New York, June 29, 2009--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Moroccan court decision today to impose fines and damages on three independent dailies for "publicly harming" Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, above, and "injuring his dignity."
The Ain Essaba'a Misdemeanor Court in Casablanca ordered each
of the three newspapers--Al-Massae, the country's leading daily, Al-Jarida
Al-Oula and Al-Ahdath Al-Magrebia--to pay a fine of 100,000 dirhams
(US$12,484) and damages of one million dirhams (US$125,213) to Qaddafi. The 100,000
dirham fine is the maximum amount allowed under
are dismayed that
Hassan Semlali, one of the defense lawyers, told CPJ that the newspapers expect to appeal the decision based on a "clear violation of the law." Ali Anouzla, editor of Al-Jarida Al-Oula, told CPJ that the court's decision was politically motivated. He said the ruling would not prevent him or his colleagues from "doing their job, as far as criticizing dictatorial regimes similar to the one in power in Colonel Qaddafi's Jamahiriya."
The case stems from critical articles published by the three independent dailies in 2008 and early 2009. Anouzla's November 18 opinion piece, headlined "We and the Arab Maghreb," criticized not only Qaddafi, who seized power in a military coup 40 years ago and is currently head of the African Union, but his autocratic counterparts in neighboring Mauritania, Algeria, and Tunisia.
Proceedings began on May 18. In arguments made on June 22, defense lawyers said the complaint was not in accordance with Moroccan law, which bars media from harming the reputation of heads of state and foreign ministers. The defense noted that nowhere in official Libyan documents is Qaddafi referred to as head of state, only as "Guide of the Revolution." The court rejected the argument, prompting defense layers to leave the courtroom that day.
Moroccan journalists told CPJ that Qaddafi's support of Morocco's claim of sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara, Libyan investments in Morocco, and the presence of hundreds of thousands of Moroccan workers in Libya were among the issues that influenced today's court decision.
The Moroccan Association of Human rights concluded in its annual report released this month that the right to a fair trial was violated in all proceedings involving journalists in 2008. "The judiciary has been used by the state to settle scores with journalists, to seek revenge and terrorize citizens," the group said.
CPJ research concluded
in May 2007 that


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Follow RFF News on your cell phone. Text follow rff to 40404 you will receive txt messages with RFF News
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The Asian versions definitely have some hard detours.If you watched the 4th season, in New Zealand you had to choose between JUMP or PLUNGE. That would be my fall-down.
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Offseason assessment: Northwest Divisionby Dan Rosen
It'll take until at least Christmas to know how the decisions made by all 30 teams will alter the playing field in the NHL for the 2011-12 season. But with the offseason news in quiet mode, there's no better time to look back at what has transpired and look ahead to what could be in store for next season.
NHL.com is here to take you on a tour of all six divisions, providing a breakdown of every team, including their additions, subtractions and up-and-comers.
Here is a look at the Northwest Division:
Vancouver is still getting over the disappointment of losing Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, but the Canucks remain, without question, the favorite to win the division. Calgary, Minnesota and Colorado feel they're closer to being playoff contenders after falling short last season. Meanwhile, Edmonton added another major piece to its rebuild by drafting Ryan Nugent-Hopkins first in the 2011 Entry Draft.
Here is the entire breakdown of the division:
VANCOUVER CANUCKSLast season: 54-19-9, 117 points (1st place Northwest, 1st place Western Conference)
Additions: Marco Sturm, LW; Alexander Sulzer, D; Mark Mancari, RW; Andrew Ebbett, C; Mike Duco, RW; Steve Pinizzotto, RW
Subtractions: Christian Ehrhoff, D; Raffi Torres, LW; Jeff Tambellini, LW; Tanner Glass, LW
Up-and-comers: Chris Tanev, D; Cody Hodgson, C; Eddie Lack, G; Yann Sauve, D
General manager Mike Gillis hasn't done much this offseason except sign Sturm as a depth forward to replace Torres and add a couple of guys that might be targeted for the Chicago Wolves, Vancouver's new AHL affiliate. The big loss is Ehrhoff (Buffalo), but his departure opens the door for Tanev to compete for a regular spot in the Canucks' top six.
In fact, Vancouver's defensive depth, a key to its success last season, is still strong, especially because Kevin Bieksa and Sami Salo chose to re-sign with the club prior to July 1. The blue line will be even better if Keith Ballard has a bounce-back season and finds a way to play his way out of coach Alain Vigneault's doghouse.
The Canucks will be shorthanded up front until Mason Raymond returns from the devastating back injury he suffered in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. If Mikael Samuelsson returns to form after having sports hernia surgery in the middle of the playoffs, then Vancouver should be able to survive with a second line of Ryan Kesler centering Samuelsson and either Chris Higgins or Sturm.
With Henrik Sedin, Kesler, Manny Malhotra and Maxim Lapierre, the Canucks' center depth is strong. Where that leaves Hodgson is a mystery. He could play on the wing in the bottom six, but with Sturm or Higgins, Jannik Hansen and Victor Oreskovich already in place before Raymond returns, there is only one spot left and Hodgson could be one of several players vying for it.
CALGARY FLAMESLast season: 41-29-12, 94 points (2nd place Northwest, 10th place Western)
Additions: Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond, RW; Chris Butler, D
Subtractions: Robyn Regehr, D; Ales Kotalik, RW; Adam Pardy, D; Steve Staios, D
Up-and-comers: Paul Byron, C; T.J. Brodie, D; Greg Nemisz, C; Lance Bouma, C; Max Reinhart, C
The Flames fell short of the playoffs last season, but not before putting up a fight to at least get into the deep race in the Western Conference. Calgary went 16-3-3 from Jan. 21 to March 9, giving the organization confidence that Jay Feaster was the right man to reside in the general manager's office. He clearly believes the players from last season deserve another crack at it this season.
Feaster has done some tinkering with the roster, most notably trading Regehr, Kotalik and a draft pick to Buffalo in exchange for Butler and Byron. However, for the most part he's been busy re-signing his own players, including defenseman Anton Babchuk, center Brendan Morrison, left wings Alex Tanguay and Curtis Glencross, and backup goalie Henrik Karlsson.
Calgary could have a few positions up for grabs in training camp, so it's not impossible to think that any one of Byron, Nemisz, Bouma and/or Reinhart could make the opening night roster. Brodie will likely compete for a spot on the blue line, though he'll get pushed by Brendan Mikkelson and Brett Carson.
MINNESOTA WILDLast season: 39-35-8, 86 points (3rd place Northwest, 12th place Western)
Additions: Dany Heatley, RW; Darroll Powe, C/W; Devin Setoguchi, RW; Mike Lundin, D
Subtractions: Martin Havlat, RW; Andrew Brunette, LW; Brent Burns, D; Antti Miettinen, RW; Cam Barker, D; John Madden, C; Jose Theodore, G; Chuck Kobasew, RW
Up-and-comers: Casey Wellman, C; Colton Gillies, LW; Marco Scandella, D; Justin Falk, D; Tyler Cuma, D; Mikael Granlund, C; Charlie Coyle, C
Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher has had a busy offseason that started with the firing of coach Todd Richards and the hiring of Mike Yeo as his replacement. Fletcher pulled off two blockbuster trades with San Jose general manager Doug Wilson, swapping out Burns and Havlat for Heatley and Setoguchi in separate deals.
The goal was to improve the Wild's anemic offense, which ranked 26th last season with just 203 goals (2.48 per game). Heatley is a former 50-goal scorer and Setoguchi has scored at least 20 in three straight seasons, topping out at 31 in 2008-09.
Fletcher also pried Coyle away from San Jose in the Burns-Setoguchi deal. Coyle is a first-round draft pick currently playing for Boston University. He could be an impact player in the NHL when his collegiate career is over.
As a result of trading away Burns, the trio of Scandella, Falk and Cuma will be given the chance to make the opening night roster. Fletcher wouldn't have traded away Burns if he didn't like the depth he already had on defense. Falk and Scandella each played in at least 20 games with the Wild last season. Lundin was signed to assure them of some added defensive depth.
COLORADO AVALANCHELast season: 30-44-8, 68 points (4th place Northwest, 14th place Western)
Additions: Semyon Varlamov, G; Jan Hejda, D; Jean-Sebastien Giguere, G; Chuck Kobasew, RW; Shane O'Brien, D; Joakim Lindstrom, C
Subtractions: John-Michael Liles, D; Brian Elliott, G; Peter Budaj, G; Tomas Fleischmann, C/W; Philippe Dupuis, C; Adam Foote, D
Up-and-comers: Gabriel Landeskog, LW; Duncan Siemens, D; Stefan Elliott, D; Tyson Barrie, D; Cameron Gaunce, D; Joey Hishon, C; Jonas Holos, D; Calvin Pickard, G
The Avalanche overhauled their back end this offseason after yielding an NHL-worst 287 goals last season. They got bigger on defense with the additions of Hejda and O'Brien, and stronger in net with the acquisition of Varlamov through a trade and Giguere through free agency.
Hejda and O'Brien join a blue line that already had Erik Johnson, Ryan O'Byrne and Kyle Quincey. They're all at least 6-foot-2, with O'Byrne topping out at 6-foot-5 and Hejda and Johnson each measuring in at 6-foot-4. There is some speculation that Elliott and/or Barrie will make the roster out of training camp, but they'll have competition considering the Avs have seven defensemen signed and that doesn't include Kyle Cumiskey, who remains a restricted free agent.
Colorado also had problems scoring last season (221 goals, 18th in NHL), but is hoping to correct those from within.
Matt Duchene should build on his impressive sophomore season, in which he had 67 points. Landeskog, the No. 2 pick in this summer's Entry Draft, could be an immediate start playing on the left side of Duchene. The offense should be even more potent if Peter Mueller, who missed all of last season with concussion problems, returns healthy.
EDMONTON OILERSLast season: 25-45-12, 62 points (5th place Northwest, 15th place Western)
Additions: Eric Belanger, C; Ryan Smyth, LW; Ben Eager, LW; Darcy Hordichuk, LW; Cam Barker, D; Andy Sutton, D; Yann Danis, G
Subtractions: Andrew Cogliano, C; Kurtis Foster, D; Colin Fraser, C; Zack Stortini, RW; Jason Strudwick, D; Steve MacIntyre, LW; Jim Vandermeer, D; Jean-Francois Jacques, LW
Up-and-comers: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, C; Jeff Petry, D; Linus Omark, LW; Teemu Hartikainen, LW; Alex Plante, D; Colton Teubert, D
Despite being the No. 1 pick, Nugent-Hopkins is not guaranteed a roster spot on this Oilers team mainly because general manager Steve Tambellini has provided the club depth at the center position with Sam Gagner, Shawn Horcoff, Belanger and Gilbert Brule. If Nugent-Hopkins doesn't make the club, it'll be the first time in 20 years that a forward drafted No. 1 didn't jump straight to the NHL.
To make playing Nugent-Hopkins worthwhile, Oilers coach Tom Renney would have to play him on the first or second line. That means he'd have to knock either Gagner or Horcoff out of the top six. It's not impossible, and Tambellini even opened a roster spot for Nugent-Hopkins by trading Cogliano to Anaheim.
The Oilers have obviously had issues up and down their lineup for two seasons, and Tambellini feels he addressed some by bringing Smyth back and adding Eager to the fourth line as well as Sutton and Barker to the blue line. Sutton or Barker will likely be a second-pair defenseman along with Ladislav Smid, who re-upped for two more seasons this summer.
No matter what the veterans do, the success or failure of Edmonton's 2011-12 season will be measured in the development of its young core. Taylor Hall, Magnus Paajarvi, Jordan Eberle and Omark are all coming off promising rookie seasons. If Nugent-Hopkins can effectively join in that core at the NHL level this season, the Oilers will be a step closer to becoming a contender again.
Follow Dan Rosen on Twitter at: @drosennhl


