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This utility will install the originally shipped Driver for your Sony VAIO® computer.
Important notes: please read carefully.
- WARNING! This download is only for use with the following Sony VAIO® Computers:
- SVE Do not install this utility with any other model of computer, including other Sony computers sold worldwide.
- During the installation of this update, be sure that you are logged in as the Administrator or as a user with Administrative rights.
- To ensure that no other program interferes with the installation, save all work and close all other programs. The Taskbar should be clear of applications before proceeding.
- It is highly recommended that you print out these instructions as a reference during the installation process.
Download and Installation Instructions
Please follow the steps below to download and install the driver.
- Download the zip file and extract all files to a temporary or download directory (please note this directory for reference)
- Open Device Manager. This can be done by accessing Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound -> Device Manager (under Device and Printers)
- At User Account Control, click 'Yes'
- Right-click on the device that needs to be installed or updated and from the pop-up menu select 'Update Driver Software'
- Ensure "Include subfolders" checkbox is selected and click 'Browse'
- Navigate to the directory where the files were extracted (from point 1). Select directory and click 'OK'
- Click 'Next'. The driver will be automatically detected and installed
- Click 'Close' to finish the procedure
The installation of the driver is completed.
Información de archivo
Nombre de archivo
- Ethernet_Driver_(Realtek).zip
Arquitectura de archivos
- 64 bit
Tamaño de archivo
- 389.25 Kb
Fecha de lanzamiento
- 21-22-2013


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Where's Napa Valley's next Great Leap Forward in the 21st century?
I am, as many of you know, something of a student of the history of wine, and of California wine in particular. I've always had a hankering for history–any era, any country–although I do have my favorites: World War II is one (I have almost as many books on that as I do on wine), and I also enjoy the history of science, especially of modern physics. But my wine education began with a study of California's wine history, and it's still going on. That's the thing about history: it keeps on happening.
I'm mindful of this, because I've been thinking about how Francis Ford Coppola is engaged in restoring the historic Inglenook name, which really had been dreadfully mauled over the years, since it passed from the hands of the great John Daniel, Jr. to a series of corporate owners, including United Vintners, Heublein, Constellation and The Wine Group. No disrespect to any of those fine companies, but that's a pretty sad track record for a winery that had been as great as Inglenook, which was founded in 1879 and therefore has a legacy as important as any winery in California.
When I first started learning about wine, Inglenook already was in its dog days. It was mainly known for the Inglenook Navalle bottling, which hardly was great wine. Those of us who knew history appreciated and respected Inglenook for what it had been, not what it was. We hoped that, someday, the glory that was Inglenook would be restored. But that seemed impossible. Even after Francis Ford Coppola successfully repatched together the original Inglenook estate vineyard, in Rutherford, with a series of purchases, the name "Inglenook" seemed deader than a doorknob. Coppola named his brand Rubicon, not Inglenook, because he didn't own the rights.
That's now changed, and is why it was so exciting to hear that Coppola had bought back the Inglenook name (from The Wine Group) and plans on resurrecting it for the wines that had been Rubicon Estate.
Inglenook was one of the Big Four that kept the reputation of Napa Valley for Cabernet Sauvignon going, post-Prohibition. The others were Louis M. Martini (now owned by Gallo), Beaulieu (Diageo) and Charles Krug, which thankfully remains in the hands of the Peter Mondavi, Sr. family. Each of these wineries is doing fine, although concerning Martini, I think the jury's still out on precisely where the Gallos aim to take it. Beaulieu has been left marvelously intact by Diageo, who understands the truth of the old adage, If it ain't broken, don't fix it, and Charles Krug remains an outstanding exemplar of how good Napa wine can be at relatively affordable prices. Still, I think it's fair to say that none of those three wineries has aspired to be the very best in Napa Valley.
Which leaves Rubicon/Inglenook. Can Coppola push it back to the top? I, personally, have always thought a great deal of Rubicon, the Bordeaux blend that was the Rubicon winery's flagship wine. The old estate vineyard, west of Highway 29 on the Rutherford Bench, is one of the glories of Napa Valley, just beautifully situated. I've always given very high scores to Rubicon (culminating in 95 points for the 2008, which I reviewed last October), and I've also always enjoyed the Cask Cabernet Sauvignon, which is consciously modeled after Daniels' Cabs, made during Inglenook's glory days in the 1930s, '40s and '50s. That Cask Cabernet, for my money, is pretty much right up there with Rubicon, although it's a different kind of wine, more closed in youth and, overall, more elegant. But it's also $100 less.
When I think back over Napa Valley's amazing history, I'm grateful to those who came later, but advanced the cause. Robert Mondavi clearly stands out, head and shoulders above anyone else in the second half of the twentieth century, with the possible exception of André Tchelistcheff. But we don't have to choose between them. I also give great credit to Bill Harlan. He came along at a point when pretty much everybody thought Napa Cabernet was as good as it can get, and then he made it better. Without Bill, I wonder if there would be Screaming Eagle, Araujo, Staglin, Hundred Acre, Colgin and all the rest of what we nowadays consider "cult wineries." Bill Harlan showed that Napa could reinvent itself, even when nobody thought it needed reinventing.
Sodden thought: I wonder what Napa's next reinvention will be, and who will lead it?
What has happened to the Inglenook label is such a shame given its importance to wine and to the Valley. I really hope FFC gives this label weight again.
I don't like to play devil's advocate, but their may be some level of danger in trying to resurrect and recreate what once was. Sorry for the crude analogy, but does anyone see the comparison to a drug addict always searching for that original high? The effort may be futile. Even if works out, wine-making techniques and standards are so much different now than they were in Inglenook's hayday and the wine will undoubtedly be different than the older vintages. Any thoughts?
- Wine Reviews | Vino Con Vista - [...] it seems surprising that I should be surprised at all when Aussie wine surprises me more… Where's Napa Valley's…
- Back in the Day « Wineguys Radio and TV - [...] Where's Napa Valley's next Great Leap Forward in the 21st century? (steveheimoff.com) [...]

