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Thin client computing might seem like a relic of the past decade, eclipsed by a new wave of mobile devices. But Tom Flynn, chief technologist for thin computing at HP, begs to differ.
In this week's New Tech Forum, Flynn debunks five common myths about thin client computing today and touts the improved capabilities of modern thin client systems. If you haven't considered thin client computing recently, Flynn thinks it might be time for another look. -- Paul Venezia
5 misconceptions about thin clients
Contrary to popular belief, the thin client market is growing. With companies like HP selling more than 1 million thin client devices each year to hospitals, libraries, government agencies, and retail stores, you have to wonder why misconceptions linger about these devices.
Thin clients have been around for decades. In the past, the thin client itself had practically no computational power. Yet in recent years, thin clients have become fully functional terminals, nearly indistinguishable from a standard PC in terms of performance. And the growth of thin client solutions has exploded across companies with BYOD programs, enhanced security, and alternative computing options.
Although we're in an era of thin client innovation, concerns continue to surface regarding their reliability, power consumption, and ease-of-use. I still hear questions about their relevance for business. It's time to dispel the myths about their performance, total cost of ownership, and security once and for all.
1. Thin clients are the dinosaurs of client computing and suffer a slow adoption rate
Thin clients have evolved and adapted to the changing market landscape. According to IDC, more than 5 million thin client units are expected to ship in 2013.
Prior to the creation of VDI technology, thin clients were isolated to specific markets such as call centers and task workers. But over the past five years, VDI has accelerated the adoption of thin clients by changing the core problem: user experience. Based on the most advanced technology, thin client solutions can now access a device and server infrastructure that provides a seamless desktop experience. On the back end, storage vendors provide a dramatic increase in IOPS, while virtualization technologies from Microsoft, Citrix, and VMware provide the means to deliver the desktop to the client. These are enhanced protocols, including Microsoft RFX, Citrix HDX suite, and VMware PCoIP.
Creating all that power on the back end means you need a thin client that can decode the information. Many thin clients are sophisticated devices. Some have hardware encode and decode capabilities, such as H.264, so they don't rely entirely on the CPU. Furthermore, by working in conjunction with the remote protocols, thin clients are able to off-load much of the stress to a hardware-level decoder. Together, all those technologies deliver a modern desktop experience on the endpoint.
2. Mobile thin clients are impossible to secure
You can look at security in a few ways. First, there's no local data stored on a mobile thin client. For example, in an imaging protocol such as PCoIP or HDX 3D, pixels that change on the screen are transferred to the endpoint, but the actual data resides in the data center. All that is returned to the server are mouse and keyboard entries over a secure channel.
The secure channels are encrypted at either 128 or 256 bits. Furthermore, you can lock the endpoint image with a file or image-based write filter and lower the attack surface by simply closing all ports except the one you want to securely communicate with the server.
The other side of security is management. For example, HP arms its products with a complete device management tool called HP Device Manager, so agents can administer endpoints from anywhere on the network -- allowing simple updates for security patches or configuration changes.
3. Thin clients deliver a poor user experience
The days when thin clients were unable to deliver a rich user experience are over, especially on a modern network infrastructure. The modern protocols from Microsoft and Citrix provide multimedia redirection, so the user gets the best experience by locally rendering video content on the thin client while simultaneously reducing the load on the server.
Other approaches include hardware off-load to the server, shared graphic encoding (such as Nvidia Grid), or hardware-assisted protocol encoding (Teradici Apex Card). These approaches provide rich graphic detail without excessive consumption of server resources. The modern thin client can use off-load technology such as H.264 decoding for stunning multimedia clarity or hardware-based protocol decoding, as with the HP t310 Zero Client using Teradici Zero Client technology.
The modern thin client user today typically experiences no latency issues with graphics, streaming, or communications in a corporate office setting. However, modern workers are often mobile and expect to be able to access their environment anytime and anyplace -- which often includes accessing multiple networks that are not managed by their company. Packet loss and network latency can be an issue.
Software such as HP Velocity can address the both latency and packet loss. The point-to-point HP Velocity software analyzes the capacities of the network between the endpoint and provides the ideal protection scheme. When TCP/IP is the transport protocol, HP Velocity can provide up to a 700 percent performance improvement using dynamic buffer management. This is achieved by monitoring network conditions with a sensor and by dynamically selecting the optimal method from the suite of 10 provided by TCP.
4. Investment and maintenance is more expensive than with traditional PCs
The core benefit of thin clients is their ability to reduce total cost of ownership. The majority of the upfront cost is not the device itself, because thin clients are cheaper than traditional corporate PCs. With no moving parts such as hard disks or fans, thin clients generally have a lower failure rate, bringing the cost of maintenance and replacement down dramatically.
More to the point, thin clients do not host their applications, making management and patching updates easier. They are smaller, lighter, cheaper to ship, and easier to install, and they generate less packaging waste.
The principle cost borne by thin computing is the establishment of the data center infrastructure and the capital expense of servers, storage, networking, and virtualization software. While this is a significant cost, when considered with the lifecycle of the equipment, it's competitive with traditional PC upgrade cycle costs.
While evaluating total cost of ownership, you must keep in mind that the cost equation has changed in recent years. Businesses now allow end-users to bring tablets, phones, laptops, and other devices into the office -- and they are supporting these devices. It is no longer a comparison between thin clients with a VDI structure versus a standard desktop or laptop PC. We have seen a major shift in thin-client economics. Customers are now deciding to either rewrite their portfolio as Apple, Android, and/or HTML5 applications, or to provide their current Windows application portfolio to these devices through virtualization. Many customers are selecting the ROI made available from thin computing.
5. Thin clients are a huge power suck
The thin client device, screen, and networking can draw less than 13 watts of power. A child's nightlight draws more. Some models consume as little as 2.5 watts -- even in "awake" mode. Desktops typically have a 250-watt power supply with additional power requirements for a monitor.
Like any computing solution, there are pro and cons, but many of the knocks against thin clients are out of date or simply wrong. Thin clients are providing seamless desktop experiences, relieving IT security worries, and saving money in both power consumption and maintenance. Thin computing and thin client devices provide anytime, anywhere access to your computing environment and deliver a compelling user experience. Forget the myths -- and take a closer look at thin clients for your business.
New Tech Forum provides a means to explore and discuss emerging enterprise technology in unprecedented depth and breadth. The selection is subjective, based on our pick of the technologies we believe to be important and of greatest interest to InfoWorld readers. InfoWorld does not accept marketing collateral for publication and reserves the right to edit all contributed content. Send all enquiries to email@example.com.
This article, "Debunked! 5 myths of thin client computing," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. For the latest business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.


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Utah Governor Gary Herbert is lobbying the Obama administration for his state to become one of the six drone testing sites to be established next year by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
In a story published by the Deseret News, the Governor's Office of Economic Development is identified as playing a lead role in convincing the FAA to choose Utah from among the other sites in 37 states vying for this distinction.
While the exact location of the site is "under wraps," Herbert's office is promoting the idea by publicizing the economic benefits to the Beehive State.
The Deseret News reports that "if Utah gets a drone testing site, it could bring more than 1,000 new jobs to the state." The newspaper gleaned this data from a report published by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, a drone industry lobbying organization.
The report cited in the newspaper article also claims that "Utah could see about 245 news jobs, and by 2025 it could be 1,085."
Representing a consortium of about 7,000 drone manufacturers and operators, the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International issued a code of conduct last year to help assuage fears of potential deprivations of civil liberties in the expanding use of drones.
The press release issued by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International describes the code as "a set of guidelines to provide AUVSI members — and those who design, test and operate UAS [Unmanned Aircraft Systems] for public and civil use — with recommendations for their safe, non-intrusive operation."
"We understand as an industry that we've got a public relations problem," Paul McDuffee, a director of the association who helped write the code, told the Associated Press.
A public relations problem is a mild — and perhaps callous — way of describing the problem with the proliferation of drones. As readers are aware, the use of these drones has become a popular political issue among constitutionalists and other friends of liberty.
In what has become one of the most talked-about episodes in recent congressional history, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) stood and filibustered for 13 hours on the floor of the Senate, demanding that the president and Attorney General Eric Holder declare whether they believed they were authorized to use drones to kill Americans on American soil.
The author of the Deseret News article somehow overlooked this aspect of drone use, however, choosing to focus on the less controversial, more financially beneficial, aspects of the aircraft:
The military has long flown drones overseas to support troops, spy on enemies and fire missiles. There's a recent clamor to fly them domestically to track the health of crops, fight wildfires in remote terrain, conduct search and rescue after a disaster, and perform other chores considered too "dirty, dull or dangerous" for pilots.
Honing in on the purported economic benefit of the state's participation in the expansion of the surveillance state is a well-practiced art in Utah, from the state capitol to the local media.
Just west of Interstate 15 — the state's principal north-south corridor — is the National Security Agency's Utah Data Center.
The $2-billion campus is expected to open in September 2013 and will be equipped with computers capable of monitoring, recording, and cataloging every electronic communication of every American indefinitely.
A story in Wired published last year describes the purpose of the massive compound:
Flowing through its servers and routers and stored in near-bottomless databases will be all forms of communication, including the complete contents of private emails, cell phone calls, and Google searches, as well as all sorts of personal data trails — parking receipts, travel itineraries, bookstore purchases, and other digital "pocket litter."
How did local media report on this threat to the Fourth Amendment being built in Utah?
"The data center is estimated to be 1 million square feet, sitting on 200-acres, and it couldn't come at a better time for Utah's economy," reported KSL, the Salt Lake City NBC affiliate. The report exulted that "even Congressman Jason Chaffetz is excited. From Washington he told KSL News: 'It's a benefit to our economy and our national security.'"
Or, how about this statement posted on the website of the Governor's Office of Economic Development regarding the state's focus on attracting "defense and homeland security" industry: "The Utah Defense and Homeland Security Cluster area continues to grow with estimated revenues of over $3.9 billion and nearly 31,000 employees in the industry state-wide."
And, when it comes to testing drones, the governor says there's no place like Utah. Again, from the Office of Economic Development's website:
If you develop or test unmanned systems you need space, infrastructure, talent and a good supply chain. In other words, you need Utah.
Our unique setting in the high desert of the Intermountain West provides hundreds of square miles and 58,000 feet of elevation for testing. As a specific industry cluster our state government is interested in growing, unmanned systems companies can find the incentives, support, workforce development and business-friendly environment they need to thrive. And an existing community of industry leaders such as L-3 Communications, Northrop Grumman, General Atomics and AeroVironment ensure a robust and fully functioning supply chain.
Not even a hint at the legitimate concerns about these products' potential violations of the Fourth Amendment's protection against unwarranted searches and seizures. The Fourth Amendment reads:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
In Utah, it seems, when it comes to hosting the forces of the surveillance state, an outside shot at more jobs and money trumps the very real threat to liberty and the Constitution posed by these ventures.
The Deseret News reports that "the FAA is expected to choose the six drone test sites by year's end."
President Obama has authorized these drones to take to the skies, converting the land of the free into the land of the watched. Drone technology developed for the military will soon be deployed in the domestic skies, and citizens will be instantly transformed into suspects. States and cities must now step into the gap and defend citizens from being deprived of their most fundamental rights.
Photo: AP Images