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Message Board
Gary Ferguson Message Board
Talk about the novels, new and used books that Ferguson has written!
Author Ferguson's Book Reviews
The Sylvan Path
Gary Ferguson, a former forest ranger, shows his love for his subject in The Sylvan Path: A Journey Through America's Forests. The book is not only about his own exploration of the woods in which he made his living but the intimate relationship that others have with them as well. He spends time with Native Americans, sportsmen, moon shiners, loggers, etc., whose lives are tied to the forests. They share a close spiritual bond with nature that Ferguson...


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December 1, 2008
Equinix Launches the First Roaming Mobile Data Exchange Service in the U.S.
Foster City, CA - December 1, 2008 - Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), a provider of global data center services, today announced the expansion of its GRX Peering @ Equinix (GPE) service to customers located in the company's Washington, D.C. area International Business Exchange (IBX®) data center campus. The service, currently offered to customers located in Equinix's Singapore IBX, will represent the only service in the U.S. that enables the exchange of mobile Internet traffic between telecommunications service providers.
The expansion of GPE to the U.S. market comes after the GSM Association (GSMA), the global trade association representing more than 750 GSM mobile phone operators, selected the Equinix Washington, D.C. area IBX as the first Global Roaming Exchange (GRX) peering hub in North America. It joins two other GRX peering hubs located at Equinix's Singapore IBX center and at AMS-IX in Amsterdam. The hubs serve as scalable platforms for the interconnection of General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) roaming networks. Within these centralized locations, GRX operators can interconnect their networks within a neutral environment to ensure cell phone data applications work seamlessly across different networks around the globe.
Currently offered to GRX operators in the Asia-Pacific region from Equinix's Singapore IBX center, GPE features a resilient, fully-managed, Ethernet-based switching platform designed to ensure the seamless interconnectivity between mobile networks. The service is available for all GRX operators and qualified customers that are located within the Equinix Washington, D.C. area IBX campus that wish to exchange mobile Internet traffic with their peer of choice.
The GPE switching platform provides a redundant architecture designed for improved resiliency and greater port density. Specific features include:
- Redundant Infrastructure: Equinix provides GRX operators with fully redundant LAN infrastructure for improved service delivery;
- Private Bilateral Peering: Freedom to negotiate private peering arrangements without any restrictions;
- Dedicated GPE portal: Full service transparency with access to port-level statistics, including traffic utilization graphs, and service availability and quality.
Some of the current participants on the GPE platform in the Equinix Singapore IBX include Aicent, Belgacom ICS, Comfone AG, Neustar, Sybase 365, Telenor Global Services, Telekom Austria TA AG and TeliaSonera.
"After a successful introduction of a GRX peering point in Asia with Equinix, we are pleased that the North American peering point in the Washington, D.C. area is ready for service and a number of GRX service providers are concluding contractual agreements," said Robindhra Mangtani, Director, Interworking and Roaming at the GSM Association. "The GRX is a success story with over 25 international GRX carriers providing data roaming services to mobile customers. Peering in three geographic regions (Europe, Asia and now U.S.) enables the provision of QoS and provides an improvement in latency and resilience of the data roaming networks. In addition the peering points lay down a solid framework for migration to IPX."
"Most people that have traveled outside of the coverage area of their mobile data service provider have experienced delays and performance issues in the transfer of data to their PDAs or other mobile devices," said Eric Troyer, director of peering services at Equinix. "The GRX Peering initiative has addressed this issue and significantly enhanced performance. With the expansion of GRX Peering to the Equinix Washington, D.C. area data center campus, mobile data transfer for users in the U.S. will be further enhanced, as it can now occur inside the U.S., as opposed to being routed through the other GRX Peering hubs in Amsterdam and Singapore."
In 2001, the first GRX peering hub was established at AMS-IX in Amsterdam after a cross-industry working group implemented a multi-party peering agreement. This agreement was a breakthrough in laying the groundwork for developing an interconnectivity infrastructure supporting roaming mobile Internet and data services on a global basis.
For information about the GSMA and its activities, visit www.gsmworld.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from expectations discussed in such forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to, the challenges of acquiring, operating and constructing IBX centers and developing, deploying and delivering Equinix services; unanticipated costs or difficulties relating to the integration of companies we have acquired or will acquire into Equinix; a failure to receive significant revenue from customers in recently built out or acquired data centers; failure to complete any financing arrangements contemplated from time to time; competition from existing and new competitors; the ability to generate sufficient cash flow or otherwise obtain funds to repay new or outstanding indebtedness; the loss or decline in business from our key customers; and other risks described from time to time in Equinix's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, see Equinix's recent quarterly and annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which are available upon request from Equinix. Equinix does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release.
Equinix and IBX are registered trademarks of Equinix, Inc. International Business Exchange is a trademark of Equinix, Inc.
About Equinix
Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX) provides global data center services that ensure the vitality of the information-driven world. Global enterprises, content and financial companies, and network service providers rely upon Equinix's insight and expertise to protect and connect their most valued information assets. Equinix operates 41 International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centers across 18 markets in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Important information about Equinix is routinely posted on the investor relations page of its website located at www.equinix.com. We encourage you to check Equinix's website regularly for the most up-to-date information.


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UFC®125: Press Conference Photo Gallery
décembre 29, 2010
0 Photos
UFC 125 pre-fight press conference at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino on December 29, 2010 in Las Vegas, NV. (Photos by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Getty Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this image or clip. If you violate our intellectual property you may be liable for: actual damages, loss of income, and profits you derive from the use of this image or clip, and, where appropriate, the costs of collection and/or statutory damages up to $150,000 (USD).