subset: commoncrawl


text: Three Nonprofits: Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Pittsburgh, North Side Common Ministries, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank February 12, 2014 Lindsay I'm excited to post our second post in the "Three Nonprofits" series. Each week we feature a Pittsburgher and three of the nonprofit organizations that they think are important. Have three favorite nonprofit organizations that you would like to share? Click here to submit your list. I'm exited to share this weeks post- Sue is an incredible force in Pittsburgh both online and off. She has been blogging longer than I have! Make sure to check out her blog – Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents. Meet Sue Kerr you can follow here on Twitter @pghlesbian24 Sue's favorite thing about Pittsburgh is… This… Read the rest


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The VPP is the Poetry Project at the New Media Lab. It is a journal dedicated to showcase the use of new media for poetry creation. It is virtual because a hard-copy of this journal cannot be obtained, since it runs in the virtual space provided by an Apache server, and its content is made of bits and pieces of code. Digital formats are the targeted media of these creations.
The VPP is also a demonstration of what can be accomplished using open source tools. The multimedia framework used for the development of this project is provided by the UbuntuStudio Linux distro. The journal uses the Open Journal System, and is hosted in a Linux server located at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York.
This journal will present a series of dossiers dedicated to particular works, including critical approaches that will offer tools to understand the relationship established between poetic creation and new media. Marshall McLuhan's proposal stating that "the medium is the message" has been push forward by poets who researched the different media that could serve as material support for poetic expression. Changes in technology and media have affected poetic expression throughout history. The experiments undertaken by Brazilian Concretistas (such as Haroldo and Augusto de Campos) are good examples of how this idea developed: they emphasized the visual, plastic aspect of the written word. Today, with the diversification and availability of digital technologies, poets are making use of the possibilities they offer.
The VPP is a space available to connect artists and scholars around the world through web 2.0 technologies, building a web of resources and a network of people interested in these new forms of experimental poetry. The Open Journal System (the software used for this publication) provides tools for the building of an online community of people committed to research the field of poetic expression.


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We last looked at Vox's all-new high-end electrics back in 2008, and we liked what we saw. The Virage SC was a scaled-up single-cutaway, and the DC a downsized ES-335-inspired design, each using a unique approach to semi-hollow construction and round-your-body contouring.
Vox is now broadening the offer in both style and price to three new series - 33, 55 and 77 - alongside updated originals. Just like the critically acclaimed Japanese-made Virage, the new guitars were designed and prototyped in the San Francisco-based G-Rok design shop.
"We develop the guitars in 3D CAD [computer assisted design] and write the CNC machine code right in our facility," explains Rich Lasner, G-Rok's vice president of development. "This ensures that the factory, Indonesian in this instance, will run the same programs and produce a high-quality guitar affordably."
"With the SDC plugged into a Marshall style amp, there's a full yet well-defined tone that can cut through, but without over-shrill treble response."
We've got our hands on the solid-bodied SDC-3 which, along with its single-cutaway cousin the SSC-33, acts as the entry point into the new ranges.
The SDC-33 is certainly unique, combining the Virage's 3D contoured body with thick single-ply binding and a deeply cut inverse heel join. Its elegant physique cloaks its bulk, giving us a max rim depth of 43mm (that's just 3mm thinner than a Stratocaster), before slimming down to 30mm at either horn and 21.5mm at the heel.
The build also ensures maximum comfort, whether sat or stood. You can't tell from the front, but the 3D bodies are 'curved' from endpin to the neck joint so they more or less wrap around your midriff, putting both of your arms/hands in the ideal spot, and eliminating the painful forearm rub that afflicts many a thrashing Les Paul, ES-335 or PRS player: a brilliant design.
The SDC's all mahogany neck feels very 'at home' and familiar. There's a sixties vibe here, with a good solid feel in the palm and smooth finishing on the back of the neck, which with the 22 medium jumbo frets makes it a doddle to play.
"We were going to name the neck shape Fred," jokes Lasner, "but I think calling it a traditional 'C'-shape works fine in this instance!"
The old-meets-new vibe continues with the retro-styled three-a-side headstock - a classy design, featuring a large vaguely '50s-inspired shape with an 11° headstock pitch and simple silver Vox logo.
Without doubt, the general fit and feel of the SDC is of a very high standard, without a single blemish or finishing flaw. In fact the level of finishing is on a par with that commonly attributed to a higher-end, Japanese-made instrument: good work Indonesia.
Both the SDC and its SSC-33 counterpart share similar electrics and hardware specs with higher-end Vox models, with the company aiming to offer maximum value and tonal quality without compromise, even at a lower price bracket.
"We don't believe that the player on a budget should sacrifice tone, stability or ease of playing because they choose one of our less expensive models," Lasner continues. "You're getting proprietary CoAxe pickups from the top-of-the-range models, our custom designed MaxConnect bridge system and the Super Smooth tuning machines."
The CoAxe pickups were designed by Eric Kirkland in-house at G-Rok. Kirkland began with the work DiMarzio had done creating the original Three-90 pickups for the first Virage guitars.
"We wanted to continue our quest for a multi-sound pickup that was cost efficient to build, yet had very convincing single-coil, P-90 and humbucking sounds that are entirely noise-free," Lasner states. "Using the P-90-style footprint as a starting point, Eric set about developing a two-coil concentric and coaxial pickup using a magnetised central coil, surrounded by a secondary coil outside of the magnetic field."
Lasner goes on to explain that both coils are tapped at different points to create different tonalities, plus you get the benefit of noise-cancelling in each selection. 33-series guitars like this have a master mode selector - two sounds per pickup - while the 55, 77 and Virage II models (reviews coming in due course), have three-way mode switches for each pickup, as seen on the original Virage designs.
Alongside this, the lightweight cast aluminium MaxConnect bridge has been completely custom-designed by Lasner's team. It offers easy height adjustment and the strings slide in under the back edge of the bridge.
Acoustically the SDC rings out with intent and you can really detect added zing emanating from the MaxConnect bridge. We have two different sounds represented by the 33's dual modes: clean and lead.
The clean mode takes on a Fender-like stacked single-coil tone, while the lead mode is slightly narrower sounding than a classic PAF-style humbucker. With the SDC plugged into a loud Marshall-style amp, in clean mode, there's a full yet well-defined tone that can cut through, but without over-shrill treble response.
The overall tonal balance is great for tight rock rhythms and under more gain it truly sings, staying transparent and adding percussive attack to a heavier sound. Imagine a modern SG with noiseless P-90-style pickups - plenty of rich bite coupled with the depth and attack of the mahogany body.
It's clear that, as with the SSC, the SDC will easily satisfy blues-rockers or players with more modern heavy rock tastes. On the other hand, the SDC is marginally narrower and more compact sounding than its relative; it's less gnarly and more polite, if you like.
