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April 2. The latest Archdruid post, Riddles in the Dark, puts together a lot of important insights:
1) Certain nations feed off the labor and resources of the rest of the world. 2) The citizens of these nations need to be paid off or distracted, or they will violently revolt. The Romans called this "bread and circuses". 3) One of the big ways we are paid off is through extremely high wages. I would add, we mistake these for low wages because the Beast immediately steals this money back from us through rent and interest, so we need extremely high wages to not be homeless. Instead of pitying Africans who live on a dollar a day, we should ask, "What if our society was set up so that we could live on a dollar a day, and still make $15 an hour?"
4) Because our wages are so high, human labor is the limiting factor in the size and growth of businesses and other money-based systems. So economists view efficiency and productivity in terms of how much stuff is done per unit of human labor. This leads to insanity like industrial agriculture, which wastes massive amounts of energy and physical resources, destroys topsoil, and produces unhealthful food, but allows one farmer to work hundreds of acres.
5) But economists haven't thought it through. When agriculture and manufacturing become more "efficient", what happens to the people who lose their jobs? If they are cut off from the benefits of the Empire, they turn against it politically. I would add that in Europe, unemployed people just go on the dole, but in America, with our puritan work ethic, they have to be given other jobs. These jobs are mostly meaningless and degrading busywork in finance, insurance, real estate, and high tech. Greer is arguing that a system made of human labor is better in terms of physical resources, but I would say it's also better in terms of human nature. The more directly our work is related to our own survival and pleasure, the more we feel like life has meaning and the system is fair.
April 6. I love this rant about vampires: fictional vampires have now been watered down to where they're exactly like humans except sexy and strong and immortal, and yet they mope and whine about it.
Why is this story so popular? Maybe vampires are a metaphor for Americans sucking the blood from the rest of the world, and still not being happy. But unlike vampires, we have good reasons to be depressed. Almost everything we have gained is shallow -- sweet food, flashy colors, comfortable temperatures, dizzying speed -- while what we have lost is deep: a minute-to-minute life in which our actions arise from the aliveness inside us, and the sense that we're equal participants in a story that we believe in.
Or maybe we're seeing the future: If biotech survives the ongoing collapse, which seems likely, then we may see cures for aging, and for most fatal diseases, in this century. I see only two ways to make this work: if everybody gets immortality technology, suicide will have to be the most common cause of death; but if too many people actually enjoy living thousands of years, the technology will have to be restricted to a small elite.
April 8. Three good collapse posts. In The Twilight of the Machine, John Michael Greer explains in detail why we're going to have to shift from machine labor to human labor, and concludes that we need to focus on learning skills and building simple tools.
In The Simplification of Complex Societies, John Robb suggests that we may be able to avoid a painful drop in complexity by shifting from one complex system to another, through resilient communities, which will grow at the edges of the old system.
Finally, in Refactoring Civilization, Adam Feuer gives a bunch of examples of innovations to smoothly reduce complexity.
I'm thinking about the highly complex technologies that I use most frequently: computer, operating system, internet, automobile. All four of these are getting rapidly more complex, and if any of them are going to survive an overall drop in complexity, someone needs to make a new model that is less complex, and easier to manufacture and maintain, than the old model. No one is doing this. A few years ago I switched from Windows to the simpler Puppy Linux, but Linux is still being forced to become more complex to keep up with the increasing complexity of computers and the internet.
I think computers and the internet are going down. And I won't change my mind until I see new computers and new ways of connecting them that are simpler and more resilient than the ones we have now. I think cars are going down, and I won't change my mind until I see a new car with wheels and suspension designed for potholed roads, that any competent mechanic can fix in a garage with locally made parts.
These innovations are possible in theory, but I don't expect them. I expect cars and computers to become less and less reliable, and slowly withdraw to the wealthiest areas -- just like the government. And think of all the other things that depend on cars and trucks and computers. As I wrote yesterday, our physical infrastructure is so complex that it's not realistic for every part of every system to be manufactured locally. A region that can neither make a component, nor have it shipped in, will eventually lose everything that depends on that component.
I'm optimistic -- I think we will innovate our way through this, but these innovations will be growing through the cracks of the old system, rather than trying to fix it.
April 12. I've been thinking more about Anne's provocatively pessimistic statement (in this post) that without any tech crash, just a financial crash will have us all standing in line for coal mining jobs. If we ask why, we open a deep hole that leads to the enclosure movement, massacres of Indians, and every repressive system in history.
For any system to control you, it must stand between your work and your food. I know there are other needs like shelter and water and warmth, but in most regions, food is the big one. In a forager hunter tribe, or a family of subsistence farmers, your work directly creates your food. You might be poor, but you're free. In industrial civilization, you probably have a job that has nothing to do with producing food, where if you challenge your superiors, you'll be fired, and no longer receive the tokens that are required for food and shelter. You might be surrounded by dazzling technology and comfort, but you are owned.
Now, if this system collapses, you're free but you're hungry; your need for food, and your ability to work, are like two poles of a battery. If you can't connect them yourself, you need something to connect them for you, a social machine that can use your work and give you food. This could be a nice community farm, a crime gang, or a new complex domination system that's worse than the old one.
I'd like to imagine a new complex system that is much better. We can tell wonderful stories about a gift economy information utopia, but at some point we have to ask: where does the food come from? Is it grown by slaves? Suppose it's grown by free people -- and I don't mean free in the watered-down American sense, but economically free, where they could easily not work for anyone but themselves, but they choose to grow extra food because they get something in exchange. What do they get? Lots of money? Which they then use to hire farm workers who are not economically free? And then, when the people who do the actual work want to own the means of production, they have a revolution? We've been through that, and I fear we're going to keep going through it again and again.
I can see only one way to have a non-repressive society of any size. Every person has to have the ability, whether or not they use it, to connect their work (or the work of their close friends and family) directly to their food (and also shelter). And on top of that foundation, if we want universities and airplanes and computers, those functions are bought by autonomous food producers with surplus food.
I touched on this a few years ago in a post on Malthus: "How can we have a dense population center that does not grow all its own food, but does not deplete the land that its food comes from? The answer is simple: the people in the city must not own the land, or otherwise control it." An unsustainable city owns the farmers around it, and a sustainable city is owned by the farmers around it. So the question is not, "What do we give the farmers to make them feed us?" It's, "What non-food jobs do we farmers want to create?"
April 20. The Expansion of Ignorance. Kevin Kelly finds exponential increases in "information", measured by web pages, and "knowledge", measured by patent applications and scientific articles. But then he points out that answers create new questions, so what we don't know (or more precisely, what we know we don't know) is increasing exponentially faster than what we know. Terence McKenna said it best: "The bigger you build the bonfire, the more darkness is revealed."
But there's a deeper question that Kelly doesn't ask. What exactly is information? The most charitable answer is that information is the expansion of our consciousness into the fabric of reality itself. The least charitable answer is that information is lies: stories that our detached rational brain tells itself to make sense of experience.
This is basically what Dmitry Orlov argues in The Great Unreasoning: that when we map our systems of thought onto reality, we always crash and burn; and this is not because our systems of thought have not yet been perfected, but because "the exercise of our ability to think can reach the point of diminishing, then negative, returns." And "the human propensity for abstract reasoning is a defect of breeding that leads to collective insanity."
I touched on some of these issues in The Age of Batshit Crazy Machines. The information explosion claims to be taking us outward, but it's mostly taking us inward. This is the same point that Jerry Mander made in In The Absence of the Sacred: that our technological progress is not evolution but inbreeding. Most of the bits flowing around the internet are games or porn. Most of our technology is being used to cut us off from the world around us, rather than help us face it.
How much of this is built into the technologies themselves, and how much is in how we decide to use them? If we do choose to turn our attention outward, what is the best way to do so? Clearly we can use rational thought to see the limits of rational thought, but how do we go beyond those limits?
April 21-22. Disaster Utopianism, a review of the book A Paradise Built in Hell. Contrary to popular myth, crowds are rational, people remain calm in disasters, and big disruptions are big opportunities for both repression and autonomy. Anne comments:
I was in Haiti with the relief effort. I agree wholeheartedly with the review of Solnit's book. It's a truism that in a disaster you have to work harder to keep well-meaning but unskilled people from hurting themselves trying to help, than you ever have to work to keep the survivors from hurting each other trying to steal or rape. We had a saying that went around the rescue workers, usually said to newbies on their first encounter with a corpse:
"The three myths of a disaster are that the dead bodies will kill you, the survivors will kill you, and the men with guns are there to help."
A second observation is that there are always gangsters, and the crimes they were putting together in Haiti were much better organized than the "looting" and "rioting" you saw on the news. Plenty of kingpins and would-be warlords used the earthquake to arrange dubious contracts, ensnare debtors, attract followers and jockey for position in what remained of the political infrastructure.
April 29. Last week I mentioned that we don't have a good definition of the word "information". Then I found out that physicist Vlatko Vedral has made a mathematical definition of information, which has to do with the unlikeliness of the event. So, is this definition the same thing that techno-utopians are talking about, with their information explosion? I don't know! A European reader, Yiedyie, looked at Vedral's book and sent me a bunch of deep thoughts, from which I extracted a few insights.
First, in the philosophical sense, I am not a materialist but an idealist. I think mind is the fundamental reality, and matter is something that mind creates, for reasons we can only guess. Another way to think of it is that reality itself is like a dream, but when many perspectives share a dream, they need a set of rules, and these rules appear to us as matter and energy.
This explains a lot of phenomena that defy materialism, and it erases the "hard problem of consciousness". But it raises new questions, like: if a tree falls in the forest and there's no one there, does it even make sense to talk about it? Or: when astronauts first saw the far side of the moon, was the landscape just then created, and if so, by whom?
These questions force us to accept that the conscious human mind is only a tiny, tiny fraction of the mind or minds creating the physical world. To put it another way: if you are a solipsist, and you think the entire universe is your dream, then you must have a massive subconscious mind to generate and manage it all.
This leads to one of Yiedyie's thoughts. Quoting Gregory Bateson: "No organism can afford to be conscious of matters with which it could deal at unconscious levels." So the high tech information explosion is not creating new information, but is bringing information from subconscious levels, where we were dealing with it just fine, to the conscious level, where it overwhelms the feeble processing power of our rational minds, and leaves us distracted and confused.
