Above: Georgia P (right) just turned two and Lila Jane (left) is nearly five months old.
What an incredible year 2013 has been for us! We have too many blessings to count…
Lila Jane Parzen was born on Monday, July 22. She’s doing great, nursing like a pro and enjoying her big sister’s antics. She’s such an easy baby and such a joy to hold.
Georgia P is also doing great. She eats like a champ, now often using a fork, and just loves her pre-school, where she spends two mornings every week. She’s got SO MUCH personality and we’ve been having a blast teaching her new words (yogurt and bagel are recent additions to her vocabulary).
Both girls are super sweet and always have a coo, a smile, a laugh, and a hug to share.
Above: This has got to be my favorite photo of Georgia P. She LOVES going to restaurants and she loves eating. “People let me tell you about her, she’s so much fun…” (sung to the tune of the “Courtship of Eddie’s Father”).
Our social media, editorial, and marketing consulting business has done well again this year. And while we’re not out of the woods yet, there is light at the end of our financial tunnel.
We are so fortunate that our business allows Tracie P to be a stay-at-home mom. And there’s no doubt in my mind that the girls get their sweetness from her.
Above: Lila Jane’s personality is really starting to show. She’s a very mellow, easy-going child. And, wow, what a head of hair! We know she didn’t get it from her father!
The big family news is that we will be moving to Houston in early 2014.
We have loved living in Austin but right now, with a toddler and a newborn in the house, we really need the support of Tracie P’s parents, Rev. and Mrs. B: “bawbaw and nanna” play such an important role in the girls’ lives and with our move, they’ll be just two hours away instead of five (Orange, Texas, where they live and where they raised Tracie P and her sister, lies to the east of Houston).
The move will also save me a lot of time and money. I’ve been commuting weekly to Houston for my top client in Texas and our new home there will allow me to spend more time with the girls instead of on the road.
And of course, I have family in Houston, too. Cousins Joanne and Marty and Dana and Neil have been so supportive of us in so many ways. We’re looking forward to spending more time with them, as well.
Thanks so much to everyone who’s shared our joy with us this year. It means so much to us that you do.
We have many challenges ahead of us. But knowing that you are with us makes the road ahead seem less daunting…
There’s so much more to tell about our work, our music, and our dreams and aspirations for the coming year.
But all that matters is Lila Jane and Georgia P. They are the light and love of our lives. And not a day goes by that I don’t love Tracie P all the more for giving them to us…
May G-d bless you all and may your new year be filled with health and happiness.
Happy holidays, yall!
baci e abbracci
(hugs and kisses)


Battle of Krtsanisi
|Battle of Krtsanisi|
|Part of Persian invasions of Georgia|
The Battle of Krtsanisi by Severian Maisashvili
| Persian Empire
* Ganja Khanate
* Erivan Khanate
|Commanders and leaders|
| Heraclius II
|Agha Mohammad Khan|
|Casualties and losses|
15,000 captives (civilians) moved to Persia
The Battle of Krtsanisi was fought between the Qajars of Iran and the Georgian armies at the place of Krtsanisi near Tbilisi, Georgia, from September 8 to September 11, 1795, as part of Qajar Emperor Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar's war in response to King Heraclius II of Georgia’s alliance with the Russian Empire. The battle resulted in the decisive defeat of the Georgians and complete destruction of their capital Tbilisi.
Eastern Georgia, composed of the kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti, had been under intermittent Iranian suzerainty since 1555. However, with the death of Nader Shah in 1747, both kingdoms broke free of Iranian control and were reunited in personal union under the rule of the energetic king Heraclius II (Erekle) in 1762. In 1783, Heraclius placed his kingdom under the protection of the Russian Empire in the Treaty of Georgievsk. A limited Russian contingent of two infantry battalions with four artillery pieces arrived in Tbilisi in 1784, but was withdrawn, despite the frantic protests of the Georgians, in 1787. Despite being left to his own devices, Heraclius still cherished a dream of establishing, with Russian protection, a strong and united monarchy, into which the western Georgian Kingdom of Imereti and the lost provinces under Ottoman rule would all eventually be drawn.
The consequences of these events came a few years later, when a new dynasty, the Qajars, emerged victorious in the protracted power struggle in Persia. Their head, Agha Mohammad Khan, resolved to bring the Caucasus once more under the Persian orbit. Finding an interval of peace amid their own quarrels, the Persians demanded Heraclius II to renounce the treaty with Russia in return for peace and the security of his kingdom. Heraclius appealed then to his theoretical protector, Empress Catherine II of Russia, but he was not listened, leaving Georgia to fend off the Persian threat alone. Nevertheless, Heraclius II still rejected the Khan’s ultimatum.
In August 1795, Agha Mohammad Khan led his 35,000-strong army into the Caucasus, forcing the Khans of Ganja and Erivan into alliance. Having abandoned the siege of Shusha in the Karabakh Khanate, Agha Mohammad Khan marched directly on Tbilisi, and attacked the heavily fortified Georgian positions on the southwestern limits of the city. Abandoned by several of his nobles, Heraclius II managed to mobilize around 5,000 troops, including some 2,000 auxiliaries from neighbouring Imereti under its King Solomon II, a member of the Georgian Bagrationi Dynasty and thus distantly related to Heraclius II. The Georgians offered a desperate resistance and succeeded in rolling back a series of Persian attacks on September 9 and 10. After that, it is said that some traitors informed the Persians that the Georgians had no more strength to fight and the Qajars army cancelled their plan of going back to Persia, which they previously had. Early on September 11, Agha Mohammad Khan personally led an all-out offensive against the Georgians. Amid an artillery duel and a fierce cavalry charge, the Persians managed to cross the Kura River and outflanked the decimated Georgian army. Heraclius II attempted to mount a counterattack, but he had to retreat to the last available positions in the outskirts of Tbilisi. By nightfall, the Georgian forces had been exhausted and almost completely destroyed. The last surviving Georgian artillery briefly held the advancing Persians to allow Heraclius II and his retinue of some 150 men to escape through the city to the mountains. The fighting continued in the streets of Tbilisi and at the fortress of Narikala. In a few hours, Agha Mohammad Khan was in full control of the Georgian capital which was completely sacked and its population massacred. The Persian army marched back laden with spoil and carrying off some 15,000 captives.
On his return, Agha Mohammad was crowned Shah in 1796. Heraclius II returned to Tbilisi to rebuild the city, but the destruction of his capital was a death blow to his hopes and projects. To restore Russian prestige, Catherine II declared war on Persia and sent an army under Valerian Zubov to the Qajar possessions on April of that year, but the new Tsar Paul I, who succeeded Catherine in November, shortly recalled it.
Agha Mohammad Shah was later assassinated while preparing a second expedition against Georgia in 1797 and the seasoned king Heraclius died early in 1798. The next three years were a time of muddle and confusion, and the weakened and devastated Georgian kingdom, with its capital half in ruins, was easily absorbed by Russia in 1801.
- Lang, David Marshall (1962), A Modern History of Georgia, p. 38. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
- "Tiflis", in: Yust, Walter (ed., 1952), The Encyclopaedia Britannica - A new survey of universal knowledge. Volume 14, p. 209.
- Suny, Ronald Grigor (1994), The Making of the Georgian Nation, p. 59. Indiana University Press, ISBN 0-253-20915-3
- Tapper, Richard (1997), Frontier Nomads of Iran: A Political and Social History of the Shahsevan, p. 122. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-58336-5.
- Malcolm, Sir John (1829), The History of Persia from the Most Early Period to the Present Time, pp. 189-191. London: John Murray.


||This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2013)|
Itır Esen was born in Istanbul in 30 March 1957 and started out as a fashion model for the newspaper Milliyet. She acted in a popular TV series called "Aşk-ı Memnu" and made her film debut in "Bizim Aile" opposite Tarık Akan.
She got married with Turkish film director Yavuz Turgul and retired to acting. In the 2000s (decade) she came out of retirement to occasionally act in supporting roles. She is married with two children.
|This article about a Turkish actor or actress is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.|


Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Münzer, Thomas
MÜNZER, THOMAS (münt'ser), a leader of the Anabaptists (q. v.); born in Stolberg, in the Harz, about 1489. He studied theology, and in 1520 began to preach at Zwickau. His Christian socialism and his mystical doctrines soon brought him into collision with the Reformers and the town authorities. He thereupon made a preaching tour through Bohemia, Silesia, Brandenburg, and settled in Thuringia (1523). Again deprived of his office, he visited Nuremberg, Basel, and other S. German cities, and was finally in 1525 elected pastor of the Anabaptists of Mühlhausen, where he won the common people, notwithstanding Luther's denunciations of him, introduced his communistic ideas, and soon had the whole country in insurrection. But on May 15, 1525, he and his men were totally routed at Frankenhausen by Philip of Hesse. Münzer escaped from the battle field, but was captured in flight and executed in Mühlhausen, Prussian Saxony, May 30, 1525.