However, coaxing spirited and bubbling blues-rock tones from the SDC-33 is a breeze and under heavier gain the characterful zing of the MaxConnect bridge shines through and helps deliver a sprightly punch to the note.
So, the 33 Series guitars are the entry point into the 2010 Vox guitar line. The unique styling, build and features mean the SDC has a lot going for it. As well as being extremely well put together, it delivers an impressive range of sounds that'll suit both modern and retro styles, and it's super comfortable to play, too.
The SDC is the tearaway double-cut of the 33 clan, delivering a snappy, classic rock-infused tonal character throughout which is more than happy to rock-out when needed.
In terms of quality and value, all the guitars in Vox's 33 Series stand up to any of the bigger brands even if, at this point in time, they can't match their six-string heritage and reputation.
With guitars as good and original as this, however, who wouldn't want to try something new?


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Vintage Vases at Una
Una, a tiny boutique in Southeast, is known for its offbeat fashion. Curated by one of Portland's most tasteful buyers, Una crosses elegant everyday frivolity with utilitarian sensibilities. Scattered among the dresses, shirtings, and scarves you'll find intriguing objects for domestic life. Owner, Giovanna Parolari, is a serious scavenger, a thrift store whiz, who can zero in on an object that others would pass up as junk. And while I check in every season to see what beautiful clothing she's peddling, I regularly go by to treat myself to one of her funky finds: a vintage dish or ceramic vase. There's always room in my budget for a cheap and cheerful trinket for the house.
Rows of pottery line the long wooden shelf above the dress rack (made by her husband, John Taboada of Navarre).* Like a kid in a candystore, I'm dizzy trying to decide which vase to take off the shelf.* The vases are grouped together by color (sometimes), making it easy to weed through the changing inventory. From handmade funky to matte art pottery to tea-time British, there's something for every vintage pottery lover. My last trip to Una, I took home a stunning robin's egg blue matte vase and a deep blue and brown vessel with artful drips, both for under $20. These are no-name pieces without impressive stamps on the bottom, but for the price, it doesn't matter. I'm still on the hunt for the perfect, one-size-fits-all vase, but until I find it, I just keep on shopping. If you know of one, send it my way. In the meantime, I'll keep visiting Una, one of my favorite places for all things beautiful.


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Watching the most recent youtube offering of brilliance from GossMakeupArtist I was comforted to hear that he's all about ridding the world of Oompa Loompas too.
Wayne maintains that we are a lot better off working with bronzer instead of false tan as we have more control over shading and can easily start again should things go awry. Not so with Ronseal knuckles, I've been there.
While I am obsessed with Xen Tan Luxe, I have been a little remiss lately. In steps a mosaic of fabulousness for €3.49 from NYC. THREE FORTY NINE!
I'm going to hold my hands up here and admit this lovely has sat in my make up stash for a couple of months with no love. I included it in my make up bag, however, when attending the Ellie Balfe Make Up Course to both ensure I knew how to use it correctly and, more importantly, check if it was suitable for me.
Lo and behold Ellie's all about the NYC mosaic too, saying that these coral, bronzey shades are ideal on a 'typical Irish' complexion.
Downward strokes with a large bronzer brush on the highpoints of your face are the way to go. The gals over at Viva Adonis recently put together a really handy face mapping guide to show you where your highpoints are. (I wasn't sure either)
Genuinely, as a quick and easy way to contour and bring some life to your fizzog, this bronzer is the way to go. And hey, if you find it doesn't suit you, you're only out the price of a Storbocks, right?
NYC is available in all good chemists and, more recently, Penney's!


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Dear Eclipse,
I'm worried about you. Like, A LOT! First off it's no secret you are my favorite. Sorry Twilight, New Moon, Midnight Sun (psst you're 2nd!) and Breaking Dawn, but Eclipse just does it better. So I've got even more invested in this one than I usually do. But now there's news (via Lainey) that there might be reshoots taking place in Vancouver in the next few weeks (quick to the Twi-mobile!) which isn't totally disconcerting (ok, just a bit) since a lot of movies have to do this but the BIG gossip is that someone other than David Slade might direct these reshoots and that someone just might be CATHERINE HARDWICKE!!! (click that!)
Yes, the Cathy Hardi that gave us famous lines such as "Hold on tight, you little spider monkey." Ugh, I retch just thinking about it. Yes, the Cathy Hardi that gave us the infamous slow motion ghetto Vampire run that made every person in the history of ever laugh out loud. Yes, the Cathy Hardi that gave us Edward's sweaty-sparkling-pock-marked face. Yes, the Cathy Hardi that had milked the supposed "Rob and Kristen Twilight Audition Tape" for all it's worth, which in reality is probably just her and Solomon Trimble running lines on your couch in Venice Beach.
So forget the whole, "what about the directors vision?" "what about being true to the spirit of the story?" I'm downright scared half these reshoots are going to take place in a TGIFridays with the crew getting paid in all they can drink mucho margaritas and potato skins. Will the tent scene actually take place in the handicapped stall of the women's bathroom while Edward and Bella get their leghitch on in the vinyl booth for a party of 10?
You see Eclipse, these are the things that will keep my up at night until it's announced/leaked/rumored who really puts the finishing touches on you. Speaking of that it's almost May and you come out in JUNE and they're reshooting now?! HOLD ME, Eclipse, HOLD ME!!!!!!!!!!
In my happy place,
PS I need one of those cougarita's right about now
PPS Time to start fasting and praying in earnest people. Earnest!
Seriously? Reshoots? WHY? Catherine? David? Chris? Moon and UC who should direct this stuff and who else needs me to pour them a cougarita?
Our internet game is still ridiculous: The Forum, LTR, Twitter
Filed under: Catherine Hardwicke, David Slade, Eclipse, Fasting and Praying, Speculation, Twilight, Twilight News | Tagged: audition tape, Breaking Dawn, Catherine Hardwicke, chris weitz, cougarita, David Slade, Eclipse, film, gossip, Kristen, margarita, Midnight Sun, movie, New Moon, reshoots, Rob, Rumors, Speculation, Stephenie Meyer, TGIFridays, Twilight, vancouver, Venice Beach | 124 Comments »


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Jug Suraiya captures the ad war between The Hindu and The Times of India, through the mouths of two newspaper readers, M/s Gup and Shup:
Shup: Boring! The Hindu boring? Listen, buddy, let me wisen you up…. What The Hindu has is gravitas. In fact, it's got gravitas with a capital G.
