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After a months-long campaign of hacker attacks on bank websites, and word that the attacks might be sponsored by the government of Iran, the banking industry is now looking to Uncle Sam for help.
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From Siobhan Gorman and Danny Yadron of The Wall Street Journal:
Financial firms have spent millions of dollars responding to the attacks, according to bank officials, who add that they can't be expected to fend off attacks from a foreign government.
Defense officials have said Iran's government is behind the assault. Officials from several affected banks, including PNC Financial Services Group Inc., SunTrust Banks Inc. and BB&T Corp. are urging the U.S. government to stop or mitigate the attacks, according to investigators.
The outcry is particularly significant from an industry that usually seeks to keep the government at arm's length. Financial-services groups opposed a legislative effort last year to establish cybersecurity standards for key private-sector businesses, saying it could undermine protections already in place.
"The financial sector has historically been so sophisticated and organized in its security approach," said Kiersten Todt Coon, a former staff member on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and now president of Liberty Group Ventures LLC, a risk-management firm. "When they choose to go to the government, that shows how strong the severity of this threat is."
It's probably a little nerve-racking for bank customers to hear their banks are seeking help from defense officials against what may be state-sponsored cyberterrorism. But as Gorman and Yadron note, as far as we know, the hackers in question haven't actually been able to crack open bank databases and grab consumers' data.
As I wrote a few months ago, so far, the attacks have been limited to advanced versions of an old hacker favorite: the distributed denial of service attack. DDoS attacks, as they're known, simply flood a website with "clicks" until they're forced to shut down. As a result, all they've managed to do is inconvenience customers doing their banking and inhibit banks' ability to do business by making banks' websites inaccessible. That's definitely not optimal, but at least for customers, it's not the end of the world, either.
Of course, there's a risk the hackers, who appear to be very well-funded, will change tactics and manage to access more critical bank networks, at which point customers could be seriously harmed. But as of today, these attacks are a bigger problem for your bank than they are for you.
What do you think? Should the federal government help the banks fight off these cyberattacks? Do you worry about hackers getting access to your money?
Follow me on Twitter: @ClaesBell.


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Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 16th Amendment, which authorized the income tax. I frequently show students the following chart, generated by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, and ask the simple question: "See if you can spot when the personal income tax started?"
Meanwhile, John Steele Gordon has a nice retrospective on the history of the income tax over at American.com, including this most relevant bit:
Once the Sixteenth Amendment was ratified, of course, Congress (with strong Democratic majorities in both houses) quickly passed a personal income tax, aimed at the upper middle class and above, with a top rate of 7 percent on incomes over $500,000.
Unfortunately, the personal income tax did not replace the corporate income tax that had originally been intended only as a stopgap. Nor did Congress integrate the two taxes so that income, whether corporate or personal, was only taxed once. The two taxes simply ignore each other as if corporations are owned by Martians, not people.

subset: commoncrawl


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Posts Taggedduckduckgo
Google Search is one of the entries on the growing list of Google services that I no longer use. Search results are muddled with advertisements, and it's clear that producing accurate outcomes is no longer a core goal of the company. I switched to DuckDuckGo for these reasons, and so far I've never looked back. For the most part, DuckDuckGo's search results are comparable to Google's, and it even offers encrypted Google searches for things such as images.
Even though it delivers excellent results, it's certainly not going to win any beauty contests, and the iOS application is prohibitively homely. Bang On is a dedicated DuckDuckGo search app that takes all of the great things about the service and wraps them in a beautiful package.
Is this facelift enough for Bang On to earn a coveted place on the iOS dock? Read on to find out. (more…)


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The solution of the Schrödinger equation (wave equations) for the hydrogen atom uses the fact that the Coulomb potential produced by the nucleus is isotropic (it is radially symmetric in space and only depends on the distance to the nucleus). Although the resulting energy eigenfunctions (the "orbitals") are not necessarily isotropic themselves, their dependence on the angular coordinates follows completely generally from this isotropy of the underlying potential: The eigenstates of the Hamiltonian (= energy eigenstates) can be chosen as simultaneous eigenstates of the angular momentum operator. This corresponds to the fact that angular momentum is conserved in the orbital motion of the electron around the nucleus. Therefore, the energy eigenstates may be classified by two angular momentum quantum numbers, l and m (integer numbers). The "angular momentum" quantum number l = 0, 1, 2, ... determines the magnitude of the angular momentum. The "magnetic" quantum number m = −l, .., +l determines the projection of the angular momentum on the (arbitrarily chosen) z-axis.
In addition to mathematical expressions for total angular momentum and angular momentum projection of wavefunctions, an expression for the radial dependence of the wave functions must be found. It is only here that the details of the 1/r Coulomb potential enter (leading to Laguerre polynomials in r). This leads to a third quantum number, the principal quantum number n = 1, 2, 3, ... The principal quantum number in hydrogen is related to atom's total energy.
Note that the maximum value of the angular momentum quantum number is limited by the principal quantum number: it can run only up to n − 1, i.e. l = 0, 1, ..., n − 1.
Due to angular momentum conservation, states of the same l but different m have the same energy (this holds for all problems with rotational symmetry). In addition, for the hydrogen atom, states of the same n but different l are also degenerate (i.e. they have the same energy). However, this is a specific property of hydrogen and is no longer true for more complicated atoms which have a (effective) potential differing from the form 1/r (due to the presence of the inner electrons shielding the nucleus potential).
Taking into account the spin of the electron adds a last quantum number, the projection of the electron's spin angular momentum along the z axis, which can take on two values. Therefore, any eigenstate of the electron in the hydrogen atom is described fully by four quantum numbers. According to the usual rules of quantum mechanics, the actual state of the electron may be any superposition of these states. This explains also why the choice of z-axis for the directional quantization of the angular momentum vector is immaterial: An orbital of given l and m' obtained for another preferred axis z' can always be represented as a suitable superposition of the various states of different m (but same l) that have been obtained for z.
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|Seven solar companies have filed a trade complaint with the federal government, accusing China of dumping artificially cheap solar panels on the US market. But solar installers welcome the low prices. Ira Flatow and guests discuss what's best for the domestic solar industry--and US jobs--in the long run.


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Belated Happy Nutella Day! I know I am a day late but I had to do my bit to spread a little Nutella love. Nutella is, after all, one of my very favorite things. I have been eating it since I was a child (in those one-serving packets…do they still have those?) and almost always have a jar (or more) in my pantry. I couldn't tell you my favorite way of eating it because I just have too many, and really, it is fantastic any way you eat it. It serves you equally well if you are in need of some get-up-and-go on a dreary morning or if unexpected guests suddenly land on your doorstep (just dollop some over vanilla ice cream and you've got dessert). It is simple, delicious, available, accommodating, well-loved, sublime. It's been embraced by everyone from the little girl that lives next door to Pierre Hermé.
Any way you look at it…Nutella rocks.


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Hunter Hayes Promises New Album Will Be 'Whole-Hearted'
Since Hunter Hayes' self-titled debut album has been so successful, his group of devoted followers (the Hayniacs) have been dying to hear some new tunes. Rest assured, the singer promises that there will be another album, but he's going to take time to make it completely genuine.
Hayes admits that when it comes to recording new music, the process of falling into a routine scares him. "I'm right at the point where it's part of the routine, you start making your next album, but I don't want to rush into that process and I don't want to make it based on a time table and I don't want to write it based on a schedule or an agenda," he explains, according to the Country Vibe.
That said, Hayes has been playing around in the studio, but he hasn't recorded anything that's definitely going to make the cut on his next record. For now, he's in the process of experimenting.
"I'm now at the point where I'm experimenting [but] I'm not ready necessarily to go into new record mode because I don't feel like I am and I don't want to fake it," he shares. "I don't want to say that I am and then make a new record that wasn't whole-hearted."
On his debut album, Hayes had a hand in every aspect of the recording process. The 'Wanted' hitmaker co-wrote every song that appeared on the liner notes, and he played every instrument in the studio. The young singer's hard work earned him a co-producer credit on the album.
That sounds pretty ambitious, but Hayes doesn't plan on backing down from his preferred way of producing an album. He plans to be even more involved in every aspect of cutting his sophomore album. So far, the 21-year-old country singer has written 50 to 60 songs that could make it to his next record, but he says he's not going to rule out the possibility of writing 100 before he starts culling a list of songs for the record.
But don't get excited just yet.
"I still kind of see it a ways off, for the sake of not rushing, for the sake of not doing it the wrong way," Hayes says, explaining why it may be awhile before the next CD is on the shelves. "And so I'm in the studio now doing new music, but I'm experimenting a little bit more and we'll kind of have to wait to see how that experiment goes -- but I want to try something new."
One thing that you can definitely add to your 2013 calendar: Hunter Hayes' appearance at the 2013 Taste of Country Music Festival. He'll join big-name acts like Lady Antebellum, Willie Nelson, Trace Adkins at more for the inaugural event, which will run June 13-15, 2013 in Hunter Mountain, New York. To buy tickets, click here.