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Votre titre Audible gratuit
The First Imperium
The Alliance and its colonies have called a truce and signed the Confederation Agreement, providing the frontier worlds with guarantees of self-government. No one expects the deal to last, and both sides are preparing for the next showdown.
But from the depths of space another challenge is coming, one that will endanger the very survival of mankind and force not just the Alliance and its colonies, but all of the Superpowers, to join forces or face annihilation.
The dusty ruins the Alliance discovered on Epsilon Eridani IV were built by an ancient race, eons dead. But their guardians remain, and the disturbance of the long silent caves triggered an automated alert, one which has been heard.
Erik Cain and his Marines grimly take to the field once again, for what may be their final battle, against the robotic legions of the First Imperium.
But facing a ruthless and technologically superior enemy may be easier than learning to fight alongside old enemies.
This is Book 4 of the Crimson World Series
Autres livres audio du même :
Ce que les membres d'Audible en pensent
- Geoffrey S L Shaw
- 11/06/2016
Good story. Performance? Not so much
Story line and character development shows the care taken by the author to build
A solid product.
Narration: not
So much. The range of Character Voices used by the narrator are poor At best. All the characters voices are poor variations oil ladies.
Most of rest if the narration is questionable.
1 sur 1 personne(s) ont trouvé cet avis utile.
- shalte
- 20/05/2014
Great Story Butchered By Narrator
Would you try another book from Jay Allan and/or Jeff Bower?
Jay Allen - Yes. Jeff Bower - No, or at least not until he realizes that narrating a book like First Imperium requires a modicum of professionalism and tact. After a few chapters I honestly started to think, "this guy can't be serious..... he is making these characters into a c rated parody of serious people doing serious things in a serious environment."
Who was your favorite character and why?
The guy who jammed those explosives down the freshly torn open chest cavity of that bastard who tried to sabotage one of the fleet's cruisers. I could almost feel the gooey, still warm visceral organs thwacking against my face after the timing mechanism went ding. That guy deserved some sort of leave package or at least one of those shiny things to expand his uniform's salad bar.
Would you be willing to try another one of Jeff Bower's performances?
No. Refer to answer to question 1. Why does every person in this book at or below the rank of lieutenant sound like a 54 pound 11 year old kid who is still waiting for his sack to drop? At some point the narrator had to realize that this story is somewhat serious in nature. You know, that struggle to save whole planet populations thing and intense firefights with entire squads and even platoons being torn apart by direct hits from pulse cannons? After the fourth book I just don't know if the narrator really cares that almost every character's voice doesn't match what, in my humble opinion, it should be. Where is this production's producer? If there is one, why on earth hasn't he / she sat the guy down and told him to knock off the nitrous oxide bit and get serious?I don't know...maybe it's me and I am taking it all wrong. All I can say is that when I fork out my dough for an audiobook, I expect at least a modicum of narrator attention to how real people talk in various situations. Sadly, I just did not get it here. The book is a damn good piece of military science fiction with tons of action and all the things I like in a book from this genre. I could pick basically any narrator from the 800 or so books I have purchased from Audible and have them narrate this book. Not one of them would come even close to the falsetto or crappy jive smack voices Bower perpetrated on my ears. 3/4's of the way through, after I started to get pissed off for the various characters who, if they were actually real and heard how they sounded in this guy's narration, would probably drop whatever they were doing, hunt him down and snap his neck like a balsa wood chopstick, I gave up on the whole effort and pressed delete.
If this book were a movie would you go see it?
Yes. As long as Jeff Bower had nothing to do with any voices or narration. As the last movie I saw was March of the Penguins, I wouldn't exactly save a seat for me.
Any additional comments?
Jay Allen can write an intergalactic zorchfest of a novel with the best of them. I just wish the audio part of this audiobook was narrated by someone who actually cared about what he was doing. A well written book just got torpedoed by its narration, and that's a shame.
1 sur 1 personne(s) ont trouvé cet avis utile.
- Amazon Customer
- 03/12/2013
The Worst Narrator I've ever heard
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
The Narrator made it nearly impossible to listen to and I am a VERY patient person who does not easily let a bad narrator bother him.
What other book might you compare The First Imperium to and why?
Any well written Space Opera
Would you be willing to try another one of Jeff Bower's performances?
Was The First Imperium worth the listening time?
You should read this book do not listen to it
Any additional comments?
The only way to describe the way this book was narrated was that it most resembled the way an adult would read a book aloud to a class room of 6 year olds. It was just horrible. To make it worse the narrator tried from time to time to act out the voices and that was just a tragedy.
While Jeff Bower may grow to be a good narrator he has a long long way to go. I cannot recommend this book based on the narration alone.
1 sur 2 personne(s) ont trouvé cet avis utile.


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Terrifying Video Of The Fertilizer Plant Explosion In West Texas [VIDEO]
With a blast that was heard up to 45 miles away, the fire and explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas was scary from a distance. How terrifying would it be a little closer? This man and his child found out first hand.
More information to follow as it is made available.


text: yes, i would also be interested in downloading the boot floppy images. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mathew Benson" <mathew_benson at hotmail.com> To: <beowulf at beowulf.org> Sent: Friday, March 22, 2002 8:41 AM Subject: Inexpensive beowulf but not so miniature Beowulf > I just joined the list so I wasn't able to add to the "Miniature Beowulf" > thread earlier. For those other students that would like to play with a > Beowulf cluster, or for institutions that want a cluster but do not have a > budget, I built a $0 cluster that scales from 1 to n (don't know the limit > yet). Its great for students and schools that have computer labs that sit > idle. I have a Pentium 200 that I pulled from surplus as my permanent > cluster master, and a stack of floppies that I boot from. They boot from > floppy and never mount the harddrives so you can temporarily borrow a > computer lab for the cluster and return it back to its original setup when > you're done. I modified Ganglia to support unicast for those of us that > have IT departments that won't enable multicast for undergraduate projects. > I'm writing the HOWTO now, and won't be done for a few more weeks. > > I appologize if I'm repeating somebody elses work. I'm just an undergrad > student and new to the Beowulf community. Is there anybody out there that > would be interested in something like this? > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp. > > _______________________________________________ > Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf at beowulf.org > To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf


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From zooming electric cars to blooming "green" buildings, Palo Alto's environmentalists have much to smile about these days.
As the city prepares for Earth Day, April 22, its green efforts and ambitions are taking center stage at local classrooms, environmental nonprofits and City Hall, where officials are seeking to raise the conservation bar even further.
Palo Alto's ongoing and soon-to-be implemented green programs were highlighted Monday night (April 11) by Deborah van Duynhoven, Palo Alto's chief sustainability coordinator. The long list of environmental efforts includes PaloAltoGreen, an award-winning program of the Utilities Department that allows residents to pay a little extra for electricity to support renewable energy. The program continues to lead the nation in participation, with 21 percent of the city opting in, though van Duynhoven pointed out in her report that the rate has leveled off.
Palo Alto's green-building program, meanwhile, is generating momentum and producing dramatic results. In 2010, the year after the council adopted stricter rules regarding construction demolition, 789 permit applications were covered by the program -- an 83 percent spike from 2009. Van Duynhoven told the council that 240 certified green buildings have either been built or are currently under construction -- a number she called "phenomenal." This includes 125 residences currently undergoing construction.
One major effort the city plans to undertake next year is creating a citywide policy on electric vehicles. The plan, she said, would consider everything from the permitting process to places where the city should set up chargers.
"It's really taking a holistic view of what electric vehicles mean in the city," van Duynhoven said. "We want to do this so that we have a complete picture in the planning department."
In addition to exploring the use of cleaner vehicles, the city along with the school district is also encouraging people to get out of cars altogether. On Earth Day, they are launching the "Driveless Challenge." The initiative aims to encourage city residents to eschew their cars and track their "clean miles" online at drivelesschallenge.com.
It is the latest tool in the school district's effort to get more students to walk and bike to school.
According to school officials, the proportion of students biking to Gunn High School jumped from 11 percent in 1999 to 36 percent in 2010. At Palo Alto High School, 40 percent of the student body bikes to school, while the share of bicyclists at JLS and Jordan middle schools is about 50 percent. School and PTA officials said in a statement that the district's Earth Day events "will celebrate this success and focus on encouraging more students to use alternatives to solo driving more often."
Mayor Sid Espinosa on Monday called the city's green efforts "comprehensive" and said he was overwhelmed by the wealth of activities local neighborhood groups and schools are planning to stage during the week leading up to Earth Day.
Green-themed events in the school district will kick off Wednesday, with an Earth Day Fair at El Carmelo Elementary School -- an event that will include an electricity-generating stationary bike, electric-car displays and games focused on carbon-footprint-themed games. They will continue Thursday, when the local nonprofit group Canopy is scheduled to plant trees at Terman Middle School.
On Earth Day, Espinosa will join Palo Alto Unified School District Superintendent Kevin Skelly in biking to JLS Middle School. Espinosa plans to spend Friday afternoon at JLS, where he and Skelly will officiate the school's "Rally for the Planet," check out a solar car built by students and unveil the plan for expanding the school. The expansion will include eco-friendly landscaping and building features, as well as improved bike and pedestrian amenities.
Espinosa will also kick off the city's chief Earth Day celebration -- the "Clean Green Street Scene" at Lytton Plaza, at the corner of University Avenue and Emerson Street downtown. The event, which will be held from 4 to 8 p.m., will feature a poetry slam, information booths, live music and a "recycled fashion show."
Additional events scheduled for next week, including the GREENLIGHT Earth Day Film Festival of locally produced movies, are listed on the City of Palo Alto website at www.cityofpaloalto.org/earthday.