|Race to Witch Mountain
For years, stories have circulated about a secret place in the middle of the Nevada desert known for unexplained phenomena and
strange sightings. It is called Witch Mountain, and when Las Vegas cab driver Jack Bruno (Dwayne Johnson) encounters two teens with supernatural powers in his cab, he suddenly finds himself in the middle of an adventure he can’t explain. Working together, Jack and his young passengers
discover that the only chance to save the world lies in unraveling the secrets of Witch Mountain, and the race begins.
Walt Disney Pictures’ Race to Witch Mountain marks the Disney reunion of director Andy Fickman and Dwayne Johnson. This film is based on the book titled “Escape to Witch Mountain” by Alexander Key, as was the original film from the 1970’s. This picture is a modern day
re-imaging of the Key’s book, which was made into the aforementioned 1975 classic “Escape to Witch Mountain” and whose characters inspired the 1978 film sequel, “Return from Witch Mountain.”
This picture seemingly moves along because of all the chase scenes. Remember the A-team? In that all too familiar television show, the A-team kept running from the bad guys, yet they never really ever went anywhere. This movie falls into that category. Now, don’t get me
wrong here. There is substance to this movie. Unfortunately, due to all of the chase scenes, the film stops telling the story...over, and over, and over again. Chase scenes for the sake of something to do is never an excuse. Give the kids enough popcorn and they will love this film. The
adults? Well, folks, I just don’t have the energy.
Race to Witch Mountain
Starring: Dwayne Johnson & AnnaSophia Robb
Director: Andy Fickman
Now Showing: In area Theatres
MPAA Rating: PG
PINOCCHIO: Blu-ray - Disney
The legendary masterpiece that inspired millions to believe in their
dreams has reawakened with an all-new, state-of-the-art digital restoration that shines brilliantly on 2-disc DVD. Now, for the first time ever, the richly detailed animation, unforgettable award-winning music When You Wish Upon A Star; and heartwarming adventure-filled
story comes to life like never before. Plus, all-new dazzling bonus features transport you into Pinocchio’s fantastic world! Join Geppetto’s beloved puppet with Jiminy Cricket as his guide on a thrilling quest that tests Pinocchio’s bravery, loyalty and honesty, virtues he must learn to
become a real boy. The one and only Pinocchio will live on forever in the heart of anyone who has wished upon a star. The bonus features include Pinocchio Knows Trivia Challenge, All-New Making Of Pinocchio, The Sweat Box, and many more. Get your hands on this title as quickly as
THE BOONDOCK SAINTS - Fox
Fraternal twins Conner (Flanery) and Murphey (Reedus) MacMannus are on a mission from God to rid Boston of crime. However, instead of signing up for the police force, these hard-drinking Irish-American brothers take the law into their
own hands a la Charles Bronson in DEATH WISH. Heralded as saints by the city’s beleaguered residents, the brothers also attract the attention of Paul Smecker (Dafoe), the openly gay FBI special agent assigned to investigate the spate of killings amongst the ranks of the Russian mafia.
FAMILY TIES: Season Five - Paramount
Michael J. Fox catapulted into superstardom--and created one of the most beloved television characters of all time--in the 1980s sitcom Family Ties. Created by TV impresario Gary David Goldberg, the series offered a clever take on the
generation gap through the family interactions of two former ‘60s hippies, public-television producer Steven Keaton (Michael Gross) and his architect wife, Elyse (Meredith Baxter). Together, they struggle to retain their leftist ideals while raising three radically divergent children in
suburban Columbus, Ohio: tomboy Jennifer (Tina Yothers); ditzy mallrat Mallory (Justine Bateman); and, most notably, Wall Street Journal-reading young Republican Alex P. Keaton (Fox), who served as the series’ main comedic foil. A fun and warmhearted throwback to the greed-is-good
decade, Family Ties is resurrected in this collection of the series’fifth season.
DODES ‘KA-DEN - Criterion
Akira Kurosawa’s film is a sprawling social portrait of life in a Tokyo shantytown. A colorful array of down and out characters populate a cluttered dumpsite, where every day becomes a another protracted struggle just to survive.
Kurosawa skillfully intertwines a number of separate narratives into a moving panorama of tortured and suffering humanity.
MILK: Blu-ray - Universal
In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man to be voted into public office in America. His victory was not just a victory for gay rights; he forged coalitions across the
political spectrum. From senior citizens to union workers, Harvey Milk changed the very nature of what it means to be a fighter for human rights and became, before his untimely death in 1978, a hero for all Americans. Sean Penn stars as Harvey Milk under the direction of Gus Van Sant in
Milk, filmed on location in San Francisco from an original screenplay by Dustin Lance Black, and produced by Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen. Milk charts the last eight years of Harvey Milk’s life. While living in New York City, he turns 40. Looking for more purpose, Milk and his lover Scott
Smith (James Franco) relocate to San Francisco, where they found a small business, Castro Camera, in the heart of a working-class neighborhood. With his beloved Castro neighborhood and beautiful city empowering him, Milk surprises Scott and himself by becoming an outspoken agent for
change. With vitalizing support from Scott and from new friends like young activist Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch), Milk plunges headfirst into the choppy waters of politics. Bolstering his public profile with humor, Milk’s actions speak even louder than his gift-of-gab words.
SOUTH PARK: Season Twelve - Paramount
What began as a construction-paper film short evolved into a veritable pop-culture phenomenon for Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s outrageous animated comedy series South Park. Centered on the hilarious misadventures of four potty-mouthed
grade-schoolers in the perpetually wintry environs of South Park, Colorado, the series skewers the vagaries of the modern American cultural landscape with politically incorrect humor and satirical plotlines ranging from homophobia and terrorism to boy bands and talking poo. This
collection presents all the episodes from the long-running series’ 12th season.
BOB DYLAN: Never Ending Tour Diaries - MVD
Drummer Winston Watson performed 400 shows with Bob Dylan over five years, traveling the world 10 times over. Watson energized Dylan fans and Bob Dylan himself with his joyful and dynamic drumming style, as he helped launch Dylan’s
“Never Ending Tour” in 1992 that continues to this day. Winston Watson chronicled his incredible 5-year journey with Bob Dylan in daily personal diaries and in home video footage with his Video 8 camera. Now Watson shares it all in a never-before-told insider account, revealing
behind-the-scenes details of the thrilling and challenging journey as drummer for the legendary Bob Dylan. A skilled storyteller, Watson paints an intimate portrait of Bob Dylan’s band, life on tour, Dylan’s music, and the mercurial, brilliant Bob Dylan himself. In this in-depth, often
humorous portrayal of his years with Dylan, Winston Watson emerges as an ordinary guy who experienced the extraordinary. Bob Dylan Never Ending Tour Diaries is the personal tale of a starry-eyed drummer who reached the mountain top, and how it changed him forever!
BARNEY MILLER: Season Three - Sony
This classic television comedy, which ran on ABC-TV from 1975-1982, details the exploits of Greenwich Village police captain Barney Miller (Hal Linden) and his diverse group of coworkers as they deal with an endless stream of strange
characters--criminal and otherwise--on the job. Notable for a its stellar cast and smart, character-driven story lines, Barney Miller was a success with critics and audiences alike. The strong cast includes Abe Vigoda (whose character, Detective Fish, got his own spinoff series in
1978), Max Gail, Ron Glass, Jack Soo, Barbara Barrie, and Gregory Sierra. This set includes the entire third season.
AFRO NINJA DESTINY - Lightyear
Combining soul-searching drama with martial-arts action, Afro Ninja Destiny tells the story of Reggie (Mark Hicks), a mild-mannered postman who wakes up possessed by a warrior spirit. While he’s under the supernatural visitor’s spell,
Reggie becomes a taut, powerful fighting machine, and soon has the strength and courage to fulfill his destiny.


-Added fourth style
-Fixed size of third nixie
-Fixed the crash
-Added third style
-Mixed all in one app
-Converted digits images to jpg for lighter size
XDA Developers was founded by developers, for developers. It is now a valuable resource for people who want to make the most of their mobile devices, from customizing the look and feel to adding new functionality.
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When naming a handset after a city, phone manufacturers usually pick somewhere glamorous like Vegas or NYC. But Samsung’s executives have clearly spent too long drinking in one university’s infamous student union, because it’s rumoured the firm’s inked plans to call an upcoming phone the Preston. Bloggers over at website Omio …
Tokyo Joe's was never Preston's best nightclub - it was always full of school kids. And it was renamed several years ago after it acquired a rather downmarket reputation.
Not the town, the dog
I think the evil robo-dog in one of the Wallace and Grommit yarns was called Preston. That'll have been what was on Samsung's mind.
- Crawling from the Wreckage Want a more fuel efficient car? Then redesign it – here's how
- Review Xperia Z3: Crikey, Sony – ANOTHER flagship phondleslab?
- Human spaceships dodge ALIEN BODY skimming Mars
- Downrange Are you a gun owner? Let us in OR ELSE, say Blighty's top cops
- Ex-US Navy fighter pilot MIT prof: Drones beat humans - I should know


KCP&L Propose Rate Hike for Kansas City Customers
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A proposed rate hike could have Kansas City customers paying more than 15 percent on their electric bill. Kansas City Power and Light wants to increase rates by about 48 cents a day, or roughly $14.50 a month.
The company said the rate hikes are needed to maintain their facilities and to keep up with federal environmental mandates.
If passed, the rate hike will only affect customers in Kansas City, Mo., who are not in the former Aquila territory. However, KCP&L is requesting an increase in all the areas it services.
Click here to see a history of KCP&L rates.
The Missouri Public Service Commission will hold local public hearings in Kansas City and Lee’s Summit on Thursday. The public hearing schedule and locations are listed below.
- In Kansas City: Fletcher Daniels State Office Building, Conference Room 501, 615 East 13th Street. A PSC staff public information/question and answer session starts at 12 p.m. with the taking of sworn testimony to follow.
- In Lee`s Summit: Lee`s Summit High School, Lecture Hall, 400 Southeast Blue Parkway. A PSC staff public information/question and answer session starts at 6 p.m. with the taking of sworn testimony to follow.