Gup: Gravitas? Isn't gravitas that thing that the guy discovered when he was sitting under a tree and the apple fell on his head?
Shup: No, that was Newton and what he discovered was the Law of Gravity. It was The Hindu which discovered the Law of Gravitas, which involves making everything you say seem weighty and profound, through the use of Capital Letters for everything, including knock-knock jokes. Which in The Hindu are called Knock-Knock Jokes. That's Gravitas, and that's what The Hindu has. Unlike the TOI which makes everything it says seem light and frothy. Like that TV ad The Hindu did which showed young people being interviewed on the street, and who couldn't correctly answer questions on current affairs but knew everything there was to know about Bollywood trivia. The ad hinted that all these clueless people were TTOIRs, or Target TOI Readers."
Read the full article: Press charges
Also read: Good morning, it's time to go back to bed
How Hindu aimed at Times but shot DNA
Times readers affluent, not middle class. Mind it.


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Aging wine: an accidental result of bad technology
If California has taught the world anything, and I hope and like to think it has, it's that the first duty of a wine is to be delicious.
Not ageable. Delicious.
Some wine critics look at ageability as something desirable. They swoon over wines that are tannic, mute and stubborn in youth, rhapsodizing over what they will turn into some day—10, 20, 30 years down the road—when they become nectar. And sure, there's a handful of wines in the world that do become special in old age
There are two flaws in this vision, though. The first is that the appreciation of old wine is an acquired taste. Most people who have never developed that particular esthetic would find an aged wine—I mean one that has actually developed bouquet and cellar character, not one that's simply old—disagreeable.
The second fly in the ointment is this: Correct me if I'm wrong, but the entire notion of aging wine arose during the 1700s and 1800s (after proper bottles and stoppers were invented) because many of the wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy were so tannic that they were basically undrinkable during their early years. The French figured out that if they lay the bottles on their sides, in a cool place where the temperature couldn't do them any harm, those pesky tannins would eventually fall out. The wine then could be carefully decanted, with the sediment falling into the shoulder, and the resulting liquid would pour clear and sweet.
Do you think the French would have made less tannic wines if they'd possessed the ability to do so? I do. There was nothing particularly advantageous in having to store wine for so many years. It took up space, it required management, it was tedious, and the bottles developed notoriously unevenly. The French (and their English, Belgian, Swiss, Danish and other customers) just wanted something to drink that was, well, delicious. That they had to wait for years was simply an accident of technology: modern methods of tannin management, including developments in the vineyard and in the winery, didn't yet exist.
Well, they do now. Take Napa Valley Cabernet. I've heard many French people say how tannic they find it, which is weird, because I think Grand Cru Bordeaux is really tannic. Regardless of who's right or wrong on that score, Napa Valley Cabernet is tannic, because the grape's thick skins make it so. But vintners have developed all sorts of ways to soften those tannins, fundamentally changing their molecular structure to make them feel silkier. The result, in a wine like (for example) Monticelllo's 2008 Corley Reserve, is spectacular deliciousness. Nor is this yummy factor limited to Cabernet, as evidenced by (another example; I could have cited dozens) Roessler's 2009 Hein Family Vineyard Pinot Noir, from the Anderson Valley, rich, glyceriney and delicious.
Had the Bordelais and Burgundians been able to produce wines like these, I'm positive they would have, and this whole notion of cellaring wines would never have assumed the proportions it has. An entire industry of refrigerated storage units and customized residential cellars might not even exist. But that's not how things turned out. The French were utterly unable to manage their tannins, and so history took a different turn.
I sometimes think that the anti-California wine crowd out there has a problem with immediate gratification. They're like Puritans who think life should be hard. Any joy, in the way of dancing, movies, sex, luxuriating in food and drink, is bad. It's not just California wine they complain about, it's the California style itself: hedonistic, sensuous, physically beautiful, playful, sexy, celebratory rather than stoical, fun. To condemn California for being all glittery surface and no substance is very old and widespread, but isn't it always tinged with a little jealousy? Our wine, too, is criticized, but it has taught the world to see fruit in a different way that has improved wine everywhere.
Hmmmmmm….I wonder if we could have this same discussion, except not in the context of wine, but in the context of curdled milk?? JohnFiscalini might even weigh in on that one.
You had me until the final paragraph. In no way am I an anti California person but I do prefer the wines of the old world, and by an awfully large margin, especially when it comes to QPR but I've read two posts as of late, this one being one of the two, that make those of us that like/love/adore/crave wines with less blowsy fruit, higher acidity and leaner frames seems as if we aren't as pleasure seeking as those that like rounder, fleshier and fruitier wines and I simply don't get that. Puritans?! Oh please, I'm as indulgent as person as I know, I eat what I want, say what I want, touch who they hell I wish and drink as much of what I'm into as I want so I'm as far from a Puritan as they come, but I tend to find my pleasure in the things I have to work a little for. I don't get turned on by simply looking at a naked dude, far from it and it will take a lot more than skin to get me out of my clothes, no matter how good looking the cat might be. My desire isn't withheld, it's earned and that goes for wine as much as it does for people. Hey, if some folks are into buck naked and spread eagle, good for them, I, and many like me, enjoy the slow seduction, the coaxing, the removal of layers. So quit making it sound like we don't enjoy as much as you do…annoying as hell. Okaythankssomuch….
Samantha, don't blame the nudists, they just have the technology to get undressed more quickly… Loved the analogy, btw!
Age your wine if that's your thing! I have been collecting and drinking wine for about fifty years. I like to drink good wine whether it be today, tomorrow or next month. My experience has taught me that if you age a lot of wine, you are apt to be disappointed more often than rewarded.
A few things
1) Age-ability may have been an accident, however there is something about it that captures our imagination – memory, historic significance, durability, growth etc
2) The idea that forthcoming expression in a wine is mutually exclusive to subtlety, is just specious reasoning and often just a case of confirmation bias by a group that wants to claim superiority of one style over another
I've lived and worked in Napa for many years…..I love California Cabs, but they are painful….the first time I tasted them, I thought how awful….and then someone offered me a 15-year-old Cab, AH…..I buy and age at least 7 years before I drink…..that is just the way I am. If I want something immediately, I pull out a Petite Sirah….
Not blaming in the least, just pointing out that some of us find it sexier to slowly take it off….as it were.
Steve: This is a great post. Just the right amount of provocativeness to prompt a great discussion.