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Relational databases hold models of a world that assumes you know the basic relationships among the entities in your problem space. Their purpose is to maintain business rules and access data in a known format. This is a good assumption in a production environment. Actually, it is a necessary assumption. You want to produce known and well-defined transactions and reports in online processing (OLTP) environments. A constantly changing schema would be a model of a world where elephants can drop out of the sky. Even online analytical processing (OLAP) deals with known relationships, usually summaries taken from transactional systems and outside data sources.
The relational model (RDBMS) is a deductive system that can find sets of entities from the data in this model. If you find a new relationship, you have to add tables and new constraints to your schema to model it. Likewise, if you drop a table from your schema, you have to see how that changes the whole model. This is the nature of a deductive approach to data.
RDBMS is very useful, but there are problems in the world that cannot be done with deductive methods. We need inductive tools that let us add relationships, rather than data, to a model. What kind of data requires inductive reasoning? Imagine you are a cop on the "CSI" television show. All you have is a collection of odd facts that do not fall into nice neat relational tables. These facts tie various data elements together in various ways. You have 60 minutes to find a network of associations to connect the bad guys to the crime in some as-of-yet unknown manner. And a new fact introduced after the last commercial break can change the outcome in the last five minutes.
In any of the shows, the detectives go to a marker board and start making "fishbone" diagrams (also known as "Ishikawa" diagrams) and other general-directed graphs. Each event is tied together until we have a path from the perpetrators to the crime. The whole point of the show is finding that path by hard work, some shooting, and clever thinking. It's good drama, but in the real world, it can be slow and we don't have scriptwriters to guarantee outcomes.
What we need is a tool to manipulate a general-directed graph with various relationships between simple entities. Ideally, we would like this tool to be declarative and self-optimizinglike SQL engines.
For instance, graph theory, a branch of mathematics that deals with nodes and edges, is one of the most powerful mathematical tools we have because it is so general. A road map's nodes are cities and the edges are roads. A family tree's nodes are people and the edges are blood relations. A circuit diagram's nodes are electronic components and the edges are the wires between them. Graphs are so generalyou've used them all your life, but not thought of them in a formal sense.
Because I'm a big fan of SQL, my first approach to any problem is to write a schema and some queries. I have tried to do general graphs in SQL and my conclusion is that it's possiblebut not practicalfor any data set of a realistic size.


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PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Gunmen ambushed and shot dead six Pakistani women aid workers and a male doctor on Tuesday, police said, and the charity they worked for said it suspected the attacks were linked to recent murders of polio vaccination workers.
Their vehicle was raked with gunfire as they returned home from work at a children's community center run by Pakistani charity Ujala, or Light, said district police officer Abdur Rashid Khan. Their driver was seriously wounded in the attack.
The shooting in Swabi district, about 75 km (45 miles) northwest of the capital of Islamabad, was the first attack on aid workers in the area.
The victims worked at the center for aid agency Support With Working Solutions, whose head Javed Akhtar said they had told their other 160 staff to suspend work following the killings.
The organization is involved in health education in underdeveloped parts of the country, Akhtar said. It had run a school and dispensary in Swabi and helped vaccinate children against polio, a disease that can cripple or kill within hours of infection.
He suspected the shootings might be linked to a string of attacks on polio vaccinators last month.
"This seemed to be part of the campaign against the polio drive by certain anti-polio elements," he said.
Two weeks ago, gunmen killed nine health workers taking part in a national polio vaccination drive in a series of attacks. Most of the victims were young women earning about $2 a day.
The Taliban said they did not carry out those attacks although its leaders have repeatedly denounced the vaccination program as a plot to sterilize people or spy on Muslims.
Aid workers have frequently been kidnapped or killed in Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation of 180 million that is struggling to contain a Taliban insurgency and plagued by endemic corruption and violent crime.
Additional reporting by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Louise Ireland and Giles Elgood


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Fix-It Request
All fields are required. If you are locked out, have a significant problem and/or plumbing issue, please call Facilities at (540) 831-7800. If this is a health emergency, please call Radford University Police Department immediately at (540) 831-5500.
Please note: Non-Emergency Fix-It Requests are typically scheduled to be completed between the hours of 9:00 am and 4:00 pm. Any requests submitted that cannot be completed during these hours will be addressed the following business day.


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When ptosis, or a droopy eyelid, is affecting your child's vision and learning, our team of pediatric ophthalmologists will do whatever it takes to help your child achieve the best vision possible. If the ptosis is related to a neurological or another condition, we work closely with pediatric specialists around Nemours to treat your child's vision problem.
Ptosis ("toe-sis") or droopy eyelid may involve one or both upper eyelids. Sometimes an eyelid can be so droopy that it blocks vision or causes a child to hold his or her head in an abnormal position in order to see well. Ptosis may be present at birth (congenital) or show up later in life (acquired).
What are some of the causes of ptosis?
One of the most common causes of droopy eyelids is poor development of the muscle in the upper eyelid, but ptosis of the eyelid can also be caused by neurological conditions that affect the nerves and/or muscles of the eyelid, or rarely by an eyelid mass.
Select any location for detailed view