The Katherine Heigl hate continues. New York magazine television writer Emma Rosenblum wrote an angry open letter to the Grey's Anatomy actress on NYM's Vulture blog today, in which she suggests that perhaps the material Heigl was given on Grey's did not "warrant an Emmy nomination" (as the Knocked Up star so publicly and rudely stated) because the writers were deliberately trying to screw her over. Regarding complaints that Heigl's character, Izzie, was exasperating and intolerable this past season, Rosenblum asks Heigl: "Have you ever thought that maybe the writers are incorporating your own personality into that of your character?" Some of you commenters suggested that last week as well. Wouldn't that be a wonderfully tricky stratagem of the writers? Burn her character to the ground. We're sure it's happened before...
Remember poor Brenda Walsh? She pouted and crooked-eyed her last after the Beverly Hills 90210 kids' first year of college. Shannen Doherty, who played the once innocent Brenda, was saddled with silly story lines about violent and criminal animal rights activism and a new dream of becoming a serious stage actress. She became the smoky loner, and, at the end of the season may have casting couched with her gross, Sheriff of Nottingham-esque drama teacher. Not a pleasant picture. The next season it was explained that Brenda was in England and wouldn't be back. Tiffani Amber-Thiessen moved into the house. End of story. Doherty is a notoriously difficult, tempestuous, and at times violent actress, so could the writers have been darkening-up Brenda to reflect their frustrations with Doherty? Mysteriously she was cast on another Aaron Spelling show a couple years later, the mesmerizingly bad Charmed, only to be handily dispatched after a couple of seasons. And why? For bad behavior.
Clashing with the behind-the-scenes creative folk is a good way to get axed from your show, whether it's done slowly (like in the possible case of Heigl/Izzie) or quick and painful. Rosemarie DeWitt, who played the hippie/beatnik mistress Midge on AMC's Mad Men, reportedly rubbed the show runners the wrong way and so her character was hastily written off. (Though, hm, IMDB says she'll be back in an upcoming episode). Ms. Heigl could learn a thing or two from these ladies (and many gentlemen, too) who foolishly bit the hands that fed them. Though maybe it's already too late. People tell me (you couldn't pay me to watch that odious piece of shit show) that Izzie was redeemed on Grey's by the end of the season, but maybe they're just giving her a swan song. Or, maybe, though the writers hate her, they were kindly reminded by execs that it kinda helps to have a budding movie star on your show, so all efforts to hold on to her should be made.
What do you think? Grey's watchers (why? why??), can this Izzie be saved?


Welcome to MTV Geek's daily round-up of all things GEEK from the weird, wild world of the web! Got a cool link? Share it with us on Twitter at twitter.com/mtvgeek!
- MAYBE IT'S KETCHUP? Looks like Logan's been doing a bit of killing in this "Wolverine" pic.
- WHAT THE...! Bruce Wayne's greatest enemy is Jim Gordon?
- SOLD OUT AGAIN! Dark Horse's "Star Wars" #1 sells out the the third time!
- VERONICA MOOLAH! The "Veronica Mars" Kickstarter is up to $3.6 million!
- OFFICIAL MASH-UP! Is the first official piece of Disney/Star Wars art post-Disney purchase?
- THE FIXER! Bryan Singer says he will fix a few things from "X-Men 3."
- LE MICKEY MOUSE! I love this French Mickey Mouse cartoon.
- COLLOSUS! Bryan Singer shows off his "X-Men: Days of Future Past" cast's head shots.
- LONG LIVE READER! Here are 5 Google Reader alternatives.
- JUST CUZ! Here's Freddy Mercury on Darth Vader's shoulders.
'Til tomorrow, gang!


Author Adventure Delayed Indefinitely
After talking to the other two members of Ghazzai Games we deemed that we simply do not have enough time to devote to Author Adventure for the foreseeable future. We are all students so we decided to spend the summer working on this game but, unfortunately, the scope of Author Adventure became too grand and we were unable to complete production in the three month timespan. Does this mean that Author Adventure will never be released? Not necessarily. I think we will use the code and assets created for it to make a new, better rpg, probably released next summer. Not a guarantee, but that is my plan.
As for me (Brian Paine, programmer) I am planning to continue working on games. I have a few ideas and will likely be setting up my own blog.
Thanks for caring enough to follow this blog and read this post, and hopefully we can give you the game you expected out of Author Adventure.


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- Taken by
- Gregory Harm
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- 0.08 Gigapixels
- Date added
- Nov 21, 2012
- Date taken
Multnomah Falls on the Columbia River Gorge
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"May I congratulate you on your website and the efficient way you do business ..."
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CNN PRODUCER NOTE giannantonio shot these photos over the last five years of peaceful Islamic protests in Italy, counter to what he sees as a widely-held belief in Western nations that Muslim immigrants are violent, or unwilling to integrate. 'Italy has always been a crossroad between Western and Eastern people,' he said. 'Indeed, 11 September 2001 opened a period of very strong resistance to other's cultures, over all Muslim culture, for the reasons that all know. Many parties have used the fear of Muslims as a key to access to government; Italy is one of this, the political party Lega Nord, for example.'
- jmsaba, CNN iReport producer
I honestly do not know if in other Western countries, Muslims manifest their opposition or their happiness for what happens on their land, for example recent Arab Spring or, in 2006, against cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad. Here, in Reggio Emilia, a small Italian town, Muslims can occur without problems. Italy has always welcomes anyone who behaves in an honest and respectful of our democracy. I photographed several manifestations of Muslim people in the recent years. Against all violence, in favor of peace and integration. It 's sometimes difficult to accept others, but we strive to do, if we truly want peace.
What do you think of this story?
Select one of the options below. Your feedback will help tell CNN producers what to do with this iReport. If you'd like, you can explain your choice in the comments below.
Be and editor! Choose an option below:


Pauli Girl and cheese pizza..loving the vegetarian lifestyle
Cool little place..all organic products
Nice day at the park..just finished 6.25 miles, boooyah
I’m fackin graduating college in 2 weeks!
So cold, my truck don’t know what to say.
Kickin’ it old school with snow leopard


Kukla's Korner Hockey
from the Edmonton Journal,
The axe fell in Phoenix not long after Barry Smith high-tailed it off the continent….
So why not hang around and help if things look so rosy?
“I wanted to run my own program. I’d gone with Scotty Bowman (in Detroit) for a long time and it was a tremendous experience,” said Smith. “I had the chance to work with Wayne for two seasons and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. He’s got to be the coach. He’s got to have the chance of doing more on his own.
“I want to do more of my own as well. It wasn’t as if we had different philosophies. I love the guy. I needed a chance to try my way.”
more on Smith and the World Championships…
I have been trying to avoid this topic, but time to chime in…
Hockey Canada officials will be summoned by a parliamentary committee in Ottawa to explain why they chose Shane Doan as Team Canada captain at a world hockey tournament in Russia.
At issue is a derogatory remark Doan allegedly made toward a French-Canadian linesman during a game in December 2005.
Living in the US, I have witnessed enough politicians getting involved in issues like this and I have always questioned their motive.
Aren’t there other topics they should really be concerned about?
from Scott Burnside at ESPN,
Having failed in their bid to extort great sums of money from NHL teams with the emergence of phenoms Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin, it appears Russian hockey czars are prepared to come in from the cold and sign a transfer agreement with their international colleagues, ESPN.com has learned.
thanks to a KK member for the tip in the KK Forums...
From the AP,
Canada’s Shea Weber was suspended Sunday for three games at the Hockey World Championship for hitting German forward Yannic Seidenberg in the head a day earlier.
“A three-game suspension in a tournament like this is awfully tough,” Canadian head coach Andy Murray said. “It’s the equivalent of a 40-game suspension back in the National Hockey League based on the number of games we’re playing here — but that’s what they decided and that’s what we’ll deal with.”
The Nashville Predators defenceman was ejected just 1:19 into Saturday’s Group C game, after forcefully elbowing Seidenberg in the chin as came through centre ice with his head down.
From AP via IHT,
Dallas Stars left winger Ladislav Nagy will not play for Slovakia at the world ice hockey championship in Russia because of a hip injury.
The 27-year-old Nagy, who scored 12 goals and had 43 assists this season, was ruled out with a hip joint injury, Slovakia’s ice hockey federation said Thursday in a statement.
from the Moscow Times,
It’s been 14 years since the Russian national team last won the World Ice Hockey Championship, but with Moscow hosting this year’s tournament there will never be a better time to end the drought.
For Russian fans, a championship would be especially sweet in a tournament the Soviet Union virtually owned for three decades.
From 1954, when it first took part, through to the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Soviets won 22 gold, seven silver and five bronze medals, failing to finish in the top 3 just once.
The international hockey scene has changed a lot since then, however, and Russia hasn’t been able to dominate the way the Soviet Union once did.
from Darren Dreger at TSN,
When it comes to Mike Keenan, the hockey world has learned to expect the unexpected.
With that in mind, Keenan is about to add a new chapter to his storied career by returning to hockey management, but not with a National Hockey League team, at least not for the moment.
Keenan, most recently a hockey analyst with TSN, has accepted the position of Senior Advisor to the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation.
from the Pittsburgh Penguins,
The hockey season will go on for some Pittsburgh Penguins.
Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and Sergei Gonchar will represent their countries at the IIHF World Championships in Moscow, Russia, at the end of the month.
Malkin and Gonchar will represent the home country, which opens play April 27 against Denmark.
continued... no mention of Crosby…
update 1:54pm, from the Pittsburgh Penguins,
The NHL’s Art Ross Trophy winner will not defend his World Championship scoring title for Team Canada at this year’s tournament in Moscow.
Crosby will sit out the tournament to let a broken bone in his left foot heal.
“It would have been a huge thrill for me to play for Team Canada again, especially in Moscow, which is a place I’ve always wanted to play,” he said.
from the Ottawa Citizen,
The federal Liberals want the Conservative government to push for a lineup change to Team Canada at the upcoming world hockey championship because of ethnic slurs that were allegedly made by a player toward a francophone referee more than a year ago.
The allegations, which sparked two lawsuits, revolve around an incident at a December 2005 NHL game involving Phoenix Coyotes forward Shane Doan and a francophone linesman. An NHL investigation absolved Mr. Doan of any wrongdoing.
from The Spin, the blog of Damien Cox of the Toronto Star,
Sidney Crosby’s NHL season is over, one in which he asserted himself as the league’s No. 1 drawing card and, quite probably, it’s most valuable player.
Most impressively, there really wasn’t a mis-step along the way. The Kid comports himself with class at every turn, even when being baited by Don Cherry or the fans of Montreal.
Now, with his sophomore season in the bag, Crosby faces a tricky decision.
Should he join Team Canada for the upcoming world championships in Moscow?
About Kukla's Korner Hockey
Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.
From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.
Email Paul anytime at firstname.lastname@example.org


