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A-10 Warthog Simulator…circa 2012
by admin on May.12, 2018, under Everything
This is an old photo but wanted to post a pic of how the desk flight simulator used to look back in 2012.
There are 3 27″ DELL U2711 monitors up top and a 22″ touchscreen DELL monitor below.
The system is running DCS A-10 simulator which is an amazing sim with incredible fidelity and realism. Just about every single system and switch is fully simulated and it takes a while to learn to start and fly it…let along manage the weapon systems.
The bottom screen is running Helios which allows you to create a custom panel which hooks back into the game…the result is that the bottom screen is fully interactive and touch enabled so every system can be controlled there – radios, MFDs etc.
The controls are Thrustmaster Warthog controls that includes stick and throttle quadrant based on the A-10 (in fact I think they just use A-10 parts).
Our model Charné is also wearing a TrackIR headset attached to the headphone (on the left) which tracks head movement to change POV in the top screens…so you can just look around like normal. Essential for timing your turn from base to final or seeing the smoke trail from a SAM to figure out where it came from and get your angle right to defeat it.
The same setup can also be reconfigured to simulate GA Acft (eg C-172) with different controls and panel and sim (FSX or Flight or Prepare3d) or helicopter with a USB collective also not pictured.
Alicia's First Solo Flight!
by admin on Oct.22, 2017, under Everything
August 11th, 2017
San Carlos Airfield KSQL
Cessna 172S N236SP
New Server
by admin on Sep.19, 2014, under Everything
Thanks to AWS, I have a new home on the web…on a box in a rack somewhere in Virginia, USA (not far from where I used to live). Best of all it's free.
Wireless Cat Feeder Update
by allie on Feb.27, 2013, under Home Automation, Open Hardware, Smart Home
Nothing is ever as simple as first seems.
Although my new Wireless Cat Feeder has been operating brilliantly, the cat was still often waking us up for pre-dawn breakfast. Although I would grab my phone from the bedside table and hit the 'Feed Cat' button, the cat was unable to grasp the concept that food was now available since the people didn't get out of bed and get it for him.
In the past we had established a kind of Pavlov's Dogs association when giving him cat nibbles. We would shake the bag of cat nibbles before putting some on the plate. The noise of the bag being shaken would get him running over every time.
So I wondered was there a way to include this in my solution…?
I had picked up an MP3 player/ trigger board from Sparkfun a couple of weeks earlier for another project but didn't need it straight away. I saw an opportunity to re-hack my Cat Feeder, add in the ability to play an MP3 recording of the cat food bag being shaken, wait a second, then trigger the food.
This clever board has a built-in MP3 player plus support for playing sounds based on either commands though a serial connection or by bridging one of 18 trigger pins on the board. Shorting the pins for Trigger 1 would play a file on the SD card with a filename starting 001.
The modifications were quickly made: 5V power to the MP3 Trigger board, SD card loaded with the relevant sound effect with filename 001catfeeder.mp3, a transistor connected to the relevant trigger pins with the base connected to another GPIO pin on the RN-XV. I modified the PHP script a bit to send the telnet command to power on/off the GPIO pin for the MP3 player, wait a second, then trigger the cat feeder as before.
The setup inside the Cat Feeder was a bit ugly, but I was hoping I would only need the sound effect for a week or two then remove once the cat had also associated the mechanical sound of the dispenser with food. Speakers were external, connected by a short mini-stereo cable from the MP3 trigger board running out through the dispenser tube to speakers hidden behind the unit.
Once all set up it was time to test it. I pressed the 'Feed Cat' button on my phone, the shaking bag sound played, the cat food came out and the cat came trotting over to have some nibbles!
In the end I only had to run the enhanced version for one week before the cat got used to the idea that food could be made available without the people having to put it there, and went running over even when the bag shaking sound wasn't being played.
Since I set this up people have suggested I make this a commercial product. Although an interesting idea I don't think it could be made cheap enough to get to the kind of price point that would get mass market appeal. As it stands this until represents about $70 in parts.
A commercial version would also need to have a different feature set. My hacked cat feeder will only work in my house. It has been configured for my local wifi network only. If I change my wifi network settings I have to crack open the Cat Feeder to re-configure it.
It also relies on having my web server in the loop. The 'Feed Cat' button is presented on a web page provided by the server. When pressed the server must telnet to the Cat Feeder to send it the commands to operate.
A commercial version would need an easy way to re-configure the wifi settings, or just work in ad-hoc wifi mode. There are similar products in the market that use wifi to connect to other devices (eg AR Drone or Withings Scale). It could be set up so when first setting up the Cat Feeder you download a mobile app you could use to configure your wifi network settings, then place into normal operations mode where the app then connects and sends the operations commands over the local wifi network.
If I ever get around to building a second one to give to someone else I figure this is how I would do it next to make it more user friendly, and plug'n'play!
Wireless Cat Feeder
by allie on Jan.30, 2013, under Home Automation, Open Hardware, Projects, Smart Home
We have been looking after a cat for quite a little while now. He is a sweet, gentle Russian Blue with a very good nature, however he has a habit of waking us up with meowing and scratching at 4am to tell us he wants his breakfast.
Bloody cat.
We made a number of attempts to find a happy solution, however we discovered that the extra food left out the night before was not fit for catsumption in the morning and that cats can overcome the muting of a closed door when they really want to be heard. I opted for a smart solution to his early morning antics.
I had seen an automatic candy dispenser available around Xmas as a cheap gift option. At $20 it included a large clear hopper for holding lollies, an infrared sensor to detect a ready hand and a motorised dispensing system to send lollies into a waiting hand. I bought a couple thinking that the hopper would store cat nibbles sufficiently well for freshness and the dispenser should be able to cope with what I took to be a slightly smaller product then the designers had anticipated.
I toyed with the idea of leaving the IR senor in the future Cat Feeder but expected the cat might just keep on going if a fresh food source was available (he likes his nibbles…so long as they are fresh). My goal was to hook the device into the existing Home Automation system such that any mobile phone in the household could trigger a food release. This would also allow us to trigger food releases while away from home as well as to script food releases on a schedule.
The existing Home Automation system is run from a PC using WAMP Server – all automation devices are held in a MySQL database and the front end and switching commands are managed using PHP5. I needed a way to connect the Cat Feeder back to the PC, without having to use additional hardware om the PC side. I toyed with adding X10 capability to it but haven't been at all impressed with the performance of X10. Wireless would work best, and WiFi seemed the ideal solution as it could hook into my existing network allowing the PC to address the Cat Feeder directly.
My design was to hack the Cat Feeder to include a WiFi board, put it on my WiFi network at home and have it always listening on HTTP port 80 for a command to turn on. It would then execute a couple of commands to turn the feeder mechanism on for a second then off again. Simple. So I thought.
I did a bit of research on WiFi modules and found a growing number of hardware options with varying levels of sophistication. Since I was already pretty familiar with Arduino I started there and purchased a WiFly WiFi shield based on the Roving Networks RN171 chip. This board plugs directly onto an Arduino Uno board, allowing you to connect the Arduino to your computer to quickly program it to send and receive data over WiFi. It has support for all kinds of protocols (from raw TCP sockets to FTP and HTTP) and was cheap at around $60 (compared to the more common WiFi Shield at around $100).
After getting this board and connecting it up I very quickly ran into troubles. Although Roving Networks has a really good user guide for their chip, writing the require code for the Arduino to communicate over serial to the chip was a big undertaking…and frankly at the periphery of my abilities. The board manufacturer included a Arduino library which covered the basics (such as associating to a wireless network, sending packets etc) but which seemed more targeted towards using the board to automatically log into a WiFi network and post HTTP data to a server in response to hardware triggers. This made it highly suitable to a telemetry application such as sending temperature readings to a server etc, but become increasingly challenging to get it to listen on port 80 for HTTP traffic and respond intelligently. The library didn't provide enough of the groundwork to do what I needed out of the box and tackling the learning curve that would enable me to update the library to support what I needed was more work than I wanted to invest. Furthermore the device had a habit of dropping off the network. I guess if its implementation only called for it to log on to a server over WiFi, send a bunch of data then drop off again but I needed it on all the time. I was also never really happy with it's behaviour over a local serial connection; when using the Arduino serial monitor to connect directly to the board the output from it was always highly garbled, in some cases leading to anomalous operation.
So I looked into alternatives. By this stage I was also aware that using an Arduino board was a bit of overkill for this project – it simply didn't require that level of smarts. To cover my bases however I immediately bought three other WiFi options!
- The 'official' Arduino WiFi Shield
- The RN-Xv WiFi Xbee module
- An Electric Imp!
The official Arduino WiFi shield was a little more expensive but had much better support with a full library covering everything I wanted to do, lots of examples and most importantly a healthy online community for support!
The Electric Imp seemed like it could provide a minimalist solution being the smallest of the lot. Its an amazing little device and I was keen to have a play with it.
The RN-Xv Xbee module I picked up courtesy of a Hack A Day article about a guy that used it to control his garage door over WiFi. He had a pretty good walk through of what he did and I liked that he didn't use the Arduino board.
Since I wanted to proceed without using an Arduino board I next tried the RN-XV module. Since it is based on the same chip as the WiFly module I had been playing with, much of the operation was already familiar. Communications between the WiFly and Arduino was managed over a serial link, whereas to connect to the RN-XV I first got it going in ad-hoc wireless network mode by putting 3.3v on pin 8 and turning it on. This allowed it to come up with it's own SSID which I could connect my laptop to in order to establish a serial connection to the board. Worked brilliantly and I was quickly able to set my WiFi network parameters (SSID, WPA2 passphrase etc) on it. Removing the 3.3v to pin 8 and rebooting it brought it up on my WiFi network – success!
I could then telnet to it and send the relevant serial commands to turn the dispenser motor on and off…however not using Arduino meant that my ability to emulate HTTP on the device was limited (again, at the periphery of my ability). So I instead turned to my PHP code and looked for an easy way to telnet to the device and send commands using PHP. After tinkering with a number of classes based on fsockopen I found one that worked well – TelnetDog.
From here it only took a few minutes to update my Home Automation PHP script, add the device to the database and presto! I had a new 'Feed Cat' button on my Home Remote page!
I'm happy to report that the cat is indeed eating from the Cat Feeder tray and is not put off by the noise it makes when dispensing his nibbles.
Now if I can only automate the cat litter tray…
Apple to start making a cheap iPhone – reflects emerging Asia/ developing markets focus
by allie on Jan.11, 2013, under Everything
A perfect storm is growing in Asia – a combination of growing individual wealth, lowering cost of access to smartphones and lack of fixed infrastructure. In coming years there will be a sustained boom in mobile digital services such as we have not seen in western markets.
In these markets prepaid dominates and subsidised phone purchases are vanishingly small. People hold onto handsets for much longer periods and a phone will often be handed from person to person a number of times before finally being trashed. The price point for new phones has to be low – much less than US$250 for mass market appeal.
Many smartphone retailers have responded to this with low cost Android handsets; indeed, many are Asian based. Until recently Apple has been notable for ignoring Asian markets (except to access low cost manufacturing). They have (quite rightly) been following a halo brand strategy in western markets – designing objects of desire and positioning themselves as the premium option. Customers in developing markets also see Apple products as desirable but Apple has priced their wares out of reach for most.
However a number of recent announcements shows that Apple's focus may be shifting.
In recent months Apple has opened iTunes to many new markets in Asia and other developing markets for the first time. Of course, what use is a digital storefront if you don't have any customers using your hardware?