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LONG BEACH — Starting on the 12 th row of an Izod IndyCar race on a street course is certain relegation to also-ran status.
It's a glad-you're-here, glad-you-raced but forget about it type of position.
Justin Wilson gave hope to all of those supposed back markers on Sunday.
Starting 24 th in the 27-car field, he was on the podium with a third-place finish at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
"I'm still kind of confused why I'm sitting here," said Wilson, who last won last year at Texas. "It's one of those things, I think, where we had a good car and we pushed hard. I think it was just perfect strategy."
It was the best Long Beach finish for his team, Dale Coyne Racing, in 15 years. Gaulthier Salles was fourth in 1998.
"This field is so tough," Wilson said. "I figured if we got in the top 12, top 10 on the outside chance, that would be a great day. To actually be on the podium, that's a great day."
Wilson was relegated to the back of the starting grid when he had an accident on Friday and had issues with his Honda-powered car that prevented him from qualifying on Saturday.
The team took three pit stops and used almost exclusively the faster red-wall tires, which wear out faster. They had extra reds because of being unable to run Saturday's qualifying session.
"On those restarts, everyone else had blacks on and we were able to drive by people," he said. "When they pitted, we could keep going and do some quicker laps. It was just good strategy and making the most of the situation we were in after the rest of the weekend."
He pitted on the fourth lap and jumped into second on the 29 th lap when others took their pit stops. He was in the Top 5 for good after his final pit stop, when the race went yellow on the 51 st lap.
He passed Scott Dixon on the 55 th lap to get onto the podium and is now eighth in series points.
"There's so many drivers in this championship that are capable of winning races," he said. "You can't afford to miss anything. You can't afford to have a bad result."
Still ahead in points
Helio Castroneves survived Sunday's race with the IndyCar series points lead.
He lost a nose cone on the 12 th lap and was as far back as 26 th before coming back to finish 10 th.
"It was a tough day, but my team did a great job of getting me back out," he said. "I was trying to be careful, but got bunched up and broke the front wing. At the end of the day the lemon became the lemonade with our finish."
He leads Sunday's race winner, Takuma Sato, by six points.
Champ crashes out
Reigning IndyCar series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay had a rough day.
"We couldn't go anywhere," he said. "We started trying things."
Hunter-Reay started on the front row, outside of pole-sitter Dario Franchitti and ran in second until passed by winner Sato on the 24 th lap.
He pitted right before a caution flag came out and exited well back in the pack. He hit the wall trying to make a pass on Turn 8 of the 49 th lap.
"I just got in too hot," he said of his tangle with the wall. "I was just trying anything to make it a little better. The car went from bad to worse. We just missed it and I just missed it out on the track."
His 24 th-place finish dropped him from third to sixth in the points race.
Next stop: Indy
Carlos Munoz has a month before his possible next race, the Indianapolis 500.
But Munoz, who won the Indy Lights race at Long Beach on Sunday, has a lot of driving ahead of him. He will participate in the track's Indy Rookie Orientation program.
"Right now I didn't ask a lot about the Indianapolis 500," he said of his Andretti Autosports teammates. "I think I'm focused and going race by race. I have really good teammates with a lot of experience. Hunter Reay, for sure, Michael (Andretti) with the Indy 500. So it's going to be quite interesting."
When he's not in Indy, the Colombian and Indy Lights series points leader said he will spend much of the month in Maine. The Lights do not race again until June 15 at the Milwaukee Mile.
Tough day for Dempsey
It's tough being an innocent bystander. That is what happened on the first lap of the Indy Lights race for Peter Dempsey.
Dempsey, who entered the Long Beach 100 third in points, was knocked out of the race before the first turn when Jack Hawksworth spun into him.
"It is a really frustrating start to the race," he said. "I really didn't get the opportunity to get going. We got a good start, but it was unfortunate."
Dempsey was upset that two rookies did not pay attention to race officials.
"The one thing that was stressed at the drivers meeting is that we need to give drivers respect on track, which we haven't really gotten a whole lot this season," he said. "And again I had issues with drivers during qualifications not getting the respect needed and here we are again, drivers making unnecessary contact going 140 mph into Turn 1 of the first lap of an hour-long race."
— Keith Lair
Briscoe back with Ganassi
Ryan Briscoe is currently driving full time in the American Le Mans series with Level 5 Motorsports. But Briscoe, who raced IndyCar for eight years, the past five with Penske Racing, is itching to get back into IndyCar. This week he took a step in that direction when he signed with Chip Ganassi Racing to compete in the Indianapolis 500 next month.
Briscoe, of Australia, actually began his IndyCar career with Ganassi in 2005. He finished 19 th in series points that year, but had a respectable 10 th-place finish at the Indy 500.
"It's obviously a very exciting time for me, returning to where it all started for me in IndyCar," the 31-year-old said. "I had a great experience with Ganassi at the Indy 500; we had a great month. I just can't wait to come back."
Briscoe said he definitely wants to return to IndyCar. A strong showing at the upcoming Indy 500 could help him in that regard. Mike Hull, managing director of Ganassi, spoke in positive tones about being reunited with Briscoe.
"What Chip Ganassi Racing has always been about, truthfully, is trying to have drivers the caliber of Ryan drive our race cars," Hull said. "So with that itself, it is important to us to have an accomplished, a very, very well-represented race car driver. And now we have a fourth one for the Indy 500."
Briscoe has eight IndyCar victories and finished as high as third in series points in 2009 with Penske.
– Robert Morales
Future business owners
The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach doesn't only add to the coffers of Long Beach's brick-and-mortar businesses.
At the corner of First and Bonito, within earshot of the 1.968-mile temporary street course, 8-year-old Mia Sainte Marie and her younger siblings were hard at work running their lemonade stand. The stand has become a bit of a family tradition, now in its fifth year.
"I always wanted to do a stand," said Mia, an energetic and friendly second-grader. Although their books weren't open to the public, she estimated the stand brought in $100 Saturday and made about that same amount for the weekend last year. Not too bad for $1 a cup. "Today, who knows (how much we'll make)?"
Mia was helped by younger brother, Aiden, 5, and twins London and Gage, 2,.
According to dad Dakota Sainte Marie, the older kids have learned to be more assertive in drumming up more business, and are developing an impressive work ethic as well. They're also learning plenty about keeping customers happy.
"I learned you have to say please and thank you," Mia said.
— David Felton


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Eric Melin needed a new web page design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 42 designs submitted by 5 freelance designers.
Dear Designers, we are a team of 5 people right now - I'm Eric (Co-Founder) and experienced with venture-backed web startups, you can read more here: http://www.ericmelin.com/seo-guy/ Others include a Lawyer with experience in Business Brokerage Transactions, a Biz Dev / Sales person, data entry contractors and several contract PHP/MySQL web developers/programmers. Our team has the technical expertise to implement your designs with HTML/CSS but does needs to work with a good designer patient to help with the front end application. We have internal SEO/SEM capacity with a dedicated SEO staff and will be heavily promoting this property once built, the winning designer/developer will be offered designs credits/link on the homepage, and footer. Please demonstrate an understanding of the business model and are proactive in your development. Feel free to post a business-for-sale listing as a test. The application is actively being built with a goal of 100,000 small business listings added this year. I've Posted a list of comparable websites, please take the time to review each, and ASK any questions, and FEEL FREE TO BE PROACTIVE AND CREATIVE. I'm happy to include permanent credits in the footer of the website to your design firm or your personal page.
909brokers is a team of business brokers specialized in helping business owners buy and sell businesses between $500,000 and $5,000,000 in total transaction size. Our qualified brokers specialize in small businesses and e-commerce businesses but assist all business transactions. With a skilled broker available nearly 24/7 at (909) BROKERS / 909-276-5377 our brokers list your business for free and only earn a success fee after a successful transaction. We are targeting "Main Street" business Owners who want to sell, prospective business buyers, and the business brokerage community who will use our database and various listing features. Our business model is similar to Flippa (sister company to this wonderful 99designs service) - the design should include recent press, and marketplace statistics... i.e. how many business listed for sale, how many successful transactions, etc. Feel free to CALL or Skype me or my team for clarification on any topic. Our team consists of a internet entrepreneur - a lawyer, biz dev person, plus 2 programmers/developers who will help integrate and code your design work.
Dear Talented Web Designers,
We are developing a new Web Business, a Business-for-Sale Listing service. I need a full re-branding and front-end re-design to re-skin and apply a theme of your creation! We have clients already in this business brokering business, running from a previous DBA, please see: http://www.bostonbridgebusinessbrokers.com.
- Theme/Graphic must be easily applied to the website. We are open to ANY color scheme, graphics, theme, and logo/identity ideas. This is a business-for-sale listing service, so must be professional, clean, yet ok to be a bit more modern and web 2.0ish than some of the established comps. You are not expected to do any programming - I've got two php/mysql programmers on board, but you should expect to spend time helping to understand your design concept.
- I'll upload more materials, video clips, zip files, and be as proactive as possible with feedback during the contest.
- You should include a WordPress-to-homepage box, it is installed here: 909brokers.com/blog/ - Similar to zillow.com where our Blog is also our Company News / Press Section.
- I welcome use of as many 3rd party open-source tools - i.e. your design can include a Live-Person Phone graphic - and you can assume the code can be developed by our programmers.
Thank you in advance! Good luck!
Homepage Template for Entire Site, this design will be used site-wide, header, footer, internal pages, etc.
http://www.909brokers.com is the current website. Please DO NOT use this as any indication on how we want the new website to look. It is a placeholder website only. Please be creative and note that you design will also be used as the Corporate Identity w/logo, etc. Logo must use the 909brokers URL and phone number in a creative way.
- Obviously, we are using the telephone number as the business name, and expect you to be creative in coming up with the theme/logo/look/feel using the name of the site: 909brokers.com and (909) BROKERS - I also want to make sure the numbered version of the phone number 909-276-5377 is clear on the front page, and with a customer-service-chat-box as we WANT CUSTOMERS TO CALL US!
- Your web design can/should be used as the corporate identity package as well - logo, etc, so please make sure that the logo can be cut/removed from the design. Again, the name of the company AND the logo/web design is the phone number - we are open to creativity.
http://www.bizbuysell.com (Market Leader, best Comp)
http://www.bizquest.com (Some Overlap to Above)
http://www.businessesforsale.com (good international reach)
http://www.mergernetwork.com (good for mid-market deals)
http://www.flippa.com (Great Comp, Sister company to 99designs)
http://www.bizben.com (Regional Comp)
http://www.909brokers.com (My Service, under Development right now)
Design specs will have more details about each. Please PM me for any more questions you might have. Thanks in advance!