WASHINGTON (AP) As a powerful force of U.S. bombers, warships and troops began moving to the Persian Gulf, President Clinton on Friday denounced Iraq's continued defiance of U.N. weapons inspections as intolerable.
Insisting that President Saddam Hussein can avert a devastating air attack only by rescinding his ban on the searches, Clinton said ''the Security Council and the world have made it crystal clear now that this is unacceptable.
''None of us can tolerate an Iraq free to develop weapons of mass destruction with impunity,'' Clinton said.
The force of additional heavy bombers, jet fighters and thousands of troops headed to the gulf in a muscular display of U.S. resolve that could point to air strikes to cripple Iraq's potential for developing and using nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
Saddam, in his first statement since halting the monitoring of all weapons sites Oct. 31, insisted that his ''just and balanced demands'' must be met an apparent reference to lifting an 8-year-old U.N. trade embargo and other economic sanctions.
But the White House brushed Saddam aside as promoting old and unacceptable proposals.
White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said there was ''nothing new and nothing positive or productive'' in what the Iraqi president had to say.
Tensions were growing in the crisis that has been building since Aug. 5 when Iraq prohibited inspections for nuclear, biological and chemical weapons that it is required to eliminate under Security Council resolutions.
Defense Secretary William Cohen, Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott and Nation-al Security Adviser Sandy Berger met at the White House late Friday to assess the situation.
They worked on refining options for the president, both military and diplomatic, spokes-man David Leavy said. He stressed that the diplomatic options basically concerned ''getting the message to Saddam.''
At the United Nations, cracks surfaced in the united front the Clinton administration had carefully constructed. China and Russia were working on proposals to delay an air strike and calling for another diplomatic effort to persuade Iraq to relent on the inspections.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan indicated he had no plans to mediate the crisis and is still waiting for Baghdad to resume cooperation with U.N. weapons inspectors. Annan urged the Iraqi leader to make ''a wise decision'' and resume cooperation with weapons inspectors before it's too late.
After a 41/2-hour meeting with the U.N. Security Council, Annan told reporters that all 15 members ''stress the desirability of a peaceful and diplomatic solution but events on the ground may be running away from us.''
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal ©2014. All Rights Reserved.


Currently, brand pages are tied to one admin account that has total control over the page and profile. This has been a point of frustration for social media managers who have multiple team members updating their company social profiles.
Until two weeks ago, when Google gave select third-party apps early access to the Google+ API, the only solution was for a team to share one login or for one person to maintain the Google+ page alone. These situations are less than ideal because they can cause security and workflow issues. When the social media management tools in the pilot program integrated Google+ posting, companies not using these tools were still at a loss. Even some social managers using one of the six select services with Google+ are struggling as they wait for the early Google+ API to iron out some kinks.
Sorensen and his team addressed other popular feature requests in the live Q&A. While scheduled posting and events integration seem to be up in the air, the Google reps said analytics, widely-available Hangouts on Air and mobile page management are in the works.
How might the multi-admin feature help your Google+ brand page? What other features are you most looking forward to? Tell us in the comments below.


29 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981
The Telecom Digest for May 15, 2011
====== 29 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======
Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
Internet. All contents here are copyrighted by Bill Horne and
the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other
journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are
included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address-
included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article
herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the
Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome.
We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. - Geoffrey Welsh
See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer, and other stuff of interest.
Date: Fri, 13 May 2011 09:51:19 -0400 From: firstname.lastname@example.org (Jim Bennett) To: email@example.com. Subject: Re: History Early Data transmission technical considerations Message-ID: <4DCD3757.firstname.lastname@example.org> On 2011-05-13 08:20, Robert Bonomi wrote: > In article<4DCC8263.email@example.com>, > Jim Bennett<firstname.lastname@example.org> wrote: >> >> Actually, I believe that Lisa and/or Jeff were pointing out that 1957 >> was a very early use of the term "bit." > > I suppose so, IF you forget about Nyquist in the 1920s, Shannon in the > 1940s, and everybody else in between. > > Nyquist was a "mark and space" man. He also used the term "signal element" a lot. The earliest known use of "bit" in a published paper was by Shannon in 1948, but he didn't coin the term. That honor goes to J.W. Tukey [a Massachusetts boy], who proposed that "bit" was an acceptable [and clever] contraction of the term "binary digit." It would be a good decade before the term was in common usage, with the BSTJ paper cited by Lisa and Jeff being an excellent example. Jim Bennett ****************************************************** Checking my facts in a secure undisclosed location.
Date: Fri, 13 May 2011 10:57:33 -0500 From: Neal McLain <email@example.com> To: firstname.lastname@example.org. Subject: New Bill Would Criminalize Illegal TV Show Streaming Message-ID: <4DCD54ED.email@example.com> Currently, felony status only applies to uploads and downloads By John Eggerton -- Multichannel News, 5/12/2011 A bipartisan trio of Senators Thursday introduced a bill that would make illegally streaming TV shows or movies a felony. The bill (S. 978) was introduced by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Christopher Coons (D-Del.), and came the same day that Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) re-introduced a bipartisan bill to give the government more tools to shut down Web sites that traffic in stolen intellectual property, including TV shows and movies. http://tinyurl.com/3zq7sxk
Date: Sat, 14 May 2011 13:57:48 -0700 From: AES <firstname.lastname@example.org> To: email@example.com. Subject: Great undersea fiber optic cable graphic/panorama Message-ID: <firstname.lastname@example.org> For anyone interested in undersea fiber optic cables, particularly in teaching or giving talks about them, there's a great scannable panoramic cartoon/graphic illustration at http://www.tycotelecom.com/process.aspx (Try blowing up the window to the full width of your display, adjusting its top and bottom margins until the text is all gone, then dragging back and forth the little indicator that runs across the bottom.) If anyone knows of a way to capture or download the whole thing, I'd be glad to hear about it.
TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecom- munications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to Usenet, where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Bill Horne. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. The Telecom Digest is moderated by Bill Horne.
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CS497: Real Time Computer Graphics
2:00-3:15 Tue/Thu in 106B3 Engineering Hall
Class Web site: http://graphics.cs.uiuc.edu/~garland/class/realtime/
Many of the most common computer graphics applications — games, visual simulation, virtual environments, design visualization, etc. — rely on advanced algorithms to achieve the real time, interactive display of visually complex environments. In this course, we will explore some of these advanced techniques in geometric modeling, rendering, and simulation. The course will concentrate on current and recent research. Special emphasis will be placed on hierarchical geometric representations of surfaces that enable efficient processing of large datasets. Students should have taken the prerequisite course (CS 318) or have an equivalent background. An existing knowledge of OpenGL is assumed.
Papers This course is a research seminar; it is focused on reading and understanding papers drawn from the research literature. We will generally cover 1-2 papers per class. These papers will be handed out in advance, and you will be expected to have read them before coming to class. For each paper, you will be expected to send me a brief summary prior to class. First, you should describe the key points of the paper in 2-3 sentences. Then, you should write down the biggest question you have about the paper; this may be something you didn't understand or that you feel the authors didn't adequately address. E-mail this little write-up to me at email@example.com and put the corresponding class date in the subject line. Your summary is due by 12:00 p.m. of the day on which that paper is being discussed.
Presentations Each of you will be expected to give 1 or more in-class presentations on the papers we will be reading during the course — the exact number will depend on enrollment. Presentations should be about 30 minutes long and should cover the most important material described in the paper. These presentations account for a significant part of your final grade. I expect more than just an outline of the paper. For instance, you should take the time to read any important related papers so that you can explain how this method fits into the overall scheme of things. Failure to do this will result in a grade with which you are not satisfied.
Projects There will be 3 programming project assignments over the course of the semester. The first 2 will be individual projects where the implementation goals are specified by me. The final project will be a group term project. You will work in groups of 2-3 on a project of your choosing. I will provide some suggestions for possible projects, but you will be free to come up with your own as well. In either case, I must approve the details of the project you intend to pursue.
Final grades in this course will be based on in-class participation and performance on the course projects. There will be no exams. Grades in the individual areas will be weighted as follows:
I will total grades as indicated by the weighting scheme above. Each student will have earned some percentage of the total possible points. This percentage will determine a minimum guaranteed grade, as indicated in the following table:
This table indicates minimum guaranteed grades. I may select more generous ranges if appropriate (e.g., by lowering all cut-offs by 2 points).
Please remember that students are bound by the University honor code on academic integrity in regard to all work related to this course. Any student found to be violating this code will be subject to disciplinary action.
This course will be using the Windows NT workstations located in the CSIL labs in rooms 1265 DCL and L416 DCL. All the machines in 1265 and those machines in L416 labeled as graphics machines have 3-D graphics accelerators. Other CSIL machines do not have 3-D graphics hardware and will probably be too slow to comfortably run your projects. I recommend using the machines in 1265 as they have superior graphics cards to those in L416. If you registered for this course, an account should have been created for you on these machines.
Last modified: Thu Aug 23 09:35:29 CDT 2001