That said, I tend to agree with Samantha and dr. Ageability may have been an accident but it has proven to have intrinsic value. Quality wines that age well evolve and are enjoyable for different reasons at different times. Consistent with dr's points, there is great pleasure in saving fine ageable wines from years that mark special events in life and enjoying them on anniversaries over time. Contrast this with wines that though bombastic and delicious in their youth, never become better or attain new attractive qualities after a relatively brief period of time, and instead deteriorate to the point of being empty and unenjoyable after just a few years. This is by no means true of all modern California Cabernets, many of which age very well, but it is true of quite a number, including many that are very expensive.
Let us not forget, that there are LOADs of subtle wines that do not age well. Nonageability IS NOT synonymous with fruit forward/generous etc.
I drink lots of beautiful chinon, for example, that are quite subtle and restrained. A few I might age, most of them don't go anywhere, even if they "last".
Most wines, regardless of style, do not age well
Are the French jealous? Probably. Probably not willing to admit it too. Accidents inevitably are a part of our history, and only the accidents worth keeping stick around. There is something rather cerebral about having a wine that endures the ages. The story and journey are sometimes just as, if not more, interesting that the wine and it structure. The Estates that have emerged with a track record of wines that endure the test of time, will always have their place in the market. However, unless your estate is well established or has endless pockets, it is not a model that works. Nor is it a model that works well with new world cultural demands.
That being said… I have always felt that life is too short, to hold onto things that can not be used. So, why have wine that is undrinkable in it's youth? I can't find any reason. More so, why not produce a wine that is good in its youth and will age gracefully? Balance isn't that what is is all about anyway?
Vive la difference, and the possibility.
A fascinating post, because it gets to the aesthetic question which a lot of tasters just skip over. If you study the Wine Spectator ratings (which I have recently been doing because it was free for a couple weeks), you see that they give the highest numbers to the very sort of closed-in, austere, maybe even stubborn wines that Steve mentioned. That then becomes the benchmark of "greatness." But hey, that's only one definition of greatness and there are lots of others. It's like saying that Michelangelo is inherently "greater" than Kasimir Malevich or Dong Qichang. Thank you Steve for re-introducing relativity into wine judgment in a fabulous way.
I also appreciate the post; however I am in the camp with Samantha, Dr, and Mike. Calling people Puritans simply because they have a preference in wine style seems a little extreme and a little black and white. Like the others that have posted, the small percentage of wine that IS truly age-worthy, are worth waiting for. Are there a large amount of people that are over cellaring their wines? Probably. My guess is that a larger number do not and from memory I believe a large percentage of wine is consumed within a few years of being produced.
Perhaps the concept of ageability is over emphasized in the winemaking process especially in the higher-end Cab arena and because of that, they are built with excessive amounts of tannin to fit the stereotype of that market. I wouldn't say this is the case for all, but the ones that you Steve, seem to be referencing are probably out of balance and may never be worth drinking. Or by the time they are mellow, the flavor trajectory had long past and you are left with oak, water, and alcohol.
I would also like to point out that there are a lot of great Old World wines that do not require decades of mellowing out to be enjoyed. Similarly, there has been a lot of California wine that I have felt was too tannic at the time I opened them and hoped with a few more years perhaps they would be more approachable.
It's a good discussion but I think you are trying to create distinct categories of consumers that wine writers seem to enjoy doing. Instead simply pointing out that the original need for cellaring wine might not play as large of a role as it once had (although perhaps not as interesting to read or write about).
I beg to differ! Aged wines, mature 'full-blossom' wines (those that have shed their tannin to reveal all their charm) are to the fruitfulness of youth as wisdom is to infancy: a 37 Taylors or 62 Latour or 55 Pichon Baron or Madeira from the 17 or 1800's, are intrinsically different. They do repay keeping by evolving in barrel or bottle, vat or tetra, if that is tannin management, so be it. Years ago someone came up with a device, a magnetzed metal plate that purportedly accelerated maturation – where is it now? Or is it reverse osmosis or a spinning cone? On an xy scale those wines and their ilk resemble release prices of relatively little, the teens and $20, against flavor units in the high 90's, almost off the scale, and a measurable evolution from current vintages- it rarely happens to the few of us Steve who are constantly presented with a relative ocean of Cal wine -so little of it made not be matured ie to early Hillside Select and the current Decanter listing – many of which you have, I suspect, grown up on. They have a history of less than 50 years in most cases and in most cases history doesn't treat them well. Vive la diffference! Vive Dominus 91! Knowledge enhances appreciation. You ask if ageability in wine is somehow desirable (as opposed to the aesthetic and business driven necessities of Tannin Management) and I scream YES! Give me the transformational magic of today in the vineyard and cellar to bottled history, just to see what happens. You are implicitly arguing for the manipulation of all wine to achieve the beauty of certain aged bottles (also known as wine by number), exactly the same ideal the artisan garagiste employs.
I'm not sure the story about learning to store bottles on the side and the whole appreciation of aged wine and vintages is a French thing. It was my understanding (perhaps "misunderstanding") that this ageing thing started with English merchants loading up their ships in Bordeaux and habitually tossing on a few barrels of claret, which the subsequently they bottled when back at home and thus had a large cache of 11% alcohol, tannic claret in their cellar. Year after year these tended to build up and the English came to appreciate the differences of vintages and positive nature of bottle ageing. Thanks to climate change, chaptalization, reverse osmosis and Robert Parker this is no longer necessary in claret. Or most any wine. In fact, extended bottle ageing of today's wine is usually a bad idea.
Wines are judged and the verdict is written at the release of a vintage when it lands in Steve's hands. So your a fool to not have it taste the best when he first tastes it… you know…that split second moment that determines whether it is worthy of his blessing or isn't. ;>)
There's more to wine than the judgement we make on its quality.
Irrespective of whether bottle ageing is a good idea, I have to say it is a joy to bring out a 50 year old wine and find it palatable, particularly around the holidays. Maybe the wine isn't what it once was, but it goes with the timeless nature of the winter holiday season and the gathering of friends and family.