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Activision Blizzard has got to be feeling pretty good about getting Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 onto Nintendo Wii U. Now the publisher doesn't have to spend $500,000 extra dollars forcing Treyarch to make a jalopy version of Call of Duty for Wii, a task the studio's been put to sporadically since 2008 when it made the down port of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for the waggle console. Those savings will be a nice little asterisk for Activision come the end of the fiscal year when it boasts to growth-starved investors that Call of Duty is now generating even more revenue without raising development costs. Nintendo's investors will be happy too.
Forget the suits, though. Will actual Call of Duty players care about Black Ops 2 on Wii U? After all, the series' more than 20 million annual customers already have an Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or PC to play on. Will Nintendo's tablet controller really add something to the world's favorite shooter?
Based on my time spent playing the game at Nintendo's event in New York City on Thursday, I can say without a doubt that the controller does add something, but its value to players is debatable.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 on Wii U has one major advantage over other platforms: Local multiplayer. The ability for two people to play Black Ops 2 in the same room on the same console, with one player using the television and the other on the controller's touch screen, solves the inherent drawbacks of split-screen play. Having played a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's split-screen—which uncomfortably arranges two widescreen play fields above each other, adjusted to the side—Black Ops 2's Wii U solution feels smooth. The fidelity on the Wii U screen takes a hit, making the multiplayer stage on a shipping dock demoed at other Call of Duty previews over the summer look more drab than usual, but it works. No one will play this way in serious competition since the Wii U's double duty rendering the game on both screens makes running at 60 frames per second impossible, but this is casual living room play; it only needs to run well, not perfectly.
Which is why the controls are a problem. The Wii U version of Black Ops 2 creates some real cognitive dissonance when switching between the tablet controller and the Pro Controller. The button layouts on each are significantly different on their default settings. Pressing X on the tablet controller for example makes your character crouch, but you have to press in the right analog stick on the Pro Controller for the same action. When people play this game together in the same location they're going to want to trade off and on with the tablet and the television, just like people were at the demo in New York.
Black Ops 2's current Wii U controls are going to greatly frustrate that process. The Pro Controller itself is a problem. In Nintendo's effort to make the controller markedly different from the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3's controllers—even abandoning the fine design of the Wii's existing Controller Pro—it's placed the analog sticks above the controller's face buttons. As simple a thing as reloading your weapon becomes awkward and cumbersome using this device.
In solo mode, the tablet controller offers you the sort of perks you'd expect. Choosing your load out, an interactive map of each stage; Wii U's tablet controller brings the design sensibilities of DS games into the living room, and that's no bad thing. Black Ops 2's competitive multiplayer is too fast paced to make these perks too useful, but for campaign aficionados they're welcome additions.
Nintendo has its very own flagship Call of Duty for the first time and Activision has one more portal for sales. By 2013, when the Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4 hit the market, things will go back to the way they were with Nintendo's machine playing host to a technologically inferior port. In 2012 though, Nintendo's got a novel version of the game to sell at launch. If only it were 1996 and split-screen gaming was still the hottest thing around.


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Jamie Foxx Speaks On Flo Rida Not Sellin Well "My Music Acronym Is Better" + Tells Black Eyed Peas To Stop With The Bullsh*t On Not Knowing How To Sample! + Clowns On Miley Cyrus "She Got To Get A Gum Transplant. Do Some Heroin" [Audio]
Jamie Foxx on Foxxhole radio. Foxxhole radio discuss the old music to todays music
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text: On Mon, 16 Oct 2000, Walt Dabell wrote: > So are you saying that I _SHOULD_ run SB? I'm not now, and hadn't > intended to... There would have to be a monumental reason to switch > at this point. But for the future cluster... If you have a true beowulf, you should at least give it a try. I know Don and Erik pretty well (and just met Dan Ridge this weekend:-) and they are pretty sharp. As in air molecules spontaneously ionize when they get near their heads and their feet spark when they walk;-). I spent more than an hour picking over its structure with Erik and how bproc (which he mostly wrote) does this and that. It is about as close to "beowulf in a box" as you can get, and if you are concerned with scalability or efficiency/overhead, it is almost certainly the most scalable and most efficient setup you are likely to ever see. One very nice thing about it that I plan to try is that you don't have to totally commit to it to give it a spin. I think, from what Erik and Don said at different times, that it works best if you can give the distribution a GB or two of hard disk on the "master node", but the nodes can boot non-destructively from their CD's or floppies (leaving their current install images intact). Since the nodes pretty much run out of ramdisk after boot, they don't need room on any local disk. Since they don't use NFS (or at least don't have to use NFS) they don't even need any room on an exported volume. The nodes are cosmically thin and don't even support a true login. I'm hoping to test it in the next day or so on my home beowulf without altering the current setup of my nodes/slave workstations in the slightest. The minimal node hardware configuration sounded like MoBo+CPU+128MB(or more)+NIC+[floppy OR CD] -- call it $500 in Celeron or Duron packaging; a hundred or two more in PIII or full Athlon. You might need a single video card at first to set the BIOS not to bitch when it discovers no KVM and to tell it to boot from the CD-ROM, if that's the configuration you choose (which is the one they prefer, since floppies deteriorate from dust when sitting open in a floppy drive for six months). You can also remote boot the whole thing diskless if you have the appropriate NIC proms (and save, I supposed the cost of a floppy or CD drive). Hopefully they'll correct me if I've got any of the above wrong. So you don't have to do much of anything to try it out, provided that you've got a tiny bit of free space on a "master" node somewhere. If you don't like it, just put lilo back the way it was and delete it. They made the email cluster at ALSC (systems they'd never seen before) into a beowulf, and then turned it back into the email cluster by just pulling out the Scyld CD's and rebooting. Pretty cool, actually. > > You do not (and should not) run rshd, rlogind, telnetd and ftpd. The > > only service a typical workstation needs to offer these days to enable > > just about all the kinds of incoming access one requires to support > > parallel calculations, remote logins, remote file copies (bidirectional) > > and so forth is sshd. sshd replaces rshd (but is run standalone, not > > Doesn't ssh have some extra overhead? I assume too that you > were making that recommendation assuming that I was not running > a dedicated cluster. Current and future clusters sit behind a mother > node, future also behind a firewall. Is there an advantage to running > ssh on such a cluster? I assume not? Before the Scyld solution, I would have said yes, and would still say yes on a roll-your-own cluster. First of all, yes ssh has extra overhead but a) that is its strength more than its weakness and b) the overhead is almost certainly negligible to a parallel programmer unless they're doing something like using the shell to farm out lots of little programs and manage I/O for them. If you're usage pattern is "start a big PVM or MPI calculation and then come back a day later" you hardly care if the remote shell that starts the local pvmd's on the slave nodes takes 0.2 seconds vs 0.1 seconds (vs the astronomically small amount of time it takes bproc to do it, since it doesn't have to fork a shell at all on the node to run the program). Even the longest time is still negligible. The reasons I think it is good to have on nodes on roll-your-own beowulfs are: a) It is a pain to put a monitor on a headless node, so you'll want to be able to run an xterm on the nodes. ssh facilitates this and even sets things up so you can run X-GUI commands on the nodes (should you have/need/prefer an X interface to something) transparently. b) ssh allows you to install an /etc/environment file on nodes to set key environment variables for all users without needing access to their home directories or .files. c) You've got to have SOMETHING to get onto the nodes and ssh is superior in so many ways to telnet and/or rsh. You can always turn off encryption if you trust the internal beowulf network. However, if you have a trusted internal network beowulf with headless nodes, I suspect Scyld is the way to go. rgb > > Thanks for all the input! > > Walt Dabell 302-831-1499 walt at bartol.udel.edu > Computer Facilities Manager - Bartol Research Institute > University of Delaware > -- Robert G. Brown http://www.phy.duke.edu/~rgb/ Duke University Dept. of Physics, Box 90305 Durham, N.C. 27708-0305 Phone: 1-919-660-2567 Fax: 919-660-2525 email:rgb at phy.duke.edu


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Realizing his book project on the war end in Germany, the well-known historian, Professor Ian Kershaw, has spent three days at the archives of the International Tracing Service (ITS). He informed himself about its holdings and paid special attention to the voluminous collection of documents on death marches. "A...learn more
Rudolf Brazda went through three years of hell at the Buchenwald concentration camp. He survived. Today the 96-year-old is the last known former victim of Nazi persecution of gays. "I´m not complaining. I´m thankful to be alive and healthy," said the senior with a smile.learn more
On his journey leading him to places where he can investigate the fate of homosexuals deported from France, Jean-Luc Schwab made a stop at the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen. He wanted to inform himself about the type of documents kept here and leafed through the files of various victims. "It is...learn more
As integral part of their studies, 45 future archivists at the Marburg-based Archival School have taken part in a guided tour through the archives of the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen today. The students took advantage of the two-hours round to gain a survey of the diversity of the documents.learn more
Preparing her dissertation, Franziska Jahn has been looking through files and records at the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen for a week. The historian supported by the Berlin Centre for Research on Anti-Semitism builds her paper on her previous finals' thesis "Concentration Camp Kaiserwald in Riga....learn more
Jena student Ralf Leipold visited the International Tracing Service (ITS) archive in Bad Arolsen to examine documents on the history of the prisoner infirmary at Buchenwald concentration camp. His findings will contribute to the expansion of the educational offerings of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorial...learn more
A report broadcast on the American TV network CBS compelled Canadian author Deborah Schnitzer to visit the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen. She wanted to learn how the archive works firsthand and see documents on her husband´s family. "I´m interested in how the archive has changed since it opened its...learn more
Moscow researcher Alexej Konopatchenkov spent four days at the International Tracing Service archives examining material on Russian prisoners of the concentration camp Mauthausen. "I was able to get an idea of the scope of the documents," said the historian. "There is still only limited interest in the topic in...learn more
Thomas Irmer conducted research this week for the second time at the International Tracing Service (ITS) on behalf of the memorial foundation of Saxony-Anhalt. He reviewed the prisoner numbers of nearly 1000 victims of the Gardelegen massacre which took place at the end of the Second World War. "I´m turning numbers...learn more
Dr. Gabriele Hammermann, Director of the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site, spent a week with two colleagues at the International Tracing Service (ITS) getting an overview of the collection of documents housed in Bad Arolsen. They focused mainly on the fates of former prisoners and the SS´s written...learn more