Next, getting deeper: what is entropy? Here's an article on the new theory that gravity emerges from information and entropy. It's only a small step from the idea that information is the root of reality, to the idea that mind is the root of reality. And this provides an easy answer to a hard question: if the whole universe is winding down, how did it get wound up in the first place? I once read a speculation that the Big Bang was a massive spike of negative entropy in the quantum whatever. Put this in metaphysical terms, and a system is wound up in the first place by a pure act of will, when mind chooses to condense itself into matter and energy.
But here's the kicker: that means entropy is matter turning back into mind. This reminds me of my 2007 post on entropy, with this amazing comment from Joel:
I heard a fun lecture by Freeman Dyson a few years ago, in which he refuted the notion of a "heat death" of the universe due to the spread of entropy. As the last stars cool down and space warms up, there will be less energy available, but in his calculations this would never slow down the pace of adaptation enough to cause a universal extinction, even as the whole system approaches equilibrium.
I really like the second law from an aesthetic point of view, because of my view of entropy. A good professor of mine said he was annoyed by people who thought of entropy as disorder; a better word for it is fluidity, or maybe unpredictability. To me, the second law says that a system will continue to become more amenable to change, have more variety, and be less easy to predict, if left to its own devices.
May 4. Wind turbines without gears are lighter, cheaper, more reliable. This is because they're simpler, with half as many moving parts, and permanent magnets instead of electromagnets in the generators. Engineers love to make this kind of innovation, and it's exactly what we need to smooth the ongoing collapse. If energy producers know how to simplify while preserving function, it's a good sign that the energy crash will not be catastrophic. But...
When was the last time you saw this kind of innovation in a consumer product? Can you imagine the next generation Ford F-series or Toyota Camry being smaller and cheaper with only half as many parts? The first Apple II could be taken apart without tools, and came with a schematic of the entire circuitry. What would it take for Apple to go back to that?
The deeper issue here is that consumers are powerless. Or, humans have fallen into a powerless role that we call being a "consumer". Here's a related article from a few weeks ago, The Lost Tribes of Radio Shack. We have forgotten how to produce or create anything, except as part of a giant machine that eats the Earth to generate garbage and control. In this economic context, any business that empowers us erodes its own profit base. Apple built a great reputation by giving us participation in power, but its stock didn't take off until it took away our power and gave us toys.
But this economic context is not normal. I remember a saying from the late 90's tech bubble, and nothing so stupid has ever been mistaken for wisdom: "What doesn't grow, dies." It's true that what doesn't adapt dies, but getting bigger is a bad way to adapt, because it makes future adaptations more and more difficult.
So, today's big companies that make consumer products will mostly die out with the consumption paradigm, and the adaptations will be made by small new systems. What will those adaptations be? In the next age, the goal of a business will not be to enable investors to increase their money by doing nothing, but to enable customers to improve their lives by doing autonomous work. There are already businesses selling shovels and canning jars and tractor clutches. But if advanced technologies can be taken apart by users, the next step is to make the parts and let users put them together in different ways. Here's a related John Robb post, Modular Tools for Resilient Communities. And the next step is to just make the instructions for making the parts, and the next step after that is to give the instructions away free.
May 17. Brian comments on the seduction community:
For better and worse, the Seduction Community has changed my life. I never realized that people were so irrational, that they responded to the silliest manipulations, and that sexual attraction was based on such crazy irrational things. It's crazy to think that there are people whose lives revolve around figuring out ways to get laid as many times as possible by as many attractive women as possible. It's really disheartening me and has changed the way I view humans, for the worse.
It's also made me much more protective of my significant other. I never realized why I was trapped in the "friend zone" with everyone, and reading things from the Seduction Community revolutionized my approach, and has made me much more attractive to women in general. But... when I thought my girlfriend loved me because I was awesome, fun, wanted to change the world, I was never worried about losing her. When I think that she is attracted to me because I'm cocky/funny, and initiated attraction a certain way, now I'm worried that any guy can do that. Especially when reading pick-up artist blogs about how these guys get happily married women to sleep with them, within one day of meeting them. It's really fucked up. It's hard for me to ever think I can fully love/trust someone again.
This is similar to how rich guys never know if women really love them, or just love their money. And there is a simple and difficult solution: Don't use the techniques. It will make it harder for you to find someone, but when you do, you will know that she likes you for something you have and other guys don't.
But this answer is too simple, because when you look through the advice that pickup artists give, some of it is psychopathic and some of it is insightful and benign. Here's an example that two readers sent: The Sixteen Commandments Of Poon. In the third commandment, he tells you not to make a woman the center of your existence, but then immediately says that "women want to subordinate themselves". Yes, this is a culture that can't even imagine a relationship where one person is not controlling the other. The sixteenth is great advice: "Never be afraid to lose her." But in this context, the seventh is telling: Keep another woman as a backup, because otherwise your main woman can threaten to leave you, which "will rend your soul if you are faced with contemplating the empty abyss alone."
These guys don't have it. And not having it is both the cause and the effect of faking it. Consider number eleven: "Be irrationally self-confident." Why not build up a basis for rational confidence? Motivational gurus who talk about "confidence" are exploiting a bug in the English language, which uses the same word for two different things. One is cockiness, and the other might be called mastery: having skills and being aware of them. Cockiness can be bootstrapped, but skills must be learned through struggling and failure. Cockiness is a tempting road, and it can take you a long way, but eventually you have to go back to the beginning and start over. The "empty abyss" is the place where you should have built something real to stand on.
I follow the straight and patient road of not-seduction. Here's a little list of rules:
1. Be Transparent. Show what you're feeling; say what you're thinking. Offer and accept communications at face value. Do this from the beginning, and the bad relationships will run from you like shadows from the light. Now, this doesn't mean you can't use non-verbal techniques to make people feel better -- but here is the test: If you were to explain everything you are doing and why, would the other person feel exploited, or honored?
2. Become Skilled at Being Single. Learn to make good food, pay your bills, motivate yourself, stay sane, and get sexual release, by yourself and with help from friends. Then why do you even need a partner? Exactly. But you might still appreciate a partner, which is a stronger position.
3. Embrace the Friend Zone. Having friends is a good thing. The suffering of the "friend zone" is an illusion created by desire. Let go of desire and the prison becomes paradise -- or the false friendship is exposed. Of course, you might still fantasize about another kind of relationship. The key is that you are not holding tension between where you are and where you are not.
4. Broaden Your Standards. Typically, guys who complain that women are attracted to assholes, are themselves attracted to asshole women. (Actually, this explains a lot about pickup artist culture.) Remember that nice person who you rejected for not being sexy enough? That's karma: you must follow the rules you make. At the same time, nobody wants to be settled for. Practice valuing qualities that are valuable.
5. Be Like Water. Do not push anything, but move instantly to fill any opening. This will not generate nearly as much sex as aggressive seduction, but it will make it better, by filtering out sex for the sake of proving something, and leaving only sex based on strong mutual attraction.
6. Sex Is Not the Goal. There is no goal. There is only the process: be who you are, and engage with what you encounter on that road.
One reason I live like this, is that the more I influence someone on a subconscious and senseless level, the more I despise them, and I don't want to spend my life among people I despise. If I'm applying for a job, and I hear that wearing a certain kind of pants will make them more likely to hire me, I have a strong urge to wear exactly the wrong pants to wake them the fuck up.
But it also occurs to me that this is a luxury. If your kids are starving, you're going to wear the hypnotic pants. We live on a planet of zombie monkeys, and we have to choose our battles, and compromise between meeting our needs and making the world better.
May 19. Just finished reading a new sci-fi novel, The Windup Girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi. That link goes to a nice review by Cory Doctorow. The story has the good kind of plot twist, where a character makes a crazy move that seems to surprise even the author. Also it has impressive moral complexity, leaving you totally on your own to decide what's wrong or right. And best of all, this is the first fiction I've seen about the medium-distant future that sees it the same way I do: Oil-based civilization will collapse, but large complex systems will survive and regrow using a different resource base; and biotech will be much more important than computers.
I have only one complaint. Why does so much "quality" science fiction take place in a cutthroat world where everyone is trying to fuck everyone else? Why are so many characters either hyperselfish or agonizing over their own inadequacy? I have a theory: this is the personality that develops in humans who are allied to powerful technology. Because the technology does the hard stuff for them, they never develop inner strength, or learn to cooperate with other people. And sci-fi authors are noticing this trend and exaggerating it.
Compare this with fantasy. In dumb fantasy, characters are intrinsically good or evil, and this determines whether they use magic for good or evil purposes. In smart fantasy, evil characters become evil because of magic, and they are opposed by good characters using inner strength, cooperation, and the power of nature. And when you think about the meaning of "the power of nature", biotech becomes extremely interesting...
May 28. I've been thinking more about language. Last week someone asked me if the reason I don't like to get drunk is that I like to stay in "control". Among modern liberals, "control" is a dirty word; we're supposed to not control others or control ourselves, but let everything be free. But again, we're confused by a language that uses one word to point to different things. One of them I would call domination. But consider a pitcher who controls the ball, or a pilot who controls an airplane. This is what you might call precision. The reason I don't like to be drunk, is not that I want to dominate myself, or even that I want to follow logic and not emotion. It's that I want to maintain agility and precision in my thoughts and feelings and actions. (For the same reason, I don't like to be stoned in social situations, although it's nice if I'm alone and staring at the ceiling.)
Another kind of self-control is usually called "self-discipline", but in some circles "discipline" means flogging. What we're really talking about is more like self-awareness. If you're aware that you've had too much to drink, or that your anger is turning people against you, or that a toy you want to buy will use up your food money, you don't have to restrain yourself at all -- you just have to derive your actions from that awareness. What we call "self-discipline" is the radical notion that your future self is you, or it's the habit of being your big self and not your little self.
This is related to another tricky word: "lazy". I'm extremely lazy in the sense that I want to do as little work as possible. I only feel fully alive when there's nothing I'm supposed to be doing, and ideally I would do nothing but slack off and play for the next ten thousand years. But part of minimizing work is to invest work now in slack later, or to do little jobs before they become big jobs, or to do tasks as soon as they come up, to avoid the strain of having them hanging over me.
Why do some people have trouble with this? You've probably heard of the experiment where kids could get one marshmallow now or two marshmallows later, and the ability to hold out for the marshmallows later was strongly correlated with their future success. Is this genetic? Environmental? I'm guessing that it's epigenetic, and related to nutrition and stress. If your recent ancestors were malnourished, then you will be "soft-wired" to always grab the marshmallow now, because your body doesn't believe that there will be two marshmallows later. Or if they were stressed, you will grab the hour of idleness now because you don't believe there will be two hours of idleness later. And that's how poverty perpetuates itself across generations.