subset: commoncrawl


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You wash and moisturize your face twice a day (or at least once a day—sleeping in makeup is a big no-no!), so it's safe to say you already have a cleanser and face lotion on heavy rotation. But add scrubs, masks, and zit-zapping potions to the mix, and you've got a full-on skincare product regimen—and the potential to drop some serious cash at the beauty counter. To help keep your beauty budget in line, we rounded up 10 top contenders in the affordable, drugstore beauty category that also meet our must-work criteria, and come in under $10. We dare you not to pick up a few.
All The States Where Weed Is Legal
As of now, 11 states and Washington, D.C., have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. An additional 22 states — along with U.S. territories


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SANS: Mobile Device Security
This course is designed to teach students about the threats organizations are exposed to via the mobile devices on which they depend. This two-day hands-on class uses lecture, labs and real world experiences to educate the students about mobile security within the enterprise. The class will explore how the devices work, what implementation options are available, and how attackers are abusing the organization. The students will also examine various remediation strategies, policies, and solutions to these concerns.
Exploring mobile devices and platforms
The class will begin by exploring various types of mobile devices and how they have evolved over the last few years. This will include mobile phones, smart phones, PDAs and tablets. The focus will be on providing a foundational understanding of the industry-leading mobile device platforms; Blackberry, iPhone, Android and Windows Mobile. These platforms make up the majority of the enterprise deployments of smart phones and as such it is critical for management and technicians to understand how these platforms operate and integrate with existing IT infrastructure.
Mobile device security policy
Policy is a keystone in an organization's security and is impacted by the usage of mobile devices. The class will discuss the changes necessary to existing policies as well as new policies needed due to the implementation of mobile devices in the workplace. We will discuss both organizationally supplied and personal device usage in an enterprise setting. Organizations are faced with many challenges in maintaining compliance with federal and state laws, regulations, and industry standards. Establishing strong policies for mobile environments and the protection of information used with mobile devices is a critical step. SEC571: Mobile Device Security will examine this based on the experiences of the authors, both in building these policies and responding to incidents involving mobile devices.
The class will then explore the integration technologies that these platforms use to work within the organization's infrastructure. The class will look at the necessary changes to existing infrastructure as well as new technologies being implemented that extend the functionality of our systems. These ideas will focus not simply on what the technologies are, but the procedures we can follow to harden and monitor how this new ingress and egress is being used.
After this, the class will explore the application development landscape. Topics will cover both controlling applications installed as well as securely using these applications within the enterprise. The class will focus on third-party applications but will also cover how application development within an organization can change the usage and security posture presented.
Laptop Requirements
Throughout the course, students will participate in hands-on lab exercises. Students must bring their own laptops to class that meet the requirements described below.
Students must bring a Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP laptop to class, preferably running natively on the system hardware. Windows 8 systems are also welcome, provided students are comfortable with navigating the platform without the Start menu interface. It is possible to complete the lab exercises using a virtualized Windows installation; however, this will result in reduced performance when running device emulators within the virtualized Windows host. If you are a Windows XP user, make sure you also have the .NET 3.5 framework installed, which can be downloaded.
Administrative Windows Access
For several tools utilized in the course, students will be required to perform actions with administrative privileges. Students must have administrative access on their Windows host, including the ability to unload or disable security software such as anti-virus or firewall agents as necessary for the completion of lab exercises.
Students will use a virtualized MobiSec Linux VMware guest for several lab exercises. VMware Workstation or VMware Player is recommended. Note that there is no cost associated with the use of VMware Player, which can be downloaded from the VMware website.
While some students successfully use VMware Fusion for the exercises, the relative instability of VMware Fusion may introduce delays in exercise preparation, preventing the timely completion of lab exercises. VirtualBox and other virtualization tools are not supported at this time.
Hardware Requirements
Several of the software components used in the course are hardware intensive, requiring more system resources than what might be required otherwise for day-to-day use of a system. Please ensure your laptop meets the following minimum hardware requirements:
- Minimum 2 GB RAM, 4 GB recommended
- Ethernet (RJ45) network interface; students will not be able to complete lab exercises with systems that only have a wireless card, such as the Mac Book Air
- Core 2 Duo or comparable processor minimum
- 30 GB free hard disk space
- DVD drive (not a CD drive)
- Minimum screen resolution 1024x768, larger screen resolution will reduce scrolling in for several applications and a more pleasant end-user experience
During the course, you will install numerous tools, and make several system changes. Some students may wish to bring a clean system that is not their everyday production system, or a dedicated Windows virtual machine that meets the minimum requirements for a system, to avoid any changes that may interfere with other system software.
If you have additional questions about the laptop specifications, please contact email@example.com.


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EUMETNET runs seven Programmes related to meteorological observations. Using a variety of different meteorological instruments it is possible to get reliable information on the state of the atmosphere. The EUMETNET Programmes, together with the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, provide the relevant observations from Europe which are indispensable for missions such as numerical weather prediction.
Observations Capability Area
The Observations Capability Area offers a framework for EUMETNET activities in the field of Observing Systems. The main objective of this Programme is to coordinate the activities of the integrated Operational Services and Projects (E-ABO, E-ASAP, E-GVAP, E-PROFILE, E-SURFMAR and OPERA). These services and projects themselves have the primary task of delivering observations in the atmosphere and near the earth 's surface, particularly at sea. Furthermore, the Observations Programme has to design and coordinte the evolution of the ground-based EUMETNET composite observing system (EUCOS) to be optimized on a European scale with a view to improving general weather forecasting (e.g numerical weather prediction and nowcasting) and climate monitoring over Europe without increasing the overall cost, in line with the EUMETNET strategy defined by the Assembly. The Programme Manager is Bruce Truscott from the UK Met Office.
The two strategic goals for the EUMETNET Observations Programme are the following:
Goal 1 classifies the observational requirements at three different horizontal scales. Global and especially regional requirements have been studied and dealt with by EUMETNET since its establishment, but consideration of 'kilometric' (1km horizontal scale) requirements has started only recently in relation with the development of operational convection-resolving models, mainly for operational NWP. In the past, several numerical studies have been carried out on observation requirements of global and regional NWP, leaving now similar studies to be carried out to define observation requirements of kilometre-scale NWP.
Goal 2 stresses the importance of quality, quality control and quality management for two important meteorological application areas: NWP and Climate monitoring. The current situation is highly variable across the different observing systems. Some of them require many more developments and progress to be made in the field of homogeneity and quality to achieve this goal. This is particularly the case with observing systems, such as Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) networks which have been developed by several public or private actors outside the meteorological community and present a huge potential for meteorological applications, but have only recently begun to be used in operational NWP.
Radar activities, standardization of surface weather stations and the improvement of vertical profile measurements of the atmosphere are of highest importance for Members. Especially the latter item has several aspects: improvement of vertical resolution, improvement of horizontal coverage and a general investigation of new upper air observing capabilities.
The key priorities for the Programme are:
– To foster the OPERA developments in order to be able to produce quantitatively usable 2D radar products and to exchange single site 3D volume data (reflectivity, Doppler winds) by the end of the programme phase;
– To further expand operations by trying to extend the horizontal coverage over the EUCOS area, by assessing new technologies in obtaining aircraft data and leveraging this technology in order to reduce costs;
– To consolidate the E-PROFILE network with the aim to include more Lidar/Ceilometer observations and to explore technologies such as Microwave Radiometers;
– To improve the user consultation process with data users from the Climate and Forecasting Programmes and Members via the central Observation Programme and its Scientific Expert Team.
A few important milestones of the Observations Programme are:
– Finalization of a first set of data impact studies on all various ground-based observing systems.
– Full end-to-end provision of humidity observations from 9 aircraft for the humidity trial within the E-ABO Operational Service, to routinely monitor the new observing system from 2015 onwards, to consider a further roll-out of humidity sensors and eventually to re-design the entire EUCOS upper-air network.
– The finalisation of OPERA's development of an operational data centre will play an important role for the entire Observations Programme, because the availability of quality improved 2D composites and single site 3D volume data will allow the Observations Programme Management to initiate new data impact studies with the aim to assess the importance and impact of radar data on NWP on all modelling scales. Members will be in a position to better exploit Europe-wide radar data for modelling, general forecasting and precipitation monitoring purposes.
The general objective for the Observations Programme is to provide EUMETNET Members with observations from the integrated operational services and projects:
– E-ABO (aircraft based observations),
– E-ASAP (radiosoundings from merchant ships and some research vessels),
– E-GVAP (deriving humidity related observations from Global Navigation Satellite System networks),
– E-PROFILE (wind observations from weather radars and dedicated wind profilers and Lidar/Ceilometer observations),
– E-SURFMAR (surface marine observations from ships and buoys),
– OPERA (collection and processing of data from national weather radar networks).
Further objectives are:
– To design and coordinate the evolution of the integrated ground-based EUMETNET Composite Observing System (EUCOS) and
– To monitor and control EUCOS performance.
The current phase of the Programme started in January 2019 and will last until the end of 2023.
The Coordinating Member is the UK Met Office. The Programme Manager is Bruce Truscott.