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Richard, a 10-year-old fifth grader, has the ability to be an above average student, but he is struggling just to maintain his average grades. As a parent, you try to figure out what could be wrong, and you notice Richard is easily distracted. He almost never completes in-class assignments and consequently does poorly on answering the follow-up questions.
On homework, if the task is creative writing, he does well. But if he has to read for understanding, he seems lost. Watching more closely, you also notice Richard rubs his eyes often when he's reading. Sometimes he complains he has a headache or tired eyes. Richard's behavior is characteristic of a child with an undetected vision problem.
And there are many Richards. Experts estimate that 20 to 25 percent of school-age children have vision problems significant enough to interfere with academic performance. For children with learning problems, the figures are as high as 30 to 60 percent. And, many of these children have passed the annual school vision screening with flying colors.
Most people think a child who has passed the annual school vision screening has "good vision" and can see the board and textbooks clearly. Unfortunately, this is a serious misconception because the traditional school screening doesn't test aspects of vision required for reading. And, sadly, the perception that everything's okay can mask significant learning related vision problems.
The key to understanding the relationship between vision and learning is realizing that vision is more than just being able to see the smallest letters on a vision chart. Visual problems can be divided into two broad categories – the ability to gather information through the eyes and visual processing.
Does your child have an undetected vision problem? A full evaluation by professionals at The Eye Institute of Salus University, who have the expertise to test for both types of vision problems, is the only way to detect some vision disorders.
The education and clinical training of pediatric professionals at The Eye Institute stress both eye health and eye function. This makes them uniquely qualified to detect and treat vision problems that interfere with school performance. All of the optometrists in the pediatric service of The Eye Institute are experts in treating learning related vision problems. As your child heads back to school, it's important to insure there are no learning related vision problems that could interfere with his or her progress in the classroom.
Call The Eye Institute of Salus University at 215.276.6111 or visit www.TEIvision.com to make an appointment today.


text: Hi, > Interesting. I was under the impression that SDSC had > a linux cluster that ran g03 in parallel. I'm not exactly sure > of their relationship, I guess not all SDSC systems are > part of the NCSA. > > We do have it running on two clusters here, it was not > trivial. The hardest part was using a supported platform > and integrating that into our environment. We ended up > using Redhat 8 for it, not willingly. I chatted with the folks > at Gaussian and different people gave me contradictory > information as to whether it worked on more modern > Redhat variants (RHEL, Centos, WBEL and the like). > > I tested it on Centos and ran into problems. > > On RH8, we the trick was to make sure we were calling > the linda binaries and using scratch files that were accessible What was the problem in detail? The only thing I changed was in linda_rsh the definition of /usr/bin/rsh to rsh to use the SGE (Sun Grid Engine) wrapper to control the slave tasks. > across the cluster. This is not necessary. You need identical named scratch directories on of all the nodes, which we create with SGE during startup of the job and this is working (and remove it after the job). > Also, g03 (according to Gaussian) is still 32-bit in Linux > environments and may be memory bound as a result. You can compile it since C.02 also with AMD64 as 64 bit native and have big scratch files without any 16GB limit. Cheers - Reuti


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Report: Minesota Twins Put Justin Morneau on Waivers
Justin Morneau's days with the Minnesota Twins may be numbered.
The Star Tribune is reporting that the first baseman has been placed on revocable waivers, meaning the Twins could take him off waivers if he is claimed by another team.
The move by the Twins was not unexpected, and the waivers are revocable, giving the club a few options:
- If Morneau is claimed by another team, the Twins could pull him back.
- If he is claimed during the two-day period, the Twins could work out a trade with the claiming team.
- The Twins could just let him go, although they would be responsible for the remainder of his $14 million salary for 2013.
If Morneau does clear waivers, he can be traded to any team. The waiver period ends at noon Wednesday.
Morneau enters Tuesday's game with the Indians with a .262 batting average. He's hit 14 home runs and driven in 67 this season. First pitch is 7:05pm on 1140 KSOO.