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Halfway through this recipe, I was tempted to throw the cookbook across my kitchen.
It's not poor Alice Medrich's fault; the recipe was more delicious than expected and the instructions were mostly straightforward.
But the layout of Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts leaves a lot to be desired. Instructions for recipes are on the backs of the pages, causing constant flipping. And, in the case of this Milk Chocolate Pudding Pie, the recipe on the following page was extremely similar, making things very confusing.
No fewer than three times I forgot I had turned the page, looked at the wrong ingredient list and swore out loud, thinking I had screwed up. I even chopped up a different type of chocolate, wondering how on earth it was called a milk chocolate pudding pie when it called for semi-sweet. (Which, yes, probably should have tipped me off that I was on the incorrect page.)
In the end, all the right bits and pieces made it into the pie and the thick, rich, chocolatey pudding atop a salty peanut crust — topped with a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream — was almost enough to make me forget my annoyances.
But considering almost every recipe required two pages, I don't understand why they are back-to-back instead of on facing pages.
Loved the pie, but could have easily gone without the confusion.
Lucky for you all, the version below requires no page turning.
Cookbook highlights:
Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts by Alice Medrich (Artisan, $29.95)
- Chapters divided into main ingredients, such as "Starting with fruit"
- Lots of basic and favourite recipes, plus ideas for spur-of-the-moment desserts
- Gorgeous photos, but very few of them.
Milk Chocolate Pudding Pie with Salted Peanut Crust
For the crust:
1/4 cup (50 mL) salted roasted peanuts (See Cook's Notes)
2 tbsp (25 mL) sugar
3/4 cup (175 mL) graham cracker crumbs (See Cook's Notes)
4 tbsp (60 mL) unsalted butter, melted
3 oz (90 g) milk chocolate, finely chopped
For the filling:
3 tbsp (50 mL) sugar
3 tbsp (50 mL) unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tbsp + 2 tsp (35 mL) corn starch
1/8 tsp (0.5 mL) salt
2 cups (500 mL) whole milk
7 oz (200 g) milk chocolate, very finely chopped
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) whipping cream (See Cook's Notes)
3/4 tsp (3 mL) vanilla
a couple of tablespoons of salted roasted peanuts
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
To make the crust, mix the peanuts, sugar, graham cracker crumbs and butter in a medium bowl until the mixture is evenly moistened. Spread the mixture in a pie plate and use the bottom of a glass or custard cup to press it evenly and firmly over the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate.
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the crust begins to set and colours slightly. If the crust puffs up while baking, press it gently back into place with the back of a fork or the custard cup.
Remove the crust from the oven, sprinkle the chocolate over the bottom and let the chocolate soften for 1 to 2 minutes. Using a pastry brush or the back of a spoon, spread the chocolate evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the crust. Let cool, then chill the crust until the chocolate sets, about 30 minutes.
To make the filling, whisk the sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt together in a heavy medium saucepan. Add about 3 tbsp (50 mL) of the milk and whisk to form a smooth paste. Whisk in the remaining milk.
Using a silicone spatula or a wooden spoon, stir the mixture constantly over medium heat, scraping the bottom, sides and corners of the pan, until the pudding thickens and begins to bubble at the edges, about 5 minutes. (Note: it was about double that for me.) Continue to cook and stir for 1 minute, then add the chocolate and stir briskly until the chocolate is melted and the pudding is smooth, about 30 seconds longer.
Scrape the hot pudding into the crust and level it with one or two strokes of the spatula. Let cool for 1 hour, then refrigerate the pie. When the filling is cool, cover and chill for at least several hours or overnight.
For the topping, beat the whipping cream and vanilla until it holds a soft shape.
Top the pie with dollops or a swirl of whipped cream, and sprinkle with the peanuts.
Serves 8 to 10.
Cook's Notes: finely grind the peanuts in a food processor or by crushing them in a bag with a rolling pin. I used 12 graham crackers to make up the 2/3 cup (175 mL) required for the recipe.
I used about half of the whipped cream to top the pie and thought that was plenty.
Cooking the books is a bimonthly feature reviewing and sharing a recipe from the cookbooks that cross our desks.