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Get Ready To Dance (Ages 5-12)
January 15 @ 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
|Recurring Event (See all)
An event every week that begins at 5:00pm on Tuesday, repeating until June 26, 2019
A unique combination of a warm up and stretch this class is for children of all levels. Increase your flexibility and performance skills with this hour long class. Recommended for everyone. Please bring your own mat.
Call to schedule your free trial class.


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It's the (3rd) most wonderful time of the year. The fans are all yelling to see a better dunk than last year. It's the (3rd) most wonderful time of the year. With the exception to Christmas and March Madness, NBA All-Star Weekend is my favorite time of the year and this year's festivities kick-off tonight in Los Angeles.
The NBA has one of the most prestigious and fun-filled All-Star Weekends of all its competitors. The NFL Pro Bowl is a joke, the NHL All-Star Game is awesome but no one cares about it, and the MLB All-Star Game is over once the Home Run Derby ends. The NBA is a league based off individual personalities of the past and present and they have really been able to hone in on their strengths to maximize the entertainment aspect of the weekend.
While their selection system is flawed, they allow fans to have a say in voting for the starters. The events are integrated with celebrities, bringing in different demographics that may not necessarily be NBA fans. And most of all they pay homage to the legends that made the league what it is today.
The happy-hour of the weekend begins this afternoon with the BBVA NBA All-Star Celebrity Game. This game allows celebrities like Justin Bieber, Jimmy Kimmel, Rob Kardashian, Bill Simmons, and Common to play with NBA legends like Magic Johnson, Bill Walton, and Scottie Pippen. These games are always very exhibitionist but it allows you an insight into the surprising athletic ability that celebrities have, that you never knew.
Tonight's headliner is the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge. This game tends to have the most competition of all the events in weekends past, and sometimes even has the best dunks. This year should live up to its reputation with rookie sensations like Blake Griffin, Landry Fields, and John Wall coached by Amare Stoudemire taking on the sophomore standouts like Stephen Curry and DeJuan Blair coached by Carmelo Anthony. If Blake Griffin plays I predict that the Rookies win, if not then the Sophomores should stomp on the Rookies.
Speaking of Carmelo Anthony… This may be the last time you see Carmelo wearing blue and yellow, blue and yellow, blue and yellow, blue and yellow. Before All-Star Saturday Night commences, Carmelo will hold meetings with the Knicks and Nets to hopefully close a deal. It is obvious that he wants to play for my Knicks, but with Jimmy Dolan begin stingy with our players (and rightfully so) the Nets and owners Mikhail Prokohrov and Jay-Z have been able to sneak back into the picture to try and swindle Melo at the 11th hour.
Another new event the NBA has implemented is the NBA D-League All-Star Game. The D-League has become a formidable breeding ground for players to step up their game in hopes of making it to the league. They have pro-affiliated teams in small to mid-sized markets, mostly throughout the South, and they will be holding their All-Star Game as a way of showing the level of talent they have and allowing NBA scouts to evaluate that talent, while they are all in town for the other events.
The opener of All-Star Saturday night is the Haier Shooting Stars where NBA players team up with legends and WNBA players in a game not much different from a halftime lay-up, free throw, three-point, and half-court shot contest. It is rarely taken seriously and is usually a time where fans in attendance are in line getting their popcorn for the following events.
The Taco Bell Skills Challenge is my second favorite part of the weekend and this year's should be a doosy. This year's participants are Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, and John Wall. They will compete to complete and basketball obstacle course in the fastest time. I really enjoy this event because it shows you the amount of talent and athletic ability that is prevalent in the NBA and that is in a league of its own, literally. My predicted winner for this event is MVP front-runner, Derrick Rose, he is the fastest player in the league and ultimately is passing that wins, and I feel he has the best chance.
The next event is the tFoot Locker Three-Point Contes with Ray Allen, Kevin Durant, Daniel Gibson, James Jones, Paul Pierce, and Dorell Wright. This can be somewhat of a tiring event for players who continue on to higher rounds. The bigger players tend to better because they don't have to try harder to jump higher to reach their apex with each shot. That being said I think Ray Allen, the league's most pure shooter and best three-point shooter of all time, will fall short to the longer Kevin Durant.
And the coup de grâce of NBA All-Star Weekend, The Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. I consider myself to be a connoisseur of dunks as it is my ultimate aspiration to be a Dunkologist and write a thesis on not only the quality of the dunkage but the mass varietals of dunkage. This event to me, is like archaeologist discovering a real Jurassic Park and having free reign to dust it off as he or she pleases.
This year's participants are Serge Ibaka, DeMar Derozan, JaValle McGee, and the infamous Blake Griffin. With the entire world (myself included) hopping on the most emphatic strawberry-blonde dunker ever, some of the other contestants have been able to fly under the radar. When he first announced that he would participate he held a contest for fans to submit videos for him to complete in the dunk contest. I have a feeling his one downside might be his lack of creativity, so if he were able to plagiarise this dunk he has an even higher chance of winning.
Serge Ibaka is on my fantasy team, so I have a vested interest in his success but he has done nothing to impress me this year. DeMar Derozan is the smallest of the competitors so his hangtime gives him a slight edge. He also is very athletic and able to do some things others can not with his more quaint stature. He also has a few tricks up his sleeves (even though basketball jerseys don't have sleeves) and if he can pull off whatever he is trying to accomplish with this, it may be one of the best dunks of all time.
JaValle McGee, however, is the tallest and longest player in the contest which can take more effort to achieve the "wow factor." You would think that being from UNR he would lack intelligence (I had to throw my Reno dig in) but he must have been one of the few that slipped by. If he can take these few practice dunks to the next level he will give Blake Griffin a serious run for his money. I also want to point out that I have done half of these dunks 10 years ago on 8 foot hoops. I'm not saying I'm better than them but I did think of them a long time ago.
The real winner will be someone who can use their size to their advantage and combine dunks of the past to spawn a new dunk that no one has ever seen. I think it will come down to Blake Griffin and JaValle McGee and being a Blake Griffin fan I win whether he wins or loses because he will still be nasty, so I will taking the underdog, JaValle McGee to win off pure creativity in a dunk contest that has the pieces to be right up there with the 2007, 2001, and 1987 contests. And if it sucks than next year they should just let Team Flight Brothers run the contest.
As if that isn't enough theatrics for one weekend, there is still a game to be played. The game itself tends to have absolutely no defense, complimented by 30 foot three-point shots and fast break power dunks and is more humorous than competitive. The players are all mic-ed up and that provides more entertainment than the game itself. I feel the East has more talent and veterans, so I think they will be the ones to be able to hunker down at the end to get the "W."