I have been anticipating a cheap iPhone for Asia though I had not expected it until sometime in 2014 or 2015. However the growing rumours are that Apple will announce such a device this year.
Samsung Galaxy S3 opens doors…
by allie on Nov.20, 2012, under Access Control, Everything, Home Automation, NFC, Smart Home
A little while ago I was interviewed on the radio here in Australia about ways in which people are using their phones that the tech pundits never anticipated. I spoke about the phone increasingly becoming an intersection point for the real and virtual worlds; a kind of remote control for more and more things in your life.
I explained how at our house we have come to be using our mobile phones to let ourselves into the house, something which I set up as a kind of joke ("Siri, let me in", "I'm sorry, I cant do that Dave") but has become so useful we no longer bother fishing the keys out when we get home.
We have accomplished this to date fairly simply by combining some off the shelf home automation hardware with a little web scripting know-how. Our phones have a shortcut on the home screen, which opens up a web page that's only available on our local WiFi network. Among controls for lights and appliances, this page contains a button to unlock the door. Pressing the button sends the command back to the computer running the PHP script which in turns sends the command through the x10 home automation controller to an x10 unit wired to the existing remote door-release circuit, unlatching the door for 3 seconds before it again locks.
About as simple as could be. Or could it be simpler…?
I very recently bought a Samsung Galaxy S3 which has inbuilt support for something called NFC, and I have been thinking about some of the applications we can expect to see from NFC technology in the coming years. NFC (Near Field Communication) is a new technology that uses low-power radio to pass information across short distances, a bit like the RFID technology that has been around for years (think holding your building access card or fob against a panel to open a door) but with the ability to pass more complex information with greater security. Some of the applications we are likely to see coming with NFC include tapping your phone at a grocery item to pick up product information, tapping another phone to pass over a picture, tapping a movie poster to get session times (yay, no more bloody QR codes), tapping at the register to buy a can of drink….or tapping your front door to open it.
To provide secure access through a door you would usually require two things: a lock and a key. With RFID the lock is a reader mounted near the door and the key is the RFID tag or card. The RFID tag contains an antenna and a small amount of storage. When brought close to the sensor the RFID tag is powered up via induction and transmits back to the sensor the contents of it's storage – usually an encrypted password that the sensor system has listed as allowed access. It's a lot like the traditional lock and key, however unlike a normal key the lock doesn't need to be replaced when a key is lost; the sensor system can just be updated to prevent that tag from having access in the future. And just like a physical key, if you don't have it on you when you want to get in you're stuck.
An NFC system presents an opportunity for a solution where both the lock and key are 'smart'. Like the RFID system the reader at the door can check to see if a specific tag has access or not. However the extra smart bit is the NFC enabled mobile phone, which can contain an app that stores the relevant code encrypted on the SIM card. When the mobile is tapped at the reader the mobile NFC passes over the code stored on the SIM and the reader confirms access. If the mobile phone is lost the code can be remotely wiped from the phone. Similarly to provide a new person access is a simple as remotely providing their mobile with an access code securely over the internet.
As a first step I have taken a simple approach that builds on the current system. I've encoded an NFC sticker with the URL for the local webpage that sends the command to open the door. When I tap my Samsung Galaxy S3 to the tag the mobile opens the URL, unlocking the door. One of the implications of this system is that any NFC enabled phone could tap the tag to be pushed the same URL, though this is not really an issue since the page is only accessible on my local WiFi network. While not an ideal solution it does provide me with the tap-to-enter experience now while I work on the more challenging solution using an NFC reader at the door.
Some resources for trying this at home:
Stuck at the lights
by allie on Jul.18, 2012, under Everything, Smart Traffic
Douglas Adams once observed that intelligent aliens traveling to Earth might assume from their surveillance that the car was the superior form of life on the planet. I think he was almost right, though I suspect they would mistake the traffic light as the top of our planet's pecking order, as the pulse of life in every major city is defined by the commands issued from these oligarchs.
They are however really pretty stupid.
Many times I have sat in a line of traffic waiting for the green in spite of there being no other traffic using the intersection. On these occasions I wonder that surely there must be a better way.
It turns out there are efforts being made to make Traffic Lights 'Smart', and these typically centre on efforts to connect cars via wireless technologies (wifi, 3G etc) to each other and to a central network. Such a world would usher in a huge host of attending benefits:
- Predictive braking, so when the car in front puts on the breaks it announces to all cars following which then disengage the accelerator and start braking in anticipation of the driver doing the same
- Faster Emergency Responses as all cars on a stretch of road are warned via the network of an approaching emergency vehicle and can then warn the driver where to go to get out of the way – even before the lights or siren get in range
- Less traffic strain on existing roads, since due to predictive braking cars can travel closer together allowing for higher traffic density
- Better incident management, as traffic data is captured in real time allowing for identification and immediate management of trouble spots
- More effective infrastructure planning, due to highly granular traffic data
While this is all great and brilliant, of course the realisation of the above technology is greatly hampered by the huge number of industry participants and the lack of any standard or leadership in the area (efforts by BMW and Siemens notwithstanding). Experience from other similarly fragmented industries tells us that it will take years before a single technology is adopted broadly enough to make it worthwhile.
In the meantime however there is an opportunity to make traffic lights smarter even though cars are still dumb. Every traffic light installation today has a basic level of intelligence; induction coil sensors in the road pick up the presence of cars waiting at the intersection and inform the timing pattern of the lights such that while no cars are waiting on a crossroad the default route gets the green a little longer. I can see an opportunity to improve on this behaviour in two ways.
- Link sets of lights. By providing a set of lights (A) with data about cars passing over sensors at an adjacent set of lights (B), lights A can anticipate traffic coming their way and better time cycles of changing lights. This approach requires some physical networking of light sets and re-tooling of traffic light algorithms however would result in a significant (>10%) improvement in waiting times, carbon emissions, general sanity etc
- Give traffic lights the power of sight. There has been much advancement in the technology of video object recognition, much of this due to investment in devices such as Microsoft Kinect and Google's Goggles. Which the idea suggested above at (1) would provide traffic lights with a degree of better visibility of coming traffic, equipping lights with cameras and the means to understand what they are seeing would allow a greater resolution and overcome limitations inherent in a sensor only solution – such as recognising and responding to bikes, pedestrians and traffic incidents.
The second solution has the potential to allow for even greater granularity in traffic management. Imagine waiting at a quiet intersection in the future where the lights give green signal just long enough for you to get through before the next wave of traffic approaches. There is room for highly significant improvements in traffic flow rates with such a setup, although it would have to take into account driver response times for starting and stopping. It also provides the benefit of additional sets of traffic cameras for transport authority monitoring of roads and incident recording.
Since the light cycle times become more granular in this solution it is important that drivers understand that they are being allowed to proceed under a smart lighting scenario; effectively they must not delay when moving through the intersection, as well as be alert to oncoming traffic. To signal this I introduce a new colour light located below the green. The flashing blue light indicates it is safe for a single car to proceed through the intersection without delay.
The beautiful thing about the smart traffic light solutions I've suggested is that no industry concordance is needed in order to make them work; a suitable technology solution from any player can be implemented by any forward-thinking council anywhere. It might become obsolete in 10 years when smart cars become predominant on our roads, but by then the solution would have paid for itself many times over though reduced investment in new roads and lower carbon emissions.
Something to think about next time you're stuck waiting at the lights…
USS Voyager Arduino Controlled Lighting – Part 1
by allie on May.20, 2012, under Everything, Open Hardware
A year or so ago I was given a Revell model of the USS Voyager (thanks Rick). While I don't have the patience and attention-to-detail for model kits, I had been looking for an Arduino project and thought this might be a nice kit to consider a multi-mode lighting system controlled by Arduino.
I've tinkered with circuit design for model lighting before to flash LEDs to simulate a aircraft rotating beacon, and had scribbled away somewhere an early design. However messing around witch matching capacitors and resistors to get just the right attack and decay curve is *so* much work, the option of just coding the behaviour into an Arduino controlled set of lights had obvious appeal.
My goal for this project was to have a fairly complete set of lighting installed into the model with a button or other means of cycling through different lighting modes. The lighting was to include:
- running lights – these are steady-on red/ green lights located either side of the hull
- navigation lights – flashing white lights running through the hull midline
- cabin lights – white lights behind the windows in the hull
- impulse engine lights – there are two of these, the red light in the warp nacelles and a soft orange glow coming out of vents on the back of the nacelles
- warp engines – these are the long blue glowing lights along the edges of the warp nacelles
- deflector arrays – there are two of these – the main one has a blue glow around it, the secondary one a soft red glow
- hull spotlights – these pick out details on the hull, such as the ship name
- photon torpedos – these are pulsing red lights located front and rear of the main hull
In the end I came up with the following modes:
- Mode 0 – all off
- Mode 1 – running lights and navigation lights on
- Mode 2 – cabin lights come on in sections moving through both hulls
- Mode 3 – engines on. Impulse engines glow red and warp nacelles fade up blue
- Mode 4 – fire torpedos – the torpedo lights pulse in a firing sequence
- back to mode 0
A lot of other people have completed this exact model with custom lighting, however everyone seems to use LEDs for the blue warp engine lighting. I don't really like this approach as it results in obvious point sources of light in the blue strip of the nacelle, whereas in the show the blue light is a more consistent intensity glow throughout. I was interested to see how effective electroluminescent lighting would be for this task. Electroluminescent lighting (EL for short) provides a soft, consistent light along the length of a wire or strip – picture those amazing costumes from Tron. EL wire comes in many forms including flat strips which seemed like a good fit for this project. EL wire isn't cheap however (around $30 for a 1 metre strip), uses High Voltage (ouch when you touch it) and is an absolute pain to cut and shape as it is prone to shorting out.
After much trial and error I managed to cut blue EL strips to length and embed in the model nacelles – I think the result is pretty much bang on for the real thing.
Blog Comment Spam
by allie on Mar.27, 2012, under Everything, Projects
Since deciding to host my own wordpress blog I have discovered the joys of comment management.
When I started I thought "Wouldn't it be nice if I get some comments on my blog?!" Now I am looking for ways to make them stop.
It seems that there are many ways to use the blogsphere to promote your own site to increase eyeball traffic and therefore revenue from things like advertising. The tools developed to meet this need are the wordpress comment robot. This software utility takes away the burden of visiting people's blogsites, reading their posts and leaving a comment and automates it all. Often the robot uses clever comment phrases that include some of the keywords from your own post to make it sound more legitimate, however more frequently they are very generic and clearly nothing to do with your post.
I get hundreds of these and it is tedious going through them all to hopefully spot the occasional legitimate comment…though the needle in the haystack metaphor comes to mind here…
Just for fun though I am going to publish each and every comment I get for this specific post so you can see the kind of crap that comes in.