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Related Items
Trending Stories
Ricardo Clark Scores in Stoppage Time as U.S. Men's National Team Defeats Venezuela 1-0 in Opening Match of 2012
- Ricardo Clark Nets Game-Winner Seven Minutes Into Stoppage Time
- U.S. Earns First Win Against South American Team Since 2007
- USA Travels to Panama City for Wednesday Match Against Panama at 8:30 p.m. ET Live on Galavision, ESPN3
GLENDALE, Ariz. (Jan. 21, 2012) – The U.S. Men's National Team opened the year in dramatic fashion as Ricardo Clark tallied a game-winning goal seven minutes into second-half stoppage time for a 1-0 win against Venezuela at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
The U.S. kept Venezuelan goalkeeper Jose Morales on his toes all night and finally earned the well-deserved victory in the final moments when Clark emphatically headed home a Jermaine Jones corner kick from the right side. Jones, serving as the U.S. captain for the first time in his career, capped off his Budweiser Man of the Match performance with the assist. The game-winner was the second in Clark's career, following the lone goal in the 1-0 win against Trinidad & Tobago in qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The U.S. improved to 3-0-1 all-time against Venezuela and earned its first win against a South American team since a 3-1 win against Ecuador on March 25, 2007.
Next up for the U.S. MNT is an international friendly against Panama on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama City. Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. ET, and the match will be televised live on Galavision and ESPN3. Fans can also follow the game live on ussoccer.com's MatchTracker and Twitter @ussoccer.
"Overall I thought we had a very good performance tonight," said U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who collected his second straight victory. "We created a ton of chances and really didn't give them any good opportunities. We did an extreme amount of work these past two and a half weeks, and we were glad to see the players get the reward. We switched to a 4-4-2 to push the game towards the end. It was just about getting one goal sooner or later. We got it—a bit late, but not too late."
Four players made their U.S. MNT debut on Saturday, with goalkeeper Bill Hamid, defender A.J. DeLaGarza and midfielder Graham Zusi earning their first cap in starting roles, and forward C.J. Sapong debuting 14 minutes into the second half.
Hamid, a U.S. Soccer Development Academy alum, becomes the ninth goalkeeper in U.S. history to collect a shutout in his first game. The Annandale, Va., native was only forced into action once in his first match, as the U.S. defense held Venezuela to just a single shot on goal.
DeLaGarza and Zusi won two national championships together at the University of Maryland in 2005 and 2008. DeLaGarza started at right back, and Zusi was a key midfield presence during both the run of play and set pieces.
Two of the USA's other big scoring opportunities came on either side of halftime. In the 23rd minute, Zusi took a free kick and found Brek Shea in front of his defender. Shea sent a solid header toward goal, but Morales made a clutch save with his left glove. In the 76th minute, second half sub Chris Wondolowski had a header that Morales cleared to his left to maintain the scoreless draw.
The U.S. was the offensive instigator for much of the first half, and the scoring chances started to present themselves within the first 20 minutes. On 19 minutes, Teal Bunbury had a strike that went just over the crossbar. Bunbury's opportunity came shortly after captain Jermaine Jones had intercepted the ball from Venezuela. Then in the 20th minute, Shea pushed a shot just wide right as he found space behind Venezuela's defense. Benny Feilhaber started the sequence by splitting a pair of Venezuelan defenders to put Shea in on goal. Feilhaber made his first U.S. MNT appearance in more than a year, last taking the pitch on Oct. 10, 2010, against Colombia.
In the second half, the U.S. nearly struck as Jones received the ball inside the penalty box in the 48th minute, but the high-percentage opportunity was pushed wide left of the goal.
U.S. midfielder and Phoenix native Brad Evans made an appearance in front of his hometown crowd, earning his fourth cap as a second-half substitution for Bunbury.
From Venezuela's perspective, the team only managed one shot on frame during the night, and most of its chances were taken from distance. Angel Flores (15th minute) and Francisco Flores (39th minute) both missed with shots from outside the box.
The Venezuelans continued to muster only modest opportunities in the second half. Miguel Mea Vitali had a 70th-minute attempt off of a free kick that went wide right, and Emilio Renteria had an opportunity on top of the box where he whiffed completely.
Following Wednesday's match against Panama, the National Team looks forward to a Feb. 29 match against four-time World Cup champion Italy at Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Genoa. Kickoff is at 8:30 p.m. local (2:30 p.m. ET), and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and ESPN3.
-- U.S. Men's National Team Game Report --
Match: USA vs. Venezuela
Date: Jan. 21, 2012
Competition: International Friendly
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium; Glendale, Ariz.
Kickoff: 7 p.m. MT
Attendance: 22,403
Weather: indoors
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
Venezuela 0 0 0
USA – Ricardo Clark (Jermaine Jones) 90+7 minute
USA: 1-Bill Hamid; 2-A.J. DeLaGarza, 4-Michael Parkhurst, 5-Geoff Cameron, 3-Heath Pearce (13-Zach Loyd, 72); 6-Jeff Larentowicz (15-Ricardo Clark, 62), 8-Jermaine Jones (capt.); 7-Graham Zusi (18-C.J. Sapong, 74), 10-Benny Feilhaber (17-Chris Wondolowksi, 62), 11-Brek Shea; 9-Teal Bunbury (16-Brad Evans, 88)
Subs not used: 12-Nick Rimando, 14-Jeff Parke
Head Coach: Jurgen Klinsmann
VEN: 1-Jose Morales; 2-Carlos Rivero, 3-Carlos Salazar, 4-Jose Manuel Velasquez, 21-Andres Rouga; 5-Miguel Mea Vitali (23-Emilio Renteria, 78); 10-Alejandro Guerra (14-Diego Guerrero, 89), 8-Francisco Flores, 6-Agnel Flores, 7-Edgar Perez Greco (17-Angel Chourio, 73); 15-Alejandro Moreno (9-Richard Blanco, 86)
Subs not used: 11- Jose Reyes, 12- Alan Liebeskind, 13-John Chancellor, 16-Ruben Arocha, 19-Rubert Quijada, 20-Javier Gonzalez, 24-Diomar Diaz, 25-Darwin Machis
Head coach: Cesar Farias
Stats Summary: USA / VEN
Shots: 15 / 6
Shots on Goal: 5 / 1
Saves: 1 / 4
Corner Kicks: 7 / 0
Fouls: 15 / 13
Offside: 0 / 4
Misconduct Summary:
VEN – Jose Velasquez (caution) 44th minute
VEN – Carlos Salazar (caution) 46
USA – Jermaine Jones (caution) 67
VEN – Francisco Flores (caution) 90+2
VEN – Emilio Renteria (caution) 90+3
VEN – Jose Velasquez (sent off) 90+8
Referee: Roberto Garcia (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: Marcos Quintero (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Hector Delgadillo (MEX)
Fourth Official: Terry Vaughn (USA)
Budweiser Man of the Match: Jermaine Jones


