text:
Our annual Windows IT Pro Editors' Best and Community Choice award programs give us a unique way to recognize the hottest products on the market for the current year. Our Editors' Best program highlights products that Windows IT Pro editors and contributors believe are worthy of recognition, whereas our Community Choice program lets readers like you decide which products are the best.
Our editors always face a challenge when choosing their Editors' Best favorites from such a competitive and multifaceted field. But we feel, as always, that this year's winners show an uncommon breadth of functionality and originality. As for Community Choice, we followed the same process as in previous years by opening up the Community Choice nomination process to all. We let you nominate your favorite products and services, built the voting survey from there, and let everyone participate in the final voting phase.
In these pages, you'll find our Gold, Silver, and Bronze Editors' Best winners in each category directly adjacent to your Community Choice winners. Sometimes our editors and readers have agreed on favorite products and services in a given category, but more often they haven't. Do you agree with the choices our editors have made? Or do the picks that our readers have made carry more weight? Let us know! Regardless of whether these winners were chosen by editors or readers, you can be sure that all these products are worthy of serious consideration if you're in the market for a new tool.
- Best Active Directory/Group Policy Product
- Best Antivirus/Anti-Malware Product
- Best Auditing/Compliance Product
- Best Backup and Recovery Product
- Best Cloud Computing Service
- Best Deployment/Configuration Product
- Best Hardware: Server
- Best Hardware: Workstation
- Best Hardware: Portable Computer
- Best Hardware: Storage
- Best Hardware: Networking
- Best Hardware: Appliance
- Best High Availability Product
- Best Interoperability Product
- Best Management Suite
- Best Messaging Product
- Best Microsoft Product
- Best Mobile and Wireless Product
- Best Network Management Product
- Best Patch Management Product
- Best Scripting Tool
- Best Security Product
- Best SharePoint Product
- Best System Utility
- Best Systems Management Product
- Best Task Automation Product
- Best Training Product or Service
- Best Virtualization Product
- Best Free Tool
- Best Vendor Tech Support
Best Active Directory/Group Policy Product
Editors' Best
Gold: RadiantOne Virtual Directory Server • Radiant Logic
Silver: ADManager Plus • ManageEngine
Bronze: ActiveRoles Server • Dell (formerly Quest Software)
Why It Won: More than ever, Active Directory (AD) isn't the only identity store that IT pros need to deal with. There are UNIX/Linux directories, HR databases, and application identity databases, and they probably don't communicate with one another. And now, you must also present a unified identity namespace to whatever identity bridge (on-premises federation servers or cloud-based Identity as a Service—IDaaS) you'll use to extend your identity to the cloud for Software as a Service (SaaS) applications. RadiantOne Virtual Directory Server (VDS) is a fast, flexible, and relatively inexpensive solution compared with traditional metadirectory service implementations. Its biggest benefit is that it unifies your AD implementation and other identities into an enterprise directory, but once you have the product in place, there are additional unique capabilities it can provide you.
Community Choice
Gold: NetWrix Active Directory Change Reporter • NetWrix
Silver: ADManager Plus • ManageEngine
Bronze: Centrify Suite • Centrify
"Netwrix's Active Directory Change Reporter is slick—a great time saver for us!"
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
Dell ActiveRoles Server (formerly Quest Software)
DameWare Remote Support (formerly DameWare NT Utilities)
Avecto Privilege Guard
Best Antivirus/Anti-Malware Product
Editors' Best
Gold: Symantec Endpoint Protection • Symantec
Silver: ESET Endpoint Security • ESET
Bronze: GFI VIPRE Antivirus Business • GFI Software
Why It Won: IT pros look for effective and reputable endpoint antivirus solutions that won't bog systems down. Symantec Endpoint Protection continues to fulfill that need with a lightweight solution that provides security for both physical and virtual systems. The solution leverages the company's security-based reputation technology, Symantec Insight, which provides valuable features such as browser intrusion prevention, enhanced client deployment, recovery capabilities, and support for Linux and Apple Macintosh systems. Symantec continues to be a leader in the security industry by providing quality and lightweight endpoint security solutions.
Community Choice
Gold: Malwarebytes for Small Business • Malwarebytes
Silver: Symantec Endpoint Protection • Symantec
Bronze: Kaspersky Anti-Virus • Kaspersky Lab
"Malwarebytes is top of the line when it comes to killing tough viruses!"
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
McAfee SaaS Endpoint Protection Suite
Sophos Endpoint Protection
ESET NOD32 Antivirus
Best Auditing/Compliance Product
Editors' Best
Gold: Blackbird Privilege Explorer for File System • Blackbird Group
Silver: STEALTHbits Data & Access Governance • STEALTHbits Technologies
Bronze: Centrify Suite Standard Edition • Centrify
Why It Won: Although Microsoft SharePoint has the greatest mindshare at the moment, the reality is that the majority of corporate data is still kept on file servers. One of the most difficult management tasks for Windows administrators is figuring out what network resources a particular user has access to. Blackbird Privilege Explorer for File System gives you insight into user access in both historical and real-time modes. And what puts Blackbird Privilege Explorer for File System ahead of the competition is its "per heartbeat" licensing, which charges only for active users instead of every user account. This makes it affordable for organizations such as universities, which often have a moderate number of active students but a far greater number of slightly active alumni accounts.
Community Choice
Gold: NetWrix Change Reporter Suite • NetWrix
Silver: DocAve Report Center for Microsoft SharePoint 2010 • AvePoint
Bronze: NetIQ Secure Configuration Manager • NetIQ
"NetWrix Change Reporter Suite is great when the auditors show up—I just hand them the reports."
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
Centrify Suite Enterprise Edition
ManageEngine ADAudit Plus
Axceler ControlPoint
Best Backup and Recovery Product
Editors' Best
Gold: Veeam Backup & Replication • Veeam Software
Silver: Acronis True Image • Acronis
Bronze: EMC Avamar • EMC
Why It Won: In today's increasingly virtual world, Veeam Backup & Replication is rising in prominence and power. Built specifically to provide fast backup and recovery of virtual machines (VMs), whether on VMware or Hyper-V, Veeam Backup & Replication lets you protect your entire virtual infrastructure from a unified console. It offers industry-leading features such as Instant VM Recovery, Instant File-Level Recovery, 2-in-1 backup and replication, and built-in de-duplication. Our own Alan Sugano wrote a glowing recommendation for this product in the September 2012 issue of Windows IT Pro: "I was so impressed with Veeam Backup & Replication that I replaced my existing virtualization backup solution with it. In addition, I now recommend it to my clients as the preferred backup solution in a vSphere 5 environment. I can't think of a stronger recommendation than that."
Community Choice
Gold: Veeam Backup & Replication • Veeam Software
Silver: Backup Exec • Symantec
Bronze: Acronis Backup & Recovery • Acronis
"VEEAM rocks! Backup nightmares are ancient history now."
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
AvePoint DocAve Backup and Recovery for Microsoft SharePoint 2010
NetIQ PlateSpin Protect
CommVault Simpana
Best Cloud Computing Product
Editors' Best
Gold: TripIt • Concur Technologies
Silver: Dropbox • Dropbox
Bronze: Unified Email Management (UEM) • Mimecast
Why It Won: TripIt isn't, strictly speaking, an IT pro application, but it's quickly becoming a must-have for anyone who travels regularly for business—including IT pros. If you've never used it, TripIt is a cloud service that takes travel itineraries, hotel reservations, rental car reservations, and a variety of other types of travel information (such as airbnb.com reservations) and consolidates them into a simple and easy-to-use web service. The TripIt app is available for all mobile platforms. Its classic app front-end/cloud back-end architecture provides the traveler with a pocket reference for his or her travel. If you upgrade to TripIt Pro, you get real-time flight alerts (at the same time the gate agents get them), baggage claim notifications, and the ability to immediately share travel information with a trusted group. The business version allows a travel organizer to manage a team's travel schedules as well. It's on my short list of indispensable apps/cloud services on any mobile platform I use.
Community Choice
Gold: Dropbox • Dropbox
Silver: Google Apps for Business • Google
Bronze: Amazon Web Services • Amazon Web Services
"DropBox is dead easy to use—lets you quickly share items by literally dropping them in a box for people to access!"
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
AvePoint DocAve Online for Microsoft SharePoint
NetIQ Cloud Manager
SkyDox Business Edition
Best Deployment/Configuration Product
Editors' Best
Gold: Specops Deploy • Specops Software
Silver: Desktop Authority • Quest
Bronze: VMware vCenter Configuration Manager • VMware
Why It Won: The process of manually rolling out an OS across an organization's network can be tedious and time consuming. Although there are a several third-party deployment products that can help automate the process, Specops Deploy is an exceptional deployment tool for any IT pro because of its usability, painless installation, virtual application deployment capabilities, and ability to leverage Active Directory (AD) and Group Policy. Specops Deploy requires no additional software, and its real-time feedback capabilities and competitive pricing makes this deployment solution an easy choice to boot.
Community Choice
Gold: VMware vCenter Configuration Manager • VMware
Silver: ZENworks Configuration Management • Novell
Bronze: XenDesktop • Citrix Systems
"VMware vCenter Configuration Manager—no comment necessary because it does all the talking!"
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
Symantec Altiris Deployment Solution
Quest KACE K2000 Deployment Appliance
SmartDeploy Enterprise
Best Hardware: Server
Editors' Best
Gold: HP ProLiant DL380p Gen8 • HP
Silver: PowerEdge R815 Rack Server • Dell
Bronze: Cisco UCS C260 M2 Rack Server • Cisco Systems
Why It Won: The HP ProLiant DL380p provides an unprecedented amount of processing power in a very compact package. It carries forward all the HP management features that you've come to expect, such as the Integrated Lights-Out (iLO) management system, but it also includes a number of new features designed to make it easier to set up and manage, including the new tool-less case design, FlexibleLOM technology, and Active Health System. Representing the latest in rack-mounted server technology, the HP ProLiant DL380p received an extremely positive review from our own Michael Otey in our October 2012 issue.
Community Choice
Gold: PowerEdge Series • Dell
Silver: HP ProLiant • HP
Bronze: Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) • Cisco Systems
"I have developed an emotional bond with our PowerEdge servers. I love them."
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
HP BladeSystem
IBM System x
Intel Xeon
Best Hardware: Workstation
Editors' Best
Gold: HP Pavilion HPE h9 • HP
Silver: Dell XPS 8500 • Dell
Bronze: ThinkStation D30 • Lenovo
Why It Won: The HP Pavilion HPE h9 is a powerful but affordable Core i7 quad-core desktop that's capable of functioning as an administrative, development, graphics, or virtualization platform. The system supports up to 32GB of Double Data Rate 3 (DDR3) RAM and can be equipped with optional 256GB solid state disk (SSD) drives. A built-in liquid cooling system keeps the system very quiet. This is a solid, well-balanced workstation that can handle just about any productivity need.
Community Choice
Gold: OptiPlex • Dell
Silver: ThinkCentre • Lenovo
Bronze: HP Pavilion • HP
"If there's one desktop for business, Dell OptiPlex is the answer."
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
Dell Precision workstations
HP Z800 workstations
Best Hardware: Portable Computer
Editors' Best
Gold: ThinkPad X1 Carbon • Lenovo
Silver: Series 9 • Samsung
Bronze: ASUS Zenbook UX31 • ASUS
Why It Won: This is a tough time to review portable computers because Windows 8 and a new generation of innovative new form factors are on the way. But in what will surely be the last Editor's Best category that doesn't include tablets, convertibles, and other hybrid PCs, the final generation of ultrabook PCs that lack multi-touch capabilities is the best yet. And if you accept that ultrabooks are the top of the heap when it comes to Windows 7-based portable computers, it should come as no surprise that the single best machine in this market segment, bar none, is the ThinkPad. Weighing less than 3 pounds, Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Carbon offers superior portability while offering more than 7 hours of battery life in real-world use, integrated broadband wireless capability, and a high-resolution 1600 ´ 900 display. But what puts it over the top is the ThinkPad typing experience. You'll never find a better keyboard than those offered by Lenovo. Although the X1 Carbon's thinness does mean a bit of key travel loss compared with other ThinkPads, this machine stands alone in the ultrabook category. The only thing that ThinkPad is lacking is a 15" version. For that, you need to turn to Samsung, whose 15" Series 9 machine is an excellent compromise.
Community Choice
Gold: Latitude • Dell
Silver: ThinkPad • Lenovo
Bronze: MacBook Pro • Apple
"Dell Latitude can stand up to any traveler—durable and powerful. I have been deploying the Dell Latitude since its inception!"
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
HP EliteBook Notebook PCs
Apple MacBook Air
Best Hardware: Storage
Editors' Best
Gold: Hyper ISE • X-IO
Silver: VNX Family • EMC
Bronze: FAS2200 Series • NetApp
Why It Won: X-IO has been on the radar of Windows IT Pro for a couple years now, when the company took surprising honors in the 2011 Best of Microsoft TechEd awards. (X-IO went on to capture two high-profile awards at the 2012 show.) Since then, X-IO's signature powerhouse, the Hyper ISE, has taken great strides in the storage realm. This is a performance-driven storage system that fuses together solid state disks (SSDs) and hard disk drives (HDDs) into a single pool of capacity managed by Continuous Adaptive Data Placement (CADP), the component that elevates this solution into the stratosphere, providing real-time provisioning of workloads to the right disk resources. The performance numbers of the X-IO Hyper ISE continue to skyrocket, blowing away the competition in all kinds of real-world data-intensive applications and environments. This is a system that provides SSD performance at HDD prices, and it's outperforming storage systems that are far more expensive.
Community Choice
Gold: VNX Family • EMC
Silver: FAS2200 Series • NetApp
Bronze: EqualLogic • Dell
"Why buy one VNX 5500 when you can spend twice as much and get two?"
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
Dell Compellent
HP EVA Storage
Seagate Hard Drives
Best Hardware: Networking
Editors' Best
Gold: BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) • F5 Networks
Silver: NetScaler Application Delivery Controller • Citrix Systems
Bronze: Arista 7500 Series • Arista Networks
Why It Won: Here at Windows IT Pro, we've watched F5 Networks evolve from an eager, young load-balancing business into the powerhouse market leader that it is today. The company's flagship product, BIG-IP LTM, increases your operational efficiency and ensures peak network performance by providing a flexible, high-performance application delivery system. With its application-centric perspective, BIG-IP LTM optimizes your network infrastructure to deliver availability, security, and performance for critical business applications. Putting this system over the top is its easy-to-use management interface, ideal for today's general-purpose IT pro.
Community Choice
Gold: Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches • Cisco Systems
Silver: HP Networking Switches • HP
Bronze: SRX Series Services Gateways • Juniper Networks
"Cisco Catalyst = gold standard."
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
Cisco Nexus Series Switches
Citrix Systems NetScaler Application Delivery Controller
F5 Networks BIG-IP LTM
Best Hardware: Appliance
Editors' Best
Gold: HP VirtualSystem • HP
Silver: FalconStor NSS VS Series HA Appliance • FalconStor Software
Bronze: Greenplum Data Computing Appliance • EMC
Why It Won: The HP VirtualSystem appliance removes the complexity of implementing high-performance and scalable virtualization in the enterprise. This preconfigured appliance has been expressly designed by HP and Microsoft to speed up the deployment of high-performance virtualization platforms. The preconfigured server, networking, and storage subsystems remove the trial-and-error guesswork involved in designing highly scalable virtualization servers.
Community Choice
Gold: Quest KACE K1000 Systems Management Appliance • Quest KACE
Silver: Barracuda Spam & Virus Firewall • Barracuda Networks
Bronze: BIG-IP Product Suite • F5 Networks
"The KACE K1000 saves me time every day!"
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
Dell SonicWALL Network Security Appliance (NSA) Series
Symantec NetBackup Appliance
Riverbed Technology Steelhead Family
Best High Availability Product
Editors' Best
Gold: CA ARCserve High Availability • CA Technologies
Silver: LoadMaster 5300 • KEMP Technologies
Bronze: Double-Take Availability • Vision Solutions
Why It Won: CA ARCserve High Availability is a top-notch solution that protects all aspects of the Windows environment, including system state, applications, and data. The environment is protected through physical-to-virtual and virtual-to-virtual replication and failover to a Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware ESX, VMware vSphere, or Citrix XenServer replica server. Offering seamless and automatic failover and failback, CA ARCserve High Availability provides high availability for your most critical applications, including Microsoft Exchange Server, SQL Server, and SharePoint, as well as your other business-specific applications. Knowing that a single interruption or loss can mean irreparable damage to your business, there's no more stress-reducing product you could add to your environment.
Community Choice
Gold: VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager • VMware
Silver: Veeam Backup & Replication • Veeam Software
Bronze: DocAve High Availability for Microsoft SharePoint • AvePoint
"VMware Site Recovery Manager is the best, because when you need this type of product, there's no room for errors, wasted time, or corrupted VMs."
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
Symantec System Recovery (formerly Backup Exec System Recovery)
NetIQ PlateSpin Forge
Best Interoperability Product
Editors' Best
Gold: Kelverion Integration Packs for System Center 2012 • Kelverion
Silver: Centrify Suite • Centrify
Bronze: ExtremeZ-IP • GroupLogic
Why It Won: Kelverion's Integration Packs for System Center 2012 extend the integration and automation capabilities of Microsoft System Center 2012 and System Center 2012 Orchestrator to other major systems, improving IT efficiency. Today, many organizations have difficulty dealing with the IT silos created by using multiple management systems for multiple IT services. Integrating the data from these management systems can make the difference between an inefficient IT department and one that runs smoothly—and that's where Kelverion's Integration Packs come in. IT expert and Windows IT Pro author John Savill says, "System Center Orchestrator provides not only an integration and automation foundation for System Center 2012 but also the entire data center. With the Integration Packs from Kelverion, that integration story becomes so much more powerful, making Orchestrator and System Center 2012 that much more useful." Interestingly, Kelverion was founded by former employees of Opalis, which was acquired by Microsoft and became Orchestrator.