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New England budget 7.28.09
Here are the top New England regional stories coming today from GateHouse News Service. Stories are available at http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com.
If your paper has a story, digest item, opinion piece or standalone photo to share, please send it to us via Zope or by e-mailing firstname.lastname@example.com.
- Chris Biondi, 508-626-4343, firstname.lastname@example.com
- Michael Toeset, 630-835-8870, firstname.lastname@example.com
Ask readers to share their summer vacation photographs
Front page gallery for July 28, 2009
PEDESTRIAN CRASHES: Penalties for drivers involved in pedestrian crashes vary -- Area drivers involved in fatal or serious pedestrian crashes may face little or no jail time — if they are ever charged at all.
- Art: 2 photos
BIRTHDAY PARTY CRASH: Woman hit by car that plowed into birthday party dies of injuries -- A 36-year-old woman who was hit by a car when a neighbor drove into a birthday party Sunday afternoon has died. Kim McGinley died at Massachusetts General Hospital, police said.
- Art: 2 photos
GATES ARREST FOLO: Cambridge city councilors blast city manager over handling of Gates' arrest aftermath -- For the past week, city councilors say they have been kept in the dark about the details of the Henry Louis Gates Jr. case and decisions City Manager Bob Healy has made on behalf of Cambridge.
- Art: photo of Healy
NEW POWER PLANT: Supporters, opponents gear up for state vote on Brockton power plant -- A state board may approve a proposed city power plant Thursday, and both opponents and supporters hope a show of force will sway the outcome. Groups have rented buses to take people from Brockton to the meeting in Boston, even though public comment won't be allowed.
- Art: 2 photos
CRIMINAL RECORDS: Activists want law to seal criminal records sooner -- Opponents of the state's criminal records system say that in Massachusetts the real punishment doesn't begin until after a convicted offender has served his time.
- Art: photo
DRUG RING: UPS deliveryman played role in Quincy Point drug ring, police say -- A UPS deliveryman was a key component of a Quincy Point prescription drug ring that was disrupted by five arrests, police say. The UPS driver, Richard Hawes, 48, of Quincy, helped run packages of pills illegally purchased from out of state by a Chubbuck Street couple, Quincy police Detective Lt. Patrick Glynn said.
MEDAL OF HONOR: Raynham residents discuss how to honor Medal of Honor recipient -- Jared Monti will be awarded, posthumously, the Medal of Honor — the highest military decoration awarded by the United States — at a ceremony conducted at the White House on Sept. 17. But some residents say he should also be honored locally.
- Art: 3 photos
IN BUSINESS: Entrepreneur starts solar energy company -- Barbara Mulford's transition from business major to business owner began when she took a class in entrepreneurship to fulfill an elective requirement for her major.
- Art: photo
USING THE LAND: Freelance farmer turns unused field into tomato farm -- Tim Cooke leased a half-acre of private land to plant his garden, from which he hopes to harvest 15,000 pounds of organically grown tomatoes to sell to local restaurants, markets and other farmers.
- Art: 3 photos
FAMILY TEAM: Father, daughter team up at Raynham restaurant -- Nine years ago, as a gift to his family, Joe Losciuto, 54, purchased the landmark Milk Bottle Restaurant on Broadway. He and his daughter, Jamie, reopened the breakfast and lunch restaurant on Jan. 26, 2001. And the pair have been working together ever since.
- Art: 4 photos
- On the White House beer fest: http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/opinions/cartoons/x1641099291/Granlund-cartoon-White-House-beer-fest
- On Obama's vacation to Martha's Vineyard: http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/opinions/cartoons/x592699446/Granlund-cartoon-On-Obamas-vacation-to-Marthas-Vineyard
- On staycation 2009: http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/opinions/cartoons/x695081715/Granlund-cartoon-On-staycation-2009
EDITORIAL: Learning from Gates' arrest and the nation's 'conversation' -- America's latest conversation on race began last week, like most of our conversations, before all the facts were in.
- From the MetroWest Daily News
WENDY MURPHY: Gates case a lesson for everyone -- Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. had friends in every corner when he first reported being a victim of racism after police suspected him of committing a crime in his own home.
- Art: column mug
SUE SCHEIBLE: Take your time cleaning out a parent's home -- Experts are urging baby boomers to become familiar with their parents' belongings long before they have to settle an estate and clean out the house. Here's why you should be prepared, take your time and save the valuables.
- Art: column mug
FILLING A GAP: Scituate moms provide opportunities for children with developmental disabilities -- Tracy Johnston, 42, and Marynell Henry, 48, co-founded a program to bring supplemental special-education and recreation programs to the town. Both women have children with autism.
- Art: 3 photos
CUSHING ANNIVERSARY: Former workers, patients remember hospital created for WWII service members -- German shell fire met William Brennick that June day in 1944. Brennick was among the first in the major wave of wounded soldiers who arrived at Cushing Hospital, a complex of 95 buildings created in Framingham to care for the wounded WWII soldiers returning from overseas.
- Art: 5 photos
HOT YOGA: Video: Easton studio turns up the heat on yoga -- Open Doors Studios in Easton offers a class called "hot power" yoga, where the breathing and stretching exercises are done in a room of 85 to 105 degrees to allow muscles to loosen and provide a wider range of motion.
- Art: 5 photos
SUMMER RECIPE: Chef makes duck a summer dish -- Marisa Iocco, executive chef at Spiga Trattoria Italiano in Needham, created this lightened orange-scented version of a duck ragu for summer. It's great to serve on any type of pasta, but at the restaurant, Iocco serves it on half-moon-shaped raviolis.
- Art: photo
Watch for pro sports at email@example.com