subset: commoncrawl


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Spanish Version | "The Hillbilly Shakespeare"
Episode 11 | 1h 54m 53s
Spanish Version - Episode 3 | Las estrellas del country de EE. UU. luego de la guerra, incluido Hank Williams, cuyas canciones están inspiradas en su corta y trágica vida.
Aired: 09/17/19
Expires: 05/31/20Video has closed captioning.
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Funding for Country Music was provided by Bank of America, the Annenberg Foundation, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Belmont University, Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Rosalind P. Walter and by members of 'The Better Angels Society,' including: The Blavatnik Family Foundation, the Schwartz/Reisman Foundation, the Pfeil Foundation, Diane and Hal Brierley, John and Catherine Debs, the Fullerton Family Charitable Fund, the Perry and Donna Golkin Family Foundation, Jay Alix and Una Jackman, Mercedes T. Bass, Fred and Donna Seigel, Gilchrist and Amy Berg, James R. Berdell Foundation, David Bonderman, Deborah P. and Jonathan T. Dawson, Senator Bill and Tracy Frist, Susan and David Kreisman, Rocco and Debby Landesman, Lillian Lovelace, John and Leslie McQuown, Mindy's Hope Foundation, the Segal Family Foundation, Michelle Smith. Major funding was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS.


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Move into your first office, find a new one with room to grow, or develop a complete location strategy.
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Implement tools, processes, and strategies that improve the value and performance of your real estate.
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These six office perks are here to stay
Are parking lots the answer to the housing shortage?
JLL named Offices Adviser of the Year at 2019 EG Property Awards
JLL commits to making net zero carbon mainstream and to operating at net zero carbon by 2030 in the UK
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With a Friend Like Harry
Item #: CE3263
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|"Harry, A Friend Who Wishes You Well", "Harry, He's Here to Help", "Harry, un Ami Qui Vous Veut du Bien"
|Twisted, surprisingly funny black comedy about a sociopath. Michel (Lucas), wife Claire (Seigner), and their three young daughters have embarked on the vacation from hell as they head to their summer home. At a rest stop, Michel happens to meet Harry (Lopez), a high school acquaintance who remembers Michel very well. Before they know it, Claire and Michel are sharing their farmhouse with Harry and his sexy girlfriend, the aptly named Plum (Guillemin). Harry's a very, very generous (if off-kilter) guy--in fact, he'll do anything to make Michel's life better, even kill. French with subtitles.
|Directed by:
|Dominik Moll
|Michel Saint-Jean, Diaphana Films, Miramax Films.
|Sergei Lopez, Laurent Lucas, Mathilde Seigner, Sophie Guillemin


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Pakistani weekly The Friday Times has an interesting debate on Taliban and Pashtuns in their edition for this week–Jan 27-Feb 02. I contributed a piece. Below is a slightly different version of the article.
The dominant discourse in mainstream Pakistani media on issues of foreign policy and national security has always been based on the narrative of the military establishment. Most Pakistani analysts, both right-wing and liberal, believe the Taliban is a nationalist movement motivated by Pashtun alienation in current power structure in Afghanistan. Be it the 'experts' of primetime TV talk shows or op-ed pages of Urdu and English newspapers, one always comes across that mantra.
This narrative is a product of the Pakistani military establishment's 'strategic depth' policy, and was propagated internationally by former military dictator Pervez Musharraf. Addressing the European Union parliament in September 2006, he said the Taliban represent Pashtuns and they could spark a 'national war' in Afghanistan. Domestically, opinion makers say that the Afghan Taliban are representatives of the Pashtun.
They say the Afghan Taliban have grassroots support in the south and southeast, and the movement is a reaction to the lack of Pashtun representation. But they also say the Afghan Taliban are a genuine resistance force fighting an ideological war against foreign invasion. The two views do not coincide.
They would never say Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan represents Pashtuns of FATA, or that the insurgency is a nationalist movement motivated by the grievances of the tribes. They call TTP a terrorist organization. And this is where the contradictory notion of good Taliban and bad Taliban comes into play. The Afghan Taliban are a resistance force representing Pashtuns, while their ideological brothers TTP, who also claim allegiance to Mullah Omar, are terrorists.
Ironically, those who claim that the Afghan Taliban are a Pashtun nationalist movement are not Pashtuns, such as Hamid Mir and Orya Maqbool Jan of Urdu media, or Ejaz Haider and Najam Sethi among the liberal voices. Pashtun intellectuals and journalists from conservatives like Rahimullah Yousafzai and Saleem Safi to liberals like Farhat Taj and even some Pashtuns who have been part of the military establishment such as Asad Munir, former head of ISI and MI in FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, deny that.
The folklore of Taliban nostalgia prevailing in mainstream Pakistani media that Mullah Omar had brought peace to Afghanistan is also not shared by the Afghans. The Taliban killed thousands of people until there were no rivals and no one to resist their brutality, and there was rejoice in Kabul after their government was toppled in 2001.
Afghans do not see the Taliban as a nationalist movement based on the Pashtunwali code, but influenced by Deobandi madrassas in Pakistan. They are not even a unified group. Not even all Afghan Taliban call themselves Pashtun nationalists. Although they are predominately Pashtun, many among them are from other ethnic groups, particularly in Northern Afghanistan. Local insurgent groups have multiple motivations. Some join the resistance against the perceived foreign invaders, while others fight for local purposes, such as clan rivalries and personal interests. Then there are those who fight for money.
Working on a research project in Northern Afghanistan in August last year, I met some insurgents who were not ethnic Pashtuns, but Turkmens. They told me they were paid $500 to $600 a month by a Taliban commander in Mazar-e-Sharif. That is more than what some of my colleagues were being paid by an NGO. Some of the Taliban men are opportunists who benefit from the narcotics industry and seek Taliban's shelter.
"Unlike the late 70s and 80s when Afghanistan experienced a national resistance movement against the Soviet occupation, the Taliban's claim for Jihad against Americans does not resonate with a majority of Pashtuns," according to Afghan political activist and former chief of staff at Foreign Ministry Wahid Munawar.
The central leadership of all major insurgent factions is based in Pakistan, be it the Quetta Shura of Kandahari Taliban, the Haqqani Network in Waziristan, or the Hizb-e-Islami of Hekmatyar. The commanding cadres of the movement have gone to madrassas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Southern Punjab or Karachi. Balochistan and the tribal areas are recruiting centers for Afghan Taliban. While traveling on the two borders, I regularly meet Taliban who are on their way to Quetta for rest, after a month or two of fighting in Helmand or Uruzgan. Majority of the suicide bombers in Afghanistan are traced to the tribal areas or Balochistan. What cultural or political grievances can they have about the Pahstuns of Afghanistan? The Taliban have destroyed the very foundations of centuries old Pashtun customs such as respect for tribal elders and the Jirga system.
"Taliban draw their support mostly from a tiny minority of Pashtun partly based on ideological grounds," says Rafi Fazil, an Afghan student and activist. "There is also an element of fear – given the vacuum created by the absence of government in Taliban controlled areas – that plays a key role. Not every Pashtun who sympathises with the Taliban actually subscribes to their violent ideology. Those who do, and are prepared to take part in violence, constitute a tiny minority."
Though Afghan Taliban brand themselves as a nationalist movement fighting for 'independence' and withdrawal of foreign troops, they are not supported by majority of Pashtuns, let alone other ethnic groups in Afghanistan. If there are free elections, the Pashtuns of Afghanistan would reject the Taliban, like Pakistani Pashtuns vote for the liberal Awami National Party.
President Hamid Karzai received a large number of votes from the Pashtun south and southeast. The nationalist Afghan Mellat is a popular party among urban Pashtuns. There is no truth to the statement that Pashtuns lack representation in the current power structure in Afghanistan. In fact, non-Pashtun ethnic politicians complain of the opposite – that Pashtuns hold most key ministries in President Karzai's administration.


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Articles written by Kathy A Smith
Sorted by date Results 1 - 8 of 8
Seattle's Fishermen's Terminal – Celebrating 100 years
On January 10, 1914, the Port of Seattle commissioned Fishermen's Terminal as its first operating asset. Since then, the prominent West Coast commercial fishing facility has been providing, and... Full story
Getting Your Boat Ready for the Season
From the engine room to the hull paint, proper maintenance extends the life of the vessel and on-board equipment throughout the season and beyond. No one knows this better than the West Coast repair... Full story
Clothing and Gear
Wearing the right gear to keep you warm and dry is non-negotiable, and if you're at the helm, making sure you're sitting in the right chair for your body is also important. "Proper layering is... Full story
Nav/Com: What's New in Bridge Electronics
Suppliers of marine electronics, communication services and navigation software continue to advance technologies that make fishing more productive and efficient while keeping the end-user experience as easy as possible. Furuno introduced the GP1670F... Full story
Safety Training & Equipment
Something no fisherman ever wants to hear is "man overboard." Nor does he ever want to find himself in the water fighting for survival after a fall off the boat deck. From 2000 to 2011, 182 US... Full story
Washington Fishing Ports: Keeping Pace with Today's Commercial Fishermen
Westport Marina, located in the Port of Grays Harbor, Washington boasts the state's largest fish landing port. The marina is currently home to 285 annual boaters, two-thirds of which are the... Full story
Get Your Boat Ready for the Season
Planning is the key to timely and efficient drydocking, according to Al Turner, Sr. Project Manager at Alaska Ship & Drydock, one of Vigor Industrial's seven shipyards. The two most important... Full story
New Gear for Crew Comfort
It goes without saying that safety, warmth, staying dry and personal comfort are necessities that commercial fishermen must have on the job, no matter the task or the season. And the companies that ma... Full story


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Wellness (alternative medicine)
From ArticleWorld
Wellness, as defined by conventional medicine, is no different from "health" or the absence of disease. In alternative medical circles, however, wellness involves not only health and the absence of disease, but represents what is best defined as "optimal health". Those participating in wellness programs are practicing a form of self-improvement involving all areas of their life and well-being.
Wellness programs are not "New Age" nor are they particularly new. The concept was developed in the 19th century and programs were practiced by the wealthy who endeavored to become as healthy as possible. Participation in a wellness program was considered to be a symbol of status. After diminishing in popularity in the first half of the 20th century, the concept of wellness and wellness programs was made popular again in the 1970s by a number of best-selling authors.
Balancing health and life
According to those who participate in wellness programs, achieving wellness means to balance all areas of an individual's health and life. The focus is on eating only organic foods, living in a toxin-free environment, balancing all aspects of work, home and family along with developing a connection with one's spiritual self.
Originally, wellness programs were faith-based and many of these still exist. While all previously discussed areas of focus are important, the primary goal of faith-based wellness programs is the development of deeper spirituality. Both Christian, nondenominational and "New Age"-based wellness programs exist.
Wellness programs
Secular wellness programs have been of particular interest to the aging population where there is a general shift toward thoughts of one's health. Corporations, too, use wellness programs to help strengthen the health, morale and productivity of their employees.
While most people are satisfied with being healthy, those who strive for "optimal health" or wellness have a wide variety of programs and ideations to choose from.