Community Choice
Gold: RealVNC • RealVNC
Silver: Centrify Suite • Centrify
Bronze: ExtremeZ-IP • GroupLogic
"RealVNC made me fat! I don't need to move anymore!"
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
Paragon Software Group NTFS for Mac OS X 10
Binary Tree CMT for Coexistence
Best Management Suite
Editors' Best
Gold: Altiris IT Management Suite • Symantec
Silver: SolarWinds • SolarWinds
Bronze: Desktop Authority Dell (formerly Quest Software)
Why It Won: Symantec's Altiris IT Management Suite gives you the framework you need to simplify monitoring and management of your IT environment for both client and server systems. It works across multiple platforms—Windows, Mac OS, Linux, and virtual environments—and provides you with real-time data about your systems, helping you to make the best decisions. The suite includes provisioning and software rollout, license management, and patch management. With add-ons, you can also incorporate mobile management and Help desk services. It's a complete, cost-effective lifecycle management solution.
Community Choice
Gold: VMware vCenter Operations Management Suite • VMware
Silver: Spiceworks MyWay • Spiceworks
Bronze: SolarWinds • SolarWinds
"VMware Ops Manager gives you a clear view into your environment."
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
NetWrix Enterprise Management Suite
Axceler ControlPoint
NetIQ AppManager
Best Messaging Product
Editors' Best
Gold: Mail Disclaimers • Exclaimer
Silver: Mailscape • ENow
Bronze: NetWrix Exchange Change Reporter • NetWrix
Why It Won: Sometimes the seemingly simple things prove to be truly impressive. Such is the case with Exclaimer Mail Disclaimers. The product's basic premise is that it gives an organization control over email signatures and disclaimers that are applied to every message sent through Microsoft Exchange Server. However, when you take a closer look, you'll see that Mail Disclaimers lets you take control of company branding in a broad sense. Using rules-based logic, you can apply different messaging to different types of messages, such as internal versus external sends. Various groups in your organization, based on Active Directory (AD), can also be set up with individualized signatures to promote their own projects. You can even set a date range on specific templates to indicate when they should be applied. The list of features goes on. Exclaimer put a lot of good work into this product over the years, and any organization could benefit from checking it out.
Community Choice
Gold: Skype—Business Version • Skype
Silver: Barracuda Spam & Virus Firewall • Barracuda Networks
Bronze: Lotus Domino • IBM
"Believe the hype—Skype!"
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
Symantec Messaging Gateway
NetWrix Exchange Change Reporter
Best Microsoft Product
Editors' Best
Gold: Windows Server 2012 • Microsoft
Silver: Hyper-V Server 2012 • Microsoft
Bronze: Windows 7 • Microsoft
Why It Won: Windows Server 2012 is a stellar achievement. It will take most IT pros months to fully analyze the many capabilities of the product and how those features will benefit their businesses. For enterprises, Server 2012 has greatly increased scalability and multiple-server management over its predecessor, and Hyper-V's power and flexibility is now on a par with that of any competitor. But an especially pleasant surprise is that the product is appealing for small-to-midsized businesses (SMBs). It removes the high-cost barrier to shared storage, storage virtualization, and production-worthy virtualization. In addition, Server 2012 includes capabilities that IT pros have requested for years, such as IP address management. Practically every IT shop will find something in Server 2012 that's to its liking.
Community Choice
Gold: Windows 7 • Microsoft
Silver: Office Professional 2010 • Microsoft
Bronze: Exchange Server • Microsoft
"Hands down, Windows 7 is the best Microsoft OS so far!"
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
Windows Server 2012
SharePoint 2010
Hyper-V Server 2012
Best Mobile and Wireless Product
Editors' Best
Gold: MobiControl • SOTI
Silver: Managed Mobile Device Management Services • Azaleos
Bronze: Avalanche • Wavelink
Why It Won: The days when an organization could issue a single model of mobile device to all eligible employees are long past; with bring your own device (BYOD), employees at all levels want to connect to corporate resources using not only their own phones but also their own tablets. SOTI MobiControl is a mobile device management (MDM) product that helps IT departments take control of mobile devices in a BYOD world. Optimized for both Apple iOS and Google Android devices, MobiControl provides provisioning and asset-management capabilities. It also provides Help desk services with remote control, alerts, reporting, and location services for tracking devices. Plus, MobiControl features Windows Desktop Lockdown to limit the interface available to users on Windows machines to just the subset of features you want users to have available—a useful feature for kiosk locations or situations where security could be a concern.
Community Choice
Gold: Cisco Wireless Control System • Cisco Systems
Silver: SolarWinds Mobile Admin • SolarWinds
Bronze: Mobile Management for Configuration Manager • Symantec
"Cisco covers all your BYOD needs—with security!"
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
Lenovo ThinkVantage Access Connections
MobileIron Mobile Device Management
Best Network Management Product
Editors' Best
Gold: Network Performance Monitor • SolarWinds
Silver: WhatsUp Gold • Ipswitch
Bronze: EventSentry • NETIKUS.NET
Why It Won: A finalist in the Best of TechEd award program this year, SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (now in version 10.3) gives you the ability to quickly detect, diagnose, and resolve network performance problems. It also provides excellent real-time views and dashboards for visually tracking network performance. One of the core strengths of Network Performance Monitor is its dynamic network topology maps, which let you easily stay on top of your growing network, thanks to the product's network auto-discovery capabilities. Introduced into Network Performance Monitor at version 10.1 is the ability to easily and affordably scale the product's network management to data center networks of all sizes. Of particular note is the product's continued focus on "paying for what you need." This is an extremely scalable solution that prides itself on its affordability at all levels, from the small office to the enterprise. It is also a very approachable solution, bringing ease of use and an intuitive UI to a sometimes-onerous task.
Community Choice
Gold: Network Performance Monitor • SolarWinds
Silver: Spiceworks MyWay • Spiceworks
Bronze: LogMeIn Central • LogMeIn
"SolarWinds rules!"
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
Dell Foglight Network Management System (formerly Quest Software)
Splunk Enterprise
Best Patch Management Product
Editors' Best
Gold: Quest KACE K1000 Systems Management Appliance • Quest KACE
Silver: GFI LanGuard • GFI Software
Bronze: LogMeIn Central • LogMeIn
Why It Won: Patch management is a perennial and unloved task in IT. Having the right tool to help you manage the process can save time and money for your organization. The Quest KACE K1000 Systems Management Appliance provides patch management based on Lumension's endpoint management and security solution, delivered in an appliance with a web-based interface that gives you control of scheduling as well as the ability to choose which machines in your environment receive which updates. The K1000 works with both Windows and Mac OSs, as well as application updates from Adobe, Symantec, and other leading vendors. It also includes advanced features for mobile user management and robust tracking and reporting abilities, making the K1000 a top choice to serve your patch-management needs.
Community Choice
Gold: VMware vCenter Protect • VMware
Silver: Patch Manager • SolarWinds
Bronze: Quest KACE K1000 Systems Management Appliance • Quest KACE
"VMware vCenter Protect keeps you informed and allows you to be on one level of patches."
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
Symantic Altiris Client Management Suite
NetIQ Secure Configuration Manager
Best Scripting Tool
Editors' Best
Gold: PowerShell Plus • Idera
Silver: PrimalScript • SAPIEN Technologies
Bronze: PowerGUI Pro • Dell (formerly Quest Software)
Why It Won: PowerShell expertise is a desirable skill for today's IT pros. By properly leveraging PowerShell, systems administrators can do their jobs better by having a definitive understanding of the technology that they're administering, which helps make troubleshooting and planning easier. Idera's PowerShell Plus brings something to the table for everyone. If you're beginning to learn PowerShell, PowerShell Plus' Interactive Learning Center is an excellent resource that includes Help topics for all of your installed Windows PowerShell providers, cmdlets, snap-ins, and more. The integrated development environment (IDE) also includes several features to make writing cmdlets easier and faster, such as auto-code completion, debugging capabilities, and access to hundreds of preloaded scripts from Idera's QuickClick library.
Community Choice
Gold: PowerGUI Pro • Dell (formerly Quest Software)
Silver: PowerShell Studio • SAPIEN Technologies
Bronze: FastTrack Scripting Host • FastTrack Software
"PowerGUI Pro kills the ugly CLI of the '80s and allows you to work in this century with style and grace and speed."
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
Idera PowerShell Plus
Specops Software Specops Command
Best Security Product
Editors' Best
Gold: Splunk Enterprise • Splunk
Silver: Log & Event Manager • SolarWinds
Bronze: Retina CS Management • eEye Digital Security
Why It Won: Splunk is the kitchen sink of machine data analytics. It soaks up every kind of data you can throw at it, then turns that data into actionable intelligence—not just security intelligence but also troubleshooting, performance, and business intelligence. Splunk's particular security strengths lie in analyzing the everyday patterns of log data (such as logons/logoffs, process launch, and network resource access) to look for anomalies that might signal an intrusion. In a time of advanced persistent threats and the maxim that "everyone has been hacked, they just might not know it," this type of tool should be a standard component in every company's IT infrastructure.
Community Choice
Gold: Symantec Endpoint Protection • Symantec
Silver: Malwarebytes • Malwarebytes
Bronze: DocAve Administrator • AvePoint
"Symantec Endpoint Protection is the gatekeeper to my network!"
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
NetIQ Sentinel
Cisco Secure Access Control Server (ACS)
Centrify Suite
Best SharePoint Product
Editors' Best
Gold: HiSoftware Security Sheriff SP2010 • HiSoftware
Silver: SharePlus • Infragistics
Bronze: VisualSP • SharePoint-Videos.com
Why It Won: HiSoftware Security Sheriff SP2010 offers the most complete solution we've seen for securing SharePoint, while still enabling end users to easily share content and collaborate. While some solutions secure content based on metadata and other solutions secure data via encryption, Security Sheriff does both. Instead of a "bucket" approach to classifying content, Security Sheriff works with metadata, offering you a more nuanced way to classify or declassify documents. It also lets you restrict access to an individual or specific group, even if others have access to the place where the content resides, which is important in the project-based world that businesses inhabit these days. In addition to securing a document based on its metadata, Security Sheriff can identify sensitive data and immediately encrypt it, so that users can't access it without the proper credentials, even if they have admin privileges. This also means that any documents that leave SharePoint can be accessed only by credentialed users.
Community Choice
Gold: DocAve • AvePoint
Silver: NetWrix SharePoint Change Reporter • NetWrix
Bronze: ControlPoint • Axceler
"DocAve is the only platform in the industry to look at the SharePoint platform holistically to actually fix and prevent problems, not just treat the symptoms."
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
Dell Site Administrator for SharePoint (formerly Quest Software)
EMC Storage Integrator (ESI)
Best System Utility
Editors' Best
Gold: Diskeeper • Condusiv Technologies
Silver: Service Account Manager • Lieberman Software
Bronze: activEcho • GroupLogic
Why It Won: Diskeeper does what it says it will do. It addresses file system fragmentation with a variety of excellent features while running unobtrusively in the background, which is why it's a perennial favorite among IT pros. It not only resolves file system fragmentation but also prevents it. Its processing technology uses idle resources for background optimization routines, and it can identify and eliminate fragmentation that affects system performance. The latest version includes Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) Compatibility mode (which minimizes growth of the VSS storage area and prevents older VSS files from being purged), a new UI, and HyperFast technology (which speeds up performance in solid state disks—SSDs). Diskeeper can position frequently accessed data in the most optimal place, can rapidly defragment volumes with hundreds of thousands of files, and supports native IPv6 networks. Settings can be controlled through Group Policy and a central admin console.
Community Choice
Gold: Dell OpenManage Systems Management • Dell
Silver: CCleaner • Piriform
Bronze: Beyond Compare • Scooter Software
"Dell OpenManage makes the impossible easy!"
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
Automation Anywhere Server
Paragon Alignment Tool (PAT)
Best Systems Monitoring Product
Editors' Best
Gold: WhatsUp Gold • Ipswitch
Silver: Server & Application Monitor • SolarWinds
Bronze: Splunk Enterprise • Splunk
Why It Won: Ipswitch WhatsUp Gold is a flexible solution that uses both active and passive monitoring to provide IT pros with effective network management. Recommended by real-world systems engineers who use it daily, WhatsUp Gold lets you monitor your network from the inside out, from a single console with information at the ready, so you can correlate events quickly. It tracks the status and health of network devices, offering early alerts and listening for SNMP traps and syslog messages from devices in an infrastructure. Hierarchical maps provide a Layer 3 view of a network, including a complete representation of the real network and application environment. Its Alert Center offers a single integrated dashboard that quickly reveals alerts, notifications, and alert acknowledgements for easy configuration and management. Configurable dashboards display health and performance reports, and offer the ability to customize reports.
Community Choice
Gold: Spiceworks MyWay • Spiceworks
Silver: Server & Application Monitor • SolarWinds
Bronze: NetIQ AppManager • NetIQ
"Spiceworks: For IT people by IT people"
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
HP Operations Manager
NetWrix Service Monitor
Best Task Automation Product
Editors' Best
Gold: AutoMate • Network Automation
Silver: Automation Anywhere • Automation Anywhere
Bronze: NetIQ Aegis • NetIQ
Why It Won: An increasingly relevant strategy for IT pros is automating business processes so that they can perform tasks faster. Network Automation has continued its proven track record for providing an easy and intuitive way to automate business processes. The great thing about AutoMate is that it doesn't require any scripting knowledge to develop automation applications through its intuitive drag-and-drop interface. Most important, the latest version of AutoMate includes virtual and cloud-based SharePoint automation, computing environments, and enhanced web-app interaction, which further helps IT pros streamline IT processes.
Community Choice
Gold: NetIQ Aegis • NetIQ
Silver: DocAve Governance Automation for Microsoft SharePoint 2010 • AvePoint
Bronze: Automation Anywhere • Automation Anywhere
"NetIQ Aegis automated so many mundane tasks that I can actually do the job I was hired to do!"
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
Network Automation AutoMate
MVP Systems Software JAMS Job Scheduler
Best Training Product or Service
Editors' Best
Gold: Critical Path Training • Critical Path Training
Silver: Big Nerd Ranch • Big Nerd Ranch
Bronze: BRI Training • Binary Research International
Why It Won: Critical Path Training employs Microsoft MVPs and recognized SharePoint experts, not trainers who have been told to "learn the subject area." They're well-known speakers and authors who are experienced at explaining concepts and demonstrating techniques. This training company offers courses on SharePoint 2013 and SharePoint 2010 for administrators, developers, and power users. It offers the courses in a variety of formats, including hands-on classes in 10 professional training facilities around the United States, online workshops, and private onsite classes. During the class, each student is given a preconfigured computer to complete lab exercises, so there's no need to bring a device or deal with configuration. Critical Path Training writes its own courseware (which includes industry best practices) and updates it frequently to reflect the latest techniques. The company website notes, "We are a third party that covers the good, the bad, and the ugly." Significantly, Microsoft recently hired Critical Path Training to create and deliver a hands-on developer training course for SharePoint 2013 developers.
Community Choice
Gold: Spiceworks University • Spiceworks
Silver: GoToTraining • Citrix Systems
Bronze: TrainSignal Computer Training • TrainSignal
"Spiceworks University is a great way to learn. You meet so many talented IT professionals, and everyone is always willing to help."
Other Hot Products or Services in this Year's Community Choice Survey
Symantec Education Services
Transcender TranscenderCert practice exams
Best Virtualization Product
Editors' Best
Gold: VMware vSphere • VMware
Silver: XenDesktop • Citrix Systems
Bronze: Veeam ONE for VMware and Hyper-V • Veeam Software
Why It Won: VMware vSphere remains the clear leader in the enterprise virtualization space. The newest 5.1 release features an all-new flash-based web client for virtualization management. In addition, virtual machines (VMs) are now scalable to 64 virtual CPUs (vCPUs) and 1TB of RAM, making room for future application growth. It includes vSphere Replication for disaster recovery. The new support for shared-nothing vMotion brings vMotion support to organizations that don't have a SAN.
Community Choice
Gold: VMware vSphere • VMware
Silver: XenServer • Citrix Systems
Bronze: NetWrix VMware Change Reporter • NetWrix
"VMware vSphere is an awesome product, and it's simple to install and configure. With its tools for fault tolerance and high availability, it can't be beat."
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
VMware vSphere Hypervisor (formerly VMware ESXi)
Veeam Backup & Replication
Symantec Endpoint Virtualization Suite
Best Free Tool
Editors' Best
Gold: Twitter • Twitter
Silver: Splunk • Splunk
Bronze: Foglight Network Management System • Dell (formerly Quest Software)
Why It Won: You might love it, you might hate it—but you can't ignore it. Twitter has become ubiquitous. To get the most out of Twitter, you probably need a client to manage your content, but the good news is that these clients are also free. Twitter can put you in touch with experts in any field, providing quick answers to nagging problems in your environment—as good as any knowledge base out there. More than that, it connects you to your technical community. IT pros don't always have the opportunity to meet and share ideas with others in the field, so Twitter provides a virtual medium that's always on to link you with colleagues around the globe.
Community Choice
Gold: Spiceworks • Spiceworks
Silver: 7-Zip • Igor Pavlov
Bronze: Notepad++ • Don Ho
"Two words that go great together are Spiceworks and Free. Free software, free support—why wouldn't you use it?"
Other Hot Products in this Year's Community Choice Survey
Google Apps for Business
Mozilla Firefox
AVG Free
Best Vendor Tech Support
Community Choice
Gold: Microsoft
Silver: Cisco Systems
Bronze: Spiceworks
Other Popular Vendors in this Year's Community Choice Survey
Veeam Software