subset: commoncrawl


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A U.S. comic book collector is being sentenced to six months in prison after pleading guilty to importing and possessing Japanese manga books depicting illustrations of child sex and bestiality.
Christopher Handley was sentenced in Iowa on Thursday, (.pdf) almost a year after pleading guilty to charges of possessing "obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children."
The 40-year-old was charged under the 2003 Protect Act, which outlaws cartoons, drawings, sculptures or paintings depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, and which lack "serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value." Handley was the nation's first to be convicted under that law for possessing cartoon art, without any evidence that he also collected or viewed genuine child pornography.
Without a plea deal with federal authorities, he faced a maximum 15-year sentence.
Comic fans were outraged, saying jailing someone over manga does not protect children from sexual abuse. "I'd say the anime community's reaction to this, since day one, has been almost exclusively one of support for Handley and disgust with the U.S. courts and legal system," Christopher MacDonald, editor of Anime News Network, said in an e-mail.
Congress passed the Protect Act after the Supreme Court struck down a broader law prohibiting any visual depictions of minors engaged in sexual activity, including computer-generated imagery and other fakes. The high court ruled that the ban was too broad, and could cover legitimate speech, including Hollywood productions.
In response, the Protect Act narrows the prohibition to cover only depictions that the defendant's community would consider "obscene."
The case began in 2006, when customs officials intercepted and opened a package from Japan addressed to Handley. Seven books of manga inside contained cartoon drawings of minors engaged in sexually explicit acts and bestiality.
Photo: EverJean
The Anime News Network says the seven books are:
* Mikansei Seifuku Shōjo (Unfinished School Girl) by Yuki Tamachi (LE Comics)
* I [Heart] Doll by Makafusigi (Seraphim Comics)
* Kemono for ESSENTIAL 3 (THE ANIMAL SEX ANTHOLOGY Vol.3) by Masato Tsukimori et al (Izumi Comics)
* Otonari Kazoku (Neighboring House Family) by Nekogen (MD Comics)
* Eromon by Makafusigi (Seraphim Comics)
* Kono Man_ ga Sugoi! (This Man_ is Awesome!) by Makafusigi (Seraphim Comics)
* Hina Meikyū (Doll Labyrinth) by Makafusigi (Seraphim Comics)
See Also:


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OSU Becomes Nike Premier Club Affiliate in 2007
OSU, as part of our affiliation with the Dallas Texans Soccer Club became Canada's Only Nike Premier Club affiliate in 2007. This strategic move allowed our club to align our vision of excellence with the leading sportswear provider in the industry. Furthermore, it allowed OSU to stand out from the crowd, bringing high quality apparel and uniforms to our coaches and players.
Within our partnership with Nike, OSU has been able to gain access into exclusive events as well as connecting with some of Nike's most recognized teams - such as Manchester United and more recently Atletico Madrid.
We are proud to be part of the Nike family of soccer clubs.


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Since I had already gone running and screaming out the door for my week long summer vacation by the time my city clerk salary story was published in the newspaper, here are some footnotes on the story that I can now share since I have been restored to the working-class real world.
San Dimas – who is noted in the story as not responding to public records request in time for the story – responded the Monday following the article's publish date. The city clerk's annual salary is $99,600.
In fairness, Debra Black noted the city responded within the 10-day window allowed for records requests by law. Although, I submitted the request to the very person the request pertained to, so I didn't think it would take too long.
Here is a letter from Christian G. Shalby, executive director of the International Institute of Municipal Clerks:
Dear Mr. Tedford,
I just read your August 15 article in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune on City Clerk Salaries and found it highly interesting, informative and a clear depiction of the Municipal Clerk profession.
As Executive Director of the International Institute of Municipal Clerks (IIMC), I couldn't agree more with your assessment on the value of the Clerk's profession. It is unheralded and often misunderstood, but important to the mix and function of municipalities. Mr. Johnson's comments also ring true, especially when it comes to handling elections and important city filings.
As much as some people may frown at the high salaries, they're comparatively low when you weigh in on the responsibility assigned to this position.
IIMC is a professional nonprofit association with more than 10,000 members throughout North America and 15 other countries, representing municipalities with populations of 1,000 to more than 8 million. The Organization has been in existence since 1947. We prepare our membership to meet the challenge of the diverse role of the Municipal Clerk by providing services and continuing educational development opportunities in 45 permanent college-and university-based learning centers. IIMC offers Municipal Clerks a Certified Municipal Clerk Program (CMC), a Master Municipal Clerk Academy (MMCA) Program and other opportunities to benefit members and the government entities they serve.
I appreciate your time and the well-written article.
Thank you.
Jane, an eager reader, is a little upset the story didn't focus more on Santa Fe Springs and a potential conflict of interest.
Mr. Tedford,
You mention in your article the salaries for the City Clerks in California are sometimes high and in the case of Santa Fe Springs, the City Manager functions as the City Clerk, isn't it a big conflict of interest since the city clerk handles the city elections and is one of the most delicate and sensitive duties that the city clerk has? How is that this is allowed? or the City Manager did not want to provide the salary information for the residents of Santa Fe Springs so your readers be fully informed. Also, it will be convenient to inform your readers of the specific duties that a City Clerk does in a given city.
Please provide an answer to this request. Thank you for providing these kind of information to your reading audience.
Jane (last name redacted)
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com | Twitter: @dgtedford @sgvtribune | Facebook: SGVTribune


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Getting Watch Repair Service also depends upon the kind of see you wish to repair. For example, the name brand and price of your own watch take on an important role in relation to selecting a service. In the event of brands and splendid watches, it really is suggested to choose restoration assistance of manufacturers or perhaps a certified car dealership for the headache-cost-free practical experience. There are many reasons why it is essential to carefully pick a view fix retailer. If we talk about expensive designer watches, they have their own personal parts and movements, as a result, if you get to a store that may be not certified, you will not receive the same high-quality elements. It will be an economical repair on the condition but could lessen the lifespan of the luxurious item.
Additionally, manufacturer designer watches mostly come under guarantees which is often acquired to change pieces, and in some cases observe maintenance work. Irrespective, the following is how you can locate view repair stores that make certain substantial-high quality improvements.
Check out jewelry go shopping within your vicinity
A lot of the precious jewelry shops offer view restoration assistance while they have specialized specialists to take care of this sort of component. Furthermore, they likewise have accessibility tools and equipment required to obtain the work nicely completed. Consequently, you are able to acquire your view to a neighborhood precious jewelry shop to get an estimate on the restoration. Generally, it is actually a fast, inexpensive, and dependable selection for observe maintenance.
Go to an authorized dealership
It is actually so simple! Do you know what you are getting when you are getting your watch to an authorized seller? They are fully aware of tips to get work properly completed and may have done it before as well. Therefore, this ought to be along with a list as not just you get yourself a greater plus more accurate quote of the repair but assurance at the same time. The fixed price might be a little more than additional options but this ought to not reduce your planning for them from the beginning.
Look for over the web
With this digital period, the simplest way to find the best observe maintenance store is online. This is a thing that most of us usually do. For instance, kind view restoration is near me, and this will display some of the finest observe repair stores offered in your encircling regions. Most of these kinds of stores may have an internet site, so keep an eye out for yours.
Look for referrals
When you are still unclear in regards to a position from how you can find your view mended, look for referrals. It is far from easy to have confidence in an individual not known or unskilled for the maintenance of your respective costly store. Therefore, if someone you know has brought a very similar job accomplished from your distinct retail outlet or dealer, you will be more at ease in getting similar support.
It may possibly take a moment to obtain a trustworthy maintenance company when it is the initial time. When you are searching, below are a few stuff you should take into account before creating for restoration:
Customer Support
Customer service must be your top priority when deciding on a view fix service. Lots of people do make sure that they have certified specialists to repair the wristwatch, but what issues most is the grade of customer support. Will they know about the industry? Could they be able to answer your entire inquiries and offer peace of mind? Are the professionals available on call to handle your issues? It is important that the knowledge of professionals supplement individual assistance.
Can your see repair shop offer prompt solutions? One more component is to request for the restoring time as well as see should it be sensible or over what you initially expected. Consequently, ask your repair company to give you a realistic timeline to get your view back working issue. The largest percentage of companies usually price a timeline of a few days to get popular repairs done.
Feedback From Customers
The best way to choose, what exactly you need is to see the customer reviews and comments. It is crucial to find out when your enterprise provides the same trustworthiness. With customer opinions, you can actually decide their marketplace reputation and trustworthiness.
Inspired by: ezinearticles


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Last year's Amelia Island Guest of Honor will be this year's Amelia Island Honoree. Sam Posey and his cars will be the feature attraction at the event, which has become one of the most highly regarded automotive events in the world.
Posey started racing a Formula Junior car in 1959 when he was just 15 years old. In 1965 he started racing a Formula Vee. But, it didn't take long for his talent and love for racing to earn him a seat in some more serious machinery. By 1966, he'd had his first race at LeMans, a race he would drive in ten times during his career.
Posey's racing exploits went way beyond LeMans. He drove at Indy, in the Can-Am series, in Trans Am and in Formula 5000. He won at Sebring for BMW in a 3.0 CSL. He also recorded two starts in Formula 1 and one in NASCAR. The guy did it all.
After racing, Posey went on to a career in broadcasting as a commentator for ABC and then Speed TV.
2013 marks the 18th year for the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance. Several significant cars from Posey's racing career will be on display and funds raised will go to support Community Hospice of Northeast Florida, Inc.
The show will take place March 8-10 of 2013. For tickets and more information click here or call 904-636-0027.