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In this case, a tortoise-brained hare is an animal that is capable of going fast but wonders why he can't.
Over the last six months or so I have seen a "trending" situation with those who use the Organize-On. This is some pretty cool functionality so it's important that we get it right. Generally speaking, folks who understand how zone-maps work will have a splendid time with Organize. Others, not so much. The machine is supposed to be fast, so why are all my queries so slow?
- All I have to do is add the Organize On keys and I'm good to go. Answer: No, you have to groom first, as this actually applies the Organize to the physical data. Response: Really? when we did this it took forever! Answer: Yes, the first groom may take a bit of time but every groom after that will be painless.
- We CTAS a table every night for maintenance and the groom is always running slow. Answer: if you are using Organize On, don't use a CTAS for regular maintenance. With an Organize, the table is physically broken apart and spread across multiple additional extent-pages to provide for easier groom maintenance. A CTAS re-compresses it. So another groom is required to blow it back out again.
- We like to use Materialized Views to optimize our tables but now the Organize doesn't let us. How can we get this back? Answer: You don't, because the Organize essentially replaces the Materialized View and does it so much better. Asking this question means you might not understand zone maps as well as you think you do! Just sayin'
- We have included the distribution key in the Organize, along with some other join keys. Answer: (Sigh) -Remove them. Join-only keys do not belong in the Organize. The Organize is for filter attributes. Uh, perhaps you don't understand zone maps? Just sayin'
- We have some lookup tables where we applied an Organize. But this didn't seem to matter. Answer- No it won't because if the table is not big enough the system won't use zone maps anyhow.
- We were told to turn off Page-Level zone maps but this caused a 5x reduction in performance. Answer: Page-levels radically reduce disk I/O which is our number-one enemy. Turn them back on and go home happy.
It is clear that our outlying cast of folks who have never been introduced to zone maps think that the Organize is either a clustered-index or some other kind of indexing scheme. Fair enough, is this because of the deceptive naming? Like the Materialized View? (okay, don't get me started). The Organize keys are not keys in the same sense as indexes and are certainly not used as join keys.
They are filter-attributes. By this we mean that we fully intend to use these columns with constant values, lists or selected-lists as constraints.
Zone Map Primer
Here I will use my favorite example because it is time-tested and describes the capability. If I pay a visit to Wal-Mart and I'm looking for batteries, I might visit the customer kiosk and the lady tells me that the batteries are "on the end-cap, Aisle Three". This is an indexing model because she told me exactly where to look. This does not scale because when we get to billions of rows we spend more time searching the index than retrieving records.
In a Netezza model however, she would say "It's on an end-cap but I'm not sure which one." So I go to Aisle 1, then 2, then 3 and jackpot, I buy the batteries and go home. The most important part of her answer however, was in what she "did not say". She did not say that the batteries were in Men's or Women's clothing, Automotive or Electronics. In constraining the search to a particular location, she also told me "where not to look". This aspect of "where not to look" is critical to understanding zone maps. It is also critical to stratospheric scalability. Clearly if this Wal-Mart were to quintuple in size, my battery-buying-duration experience would not change in the least.
Now for the geeky part:
Each Netezza disk has 120K physical extents. Each extent has 3MB of space, divided across 24 pages(blocks) of 128k each. If we are running prior to OS 7.x, we will be zone-mapping at the extent-level. If we are 7.x or higher, we will use the page-level. Run don't walk to 7.x and page-level zone maps! They will radically reduce I/O on the extent and this is critically important. A set of records found only on a single page can return in 1/24th of the time than if it has to scan the full extent (96 percent faster). In a real-world experiment, the zone maps on a Twinfin-18 were changed from page-level to extent-level and the same battery of queries executed against it. It performed 5x to 10x slower than with the page-level turned on. Do not underestimating the influence of disk I/O on query turnaround. Netezza is a very physical machine.
Here's another internal example: Compression in Netezza is a nominal 4x. I have seen it much higher. Let's say we have an uncompressed record that is 10,000 bytes in size. When we read it, we will read all 10,000 bytes. If the data is compressed however, we will read only 2500 bytes, a 75% reduction in disk I/O. Netezza is the only platform where compression boosts the power in both reading and writing data because it reduces disk I/O tremendously.
Zone maps are a table that Netezza holds in memory for supporting a table. Each table has its own set, describing the contents of the extents/pages allocated to the table on a given dataslice. The contents of the zone maps are built automatically when we load up our table. It will collect the information from the records stored on the given extent/page for all integers, dates and timestamps. It will store the high and low value of each, representing the table's record "ranges" for that extent.
Thus when we execute a query using one of these columns as a filter-attribute, it will go to the zone maps first and cherry-pick only those extents containing the data we want, excluding all others. this means that the data on those other zone maps won't even see the light of day for the query-in-play. If we use an Organize, we can use a wider range of data types and be more deliberate with zone-map management.
Let's say we want to search-on the transaction-date on our fact table. If we have not physically organized the data, the same transaction-date value may appear across many hundreds or thousands of extents, affecting the high/low range of many zone maps. If however, we were to physically co-locate the records with common dates into tighter physical groups, the records will physically appear inside fewer zone maps. These are the extents/pages that the machine will cherry-pick for scanning and will completely scan each one. We want it to scan as few of these as possible.
In times past, we had three primary ways of doing this.
- A brute-force sort, which is pretty egregious when the table gets very large.
- A software program that separates the key's distinct values and executes a block-select from the original table to the new, selecting only once for each distinct value. This physically co-locates like-keys. (the data does not have to be sorted, only like-keys co-located)
- A materialized view, which would manufacture a virtual zone map (which is why it's not allowed with the Organize)
Let's say that our table's data takes up 400 extents on each data slice. If our transaction-date appears in 300 of these (it is poorly organized) then when a query runs like so:
Select count(*) from mytable where transaction_date = '2014-01-01';
All 300 extents will be searched for this information. However if we Organize on this transaction-date and then groom - the data will be physically shuffled around to co-locate the records with the same transaction-date on as few extents as possible. Let's further say that once this happens, the given date appears in only one extent. What we have just done is optimized the table 300x. We have eliminated 299 other locations to look for data. This is important because scanning a 3MB extent is a lot of work. If we are scanning 299 additional extents for each dataslice, we're really doing a lot of extra work for nothing. If we translate this to a page-level problem, we may have 24x300 pages originally containing the keys. If with Organize we reduce this to a single page, we have further reduced our scanning load by another 96 percent of the extent containing the page.
The important factor in the example is the "out-in-the-open" value of "2014-01-01". It is a "filter attribute". It is not being joined to a table with this value, Doing it this way means that the FPGA/CPU will discover which zone maps have a high/low boundary that contains this value and will retrieve a candidate list of them, If there is only one as opposed to 300, we have radically reduced out workload. Netezza will literally exclude those extents from being examined at all. We have told the machine where-not-to-look. If we join this value however, such as using a time dimension, applying the date value to time dimensions and joining the time dimension to our fact table, we will require the system to fetch the record in order to examine it, at which time it will determine whether to keep it or toss it. this sort of thing can initiate a full table scan, nullifying the zone map entirely.
We don't want this to happen. We want the data to stay on disk and never see the light of day if it's not participating in the query.
To show how dramatic this can be, we were at one site hosting over 100 billion rows in the primary fact table. A full scan of this table took 8 minutes (which is not too shabby in itself, just sayin' ). The reporting users knew that if a query ever exceeded a few minutes in duration, it was probably ignoring the zone maps. This is because once-Organized, this table would return the average query in sub-second response. Think about that,100 billion rows in sub-second response.
This is why paying attention to zone maps is such a big deal. Optimizing distribution can get us boost in the single-digits (2x, 3x etc) on a given query. Optimizing zone maps can get us 1000x boost and higher.
The Organize-On accepts one or more keys which will be applied to physically co-locate records of like-valued keys, then it will update the zone maps. Here is a test to see if we understand the application:
Take one of your largest tables. CTAS the table to another database, order by the distribution key, or by the hidden "rowid" column to make sure that the given filter key is not ordered. This could take a bit of time, of course. Then perform a query using one of your date parameters as in the example above, and time the query. Now perform an
Alter Table tabname organize on (date column name here).
Then perform groom. Once completed, execute the same query and get a timing. We can see that a several-minute query can go sub-second very easily.
What's more the additional keys in the Organize are (more or less) independently organized. They will all enjoy a much faster turnaround than not using the Organize. If records arrive on the table out-of-order, no worries. Run the groom again. Subsequent runs of groom will always be shorter in duration than the first one.
Clearly however, if the zone-map is intended to apply filter-attributes to guarantee the exclusion of extents/pages completely, we cannot use a join-key. Or at least, not a join-only key. This also means that the distribution key is out (unless we plan to call-up an individual record based on the distribution key). Also, generally do not mix high cardinality keys with low cardinality keys. Netezza finds its strength somewhere in the middle. We will find that it disfavors the low-cardinality keys when high-cardinality ones are in-the-mix.
A good way to tell which of the filter attributes for a table are "high-traffic" is to turn on query history and then examine the table/view associated with "column access statistics - $vhist_column_access_stats. This will provide the number of times the column participated in a query and with which table(s) the base table interacted with. Perform a descending sort on the NUM_WHERE column and this will reveal all. In this short list we will see filter-attributes that are most useful. Don't use any of the join-only columns or the distribution key. These may adversely affect the multi-key algorithm's output and might not optimize any zone maps for this table.
At one site, we noted several inappropriate keys in the Organize, and simply by removing them and "grooming" again, the table experienced a 100x boost. The inappropriate keys were washing out the effectiveness of the other keys.
Manhattan Skyline
Many of us have seen this skyline, with buildings of various heights stabbing toward the sky. Compare this to the distribution graph that is part of the Netezza Administration GUI application. Normally this should be very flat (but a jagged-edge is usually okay). Clearly a Manhattan skyline is forbidden.
Or is it? if we have a table that is very skewed (like a Manhattan skyline) but the data can be easily "horizontally" sliced with zone maps, our round-trip time for a "tall" data-slice is no different than a "short" one. All we need to look out for is process-skew (too many horizontal slices on one dataslice)
Measuring the madness
Okay, David this is all very interesting but how can I know which extents or pages or whatever is being used by the keys? Well, there are a couple of handy hidden columns on each row that can help tell-the-tale. One is the _PAGEID and one is the _EXTENTID.
For example:
select count(*) , datasliceid dsid, _pageid pid from fact_customer group by datasliceid, _pageid
will tell us how many distinct pages are being used for each data slice.
select count(*), datasliceid, _pageid from fact_customer where transaction_date = '2013-01-01' group by datasliceid, _pageid order by datasliceid, _pageid;
In the above, the "count" should be reasonably even for each dataslice.
If the total count is radically more than "1", then let's organize on transaction_id and then groom. Now try the metrics again to see if it did not reduce the total pages.
I am sure with these two columns in-hand you can think of a variety of creative ways to use them. The conclusion of it all is to get the records with common key values packed as closely as we can so they take up as few extents / pages as possible.
It's a wrap
So now that the Organize seems a little better, you know, organized, maybe this will provide a bit of guidance on how to set up your own Organize and zone maps.
And don't forget to groom when changing the Organize keys.
We won't need to groom every time we do an operation. I would suggest a groom on both a schedule and a threshold. Pick a threshold ( a lot of folks like five percent). When the total deleted rows gets above five percent of the total non-deleted rows, or the total pages per unique data point gets above an unacceptable threshold, it's time to groom. But grooming on every operation is expensive, has marginal value and actually may throw away records we wanted to keep (in case of emergency rollback).