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Walt's Wharf is an award winning seafood restaurant located in the seaside town of Seal Beach, California. We specialize in the freshest seafood, prepared over an open oak fire. We are proud to offer an extensive wine list featuring selections from the top California wineries to complement your meal. Be sure to try one of our "world famous" oak grilled artichokes and our one of a kind caramelized salmon with orange shoyu glaze. If you love fresh seafood, a visit to Walt's Wharf is a must! We look forward to seeing you at Walt's Wharf, the local favorite for fresh fish and seafood in Seal Beach.
Every Sunday 11:00am-3:30pm Chef's Special Menu and Speciality Cocktails


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As you drive along the Seven Mile Bridge on U.S. 1 heading south toward Key West, you'll notice a small island off to the right around Mile Marker 45. The old Overseas Highway, parts of which are still in use for one purpose or another, runs right down to it. Like much of the scenery in that part of Florida, the place looks like it belongs on a postcard. And, well, it is on a number of postcards. None of them, however, mention the shadier episodes in the island's past.
Pigeon Key was a critical center of activity during the construction of Henry Flagler's Oversea Railroad linking Key West with the Florida mainland. The island served as a camp for hundreds of workers, and was converted to a maintenance base once the railway was completed in 1912.
The railway was a boon to the Florida Keys, of course, but not long after the road was completed, automobile enthusiasts began clamoring for the freedom to make their own way to Key West in their new machines. In 1933, the State Legislature created the Overseas Road and Toll Bridge District and authorized it to construct a toll road connecting Lower Matecumbe Key and Big Pine Key. This would complete the automobile route from Key West to the Florida mainland. The new commission studied several possibilities for building the route, but the option they selected came about completely by accident.
On September 2, 1935, the infamous Category 5 Labor Day Hurricane struck the Florida Keys, causing widespread destruction. Portions of the Florida East Coast Railway were destroyed, and the railway company ended up choosing to abandon its tracks across the Florida Keys rather than rebuild. The Overseas Road and Toll Bridge District saw an opportunity. Using a $3.6 million loan from the Public Works Administration, the commission purchased the tracks between Big Pine and Lower Matecumbe keys and refitted them with concrete decking and side rails. The newly completed highway opened on July 4, 1938.
Once the road was built, the idea was that the Overseas Road and Toll Bridge District would repay the federal loan using tolls collected for travelers using the new bridges. That's where Pigeon Key comes in. The District established a headquarters building and maintenance base on the small island, with a small access road connecting it with the highway. Much of the business relating to maintenance, toll collection, and other matters was handled here.
As you might imagine, a gig working for the toll district in this island paradise was a nice assignment. Over time, however, some began to suspect it was a little too nice. In March 1954, the Miami Daily News began publishing a series of stories outlining activities at Pigeon Key that were raising a few eyebrows. The general manager of the toll authority, for example, was in the process of building a new real estate development north of Marathon, including a two-story home with a yacht basin for himself. This seemed awfully opulent for a man making $550 a month. The general manager refused the Miami Daily News reporters access to the District's files at Pigeon Key, so they conducted research in the public financial records archived at Tallahassee.
What they found suggested something was deeply wrong about how the District's funds were being spent. Expenses for the island headquarters included rabbit, squab, steaks selling at $1.77 a pound (in 1954, remember), bar supplies, and a variety of other expensive food items. The general manager also had at his disposal a cabin cruiser, a state-paid housekeeper and maid, and a $60,000 swimming pool. There was also evidence that state-owned property was being sold to persons connected with members of the District, and that District officials had tampered with the legal bidding process for contracts. Auditors later determined there were contracts let for work that was never completed, or for which the state was overcharged. Thousands of dollars' worth of building supplies were unaccounted for. On the recommendation of the State Road Board chairman, Cecil Webb, Acting Governor Charley Johns launched an investigation, and charges were brought against several of the persons connected with the corruption at Pigeon Key. Johns liquidated the Overseas Road and Toll Bridge District later in 1954, and all of its assets were transferred to the State Road Board.
The story has a happy ending, fortunately. In 1964, the University of Miami Marine Laboratory leased the island from the state and began using it as a base for scientific investigations. Today, the island is operated as a historical site and marine science learning center by the Pigeon Key Foundation, a non-profit organization. The Overseas Highway has long since been rebuilt, and now passes south of the island rather than directly over it. The old span, however, still connects the island to the new Seven Mile Bridge and U.S. 1. The old bridge is only open to foot traffic, however. Most visitors reach the island by ferry.
For more photos of the Florida Keys, search the Florida Photographic Collection!
Tags: Cecil Webb, Charley Johns, Florida Keys, Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, Oversea Railway, Overseas Road and Toll Bridge District, Pigeon Key, Road Construction, State Road Board


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Journal Article
"Alterations of Functional Brain Connectivity After Long-Duration Spaceflight as Revealed by fMRI.", Front Physiol, vol. 10, pp. 761, 2019.
"Brain Tissue–Volume Changes in Cosmonauts", New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 379, issue 17, pp. 1678 - 1680, 2018.
"Brain ventricular volume changes induced by long-duration spaceflight", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116, issue 21, pp. 10531-10536, 2019.