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A bill introduced by Sen. John Rockefeller, D-W.Va., that would require physicians to undergo mandatory education as a condition for prescribing certain drugs, such as opioids, has triggered a letter protesting the language in the bill and outlining the extensive education family physicians undergo that makes them fully qualified to prescribe opioids without resorting to mandatory education.
In the September letter to Rockefeller, AAFP Board Chair Roland Goertz, M.D., M.B.A., of Waco, Texas, cites AAFP policy, which opposes legislation or other actions that would require mandatory education of family physicians as a condition for prescribing specific drugs, including opioids.
The policy, which was approved by the AAFP Board chair in August, also supports "programs that would provide funding to all states to monitor 'real-time' opioid prescribing and to also make this information available across state lines as one way to address the public health problem of prescription drug abuse."
In the letter to Rockefeller, Goertz points out that "following medical school, family physicians complete a three-year residency program that includes training in all medical specialties and drug prescribing. In addition, to remain members of the AAFP, family physicians are required to complete 150 credits of continuing medical education, or CME, every three years. In particular, the AAFP has offered nearly 90 CME activities related to pain since June 2009."
- A bill introduced in Congress that would require physicians to undergo mandatory education as a condition for prescribing certain drugs, such as opioids, has triggered a letter of protest from the AAFP.
- AAFP Board Chair Roland Goertz, M.D., M.B.A., notes that family physicians already receive extensive education in how to prescribe drugs and adding such mandatory education requirements likely will place additional burdens on physicians and, possibly, cut access to pain medications for patients.
In addition, the AAFP offered 15 supplementary activities during the AAFP Scientific Assembly last month in Orlando, Fla. The Academy also has developed a monograph on opioids, based on guidelines from the American Pain Society and the American Academy of Pain Medicine, that is designed to help AAFP members properly treat patients with chronic pain, according to Goertz.
There are two main components of the ongoing public health crisis caused by the unlawful prescribing of opioids and other drugs, says Goertz: drug diversion, which requires educating the public regarding prevention, and misuse of patient medications due to inappropriate prescribing by a physician or misuse by a patient.
Goertz points out that significant voluntary educational opportunities already exist on how to appropriately prescribe pain medications. "The AAFP does not believe that requiring additional education (for family physicians) will solve the problem of drug diversion." But, he adds, there are measures that could more effectively address opioids abuse. "For example, only a small number of physicians are the 'bad actors' in this situation. The AAFP believes licensing boards should deal with them appropriately. In addition, every state should have an effective tracking system capable of identifying its most significant abusers."
In addition, legislation requiring mandatory education would put further administrative burdens on already overextended family physicians, says Goertz. "Our particular concern is that some family physicians would not be able to take the time away from their practice for this extra training and, thus, would not be able to undergo the training and receive a drug enforcement administration number. …The unintended consequence could be a decline in access to these drugs for patients who need them. Clearly, this is not our goal, nor is that the goal of the legislation."
Goertz does note, however, that the AAFP supports provisions in the bill that relate to the National All Schedules Prescription Reporting, or NASPER, Act. "These provisions would increase NASPER's funding to assist states in development of programs to monitor and share across borders information on opioid prescribing," says Goertz. "The AAFP realizes that there are patients with inappropriate drug-seeking behavior. However, it is not always clear who these individuals are absent a database containing this information."
Related ANN Coverage
From the President
AAFP Maintains Mandatory CME to Prescribe Opioids Is Unnecessary
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As a result and despite the euro crisis, the German wind sector is expanding. Around 2.4GW of mainly onshore wind was expected for 2012 after nearly 2.1GW in 2011 and 1.5GW in 2010. For 2013, a further small surge is expected as Germany's southern federal states press ahead with earmarking areas for wind developments.
Perhaps surprisingly, by continuing to expand its wind fleet Germany is effectively helping neighbouring countries' economies by reducing their power prices, albeit working hand-in-hand with photovoltaic (PV)generation, which has increased massively since 2010.
The fall in prices is considerable. In 2011, the average spot market price in non-peak use periods traded on the Franco-German spot market exchange Epex Spot stood at €0.051/kWh. But in the first nine months of 2012 it fell by almost €0.01 to €0.043/kWh, mainly due to more wind and solar coming on to the system during periods when power prices were formerly at their highest, such as in the midday hours.
Knock-on effect
This has a knock-on effect on prices paid to energy firms, with margins being reduced through improved power available - from PV as much as from wind, both of which had exceeded 30GW capacity by September 2012. For German consumers, who will pay a new renewable energy levy of EUR0.0527/kWh from 2013, they are effectively helping to reduce the average wholesale price of power not only in Germany, but also in neighbouring countries.
By increasing German wind energy on an electricity system that is more often linked with those in neighbouring countries, the economies of these countries potentially benefit from the reduction in generation from fossil fuels - reducing the national fuel bill when they rely on imported power-station fuels such as oil, coal and gas. As German Green Party energy expert Hans-Josef Fell pointed out in summer 2012, the 27 EU countries spend huge amounts on raw material imports, mainly oil, each year. At least some of this expenditure could be kept in the countries or within Europe, he argued, by finding ways to switch to wind and other renewables, which would help those economies.
Thanks to cross-border electricity trading on the wholesale power exchanges such as EEX, when the wind is blowing strongly in Germany,the wholesale price of power can fall not only in Germany but also in neighbouring countries. Power companies in countries where prices are reduced due to German wind power when the wind is blowing strongly are not particularly pleased, however, when this means their own generation - usually coal or gas fired - is pushed out of the market because it is more expensive.
Those power companies could in theory benefit by exporting power to Germany on other occasions when the wind is not blowing and the sun is not shining in Germany. But electricity export/import data from October 2011 shows that this happens only rarely. Germany still regularly shows a monthly export surplus even after the closure of eight nuclear power stations since October 2011 following the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Whether they like it or not, national electricity sectors across Europe have little choice but to accommodate these imports, and the impact will become much stronger by the end of 2014, when the internal electricity market for the EU is to be completed.
Cross-border coupling
The heads of EU member states agreed in February 2011 that this internal electricity market should be completed by 2014 to allow electricity (and gas) to flow freely. While the lengthy process of improving and building a new cross-border transmission network goes on, so-called cross-border coupling between European regions to make the best possible use of existing interconnectors has taken on new importance.
Currently, sale of electricity generated in Germany during high wind periods at low prices into other countries is partially blocked by a bottleneck at borders. If these bottlenecks can be fully or partially removed by physically expanding their transmission capacity or by improving trading arrangements to allow fuller use of the existing capacity, the electricity can find a market in other countries where the prices are higher.
Theoretically, if cross-border trading were perfect, wholesale electricity prices in European countries would converge. So, if a few hours of high wind in Germany result in a large amount of power on the market, the wholesale price of power will fall during that period. If this price is lower than the expected power price in other countries, traders would bid to buy German power to supply those countries, up to the point where the cheap German surplus caused by high winds is eliminated. In this way, the lower power prices in Germany are shared across more European countries.
Where transmission capacity bottlenecks still occur despite market coupling, this sends a strong signal to governments to see that the bottleneck is reduced or eliminated by expansion of the cross-border capability.
Saving water
For wind-farm operators, the improvements in day-ahead market coupling to 2014 (see box, previous page) are likely to allow more electricity to be traded across borders. More surplus electricity from a high wind period in one region can be sold into other linked markets that are experiencing lower wind or have higher prices.
This could also help solve storage problems by using hydro electricity storage potential in Scandinavia, Austria and Switzerland to integrate surplus wind and other renewables generation and provide reserve generation for Germany as its Energiewende progresses.
German consultancy firm Prognos found that the most efficient storage form, with an efficiency of 90%, would be "indirect storage" in Scandinavia. This is defined as a set up in which surplus electricity - for example generated during high wind periods - from Germany is used directly by Scandinavian consumers, saving Scandinavian hydro water stores for use when electricity is called up for export to Germany.
If the market prices are balanced - price market coupling - this could take place as a direct consequence of market forces. The economically viable new-build potential to 2050 for interconnectors between Germany and Scandinavia amounts to 7-12GW, which could transmit 10-20TWh/year or 26-52% of German surplus electricity from renewables expected to arise by 2050, the Prognos study concluded. The effect of interconnections with Austria and Switzerland would be smaller because their hydro resources are smaller and would be in demand by Italy and other southern states.
Cross-border market coupling is designed to allow the best use of transmission capacity, for example by offsetting exchange of electricity deliveries in opposing directions.
It effectively enlarges the wholesale market from individual national markets to whole regions. These regions will, in turn, be coupled to create a Europe-wide market before the end of 2014.
So far, market coupling is for the day-ahead market.
The additional demands of intraday market coupling will be met at a later date, with the tender to find a supplier for the Europe-wide intraday system only having been issued in September 2012.
Trading data
Day-ahead market coupling is organised in overlapping regions and takes place on the basis of a complicated algorithm involving trading data from the energy exchanges and transmission capacity data from the transmission system operators.
There are five regions across Europe, covering north west, central western, central eastern, central southern and south west. A central west coupling went live in late 2010, with a more sophisticated version to follow in November 2013.
The north-west region will be coupled before the end of 2013, covering Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and the UK. It involves three power exchanges: ApxEndex (with Belpex), Epexspot and Nordpool spot, and encompasses 13 transmission system operators.
The central eastern market coupling will unite Germany, Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia, involving seven power exchanges and eight transmission system operators. As an initial step in September 2012, market coupling was launched between the Czech, Slovak and Hungarian market areas.