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Proliant DL365 G5 Overview
HP ProLiant DL365 Generation 5 (G5)
A concentrated 1U server that delivers the right match of processing
power, memory performance, I/O throughput, scalability, HP Insight Control
, and essential fault tolerance. The HP ProLiant DL365 G5 is optimized
for space constrained scaling installations. Quad-Cord AMD Opteron™
processors, DDR2 memory, Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) and PCI Express technology
provide a high performance system ideal for the full range scale out applications.
What's more, the DL365 G5 provides all this in an ultra-dense platform
with redundant power, fans, and embedded RAID capability.
Standard Features
2 GB (2 x 1
GB) 667MHz or 800MHz
Default bus assignment (in decimal). Inserting cards with PCI bridges may
alter the actual bus assignment number ** Slots are enumerated differently
based on OS. MS OS's enumerate from lowest to highest Device ID by bus (starting
with the lowest bus). *** Indicates the number of physical electrical lanes
running to the connector.
ATI ES1000, 32 MB video standard
HP Insight Foundation
Managing the growing number of servers can be complex and expensive for
your organization. IT managers need to address changing business needs
with tools that meet the challenges of managing today's complex Datacenters.
HP provides management solutions that are designed to simplify a server's
installation, configuration and maintenance throughout the entire server
lifecycle. This provides the customer with higher levels of operational
efficiency and highly reliable systems: www.hp.com/go/foundation.
The foundation pack includes:
SmartStart version supported (minimum): SmartStart 7.60.
HP ProLiant Onboard Administrator (powered by the HP Integrated Lights-Out
2 management processor) simplifies server setup, health monitoring, power
and thermal control, and lights-out remote administration of ProLiant
ML, DL, and BL servers. HP ProLiant Onboard Administrator functions without
additional software, and can be accessed from any location via a web browser.
It works hand-in-hand with HP Systems Insight Manager, Insight Control
suites, and the Insight Dynamics-VSE suite helping customers unlock the
value of the ProLiant platform and deliver the highest possible quality
of IT service to the business. See www.hp.com/go/ProLiantOA
HP Insight Control suites, as product options, deliver essential infrastructure
management that can help save time and money by making it easy to deploy,
monitor, remote control, and optimize your IT infrastructure through a
single, simple management console. Insight Control suites install and
license software modules that are integrated into HP System Insight Manager.
Two Insight Control suites are available, to serve environments requiring
either Linux-based or Windows-based management consoles: HP Insight Control
suite for Linux, and HP Insight Control suite. See www.hp.com/go/insightcontrol
HP Insight Control suites include one year of 24 x 7 HP Software Technical
Support and Update Service ensuring rapid access to HP support staff and
proactive delivery of software updates. For more information about this
service, please visit: https://www.hp.com/services/insight.
Windows Server
Windows Server Hyper V
Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Linux Enterprise Server (SLES)
Enterprise Linux (OEL)
10 for x86/x64 based Systems
Rack 10000 G2 series Cabinets
The increasing power of new high-performance processor technology requires
increased cooling efficiency for rack-mounted servers. The 10000 G2 Series
Racks provide enhanced airflow for maximum cooling, allowing these racks
to be fully loaded with servers using the latest processors.
CAUTION: If a third-party
rack is used, observe the following additional requirements to ensure adequate
airflow and to prevent damage to the equipment:
Quick deploy rail system provides tool-free support for racks with square
or round mounting holes (including Compaq/HP 7000, 9000, 10000 G2 and
HP series), with an adjustment range of 24" - 36". The ambidextrous
cable management arm can be mounted on either the left or right side for
improved cable management.
Support for all 2-post Telco racks requires the use of the standard rack
kit and an additional option kit from Rack Solutions at: https://www.racksolutions.com/hp/
HP Factory Express offers configuration, customization, integration and
deployment services for HP servers and storage products. Customers can
choose how their factory solutions are built, tested, integrated, shipped
and deployed.
Factory Express offers service packages for simple configuration, racking,
installation, complex configuration and design services as well as individual
factory services, such as image loading, asset tagging, and custom packaging.
HP products supported through Factory Express include a wide array of
servers and storage: HP Integrity, HP ProLiant, HP ProLiant Server Blades,
HP BladeSystem, HP 9000 servers as well as the MSAxxxx, VA7xxx, EVA, XP,
rackable tape libraries and configurable network switches.
For more information on Factory Express services for your specific
server model please contact your sales representative or go to: https://www.hp.com/go/factory-express.
HP Care Pack
services provide total care and support expertise with committed response designed
to meet your IT and business needs. HP Care Pack services include coverage
for the HP branded hardware options qualified for the server and purchased at
the same time or afterward that are internal to the enclosure. This also includes
the 22" and smaller external monitors and tower UPS options up to 3kVA. These
items will be covered at the same service level and for the same coverage period
as the server. Coverage of UPS Battery is not included, and standard warranty
terms & conditions apply. For servers or storage systems installed within
a rack, service also covers all HP qualified rack options installed within the
same rack. To fully capitalize on your HP ProLiant servers' capabilities
requires a service partner who thoroughly understands your server technology and
systems environment. HP Services, an industry leader in provision of multi vender
support solutions, provides a range of support services designed to meet the varying
needs of your business. Whether an SMB, or large global corporation, HP has a
ProLiant server support offer to help you speedily deploy and maximize system
uptime. Recommended Service - simplify ProLiant solution implementation,
maintenance, and management.
Enhanced Service - optimize service level to increase
IT performance and availability.
Refer to the information on "Installation &
Start-Up" for service on ProLiant server and Microsoft or Linux O/S per the
Customer Description and/or Data Sheet; to be delivered on a scheduled basis 8am-5pm,
M-F, excluding HP holidays.
HP DL365 G5 Entry Models
HP DL365 G5 Base Models DL365G5 2356
DL365G5 2378510146-xx1
HP DL365 G5 Performance Models
DL365G5 2356 447596-xx1
HP DL365 G5 High Efficiency Models
Configuration Information - Factory Integrated Models
NOTE: This section lists some of the
steps required to configure a Factory Integrated Model. To ensure only
valid configurations are ordered, HP recommends the use of an HP approved
configurator. Contact your local sales representative for information
on CTO product offerings and requirements.
NOTE: HP does not allow factory integration of options into standard
models listed above. Configure-to-order servers must start with a CTO
NOTE: FIO indicates that this option only available as a Factory
Installable Option.
Integrated Model ships with:
Two embedded NC373i Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapters
Integrated Lights-Out 2 (iLO 2) embedded
1 full-length and 1 low-profile x8 PCI-Express slots
9 fans; N+1 fan redundancy
(1) 700W power supply, redundant optional
Rack (1U), (1.75 in/4.45 cm)
DL365 G5 Core Options
Additional Options
(Smart Array E200 Controller)
(Smart Array E500 Controller)
(Smart Array P400 Controller)
(Smart Array P600 Controller)
(Smart Array P800 Controller)
(Smart Array P212 Controller)
(Smart Array P410 Controller)
(Smart Array P411 Controller)
NOTE: For the complete listing of Tape Drive offerings, please
HP StorageWorks LTO-3 Ultrium 920 SAS Internal Tape Drive
NOTE: Mounts inside the 1U SAS
Rack-Mount Kit (AE459A)
NOTE: Please see the Modular Smart Array 20 QuickSpecs for additional
information including configuration steps and additional options needed
for a complete solution at: https://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/11942_div/11942_div.html
HP Rack Series
HP Rack Options
Service and Support Offerings(HP
Care Pack Services)
HP ProLiant DL365 G5 Models
Standard Memory
NOTE: One of the following depending
on model:
Performance Models: 4 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 DIMMs (667 MHz) installed (4 x
Base and Entry Models: 2 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 DIMMs (667 MHz) installed (2
x 1 GB)
High Efficiency Models: 2 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 Low Power DIMMs (667MHz) installed
(2 x 1 GB)
Upgrading Memory and Memory Interleaving
DIMMs must be installed in identical pairs. Bank interleaving is automatically
enabled on a processor node under the following conditions:
1) Four single ranked DIMMs populated per node (4 x
512 MB or 4 x 1 GB for example) yields 2-way bank interleaving.
2) Two dual ranked DIMMs populated per node (2 x 2 GB or 2 x 4 GB for
example) yields 2-way bank interleaving.
3) Four dual ranked DIMMs populated per node (4 x 2 GB or 4 x 4 GB for
example) yields 4-way bank interleaving.
If single and dual ranked DIMMs are mixed on the same node, bank interleaving
will not be enabled.
Node interleaving can be configured via RBSU if both processors have the
same memory footprint and is independent of bank interleaving.
Standard Memory Plus Optional Memory
Up to 26 GB memory is available with the standard memory of 1 GB and the
optional installation of PC2-5300 DDR2 DIMMs (667 MHz) memory kits. -
6 slots would be available, and potentially could be filled with 4GB DIMM's.
Standard Memory Replaced with Optional Memory
Up to 32 GB of memory is available with the removal of the standard 512
MB of memory and the optional installation of PC2-5300 DDR2 DIMMs (667
MHz) memory kits.
are memory options available from HP:
Removable Media
Host Controller or Adapter
20 Modular Smart Array
NOTE: For a complete listing of compatible tape and disk-based
backup offerings, please visit: www.hp.com/go/connect
HP StorageWorks SCSI Tape Drives, External
LTO-1 Ultrium 232 LTO-2 Ultrium 448 LTO-3 Ultrium 960 LTO-3 Ultrium
920 LTO-4 Ultrium 1760 LTO-4 Ultrium 1840 DAT 40 DAT 72 DAT
160 1U Rack-Mount Kit 3U Rack-Mount Kit
HP StorageWorks D2D Backup Systems
Power Specifications
NOTE: To review typical system power ratings use the HP Power
Advisor which is available online located at url: www.hp.com/go/proliant-energy-efficient
or www.hp.com/go/hppoweradvisor
NOTE: To review typical system power
ratings use the HP Power Advisor which is available online located at
url: www.hp.com/go/proliant-energy-efficient
or www.hp.com/go/hppoweradvisor
offers end-of-life HP product return, trade-in, and recycling programs in many
geographic areas. For trade-in information, please go to: https://www.hp.com/go/green.
To recycle your product, please go to: https://www.hp.com/go/green
or contact your nearest HP sales office. Products returned to HP will be recycled,
recovered or disposed of in a responsible manner.