Miami-Dade police are investigating a double shooting in Southwest Miami-Dade.
An unresponsive plane flying over the Caribbean crashed off the island of Jamaica on Friday afternoon, according to Federal Aviation Administration officials.
A group of community dignitaries and members gathered Wednesday to honor the life of a 13-year-old student who was accidentally fatally shot while on a school bus in 2012.
Authorities are looking for two people who robbed a FedEx worker while he was delivering packages in Homestead on Thursday.
Florida Governor Rick Scott and Former Governor Jeb Bush visited a South Florida business Friday in an effort bring more awareness to the workforce.
A veteran Miami-Dade police sergeant bonded out of jail and is now under house arrest. James H. Edwards III is facing charges after allegedly bringing a teenage boy to his home and trying to take advantage of him.
Nora Sandigo is a mother of two, if you don’t count the 817 children for whom she considers herself to be a guardian.
Miami-Dade County has partnered with the Air Force Reserve to help reduce the infestation of mosquitoes in the area by aerial spraying.
A new National Park Service report says more than 2.5 million people visited the national parks in South Florida last year.
Two South Florida dog owners are asking for the public’s help after four Great Dane puppies were stolen from a Homestead backyard.


Okay after a long hiatus, I've decided to get Sketched Out Monday back into swing. Now I know you're saying that it is Tuesday...well since I just decided this moments ago...and I didn't want to wait another 6 days to post...you get it on Tuesday.
So today I offer you a couple of images from my Maui trip at the beginning of the year. This first dude is what I call:
For those who don't know what a Menehune, they are basically Hawaiian leprechauns or fairies who live deep in the forest away from human sight. It is also said that if they start something they have to finish it in one night (elves and cobbler). For the most part they are benevolent...but once in awhile...you get someone like the guy above.
He's the god of fertility, harvest and rainfall. Like most Hawaiian tiki images, they are often more benevolent than they look.


Advanced statistics help give us a better understanding of how a team and its players performed, and it’s time to take a look at some advanced and basic statistics that give some more perspective about the New England Patriots 29-26 win over the New York Jets.
1. Tom Brady was second among all quarterbacks in WPA last week with a .68 mark (Eli Manning was first), which shows just how big of an impact Brady had in winning the game. WPA is significantly weighted towards clutch plays, and Brady was certainly clutch and made key throws in a classic Brady-like performance in crunch time. He didn’t have the best rate statistics, but anyone who watched that game knows that he was clearly the Pats best player on offense.
2. Mark Sanchez went 11-14 when targeting the middle of the field, including a 23-yard pass to Dustin Keller and a 24-yarder to Jeremy Kerley. The Patriots need to tighten up their coverage in the middle of the field, because Sanchez absolutely devoured them in that regard. He was actually at his worst when throwing it to the left side of the field going 6-11 for just 54 yards.
3. Danny Woodhead only averaged 2.8 yards per carry, but he caught all four passes thrown at him and finished the game with a solid 54.5% success rate, which measures the percentage of Woodhead’s plays which were successful based on down and distance. Even when his rushing statistics aren’t the best, he still manages to do well based on down and distance stats. Remember, Woodhead had the last two plays for a gain leading up to the two field goals by Stephen Gostkowski to put the Pats in field goal range. I hope that didn’t go unnoticed by too many people.
4. Need any more reason to be impressed by Sebastian Vollmer’s play? He deserves your All-Pro vote and showed it by helping Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen notch 16 and 12 yard runs respectively when running it off the right tackle. It’s too bad the Pats ran it more towards the left side than the right.
5. It was certainly a game of tight ends. Dustin Keller led the league in WPA and EPA this league, while Gronk was second in both stats. Aaron Hernandez finished 2nd in WPA and 6th in EPA.
6. Rob Ninkovich finished the game with six successful plays, including four tackles and a game-winning fumble forced. He had two hits on the QB and 1.5 sacks as well. Ninko shut down the run all day long and was one of the most valuable defensive players this week.
7. Brandon Spikes finished the game with ten tackles, including three tackles to stop passing plays short in the middle of the field and a handful of key tackles in run defense. Running it up the middle is no easy task against the Pats, and the Jets averaged just 3.2 yards per carry when running it up the heart of the Pats defense. Vince Wilfork finished the game with six “successful” plays as well to help the cause.
You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.
Tags: New England Patriots


Corporate Funding Direct Compliment - The service is worth every penny I invested
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA -- Few months ago, I wanted to start a business but like most new entrepreneurs, I had no fund to start it off. I needed around 10,000$ to buy all my equipments and etc. I tried several banks for loans but got rejected every time because of my personal credit score. After got refusal from several banks, I decided to forget about doing any business.
But then I happened to meet one of buddy from high school and he was telling me how he got funded so easily from bank even though he had a bad credit history as well. Then I was too curious to know how he made it and it was then for the first time he told me about Corporate Funding Direct.
I was visiting their site: http://www.corporatefundingdirect.com and then subscribe to their service. I was lucky enough to find this service, they helped me a lot in terms of getting the fun, they taught me what do I need to do in order for me to get business loans. I think this is what all entrepreneurs need to know.
At first, I was not so confident that I would get the loan but I still wanted to give it a try either way. But they kept telling me that I would get the money if I follow their advice and which I did for a month.
Then like a month and a half later, I got a letter on my mailbox from a bank stating that I do qualify for 10,000$ business loan. And on top of that this credit has nothing to do with my personal credit whatsoever.
I was just amaze that how their service helped me get the fund so quickly. I am not saying that they will get you 1M $ in a day but they will do all the genuine trick to help you fund your business. They know what to do and they strongly believe in their service.


Prerequisite Reading: previous “Stack Pivoting” article
Cyber security seems to be an arms race between attackers and defenders (in addition to the arms race between nations). Every time defenders devise a new mechanism to defend computers and mitigate exploits, attackers seem to find a way around it. Such was the case with DEP (Data Execution Prevention). Defenders used this mechanism to prevent execution from regions of memory that were supposed to contain data only rather than code. This was supposed to prevent attackers from executing shellcode from memory structures such as the program stack or the heap. To bypass DEP, the ROP exploitation technique was devised. It is similar to the idea of Ret2LibC .
ROP works by taking advantage of the fact that the attacker can manipulate program execution control data. In this technique, the attacker injects a fake call stack and executes a “stack pivot” (see prerequisite reading) to pivot to it. The call stack can be thought of as recording the causality chain  that specifies how execution got to its current position (ie which functions called which functions in order to get to the current function). When returning from the current function, the normal call stack serves the purpose of controlling where the execution will return to. For example with the normal stack, the immediate return address is supposed to be in the function that directly called the currently executing function. Rather than pointing in the functions that are part of the current causality chain, each return address in the fake call stack points to what is known as a “ROP Gadget”.
A ROP Gadget is any “useful instruction(s)” to an attacker followed by a return instruction. The instruction(s) that are considered “useful” depend on the vulnerability the attacker is trying to exploit. The return instruction gets the next value off of the attacker controlled call stack, which in turn points to the next ROP Gadget to be executed. One crucial property of a ROP gadget is that it must be at a predictable address in memory every time the vulnerable program is executed, so the fake call stack can accurately point to the intended ROP gadgets. A stack pivot gadget is a subset of the more general ROP Gadget in that the useful instruction(s) of a stack pivot gadget switches the value of the ESP register from the real stack to the fake stack. Examples of the stack pivot instructions are given in the prerequisite reading. Here are some examples of general ROP gadgets:
- push EAX
- pop ECX
- sub EAX, 4
- pop EBX
xor EAX, EAX
- add ECX, 8
ROP exploits work because the attacker tricks the machine into using attacker controlled program control data which is injected into a page that’s not necessarily executable. This technically is allowed even with DEP enabled because the fake call stack bytes injected by the attacker are technically not being executed. Rather, they are just controlling where execution of the CPU will go next. In some sense, the attacker is actually turning the process’s address space against itself by using instructions already present in executable sections, but just executing them in different orders to achieve the attacker’s intentions. Often the end goal of ROP exploits is to make executable a currently non-executable region in memory, so that shellcode that has been injected into that region can be executed. This requires a return address on the fake call stack to contain a pointer to a function (such as VirtualProtect) along with the required parameters.
The execution of a ROP exploit looks similar to the following once the fake call stack is injected in memory:
- Execute stack pivot gadget to pass control to the fake call stack
- Execute a ROP Gadget at the top of the fake callstack
- Execute “useful instruction(s)"
- Execute a return instruction
- If the next return address is another ROP gadget, goes back to step 2.1
- Else if the next return address is a function, executes that function using parameters that are on the fake stack
Above, step 2.2.1 is implicitly “goto step 2.1” if the return address points to another ROP gadget. This forms a repetitive chain, also known as a “ROP Chain”. A function can be executed if the fake call stack contains the function address and the required parameters (step 2.2.2).
An example of a ROP exploit follows. A local variable buffer on the stack has already been overflowed and the return address of the current stack frame has been overwritten with the address of the below stack pivot gadget. That function has already returned to the stack pivot gadget below and the stack pivot instruction below has already been executed.
Stack Pivot Gadget:
c3 ret //EIP points here. This is the next instruction to be executed
Fake Call Stack:
|Fake Call stack right before "ret" instruction of the stack pivot gadget is executed|
Defenders created DEP to stop shellcode execution from data-only regions of memory. Attackers created ROP to bypass DEP. Then, Defenders created ASLR to stop ROP exploits. And so the cyber security arms race goes on and on…