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A Charlotte conservative is telling anti-gay Republican Mecklenburg County Commissioner Bill James it is time for him to go and for voters to support his Republican primary challenger, Ed Driggs.
Lewis Guignard writes at Pundit House, a conservative Charlotte news and commentary site, that James' reckless focus on socially conservative issues has damaged James' supposed focus on fiscally-conservative issues, as well as damaging the local Republican Party.
Guignard says:
In fact, one of the reasons for the demise of many fiscal conservatives on the board of commissioners in the late 1990′s were the social conservative issues that James brought to the fore. From this decline, the Republican Party in Mecklenburg County has never recovered and as long as people such as Bill James are in office it never will. In fact, one of the major problems of the Republican Party today is the catering to social conservatives. If there were no other reason, that alone would be an excellent one for Republicans to vote for Ed Driggs. But there are other reasons, some of which have already been delineated by Driggs on the campaign trail.
Guignard focuses a great deal of his commentary on James' votes and stances on fiscal matters. It's a shame Guignard didn't spend a bit more time zeroing in on James' horrendous record of bigotry and division, among them:
- Comparing LGBT people to insects, saying the city should "de-infest areas where they congregate."
- Calling all LGBT people "sexual predators."
- Using slurs to describe transgender people, calling bisexuals promiscuous and continually reasserting that sexual activity between gay people is still illegal.
- Calling the dead, gay son of his colleague an anti-gay slur in the middle of a commission meeting.
- Saying the anti-LGBT amendment was about keeping LGBT people out of North Carolina.
- Using religion, out-dated science and bigotry to oppose anti-LGB non-discrimination ordinance (more…).
Obviously, the list above isn't exhaustive. Certainly, it's not even the tip of James' bigoted iceberg. He's been engaging in character assassination against entire communities of people — and not just LGBT folks — for decades, beginning in the mid-1990s with Charlotte's "Angels in America" and arts-funding controversy (more background…).
Obviously, the "Big Tent" that is the Grand Old Party isn't. People like James prevent that. People who vote for people like James prevent that. Speaking of which… I wonder if all those mega-churches and good Christian folk in southeast Mecklenburg County really approve of all James' harshly-worded and vulgar comments? They must… they keep supporting him.