text:
Add Web-based United States address validation capabilities to your integrated enterprise applications or website. The Address Validation Application Programming Interface (API) can provide direct automated integration between your website or enterprise system and UPS. As with all APIs, your customers will enjoy the depth of UPS services and capabilities, while your business becomes more efficient with improved processes.
The Address Validation API checks a customer's address and provides suggested alternatives if an error is discovered. Whether built into your public website or integrated with your internal systems, this API can help you reduce operating costs and improve customer service.
The API requires XML/Web Services programmers to code and integrate. UPS provides a developer kit which includes a developer guide that explains how to integrate and code UPS functionality into your existing business applications or e-commerce website.
Available for use in over 40 countries,the Address Validation API is a valuable addition to any business shipping packages to the United States. For example, if your U.S. customer enters an incorrect postal code while placing their online order, they are provided with suggested alternatives. This API also enables your customer service representatives to confirm and correct addresses during customer calls.
Improve customer service by assisting shoppers when they place orders. Decrease the number of delivery delays due to an incorrect address entry.
Quantum View API
Rating API

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Mr. McCue and his crew were sprucing up what is widely known in this section of the Connecticut River Valley as the Peace Pagoda, in preparation for the 20th anniversary of its dedication.
The structure, built under the guidance of Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist monks, has twin staircases leading to a walkway circling the dome, which itself has four elevated alcoves, each depicting a stage of Buddha's life. On top there is a gold-colored aluminum pinnacle.
Mr. McCue, who has been a painting contractor in the area for 35 years, is not a Buddhist. "I always thought God is too big for one religion," he said. When a friend asked him to donate time and energy during his busiest period of the year to paint the 103-foot-high hemisphere, he accepted.
"It's a good thing to do; how am I going to say no?" he said, adding that it would be like telling Jesus, "I'd like to hang out with you, but I don't have the time."
Buddhism has a long tradition of monastic orders that, as a matter of principle, live off the generosity of the surrounding community, said Jay L. Garfield, a professor of Buddhist philosophy at nearby Smith College. And so it is with the Peace Pagoda here, in a town known for its liberal politics and populated by a mix of aging back-to-the-land hipsters, former urban professionals and multigenerational New Englanders.
Relying on friends and strangers for sustenance, both for basic survival and for the human resources needed to accomplish projects like this, is also a matter of strategy for the monks. It integrates them into the community while exposing new people to their worldview.
The monks in Leverett do not even grow vegetables in their flower gardens, said Sister Clare Carter, 55, who was born a Roman Catholic in Boston and ordained as a Nipponzan Myohoji nun in 1981. "The idea is not to be self-sufficient," Sister Clare said.
Grounded in the Nichiren tradition of Buddhism, which dates to the 13th century, this order was founded by Nichidatsu Fujii, who was deeply affected by the bombing of Hiroshima, which coincided with his 60th birthday.
Called Fujii Guruji by Gandhi, with whom he lived on an ashram in the mid-1930's, Fujii devoted the last four decades of his life to world peace by building pagodas and taking political action in the form of well-publicized walks, some thousands of miles long.
He died seven months shy of his 100th birthday, in 1985.
Construction on the order's first pagoda began in 1946 in Fujii's home country, Japan. It was inaugurated in 1954, said Sister Clare, who keeps her head shaved and wears simple white and saffron cotton clothing.
Today, she said, more than 80 such pagodas exist, mostly in Japan, India and Sri Lanka. There are a few in Europe, one in Zambia and one in Grafton, N.Y., and one is being built in eastern Tennessee. The order has about 150 monks and nuns, most of whom are Japanese.
Elaine Kenseth, 62, a volunteer who was erecting a series of 20 panels to display memorabilia from each year of the Leverett pagoda's existence for the Oct. 2 anniversary celebration, said she took her young children to the construction site in 1984.
Ms. Kenseth's father was the pastor of the South Congregational Church in neighboring Amherst, and she has helped settle Cambodian refugees in the area. The pagoda was a "place my children could learn peaceful ways," Ms. Kenseth said. "That was a comfort to me as a mother."
She was not looking for a new spiritual direction when the Nipponzan Myohoji order established itself here. "But I can't imagine my life without it right now," she said.
Nipponzan Myohoji is unusual among Buddhist orders, Professor Garfield said, because it takes overtly political stands. "Their actions are deliberately public," he said.
Ms. Kenseth, who volunteered as the home base liaison for a 1998-99 peace walk (with some airline travel) from Leverett to Cape Town, said the order was "open to everybody, and they feel that most of what they have has to be donated."
"When you give, it opens your heart," she said, "and when you are thankful, it opens your heart."
Brother Gyoway Kato, a monk from Japan who was an energizing force behind this pagoda, said the order identified this area as a promising site after the United Nations special session on disarmament in 1982. At the time, the order organized separate walks from San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Bangor, Me., and Montreal to converge on New York City. The group walking from Canada passed through Amherst.
Having lived a third of his life in America, Brother Kato, 65, says he has been affected by the "openness" in the United States. "People don't hold back; they put everything out there, which is different from our culture," he said. This is a good thing, he said, but "it sometimes creates some weakness."
Peter N. Gregory, a scholar of Buddhism in the United States and the head of the religion department at Smith College, said that there was a lot of hostility toward the pagoda when construction was first proposed, but that Brother Kato's "ability to absorb their anger really changed people's hearts."
Now, Professor Gregory said, the order is part of the fabric of the community, and people refer to the structure as "our Peace Pagoda."
Sister Clare said the order existed to do two things: build pagodas and walk. She likens the practice of walking and chanting for world peace to being a "river running through the countryside, towns, villages and urban areas."
She helps organize several shorter walks each year in addition to the occasional continental or intercontinental treks.
"It's a beautiful feeling," Sister Clare said. "You have your feet on the ground; you move through communities; people look at you and you look at people."