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The New Yorker has a list of the top ten tech quotes of 2011. Instead of the usual boring quotes about how awesome a product is, they're insights into the dirty underbelly of the world of technology.
The quotes cover topics like the ongoing problems with patent trolls, and what Bill Gates told Steve Jobs after being accused of ripping off Apple. The New Yorker's Nicholas Thompson chose the quotes based on how much they mattered in the tech world and how much he personally liked them. It's a pretty great list. Here are a few gems:
I actually worked on a whole bunch of patents in my career over the years and I have to say that every single patent is nothing but crap.
A software engineer explains to This American Life that the patents he's been granted over the years are unintelligible lawyer speak. This quote was from the program's investigation into patent trolls.
I think it's more like we both had this rich neighbor named Xerox and I broke into his house to steal the TV set and found out that you had already stolen it.
What Bill Gates told Steve Jobs after Jobs accused Microsoft of ripping off Apple with Windows. The quote appeared in Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs.
Bezos is super smart; don't get me wrong. He just makes ordinary control freaks look like stoned hippies.
Posted to Google+ by a Google employee. The employee used to work at Amazon and had though that he was only sharing the information with co-workers using Google+'s Circles. Whooops.
Check out the rest of the New Yorkers quotes here. If you remember some choice quotes from the past year, drop them in the comments. [The New Yorker]


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Pity the small office when it comes to technology. With anywhere from several to several dozen employees, there's often no budget for an IT director to manage all the network services required for a modern company of any size. Offices may need to handle email, file-sharing, calendar and contacts hosting, collaboration tools, and other matters. Especially in this economy, how can an office of that size—perhaps your office?—afford the technician needed to install and keep a Microsoft Server 2008 installation on the rails, plus the initial cost in per-seat licenses. Unix and Linux distributions may be free or have relatively inexpensive purchase and service contracts, but you pay for that in requiring more expertise in house or on demand.
That may lead firms to Google's door, turning to Web hosted services via Google Apps. But the $50 per-user, per-year fee can add up, and Google Apps doesn't offer everything a small business needs. Some companies may not want to go this route, or may be subject to regulatory issues that prevent proprietary or confidential data from being located offsite with Google—or anyone. That seems to leave a large niche in which companies want an affordable product that runs on commodity hardware and doesn't need the constant ministrations of an IT expert, even if one's required to set it up.
Apple has such a product, Mac OS X Server, but has been weak at exploiting this niche despite the server's long history. Apple has focused instead on support for large corporations' enterprise networks, data center and cluster use, and academic deployments. Releases before version 10.6 (Snow Leopard) had numerous difficulties for those who couldn't quickly fire up a command line and start entering commands from memory. Further, OS X Server was often too focused on providing services for networks mostly comprised of Macs; a lot of lip service was paid to Windows support, but it's only seemingly fully matured in 10.6.
But what makes OS X Server 10.6 a perfectly reasonable choice for small-to-medium-sized businesses is new pricing coupled with a custom Mac mini configuration. For $999, you can buy a perfectly speedy office server with a full, unlimited-seat license.
In this review, I look at a few specific aspects of the Mac mini server model and OS X Server as they relate to sub-enterprise-scale networks, especially where IT staff help isn't assumed. I also offer you two key tips for fixing problems in OS X Server that tripped me up during testing.
(This is not a full review of OS X Server, which would take many tens of thousands of words and months of testing, much like John Siracusa's in-depth OS X client reviews.)
Hardware, OS, and Pricing
The Mac mini server—its full name is the Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server—brings together two separate developments: a substantial price cut for OS X Server and increasingly powerful Mac mini models that have the gumption to work as servers.
Before 10.6, Apple charged $999 for its unlimited user license, and $499 for a 10-user version. The 10-user limit, however, applied only to simultaneous logins for certain kinds of services, including AFP (Apple Filing Protocol), Apple's native file-sharing service. The 10.6 release threw that pricing out the window. There's one version of OS X Server 10.6: $499 for an unlimited user version. OS X Server can be installed on nearly any system capable of running the regular version of Snow Leopard (which itself costs $29 for a 10.5 Leopard upgrade version that could be used for a full installation). OS X Server since 10.5 can also be virtualized with one paid license per virtualization; the $499 price makes virtualization cheaper, too.
By comparison, Windows Small Business Server 2008 comes in two editions (naturally) for either $1,089 (standard) or $1,899 (premium) with five client licenses, and charges $77 or $189 respectively for each additional client license. The premium version includes Microsoft SQL Server 2008 for small businesses, and, because MySQL is included with OS X Server, one could argue the premium version is most comparable.
The Mac mini Server ($999) is the other development. Before this particular model, Apple shipped only one standard server system in multiple configurations with a full software license included: its rack-mounted Xserve (starting at $2,999), designed for server rooms and data centers. Until an update in March 2009, the Mac mini was too underpowered to handle multiple server tasks, although the mini was often found in data centers.
If you're weren't racking your server, then an iMac or Mac Pro could serve, but both models can be overkill. The Mac Pro can be purchased in a build-to-order configuration starting at $2,999 with OS X Server installed, but the Mac Pro has a strong graphics orientation, designed to be best used by 2D, 3D, and video professionals. An iMac can handle OS X Server, too, but you're paying for a built-in monitor you likely don't need.
The March 2009 Mac mini update gave the tiny desktop real performance, bringing it reasonably close to iMac system specs. The October 2009 Mac mini update bumped specs and made the server pricing work with Mac mini server.
For $999, you get a 2.53 GHz Intel Core Duo, 4GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 RAM, two 500GB drives, one FireWire 800 port and five USB 2.0 ports, gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, and Wi-Fi (802.11n).
The server flavor omits an internal CD/DVD drive, which Apple sells as a USB attachment for $99; the second 500GB hard drive fills the optical drive's space. Instead of the external optical drive, you can use the networked CD/DVD feature—Remote Disc—that was added for the MacBook Air. Mount a disc on computer elsewhere on the network with CD/DVD sharing enabled—separate software for Windows or via the Sharing system preference pane in Mac OS X—and the mini can mount it and even install a new operating system from it.
Two mistakes
Apple made only two missteps on system specs. First, a server nearly always does better with more memory, and while 4GB isn't unreasonable, an 8GB top limit would have been better if it were possible. Several Mac tech sites have tested putting in 8GB without any trouble, but Apple doesn't support such a configuration, which means future versions of Snow Leopard could unintentionally cause trouble. (The worst trouble I have had in 9 years of running OS X has been with system updates and incompatible third-party RAM.)
The second stumble is by limiting the Mac mini to 5400 rpm drives, the same as are used on the low end in laptops, instead of widely available 7200 rpm drives. Servers benefit from faster drives because disk i/o runs continuously with many different sizes and types of file operations.
It may have been a heat issue, because the retail difference in price can be as little as $20 to $30 per drive, and Apple would pay some fraction of that. However, it likely would have boosted the mini's street price by $50 to $100, and that may have been seen as unacceptable.
The issue of RAM and drive speed are interrelated. More RAM would increase caching and reduce disk accesses; a faster drive would make a system with less RAM work more efficiently.
Apple should consider offering a higher-end mini for what would likely be $1,299 to $1,399 with two 7200 rpm drives and 8GB.
When I spoke to Apple about drive performance, product managers noted that the unit includes a FireWire 800 port. Several of my colleagues who have tested similar configurations say that external FireWire 800 drives could outperform an internal drive. Apple is offering the Promise SmartStor DS4600 RAID system alongside the mini for $799 with four 7200-rpm 1 TB drives, and two FireWire 800 ports. The device can be hardware-configured for mirroring, performance, or redundancy.
For networked Time Machine backups across an office network, this add-on might solve two problems reasonably affordably. Four 1TB drives purchased separately can cost as much as $350 to $450 with no cases and without hardware RAID support.
Booting up for the first time
I have the advantage in this review of testing two separate Mac mini servers. One I purchased days after the release of the model when it appeared as if a Mac mini I use for handling backups of Linux servers via Retrospect—don't ask—had given up the ghost. I had wanted to consolidate mail service, DNS, and a handful of other services onto a newer system, moving the functions from a Linux server, so I took the plunge. (My older Mac mini wasn't dead, only resting.)
The other system was a short-term loan from Apple, which let me compare and contrast a machine I'd configured to run with a pristine installation. In both cases, I didn't migrate any files from other systems, just test functions.
The Mac mini server is precisely like its non-server brethren. It's a squat square. You unpack it, plug in a power supply and an included mini-DVI to DVI adapter, hook up a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, and you're ready to go.
Set-up for a preinstalled copy of OS X Server is very much like the first boot for a client OS X system. You walk through a very small number of settings, enter registration information, and create an account that can be used to administer the system. OS X Server, like all of Apple's business and professional products, has a serial number that must be entered; it's then confirmed with Apple over the Internet. As part of setup, you answer a very few questions about what services you want to use, but you can change those choices later.
It's most likely that a server won't have a permanent "head" or monitor, so after the initial start up, I activate my MobileMe account in system preferences and turn on Back to My Mac, as well as Screen Sharing in the Sharing preference pane. (Back to My Mac only works with a single MobileMe account, so it's not ideal for situations in which you have multiple people who need remote access. Screen Sharing otherwise requires a publicly reachable IP address or port mapping that connects a public IP on a router to your server's screen-sharing port.)