text:
Component / ArtifactId / URI
To call external HTTP services using Async Http Client
To exchange data with external Websocket servers using Async Http Client
For Messaging with AMQP protocol
For sending notifications to Apple iOS devices
Atmosphere-Websocket /
To exchange data with external Websocket clients using Atmosphere
Atom /
Working with Apache Abdera for atom integration, such as consuming an atom feed.
Avro /
Working with Apache Avro for data serialization.
For working with Amazon's CloudWatch (CW).
For working with Amazon's DynamoDB (DDB).
For working with Amazon's DynamoDB Streams (DDB Streams).
For working with Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2).
For working with Amazon's SimpleDB (SDB).
For working with Amazon's Simple Email Service (SES).
For Messaging with Amazon's Simple Notification Service (SNS).
For Messaging with Amazon's Simple Queue Service (SQS).
For Messaging with Amazon's Simple Workflow Service (SWF).
For working with Amazon's Simple Storage Service (S3).
Bean /
Uses the Bean Binding to bind message exchanges to beans in the Registry. Is also used for exposing and invoking POJO (Plain Old Java Objects).
Beanstalk /
For working with Amazon's Beanstalk.
Bean Validator /
Validates the payload of a message using the Java Validation API (JSR 303 and JAXP Validation) and its reference implementation Hibernate Validator
Box /
For uploading, downloading and managing files, managing files, folders, groups, collaborations, etc. on Box.com.
Braintree /
Component for interacting with Braintree Payments via Braintree Java SDK
Browse /
Provides a simple BrowsableEndpoint which can be useful for testing, visualisation tools or debugging. The exchanges sent to the endpoint are all available to be browsed.
Cache /
The cache component facilitates creation of caching endpoints and processors using EHCache as the cache implementation.
Cassandra /
For integrating with Apache Cassandra.
Class /
Uses the Bean Binding to bind message exchanges to beans in the Registry. Is also used for exposing and invoking POJO (Plain Old Java Objects).
Chronicle Engine /
|Chronicle Engine is a high performance, low latency, reactive processing framework.
Chunk /
Generates a response using a Chunk template
Uses the Apache Chemistry client API to interface with CMIS supporting CMS
Cometd /
Used to deliver messages using the jetty cometd implementation of the bayeux protocol
Consul /
For interfacing with an Consul.
Context /
Used to refer to endpoints within a separate CamelContext to provide a simple black box composition approach so that routes can be combined into a CamelContext and then used as a black box component inside other routes in other CamelContexts
ControlBus /
ControlBus EIP that allows to send messages to Endpoints for managing and monitoring your Camel applications.
CouchDB /
To integrate with Apache CouchDB.
Crypto (Digital Signatures) /
Used to sign and verify exchanges using the Signature Service of the Java Cryptographic Extension.
Working with Apache CXF for web services integration
CXF Bean /
Proceess the exchange using a JAX WS or JAX RS annotated bean from the registry. Requires less configuration than the above CXF Component
Working with Apache CXF for REST services integration
DataFormat /
for working with Data Formats as if it was a regular Component supporting Endpoints and URIs.
DataSet /
For load & soak testing the DataSet provides a way to create huge numbers of messages for sending to Components or asserting that they are consumed correctly
Direct /
Synchronous call to another endpoint from same CamelContext.
Direct-VM /
Synchronous call to another endpoint in another CamelContext running in the same JVM.
To lookup domain information and run DNS queries using DNSJava
Disruptor /
To provide the implementation of SEDA which is based on disruptor
Docker /
To communicate with Docker
Dozer /
To convert message body using the Dozer type converter library.
Dropbox /
The dropbox: component allows you to treat Dropbox remote folders as a producer or consumer of messages.
Uses the Bean Binding to bind message exchanges to EJBs. It works like the Bean component but just for accessing EJBs. Supports EJB 3.0 onwards.
Ehcache /
The cache component facilitates creation of caching endpoints and processors using Ehcache 3 as the cache implementation.
ElasticSearch /
For interfacing with an ElasticSearch server.
Etcd /
For interfacing with an Etcd key value store.
Spring Event /
Working with Spring ApplicationEvents
EventAdmin /
Receiving OSGi EventAdmin events
Exec /
For executing system commands
Facebook /
Providing access to all of the Facebook APIs accessible using Facebook4J
File /
Sending messages to a file or polling a file or directory.
Flatpack /
Processing fixed width or delimited files or messages using the FlatPack library
Flink /
Bridges Camel connectors with Apache Flink tasks.
Renders the message into different output formats using Apache FOP
FreeMarker /
Generates a response using a FreeMarker template
Sending and receiving files over FTP.
Sending and receiving files over FTP Secure (TLS and SSL).
Ganglia /
Sends values as metrics to the Ganglia performance monitoring system using gmetric4j. Can be used along with JMXetric.
Used by web applications to implement an OAuth consumer. See also Camel Components for Google App Engine.
Provides connectivity to the URL fetch service of Google App Engine but can also be used to receive messages from servlets. See also Camel Components for Google App Engine.
Supports interaction with Git repositories
Supports interaction with Github
Used by Camel applications outside Google App Engine (GAE) for programmatic login to GAE applications. See also Camel Components for Google App Engine.
Supports asynchronous message processing on Google App Engine by using the task queueing service as message queue. See also Camel Components for Google App Engine.
Google Calendar / camel-google-calendar
Supports interaction with Google Calendar's REST API.
Google Drive / camel-google-drive
Supports interaction with Google Drive's REST API.
Google Mail / camel-google-mail
Supports interaction with Google Mail's REST API.
Supports sending of emails via the mail service of Google App Engine. See also Camel Components for Google App Engine.
Gora /
Supports to work with NoSQL databases using the Apache Gora framework.
Grape component allows you to fetch, load and manage additional jars when CamelContext is running.
Geocoder /
Supports looking up geocoders for an address, or reverse lookup geocoders from an address.
Google Guava EventBus /
The Google Guava EventBus allows publish-subscribe-style communication between components without requiring the components to explicitly register with one another (and thus be aware of each other). This component provides integration bridge between Camel and Google Guava EventBus infrastructure.
Hazelcast is a data grid entirely implemented in Java (single jar). This component supports map, multimap, seda, queue, set, atomic number and simple cluster support.
HBase /
For reading/writing from/to an HBase store (Hadoop database)
For reading/writing from/to an HDFS filesystem using Hadoop 1.x
For reading/writing from/to an HDFS filesystem using Hadoop 2.x
Hipchat /
For sending/receiving messages to Hipchat using v2 API
For working with the HL7 MLLP protocol and the HL7 data format using the HAPI library
Infinispan /
For reading/writing from/to Infinispan distributed key/value store and data grid
For calling out to external HTTP servers using Apache HTTP Client 3.x
For calling out to external HTTP servers using Apache HTTP Client 4.x
iBATIS /
Performs a query, poll, insert, update or delete in a relational database using Apache iBATIS
Ignite /
Apache Ignite In-Memory Data Fabric is a high-performance, integrated and distributed in-memory platform for computing and transacting on large-scale data sets in real-time, orders of magnitude faster than possible with traditional disk-based or flash technologies. It is designed to deliver uncompromised performance for a wide set of in-memory computing use cases from high performance computing, to the industry most advanced data grid, highly available service grid, and streaming.
Receiving email using IMAP
For IRC communication
IronMQ /
For working with IronMQ a elastic and durable hosted message queue as a service.
JavaSpace /
Sending and receiving messages through JavaSpace
jBPM /
Sending messages through kie-remote-client API to jBPM.
jcache /
The JCache component facilitates creation of caching endpoints and processors using JCache / jsr107 as the cache implementation.
jclouds /
For interacting with cloud compute & blobstore service via jclouds
Storing a message in a JCR compliant repository like Apache Jackrabbit
For performing JDBC queries and operations
Jetty /
For exposing or consuming services over HTTP
JGroups /
For interacting with JIRA
Working with JMS providers
For working with JMX notification listeners
For using a database as a queue via the JPA specification for working with OpenJPA, Hibernate or TopLink
The jolt: component allows you to process a JSON messages using an JOLT specification. This can be ideal when doing JSON to JSON transformation.
Jsch /
Support for the scp protocol
For integrating with data queues on an AS/400 (aka System i, IBM i, i5, ...) system
Kafka /
For producing to or consuming from Apache Kafka message brokers.
Kestrel /
For producing to or consuming from Kestrel queues
Krati /
For producing to or consuming to Krati datastores
Kubernetes /
For integrating your application with Kubernetes standalone or on top of OpenShift.
Kura /
For deploying Camel OSGi routes into the Eclipse Kura M2M container.
Language /
Executes Languages scripts
Performing searches on LDAP servers (<scope> must be one of object|onelevel|subtree)
LinkedIn /
Component for retrieving LinkedIn user profiles, connections, companies, groups, posts, etc. using LinkedIn REST API.
Log /
Uses Jakarta Commons Logging to log the message exchange to some underlying logging system like log4j
Lucene /
Uses Apache Lucene to perform Java-based indexing and full text based searches using advanced analysis/tokenization capabilities
Lumberjack /
Uses the Lumberjack protocol for retrieving logs (from Filebeat for instance)
Metrics /
Uses Metrics to collect application statistics directly from Camel routes.
Working with Apache MINA 1.x
Working with Apache MINA 2.x
Mock /
For testing routes and mediation rules using mocks
The MLLP component is specifically designed to handle the nuances of the MLLP protocol and provide the functionality required by Healthcare providers to communicate with other systems using the MLLP protocol
MongoDB /
Interacts with MongoDB databases and collections. Offers producer endpoints to perform CRUD-style operations and more against databases and collections, as well as consumer endpoints to listen on collections and dispatch objects to Camel routes
MongoDB GridFS /
Sending and receiving files via MongoDB's GridFS system. Note: for Camel < 2.19, the URI syntax is gridfs:dbName[?options]
Component for communicating with MQTT M2M message brokers
Validates the payload of a message using the MSV Library
Mustache /
Generates a response using a Mustache template
Generates a response using an MVEL template
MyBatis /
Performs a query, poll, insert, update or delete in a relational database using MyBatis
Nagios /
For messaging with the NATS platform.
Netty /
Working with TCP and UDP protocols using Java NIO based capabilities offered by the Netty project
Netty4 /
|Working with TCP and UDP protocols using Java NIO based capabilities offered by the Netty project
Netty HTTP /
Netty HTTP server and client using the Netty project
Netty4 HTTP /
|Netty HTTP server and client using the Netty project 4.x
Olingo2 /
Communicates with OData 2.0 services using Apache Olingo 2.0.
Openshift /
To manage your Openshift applications.
OptaPlanner /
Solves the planning problem contained in a message with OptaPlanner.
Paho /
Paho component provides connector for the MQTT messaging protocol using the Paho library.
Pax-Logging /
Receiving Pax-Logging events in OSGi
Allows to work with Apache PDFBox PDF documents
PGEvent /
Allows for Producing/Consuming PostgreSQL events related to the LISTEN/NOTIFY commands added since PostgreSQL 8.3
Receiving email using POP3 and JavaMail
Printer /
The printer component facilitates creation of printer endpoints to local, remote and wireless printers. The endpoints provide the ability to print camel directed payloads when utilized on camel routes.
Properties /
The properties component facilitates using property placeholders directly in endpoint URI definitions.
Quartz /
Provides a scheduled delivery of messages using the Quartz 1.x scheduler
Quartz2 /
Provides a scheduled delivery of messages using the Quartz 2.x scheduler
Quickfix /
Implementation of the QuickFix for Java engine which allow to send/receive FIX messages
RabbitMQ /
Component for integrating with RabbitMQ
Ref /
Component for lookup of existing endpoints bound in the Registry.
Rest /
Component for consuming Restful resources supporting the Rest DSL and plugins to other Camel rest components.
Restlet /
Component for consuming and producing Restful resources using Restlet
REST Swagger / camel-rest-swagger
Component for accessing REST resources using Swagger specification as configuration.
Working with RMI
Validates the payload of a message using RelaxNG Compact Syntax
Validates the payload of a message using RelaxNG
Routebox /
Facilitates the creation of specialized endpoints that offer encapsulation and a strategy/map based indirection service to a collection of camel routes hosted in an automatically created or user injected camel context
Working with ROME for RSS integration, such as consuming an RSS feed.
Salesforce /
To integrate with Salesforce
SAP NetWeaver /
To integrate with SAP NetWeaver Gateway
Scheduler /
Used to generate message exchanges when a scheduler fires. The scheduler has more functionality than the timer component.
schematron /
Camel component of Schematron which supports to validate the XML instance documents.
Asynchronous call to another endpoint in the same CamelContext
ServiceNow /
Camel component for ServiceNow
For exposing services over HTTP through the servlet which is deployed into the Web container.
Sending and receiving files over SFTP (FTP over SSH).
Sip /
Publish/Subscribe communication capability using the Telecom SIP protocol. RFC3903 - Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Extension for Event
A ground up implementation of a JMS client
SJMS Batch /
A specialized JMS component for highly-performant transactional batch consumption from a queue.
Slack /
The slack component allows you to connect to an instance of Slack and delivers a message contained in the message body via a pre established Slack incoming webhook .
Sending email using SMTP and JavaMail
To send and receive SMS using Short Messaging Service Center using the JSMPP library
Polling OID values and receiving traps using SNMP via SNMP4J library
Solr /
Uses the Solrj client API to interface with an Apache Lucene Solr server
Apache Spark /
Bridges Apache Spark computations with Camel endpoints.
Spark-rest /
For easily defining REST services endpoints using Spark REST Java library.
Splunk /
For working with Splunk
SpringBatch /
To bridge Camel and Spring Batch
SpringIntegration /
The bridge component of Camel and Spring Integration
Spring LDAP /
Camel wrapper for Spring LDAP
Spring Redis /
Component for consuming and producing from Redis key-value store Redis
Spring Web Services /
Client-side support for accessing web services, and server-side support for creating your own contract-first web services using Spring Web Services
Performing SQL queries using JDBC
SQL Stored Procedure /
Performing SQL queries using Stored Procedure calls
SSH component /
For sending commands to a SSH server
StAX /
Process messages through a SAX ContentHandler.
Stream /
Read or write to an input/output/error/file stream rather like unix pipes
Stomp /
For communicating with Stomp compliant message brokers, like Apache ActiveMQ or ActiveMQ Apollo
StringTemplate /
Generates a response using a String Template
Stub /
Allows you to stub out some physical middleware endpoint for easier testing or debugging
Telegram /
Allows to exchange data with the Telegram messaging network
Test /
Creates a Mock endpoint which expects to receive all the message bodies that could be polled from the given underlying endpoint
Timer /
Used to generate message exchanges when a timer fires You can only consume events from this endpoint.
Twitter /
A twitter endpoint
Undertow /
HTTP server and client using the light-weight Undertow server.
Validation /
Validates the payload of a message using XML Schema and JAXP Validation
Velocity /
Generates a response using an Apache Velocity template
Vertx /
Working with the vertx event bus
Asynchronous call to another endpoint in the same JVM
Weather /
Polls the weather information from Open Weather Map
Websocket /
Communicating with Websocket clients
XML Security /
Used to sign and verify exchanges using the XML signature specification.
Working with XMPP and Jabber
XQuery /
Generates a response using an XQuery template
Generates a response using an XSLT template
Yammer /
Allows you to interact with the Yammer enterprise social network
Zookeeper /
Working with ZooKeeper cluster(s)