text:
Published in Indian Country Today Media Network | March 8, 2013 | Circulation: 300,000 unique monthly visitors
Métis people in Canada are jubilant after the Supreme Court of Canada resolved a legal land battle that was 143 years in the making, the second historic constitutional victory in months.
The country's highest court ruled on March 8 that those of mixed European-Indigenous ancestry, descendents from Manitoba's Red River Settlement, hold valid grievances because the government broke its promises over 19th-century land grants.
The court found that the government "acted with persistent inattention and failed to act diligently" in failing to respect an 1870 land agreement—a promise that ended a massive and bloody uprising led by Métis heroes Gabriel Dumont and Louis Riel. The government had pledged to give the Métis 1.4 million acres in Manitoba back then, and then never fully delivered. Métis leaders argued their case before the court at the end of 2011.
The president of the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF), David Chartrand, invoked the memory of Riel, considered the historical founder of the prairie province, and was planning to hold a press conference at the famous statesman and rebel's grave on the grounds of Winnipeg's St. Boniface Cathedral on Saturday, March 9.
"He said there were two societies with treaty together," Chartrand told reporters, of Riel. "One was small, but in its smallness had its rights. The other was great, but in its greatness had no greater rights than the rights of the small. You know, how much more fitting can that be today?"
Chartrand said he had been receiving emotional phone calls all day, since the ruling was announced. The MMF has been pursuing the constitutional case for roughly 50 years and spent $5 million toward gaining recognition for the Métis' land grievances.
"Such pride at home right now, and tears are being shed," Chartrand said. "They're crying and they're phoning. They can't even talk on the phone properly because there's so much joy at home right now."
The ruling comes only months after another Supreme Court ruling extended Indian identity to a much wider range of mixed-blood and off-reserve aboriginals—a decision the government is currently appealing.
In other provinces, Métis leaders praised the ruling as a historic step forward for their people. Métis see themselves as a nation, unified by common traditions, history, the Michif language and even a distinctive national flag—a white infinity symbol on a purple background.
"This is about, certainly, more than the Métis people of Manitoba," Gary Lipinski, of the Métis Nation of Ontario, told the Canadian Press. "They're our brothers and sisters, but it has implications for Métis people right across our homeland. We hope that, obviously, with the positive outcome of this case, the federal government will now look to see how we're going to deal with Métis historic grievances that are throughout the Métis homeland."
Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin and Justice Andromache Karakatsanis explained the court's 6–2 decision as righting a historical wrong.
"What is at issue is a constitutional grievance going back almost a century and a half," the judges wrote. "So long as the issue remains outstanding, the goal of reconciliation and constitutional harmony … remains unachieved. The ongoing rift in the national fabric … remains unremedied."
The ruling, they added, has massive implications for future Canadian-Métis relationships: "The unfinished business of reconciliation of the Métis people with Canadian sovereignty is a matter of national and constitutional import."
Representing the MMF in court, former judge and prominent Indigenous rights advocate Thomas Berger explained that the victory opens the door to negotiations over Métis land rights. But it will likely also spur land claims over vast tracts of Manitoba, including the entirety of its provincial capital, Winnipeg.
"They've won a great victory, and I think they've shown that there is every reason for negotiations now to remedy a historic wrong," Berger told reporters. He added that Canada should not "leave a train of historic wreckage behind us as we move from one decade to another."