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The SGAA Annual Summer Conference is made possible through the generosity of our donors. Please support these companies with your business throughout the coming year.
Thank You, everyone, who made the 104th Annual Summer Conference
of the Stained Glass Association of America
a success! We look forward to seeing you next year
for the 105th Annual Summer Conference:
The Artists' Retreat at the Elms Resort & Spa
June 9 – 11, 2014, Excelsior Springs, Missouri.
[table "2" not found /]


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Taylor Swift Accepts Prestigious Pinnacle Award at 2013 CMAs
Taylor Swift could be forgiven for thinking she had time-traveled to some point in the long-off future when she will be old and gray and get honored with a lifetime achievement award: At the tender age of 23, she was the recipient of the most prestigious -- and rare -- honor at the 47th annual CMA Awards tonight (Nov. 6).
A cadre of country music superstars -- including Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and George Strait -- took the event's Nashville, Tenn., stage to present Taylor with the previously announced Pinnacle Award, an honor that has only been given once before in the show's history (to Garth Brooks in 2005). It "recognizes artists who've made a significant impact on the industry, both nationally and internationally, based on their concerts and record sales at levels unique in country music."
The audience could see a split screen of Taylor as a video package detailed her amazing accomplishments and a whole host of famous faces fawned over her and her talent. Her reactions were priceless -- especially her astonishment over the kind words of Ethel Kennedy and her utter freakout when Mick Jagger spoke! Other stars saluting her included Justin Timberlake, Reese Witherspoon, Ellen DeGeneres and Julia Roberts.
On a night when she already performed with some of her musical heroes, it was a lot to take in. But T. Swizzle was up to the task, if a little overwhelmed. (Her parents, however, were basket cases, as she pointed out.)
"My parents are not just crying, they're actually bawling at this point," she said as she accepted the award. She proceeded to shoutout the other stars who helped her achieve her success.
"I just know that it had to have taken a lot of people to make this decision to give this to me," she continued. "You're not only rewarding my hard work and exhaustion, you're rewarding the hard work and exhaustion of my family and my label and anyone who works with me. And, most of all, the fans who filled stadiums. I love you."
Taylor started the evening nominated for six CMAs. Prior to the telecast, Swift shared awards for Musical Event of the Year and Music Video of the Year with Tim McGraw and Keith Urban for their collaboration 'Highway Don't Care.'


text: Pussy Riot supporters wear fluorescent clothes and balaclavas in front of the Russian embassy in London [EPA]Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said he thought three Pussy Riot punk band members should be freed from prison. The comments on Wednesday follow their conviction last month for a profanity-laced protest against Vladimir Putin in a Moscow cathedral. "A suspended sentence, taking into account time they have already spent [in jail], would be entirely sufficient," Medvedev said in televised remarks. Medvedev, who was president for four years until May, appeared to disassociate him from the two-year jail terms, which were also condemned by domestic rights groups, liberal Russians and opponents of President Putin. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich were convicted of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred on August 17 after belting out a song criticising Putin, then prime minister, in Moscow's main cathedral in February. They have been in jail since March and their appeal against the verdict and two-year jail terms is due to start on October 1. Western governments and singers such as Madonna condemned their sentencing as excessive and their lawyer Nikolai Polozov said Medvedev's comments indicated the government was concerned about the level of criticism it has faced. "We see that the rhetoric is changing," Polozov said. "The authorities, in the form of Dmitry Medvedev, have realised that this story has gone way too far." Putin's presidential power Medvedev spoke at a meeting in the city of Penza, southeast of Moscow, with members of the ruling United Russia party, whose chairmanship he inherited from Putin in May. He said many Russians had found the Pussy Riot protest offensive and emphasised he was expressing his personal view only and was not seeking to influence the case. A survey conducted by Russian polling agency, the Public Opinion Foundation after the verdict found that 53 per cent of Russians believed the two-year sentences were fair and 27 per cent said they were unjust. Putin steered Medvedev into the presidency when he faced a constitutional bar on a third straight term in 2008, but was seen as calling the shots as prime minister. He returned to the Kremlin after winning an election in March. Weak PM Analysts say that, unlike Putin, Medvedev has little power to intervene in the case even if he wanted to. They say his position as prime minister is precarious and that he would be a likely scapegoat should Russia's economy deteriorate. Another member of the defence team, Mark Feigin, doubted Medvedev's statement would lead to shorter sentences for the band members, as he "does not have the authority". "He's not a politically influential figure in Russia's authoritarian hierarchy," Feigin said. "Medvedev's words do not have decisive significance," added analyst Yevgeny Volk. But he said that they "reflected the mood of the liberal part of society." The band members had faced up to seven years in prison, but Putin said during the trial that they should not be judged "so harshly" and prosecutors subsequently sought three-year terms. Putin last week declined to comment on the sentences, but suggested the band had forced its "indecent" name into public discourse and that the state had a duty to protect the feelings of believers after abuses during the Soviet era. Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill has cast the Pussy Riot protest as a part of a concerted attack on the church and on Russian society itself, though the church has also urged the state to show mercy. Europe Russia


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Red hooded sweatshirt for teens
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Elections & Voting
What hours are the polls open on Election Day?
The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. for all elections.
If you did not find the information you need, enter a descriptive word or phrase in the Search field located in the upper right corner. Or send us an e-mail by clicking on "Contact the Secretary of State" also in the upper right corner and we will help you get the information you need.