Another thought–other wine components (e.g., alcohol and sugar) mask the impact of tannins in wine. Could it be that those aspects of the "new world" wine style–higher alcohol and even some residual sugar in wines traditionally fermented dry–contribute to the impression that tannin is being managed? If true, then one would expect the CA wines in balance in their youth by virtue of their alcohol/RS components to become unbalanced as they age. And, let's hear it for instant gratification. My patience for aging wine diminishes as I age.
sounds like i won't be the first to raise an objection. but i do have two points to add to the long collections of commenters who appreciate old wine:
1) making wine that "tastes good" with modern technology is pretty easy. start by putting your wine through a concentrater to get the brix up, then stop fermentation early so you leave a little sugar, round it out with a high pH, and if its a red wine, throw in some oak chips. boom! you just turned your shitty grapes into tasty wine. only one problem: your wine will fall apart in 2-5 years (and there is a lot of expensive wine to support that theory). the beauty of aged wine is that it cuts through all the shortcuts, so that only a true artist can hand-craft a wine that will age with aplomb. not saying that i am there yet, but it seems like a much more honorable goal than learning how to manipulate wine so that shitty grapes will taste good for a little while.
2) i was recently lucky enough to taste two very old and very special wines. i won't brag about the winery or vintage. i'll only say that these wines were profound in a way that no young wine has ever been, could ever be, or will ever be. when you taste something like that, every young and tasty wine becomes instantly irrelevant. A great wnie that has aged for decades has flavors that are beyond description.
Steve, I still love ya, but you're wrong on this one. A great aged wine is an experience that you remember for a lifetime. It's the reason we all love wine so much. And it's worth a thousand $100 napa cabs that will fall apart in five years. I can probably count on one hand, and describe in great detail. the great aged wines i've drank in my life. while tasty young wine definitely has it's place, there is nothing, NOTHING, like a great aged wine.
I really think someone needs to define, or at least put a range on, "aged." I find that there is a broad range of time frames associated with the concept. Some people say they age wine and mean that it sits in their basement until they find a reason to drink it (6 mos. to 2 years), while others don't consider anything less than 10 years past vintage to be "aged." Someone once told me that you'll never go wrong drinking a Cali Pinot at 6 years old, and I've pretty much stuck to that, with good success.
I do get a special thrill, however, when I pop a high end Napa or Sonoma Cab just after release, the wines tend to be so exuberant that that point.
Steve, I won't go as far to say that you contradict yourself, but take a look at this article from a few years back and tell me that those old, over the hill wines didn't just blow your mind:
Grapes – I don't think has necessarily contradicted himself. One can enjoy young, fruit-forward wine just as much as aged wine that has taken on secondary and tertiary aromas and flavors. What gets me about this post is that Steve seems to be attacking old-world style wine being a product of a flawed system ("utterly unable to manage their tannins"). It seems to me that Steve is being a bit defensive about others attacking *his* California wines for being different. I think the wines that are approachable in their youth have advantages and a place at one's table and can be considered high-quality wines, but the ability to age is definitely a necessary characteristic of top-flight (and expensive) wines. Would you buy the most beautiful car in the world if it fell apart in 3 years? I think Steve could have found a way to praise *his* CA wines without attacking French wines and lovers of aged wines as Puritanical. Should many of the wines Steve highly praises (and throws 98 and 99 point scores at) fail to age, I foresee a similar post in about 20 years: "Unageable wine: a result of bad technology."
Aging wine did not begin with the French. Ancient Egyptians from 3000 B.C. favored aged wines, so did the greeks in 850 B.C., some very basic research would have enabled you to realize that aged wines have been around for almost as long as wine has existed. You can read about the history of human's and wine in the books Divine Vintage or even in Drink.
Your entire premise is based on faulty logic that instant gratification is more pleasurable than having to wait a little for the pleasure. I personally enjoy both young and aged wines depending on my mood at that given time. So while some of my wines are aging, I'll pop open a younger bottle that I will enjoy until some of my ageworthy wines have matured. Neither option is better than the other, they are just different. Much like a grilled rib steak VS. braised beef ribs, a grilled steak takes 8-12 minutes to cook whereas the braised beef ribs can take a couple of hours to be ready. Which is better? Neither, I like both way too much to choose.
Steve is being provocative here, which is why I often find myself returning to this blog. So I will take the bait on the proposition that aging wines results from bad technology. First there is a range of perceptions expressed here concerning tannins that contradict my experience, including Steve's that Bordeaux is more tannic than Napa Cab; Cato's that California Cabs are painful until aged around 7 years; Patrick Frank's that highest scores in WS go to closed in, austere, tannic wines.
In the late 70's and early 80's I had the chance to visit Bordeaux and taste from barrels at some of the best chateaux. The revelation was how delicious they tasted in the barrel, and this clashed with the conventional wisdom at the time in Napa, that Cabernet had to be ugly in its youth to be beautiful with age. Often the most dense, most tannic lots were selected as "reserve" lots. Over the next decade or so we evolved to an appreciation of wines that were balanced, and realized a wine could be attractive throughout its life (like people)! We learned "tannin management" which could be achieved by paying closer attention to fruit ripening; using processing equipment that was gentler; and found extraction techniques targeting specific tannins. We began to produce rounder wines, with more depth, and yet with excellent aging potential.
Site plays an important role also. We have been producing wines from our vineyard since 1996. They are enjoyable when released at 3 years of age, yet they evolve over a long period of time. Steve has a standing offer to come and taste all 17 vintages; I've recently tasted the '96 and '97, and they are still gaining in interest.
But to be less self-serving, let me use the example of our next-door neighbor on Diamond Mountain, which is Diamond Creek. Several years ago I had the opportunity to taste all their bottlings back to the first vintage, which I think was 1969. With 3 or 4 vineyard bottlings each year, this was a formidable tasting. The wines of the '70's and 80's still had a lot of unresolved tannin, but the wines of the '90's and beyond were rounder, more balanced, and delicious. I don't think DC sacrificed ageability; in fact I suspect these wines will be wonderful 30 years out. I would say they are "intellectual wines" that would be fun to study (check out from the library?) over many years. This as opposed to the "hedonistic wines" tricked out and pimped to show brightly only for the brief moment when they are reviewed upon release. It seems to me that it is this style that all too often grabs the big scores. I am not saying this style is invalid, I'm just saying that there is room for a range of styles. And I feel if one happens to have a site lending itself to wines that will age, one almost has an obligation to produce the more classically styled wine, and not trick them out. They are not for every night, not for everyone, but they have an important place for those with the space and inclination to cellar wines for significant future events.