text:
New York (CNN) — Featuring a display of black eyes and bruises, a video of naughty Santas in New York on their worst behavior surfaced on Sunday. The Christmas-themed brawl was caught on camera at the end of a day of heavy drinking and has drawn the holiday ire of some New Yorkers.
Police were alerted at 8:20 p.m. Saturday that group of eight to 10 people dressed as Santa Claus were fighting on the snow-covered corner of 17th Street and Third Avenue in Manhattan's Gramercy neighborhood. By the time police arrived, the bad Santas were nowhere to be found.
The New York City Police Department is looking into the incident but has no assault complaints, according to Sgt. Lee Jones.
Bargoers dressed in Christmas-themed costumes descended upon hundreds of cities worldwide Saturday for the annual bar crawl known as SantaCon.
In New York, thousands took to the streets dressed as elves, Santas and holiday-themed characters, as they have since 1997. In recent years, the debauchery of some of its participants has become too much — even for some who take part in it.
"It was just terrible; they were throwing up in the streets. It was really just disgusting. I just put a red suit on and have a good time," Sandy Bachom, who participated in the event last year, told CNN affiliate WABC.
"I think New Yorkers generally are extremely tolerant of visitors, but when they come in such droves, and then combine that with public intoxication, it has a negative impact in our neighborhoods," state Sen. Brad Hoylman said to WABC.
Despite the brouhaha, city officials are still supporting the event.
"It's what makes New York New York," Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said at a news conference Friday. "There has been some rowdy activity by a small handful of people."
However, NYPD officers were handing out fliers stressing that they would stop revelers who publicly consume alcohol.
SantaCon NYC is vowing to clean up its act.
"SantaCon has had growing pains," the event's organizers said in a news release on the NYC SantaCon website. "With a little elbow-grease from the elves, a little patience from the community, and just a pinch of holiday magic, SantaCon can spread joy."
Santacon.info, a website that attempts to keep up with SantaCons wherever they are and assist organizers in publicizing them, maintains a list that on Saturday showed 146 locations where events would be taking place this weekend and next, from Helena, Montana, to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.


text:
As Matt Moore mentioned in our recap of Suns-Blazers Part Deux, the most compelling part of the Suns' adjustments to topple the Blazers was Alvin Gentry's decision to drape Grant Hill on Andre Miller. Jason Richardson had primary Miller duties for most of Game 1, but obviously wasn't too successful: 'Dre dropped 31 points and eight assists.
Hill doesn't have too many athletic advantages over Richardson: J-Rich is about eight years younger, was once the proud owner of moon boots, and has occasionally been regarded as a decent defender. So naturally, when Richardson failed in defending Miller, Hill was a no-brainer. From Bob Young of the Arizona Republic:
He dogged Miller on the defensive end, limiting him to 12 points on
4-of-11 shooting. And just for good measure, Hill hit his first 10
shots to finish with 20 points and eight rebounds as the Suns evened
the series with a dominating 119-90 victory at US Airways Center.
"I wasn't even thinking about offense," Hill said. "I was really
just focusing on defense and trying to be effective on that end. I came
out and (assistant coach) Dan (Majerle) told me I was 10 for 11. I
didn't even know that."
Asked to recall the last time he'd had a game like that in the playoffs, Hill laughed.
"That was a whole other lifetime – back when I could jump a little bit," he said.
Hill's own offense is something likely to get lost in the praise of his defense, but his 20-point night can't be disregarded. Nor should one discount Jason Richardson's 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting, as Alvin Gentry noted Richardson's offense as a factor in the decision to move him off of the Andre Miller assignment. It's hard to say if that's just a polite explanation by a coach looking to defend his player's ego or a legitimate explanation for his decision-making, but the numbers tell the story in this case. Richardson was highly effective and Miller was not, and plenty of credit goes to Gentry for switching things up.


text:
For years now, video games have been divided into two categories: 2D and 3D. With the advent of 3D televisions and portable consoles, those definitions might be antiquated. Time for an update!
2D video games refer to action happening on a 2D plane and typically are either side-scrolling or vertically-scrolling. What's more, the characters and environments are usually rendered in 2D. 3D video games refer to characters and environments rendered in 3D. Action and movements have depth. These definitions hold up on 2D screens, but as previously mentioned, video gaming could very well be moving towards gaming on 3D screens. (The upcoming Nintendo 3DS seems to be an indication of that.)
Here's where it gets confusing though. Super Mario 64 is 3D in the old-fashioned sense. But it's not 3D in the flying-off-the-screen sense of the word. Referring to it as a "3D game" and Super Mario Bros. as a "2D" game doesn't really hold up any more! Take a title like Wolfenstein 3D, which would be confusing for modern audiences as the game isn't in Avatar-like 3D. (The game itself is actually in 2.5D with the bad guys rendered as sprites, but that's beyond of the scope of this conversation!)
We need a new way to refer to gaming on a 3D screen. I came up with "Full 3D". And then, for example, Super Mario 64 would be simply 3D? But then, that might confuse those who do not follow gaming. Perhaps all these older games will be retro-actively displayed in Full 3D on new game consoles?
Suggestions are more than welcomed.