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Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
City end away day blues
In-form Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure provided the perfect antidote to Manchester City's bout of travel sickness this season.
After a 15-minute delay due to congestion on the surrounding roads, first-half goals from Aguero and Toure, combined with a penalty from the latter in the second, were enough to sink West Brom 3-2 at The Hawthorns.
The scoreline was only respectable courtesy of an 86th-minute own goal from Costel Pantilimon, and a very late stoppage-time strike from Victor Anichebe.
The victory, only the club's second away from home in seven Barclays Premier Legaue matches this season, keeps City in touch with leaders Arsenal at the top of the table, albeit still trailing by six points.
That is due to their woeful away record because, while City have been unbeatable at the Etihad Stadium with a run of seven successive wins, manager Manuel Pellegrini's side have strangely faltered on the road.
With four defeats in six away games coming into this encounter, that is as many as were inflicted upon them in 19 away days last season.
Aguero's 17th of the season in the ninth minute, and Toure's first of his brace 15 minutes later, were sublime team goals as City carved their way through the Albion defence.
Beyond that the three points were never in doubt, although if Chris Foy had awarded an early second-half penalty for an Aleksandar Kolarov challenge on Shane Long then maybe the second half might have been different.
Instead, Foy did award a 72nd-minute penalty when Kolarov was tripped by Claudio Yacob, although the midfielder did appear to touch the ball first.
Seven minutes from time Albion did get on the scoresheet, but only after Kolarov had deflected a low cross from Matej Vydra on to the outstretched body of the unfortunate Pantilimon before Anichebe netted his first for the club in the dying moments.
Overall, this was a stroll for City, who should have been in front after just five minutes, only for Aguero to fire a first-time shot across the face of goal after Edin Dzeko had chested down a Toure cross into his path.
As wake-up calls go, though, the alarm should have been heeded by the Baggies who were ripped apart just three minutes later, and this time there was no mistake from Aguero.
An incisive move culminated in Dzeko playing in Pablo Zabaleta, whose surging run had taken him behind his marker Liam Ridgewell, for a cut back to compatriot Aguero.
In the centre of the area and 11 yards from goal, Aguero gave Boaz Myhill no chance with a rasping drive for his ninth goal in his past eight matches.
There was a moment of respite for Albion in the 16th minute when striker Saido Berahino, the England Under-21 international this week rewarded with a big-money contract following a sensational start to the campaign, curled a 25-yard right-foot shot wide of the right-hand post.
Eight minutes later, however, City doubled their advantage with ease, the ball zipping along the left wing between Aguero, Samir Nasri and Kolarov.
From the Serbian's piercing low ball into the heart of the area, Toure simply opened up his body and steered a deft right-foot touch beyond Myhill.
Only the intervention of Myhill in the 36th minute with a fingertip save to push the ball beyond his right-hand post denied Aguero his second on a night when he proved almost unplayable in the first half.
Somehow Albion survived through to the break without further damage being inflicted upon them, and arguably five minutes into the second half they should have been handed a lifeline.
There was definite contact as Kolarov brought down Long, but Foy was unimpressed and waved away furious appeals.
With City in charge, and Albion unable to make any inroads into the the visiting defence marshalled again by skipper Vincent Kompany after two months out with a thigh injury, the second half lacked intensity.
Not even a double substitution, with Victor Anichebe and Zoltan Gera on for Long and James Morrison, could rouse the Baggies before Foy arguably got his second penalty decision wrong 18 minutes from time.
Kolarov did go down under a challenge from Yacob, but only after a clear touch on the ball beforehand.
Toure, however, took full advantage and slotted home the spot-kick for his ninth goal of the season.
The own goal gave City some respect, and although Anichebe added a second four minutes into injury time, the full-time whistle followed soon after to deny hopes of a potentially dramatic end.


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Saturday, August 8, 2009
My Favorite Banana Bread
This recipe comes from one of the most unique cookbooks that I own. It is "Cooking With Mickey, Vol. II" and contains the most requested recipes from Walt Disney World and Disneyland. I have to admit that I haven't made most of the recipes in this book, but keep it just for this recipe. It is in no way low-fat, in fact it is high fat, high sugar and really, really yummy!
I ended up with this book thanks to my brother. My brother and I have a love affair with everything Disney since we were kids. It was one of our favorite family vacations. I grew up on the west coast of Canada and quite often we would camp our way down the coast from BC to San Diego and back. I was almost 5 the first time we did Disney and I look forward to the day when I can take my kids there too. Jeff (my brother) spotted this book at a Disney store in Seattle about 9 years ago and knew it would be something I would like (especially since it had their cinnimon french toast recipe in it which he loves and knew there was a good chance I would make it for him).
My family at Disney way back (circa. 1989?) I'm about 12 in this picture.
The Recipe
1 cup butter (melted)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp water
2 cups banana (mashed)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional) - I've never put in the full 2 cups, usually I make it without, today I added about 1/4 cup
Preheat oven to 350*. Sift together flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside. Mix melted butter and sugar until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each. Add bananas, water and vanilla. Fold in flour mixture and walnuts and blend until all flour is moist. Pour batter evenly into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour or until the centre of the loaf is firm and a toothpick comes out clean.
14 comments:
- Katy said...
I am always on the lookout for the perfect banana bread. I love the sounds of this one and am definitely going to make it!!
- August 8, 2009 at 5:44 AM
- Barbara Bakes said...
My girl friend loves Disney too. I think this cookbook would make a perfect gift. I'll have to try and find one. Thanks!
- August 8, 2009 at 6:04 AM
- Heidi said...
I was in need of a good banana bread recipe! Thanks. I love that it's a disney recipe. My kids will want to eat it even more.
- August 8, 2009 at 6:58 AM
- Lissaloo said...
Yum, that looks so good with the butter all melted on it :) Banana bread is so yummy warm!
- August 8, 2009 at 9:19 AM
- girlichef said...
What a great old photo!The bread looks divine :D
- August 8, 2009 at 9:25 AM
- justjoycee said...
Love it....
- August 8, 2009 at 12:12 PM
- Coleen's Recipes said...
I associate banana bread with the school season for some reason. That's right around the corner, so your recipe is right on time.
- August 8, 2009 at 7:25 PM
- Melody said...
I grew up 30 minutes away from Disneyland! I love it too. This recipe looks great. Anything from Disney has to be good!
- August 8, 2009 at 8:16 PM
- Donna-FFW said...
I have that same cookbook.. I love the shot with the butter on the bread, just how I would eat it, total yum.
- August 9, 2009 at 4:37 AM
- Ingrid said...
I want that slice at the bottom all nicely buttered and ready to be gobbled up. I live in the land of Mickey! Yup, just outside of Orlando, FL!
- August 9, 2009 at 10:28 AM
- Trish said...
Ah ha! I am just back from the grocers with ... guess what...yep...ripe or overripe rather, bananas. And I am on the hunt for yet another banana bread recipe. This looks good. If I can get myself up from the computer...I might just try this today. Good one!
(okay, why is my word verification 'butshott'?????!!!)
- August 9, 2009 at 2:53 PM
- Carrie said...
I love banana bread but I've never made it! Your recipe sounds delicious, I like the idea of the vanilla extract!
- August 9, 2009 at 3:38 PM
- Pam said...
I am always wanting to try new banana bread recipes - this looks so tasty.
- August 9, 2009 at 10:04 PM
- Bunny said...
I'm lovin all that butter in the bread recipe, it already sounds good to me!
- August 18, 2009 at 6:45 PM