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BACKGROUND IMAGE: iSTOCK/GETTY IMAGES
- FeatureReal disaster recovery testing
- FeatureVTL vendors target SMBs
- FeatureBackup apps: More choices beyond the big three
- FeatureCut data down to size
- FeatureSurvey Says: Users make wish list of VTL features
- FeatureFlash storage settles in high-performance niche
- FeatureStorage apps start down 64-bit path
- FeatureMicrosoft paves the way for 10 gig storage apps
- FeatureThe best way to expand a SAN
- FeatureWhat's holding up ILM?
- FeatureSnapshot: Do you charge back for storage?
- FeatureWhat is Information lifecycle security management?
- FeatureThe storage show season is gearing up with lots of interesting vendor news
- FeatureThe big switch
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Backup apps: More choices beyond the big three
With numerous applications and a variety of hardware and software platforms, a single enterprise backup software product may not suffice for many companies. A bevy of backup applications that aren't as well-known as "the big three" may be better architected to handle new requirements.
Newer and not-so-familiar backup products may offer some functional and operational advantages over the big three backup programs.
Free at last. As backup software breaks away from its historically tight integration with tape, less well-known backup products are addressing new priorities, such as closer application integration, backing up directly to disk and encryption. In doing so, they may be a better fit than the big three enterprise backup programs: EMC Corp.'s NetWorker, IBM Corp.'s Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) and Symantec Corp.'s Veritas NetBackup (see "Big three apps adjust to disk-based backup," Storage, April 2006).
Atempo Inc.'s Time Navigator, for example, includes support for heterogeneous SAN and NAS environments, encryption and hierarchical key management. On the small- to medium-sized business (SMB) side, Symantec's Backup Exec 10d can manage disk-based backups by first staging them on disk for a defined period of time before moving the data to tape.
Complement or replace?
The role of backup software is changing. As organizations consolidate, expand or introduce new applications, there's a growing need to support numerous applications and sites running various underlying hardware and software platforms. As a result, a single enterprise backup software product may not satisfy every application requirement. This is forcing some organizations to reconsider and re-evaluate the role and scope that other backup software products should play in their shop (see "How SMB and enterprise products differ," at right).
|How SMB and enterprise products differ
As backup software products evolve, the differences between those targeted at enterprises and small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) start to blur. Adding to the confusion, vendors like BakBone Software Inc. and CommVault Inc. offer SMB versions of their enterprise products, while others like Computer Associates International Inc. have merged SMB and enterprise products into one product line. Here's how to distinguish between the two classes of products.
Sophisticated management options. Enterprise products will include more powerful ways to manage backup jobs, such as by department or site, and allow policies to be applied to those groups with different administrators getting various levels of control. SMB products generally display all servers on one panel and allow administrators to set policies on only one server at a time, with only one administrator role for all of the servers managed by the backup product.
Tape library and vaulting. SMB products generally provide only basic tape library management functions.
Ease of management. SMB products are easier to manage because they manage less. Backup software vendors recognize that the individuals who manage backup in small shops are usually IT generalists who don't need all of the advanced management functions required by enterprise users.
Platform support. Enterprise products offer a wider array of operating system, database, e-mail and application platform support than SMB products, which generally support only Windows and Linux operating systems and limit integration to Microsoft Corp. products like Exchange, SharePoint and SQL Server.
Expanded product suites. Enterprise backup software products are usually part of a suite of integrated products. Users shouldn't expect third-party integration with SMB backup products.
For example, shops with Network Appliance (NetApp) Inc. filers may want to consider adding another backup product that complements their big three backup products. In instances where users are attempting to do snapshots of dense file systems--file systems that contain millions of small files--Syncsort Inc.'s Backup Express might better satisfy snapshot requirements than products from major enterprise backup software vendors.
Backup Express allows users to overcome the inability of NetApp's native SnapVault snapshot feature to quickly execute snapshots on dense file systems. Executing a native SnapVault snapshot on a dense file system can take 24 hours or longer to complete. Using Syncsort's Backup Express, which includes hooks into NetApp's OS APIs, allows users to complete the same snapshot in seconds.
Another instance where users may want to consider using a lesser-known backup product is remote-office support. Rik Un, a TSM administrator with a Houston-based oil and gas company, is often called on to fly to remote sites to help administrators set up the corporate TSM product. Though Un works with TSM on a daily basis and is a certified TSM administrator, he likes CommVault Inc.'s Galaxy because it takes less time to set up and is more intuitive to manage, even though it lacks some of TSM's features. "TSM's setup and management interface is horrific," says Un.
Shops that make the wholesale switch to another backup software product usually cite multiple reasons for the change. Becky Berg, a system administrator at Farm Credit Services of America in Omaha, NE, was tasked with backing up her company's 47 remote offices to the central office. The firm's existing product, Symantec's Backup Exec, didn't provide her with the ability to accomplish the task at that time. She looked at Symantec's Veritas NetBackup product but found it to be out of her price range.
Berg chose CommVault's Galaxy, which offered all of the features she required and, she says, cost quite a bit less than NetBackup. One feature she particularly likes is the round-robin media agent, which identifies the least-busy tape drive on the firm's Spectra Logic Corp. T10000 tape library and sends the backup job to that tape drive. Berg also plans to use CommVault's QiNetix DataMigrator software, which moves files according to age and last use from primary to secondary storage.
Some backup products geared to SMBs are being enhanced with enterprise-class product features. For example, Symantec made the following improvements to Backup Exec last year:
- Version 10d allows users to do Web-based file recovery.
- Administrators can manage all Backup Exec media servers from a central interface.
- A continuous data protection (CDP) option backs up a server at a remote site and, using a filter driver that runs continuously, sends all file changes to the central office on a schedule set up by the administrator to optimize WAN usage.
Enhanced data protection
Features like CDP, encryption, and disk-based backup and recovery are becoming more prevalent, but there are significant differences in how backup programs deliver these features. For example, products such as CommVault's Galaxy and Symantec's Backup Exec allow administrators to manage CDP within the backup software management interface. Hewlett-Packard (HP) Co.'s OpenView Storage Data Protector uses different interfaces and requires separate logins to manage its backup and CDP databases. Though products like OpenView Storage Data Protector and Atempo's Time Navigator store the CDP data in a different database than the backup data, both HP and Atempo plan to create an index that will allow them to use a federated approach to manage data in the two databases.
|Enterprise backup software challengers: Disk backup options
|Click here for a comprehensive list of the enterprise backup software challengers: Disk backup options (PDF).
Other backup software vendors offer CDP, but not in the truest sense of the word. For instance, Atempo has three versions of its CDP product: LiveBackup for PCs, LiveBackup Express and LiveServ for Microsoft Exchange. The first two support only desktops and laptops, while the Express version lacks disaster recovery and system rollback capabilities. Syncsort's Backup Express delivers a type of CDP functionality, although the company doesn't market it as CDP. With Backup Express, administrators may set up a schedule to quiesce applications and capture block-level changes to create a consistent and recoverable system image at various times throughout the day. While not true CDP, it allows users to create recoverable images more often than once a day.
Data encryption capabilities also vary widely. For instance, CA's BrightStor ARCserve Backup includes host-based encryption that allows administrators to specify which files they want to include or exclude from encrypting, as well as what level of encryption they wish to apply to files. However, there are several downsides to using host-based encryption: Turning on encryption requires a password to be set prior to initiating the backup and the password must be available when a restore is done. Second, using host-based encryption increases CPU overhead on the server during backup and recovery, which can affect backup performance. Users also need to verify what levels of encryption the backup software supports and which ones they use. Products such as EMC's Retrospect support an older encryption algorithm, DES-56, which, if used, can be hacked in 35 minutes or less by simply using all possible 56-bit key combinations. Syncsort Backup Express and Symantec Backup Exec plan to incorporate encryption into their products later this year.
Disk backup
As vendors integrate disk into the backup process and claim support for features like disk-to-disk-to-tape (D2D2T), users need to verify how vendors are implementing this functionality. One of the least desirable ways to implement D2D2T is when the backup software treats the disk as a target and dumps the data to disk. This requires the backup software to back up the dump file again from disk to tape, and two restores must be done: first from tape back to disk, and then from disk to the original location. It can also result in the backup software losing track of the dump files and the contents of the files.
|Backup software: Core features
|Click here for a comprehensive list of backup software: Core features (PDF).
EMC employs a variation of this approach to centrally manage backup files created by its SMB Retrospect product. Retrospect will back up data on remote-office servers and desktops to disk located in the remote office. Central data centers can then use EMC's enterprise NetWorker to gather the dump files created by Retrospect from the remote offices and store them centrally. However, multiple administrators may need to get involved to restore files because Retrospect may not know where the dump file resides if the remote office's disk copy has been deleted.
A better approach is to spool the data to disk before moving it to tape. Spooled files are temporarily stored in cache memory until moved to tape. The backup software tracks the files the entire time. (When the files are dumped, the backup software assumes the files will be stored on disk permanently; if they're moved, the backup software won't know where the files now reside.) Using disk as a staging area speeds up the backup, but may slow the recovery; if the backup software has already moved the data to tape, users need to recover the data from tape.
Vendors still employ disk caches to satisfy users who execute multiple backup jobs at the same time and send the data directly to a single tape drive, requiring the backup software to multiplex or interleave backup jobs to put all of the data on tape. While this speeds up the backup job and allows the job to complete within the backup window, it also makes recoveries slower since the data is fragmented; it may also cause backhitches, a stop and go of the tape drive, during the recovery.
Atempo's Time Navigator has the ability to defragment large data blocks. It first creates virtual buckets on disk where data from multiple backup jobs is sent. Data from each of the multiple running backup jobs is then separated by individual backup job and put on tape. This eliminates the need to interleave the data on the tape during the backup and improves recovery performance.
A third way vendors implement D2D2T is by first backing up to disk and then managing the creation, movement and retention periods of the backup on different types of media. Keeping a backup on disk for 30 days or 60 days satisfies most user recovery requirements, as most recovery requests will occur within that time period. It also permits the backup software to make a copy of the backup to tape for offsite disaster recovery needs, while allowing the backup software to manage and track the tape so it will know which tape to recall if a recovery is required at a later time. All current versions of enterprise backup software products implement this type of D2D2T, although some SMB products lack these advanced tape library integration and tape vaulting features.
However, one of the most popular ways users implement disk-based backups is by using virtual tape libraries (VTLs). While this approach normally requires the purchase of a separate hardware appliance that bundles the VTL software with it, a couple of backup software vendors offer packages that allow users to circumvent this requirement. Atempo's Time Navigator Virtual Library System (VLS) treats existing storage arrays as a VTL with virtual tapes and allows users to transparently move data between their VTL image and normal tape libraries. BakBone Software Inc. offers a Shared Virtual Tape Library option with its NetVault:Backup product that lets administrators create and share a virtual disk library with multiple NetVault servers to centralize all of the backups in a single VTL.
It behooves you to check out some of the smaller backup software vendors. As traditional ties to tape and tape libraries are broken, products offered by smaller backup vendors may be better architected to handle the new requirements. Obviously, many users are loyal to their familiar backup software and switching to another program may be too daunting a task. Those companies should explore the possibility of using another backup program in a complementary role with their primary backup software to take advantage of new features and possibly cut costs.
Dig Deeper on Data storage backup tools
What are continuous data protection software pros and cons?
How can a CDP system benefit my organization's backup plan?
CDP technology offers organizations a steady data protection method
The year in data backup and recovery technology and a look 2011By: W. Preston


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Being a member of the Xavier football program, losing does not come often. For this current crop of seniors, the illusion that every game is a win came crashing down on Oct. 13. After having not lost since the 2009 Class LL semifinals against Staples, the Falcons suffered a 40-20 loss to Daniel Hand.
It doesn't take Xavier senior quarterback Tim Boyle long to remember the last time he had lost a football game prior to October, which came in eighth grade.
He's not joking.
"I tied a game my freshman year against West Haven, 6-6, and I was devastated," Boyle said. "I like winning and I hate losing."
Being a member of the Xavier football program, losing does not come often. For this current crop of seniors, the illusion that every game is a win came crashing down on Oct. 13. After having not lost since the 2009 Class LL semifinals against Staples, the Falcons suffered a 40-20 loss to Daniel Hand.
"Losing helps you learn in a sense that you don't ever want to feel that emptiness and the regret that 'What if I did that; maybe the outcome would have been different,' " Boyle said. "You have to learn from your mistakes and not make them again, and that loss helped us in a way."
Two weeks later, Xavier almost saw a state playoff berth denied, had they not produced 29 fourth-quarter points to beat Hillhouse, 50-49.
Winning attitude
Normally, two games do not make a season. That's not the case in football, and certainly not the case for the Middletown-based Catholic program.
Despite the loss to Hand, and the narrow escape against Hillhouse, the Falcons are back in the Class LL championship game for a third consecutive year. They'll face upstart Norwich Free Academy at 7 p.m. today at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.
It's a game of which Xavier might be more appreciative. Everything was coming pretty easy to the Falcons through the first four games of the year. Coach Sean Marinan didn't like the feeling of contented complacency that he started to see fall over his club.
"It's tough for high school kids to relate to what I'm trying to explain to them when they don't have any experience," Marinan said, "because up to (the Hand game), they hadn't lost a game, at any level, in their career."
Xavier senior receiver and linebacker Kris Luster said the loss to the Tigers was an eye-opener.
"I think it said to us that this is a tougher season, and we're actually going to have to work to win," Luster said. "I think the young guys, especially, were thinking, 'We're Xavier and everybody's going to roll over for us.' It's not like that in football."
Luster said watching film the day after the Hand game was painful for the Falcons because of mistakes and the inability to capitalize on opportunities.
"It was nothing but pure disappointment," senior running back DeAngelo Berry said. "We played horrible in the first half, but we were still winning. Then we played probably our worst half of football in three years in the second half. Hand took it to us."
On Oct. 26, the Falcons were in the doghouse again. With about half their starting defense on the sidelines injured — against two of the best running backs in the state in Harold Cooper and Andre Anderson of Hillhouse — Xavier traveled to New Haven for a Friday afternoon game.
Down, 49-21, going into the fourth quarter, even Marinan was about ready to throw in the towel.
"I didn't think we were coming back, but I wanted to keep playing," Marinan said. "I wanted to close that gap."
Still, Marinan noted that Hillhouse had hit the wall. Fatigue began to set in and key players were cramping up.
By halfway through the period, the Falcons had cut it to a seven-point deficit after Boyle hit Joe Carbone with a 41-yard pass. With 51 seconds to play, Berry pulled the Falcons within a point on a one-yard dive and just moments later, gave them the one-point win with the two-point conversion.
"That final 10 minutes was indescribable. It was the most emotional that I had been after a game," Berry said. "That was where I think, and Coach probably would agree, that's where 2012 really started. It gave us our own chapter."
No longer living on the legacy of others, the Falcons finished off the season with wins of 42, 35 and 27 points over Shelton, West Haven and Middletown, and then downed Greenwich by 41 in the LL quarterfinals. Xavier won by a more pedestrian 17 points over Glastonbury in the semifinal.
"I tell the kids all the time, it's a lot harder to stay at the top then it is to get there," Marinan said. "Everybody's gunning for you every week. I don't care what the team's record is. They're going to play the best game of their season when they play us."