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If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that when I visited Ridge Farm during my last day in the U.K I went a little mad. As our driver pulled into the driveway of the residence, I literally couldn't believe my eyes. We were in the midst of a farm house that had existed since the 16th century.
This wasn't just any house, either. It was deep in the countryside of Surrey, about an hour outside of London but this place has some really unexpected history.
See, there's a recording studio in one of the many cottages that dot the land and the likes of Queen, David Bowie, Little Richard and Black Sabbath have passed through its halls. We heard that it was the place to be in the 70s, 80s and 90s for bands looking to record their albums on state of the art analog equipment.
Upon further research, one of the "farmers" dug up photos of Freddie Mercury strolling across the front lawn in a canary yellow 3 piece suit! Oh, Freddie. I was already dying of excitement just seeing the front of the house (I couldn't shut up — "We don't have stuff like this in America! I can't believe this place!!!") but then, I had a mini freakout when we were led up the very settled (read: crooked) winding stairs to the top of the house. We'd been promised "Freddie's Bedroom" for our night's stay, complete with a four poster bed and peaked ceiling. Legend has it that he wrote Bohemian Rhapsody up there. And that David Bowie had slept in that same room. It was like nowhere I'd ever been — it exuded magic.
I'm getting ahead of myself, though. We had been invited to The Farm by celebrated UK wedding photographer Lisa Devlin for her intensive photography workshop dubbed, quite accurately, the Photography Farm. This time, she'd ambitiously set up a multitude of masterclasses that people had flown in from all around the world for and we'd been invited along to speak at length about our Blogcademy social media segment tailored to photographer's needs. We met so many fantastic people during our three hour talk and spent the rest of our time exploring the grounds, eating gourmet meals whipped up by the chefs and obsessing over Freddie's bedroom (wait, that was me).
This little adventure was the perfect way to end our time in the U.K. and unwind after two sold out Blogcademy workshops. Getting out into the world and visiting places like this is a dream come true. Seriously, it was like an idyllic storybook setting (though I can only imagine the hijinks the big name rock legends actually engaged in)!
*Â If you'd like to attend a future Photography Farm event, you can learn more here.
*Â If you'd like to book an event at Ridge Farm, you can do so here.


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2010 study posted for filing
Contact: Elisabeth A. M. Sanders, M.D., Ph.D. email@example.com JAMA and Archives Journals
This release is also available in Chinese on EurekAlert! Chinese.
Infants who received heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccination (PCV-7) at 2, 4, and 11 months were more likely than unvaccinated controls to have nasopharyngeal (in the nasal passages and upper part of the throat behind the nose) acquisition of pneumococcal serotype 19A, a leading cause of respiratory pneumococcal disease, according to a study in the September 8 issue of JAMA.
"A rapid increase in the presence of pneumococcal serotype 19A strains that are often multiresistant to antibiotics has been observed over the last decade. In the United States, serotype 19A is now the leading causative pneumococcal serotype of invasive and respiratory pneumococcal disease and the most frequently observed serotype in nasopharyngeal carriage. In the United States and other countries, the increase in serotype 19A disease was associated in time with the widespread implementation of PCV-7 in routine infant immunization programs," according to background information in the article. "Because spontaneous fluctuations in time and antibiotic selective pressure may have induced this serotype 19A increase, controlled studies are needed to assess the role of PCV-7."
Elske J. M. van Gils, M.D., of University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands, and colleagues examined the association between PCV-7 vaccination and nasopharyngeal acquisition of serotype 19A pneumococci in 1,003 healthy newborns, with follow-up to the age of 24 months in the Netherlands, which has low antibiotic resistance rates. The study was conducted before widespread PCV-7 implementation in infants, between July 2005 and February 2008. Nasopharyngeal swabs were obtained at the age of 6 weeks and at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months. Infants were randomly assigned to receive 2 doses of PCV-7 at 2 and 4 months; 2 + 1 doses of PCV-7 at 2, 4, and 11 months; or no dosage (unvaccinated control group).
Nine hundred forty-eight children completed the study. Fifty-four nasopharyngeal serotype 19A carriage isolates from 318 in the 2-dose group, 66 isolates from 327 in the 2 + 1-dose group, and 33 isolates from 303 in the unvaccinated group were collected from 6 weeks through 24 months. "At 24 months and after having completed the vaccine series, the cumulative proportion of participants with acquisition of a new serotype 19A clone in the 2 +1-dose group was 16.2 percent (53 of 327) vs. 9.2 percent (28 of 303) in the unvaccinated control group. The cumulative proportion in the 2-dose group was also higher than in the unvaccinated group but did not reach statistical significance (13.2 percent; 42 of 318 children)," the authors write.
The proportion of children with new 19A acquisition who had used antibiotics in the last 6 months (18.7 percent) did not differ among groups.
"In addition to the contributing role of antibiotic selective pressure as previously described by others, we now have demonstrated, to our knowledge for the first time, the facilitating role of PCV-7 in nasopharyngeal acquisition of serotype 19A. In view of the proven disease potential of serotype 19A for otitis media and invasive pneumococcal disease and the observed association with antibiotic resistance, vaccines of broader coverage including protection against serotype 19A may further aid to pneumococcal disease prevention. However, we need to be aware that other serotypes with similar characteristics and disease potential may be the next in line to proliferate and therefore pneumococcal surveillance remains important after introduction of expanded pneumococcal conjugate vaccines," the researchers conclude.
(JAMA. 2010;304[10]:1099-1106. Available pre-embargo to the media at www.jamamedia.org)
Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.


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Editor's Note: Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is a political comedian and frequent commentator on various TV networks including CNN. He is the editor of the politics blog "The Dean's Report" and co-director of the upcoming documentary, "The Muslims Are Coming!" Follow him on Twitter: @deanofcomedy
Story highlights
Every president except for JFK and Barack Obama has been a white Protestant
Dean Obeidallah: WASPs have had an amazing run, but times have changed
He says political parties are increasingly reflecting the new face of America
Obeidallah: Changing voting rights laws have made our political system more democratic
Attention white Anglo-Saxon Protestants: Your days of running things are over. You have jumped the shark.
But there's no need to feel bad for WASPs.
They've had an amazing run. Every single president in our nation's history, except for John F. Kennedy – a Catholic – and Barack Obama, has been a white Protestant. Except for a handful of exceptions, for over 200 years the presidential nominees of both major political parties have been WASPs. WASPs had almost as many victories in a row as The Harlem Globetrotters.
But it's over. Look at this year's presidential tickets: A Mormon, an African-American, and two Catholics. Even some of the keynote speakers at the Democratic and Republican conventions were not WASPs. The GOP featured Italian-Irish Catholic Chris Christie and the Democrats tapped Latino-American, Julian Castro.
Times are so bleak for WASPs that there's not a single one on the Supreme Court. Likewise, in Congress, the percentage of Protestants fell from 74 percent in 1961 to a slim majority of 55 percent today. Neither the current Speaker of the House (John Boehner: Catholic) nor the Senate majority leader (Harry Reid: Mormon) is WASP.
I'm sincerely not gloating. And my jibes are in jest. But what I'm happy about is that our two major political parties are increasingly reflecting the new face of America. The demographics of our nation are changing and, by 2042, minorities are expected to become the majority in the U.S.
Objectively, the delegates at this year's Democratic convention were far more diverse. The Republican convention looked more like the early bird dinner crowd at The Cracker Barrel.
Opinion: In Ohio, candidates are salesmen trying to close the deal
However, in the GOP's defense, a party that is 90% white, they have started to slowly showcase minorities, such as Sen. Marco Rubio and Govs. Nikki Haley and Bobby Jindal. They are well aware that if they don't, the GOP will go the way of the Whigs.
There's little doubt that we will see more diverse presidential candidates. And we will likely see in the not too distant future a president who is Latino, Asian, Jewish, Sikh or Muslim. (That screaming sound you might have heard was Michele Bachmann shrieking in horror at the idea of a Muslim-American president.)
This is a testament to our nation. We are by our very nature progressive. It may take years, or even decades, to see change, but we always march forward, not back.
So, how did we get to where we are today where the white Protestant establishment seems to be losing power? Well, it's kind of complicated (as these things tend to be). There are tons of reasons. But one important factor that has contributed to today's political landscape is changing voting rights laws.
Back in the days when our nation was founded, only white men who owned land could vote. That means rich white men with money get to control the political system. (I know some of you are thinking: How is that different than today?)
In our first presidential election in 1789, no women, no blacks, no poor white men, and in many states neither Catholics nor Jews, were permitted to vote.
Over time, some states abandoned the requirement of land ownership so that poor white men could vote. And the religious restrictions were also lifted so that non-Protestants were able to vote.
Opinion: Democrats and Republicans need a plan to keep American dream alive
However, it wasn't until after 1870, when the 15th Amendment was ratified, that black American citizens were finally guaranteed the right to vote. (Although poll taxes, literacy laws and other measures were still employed in some states to disenfranchise black voters.)
And it took all the way to 1920 – more than 100 years after our first president was elected – that women were finally given the right to vote with the passage of the 19th Amendment to our Constitution.
Enfranchising voters of all backgrounds has led to the opening up of our democratic process. Minorities no longer just voted – they became active in politics. And they didn't just show up at political meetings – over time they sought elective offices. And some of them won. With each success, they inspire even more minorities of every race, ethnicity and religion to become active in our political system.
So WASPs, you've had your great run. And there is no doubt that another white Protestant will rise up one day against the growing odds and win the White House. But until that day comes, you can console yourself knowing that a white Protestant male is one of the most exciting athletes in our nation today: Tim Tebow. (Of course, he is the back up to Mark Sanchez.)
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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dean Obeidallah.