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DJ Quote Responds To Big Law & Yung Berg After No Payment Video [User Submitted]
D reports "Dj quote response to yung berg & big law for video they posted after dj quote put yung berg on blast for not payin him for a mixtape.. in this video dj quote talks bout fat sloppy fake goon big law & how yung berg used his track from mixtape for his new video on worldstarhiphop.com dj quote puts yung berg on blast on new mixtape cover respect the dj! artwork and 4mins preview from mixtape on video... respect the dj! mixtape out now free!! download at djquotetv.com p.s dj quote still has not got payment for mixtape so he says he must put a end to yung berg in the game for no respect for the dj"
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This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure here.
Did you know that every area and paper gets different coupons? This is one of the biggest things that can frustrate couponers… we all want the great coupon and only a few select areas got it. Each week volunteers send in their insert lists so to show exactly what came in your area. I take these and put them into the coupon database. In turn you can then have shopping lists that only show the coupons in your area!!
Take a look at this week's coupon insert variations from 10/27. Click on your newspaper to see which coupons you actually received.
If you're paper is not covered and you're interested in helping, feel free to email me at firstname.lastname@example.com for directions. I promise it's easy!
As folks send me the lists I will update this page.
A legend for the list:
Black = You got this coupon!
Red = Not in this insert
Blue = A change in value or a new coupon not in the preview.
Birmingham News (thanks Georgia!)
Huntsville Times (thanks Chloe!)
Montgomery Advertiser (thanks Leigh!)
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text:
Red Bull Final Descent bike comp on Saturday
sky-hi daily news
Downhill mountain biking athletes will be pushing themselves to the limit on Saturday, Sept. 8, at the Red Bull Final Descent competition at Trestle Bike Park at Winter Park Resort.
The competition, which is in its third year at Winter Park, is one of endurance in which both individuals and teams race around the course, completing as many laps as they can within a 12 hour period (7 a.m. to 7 p.m.). Participation has topped that of last year, with more than 100 athletes registered to compete, including many local and regional riders, and riders from across the nation as well.
Red Bull sponsors the race and offers cash prizes totaling $5,000 to the top finishers at each event in all categories. Other finishers receive smaller cash prizes and various prizes from other industry sponsors.
Unlike in past years, this year the competition will have two courses.
"We're going to be switching courses at noon," said Bike Park Manager Bill Holme. "There will be a more technical course in the morning, and a faster flow-y course in the afternoon."
The upper sections of the first course are physically rugged and rocky, whereas the second course has sections that will require speed and pedaling if the competitor needs to make up time.
"One beats you up a little bit, and the other's about speed and how much effort you want to put into it," said Holme.
Last year's winner clocked in at 36 laps, which calculates into an astonishing 65,000 vertical feet (roughly 11 miles straight up and down), and between 75 and 100 miles total of downhill riding.
Spectators hoping to see this feat topped can watch the race from the base of the course.
For more information, visit trestlebikepark.com/
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Capitalizing on new meal consumption patterns
Breakfast, lunch and dinner occasions share many similarities. All are increasingly being consumed away from home and all are hugely affected by time pressures. As a result, informality is a trend that characterizes each occasion. Meal occasions are also becoming lighter too a phenomenon influenced by a desire to eat more healthily throughout the day and to simply grab a quick bite. Access a broad range of data including consumption frequencies by daypart, relevant market data and consumer survey insight and learn how to tailor your product portfolios and marketing campaigns to effectively target consumers' changing eating patterns with this report from Datamonitor.12/20/2006
Food Safety, residue analysis addressed at Fifth Fresenius Symposium
Experts from the agro-chemical and food industries got together for the fifth international Food Safety and Dietary Risk Assessment symposium.12/20/2006
The skinny on trans fat: It's hard to tell the difference
The cherry turnovers beckon. The pastries look light and airy, with a nice little sprinkling of sugar on top. Flip the box. On the nutrition label: 7 grams of trans fats. That's like eating more than four tablespoons of butter-flavored Crisco shortening.12/20/2006
More Americans clean their plates of 'bad' food
The nation has a serious case of food phobia. Many folks particularly health officials in New York City are fretting over trans fats. Others are sweating over the E. coli bacteria outbreak linked to Taco Bell that has sickened dozens of people in five states.12/20/2006
Heinz may make its brand mix a little saucier
H.J. Heinz Co. may spice up its offerings of sauces and condiments through acquisition -- especially if Kraft Foods Inc. puts its A1 steak sauce on the table, a senior Heinz official said.12/20/2006
Dark chocolate: A bittersweet pill to take
Chocolate is richer, darker and more indulgent than ever this holiday season, but don't go double-dipping into the Godiva truffles and Hershey Kisses if you think this ancient food possesses magical medical benefits.12/20/2006
Healthy Food Holdings to acquire Van's Waffles
Healthy Food Holdings, a portfolio company of private equity firm Catterton Partners, is set to acquire Vans International Foods, Inc., the maker and marketer of Vans Waffles. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.12/19/2006
Wixon receives organic certification
Wixon, Inc., a food ingredients company, received organic certification as a processor from Quality Assurance International (QAI), the largest independent certifying organization of its kind in the U.S.12/14/2006
U.S. uneasy about biotech food
Ten years after genetically engineered crops were first planted commercially in the United States, Americans remain ill-informed about and uncomfortable with biotech food, according to the fifth annual survey on the topic.12/12/2006
Got lawsuit? Milk dieter's is thrown out
Catherine Holmes saw the ads for the so-called "dairy diet" and thought it would be a tasty way to lose a few pounds. After all, she loves buttermilk, yogurt and cheese.12/12/2006
Wal-Mart charged with selling nonorganic food as organic
Group asks USDA to fully investigate organic product misrepresentation12/12/2006
Food-health claims warrant scrutiny
Move over drug advertising. Consumer groups are urging the Food and Drug Administration to step up regulation of food marketing.12/07/2006
Organic beef outstanding in its field
Organic certification has been granted for 55,000 acres of Northern California grasslands for Panorama meats to raise its organic, grass-fed beef cattle.12/06/2006
Vitamin angels in the outfield
The non-profit organization Vitamin Angels and partners have teamed up to fight malnutrition and childhood blindness of 12,500 children in India.12/06/2006
Wal-Mart speaks on packaging
Giant retailer unveils new initiative at Pack/Process Expo.11/28/2006
CARU, 10 food companies announce huge changes in marketing to children
The Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) and the National Advertising Review Council (NARC) last month announced two developments regarding advertising to children.11/28/2006
Rich Products chairman tells fish tales at Bush Library
Bob Rich Jr., chairman of the board and CEO of Rich Products Corp. told fish stories at the George H.W. Bush Library and Museum. But they had nothing to do with his companys Rich SeaPak seafood.11/28/2006
Pepsi to launch premium soft drink
PepsiCo said it will launch its first premium soft drink in the second quarter of next year.11/28/2006
How to Exploit New Wellness Trends in Food
Food is considered to be the most important individual aspect of wellness, but consumers' eating behavior still does not always align with their desire for healthy lifestyles. This report examines how wellness interacts with consumers' food choices, and how manufacturers can benefit from growth in the wellness trend.11/27/2006
Baldor to acquire Rockwell Automation's Power Systems Business11/14/2006


text:
|Which tests would you run on a coated tongue to cover all possible infectious causes?
Dec 19, 2003
Thanks for your answer on coated tongues. Which cultures would you do to cover the spectrum of possible infections that it could represent? In addition to the thick coating, I have had geographic tongue every day since being infected... do you see much geographic tongue in your practise and would you ever do a culture of this to see if there is a specific viral cause?
Many thanks. Regards,
Response from Dr. Boyle
If the diagnosis is geographic tongue that is a benign condition and does not require further evaluation. As far as other tests, that would depend upon what you rongue actually looks like, but if you have a whitish coating a fungal smear/culture of the material is a reasonable starting point. Some other tests might include a syphilis test or biopsy.
Your Advise Appreciated
Wild ride of T cells: are the recent results possible or clearly lab error?
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text:
The #LCBQ for May is:
How do we need to change in what we do in order to address learning/performance needs that are on-demand?
In order to answer this question, I think it is important to first identify and understand the nature of learning and performance needs that are 'on-demand'. The way I look at it, only when we apply knowledge, we really learn. I don't think we would make an effort to learn anything, if we did not have the need to apply the knowledge at a specific time in a specific situation in the present or future. This basically means all learning/performance needs are on-demand. This demand may be current or in the future.
With this premise, here are the top 3 things that I think we should do in order to address the learning/performance needs:
1) Identify when, where and how the learning will be required and design it accordingly.
Consider a case where a learner is new to a particular software used for enterprise resource planning in the organization. Here is a situation where the learner is struggling with what option to select in a dialog box. Now, what kind of learning does the learner need at that time, sitting on the desk? What should be included in this learning? And how should this information or knowledge be made available?
The typical answer is that the learner should have been formally trained in using this software in perhaps a classroom training environment. This training should have prepared the learner with the typical features and benefits of the software and described various dialog boxes and options.
The truth is however, far from this. The learner is sitting on the desk, stuck in the middle of a task, and needs to know exactly which option to select in the dialog box – and the learner needs this information right now! At this time, the learner is not concerned about various features and benefits of the software. Perhaps, a better approach would be to provide a performance support tool in the form of a job-aid that lists what option needs to be selected in which particular situation. This job-aid can be pinned to the board and the learner can refer to it, when required.
Maybe this example is close to your life – maybe it is far. The bottom-line is that any learning solution we create must consider the work environment in which the learners realize they have a need for learning and need to apply the learning. It is in this environment that truly all learning should happen, which in most cases is the actual workplace or workflow.
As Gary Wise says, we need to understand and appreciate the learner's context in terms of time, space, and media. In his article titled 'The Continuous Learning Environment: Surviving Learning Solution Discovery', Gary says:
"There are three categories of attributes within the learning environment:
· Space– a blend of physical location, workflow, risk, and urgency
· Media– the most compelling mix of mode and venue
· Systems– the most effective and efficient application of technology
All the attributes that fall under space, media, and systems combine to drive or restrain design decisions. It is essential to define these attributes to ensure the learning solution delivers on one global objective, which is to enable a sustained capability."
In the same light, it is important to realize that our learning needs are not big chunks of knowledge and information. Perhaps, we need access to knowledge and background information in large amounts but we need the 'learning' in small chunks. Therefore, the design of learning should also be small, modular and bit-sized so that it can be provided in a format that allows us to give it just-in-time and just-enough.
2) Design continuous learning solutions not individual training programs.
All work is continuous, so should be all learning. Whether we realize it or not, we are learning all the time. A continuous learning solution, therefore explores various dimensions of the learner's environment including formal, informal, and social learning contexts. We need to stop thinking that formal classroom training is the solution to all performance problems. We need to realize that we learn and retain our daily troubleshooting scenarios far more than any theoretical lectures that we attend in a classroom. We also need to realize that we are learn much more from being involved and active and by making mistakes and solving problems.
Therefore, when designing learning, we must move away from our tendency to think unidirectional and shy away from proposing only one form of training. We must explore other interventions such as coaching, mentoring, and blended learning. These solutions can be a blend of classroom, online, mobile learning, social learning and performance support tools. The idea is to explore and design learning interventions by exploiting various dimensions of the learner's environment.
3) Focus training efforts and budgets into the 'informal learning' piece of the pie.
Josh Bersin of Bersin & Associates from a July 2009 webinar, 'Future of the Business of Learning' explained that we have approximately 2080 work hours in a year. From this, we spend about 100 hours in some type of formal learning activity or training. This is approximately 5% of the total available work hours. We spend the remaining 95% of our time doing actual work and in informal learning activities. However, all training budgets continue to focus on the 5% slice of the pie. It is time to therefore consciously focus on this informal learning piece of the pie and design learning solutions by capitalizing on this environment.
Retaining theories after a 3-day classroom training is much tougher than recalling the best possible solution that was applied within a challenging work situation. When we go out to 'attend' a training event, we are unable to retain more than 10-20% of what we learnt after 30 days. However, if we learn and apply something within the work situation, we are more likely to recall the learning at a future date. Our learning solutions should therefore remove the barriers between formal and informal and let all interventions permeate and become an integral part of our daily work life and workflow. It is time to realize that work = learning and learning = work. Without learning, there is no work and without work, there is no learning.