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Banking and capital markets focused on M&A for growth
Our Global Capital Confidence Barometer shows solid first quarter of dealmaking with 45% of BCM executives surveyed expecting to pursue acquisitions in the next 12 months.
Banking and capital markets focused on M&A for growth
Financial Services Divestment Study 2018
Global regulatory outlook 2018
Global regulatory outlook 2018
IFRS 9 Classification and Measurement Banking Survey
Digital disruption in wealth management
Wealth Management Outlook 2018
Global banking outlook 2018
Payments newsletter: volume 18
Guiding an industry in transition
Amid significant global regulatory reform, banks and securities firms are faced with numerous challenges and sweeping changes. As they seek to comply with new regulations while meeting the expectations of customers and shareholders for service, transparency and return-on-investment, banks are wrestling questions such as: How should operating models evolve? Where are the greatest opportunities for growth? What is the most effective way to raise and manage capital?
At EY, we have only one question for you: What issues can we help you with today?
Cost of regulation and its impact on the Luxembourg financial marketplace:
|EY & ABBL conducted a survey on the investments made, the recurring costs incurred and the perception of recent regulations by Luxembourg banks.
- Banking Foresights & Insights
Our seasoned professionals and renowned professors from the Wharton School combine their expertise: Global banking - foresight and insights videos help you get up to speed in minutes on a variety of top-of-mind banking issues.
European attractiveness survey 2014. Foreign direct investment decisions in Europe reached an all-time high in 2013. Find out what's driving that trend in our European attractiveness survey.
World Islamic Banking Competitiveness Report 2014–15. Bahrain and six rapid-growth markets (Qatar, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, UAE and Turkey) will drive the next wave in Islamic finance.
- CFO Agenda
Our CFO program seeks to provide insight and guidance on aspects of interest to CFOs, and future finance leaders, as they seek to develop themselves, their teams and learn from others within their community.
A changing landscape for tax risk. Due to mounting tax risks, the CFO needs to align the company's tax planning and operations with its overall business strategy.
EU audit legislation: EY's guide is designed to help companies with operations in the EU understand the new EU audit legislation, and how it may affect them.
- Emerging & Rapid Growing Markets
Our look at 10 rapid-growth markets (RGMs) reveals substantial optimism as increasing affluence in under-penetrated banking markets drives demand for more financial products and services.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) announced on 7 November the registration of the first four trade repositories under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation.
EMIR : plus d'impact que prévu ? by Denis Costermans and Vincent Galand.
- Financial & Regulatory Reform
Are you prepare to navigate the regulatory lanscape? Global financial reform is daunting in its breadth and complexity. Read about peer insights and EY viewpoints.
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance (FATCA) will become effective in 2014. It makes substancial changes to information reporting and compliance requierements for offshore accounts. Read about regulatory requirements, interpretation, and implementation approaches.
Cost of regulation and its impact on the Luxembourg financial marketplace. EY & ABBL conducted a survey on the investments made, the recurring
costs incurred and the perception of recent regulations by Luxembourg banks.
Product intervention: Consumer protection agenda - Global regulatory reform.
The FCA is taking an interventionist approach to design, governance and oversight of products to stop potential consumer detriment. Find out how we can help.
FATCA: Updates since the release of the final regulations
The world of financial instruments just got more complex. Time to take note. Capital markets reform: MiFID II
- Human Capital
Strategic Global Mobility - Unlocking the value of cross-border assignments. This study, by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services and sponsored by EY, shows companies want flexible mobility structures to drive new market growth.
Managing global compensation - the quest for compliance: EY surveyed organizations across 17 sectors about how they manage the compensation process. Here's what respondents had to say.
- Private Banking and Wealth Management
The Luxembourg wealth management industry is currently at a turning point, facing the challenge of adjusting its business model as a result of the end of banking secrecy for EU residents as from 1 January 2015, the evolutions of the customer profiles, needs and behaviors and the increased regulatory pressures.
Visit our Wealth Managament dedicated page to discover how EY Luxembourg can help you
Wealth management solutions continue to play an increasingly important role in the success of bank trust organizations, private banks, fees-based brokerage entities and RIAs.
- Reporting
Revenue reckoning: a transformational new standard - The impact of the new IFRS standard extends far beyond the finance function.
EY's Reporting Magazine addresses the reporting and governance challenges companies face as they tell their performance story.in many of this edition's features.
IFRS Insights: Your starting point for assessing the impact of changes to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the single most important initiative in the accounting and financial reporting world IFRS.
- Retail Banking
Global Commercial Banking Survey 2014: Technology has made it easier and cheaper to serve bank customers, but for mid-market commercial customers, continued investment in digital technology is essential.
Looking at the bank from the customer's point of view: This paper summaries the rapid changes in customer preferences and behaviours that European retail banks ought to be aware of.
Excellence in Operations: helping banks regain customer trust. Opening a new account or transferring money with minimal fuss should be easy for the public, but banks often struggle to perform these simple tasks.
- Risk Management & Fraud
Managing operational tax risk: 2014 Tax Risk and Controversy Survey series. Finding the right people, processes and technology to manage record-to-report risks is no easy task. To consider how, see our survey's leading practices.
EYs 13th Global Fraud Survey, Overcoming compliance fatigue: reinforcing the commitment to ethical growth indicates cybercrime tops list of fraud concerns for Irish businesses.
Shifting focus; Risk culture at the forefront of banking. EY's 2014 risk management report surveys chief risk officers and senior risk executives about risk culture, risk appetite and the ongoing impact of Basel III.
Risk management is changing - Act now. Risk management cannot operate as it is, and radical changes are needed to ensure efficiency and reduce costs. Find out more.
Global confidence in the economic recovery is optimistic. We are seeing an increase in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and divestitures. Read why internal audit (IA) should play a role during strategic transactions.
- Tax Change
The Luxembourg government comments on tax transparency and rulings. In a position paper on tax transparency and rulings published on 10 December 2014, the Luxembourg Ministry of Finance reaffirms its willingness to move towards enhanced transparency in tax matters.
FTT - Collection methods and data requirements. The European framework for a set of national financial transaction taxes is significantly more ambitious than any other existing tax regime for financial transactions.
VAT: In the Skandia America Corporation USA, Sweden branch, case, the CJEU found a VAT group is a wholly 'new', separate taxpayer from its constituent members.
European Council extends the scope of Automatic Exchange of Information, adopts OECD Common Reporting Standard and plan a repeal of the Savings Directive.
EY Tax Club - From G20 to Luxembourg - The impact of the BEPS recommendations
Final reports for 7 of the 15 BEPS actions were announced to be released on 16 September by the OECD.
- Technology Enabled Transformation
Banks battle for customers at the forefront of digital retail. Smart Commerce presents both fundamental risks and attractive growth opportunities for financial services organizations.
Leading the digital transformation of banking: Digital transformation is one of the most critical strategic issues for bank leaders.
Global Information Security Survey 2014. As the pace of technology evolution accelerates, so do cyber risks. Are you being proactive when addressing current threats and those on the horizon?
- Digital transformation
The world is characterized by a rapid pace of technological change, increasing connectivity and ubiquity, exponential growth of data and continuous innovation. Digital technologies such as mobile, social, analytics and the cloud are rapidly converging on the wealth management industry and will fundamentally shape client value propositions and operating models of wealth managers in the years to come.
- MiFID II
Since its implementation in November 2007, MiFID has been the cornerstone of capital markets regulation and investor protection in Europe. Since its inception, however, not all benefits have been fed down to the end investor as envisaged. MiFID II is aiming to address the shortcomings of the original MiFID release and respond to lessons learned during the financial crisis. MiFID II was voted in April 2014 with propositions of technical advices issued in December 2014. Implementation is due by 3 January 2017.
MiFID II is far from being a marginal change. The new text will radically change the market, with profound implications for all actors: banks, investment firms, asset managers in the funds industry, and market infrastructures. Impacts may be far reaching and go well beyond the traditional regulatory areas. We expect no business or operating model to remain untouched. In Luxembourg, the entire value chain in private or retail banking will be revisited as well as the distribution strategy in asset management.
What are the main challenges? Have a look at our MiFID II page to find out about the top 10 impacts you need to know, read our points of views and talk to us.
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Music Legend Isaac Hayes Passes Away [R.I.P Isacc]
CNN reports "CNN's Fredricka Whitfield talks to someone close to the scene of Isaac Hayes' passing in Memphis, Tennessee." R.I.P Isaac Hayes. Your music will always be remembered
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Active US Map of USACE Division Boundaries
Information Network
New England Division
American Heritage Rivers
EPA's Surf Your Watershed
EPA's Watershed Approach
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Interagency Wild & Scenic Rivers Coordinating Council
Nationwide Rivers Inventory
Rivers and Trails Conservation Assistance Program
Wild and Scenic Rivers
Natural Resource Conservation Service
Natural Resource Conservation Service
New Hampshire Surface-Water Data Retrieval
USGS Real-Time Water Data
USGS -- Water Resources of the United States
USGS Water Resources Abstracts
WaterWatch -- Current water resources conditions
River Network's "Directory of Funding Sources for Grassroots River and Watershed Conservation Groups in New England and New York 1999-2000"
American Rivers, Inc.
A national organization whose mission is to preserve and restore America's river systems. Legislative updates about special programs; Links to congressional and presidential e-mail; the "River Web", a coalition of 3000 grassroots river groups in the US; and "Earthshare", a federation of national and local environmental and conservation charities in the US.
Interagency Wild & Scenic Rivers Coordinating Council
A cooperative of the various agencies which have jurisdiction over land included in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Links to Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and US Forest Service, and numerous other rivers groups not directly involved in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.
River Management Society
A national non-profit organization dedicated to protection and management of North America's river resources. Actions, membership information, and publications of the Society, and recreational permitting information for several western rivers are included.
Wild and Scenic Rivers
This system ensures that certain US rivers which possess outstanding natural resources, are preserved in free-flowing condition and protected for future generations. Links to information about National Wild and Scenic Rivers and to the National Park Service's Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program, which offers technical assistance for river protection.
Stream Corridor Restoration Links
New Hamphsire Watershed Associations
Connecticut River Joint Commissions
Connecticut River Watershed Council
Merrimack River Watershed Council
Nashua River Watershed Association
Souhegan Watershed Association
American Canoe Association
American Rivers
American Whitewater Affiliation
Index of Rivers by State
New Hampshire Rivers
Appalachian Mountain Club
Canadian Recreational Canoeing Association
Connecticut River Joint Commissions
Connecticut River Watershed Council
International River Network
Merrimack River Watershed Council
New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission
NH AMC Paddlers
New Hampshire Rivers Council
"Directory of Funding Sources for Grassroots River and Watershed Conservation Groups in New England and New York 1999-2000"
Wild and Scenic Rivers
California Rivers Assessment
Massachusetts Riverways Program
New Hampshire Rivers Management & Protection Program
Ohio Scenic Rivers Program
Oregon Water Resources Department
Pennsylvania Rivers
South Carolina Scenic Rivers
Tennessee Scenic River Program
New Hampshire Surface-Water Data Retrieval
River Gauges
USGS Real-Time Water Data
Bioengineering for Streambanks
Streambank Restoration Techniques
Stream Corridor Restoration - Federal Interagency Manual
Stream Corridor Restoration Links
Wildland Hydrology


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On nearly any other day, that would have been the headline. And who knows? Years from now, history may record that today's most important event was the House of Representatives' voting to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal contempt by a stunning 255-67 vote. Among those voting "Yea" were 17 Democrats, so the contempt citation was bipartisan to a meaningful degree.
The contempt resolution was, in my view, entirely justified. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is investigating Fast and Furious, which was–best case, as argued by Holder and the administration–an incredibly stupid program that resulted in hundreds of people being killed. No one questions the propriety of the House committee's investigation; not on any rational ground, anyway. Pursuant to that investigation, the committee has subpoenaed certain documents from the Department of Justice. The subpoena is very narrow, and the committee is trying to enforce it with regard to only a tiny number of highly relevant documents. Nevertheless, the Obama administration, which evidently has much to hide, has told the House committee that it will ignore the subpoena. The administration has justified this lawlessness with a legally frivolous claim of executive privilege, as I wrote here. So the administration has left the House with no proper course but to vote a contempt resolution, as 17 Democrats recognized, to their credit.
Sadly, dozens of Democratic representatives, including Nancy Pelosi and numerous members of the Congressional Black Caucus, walked out of the House chamber to protest the contempt vote. By doing so, they politicized what is really a rather straightforward legal issue. It is sad, but not at all surprising, to see the Democratic Party behaving in this manner.
What happens next? The House will vote to go to court to enforce its subpoena. The resulting court proceedings will last until well beyond November's election, which is all the Obama administration is hoping for at this point. Obstruct, delay, obfuscate and try to change the subject: that is what Democrats in Washington have been reduced to.