text:
Riot police evict Turkish protesters from Istanbul park
- Witnesses reported police using megaphones yelling for protesters to %22evacuate%22
- Demonstrators tried to flee in a fog of gas%2C causing panic and injuries
- Earlier Saturday%2C Erdogan blamed turmoil on foreign agents and local criminals
Correction: A earlier version of this story misidentified a 22-year-old student. His name is Ozan Horuk.
ISTANBUL — Hundreds of riot police evicted protesters in Gezi Park at dusk Saturday, firing tear gas and rubber bullets and using water hoses in a bid to put down anti-government demonstrations that have been raging for more than two weeks.
Police lines spread out from the park — where demonstrators have been camped out for weeks — to the adjacent Taksim Square. Witnesses reported police using megaphones yelling for protesters to "evacuate."
Earlier Saturday in the capital of Ankara, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: "Taksim Square must be evacuated, otherwise, we know how to evacuate it," while blaming the turmoil on foreign agents and local criminals.
The scene at Gezi Park was one of chaos as demonstrators tried to flee in a fog of gas, causing panic and injuries as people fell and got caught in the stampede.
"I was sleeping in my tent in Gezi Park, and police attacked," said Huseyn Basar Ahenk. "A tear gas grenade fell on my tent, and I ran without my belongings. The park is full of police now."
Volunteer medics treated the injured for tear gas exposure, burns from the gas and trauma from being hit by gas canisters. Ambulances ferried the seriously wounded to nearby hospitals. Hundreds took shelter in the luxury Divan Hotel across the street.
"The police came into Divan Hotel with batons, and there was fighting and many injured," Ozgun Ozan said.
Outside, thousands chanted for Edogan's resignation amid the sound of ambulances, explosions and clanging pots and pans.
Four people have died and thousands have been injured since the demonstrations began, according to Amnesty International.
On Friday, the prime minister began to concede to protesters by offering to defer to a court ruling on the legality of the government's contested plan that calls for the park to be demolished to make way for a shopping complex.
Despite such concessions, protesters say they are in it for the long haul — until the government stops its heavy-handed decision-making and holds accountable those responsible for the violent attacks on peaceful demonstrations.
Ugur Altinsoy, 20, a student, vowed that the police crackdown would not discourage demonstrators. "We will try to retake Gezi Park," he said.
Altinsoy said more friends were traveling across the Bosphorous from the Asian side of the city to help re-occupy the park. Riot police sealed Taksim Square as crowds began to gather behind.
"Turkey will live its darkest night if this attack lasts for more than one hour," said General Secretary of the Turkish Medical Chamber Ali Cerkezoglu, according to Turkish daily Hurriyet.
The protests caught Turkish officials and their international allies off-guard: Turkey, which has been touted as a bastion of stability and democracy in the region, is suddenly projecting scenes similar to those seen in Egypt, Tunisia and other countries during the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011.
Meanwhile, the international image of Turkey's prime minister, champion to rebels fighting against Bashar Assad's regime in neighboring Syria, is now in question, as is the future direction of the country.
That's because although the protests initially began as an Occupy-style movement against the building of a mall and a mosque on Gezi Park next to the square, the reasons for the mass outrage go much further. Demonstrators claim Erdogan's administration has grown increasingly tyrannical in the past decade, and in recent months, his government made moves to roll back liberties Turks have enjoyed for years.
Late last month, parliament passed a law severely restricting the sale and consumption of alcohol. At the same time, authorities warned against "immodest" public displays of affection, triggering a nationwide "kissing protest."
Others express concern that Erdogan is setting himself up as "leader for life" and increasing a crackdown on dissent while limiting free speech and press freedoms.
Ozan Horuk, 22, a student, said Gezi Park is a symbol. As important as the park is, he says, the movement has mushroomed into something much broader across Turkey.
"When things started it all started for the trees, for our rights to have a park right in the middle of the city," he said. "But then it turned out to be a different thing. And the only thing we fight for is our freedom — freedom of speech, freedom in general."


text:
Microsoft has released a new Internet Explorer 10 preview, the second pre-release of Internet Explorer 10 designed to give developers access to the new technologies that Internet Explorer 10 will deliver. The new version includes support for a bunch of new specifications, enabling better support for drag and drop, form validation, positioning of page elements, and more. As with prior preview releases, Microsoft has also provided a number of demo sites to show off new capabilities, and new test cases to demonstrate exact conformance with the HTML5 specifications.
This update comes 11 weeks after the first preview release, making it a little ahead of schedule; Internet Explorer 9 previews came out roughly every eight weeks, but for Internet Explorer 10, Microsoft is aiming at one every three months.
Throughout the development of both Internet Explorer 9 and Internet Explorer 10, Microsoft has shied away from implementation specifications that are still in flux or undergoing extensive modification, sticking instead to those that are reasonably stable and thoroughly debugged. The company's intent has been to ensure that those features it implements won't be a maintenance liability for developers—that the features can be used and deployed onto real sites, without requiring extensive busy-work to track specification changes.
Internet Explorer 9's previews did diverge from the goal slightly, with the introduction of performance tracking mechanisms that Microsoft implemented not long after their specification was first proposed. With Internet Explorer 10, the company is doing a similar thing on a slightly larger scale, with a feature named Positioned Floats. Developed in conjunction with Adobe, Positioned Floats enable powerful page layouts not readily attainable with current CSS. The new design capabilities afforded by Positioned Floats should excite developers, but they can't become standardized unless other browsers also implement them. Hopefully, others will follow Microsoft's lead.
Preview 2 also includes support for the new Web File API, which gives browsers controlled, restricted access to the local file system. The company has been experimenting with this since early May, when it shipped a prototype implementation as part of its HTML5 Labs project. This is the first time that a technology has gone from HTML5 Labs into Internet Explorer proper. Though the prototypes are much less widely-used than the platform previews (which typically weigh in at about a million downloads), Microsoft says that the experience it gained developing the prototypes gave valuable insight into the way the API should work.
The breadth of new features added to Preview 2 give Microsoft's browser a substantial boost on the HTML5 Test site, scoring 231 points, compared to Preview 1's 125, and Internet Explorer 9's 141 (yes, the older browser scores better, for some reason). Though the selection of features tested on that site is quite arbitrary—98 points are available for new HTML5 form capabilities, but just 15 for the far more significant Web Workers feature, for example—and the testing isn't very thorough (for the most part, it doesn't test that features actually work correctly), this still represents a healthy boost, and shows that Internet Explorer 10 is making great progress in implementing these new features, just as its predecessor has done. Internet Explorer still lags the competition a little (Firefox 5 scores 296, Chrome 12 gets 327), but the gap is certainly closing.
Internet Explorer 10 shows that Microsoft is continuing to invest heavily in bringing Internet Explorer up to the same standard as its competition—and sometimes even beyond. There are a few more big ticket items that would make developers happy—Web Sockets, currently still a Labs prototype, is particularly desirable—but those seem well within reach. Microsoft isn't willing to talk about release dates at present, though is widely expected to ship Internet Explorer 10 some time around next March. With the way the browser is shaping up so far, it should be a very strong contender indeed.
Listing image by Photo by Jon Howard


text:
- Free shipping and returns
- Domestic shipping overnight via FedEx delivery
- Delivered in an unmarked package for extra security
Truly Triple Row Right Hand Ring
This ring boasts three rows of interlocking diamonds that wrap halfway around the band. A design that packs a major dose of sparkle.
Reserve your
Interested in purchasing this style? Fill our the form below and someone will connect with you shortly.Chat Now
Pricing Parameters
Hearts On Fire center diamond quality begins at J | SI1. Pricing may vary and can change based on diamond availability, color, clarity, and carat weight. Our Perfection Stylist can work with you to choose a perfectly cut diamond that's right for you. We offer a broad range of carat weights to meet your needs. At Hearts On Fire, we hand select natural rough diamonds with impeccable characteristics and create diamond jewelry that consistently earns the highest industry evaluations.


text:
- Webcode: 267597 • Mfr: COS1770DCN
- FREE SHIPPING Available
Product Highlights
- f/2.8 - f/22 Aperture Range
- 16/14 (Elements/Groups)
- APS-C Format
- HSM Hypersonic Motor
- OS Optical Stabilization
- F Mount
Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM Contemporary Lens for NikonSigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC Macro OS HS...
- Toronto Special Order
- Ottawa Special Order
- Mississauga Special Order
- Calgary Special Order
- Edmonton Special Order
The most important features for a standard zoom lens for digital single lens reflex camera is to achieve high image quality, to meet the needs in various occasions and to be handy and compact.
The SIGMA 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC MACRO OS HSM will clear away all the general concerns, such as a short minimum focusing distance, not a long enough focal length for telephoto shooting and a small aperture value. Mainly used for general-purpose photography, this everyday lens covers a range equivalent to 25.5-105mm on a 35mm camera. It's surprisingly compact in size for a large-aperture lens that opens up to F2.8. Great for treasured snapshots of travel or family occasions, it also handles shots that are a little bit more creative. Designed to be the kind of lens you carry around with you all the time, it delivers simplicity and is so user-friendly it's sure to satisfy even the most demanding of users.
Contemporary line can handle all sorts of photo opportunities
Sigma is organizing all its interchangeable lenses into three product lines; Contemporary, Art and Sports. Featuring the very latest technology, and combining optical performance with compactness, the Contemporary line covers a wide range of needs. Incorporating the very latest technology in these lenses, Sigma has solved the difficult problem of keeping size and weight low without compromising optical performance.The SIGMA 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC MACRO OS HSM is the first product from the Contemporary line. Featuring a wide zoom range, the lens has a focal range equivalent to 25.5-105mm on a 35mm lens.
Excellent for macro photography
This lens' minimum focusing distance is 22cm and the maximum magnification ratio is 1:2.8. At 70mm, the working distance becomes 5.52cm. When it comes to telephoto, it can shoot pictures with a similar sensation to a macro lens. Also, without the need to change the lens, it enables photographers to take a close up pictures of subjects such as jewelry and flowers. In order to secure a clear field of view, the design of this lens is very thorough, even down to the precise position of the engraved letters on the lens.
30% Smaller Than Conventional Models
For a which is used lens used in everyday situations, the small size makes a big difference. By incorporating a smaller OS unit and optimizing the structure and power distribution of optical elements, the lens barrel has now become more compact. In order to ensure high accuracy of the product, the new compound material TSC (Thermally Stable Composite), which has high affinity to metal parts, is introduced for the lens barrel. It results in better durability of the parts and smaller zoom rings and scale rings. The dimension of this lens is 30% smaller than our conventional models.
Superior Image Quality Throughout The Entire Zoom Range
This lens incorporates 2 FLD ("F" Low Dispersion) glass elements, which have performance equal to fluorite, 1 SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass element and 3 aspherical glass lenses including double sided aspherical lens. By optimizing the power alignment of the lens, both chromatic aberration of magnification and axial chromatic aberration have been corrected. From infinity to macro, it achieves superior image quality through entire zoom range. This lens offers extraordinary expressive power and is capable of surpassing the requirement of the rigorous checking process of our new MTF measuring system "A1".
Large maximum aperture of F2.8
The aperture value is F2.8 at the wide end (17mm), and is F4 at the telephoto end (70mm). The bright viewfinder aids focusing and composition of images. The fast apertures also offer useful functions such as fast shutter speeds to prevent an object from being blurred and ensuring a smooth bokeh in the background.
[Other Features]
• Optical Stabilizer
Sigma's own unique OS (Optical Stabilizer) function is incorporated. It offers effective correction of approximately 4 stops, which makes it possible to compensate for camera shake even in macro range photography where a small blur can be easily identified.
*1. The closer the lens is to the object, the less effective the OS function is.
*2. For Sony and Pentax, OS function is not incorporated.
• Flare and ghosting conscious design
In order to achieve high rendering on this flagship lens, flare and ghosting were thoroughly measured from an early stage to establish an optical design which is resistant to strong incident light such as backlight. The Super Multi-Layer Coating reduces flare and ghosting and provides sharp and high contrast images even in backlit conditions.
• Incorporating Rounded Diaphragm
The 7 blade-rounded diaphragm creates an attractive blur to the out-of-focus areas of the image.
• Hyper Sonic Motor
The HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor) ensures high speed and quiet AF as well as full-time manual focus override by rotation of the focus ring. With the enhanced AF algorithm, smoother AF is achieved.
• Brass made bayonet mount
This lens incorporates a brass made bayonet mount which has both high accuracy and durability. A special treatment to reinforce its strength is applied to the surface giving it greater strength and making it highly resistant to long-term use.
• Ease of use
The new product lines incorporate rubber for the attachment part of the provided lens hood. For better usability, the design of the lens cap and AF / MF changeover switch has been improved.
• Newly developed "USB DOCK" exclusively for new product lines
Based on these new lines, we have developed special software (SIGMA Optimization Pro) that can update the lens firmware and adjust parameters such as focus.
What's Included
- Lens Hood
- Front Lens Cap
- Rear Lens Cap
Product Specifications
|Detailed Specifications
|Lens Construction
|16 elements in 14 groups
|Minimum aperture
|Filter size
|Angle of view (SD1)
|Minimum focusing distance:
|Dimensions (Diameter x Length)
|79mm x 82.0mm/3.1in. x 3.2in.
|Number of diaphragm blades
|7 (rounded diaphragm)
|Maximum magnification ratio
|Format Compatibility
|DSLR (APS-C Sensor)
|Image Stabilization
Questions & Answers
Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM Contemporary Lens for Nikon
Looking for a personal touch? Not sure if you are choosing the right product? Our staff is here to help.
We want to make sure you get the right product for your needs.
Our staff will help you understand the options available so you can be confident in your purchase.
As the country's leading Professional Imaging retailer, Vistek is in the perfect position to ensure you make the right choice.
Contact us today for a personal touch.