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The Syrian army ousted rebels from a massive Crusader fortress after fierce fighting, killing at least 93 of them as they fled to Lebanon, an army commander told reporters during a government-led tour of the area on Friday.
Reporters were shown signs of a precipitous flight from Crac des Chevaliers, or Fortress of the Knights, by opposition fighters, including food on a burning makeshift stove, as well as collapsed walls, staircases and other damage from the multiple rounds of fighting at the UNESCO World Heritage site since rebels first seized it about three years ago.
The Thursday fall of the imposing hilltop citadel is as much symbolic as strategic, being the latest in a string of government victories near the frontier with Lebanon, which is used by rebels as a conduit for recruits and supplies.
Reporters on the tour found most of the 11th-century fortress and its external walls intact, but saw extensive damage inside, in the lower courtyard where fires — apparently set by rebels entrenched inside the fortress — have ravaged ancient pillars, while some archways and vaults have collapsed.
Blocs of grey stone littered the ground, but it is unclear if the damage was caused during Thursday's capture or earlier bombardments.
"We acted in a way to preserve the Crac, to make sure it would not be damaged," a colonel who escorted the journalists said.
In July 2011 — four months after the war erupted — Sunni villagers from al-Hosn seized the fortress and were soon joined by allied rebels, including Lebanese fighters.
Islamist fighters also occupied the castle, including from al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate and from the Jund al-Sham group.
The Crac ranks as one of the best preserved examples of medieval fortresses from the times of the Crusaders, according to UNESCO.
Like other Crusader castles in the Middle East, it sits atop a hill that dominates the landscape as far as the eye can see.
Initially, Abbassid Muslims built the fortress on the hill in 1031, but the bulk of the existing fortress was built by the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, which was given the castle in 1142.
There were further fortifications built toward the end of the 13th century by the Mamluks, who seized it from the Crusaders.
The Crac was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 2006, one of six Syrian sites to get the label. Last year, UNESCO added all six of the sites to its World Heritage in Danger list, including the Old Cities of Damascus and Aleppo, Palmyra and the Qalat Salaheddin fortress.
The move reflected growing concern that serious damage was being inflicted on the sites, as the war rages on with no sign of stopping.
The colonel escorting the journalists said the army took the estimated 700 rebels living in the Crac by surprise on Thursday and seized the castle in a 12-hour operation.
He said his troops overran the castle in the early afternoon. They refused to grant about 300 rebels held up inside safe passage from the fortress and made the final push into it after seeing the rebels fleeing, the commander said.
At least 93 rebels were killed at that point, the commander said ,adding that several of his men had died in the battle.
The commander did not give the group of journalists his name in line with regulations.
The nearby village of al-Hosn was devastated in the fighting, with several houses leveled.


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SANTA CLARA — The 49ers and their partners said Saturday night's Levi's Stadium opening sporting event was intended to be a practice run, and they sure found plenty of room for improvement before the NFL action starts in two weeks.
By halftime of the San Jose Earthquakes soccer match, the barbecue concessions stands ran out of sauce, and other vendors had no hot dogs left. Some bathroom lines snaked dozens deep while some of the automatic toilets that were meant to save water flushed continuously. The heralded Wi-Fi system didn't let everyone log on.
But the most irritating issue was transportation. First, a relatively small but very frustrated group of travelers had big trouble getting to the game in Santa Clara, with a couple of lots turning away prepaid, reserved customers while one chaotic scene unfolded on a train that lost power.
However, a lot more attendees had a nightmarish trip home, waiting an hour to get out of their parking lot, while the longest postgame journeys were by mass transit, where it took some more than two hours to get back to their original station.
Still, it seemed that most of the 48,765 in attendance had a fun time and either encountered no problems or were willing to overlook them in the face of all the high-tech and comfort upgrades the shiny new $1.3 billion stadium offered. But with the stadium hyped as one of the best in the world — with the sky-high ticket prices to go with it — the team knows it needs to improve before the first Niners preseason game on Aug. 17, when the crowd will reach 70,000.
"Is this what's to be expected to come? Absolutely not," said Jim Mercurio, the 49ers vice president of stadium operations and security. "Every single event, we will have an opportunity to get better, and we will review every aspect of every operation."
Harrowing VTA
Perhaps the most furious complaints came from the 8,300 Valley Transportation Authority light rail riders to and from the stadium. Most raved about the pregame transit, where they arrived in a spread-out fashion with minimal waits. But the postgame crush was a different story, as it took up to 90 minutes for many just to get onto a train, VTA says, and then the rides took up to an hour.
Ruben Gonzalez, 61, of San Jose, had been waiting in line with his wife after the game for more than an hour when he took a call from his son, who drove to the game and said he was home in Santa Clara already and wanted to know if he should come back and get them. He wound up taking the train.
"Never again," Gonzalez said of VTA. "It was supposed to be traffic jam that kept people from getting home."
Others were so frustrated by the train lines they gave up: Chuck Konrad said he wound up taking an Uber back to Willow Glen in San Jose after walking a ways to a pick-up point. Another woman said she just walked a few miles to her car at a VTA lot — and got there before some riders.
The good news? VTA is set to finish building a "pocket track" that will store extra postgame trains by the time the 49ers first hit the field in two weeks, allowing for quicker postgame service.
"I hope they'll give us another chance," VTA spokeswoman Colleen Valles said Sunday. "We're definitely looking at different ways we can make this better for people. I know long waits can be tough."
Dirt cover
On the roadways, more than 85 percent of soccer patrons entered the gates before the opening whistle, and most said they had little trouble driving in. But one major pregame problem stemmed from a medical issue aboard a stopped vehicle near the yellow lots, to which traffic coming off Highway 237 was sent. Compounding problems, some vehicles designated to park at those yellow lots were turned away after a miscommunication with team officials in the control tower, and drivers were sent to park on a neighboring golf course that covered some cars in dirt.
"Who had taken my spot that I had prepaid?" asked San Jose's Irene Tarter, who said it took her an hour to complete a drive that normally takes 5 minutes.
But the homebound problems were much broader. While the freeways — Interstate 880 and Highways 101 and 237 — were smooth-sailing all night, many were stuck in traffic getting out of their lots, saying it took them around an hour just to get to the highway.
"It was the craziest thing I've ever seen. It was just chaos," said Christina Kolotouros of Woodside. "It's not going to work for a football game."
The extra 20,000 fans that will arrive for 49ers games could make the problems on the road significantly worse, but the Great America theme park next door was running a special discount day, with tens of thousands attendees that let out at the same time as the game. The amusement park will be mostly closed during the NFL season.
Elsewhere, the team is working on problems associated with scattered reports of poorly-stocked concessions, ill-informed stadium employees, spotty cell service, poor interior signage, covered beer taps and just about everything else that comes from a new business opening.
"All in all," Mercurio said, "it was a fairly good test."
Staff writers Bud Geracie, Katie Nelson, Daniel Brown and Elliott Almond contributed to this report. Contact Mike Rosenberg at 408-920-5705. Follow him at Twitter.com/RosenbergMerc.