Here’s a first look at some of Dunderdon’s AW09 outerwear. We’ve got the rest of the collection, but we’d break the internet if we posted it all at once. When we think of winter dressing, we think of great coats. The right one can smarten up or casual down (that’s not a real phrase, but we like it) any outfit and Dunderdon have the right mix to satisfy our needs. If there was one knock against this collection, it’d be the styling, but the pieces themselves would suit any number of looks.
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Name: Ann Jaroski
Family: Two children, ages 6 and 8
Years of service as a volunteer: 3
Favorite volunteer activities: I try to help out at the St. Francis Soup Kitchen every Tuesday that fits into my schedule, my children also volunteer each summer they help the elderly and handicapped carry their trays to the tables, as well as serve beverages, take down tables and chairs and run the dishwasher.
Tell about a volunteer experience: Three years ago a few friends of mine started a soup kitchen at the St. Francis Catholic Church in Merrill. Each and every Tuesday there would be a home-cooked meal with bread and either fresh fruit or vegetables served up to anyone who came for free. It was such a huge undertaking; I felt the need to help them help others. But it turned out that it wasn't such a daunting task after all. People from church and the community volunteered to sign up each week. There was never a week that went by when the soup kitchen was short staffed. Everyone was in on the secret: It feels good to volunteer. Most often we're having too much fun to notice the amount of work that's getting accomplished! And when the people arrive to be fed, there's a true sense of community and family.


Patti Ann's Baton Twirling, listed under "Baton Twirling Instruction" category, is located at 22204 Old Fossil Rd San Antonio TX, 78261 and can be reached by (210)497-4343 phone number. Patti Ann's Baton Twirling has currently 0 reviews.
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You Stupid Man
|Running Time: 94 mins.|
|Genre: Comedy, Romance, Romantic Comedy|
All Cast & Crew >>
Summary:A man cannot get over his former girlfriend who moved to Los Angeles to become a television star. When he finally falls in love with a friend who has been helping him get over his ex, the former girlfriend's show gets cancelled and she becomes determined to win him back.


It’s a widely held belief that a talented leader is the key to a successful school. Research shows that highly effective principals put a student’s achievement gains two to seven months ahead in a single school year—while weak leaders slow a student’s progress by the same amount.
But how can schools attract and retain good principals? One education-policy think tank suggests that part of the answer may be making the role more like an executive and giving each principal a $100,000 salary raise.
A new report, released Tuesday by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, says too many U.S. principals lack the capacity to lead. After tracking five urban districts across the country—nearly all of which had tried to improve principal hiring practices in recent years—the study concluded that being a principal is a high-pressure, grueling, and underpaid job, where responsibilities significantly exceed authority. At a time of intensifying testing standards, when U.S. students are falling behind their international peers, schools need top-rate leaders more than ever. But inadequate salaries and limited power over key hiring decisions make the job an increasingly tougher sell. Unsurprisingly, good principals tend to come and go.
Fordham’s solution: Stop viewing principals as “glorified teachers” and more as “executives with expertise in instruction, operations, and finance.” To that end, principals should earn considerably more than other school staff who have less responsibility. And like all effective managers, principals need the ability to build a leadership team, so their duties—from academics to discipline—don’t overwhelm them. Make principalship a “phenomenal career,” the argument goes, and great people will apply.
“Todays principals are in a senior management position,” says Dr. Chester E. Finn, Jr., a former assistant secretary of education under Ronald Reagan and president of the Fordham Institute. “Demands are placed on them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They are the CEO of the school. As in any other field, if you want qualified people, you are going to have to pay principals commensurate with the job that they currently have.”
Much has changed over the last 20 years, he explains. Above all, the principal is now judged by student achievement and faces cascading sanctions and interventions if a school doesn’t hit certain proficiency metrics. The data burden is huge, and the sheer number of decisions can be overpowering. Which child has to go to summer school? Which reading program needs to be replaced? Which teacher needs additional professional development?
“Layer on top of that, school choice. Kids and parents have a variety of mechanisms if they aren’t satisfied,” says Dr. Finn, who sees a talent problem particularly in small towns, where it’s hard to attract superstars in education. “So now it’s also the principal’s job to potentially market the school to various constituencies and then, given tight budgets, principals also have to be fundraisers with local businesses some of the time.”
However, he warns, raising a principal’s pay alone won’t attract a new generation of leaders. Giving each principal a $100,00 raise—something he believes the country can afford, as it will amount to less than 2 percent of the K-12 school budget—goes hand in hand with giving them more professional respect and autonomy. “Who wants to be a top notch leader in a low notch job?” he says. After all, private schools already compensate headmasters like executives, as do private and public universities.
Ironically though, in many districts aspiring teachers take a pay cut on their way to the principal’s office. “It’s not uncommon for principals to have to become an assistant principal first,” says Daniela Doyle, a senior consultant with Public Impact and co-author of the Fordham study. “Often it’s not that the base pay is lower, it’s that teachers are eligible for supplemental pay through special duties they can assume or national board certifications.” Above all else, Doyle found the five school districts struggled with principal placement because they don’t really recruit. “There are great principal candidates falling through the cracks,” she says. “Schools did very little to actively find people. They often just advertised a position, sitting back and waiting for the talent to come to them, which we know from other sectors isn’t usually an effective strategy.”
And without broader recruiting initiatives—especially in smaller cities and rural districts—raises won’t necessarily attract better applicants. As Dr. Eric A. Hanushek, senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and co-author of the 2013 study School Leaders Matter, cautions, increased salaries alone may not have a “huge effect” on the supply of potential principals because leaders are typically drawn from the local pool of teachers anyway.
“In many small towns, the educators are already in the top quartile of college earners,” explains Todd Whitaker, professor of educational leadership at Indiana State University and author of the book What Great Principals Do Differently. “There’s no question that principals are underpaid. But a number that might make sense in New York City just isn’t the problem hiring in Missouri,” says Whitaker, who believes most principals would rather have a full-time assistant than a hefty raise. “It’s not necessarily even the hours. It’s the intensity. The truth is, if we gave principals an assistant or a lot more money, we probably end up giving them increased responsibilities and we’re right back where we started.”
In other words, one way to fix the leadership shortage may be not increased salary, but additional funding for assistant principals, school counselors, and other administrative support staff. Principals are like all people with high responsibility, according to Kate Rousmaniere, professor of educational leadership at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio and author of The Principal’s Office: A Social History of the American School Principal. They work better in teams, where they can share the workload.
But while there’s certainly a “you-get-what-you pay-for” aspect to any profession, educators don’t necessarily correspond neatly to executives. Generally, bonuses work, so long as they don’t cause principals to focus on certain criteria at the expense of their job as a whole, according to Jesse Fried, professor of law at Harvard and co-author of Pay without Performance: The Unfulfilled Promise of Executive Compensation. “People going into teaching are obviously not motivated solely by the prospect of financial gain,” he says. “[But] if society substantially underpays principals, many good people will not seek these jobs or stay in them.”
The task, then, is to strike the right balance. How much should we pay principals to attract new talent, and how much additional support do they need to meet the demands of the modern job? How do we make the role more appealing to promising candidates without pouring more money into retaining ineffective people already in place? “If policymakers are serious about figuring out which pay arrangements for principals are optimal,” proposes Fried, “they should try to run several pilot programs, each with different arrangements, and then try to learn from this experiment.”


Clean energy accounts for over half of Europe's energy production, led by France and Germany
- 19 February 2014
LONDON: Clean energy sources accounted for over half of Europe's primary energy production in 2012, according to data just released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
Energy produced domestically by the 28 EU member states amounted to 794 million tons of oil equivalent (Mtoe), with nuclear energy leading the way with a 29% share in 2012. Renewable energy production which includes biomass, hydropower, geothermal energy, wind energy and solar energy took second place with a 22% share of overall European energy output, meaning that combined, clean energy produced over half of EU's energy production.
These findings come just weeks after the EU announced the binding target of 27% renewable energy by 2030, as well as a 40% reduction on 1990 greenhouse gas emission levels.
France and Germany leading Europe
France played the main role in EU energy production in 2012, followed closely by Germany, the UK, Poland and the Netherlands. Together these five states produced 64% of total energy in the EU.
Nuclear energy was a dominant power source for France and Germany, with the former nation producing 48% of the EU’s nuclear energy. Both countries were also at the forefront of renewable energy production within the EU block.
Similarly, in 2012, 19% of Europe’s renewable energy was developed in Germany, and 20% of Europe’s renewable power came from Sweden and Italy.
Energy consumption falls
EU energy consumption for 2012 stood at 1680 Mtoe, a decrease of 8% on 2006's level, with 24 out of 28 member states decreasing inland energy consumption during the time frame examined. This reduction signals a return to the energy consumption levels of the early 1990s, which in 1990 amounted to 1670 Mtoe.
In 2012, Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Spain were the five largest consumers of energy, and combined they account for 64% of total EU28 energy consumption.
Denmark a net exporter
However, the energy dependence rate within EU remained quite high, standing at 53%. Of the 28 member states, Malta was the most reliant on external energy sources, importing a shocking 100% of its energy. States such as Luxembourg, Cyprus and Ireland were also notable for their high levels of energy dependence.
In 2012, the only member state which was a net exporter of energy was Denmark.
Image by Moyan Brenn
By Alana Ryan