More fun here: http://www.dyerwine.com/index.cfm?method=blog.blogList&fromDate=08%2F01%2F2010&ToDate=08%2F31%2F2010


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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE v. MET. HOCKEY CLUB(1976)
District Court did not abuse its discretion in resorting to the extreme sanction of dismissing respondents' antitrust action against petitioners pursuant to Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 37, the court having found that, notwithstanding its admonitions and numerous extensions, respondents failed to respond to written interrogatories ordered by the court, and that under the circumstances such failure manifested "flagrant bad faith" and "callous disregard" by respondents' counsel of their responsibilities.
Certiorari granted; 531 F.2d 1188, reversed.
This case arises out of the dismissal, under Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 37, of respondents' antitrust action against petitioners for failure to timely answer written interrogatories as ordered by the District Court. The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed the judgment of dismissal, finding that the District Court had abused its discretion. The question presented is whether the Court of Appeals was correct in so concluding. Rule 37 (b) (2) provides in pertinent part as follows:
The District Court, in its memorandum opinion directing that respondents' complaint be dismissed, summarized the factual history of the discovery proceeding in these words:
While the Court of Appeals stated that the District [427 U.S. 639, 642] Court was required to consider the full record in determining whether to dismiss for failure to comply with discovery orders, see Link v. Wabash R. Co., 370 U.S. 626, 633 -634 (1962), we think that the comprehensive memorandum of the District Court supporting its order of dismissal indicates that the court did just that. That record shows that the District Court was extremely patient in its efforts to allow the respondents ample time to comply with its discovery orders. Not only did respondents fail to file their responses on time, but the responses which they ultimately did file were found by the District Court to be grossly inadequate.
The question, of course, is not whether this Court, or whether the Court of Appeals, would as an original matter have dismissed the action; it is whether the District Court abused its discretion in so doing. E. g., C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil 2284, p. 765 (1970); General Dynamics Corp. v. Selb Mfg. Co., 481 F.2d 1204, 1211 (CA8 1973); Baker v. F & F Investment, 470 F.2d 778, 781 (CA2 1972). Certainly the findings contained in the memorandum opinion of the District Court quoted earlier in this opinion are fully supported by the record. We think that the lenity evidenced in the opinion of the Court of Appeals, while certainly a significant factor in considering the imposition of sanctions under Rule 37, cannot be allowed to wholly supplant other and equally necessary considerations embodied in that Rule.
There is a natural tendency on the part of reviewing courts, properly employing the benefit of hindsight, to be heavily influenced by the severity of outright dismissal as a sanction for failure to comply with a discovery order. It is quite reasonable to conclude that a party who has been subjected to such an order will feel duly chastened, so that even though he succeeds in having [427 U.S. 639, 643] the order reversed on appeal he will nonetheless comply promptly with future discovery orders of the district court.
But here, as in other areas of the law, the most severe in the spectrum of sanctions provided by statute or rule must be available to the district court in appropriate cases, not merely to penalize those whose conduct may be deemed to warrant such a sanction, but to deter those who might be tempted to such conduct in the absence of such a deterrent. If the decision of the Court of Appeals remained undisturbed in this case, it might well be that these respondents would faithfully comply with all future discovery orders entered by the District Court in this case. But other parties to other lawsuits would feel freer than we think Rule 37 contemplates they should feel to flout other discovery orders of other district courts. Under the circumstances of this case, we hold that the District Judge did not abuse his discretion in finding bad faith on the part of these respondents, and concluding that the extreme sanction of dismissal was appropriate in this case by reason of respondents'"flagrant bad faith" and their counsel's "callous disregard" of their responsibilities. Therefore, the petition for a writ of certiorari is granted and the judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed.
MR. JUSTICE STEVENS took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.


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As some of you know, my office is located in the Catholic Center in Manhattan, on First Avenue. On Friday they were decorating the lobby for Christmas – trimming trees and hanging lights and assembling a small wooden stable, the Nativity scene. As I was leaving work, I stopped to take a look.
This Nativity scene is a little out of the ordinary. While it has all the usual characters, carved from wood – Mary, Joseph, shepherds, animals — it doesn't have a manger. Instead, the figures are arranged in a kind of semi-circle, and Mary is kneeling, with her arms outstretched – arms that, at Christmas, will hold the Christ child. But now, like all of us this Advent, she is waiting. Her arms are empty.
It's a poignant image – and, I think, given the events of the last 48 hours, devastating.
In those outstretched arms, we can't help but notice what is missing. I looked at that figure in the crèche on Friday night and thought of the empty arms of the mothers of Newtown.
We are all Newtown this morning. Those children are our children. The indescribable heartbreak of those parents is shared by the world.
Ironically, in our liturgy, this third Sunday of Advent is a Sunday for rejoicing. We put away the purple and wear rose. The readings point with excitement to Christmas. "Cry out with joy and gladness," the psalm tells us. "Rejoice in the Lord always," St. Paul declares. In the gospel, we hear for the first time the phrase that will define the Christian faith for all time: "good news."
Yet, the news right now isn't what anyone would call good.
We keep hearing words like "massacre" and "tragedy" and "slaughter." Mixed in, of course, is another word that we can't escape: "Why?" I wish I had an answer. I can't explain it. I don't think anyone can.
At times like this, God can seem distant, even detached. Yet, this Sunday, we are reassured: He is closer than we realize. "The Lord is near," Paul writes. And it's not just because Christmas is 9 days away. It is so much more than that. In the great mystery we are about to remember at Christmas—the Incarnation, the Word made flesh—we celebrate this astonishing fact: God became us. He invested Himself in humanity.
The implications are staggering.
On the five-year anniversary of 9/11, the great Presbyterian minister Timothy Keller spoke about the Incarnation. I'd like to read you part of what he said:
"One of the great themes of the Hebrew Scriptures," he said, "is that God identifies with the suffering. There are all these great texts that say things like this: If you oppress the poor, you oppress me. I am a husband to the widow. I am father to the fatherless. I think the texts are saying God binds up his heart so closely with suffering people that he interprets any move against them as a move against him. This is powerful stuff! But Christianity says he goes even beyond that. Christians believe that in Jesus, God's son, divinity became vulnerable to and involved in – suffering and death! He didn't come as a general or emperor. He came as a carpenter. He was born in a manger, no room in the inn."
And then Rev. Keller adds this:
"But it is on the Cross that we see the ultimate wonder. On the cross we sufferers finally see, to our shock, that God now knows too what it is to lose a loved one in an unjust attack."
On TV the other night, they showed the devastated father of a child, hearing the news of what happened and burying his face in his hands.
God is that weeping father.
"The Lord is near." He knows what it's like.