text:
Luton Hoo Walled Garden
Luton Hoo Walled Garden, Luton Hoo Estate,, LU1 4LF, Luton, Bedfordshire
Info about Luton Hoo Walled Garden
This stunning marquee is situated in the beautifully kept grounds of Luton Hoo Estate's private Walled Garden and is the perfect setting for any event from wedding receptions to awards ceremonies, conferences to charity events and summer barbecues to Christmas parties.
At the heart of any great event lies a great venue and there can be fewer more exclusive venues than The Conservatory at the Luton Hoo Walled Garden. Finished to the highest specification, it has an outside decking terrace, glazed windows to one side overlooking the stunning garden, integrated speech and music sound system, spectacular decorative lighting including pin-spots, starlight ceiling and a dance floor and stage.
This stunning, five-acre octagonal Walled Garden is set within the beautiful grounds of Luton Hoo Estate, the Estate sits conveniently on the border of Harpenden and Luton in the county of Bedfordshire, with easy access from the M1 and M25. The garden was established in the 1770s by John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, friend and advisor to George III and consultant in the planning of Kew Gardens. For nearly two centuries it was both a botanical garden and the production centre for the Estate's fruit, vegetable and cut flower needs.
The Conservatory is conveniently situated on the border of Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, offering easy road links to the M25 and M1.
|Suitable For
|Staff Options


text:
New Rule: If America can't get its act together, it must lose the bald eagle as our symbol and replace it with the YouTube video of the puppy that can't get up. As long as we're pathetic, we might as well act like it's cute. I don't care about the president's birth certificate, I do want to know what happened to "Yes we can." Can we get out of Iraq? No. Afghanistan? No. Fix health care? No. Close Gitmo? No. Cap-and-trade carbon emissions? No. The Obamas have been in Washington for ten months and it seems like the only thing they've gotten is a dog.
Well, I hate to be a nudge, but why has America become a nation that can't make anything bad end, like wars, farm subsidies, our oil addiction, the drug war, useless weapons programs - oh, and there's still 60,000 troops in Germany - and can't make anything good start, like health care reform, immigration reform, rebuilding infrastructure. Even when we address something, the plan can never start until years down the road. Congress's climate change bill mandates a 17% cut in greenhouse gas emissions... by 2020! Fellas, slow down, where's the fire? Oh yeah, it's where I live, engulfing the entire western part of the United States!
We might pass new mileage standards, but even if we do, they wouldn't start until 2016. In that year, our cars of the future will glide along at a breathtaking 35 miles-per-gallon. My goodness, is that even humanly possible? Cars that get 35 miles-per-gallon in just six years? Get your head out of the clouds, you socialist dreamer! "What do we want!? A small improvement! When do we want it!? 2016!"
When it's something for us personally, like a laxative, it has to start working now. My TV remote has a button on it now called "On Demand". You get your ass on my TV screen right now, Jon Cryer, and make me laugh. Now! But when it's something for the survival of the species as a whole, we phase that in slowly.
Folks, we don't need more efficient cars. We need something to replace cars. That's what's wrong with these piddly, too-little-too-late half-measures that pass for "reform" these days. They're not reform, they're just putting off actually solving anything to a later day, when we might by some miracle have, a) leaders with balls, and b) a general populace who can think again. Barack Obama has said, "If we were starting from scratch, then a single-payer system would probably make sense." So let's start from scratch.
Even if they pass the shitty Max Baucus health care bill, it doesn't kick in for 4 years, during which time 175,000 people will die because they're not covered, and about three million will go bankrupt from hospital bills. We have a pretty good idea of the Republican plan for the next three years: Don't let Obama do anything. What kills me is that that's the Democrats' plan, too.
We weren't always like this. Inert. In 1965, Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare into law and 11 months later seniors were receiving benefits. During World War II, virtually overnight FDR had auto companies making tanks and planes only. In one eight year period, America went from JFK's ridiculous dream of landing a man on the moon, to actually landing a man on the moon.
This generation has had eight years to build something at Ground Zero. An office building, a museum, an outlet mall, I don't care anymore. I'm tempted to say that, symbolically, all America can do lately is keep digging a hole, but Ground Zero doesn't represent a hole. It is a hole. America: Home of the Freedom Pit. Ironically, it's spitting distance from Wall Street, where they knock down buildings a different way - through foreclosure.
That's the ultimate sign of our lethargy: millions thrown out of their homes, tossed out of work, lost their life savings, retirements postponed - and they just take it. 30% interest on credit cards? It's a good thing the Supreme Court legalized sodomy a few years ago.
Why can't we get off our back? Is it something in the food? Actually, yes. I found out something interesting researching last week's editorial on how we should be taxing the unhealthy things Americans put into their bodies, like sodas and junk foods and gerbils. Did you know that we eat the same high-fat, high-carb, sugar-laden shit that's served in prisons and in religious cults to keep the subjects in a zombie-like state of lethargic compliance? Why haven't Americans arisen en masse to demand a strong public option? Because "The Bachelor" is on. We're tired and our brain stems hurt from washing down French fries with McDonald's orange drink.
The research is in: high-fat diets makes you lazy and stupid. Rats on an American diet weren't motivated to navigate their maze and once in the maze they made more mistakes. And, instead of exercising on their wheel, they just used it to hang clothes on. Of course we can't ban assault rifles - we're the first generation too lazy to make its own coffee. We're the generation that invented the soft chocolate chip cookie: like a cookie, only not so exhausting to chew. I ask you, if the food we're eating in America isn't making us stupid, how come the people in Carl's Jr. ads never think to put a napkin over their pants?
Bill Maher is host of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher"


text:
Seven o'clock in the evening, and all's dark.
Except for the growing number of cheery strings of Christmas lights piercing the damp gloom. Every street dog walk is punctuated by these gaudy acts of creation which cannot help but make one's heart sing.
Meanwhile, in a tall Swedish end of terrace on the wrong side of the road from the forest, Father is coralling the children. And indeed, the dog. And where's the cat?
"Everyone," sounds a strong paternalistic baritone in almost Dickensian style, "time to open the advent calendar."
Actually, he should have said Advent Calendars. We have two: the politically correct two-card sandwich with doors and pretty pictures, and the heinously 21st century recycling nightmare which contains chocolate shapes. But they're English chocolate, which is considerably more vegetable than cocoa. Maybe we should call it a vegelate advent calendar.
Then no-one would buy them.
I digress. Everyone congregates at Father's call, in the bedroom which regrettably still doubles up as a sitting room. I thought we would have parent-space by now, and my children would be insisting on their own most pleasant bedrooms: but no. From six until eight every evening, the bedroom must be a sitting room and everyone sits around and drops crumbs and leaves toys and slightly damp towels to be put away.
But the atmosphere was crackling, for the children love a bit of vegelate pressed into a suitably Christmassy shape.
"Right, Children," sounds out Fezziwig Shrewsday, calling everyone to Adventy order,"time to make our guesses."
And everyone turns to look at me. Felix is trying not to laugh, that edge-of-hysteria squeakiness which little boys do so well. He is just waiting for the punchline.
Because every day it is customary for his mother to say ' a bugle'.
"I'm guessing it's going to be a bugle."
General merriment. "What are you going to guess, Dad?" Maddie chimes in.
"I think: a candy cane," Fezziwig proclaims, rather than says.
The children roll about laughing.He always chooses that, too.
"Maddie?" Fezziwig enquires.
Maddie, the Snow White of the family, usually chooses something cute and fluffy. A robin, perhaps, or a little teddy bear.
"A polar bear," she says, sweetly. Somewhere feel sure I hear little birds chirruping in sympathy, but it must be my imagination.
The remaining guess falls to Felix. Felix takes no prisoners where Advent calendar guessing is concerned. He weighs up what has come before. He looks at the probability of which Christmas symbol might be likely at which stage of Advent. Clearly the more important symbols must wait for now, for we are in Advent's early days.
"Some sort of farm animal," he say, eyes narrowing speculatively.
I'd say it's too early for stable inhabitants myself. But with great imagined drum roll, Fezziwig prizes open the door.
" It is….a very fat cow," he announces roundly.
"I won," says Felix. I make a mental note to talk to him once again about humility and the social graces.
But all eyes have left the fat cow, and now rest on the vegelate advent calendar.
"Guesses, please?" ventures Fezziwig.
I am taking a new tactic today. The calendar doesn't look very traditional. I decide to enquire after its form. "What have we had on it so far?"
Felix's photographic memory reels off what has come out of the calendar so far. A penguin with another animal (he alleges they were having a fight, but how he can tell that when it's chocolate I'm not sure) and another penguin, a bauble and a Christmas Tree.
Two penguins in two days. I'm not good at odds and probability. I say: "A penguin with a grenade."
That's my chance squandered, then. But it's a good game. Other guesses include a penguin with a tank. I am a trend setter.
It was a star.
And that's what we do, every Advent evening at seven sharp.
Nineteen more to go.