Equity traders paused for breath on Wednesday as softer commodity prices knocked miners and energy stocks, helping to break the FTSE 100's recent winning streak.
The bluechip index closed down 26.2 points, or 0.5%, at 4890.6, having risen for the six previous sessions in a row.
Chilean copper miner Antofagasta was one of the biggest fallers after it posted lower-than-expected first-half earnings. It also sounded a note of caution on metals prices after their improvement over the first half.
"Given the likelihood of significant stock-building in China so far this year, increased levels of financial investment in commodities compared with the second half of last year and weak demand to date in the developed world, the direction of commodity prices in the short-term remains uncertain," the company said.
Its shares ended down 4.8% at 752p. With commodity traders seeming to share Antofagasta's wariness about the near-term outlook, metal prices eased and Rio Tinto, Xstrata, Lonmin and Kazakhmys were also among the FTSE 100's biggest fallers.
Further down the market, IT services company Parity Group stood out as its shares surged higher. The company has been in demand of late, rising 41% since news a week ago that founder and former chairman Philip Swinstead had taken his stake in the company to above 17%. Parity declined to comment on Wednesday's 24% rise in the share price to 20.5p and Swinstead could not be reached for comment.
Newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror climbed 8.2% to 138p on news it is considering making the Birmingham Post into a weekly paper as it fights to head off the impact of falling advertising revenues. Analyst Jonathan Barrett at Singer Capital Markets, commented:
"The implication from this news is that Trinity Mirror will not only surpass its own recently increased cost reduction guidance (£35m structural) but probably exceed the £40m we forecast back in February."
Cost cutting was also a central theme in Lamprell's results. Times are tough in the rig refurbishment and offshore construction business and the oil services company has seen its order book halve to $417m as at July 31 from $818m last August. The company says it is slashing costs to cope with market conditions but its net profits still suffered a 40% slump in the first half. The shares fell early on but recovered to close 0.5% higher at 140.75p.
Civil engineering and construction group Costain fell 10.7% to 31.25p as a 32% drop in first-half pre-tax profits to £6.9m overshadowed a rise in the interim dividend to 0.275p and a record order book of £2.5bn.
Software maker Inspired Gaming continued its dramatic ascent on the back of a deal with games provider ROK 8 for some of its mobile games - a contract that traders say makes it an even more attractive acquisition target. The Burton-on-Trent-based company, which last month announced it had received a "very preliminary" approach, closed up 73% at 12.75p, having risen 58% on Tuesday, following the ROK announcement.


IBM Corp. says it has perfected a technique for making faster transistors, opening the door to advanced microprocessors.
The advance, to be reported this week at a conference in Washington, will make long-sought "double-gate" transistors economical in chip manufacturing within five years, said Bijan Davari, IBM's vice president of semiconductor development. As a result, chip performance probably will improve by 30% to 100%, Davari said.
Double-gate transistors help speed and control electrical flow across tiny gaps that create on-off switches so microprocessors can compute.
While advances in materials and chip design continue to produce faster chips, finding economical ways to manufacture the new designs has often been a stumbling block.
Today's chips can hold millions of transistors, each an on-off switch using a single gate to control electron flow. As transistors have shrunk, scientists have found that electron leakage often allowed the transistor to stick in the "on" position.


Name: Emily Wolfe
Featured track: "Lion Heart" from Director's Notes
City of origin: Austin, Texas
In one sentence: "[A] transcendent songstress, we’re shown the ease with which Wolfe can slip from delicate folk and slide effortlessly into a more aggro atmosphere." - MTV.com
Why we chose her: After years spent skirting the edge of fame, we have every belief that 2014 is Wolfe's year to shoot to super stardom. In 2012, Wolfe self-released her first album Director's Notes which was featured in heavy rotation on KUT and, later, KUTX. The following year, the singer-songwriter released two EPs: Mechanical Hands and Night & Day. In February, Wolfe released a single entitled "Swoon" which many, including MTV, are applauding as a dynamic departure for the Austinite.
SXSW official showcase: 11 pm on Thursday, March 13 at Esther's Follies.


Wednesday, September 21, 2011
There were quite a few memorable brands at BlogHer 2011. Some were old favorites and others were new discoveries. Of the new discoveries, I have to say that none of them were quite like EdenFantasys. They got my vote for the most outrageous (in a good way) party at BlogHer '11, as well as the naughtiest swag at BlogHer '11 (again, in a good way). Given that Eden Fantasys is an online adult toy store, you can imagine what sorts of activities we were up to -- NOT!
The Eden Fantasys party at BlogHer 2011 was actually a fun girls' craft night, with no dirty shenanigans (sort of). It was a nice, intimate event with wine, cheese, crackers and cupcakes (see? I told you it was girly!). We did some arts and crafts, and got to take our creations home.
Here I am, posing with my craft. Can you see what it is?
Well, yes, it is a cute and cuddly monster that I crafted using pipe cleaners, feathers, glue and plastic eyes. But you need to look a bit closer to see what it really is. Here's a closer shot (hint: look at the objects behind my monster):
Is that outrageous, or what?! What better way to hide your personal toys in plain view of the in-laws and the kids?! Of course, they might find it so cute that they decide they want to play with it, and the feathers might fall away, so maybe it's best if you leave this one in your lingerie drawer.....
See, that's what I love about Eden Fantasys. They take such an open, sensible approach to sex. It's not something to be ashamed of, it's something to celebrate! Eden Fantasys is a site where women and couples can visit without worrying that the internet police are going to arrest you or worrying that your email address is being sent to some hardcore porn site, or that you'll all of a sudden begin to receive all kinds of spam in your email inbox, or worse, start getting unwanted porn-site popups on your laptop (try explaining that to your 7 year-old!). Yes, even PTA members can visit. Yes, even couples who host neighborhood block parties can purchase!
If you don't believe me, visit the site and see for yourself. Click around, and you'll see that the site is not just for couples looking to spice up their bedroom activities. A lot of their lingerie is erotic, but they have a great selection of robes, pretty underwear, even sleep masks, that you can buy just for yourself, to feel pretty and confident -- no boyfriend necessary! If you're the maid of honor for an upcoming wedding, Eden Fantasys sells bachelorette party guides and girls' night out guides as well as fun grown-up party favors. As George Michael once said, sex is natural, sex is fun -- and thanks to Eden Fantasys, anyone can enjoy it :)
Disclosure: I will be receiving a gift card to Eden Fantasys as a thank-you for writing this post. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.


UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION
February 21, 2008
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, PLAINTIFF,
KATHERINE BUCKLEY, DEFENDANT.
The opinion of the court was delivered by: Hon. Judge James Larson United States District Court Judge
STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO CONTINUE FEBRUARY 21, 2008 BAIL VIOLATION HEARING DATE
IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between Assistant United States Attorney, David Hall, counsel for the plaintiff United States of America, Timothy Elder, United States Pretrial Services Officer, and John M. Runfola, counsel for the defendant Katherine Buckley, that the bail violation hearing in this Court scheduled for February 11, 2008 at 11:00 a.m.., is extended until March 6, 2008 at 11:00 a.m., or as soon thereafter as is convenient for the Court. A continuance is sought by all counsel because counsel for the defense has a schedule conflict on another matter that could not be rescheduled. Counsel for the defense is scheduled to appear for a pretrial conference hearing in the San Francisco Superior Court on an attempted kidnaping case.
No party objects to the requested continuance.
IT IS SO STIPULATED.
JOHN M. RUNFOLA Counsel for Katherine Buckley
DAVID HALL Assistant United States Attorney
TIMOTHY ELDER United States Pretrial Services Officer
IT IS SO ORDERED
© 1992-2008 VersusLaw Inc.


today's garden work
rake edges of front lawn and clear out winter fallen branches
mow, lime and fertilize lawns
haul 2 truckloads of branches to Town DPW
finish mulching the back cottoneaster and peony bed
fertilize my blueberry bushes
I think I can start on my vegetable garden next!!! Yeah. It's about time.
My Master Gardener class this week was given by a professional landscape designer. I could definitely relate when she said a goal of design is to minimize the amount of lawn and the amount of mulched beds! I've spent 2 weeks tending to lawns and mulching beds. It's a lot of work!
Labels: master gardener class


Ads by NetSpeed App is a typical example of a potentially unwanted program (PUP) and adware promising you useful features to improve your browsing experience when in fact it exhibits some malicious traits. That is why malware experts recommend its removal.
How Does NetSpeed App Work?
NetSpeed App is compatible with the most commonly used browsers – Google Chrome, Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.
The program claims to enhance your browsing experience by increasing your Internet speed, which appears to be useful for many users indeed. Once it infiltrates your system, however, NetSpeed App will start displaying various pop-up ads which you cannot close or remove as long as the PUP is in your PC.
These pop-up ads may be quite annoying but what’s worse is that clicking them will redirect you to unwanted and potentially infected websites. They, on the other hand, may further infect your system with various threats.
NetSpeed App is also capable of tracking your browsing activities and non-identifiable information (such as IP address, PC’s location, email address, websites visited, clicks, searches, etc.), which it may then share with third parties, without your permission.
In short, you may really have a better Internet speed with NetSpeed App but you may gain additional viruses thanks to it; your personal data and browsing habits are likely to be monitored and collected, and multiple pop-ups will disturb your surfing routine. That is why NetSpeed App is a potentially unwanted program.
How Does NetSpeed App Enter Your PC?
Via bundling. Most PUPs and adware programs are usually bundled with freeware you download from the Web. Since bundling is a legal marketing method of distributing programs to your computer, the only way you can protect your system when downloading freeware is to pay close attention to the installation process. Simply aim for custom installation, disable the bundling option, read the fine print carefully instead of bluntly clicking “next” to finish the installation faster. Also, make sure you disable settings and features you know nothing about.
How to Remove NetSpeed App
If NetSpeed App is already present in your system, worry not. Make sure, however, to download a legitimate anti-virus tool that will perform a full system scan, detect the infection and remove it successfully.