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What: The Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra and Boulder Chorale present the Brahms "German Requiem" with soloists Angela Brown and Patrick Mason
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23
Where: Macky Auditorium, University of Colorado campus
Tickets: $13-$70
Info: 303-449-1343 (ext. 2) or boulderphil.org
Etc.: Angela Brown will sing a free solo recital at noon Tuesday, Feb. 19, at the Boulder Public Library Canyon Theatre, 1001 Arapahoe Ave. ... At 6:30 p.m. Saturday, David Rutherford, Colorado Public Radio classical music host, will lead a pre-concert discussion that includes interviews with Michael Butterman and Angela Brown. It's free for ticket-holders
(Note: The "If you go" portion of this story was updated on Monday, Feb. 18, to correct the date of Angela Brown's free recital to Tuesday, Feb. 19)
The Boulder Philharmonic concert Saturday represents an unusually rich collaborative effort on several levels.
It brings in the most prominent local community choir -- not to just come in for an effective conclusion, as in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony or Mahler's Second but to sing one of the most challenging and monumental choral masterpieces of the 19th century. It brings in a soprano soloist with star power. And, through the inclusion of beloved baritone and faculty member Patrick Mason, it even incorporates the University of Colorado.
Music director Michael Butterman discussed the concert, the bulk of which is devoted to the "German Requiem" by Brahms, a 75-minute work that has nothing to do with the Latin liturgy, but is a setting of scripture from the German Luther Bible. The words and music reflect on the meaning of life itself, not only for those who leave it but for those they leave behind.
"It's one of those works that stands as an all-time pinnacle of artistic achievement," Butterman said. But, he noted, it is not long enough to sustain a program on its own. "It needs a piece that is short but not trivial."
He turned to a longtime acquaintance, star soprano Angela Brown, who now sings at the Metropolitan Opera and for whom distinguished American composer Richard Danielpour wrote an orchestral song cycle in 2009. That cycle, "A Woman's Life," will precede the Brahms. Brown also sings the solo soprano part in the Requiem's lovely fifth movement.
Brown recalls that the cycle emerged after she premiered in the lead role of Stella in Danielpour's opera "Margaret Garner," which has a libretto by Toni Morrison.
"Richard and I built a rapport, and I believed in him. I jokingly suggested that he write a song cycle for me and that Maya Angelou should write the lyrics," said Brown, who considers Angelou a mother figure.
The idea became serious, and while visiting with Angelou, Danielpour asked her to pen some words. The renowned poet assembled seven pre-existing poems into the cycle set by the composer. The songs deal with the experience of life's journey from childhood to old age, from the perspective of an African-American woman. Brown premiered the work in Pittsburgh and has performed it with several prominent orchestras.
Butterman calls the cycle a very worthy piece and an appropriate complement to the Brahms work.
"Comfort is the essence of both pieces," he said.
Brahms wrote the Requiem after the death of his mother, which provides another connection. And both works are in seven sections.
Butterman knows Brown from a time when both were students at Indiana University. There, he conducted a production of Leonard Bernstein's "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" in which Brown sang the lead role.
"I think everyone already knew she would be a star at that point," Butterman said. "She was an arresting figure on stage."
Brown said that she has not seen Butterman since college and that it will be a wonderful reunion.
Of the Brahms Requiem, Butterman said the orchestral writing is an extension of the vocal writing, with active, interesting inner lines and counterpoint inspired by Bach and Handel. The first movement is notably scored without violins but with violas and cellos carrying the string lines. CU's Mason will join Brown onstage to sing the baritone solos in the third and sixth movements.
The Boulder Chorale, under new music director Dr. James Kim, will sing the daunting work.
Kim, a Fort Collins native who also founded the Colorado Bach Ensemble, has had a baptism by fire since taking the reins of the group.
After ambitious fall and winter concerts, the chorale has been working overtime to learn the Brahms, Kim said.
"It's a special piece, but it makes enormous, exhausting demands on the choir," he said. "There's hardly a moment when the choir doesn't sing.
"The tessitura, or primary vocal range, is often quite high, especially for the tenors, who have asked me if they really did sing that high for Brahms."
The director said he is proud of the ensemble's efforts, especially the singers' ability to pace themselves through the grueling rehearsal process.
"It sets the bar for our great, ambitious plans for the future," Kim said.


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Here's a cute little clothespin critter you can make with your toddler (older children could easily make these themselves). I made an alligator. For this project, you'll need:
- wooden clothespin
- green paint
- 2 small googly eyes
- pencil
- green construction paper
- white paper
- scissors
- glue
Paint the clothespin green and let it dry, opening it periodically so the clothespin doesn't permanently stick together.
Glue googly eyes to the top of the clothespin.
Fold the green construction paper approximately the width of your clothespin (mine was about 0.7cm). The "body" of my alligator needed to be approximately 6cm long, and I left room for a tail.
Draw spikes above the crease in your paper, and a tail under the crease.
Cut out and glue onto the top of the clothespin, behind the eyes. Don't glue the tail.
The spikes will be on the body, the tail will hang off the end.
Draw teeth on white construction paper, using your clothespin as a guide for width.
Glue the base of the teeth to the end of the clothespin, letting the tips hang down.
Let glue dry. You're done!
I got this idea when C and I were playing with a basket of clothespins yesterday and I was making some clothespins "nibble" her sleeve. Let me know if you make any different kinds of clothespin critters; I'd love to see them!


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CookieCo needed a new print or packaging design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 100 designs submitted by 22 freelance designers.
Cookie Composites manufactures headgear for extreme sports including Skydiving and Base jumping. Our products are popular internationally.
Skydivers and Equipment resellers worldwide.
Cookie requires a logo (Cookie Cube) that will be used in advertising as well as embroidered onto our protective helmet carry case, the Cookie Cube. Please take a look at the attached photos as well as this link to the product on our website
The logo will replace the current Cookie logo embroidered onto the bag so must have the Cookie logo worked in somehow. Please also keep in mind this logo will be embroidered. Take a look at our website for our look and feel but feel free to explore design and color options.