text:
July 29, 2010 -- Millions of people who take calcium supplements in hopes of lowering their risk for bone fractures may actually be increasing their risk of having a heart attack, new research suggests.
An analysis of close to a dozen clinical trials involving about 12,000 patients found calcium supplementation to be associated with a 20% to 30% increase in heart attack risk.
Researcher Ian Reid, MD, of New Zealand's University of Aukland says it is time to reassess the role of calcium supplementation for the treatment and prevention of osteoporosis.
"I think we need to seriously consider whether calcium supplementation is a good thing for most people, given that it is associated with a very small decrease in fracture risk," he tells WebMD.
Calcium, Heart Attack Findings
Just over two years ago, Reid's own research unexpectedly showed a slight increase in heart attacks among healthy, older women who took calcium supplements to prevent fractures.
"Our hypothesis when we started the study was that calcium would protect the heart," he says.
In an effort to confirm the earlier findings, Reid and colleagues from the University of Aberdeen in the U.K. and Dartmouth University in the U.S. combined and analyzed the findings from 11 randomized trials in which participants took calcium supplements (500 milligrams or more per day) without vitamin D.
After adjusting for differences in study design, the researchers concluded that calcium supplementation was associated with a modest increase in risk for heart attacks, but not for strokes or death from heart disease.
Reid speculates that calcium supplements may rapidly elevate blood calcium levels, which could contribute to artery disease.
Calcium from food sources is absorbed much more slowly, he says.
The study appears today in the journal BMJ Online First.
"We encourage our patients to get their calcium from the foods they eat and not from supplements," he says.
Calcium-Bone Link 'Weak'
In an interview with WebMD, cardiologist John Cleland of the U.K.'s Hull York Medical School called the analysis "concerning but not convincing" in linking calcium supplementation to heart attacks.
"Heart attacks are serious business, so you would expect to see an increase in mortality in supplement users along with heart attacks," he says. "The fact that this wasn't seen makes me wonder if this intervention is changing the perception rather than the reality of this outcome."
But Cleland says the evidence that calcium or calcium with vitamin D protects against bone fracture is also far from convincing.
In an editorial published with the study, Cleland and colleagues write that calcium supplements alone do not prevent fractures and may even slightly increase fracture risk.
"Given the uncertain benefits of calcium supplements, any level of (heart) risk is unwarranted," they conclude.
Cleland says people with osteoporosis should be taking medications, not supplements, to treat the disease.
Cardiologist Nieca Goldberg, MD, who directs the NYU Women's Heart Program, recommends calcium supplements only to patients who don't get much calcium in their diets.
"If they are eating a lot of low-fat dairy products or other foods with calcium, they may not need much supplementation," she says. "People don't always realize how much calcium they are getting in their diets."
Goldberg, who is a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association, echoes Cleland's concerns about the newly published analysis.
"It is hard to understand how calcium could increase the risk for heart attack and not for stroke or death if this association is real," she says.


text:
Schedule Service
Create an Account: For easier and faster bookings, please create an online account for your vehicle by following "Create an Account" link below.
Acura Service Center in Winnipeg, MB
Welcome to the Crown Acura Service Department. Our team is here to help with anything you might need. We are proud to be a genuine Acura service department and use the newest software and tools to keep your Acura in top condition. While the Acura brand is our passion, we work on all vehicle makes and models. Maybe more importantly, no matter what vehicle you have you can have confidence that we will always use the highest quality parts.
Tires in Winnipeg
At the Crown Automotive Group, you will find the perfect tires for your vehicle. Whether you need winter tires, all-weather tires, or a new set of 3-season tires, you get the best option. Our tire specials are unbeatable paired with the Tire Wizard, browse the huge selection of tires and pick the set that suits your needs and budget.
Brake Repair & Replacement in Winnipeg
Brakes are the most important part of your vehicles safety. Brakes that are working properly allow brake pads to press against the rotor and slow down and stop your vehicles wheels with ease. Over time, as the caliper rubs against the rotor, these parts will wear down and can sometimes go undetected. Have your brakes tested by our service technicians regularly.
The length of performance may be determined by driving habits, your environment, or the material of your brake rotors or pads. A clear indicator to get your brakes changed is when hear a high-pitched squealing noise when you apply your brakes. At Crown Automotive Group, we review the condition of your brake pads, discs, rotors, caliper, shoes, hydraulics, brake fluid, and get your vehicle back on the road. Schedule a Brake inspection today.
Oil Changes in Winnipeg
An oil change is the removal of old motor oil and replacing it with new motor oil. Oil lubricates the engine to prevent the friction, and wearing out of engine parts. Over time, it loses that ability and gets dirty.
If you avoid a vehicles oil change, not only does it result in more problems for your engine parts but it will also lead to expensive engine repairs in the future. Getting fresh oil will once again help absorb that heat, cooling engine parts and avoid overheating.
Car Battery Service, Repair & Replacement
The battery is primarily needed to start the engine but also provides the electrical energy necessary for ignition, electrical lighting, radio, computer and other car accessories. It's your maintaining power source whenever the charging system is not operating or cannot carry the excess loads.
Battery Replacement Warning Signs:
- Your engine cranks slow and takes longer to start
- Dashboard warning light appears
- Swollen battery case due to heat or cold
- Battery is older than manufacturer date
- Strange smell from corrosion
Regular battery maintenance helps prolong your cars battery life. Keep your engine starting properly with a battery inspection, inspection, or replacement from the Crown Automotive Group.
Express Service
Express Service gives you the convenience of fast service along with the quality and value you expect from the Crown Automotive Group. By using special processes, tools and equipment, our trained technicians can service your vehicle in less time than it used to take.
We know you're busy so you'll appreciate the speed of Express Service and the competitive price. What's more, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that only experts will work on your vehicle.
Many of the services you need most are available through Express Service. Contact us today.
Transmission Service
The car's transmission works to transmit the right amount of power from your engine to your wheels to travel at the speed you desire. The importance of the transmission's changes power and speed, is how it reduces the load on the engine, while increasing the vehicle's speed and fuel economy. The health of your transmission allows you to drive at maximum efficiency.
Signs your transmission is starting to fail:
- Transmission slipping
- Rough shifting
- Odd noises
- Burning smells
- Delayed shifting
- Fluid leaks
- Vehicle is shaking
- Transmission service light activates
Have your vehicle looked at by the automotive professionals at Crown Automotive Group. Contact us for any service deals and schedule your appointment today.
Muffler & Exhaust Repair
A muffler reduces the noise level produced from the exhaust process and the exhaust system removes toxic gases and fumes safely out of your vehicle. The muffler will eventually wear out.
When to repair muffler & exhaust:
- Engine is misfiring
- Louder rumbling sound
- Exhaust Leak
- Fuel Efficiency
- Bad Smells
- Condensation from exhaust pipes
Have your muffler & exhaust looked at by the automotive professionals at Crown Automotive Group. Contact us for any service deals and schedule your appointment today.
Air Conditioning A/C
Your vehicle's air conditioning system cools the interior of the car and removes humidity out of the air. They are closed loops with a high-pressure side and low-pressure side. The high-pressure side starts with the compressor pumping refrigerant gas into the condenser. It becomes a liquid, goes into the receiver-dryer that removes the water and proceeds to the low-pressure side. The Thermal Expansion Valve (TXV) is then used to regulate flow, reduce pressure and temperature then continues to the evaporator to have heat absorbed. A fan then blows the cool air into the vehicle.
Car Heater
The car heater heats up the vehicle and to defrost the windshield and other windows. It is a smaller version of the cooling systems radiator. A fan that is positioned in front of the heater core takes in cold air from outside and blow it over the fins. It flows over the heater core, heats up and blows out the hot air through your vehicle's air vents.


text:
Molly undergoes successful surgery
Dog was hit by snow plow, broke all four legs
The 3-year-old Australian shepherd who was hit by a snow plow and broke all four legs had a successful surgery over the weekend, and is now helping to save the lives of even more animals.
The original goal to save the dog Molly was to raise $10,000 for her surgery and treatment.
Now they have managed to raise more than $40,000, allowing the hospital to save the life of a cat named Sunny as well.
Molly has built a legacy to help more animals that are not fortunate enough to have owners that can afford their procedures.
"She's pretty much our shelter … she has set up something for us where she will take care of other animals coming through the ER," said Dr. Deborah Kelloway.
Her owner and the Center for Advanced Veterinary Care said they were grateful for the immense generosity.
Unfortunately, Molly won't be able to return home for Christmas, as she will have to spend at least two more weeks recovering from extensive surgery.


text:
4-ingredient recipe: Roasted carrots
Roasting vegetables gives them wonderful richness. When carrots are roasted they caramelize on the outside and become soft on the inside.
They make a great Thanksgiving side dish, and the process to make them is very simple and can be used for many different vegetables (think broccoli, cauliflower, butternut squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes or a combination).
1. Wash and peel a pound of carrots. Cut them any way you want (in half, into sticks or slice into discs) — just try to keep them roughly the same size so they roast evenly.
2. Peel and cut two medium sweet onions into roughly the same size pieces as the carrots. Put the carrots and onions on a cookie sheet.
3. Whisk together two tablespoons olive oil and two tablespoons honey. Drizzle over the carrots and onions. Sprinkle the carrots and onions with dried thyme, kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
4. Bake at 450 F for 15 minutes. Using a spatula, flip the carrots and onions, then bake another 10-15 minutes until carrots are fork tender. The larger the carrots are cut, the longer they will take to roast.


text:
Taunton man sentenced to 17 years for child porn offenses
BOSTON — A Taunton man has been sentenced for producing and transporting child pornography, according to a press release from U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz.
David McLellan, 31, of Taunton, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Rya Zobel to 17 years in prison and 15 years of supervised release. In February, McLellan pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of children and transportation of child pornography.
The U.S. Attorney's Office alleged that "after an undercover agent downloaded child pornography on a peer-to-peer file sharing network from McLellan, federal agents obtained a search warrant for McLellan's residence and seized multiple items of computer media."
"Computer forensic examination revealed McLellan possessed six million images of child pornography and child erotica of prepubescent children and infants," according to the press release.
Ortiz and Vincent B. Lisi, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Field Division, announced the sentencing Thursday evening.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eve A. Piemonte Stacey, of Ortiz's Major Crimes Unit, prosecuted the case, under the Project Safe Childhood initiative.
In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse.
Led by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the DOJ's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.