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Screw the Oscars.
We've seen who won and we know why, but 2013 was a year of much greater English-language cinema than the one that picked up the top prize.
The following ten films make for a very eclectic and unlikely list: there are two films starring Olivia Wilde; two films starring Adam Driver, two black-and-white films, and absolutely nothing in 3D.
The ones that almost made the list are gems in their own right — Enough Said, Short Term 12, The Place Beyond The Pines and Afternoon Delight — and I wish I'd watched Spring Breakers a few more times so I could finally decide whether it was great or godawful. It took much pedantic sorting and shuffling (and maybe a couple of tossed coins) to arrive at ten films, but what films they are.
So, I say again, screw the Oscars. Here are the real Best Pictures:
10. Drinking Buddies
This. This is what all mumblecore should aspire to be. A less obvious but no less incisive look into a couple of relationships as they stumble along being all coupley, Joe Swanberg's film consists of strikingly relatable dialogue mostly improvised by the great cast — Anna Kendrick, Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson and Ron Livingston star, and are all great — with the director cannily riffing on their naturally bright, young vibe by dousing the picture itself in melancholia. Slick, very slick, and disarmingly honest.
9. Before Midnight
Director and writer Richard Linklater reunited with actor-writers Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy for this unlikely, unflinching look at what may well be the definitive on-screen relationship for our generation. Before Sunrise sparkled in 1995 and Before Sunset dazzled us in 2004, but this third film brought up questions and ruminations of life and love in a way we never expected (or, indeed, wanted) Celine or Jesse to confront. It is a film that acts as balm, as mirror, as accusation. Heartbreaking, powerful and shouldered by masterfully long chunks of dialogue, it feels more confessional that cinema ought be. In a way, while reminding us that some things stay the same, this film changes everything.
8. The World's End
Beer never looked more like liquid gold than in the opening of Edgar Wright's madcap genre-mashing finale to his Cornetto Trilogy, and that's just the tip of the, well, the tipple. Simon Pegg — in his best written character to date — plays a swashbuckling saucer rousing his school gang from necktied-apathy to take them on a boozy bender they never finished in their heyday. Wright, shifting gear in loony but scrupulous fashion, throws us right into a whole other kind of film while never losing sight of his first one. The energy, the gags, the way the director and his actors full-throatedly embrace the ludicrousness of it all: The World's End is a pint of perfection.
7. Inside Llewyn Davis
Joel and Ethan Coen, those cinematic troubadours who croon captivating ballads about people we would normally just point and laugh at, are at it again with this gorgeous film about a folk musician fated to be but a footnote. It is a beautiful film about a depressing, mean man (played superbly by Oscar Isaacs) who naively believes his talent will see him through. It doesn't, but it does allow him to bob afloat on the choppiest of waters populated by corks like him. And, in true Coen style, many a screwball. Stunningly shot by Bruno Delbonnel, the film wallows in Llewyn Davis' misery, pausing only to let the brilliant music lift it to another level. Before hurtling it down again. The world, as Davis says, is divided into two kinds of people: those who divide the world into two kinds of people…
6. Blue Jasmine
Woody Allen's film might well be an update of Tennessee William's A Streetcar Named Desire, but Blue Jasmine is a crueller, sharper and decidedly more devastating tale. Cate Blanchett's Jasmine is a delusional neurotic, a woman well beyond the verge of a nervous breakdown. Her marriage, with a wheeler-dealer of possibly Belfort-ian proportions, has imploded after many years in denial, and now the Hermes-carrying Jasmine can't afford cab-fare. Populated by fascinating characters armed with Allen's typically quotable lines, this perfectly cast film throws up many a moment of absolute unforgettability. Sally Hawkins, Alec Baldwin and Bobby Cannavale all shine, but the film belongs to Blanchett's Jasmine, for whom the meaning of life truly does involve the consideration of who one has to sleep with (around here) to get a (Stoli) martini (with a twist of lemon).
5. Rush
The only big-screen spectacular to make it to my list this year, Rush is a rousingly dramatic film that sees director Ron Howard at his very best. The facts — about a mid-70s Formula One rivalry between two drivers that almost killed one of them — are incredible enough without embellishment, and screenwriter Peter Morgan takes what was known and doodles in the margins around it, amping up the off-track thrill. Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl are terrific as British playboy James Hunt and Austrian genius Niki Lauda, and Howard swings his narrative from one to the other like a violently socked punching bag. Rush ends up riveting, surprising and compelling: one of the best sports films in modern times.
4. Nebraska
"You need to water these plants," a girl tells her boyfriend just moments before breaking up with him. "These are plants," she explains wearily, as if he — a fellow who sells hi-fidelity audio equipment while conceding its all the same nowadays — won't be able to tell the difference. Meanwhile, the boy's father, a silently grizzled old loon, is convinced he's won the sweepstakes. Things are never what they initially seem to be in an Alexander Payne film, and this gorgeous black and white meditation on a father-and-son story tells an alarmingly universal tale of age and utility, of finding something to live for, and of the importance of a mirage. It is a lovely, languorous film, assuredly slow but enlivened by cinematographer Phedon Papamichael's frames and by the dialogues, lines that cut instantly, memorably deep. Bruce Dern gives the performance of his career as the befuddled but bold father, while Will Forte does valiantly well as the son. Nebraska is a tale of men, who, like classic cars, are built to run forever — until they stop running, that is.
3. The Wolf Of Wall Street
"Golden words he will pour in your ear, but his lies can't disguise what you fear," boomed Shirley Bassey in the title track for Goldfinger, perhaps the greatest James Bond film of them all. A helluva track, for sure, noisily sensual and positively dripping with menace and power — but not quite the track you want played at your wedding. Unless, of course, you want to be the devil.
Leonardo DiCaprio forks his tongue to play Jordan Belfort in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf Of Wall Street, and the entire film throbs with a seductive, scary energy. This is an amoral tale about men who can't spell the word 'scruples,' and Scorsese and his fellas dive into it good, getting their hands and souls dirty. It's a horror story told as a farce — the most effective way to deal with a monster may be to mock him — and while it's an intoxicatingly stylish movie, one reference to the 1932 horror classic The Freaks is enough to tell us what Marty thinks of these brokers. Even as Leo throws himself into the part with feverish glee, we see him constantly on the edge of implosion.
As we watch this heady timebomb tick, Scorsese and Leo scare us straight. Unlike his character, who'd rather die soon than die sober.
2. Frances Ha
Can you live inside a movie? If so, can I have a one-way ticket to inhabit Noah Baumbach's marvellous black-and-white Frances Ha, an instant classic if ever there was one? Baumbach's film — and his actors Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner, Adam Driver and Michael Zegen — so consummately capture the zeitgeist of a time and place and generation that were we wiped out as a race tomorrow, I'd want this film to be our tremendous-albeit-twee epitaph.
Gerwig plays the "undateable" lead character with a magical openness, as if she were a jam-jar missing a lid, eager to soak up everything from bagels to boys. She careens through New York with klutzy earnestness — or, rather, earnest klutziness — a cross between a Truffaut character and a bull in a china shop. Watching this precocious, cunning, irresistible film is like stumbling upon a burst of glorious jazz with a glass of something imaginatively-coloured in hand. Frances Ha is bottled lightning; glug from it till giddy.
1. Her
"Choke me with that dead cat."
It is a rare film that reduces a critic to a sap, and Her turned me into the lead loser in a Cameron Crowe movie. But 'reduces' is the wrong word; how about 'lifts,' or, better yet considering the film at hand, 'upgrades'?
My review was admittedly more of a love-letter, but that is, perhaps, apropos for a film about a man who writes other people's letters. It is a film of savage sincerity and incredible ingenuity, a film that stands above all others by dint of both heart and originality. Spike Jonze's film is immaculately crafted, flawlessly acted, and looks and sounds beautiful: but those are just, I daresay, its technical specifications.
The magic lies in how Her makes us feel, how it strings us up and strums us into a minor key, how it makes us believe in socially acceptable insanity, how it haunts, and how — during its most enchanting moments — we feel we're lying on the moon, on a perfect afternoon.
First published Rediff, March 7, 2014


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A legislative committee plans to hear several proposals to change Massachusetts' medical marijuana law as the state prepares for implementation of the voter-approved measures.
Among the bills before the Public Health Committee on Monday is one that would reduce the maximum number of medical marijuana dispensaries allowed in Massachusetts from 35 to 10. Another proposal would prohibit the dispensaries from being located within 1,000 feet of a school, house of worship or civic enter.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is expected to issue final regulations governing medical marijuana later this month.
Massachusetts voters passed a ballot question in November allowing for the use of medicinal marijuana for patients with certain medical conditions, including cancer, Parkinson's disease and AIDS. Patients would be allowed to receive up to a 60-day supply of marijuana.
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