My names Hannah.
I have recently created a blog called FreeStyle. I enjoy writing about all things to do with fashion, music and art. Therefore my blog is a place for me to write my thoughts and share with you all abit of my insight into these topics. I would love it if you could check it out, link is in bio!


General Motors Co. will invest $500 million in Lyft Inc., giving the ride-hailing startup a valuation of $5.5 billion and a major ally in the global battle against Uber Technologies Inc.HT A VC
The investment, part of a $1 billion financing round for Lyft, is the biggest move by an automaker to date when it comes to grappling with the meteoric rise of the ride-hailing industry.
GM and Lyft said they will work together to develop a network of self-driving cars that riders can call up on-demand, a vision of the future shared by the likes of Uber Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick and Google-parent Alphabet Inc. More immediately, America’s largest automaker will offer Lyft drivers vehicles for short-term rent through various hubs in U.S. cities, the companies said in separate statements on Monday.
GM President Dan Ammann, who is joining Lyft’s board as part of the deal, expects the automotive industry to “change more in the next five years than it has in the last 50 and we obviously want to make sure we’re at the forefront of that change.”
Ammann called the investment an “alliance” with Lyft. Rather than stay neutral in the battle between Uber and Lyft, GM invested because of the “level of integration and cooperation that will be required, particularly for the longer term nature of this,” he said in a phone interview.
Uber’s Kalanick, whose company has been investing aggressively in self-driving cars, has said that it could take between 5 and 15 years before such vehicles are meaningfully deployed around the country.
GM is open to working with some of Lyft’s international partners, which include Didi Kuaidi in China, Ola in India and GrabTaxi in Southeast Asia, Ammann said.
“We certainly see an opportunity to work together through those relationships,” Ammann said. “The U.S. is our home market and it continues to be our largest market and we think this is the right place to begin the journey.”...MORE
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
GM Invests $500 Million in Uber Competitor Lyft


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Washington – The Newtown Alliance, a group created after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings to promote gun control, said it is “outraged” that Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders doesn’t think gun manufacturers should be liable for all the harm caused by their firearms.
During a debate in Flint, Mich., Saturday evening, Sanders said making gun makers liable for the damage caused by guns that are purchased legally would amount to a ban on the manufacture of guns.
Sanders said the issue is, “If somebody who is crazy or a criminal or a horrible person goes around shooting people, the manufacturer of that gun should be held liable…. What you’re really talking about is people saying , ‘let’s end gun manufacturing in America.’ That’s the implications of that, and I don’t agree with that.”
On Monday, the National Rifle Association praised Sanders for his stance in a tweet that said, “Sen. Sanders was spot-on in his comments about gun manufacturer liability…”
The gun liability issue has dogged Sanders’ campaign for the White House.
When he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Sanders voted for the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCCA), which shields gun manufacturers from liability when crimes are committed with their products.
Sanders’ Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, backs the repeal of the PLCAA. So do Connecticut’s Democratic senators, Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, who introduced a bill that would do that.
Sanders is a co-sponsor of the bill. But he seems to support allowing gun manufacturers some protection from liability.
“Senator Sanders’ change in position due to pressure from Secretary Hillary Clinton and gun violence prevention groups motivated him to be a co-sponsor on the PLCAA repeal bill,” said David Stowe, vice chairman of the Newtown Action Alliance. “It is extremely puzzling that a senator who recently signed on to co-sponsor a bill would have absolutely no idea what was in it.”
Po Murray, chairman of the alliance, said repealing the PLCAA would not end gun manufacturing in America.
“The gun industry had a vibrant manufacturing history before the PLCAA law was passed in 2005,” she said. “It’s understandable why the NRA would take on such a position, as it spent $12 million to secure the passage of the PLCAA law to protect gun industry profits, but it’s insulting that Senator Sanders would subscribe to the same extremist views of the NRA.”
The parents of some of the first graders killed in the Dec. 14, 2012, shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School and family members of other victims are suing the maker of the Bushmaster AR-15 used in the massacre. The case is considered a test of the PLCAA.


El nuevo equipo está basado en los procesadores POWER7, e incorpora mejoras importantes de hardware y software, desde el mismo procesador y su inclusión múltiple y la utilización de almacenamiento en estado sólido, hasta la ampliación del soporte de XML y del RPG.
Chris Smith, en MC Press, destaca los principales aspectos de la nueva versión:
IBM announced a significant new release of IBM i this week, the first major release to the operating system since 2008. While IBM i 7.1 touches on nearly every aspect of the operating system, making it easier to work with new technologies such as XML, the company took the opportunity also to announce enhancements to the RPG language that will make it easier for developers and ISVs to interface with mobile devices and Web services. The company also announced new BladeCenter hardware running the POWER7 chip as a continuation of the rollout of POWER7 servers that will occur throughout 2010.Para la gran masa de aplicaciones basadas en RPG que existen en el iSeries, los cambios en el lenguaje son de gran importancia para su modernización. Para sus usuarios, quizá esta sea la noticia más importante:
Highlights of the enhancements to i 7.1 and RPG include the following:
- DB2 support for XML and column-level encryption
- PowerHA asynchronous Geographic Mirroring and LUN-level switching
- IBM i 6.1 virtualization for i 7.1 partitions
- Automatic movement of frequently accessed data to solid-state drives
- Open Access for RPG to allow extended application reach to mobile devices and Web services
- Enhancements to System Director and System Navigator
Sobre este aspecto se extiende más el blog de Help 400.
ISVs and most RPG developers will be intrigued by the changes IBM is announcing to the RPG language. The new feature is called Rational Open Access: RPG Edition. In essence, RPG applications with Open Access will have the option of extending the reach of applications to pervasive devices such as mobile phones, XML, and Web services.
"In many respects, this is a dramatic change, given that since the 1970s, RPG has always had the development environment that [outputs a 5250 data stream]. Most people today don't use green-screens, and they certainly don't use terminals; they all have PCs, and most convert that 5250 data stream into a browser or some other device…. For the first time, we're separating the RPG runtime from the output device so you have the user interface completely separate from the business logic."
The solution doesn't change (read: "break") any existing applications but is instead an option for new applications or for rewriting older RPG applications, he said. The way the process works is that the data goes through what IBM is calling a "Handler" before being directed to the device or browser. We're just learning what these handlers are, and Jon Paris and Susan Gantner give a good overview in their MC Special Issue article, "V7's RPG Enhancements Include Open Access!" The enhancement to RPG will allow programmers to write handlers (IBM is apparently leaving this up to ISVs and developers), which are routines that are run when updates, deletes, etc. are done to the file. The handler is similar to today's SPECIAL file support except that it goes beyond what SPECIAL files offer. Open Access can be used with any RPG file type and reportedly will be available on V6.1 as well as 7.1.
Entre otros recursos, es base de mucha información la nota de prensa de IBM sobre el POWER7, del 8 de febrero. Información completa, incluyendo especificaciones, se puede encontrar en la página del POWER.


In this post, I'll walk you through the basic steps for setting up Rails 4 to run with Puma under JRuby. Then you'll learn how to deploy that app on Heroku.
Creating a New App
First, let's create a brand new Rails 4 application. Make sure you have JRuby installed and are using it, like this:
Now install the Rails 4 Gem and create a new Rails application:
Because this application was created under JRuby, a nice set of defaults have been configured for you. Gems like "therubyrhino" and "activerecord-jdbc" are already in your application's Gemfile.
But the new application does not have a production ready web server. That's were Puma comes in.
Using and Configuring Puma
Move into the root directory for your new application and open the Gemfile. You'll probably see a commented out line for the "unicorn" gem. Delete it. JRuby and Unicorn are a bad combination (if they even work together at all).
Now add the following line to the Gemfile to make Puma a dependency:
Run bundle install at the command line to install the Gem. Then configure Puma by creating a config/puma.rb file and putting the follow code in it:
This will set the port, environment, and thread pool size based on environment variables. The defaults are intended for development.
Because Puma is a multi-threaded server, and JRuby has real threads, you'll want to configure your database connection pool size appropriately. To do this, create a config/initializers/database_connection.rb file, and put the following code in it:
Setting your maximum pool size to the number of threads is a good default.
Now run the application with this command:
Your application is running, and you can see it by browsing to http://localhost:3000. You'll probably get an error if you haven't connected the application to a database. You can do that locally, or you can use a free one from Heroku.
Deploying to Heroku
Heroku is a Platform-as-a-Service that supports both Ruby and Java applications. Naturally, it also supports JRuby. To start using Heroku, follow this guide for installing the Heroku toolbelt and creating an account. This will provide you with a heroku command that you can use to create and deploy apps for free!
To start, make sure your project is under version control with Git by running these commands:
Now you need to tell Heroku how to run your app. Do this by placing the command you ran earlier in a Procfile in the root directory of your project. Create the Procfile and put this code in it:
You'll also need to configure the Ruby runtime in your Gemfile (in this case its JRuby) by adding this line:
Add the changes to Git by running these commands:
Next, create a Heroku app for the project and make your first deployment by running these command:
Heroku has detected that your application uses JRuby, it installed the JDK, ran bundler and launched your web process. If you were to open the app by running heroku open you'll probably get an error, because the default landing page is disabled in this environment. But you can create standard Rails templates by running rails generate controller welcome as you would with MRI.
There is a great deal more that Heroku can do for you. You can provision a database, a queuing system, a scheduler, monitoring tools, or even telephony services. And of course, you can begin to leverage the power of the JVM for your Ruby app.
You can download the complete source code for the application presented in this article from the heroku-jruby-rails-4 repo on Github.