text:
Looking for design inspiration? Browse our curated collections!
Boundary: Bleed area may not be visible.
Click and drag to re-position the image, if desired.
Inside Message (Optional)
Inside View
The more you buy... the more you save.
Image Size
The image is near the edges of the product but doesn't cover the entire product. Some of the background color may appear around the outside edges of the image.
Background Color
Our greeting cards are 5" x 7" in size and are produced on digital offset printers using 100 lb. paper stock. Each card is coated with a UV protectant on the outside surface which produces a semi-gloss finish. The inside of each card has a matte white finish and can be customized with your own message up to 500 characters in length. Each card comes with a white envelope for mailing or gift giving.
Ships Within
1 - 2 business days
Congrats on your sale!
Good Job and very funny,Congratulations!
Awesome portrait congrats
Strong! Congratulations on your sale.
Congrats on Your Sale.
Congratulations, James!
Beautiful art!
James W Johnson replied:
Thank you, Vesna. :-)
Congratulations on your sale.
Congratulations on your recent sale!!
Beautiful colors and composition!Congratulations on your sale
Congratulation on your sale James.
Congratulations !
Well done James on the Art and the sale.
Congratulations on your sale James!
Congratulations on your sale James !
Congrats on your sale!
Congratulations on the recent sale. L/F
What a splendid goat! l/f
James W Johnson replied:
Thank you, Linda.
Nice piece. Congratulations
Congratulations on your sale!
Very handsome goat! Great work!!!
A really gorgeous goat! I love the fresh colour and fine detail. Brilliant!
Love it, especially the fine details!!!
Average Rating (5 Stars):
Ingrid Schmidt
July 21st, 2019
Vera Eastman
July 19th, 2019
James W Johnson was born and raised in Upstate NY and moved to Lubbock, Texas in 1978. He received an MFA from Texas Tech University in 1981 and has continued to live in Lubbock as a studio artist. While being primarily a painter, James has produced a complex body of work in a wide variety of mediums such painting, video, drawing, sculpture, etching, digital, mixed media and furniture. James W Johnson has participated in over 175 exhibitions worldwide. Living �outside� of the mainstream art world has allowed James to perfect his craft and independently pursue an impressive flow of ideas and images that defy categorization and present his observations about art and life from a unique perspective. More of James' art can be seen at...
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Nation & World
Syria's Nusra Front tries to show it's a different kind of al Qaida
Two al Qaida-linked rebel groups in Syria appear to be distancing themselves from each other in what may be an effort by the Nusra Front, which the United States has branded as an international terrorist organization, to remain relevant amid signs that major portions of the Syrian population are chafing under harsh rule by conservative religious fighters.
A series of incidents in which residents and fighters in rebel-held areas have protested what they say is a heavy-handed approach to a raft of issues have put Nusra and the other group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, on the political defensive even as the umbrella group of rebels that the West recognizes, the Free Syrian Army, comes under pressure by the United States to reduce the groups' influence.
"The jihadists are rightly worried that the U.S. will demand action against jihadists as a vetting bottom line. They talk a lot about the FSA being recruited by the CIA to fight them," said Joshua Landis, an associate professor at University of Oklahoma who's an expert on Syria.
When the Obama administration agreed last month to supply weaponry to the Free Syrian Army's Supreme Military Council, it quickly became clear that ensuring that those weapons didn't go to Nusra or the Islamic State was a major condition of the aid, which nevertheless has been slow to materialize. Adding to the tensions has been the killing by an Islamic State member of a commander from a pro-Free Syrian Army unit in the mountains along the Syrian coast, allegedly in a dispute over a checkpoint.
In an effort to tamp down the perception that the Free Syrian Army was powerless over these al Qaida-linked groups, a commander in the area said the Free Syrian Army had demanded an arrest. The Islamic State's response was to order the arrest and trial of the suspected shooter.
That hasn't yet happened. "There has been no reaction from his group," said Tasmim al Laathiqiyah, a member of the Khalwah Bin al Azwar Battalion, a rebel unit affiliated with the Free Syrian Army.
In another incident, disgruntled civilians in the northern city of Aleppo demonstrated over the weekend to protest Islamic State checkpoints that prohibited them from visiting government-controlled portions of the city.
The issue for Nusra is to not become the target of that bitterness. Nusra was created by veterans of al Qaida in Iraq, the jihadi organization that gained fame during the U.S. occupation of Iraq by opposing the American presence and later battling that country's Shiite Muslim majority in a bitter sectarian war.
Nusra's approach in Syria – many of its members are Syrians who fought against the American presence in Iraq – has been shaped by what happened to al Qaida in Iraq, whose harsh policies eventually turned Sunni Muslim tribal leaders against it. Once the tribal leaders rebelled, they joined with the United States to push the group out of Iraq's largest province, Anbar.
While the United States has said Nusra and al Qaida in Iraq are indistinguishable from each other – the U.S. designation of Nusra as a terrorist organization declared it to be simply an alias for al Qaida in Iraq – some analysts say Nusra has adopted more palatable policies, even as its leader, Abu Mohamed al Jawlani, has pledged allegiance to al Qaida and its leader, Ayman al Zawahiri.
Analysts and Free Syrian Army commanders in Syria say Nusra has avoided the grisly executions of regime figures and its suicide operations have generally been smaller than the massive attacks on civilian targets that al Qaida-style groups favor. They say it's clear Nusra wants to be thought of first as an organization that's fighting President Bashar Assad rather than one that's pressing an international radical Islamist program.
"It's always been obvious that Nusra has been presented as a Syrian organization dedicated to fighting the regime of Assad," said Charles Lister, an analyst with IHS Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Centre in London. "They've focused on fighting and assisting the population and have maintained they're open to local and national government policies. This is clearly part of the lessons they've learned in the past" in Iraq.
The al Qaida connections to Nusra and the Islamic State, whose membership includes many non-Syrians, were made clear in April, when Zawahiri intervened in a dispute between the groups over whether they were one group or two separate ones. That dispute arose after the Islamic State, which is headquartered in Iraq and is a successor organization to al Qaida in Iraq, announced that it and Nusra were one. Many in Nusra objected to the pronouncement, and to demonstrate its independence, Jawlani announced his allegiance to Zawahiri within days.
Zawahiri settled the dispute by decreeing that the two groups are separate and that Nusra's area of operations was Syria, while the Islamic State should operate primarily in Iraq.
Laathiqiyah, the Free Syrian Army official, said it remained unclear how independent the two groups were but that Nusra received less criticism from rebels and civilians alike.
"We no longer know (the difference), but what people say on the ground is that Nusra is better," he said. "We no longer know the truth, sadly."
Laathiqiyah also acknowledged that Nusra remains the most effective anti-Assad military force, spearheading most of the anti-Assad victories, a fact that's given potential international supporters of the rebels pause. "From a jihadi point of view, it seems to be that where there is (Nusra) there is progress in our favor," he said.
In the eastern city of Raqaa, which Nusra seized earlier this year, a Free Syrian Army commander reached by phone said the differences between the groups were abundantly clear and that the Islamic State had abused its power over civilians with summary executions that circumvented the area's concept of tribal justice.
"Two days ago, for example, a youth was held by (the Islamic State) and they executed him in front of the people without referring to the Shariah Commission that was in the city or even the military or civilian council in the city," said the commander, who calls himself Abu Bakr. "Now they are spreading pamphlets with prayer times."
Lister, of IHS Jane's, said that while the groups shared a nearly identical ideology, Nusra was trying hard to argue that it was different in an effort to compete for influence.
"How much they militarily coordinate is unclear in some cases but they're rivals in recruitment and for influence," he said. So far, the two groups haven't clashed with each other, he added, but the disagreement that broke out in April made it clear "that Nusra wants to be the only al Qaida group in Syria."


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Teacher resources and professional development across the curriculum
Teacher professional development and classroom resources across the curriculum
Teaching Strategies
Carey-Webb, Allen. Literature and Lives: A Response-Based, Cultural Studies Approach to Teaching English. Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English, 2001.
This book uses classroom anecdotes to illustrate reader response and cultural studies methods. The author makes numerous connections between canonical works and multicultural writers, popular culture, politics, history, and contemporary youth issues. It is full of useful information about literary scholarship and theory, and provides extensive annotated bibliographies for multicultural literature.
Lee, Carol D. Signifying As a Scaffold for Literary Interpretation: The Pedagogical Implications of an African American Discourse Genre. Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English, 1993.
Lee explores African American discourse patterns as they are enacted in conversation and African American literature, and discusses ways of facilitating African American students' literacy development through this discourse.
Lee, Enid; Deborah Menkart; and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Beyond Heroes and Holidays: A Practical Guide to K-12 Anti-Racist, Multicultural Education and Staff Development. Washington, DC: Network of Educators on the Americas, 1998.
This discussion of the ways in which school curricula promote racism includes practical ideas for transforming classroom instruction and school culture.
Olson, Carol B. Reading, Thinking, & Writing about Multicultural Literature. Glenview, Ill.: Scott Foresman, 1996. The California Writing Project put together this collection of 29 writing exercises, each one based on a text. Texts studied include The Bluest Eye, The House on Mango Street, Like Water for Chocolate, and The Joy Luck Club.
American Pictures
This multimedia presentation on racism and oppression is ideal for teaching reading through storytelling, and using pictures to address social and cultural issues.
Multicultural Education and Children's Picture Books
This resource explores multicultural education and children's picture books.
© Annenberg Foundation 2017. All rights reserved. Legal Policy


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One of the least credible aspects of "Draft Day" is that the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks hold the No. 1 overall pick.
As it turns out, veteran director Ivan Reitman desperately enlisted the Seahawks as a fallback option when the New York Jets dropped out of the movie at the last minute.
Jon Gruden Deion Sanders
Mike Mayock Chris Berman
Mel Kiper Roger Goodell
Rich Eisen Ray Lewis
Jim Brown Bernie Kosar
Phil Taylor T.J. Ward
D'Qwell Jackson Alex Mack
Ramses Barden Zoltan Mesko
To hear Reitman tell it, the Jets grew concerned about their own quarterback controversy with embattled incumbent Mark Sanchez -- fresh off the "butt fumble" incident -- in danger of being pushed out the door by freshly drafted rookie Geno Smith.
In the original script, the Jets trade the No. 1 overall pick to the Browns, passing up the opportunity to draft a can't-miss field general.
"They were having something of a quarterback dispute," Reitman said, per the Los Angeles Times, "and the team said that this is just going to incite our fans a little more to criticize us, even though it's all fictional."
As producer Ali Bell notes, the flick's storyline about front-office politics "might have hit a little too close to home" for some NFL teams.
An alternate explanation is that the Jets' priority was protecting their image as well as their fan base.
A source familiar with "Draft Day's" team-selection process has told ESPN New York's Rich Cimini that the Jets were hesitant to participate because the script portrayed their fans in a negative light.
These fans? Surely you jest.
What's the NFL Draft without Jets diehards expressing their displeasure with the team's high-profile blunders?
In the latest edition of the "Around The League Podcast", the guys discuss "Draft Day," then break down who got better (and who got worse) in the AFC East.