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A Beautiful part solid panelled, part open balustraded timber Gate, styled by our Gate Designer Daniel Weir and crafted using the finest high grade joinery timber, and formed using fine joinery techniques, this stunning gate makes an elegant first impression of your property.
The Wingham's joinery configuration is pure traditional joinery method, using mortice & tenon joints, zero screws or bolts. Its horizontal cross rails flow end to end with no joints, running through its vertical frame rails via fully morticed joints.
The Wingham comes as standard with flush fitted with bespoke stainless steel ironmongery, for manual gate applications, or tailored to suit either sliding or swing gate automated options.
Wingham posts are furnished with the full weather tops to match the Biddenden vertical stiles, post sizes are determined by gate size and application type.
Every Wingham is built to order, making it possible for us to configure your new gate to the exact opening width you require, tailored to the nearest centimetre.
Material choices
Kiln Dried Oak (natural oiled finish)
Western Red Cedar (natural oiled finish)
Gate widths available
Vehicular openings 2.1m – 4.2m.
Pedestrian openings 0.9m, 1.2m, 1.5m,1.8m, 2.1m
Gate Height
1.8m (from base to top of stile)
Frame Thickness
45-65mm (subject to width)
Stainless Steel furniture, subject to Manual or Automated application.
Fully Installed Gate Systems
We can supply and install your new gate/s as either a Manual Gate system or an Automated Gate system, with either sliding or swing gate systems. Based upon the site characteristics and your requirements, our team will provide guidance and advice for your application, then recommend the most suitable system.
DIY Supply only Gate Systems
We can provide the Gate system in both Manual and Automated configurations, based upon the site characteristics and your requirements, our team will provide guidance and advice for your application, then recommend the most suitable system.
Have your gate engraved with your House Name or anything you require. Our bespoke engraving service can enable you to have your gate engraved within a suitable position on the gate frame or the posts, aligned in either horizontal or vertical format. Please ask a member of our team for more details.
All our gates can be supplied in various formats, either Fully Installed in either a Manual or Automated system, or as a Supply Only service for DIY or self installers. Our sales team are also on hand to provide you with a "Quick Initial Estimate/s" based on your outline requirements, we also provide a "Fixed Price Quotation/s" for all systems once you are satisfied with your estimated costs and all site dimensions/characteristics have been identified.
Our automated installations come with the following equipment fitted as standard.
2 Remote Control Keyfobs
Programmed uniquely to your gate system.
Working range approx 30m.
Giving you the ability to control your gates from you hand.
Underground Motor System
IP68 Fully waterproof to submerged level.
"Manual Release System" for power cuts.
2 Year Manufacturer Guarantee.
1 x Pair of Photocells (Closing phase)
The first of our standard safety features.
These create a beam across your entrance which stops the gates from closing whilst trafficking the opening.
Emergency Stop Button
Fitted as standard as an additional safety feature. Stops the gates immediately during any movement.
Normally fitted on the rear side of the gates.
The Control Box
Mounted on the Rear side of one of your gate posts/piers.
Fully Waterproof and secure.
Gate stop
Fitted as standard on all pairs of swing gates, your gates shut tight and secure onto a centre stop adding extra security.
This gate system is fully compatible with any of the following intercoms, fitted alongside your standard automation system.
Wireless Voice Intercom
Gate opening ability from the house. Operating range up to 70m.
No communication cabling required.
Installed Price from £749 inc Vat
Wireless Voice Intercom + PIN Entry Keypad
Gate opening ability from the house. Allows PIN code gate access.
Operating range up to 70m. Installed Price from £799 inc Vat
Colour Video Intercom
Provides video communication between gates & house monitor.
Gate opening ability from the house.
Installed Price from £899 inc Vat(subject to cabling)
Colour Video Intercom + PIN Entry Keypad
Provides video communication between gates & house monitor.
Gate opening ability from the house.
Installed Price from £949 inc Vat (subject to cabling)
GSM Intercom + PIN Entry Keypad
Gate communication & opening ability a mobile phone.
Allows PIN Code gate access.
Installed Price from £989 inc Vat
These additional safety options are all compatible with your standard automated system. Here at Oakleigh Manor, safety comes first, so we are happy to fit any additional safety devices if you feel there are people at risk.
Anti-Crush Safety Edges(Closing phase)
These sensors can be fitted at any potential crush points within your gate movement.
Installed Price from £449 inc Vat
1 x Pair of Photocells (Opening phase)
The first of our standard safety features. Fitted onto posts, these stop the gates from opening when the beam is blocked.
Installed Price from £349 inc Vat
Flashing Light
This illuminates for a few seconds before very gate movement, warning the users of a new gate movement.
Installed Price from £199 inc Vat
All our standard automation gate systems can be fitted with any of these additional options, tailoring your gates to suit you.
GSM Gate Opener
This option allows you to open your gates from a mobile phone, from anywhere in the world.
Installed Price from £439 inc Vat
Push Button Gate Opener
A Push Button can be fitted on any side of the gates to give users the ability to open the gates.
Installed Price from £149 inc Vat
Timer Control
Timers can be fitted to provide timed openings, or with Push Button Openers or Vehicle Loop Detectors.
Installed Price from £219 inc Vat
Key Switch Opener
This can be fitted either side of your gates to provide keyholders with gate opening control.
Installed Price from £199 inc Vat
Vehicle Loop Detector
This system is installed under the road/driveway surface, when auto open is required when you drive up to the gates in a vehicle.Installed Price from £869 inc Vat
Here at Oakleigh Manor, as well as our Gates & Automation team, we also install Driveway Lighting to enhance your entrance, new Driveways & Landscaping.


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For the Cockney Mafia
He's fat, He's broke, His best mate is a dwarf, Ashley, Ashley!
When the Mags, Go Marching In Chant
All geordies will be there. (Ed: Updated version)
Newcastle, Newcastle, Newcastle Chant
Great recording just added - makes a class ringtone for a Geordie!
Hark Now Hear the Geordies Sing Chant
Keep the faith.
Toon Black and White Army Chant
Great chant from the Geordies
Great new version!
Birds or fat blokes


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We want to provide your child the opportunity to improve their tennis game, work hard, make new friends, and have a lot of fun!
- This event has passed.
Event Navigation
Junior Red Ball Program at Tamiami Tennis Center
May 16, 2019 @ 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm EDT
|Recurring Event (See all)


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This request form is for suggesting purchases for the OSU Libraries (Valley, Guin, OSU Cascades). An item purchased could take six to eight weeks to arrive. Please check the OSU Libraries' catalog to see if a title is already on order or available electronically. If you need quick access to a title that we don't own and you're affiliated with OSU, please try our Interlibrary loan services.


text: Skip navigation Quick Search ?Sign onHomeCollectionsSearchPeoplegPowered byeMuseumFirstPreviousNextLast12..288289290291292..418419view lightboxview single itemview listSee also...Browse AllMadame Henri Andrei (Henriette de Bermingham, ca. 1834-ca. 1903)Henriette AndreiDate: ca. 1834 - ca. 1903Remarks: She was the daughter of Vicomte Henry de Bermingham and Louise (Marie) de Bermingham. She was married to Dr. Henri Andrei. She was the neice of Peter Marie.


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Yeah, duty sucks. Glad to hear you had a good experience. I'd hate to give a good review only to find I was pointing someone in the wrong direction.
Yeah, duty sucks. Glad to hear you had a good experience. I'd hate to give a good review only to find I was pointing someone in the wrong direction.
Doesn't the wheelchair get in the way?
c3/c4, injured 2007
Nope. Even with the chair there we still kick ass.
I'm Sam.
If you get the company to write on the package wheelchair supplies ect. You will not have to pay duty on it or gst. I found a Frontier X5 power chair fully loaded close to Detroit and had it shipped up to me and paid no gst or duty. I had phoned Canada border services and they said on medical you dont pay duty or gst. All my parts and such that I order from the states I make sure people write on the package what it is for. It has worked so far for me and I am not sure about PST as I live in Alberta and we dont believe in tax!
Good advice, Mooner, thanks! I'll be sure to do that from now on.
Ya that is why I try to order anything and everything from the States. The companies up here can kiss my ass, they rip us off royally. The secondhand X5 that I bought from the States cost me $9200 if I was to order the exact one from the store up here it would of cost me $30,000 as it has the lift, tilt, recline and leg lift. Most items are at least 50% cheaper from the States, the only thing is you cant buy Roho cushions as they are not aloud to ship across the border. But you can buy one have it shipped to your friend that lives in the States then have him ship it to you, that would save you about 57%! Anyway just get the company to write wheelchair supplies on the outside in big bold letters or medical supplies and you should be safe from Taxes and duty.
Even the vehicles are cheaper down there i have been thinking about getting a second hand modified van but i contacted one place i know well and they can sell me a fully loaded brand new Chrysler van for $20k with full warranty (excluding the conversion). That same van up here is $30k, same goes for electronics, books ect. Do i feel bad about not shopping Canadian and supporting our retailers, no not one little bit. Normally I would but when they are ripping us off on purpose in plain sight at 20 to 30% difference forget it.
Oh and be happy the Torrie's have majority here in Canada otherwise the GST would be put up to 15% and your income taxes at 60% to pay for all those NDP socialist promises.
Remember nothing is free in life it has to be paid for somehow, I am tired of people believing they are entitled to something. Even being a crippled gimp I don't take things for granted and expect a hand out, I work full time. Look at the countries, the odd Canadian Provinces, American States, Counties and Cities that have or are going to go bankrupt all because of entitlements that were not realistic and self sustaining. There I am done my rant......................
Last edited by Mooner99; 05-07-2011 at 02:14 PM.
I'm stealing NoDecafPlz's idea and wondering if we could make this "Good Online Dealer" a sticky. (NoDecaf started a thread today about a good deal he got on exam gloves [http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/showthr...ghlight=Deals] and suggested a "Good Deals" sticky).
Do not confuse silence with consent or fatigue for indifference.
I've been using them for years. Great company with courteous, knowledgeable staff.