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Monday Reflection: Living in the Right Now
By Rae Lewis-Thornton
October 29, 2012
This piece originally appeared in Rae's blog, Diva Living With AIDS.
I absolutely hate when I don't have something chipper to say. I feel like telling myself "Bitch get over it," or "Here we go again, damn is your life just drama?"
If I feel that way, I know others must feel that way. I know I've lost people in my life because HIV/AIDS is the illness that keeps on giving what I don't want, keeps on intruding, keeps on changing my life. For sure there's never a dull moment living with HIV/AIDS.
I know people say; How can she be sick? I just saw her, she looks great, or she was just tweeting and Facebooking her ass off. Like how can she be struggling "that" much?
Sometimes I feel like I'm between a rock and a hard place trying to balance it all. On one level, I don't want to make people think you can't live with this disease. I don't want to discourage those who haven't had HIV as long as I have. Looking at my honesty about my health, one could say, "If this is what I have to look forward to then who needs it." Yep, my honesty could have a negative effect on what they need to do to survive.
Nor do I want people to think living with HIV is a one-pill wonder. For sure, this is a hard disease to live with both physically and emotionally, but LIVE is the key word.
Most importantly for me, I've learned there ain't no glory in suffering in silence. I did that for years trying to meet people's approval. But I'm over it. I've decided that I don't want to be a second best anybody! I want to be the best me for me.
No point in pretending! No point in lying or giving half truths so people can like you. If people can't handle the authentic you, then you don't need them in your life.
By the same token, if the authentic you is too much for some people, they have that right to not have you in their life. And each of you has to respect the choices people make for their own life and well-being.
When you are living with a chronic illness you have to accept the days as they come. You also have to accept people as they come and by the same token as they go.
Not having any biological family has made this a hard journey for me. Depending on friends has proven difficult. I can count on less than one hand those who have stuck it out; the good, the bad and the ugly. For sure I had more people in my life when I was on TV every other day and the speaking engagements were rolling in.
This need to fill the void has gotten me into trouble. It's made me overlook danger when it was staring me in the face. By the way, NEVER ignore that inner voice that says this doesn't feel right.
So here I am, trying to do the best that I can with what's before me. Trying to keep my head above water and an ounce of my dignity intact, all at the same time.
Part of my secret to longevity, other than God's got a plan, is living in the right now. By the way, God can have a plan for your life and your free will can jack it all up. #ForReal #ForReal
So I try to stay connected to God's plan for my life. I do what I must to stay alive. I take my medication. I accept the changes and the hits as they come and I do it with just plain old common sense and healthy survival skills. It may mean some days I have to be flexible and kind to myself.
Last week was an emotional bitch. I had this overwhelming darkness that just consumed me and I did what I needed to do to survive. I put all of my energy into designing my Fall/Winter 2012 RLT Collection. Beading takes me to another place and the experts believe that using your hands is helpful during depression. I became single focused so I didn't get swept up by the darkness. I know I didn't blog, but I had to switch up last week so I could be better this week.
It seemed to be working and then on Friday night I felt a physical exhaustion that I first assumed was from a full day, but by Saturday morning I was faced with a reality. HIV/AIDS is doing something to my body. The first thoughts are always, what is it? Is it something major or minor and how long will it last?
The fatigue is all consuming and the nerve pain is everywhere, from my face to my feet. The worst is feeling like someone is sticking pins in my eyes. I spent the last two days literally in bed. I'm praying it's not what I think it is, some weird illness I get every few years that knocks me down.
When it happens, they think herpes is attacking my nervous system to the extreme. I'm hopeful, but not in denial. Maybe this is passing and won't be as totally debilitating. The fatigue is definitely better today. But the pins-and-needles feeling all over my body is not letting up. Maybe in few days or so and I will be back to my normal, sooner than later.
But just the fact that I'm always trying to outthink AIDS is exhausting. For sure, managing this disease is no cat walk. And you must remember, I've been living with HIV for 29 years and AIDS for 20. Yeah, yeah, I know I'm alive and I know I keep it moving more than most and that I don't look or seem sick most of the time. Let me pause and say, don't let the miracle of my ability to keep moving keep you in denial about the struggle of my life.
My body has lived through some serious trauma. At one point I was sick enough that I should have died. There has been serious damage done that cannot be repaired. Not just from the HIV, but from the years of HIV medication. Yes the medications have helped to keep me here longer, but they cannot undo what's been done and they have done some damage on their own.
AIDS is a walking, living, breathing dichotomy. At one level we know the list of opportunist infections that one can get and we know how to prevent most of them, but it's just as unpredictable.
I never know what the next day will be. Shoot I've gone to bed feeling normal and have woken to a temperature of 103 and diagnosed with PCP, AIDS-related pneumonia. The medicine I was taking to prevent PCP didn't work for me.
I've woken up in the middle of the night unable to breathe in a hotel room. Found an HIV doctor, had an X-ray, told that my lungs were normal, come back home, get off the plane and be hospitalized yep, for PCP yet again.
I've been on the road. Gone to bed in a hotel room feeling normal and woken up and couldn't walk, and by afternoon I had herpes zoster sores from the top of my butt to the bottom of my feet.
I've gone to my therapist's office and after the session got in the car and had to take a nap before I could drive home. Then hospitalized for a week to determine that they couldn't determine what was wrong with me. That's when the nerve pain really began. I remember my doctor said to me, "Well we have determined that it's not going to kill you, we just don't know how to make it better, only time will tell." At that point I could barely hold my body up and the fatigue was debilitating and -- don't be confused -- this was all with an undetectable viral load, which hypothetically means you shouldn't have any AIDS-related illness.
Yep, HIV/AIDS is a walking, breathing, living dichotomy. I tell people in my life, just because I was OK last night, don't assume I'm OK today. You better check for yourself. And never assume that it's just me having a bad day, if I change my routine, something is wrong. That's why I try not to go to bed mad, because tomorrow I may be too sick to apologize or make it right. Use my life as a lesson for understanding the people in your life with HIV and their daily struggle.
Living with a compromised immune system for as long as I have is both a miracle and a mystery. I never know what's next. But I know if I live in the right now and not in denial, I'm using my free will in the best of ways, to continue God's plan in my life. Now don't be confused, God don't need help per se, but God gave us this free will for a reason. Sometimes we knock God's plan straight to hell in a handbasket with how we use our free will. Then God's gotta work hard to reel you back in.
My BFF Luke said it best in a documentary on me. I never have a normal day. I don't have "normal" days like everyone else. My normal is abnormal and some days the abnormal is abnormal.
But I press my way because the alternative is death. Don't be confused, I do have advanced AIDS. If I should stop taking my HIV medication I will die a horrible death. Don't be confused, if I surrender to the darkness, it will kill me quicker than the disease. For me, surrendering and living in denial and secret are two different things with the same outcome: death.
No matter what you are facing, you must live in the right now. Living in the right now will get you to your better tomorrows. It does not matter the dilemma you are facing; You must be willing to deal with it today to create space for a better tomorrow.
While I feel a certain kind of way about my honesty, I know it's the thing that has kept me alive. There's no way I can live with the weight of HIV/AIDS and the weight of what you think of me because I dare to share the weight of this disease.
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Rae Lewis-Thornton Speaks
Rae Lewis-Thornton
Rae Lewis-Thornton is an Emmy Award-winning AIDS activist who rose to national acclaim when she told her story of living with AIDS in a cover story for Essence Magazine. She has lived with HIV for 27 years and AIDS for 19. Rae travels the country speaking and challenging stereotypes and myths about HIV/AIDS. She has a Master of Divinity degree and is currently working on her Ph.D. in Church History. Rae has been featured on Nightline, Dateline NBC, BET and The Oprah Winfrey Show, as well as in countless magazines and newspapers, including Emerge, Glamour, O, the Oprah Winfrey Magazine, Jet, Ebony, the Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune, to name a few. She earned the coveted Emmy Award for a first-person series on living With AIDS for Chicago's CBS News.
Rae is an active user of social media -- read "Long-Term HIV Survivor Discovers the Power of Twitter," an article on TheBody.com about Rae's social media activities.
Visit Rae's Web site, Diva Living With AIDS
Learn about RLT Collection, Rae's line of AIDS awareness/fashion bracelets
Speaking engagements: Inquire about booking Rae to speak at your organization or event!
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Recent Posts:
November 17, 2015 - Charlie Sheen: And This Is What I Think!! A Blog Entry by Rae Lewis-Thornton
June 3, 2015 - Living With Intent: A Blog Entry by Rae Lewis-Thornton
May 25, 2015 - The Problem With Pride and Shame: A Blog Entry by Rae Lewis-Thornton
May 22, 2015 - Reflecting on 53! A Blog Entry by Rae Lewis-Thornton
November 7, 2014 - One Day at a Time: A Blog Entry by Rae Lewis-Thornton
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