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The detailer ought to adjust to the necessities of the design drawings and with all business standards and protocols, which include People founded from the American Institute of Steel Development (AISC) as well as the American Welding Society (AWS). The detailer will likely be not responsible for structure, like structural energy, stiffness, and balance (which happen to be the duty of the structural engineer), main Proportions of your structure and compliance with related developing codes (that happen to be the responsibility with the architect).
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I am so glad that I've joined up with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics to get so classroom projects completed this summer! I am back with my third week. I actually completed more projects that I'm showing you this week, but this is all I've had time to photograph. I guess I save the rest of my goodies for next week's fun!!
Here is the Before---->
I found the really cute owl fabric at Hobby Lobby. I did injure myself in the making of this project! :( I know the owls on the bottom are facing the wrong way, but after all those staples, I was NOT about to pull them all out again!!! Maybe next year!! LOL It will still look great behind my group table!
Here is the After------>
On to the next project.......
My mom found this owl chalkboard on one of our summer Michael adventures. It was too plain so I decided to dress it up a bit!
Here is the Before----------->
I added some vinyl that I had on hand, took a couple of paint pens to the eyes, and added some ribbon!! What do you think?
Here is the After------>
Thanks for looking!! Let me know if you have any questions!!


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Published on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Yuki from MA says about Cran-Rose Mix, "This is the number one all time favorite!!"
Customer from Maine says about Full Foliage Wreaths: "This is an absolute favorite of all my buns. The leaves are devoured immediately and the wreath is enjoyed for days. They should sell these things by the case!"
Henx from Illinois, Review of Litterbox Screen & Litterbox Screen Kit: "This changed my life! I used to sweep the dining room 3 times a day because our little Bradley dug in his litter box ALL THE TIME and wasn't happy until the contents of it were all outside of the box...along with little puddles of pee! After many unsuccessful litter switches, box switches, etc. we finally had this screen recommended to us. The day it came home it went in his box and everyone has been much happier. He's happy that he doesn't have to be subject to dirty litter and I'm happy that I'm only cleaning once a day. It doesn't seem to hurt his paws (my major concern-he does like a thin layer of hay on top, but that could just be him being a pig)--he was sleeping in his litter box the other day! He never does this, so my worries were alleviated. No accidents either starting the day this screen was installed. Thank you!"
Customer from Chicago, Review of Bunny Surprise Bag: "I got these for my bunnies for their first birthday. They loved them and I loved watching them dig in. Every part became a toy. They are still fighting with what is left of the bag. Highly recommended."
Author: Computer Boy
Categories: Store, Announcements


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Who's the Boss? Your Data Center or You?
Whether it's ordering a last-minute Halloween costume from the comfort of your couch or being able to IM with colleagues on your flight to see family and friends this holiday season, we can all admit that "on-demand" access is an every day necessity. In much the same way, today's business users expect on-demand access to IT resources. And as those customer demands increase, more pressure is placed on IT infrastructure.
Everyone – from consumers to business users, from IT departments in large enterprises to service providers – are grappling with both the opportunity and challenge of managing the evolution of IT. It's hard to let go of the past and the old ways of managing our data – whether that's putting aside the family scrapbook for a digital library or adopting new management solutions to replace legacy systems in your data center. So, what's the trick? Find a solution that allows you to easily and seamlessly transition to this new operating model. Almost sounds too good to be true – but it's real.
To meet the complex demands of an ever-changing workforce and help our customers transition to IT-as-a-Service, we provide management software and infrastructure solutions to successfully adopt a cloud operating model. Cisco Intelligent Automation for Cloud, a Cisco Unified Data Center solution, preserves our customers' investment in their existing systems while helping them with this transition. Cisco Intelligent Automation for Cloud includes a self-service portal, service catalog and orchestration engine for automated provisioning. Cisco Intelligent Automation for Cloud manages cloud services across both virtual and physical infrastructures, with support for Cisco UCS, as well as heterogeneous IT environments.
One of our new service provider customers, Curaçao Technology Exchange (CTEX), just launched their new cloud services offering powered by Vblock Systems and Cisco Intelligent Automation for Cloud in the region's most advanced Tier-IV certified data center. Cisco and VCE are providing the underlying infrastructure for CTEX HyperCloud, giving CTEX customers an enterprise-class, high performance, and scalable cloud infrastructure platform for their mission critical applications. Read the press release here.
Cisco Intelligent Automation for Cloud complements VCE's Vblock Systems, which bring together server, network, and storage infrastructure products from Cisco, EMC and VMware into a flexible and scalable converged infrastructure system. The combination of these leading cloud management and infrastructure products provides CTEX customers with on-demand access to virtual data center capabilities – with a secure web portal to order cloud services, rapidly provision resources, and pay for what they consume.
Let's face it – the "on-demand," instant-gratification world we live in is not likely to change any time soon. If anything, it's become more pervasive, the pace is accelerating, and the demand on IT is increasing. If you aren't careful, an inefficient data center will begin to take control and slow you down. It's not too late though. Take a deep breath, stand up, and show the data center who's boss! Whether you build your own private cloud or work with a cloud service provider, it's time to move to a cloud operating model.
Learn more about how to tap into automation and get your data center working for you again!
In an effort to keep conversations fresh, Cisco Blogs closes comments after 60 days. Please visit the Cisco Blogs hub page for the latest content.


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Here's the cover for the contemplative computing book:
via flickr
Little, Brown spent a lot of time on it, and I think they've managed to communicate a lot in a very small, challenging medium. They were also really good about explaining the design choices, making clear that they thought worked, and accommodating those changes I thought would improve it (or explaining why they would be hard to implement).
So the machine chugs along, and we get one step closer to having a finished book on the shelves!


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I recently got a copy and shot some preview images of The Art of Todd Bratrud: Seen Unknown, the second installment in Mark Batty Publisher's Seen Unknown series, edited by Winston Tseng. The Seen Unknown artists series covers artists and designers whose work in various fields --from sneaker and apparel design to product packaging, posters, high-profile ad campaigns, and fine art galleries --are often recognizable, though their creators' names remain unknown--until now. (Back in March, I went to check out Marc McKee's show at HVW8 Gallery, whose book The Art of Marc McKee, was just released as the first part of the Seen Unknownseries.)
The Art of Todd Bratrud: Seen Unknown
Winston Tseng and Todd Bratrud
Publication Date: November 2011
Page Count: 96 pages
Size: 6.5 x 8.5 inches
A nice package from Winston and the folks at Mark Patty Publishers. Thanks for the book and catalog!
This fine book is filled with 96 pages from Todd's wild imagination, featuring his bold lines and eye-popping colors. It covers all of Todd's many art and design tentacles from work with his own companies, The High 5 and Teenage Runaway, to the best in the business, including The Skateboard Mag, Consolidated Skateboards, Flip Skateboards, Enjoi, Familia Skateshop, Burlesque Design, Volcom, Nike SB, Burton Snowboards, and Creature Skateboards. Oh yeah, did I mention that the book is only $19.95? A fine affordable price I might add.
There's way too much good stuff to take photos of . . . so here's a few from the book.
Inside cover (Consolidated and Familia skateshop boards) and back cover open up to reveal the many skateboards Todd has done. There's also a nice Intro by Geoff Rowley.
This is one of my favorites of his mini comics!
A great 'Outro' by Chris Nieratko. . . pretty funny one. Best line from that "Only assholes don't like pizza." Anyhow, buy an advance copy at your local bookstore or online bookstore or wherever for only $20 basically.
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No one knows how much New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick makes. We do know that his contract isn't going to end anytime soon.
Belichick's contract was to expire in 2013 after its renewal in 2007. Sources told NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport and NFL Media columnist Mike Silver that's no longer the case.
"He'll be coaching for a long time," the source told Rapoport.
Silver added Thursday on NFL Network's "NFL Total Access Kickoff": "He is not going anywhere."
Belichick never has liked publicly talking about his contract. But he's consistently expressed his love for his job, and his attention to detail never seems to wane. Some coaches appear to get weary at parts of the season. Belichick always is the same.
I always expected Belichick to stay until the end of Tom Brady's career, at least. Belichick knows better than anyone how hard it is to find a good quarterback.
The "Around The League Podcast" is now available on iTunes! Click here to listen and subscribe.