And He knows what we need: hope. And He has given it to us. The Passion of His son assures us of this: death doesn't have the last word. We have been promised eternal life. We live in the hope of one day seeing God face-to-face – and seeing in His reflected light those we love.
This is the real promise and joy of Christmas: the salvation that was made real on Calvary began in Bethlehem.
And so we wait for that beginning. We wait for what will be— like that figure of Mary in a lobby on First Avenue.
We wait with open arms.
And in our waiting, we pray. For the victims. For their families.
We pray for the gunman and his family.
We pray for our country.
And we pray, especially, for the children.
I think one of the reasons that this terrible event struck all of us so deeply is that it was carried out against the smallest among us—the most trusting, the most hopeful, the most vulnerable. Five, six, seven years old.
On Friday night, was there any parent who didn't hold their child closer, who didn't pray a little more deeply, who didn't cherish even more profoundly the gift of life?
As I mentioned at the beginning: we are all Newtown this morning. Those children are our children. The wound is deep.
This morning, we pray for all the victims of Newtown, and we pray for those things we Catholics always pray for in times of mourning. We pray for rest, for light, for peace.
It is a prayer whispered with the resilient hope of people who believe that God is with us.
The Lord is near. He walks with us. He weeps with us.
And so we pray:
Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace, Amen.


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The New York Times Book Review's How-To Issue lists eight pieces on its cover, two of which are written by women. And guess what they're about? Raising children and cooking.
"That cover made me feel like I was in a time warp," writes Molly Templeton, who was inspired to create her own How-to Tumblr in response:
There is nothing wrong with cooking and raising children; there are lots of things right and wonderful with these pursuits. They are also, as I'm sure I don't need to tell you, traditionally female tasks, and when you take into consideration the VIDA stats, the history of gender imbalance in literature and journalism and the world at large, you might find yourself a little frustrated by the fact that it's 2012 and we are still too often relegated to writing about deeply gendered topics. (Of the 18 bylined reviews and essays in the issue, five are by women.)
I'm sure there's something you know how to do. I'm sure there are things your many brilliant friends know how to do, or something you could write about that has to do with doing a thing (most of the NYTBR pieces were, of course, book reviews). I would like to read the essays, reviews, comics, lists and more we, and they, could write in this vein - irreverent, funny, heartbreaking, ironic, wry, snarky, sweet, clever, brilliant, silly, and everything else.
Here's how you do it:
1. Write a how-to piece on the topic of your choice. Because time moves extra quickly on the internet, I would like to have the first round of essays/reviews/etc. by Sunday, August 5.
2. If you have a blog/Tumblr/LiveJournal/other internet presence, post the piece on your own blog/internet space, and email me a link.
3. If you don't have a blog, send it to me, and I'll post it here.
4. Read and link to the pieces written by other women.
Go contribute!


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Since it was launched in 2001, the Sky PVR has become the UK's de facto digital recorder standard. After targeting early adopters, the company has been aiming its Sky device squarely at the mass-market. The price of the box (and installation) has been reduced from the original £400 to £100 - although you need to be a new subscriber, and prepared to cough up for the full Sky World and Family package (£41 per month).
Existing subscribers pay £200 (at the time of writing there was a special offer of £150) plus an installation charge of £60. The latter, however, is waived if you decide to use your existing box in a 'Multiroom' configuration - which conveniently duplicates your chosen package in another location within the house for an extra £10 per month.
Sky has also brought down the costs in that there's no subscription fee if you subscribe to at least one premium channel (movies or sports). Most Sky subscribers, fortunately, tend to fall into this camp.
So why has Sky proved such a hit? Simply put, once you've lived with Sky it's difficult to imagine life without it. You can schedule recordings directly from Sky's easy-to-use EPG, and - thanks to the Series Link functionality, it can be told to automatically record all episodes of a favourite show (be warned, though, the Series Link is not infallible, and not supported by all broadcasters).
As Sky stores the channel's datastream on an internal PC-like hard disk, what you're effectively watching during replay is the original transmission - hence no quality loss whatsoever.
The Sky incorporates two tuners, so you can simultaneously record two channels (TV or radio) on different channels, or watch one channel while another is recording. Pausing live TV is also possible, because the Sky is always buffering the channel that it's currently displaying.
If you decide you want to keep the recording, it will save the entire programme (or at least part of it, depending on when you last changed channels). This recording - and any others - can be accessed via the Sky Planner, which you'll find as the last option on the expanded TV Guide.
Then there's the issue of connectivity. The Sky is the only digibox device to offer a Dolby Digital-compatible optical digital output. This comes into its own if you subscribe to one or more of the movie channels. Many of the films broadcast are transmitted with Dolby Digital 5.1, which can be enjoyed with the appropriate AV kit. Even if the movie channels don't appeal, you still get better sound from regular TV channels; it's also useful for those who want to record radio programmes on to digital audio media.
The Sky is also unusual in that an S-video output is offered - handy for those whose DVD recorders don't have an RGB input. On which subject, Sky offers a handy multiple copy function. From the Sky Planner, highlight all the recordings you want to transfer to DVD and the Sky will play them all in sequence.
This is a distinct boon if you have a DVD recorder with in-built hard disk; you can then split up the recordings and edit out any adverts, trails or stray bits of other programmes before copying the results on to a DVD-R or DVD R for long term archiving.
Improved capacity
Since the original Sky (and its functionally-identical but smaller 'version 2' follow-up) was launched, we have only had one real criticism of the system. With all of the channels that are now available, the 40GB capacity - enough for approximately 20 hours - is now proving to be a drawback.
In 2001, a 40GB hard disk was probably one of the biggest you could buy without breaking the bank. Since then, however, capacities have multiplied. 200GB drives - 5x the Sky 's capacity, or potentially 100hrs of recording - are sold by computer retailers for less than £100.
It's no wonder, then, that some Sky owners decided to 'super size' their hardware. As regular readers will know, it's quite a straightforward task to replace the 40GB hard disk with one of larger capacity. Apparently, with Sky's latest firmware upgrades (1.31A8), drives of up to 250GB are now recognised for up to programme archives totalling 125hrs!
These firmware updates also appear to have killed the so-called 17-minute 'bug', in which random recordings made on upgraded Sky units could not be accessed beyond the 17-minute point (they would, however, usually play 'normally' for up to an hour until the picture freezes altogether - beyond which further playback is impossible).
Opening up a Sky does, of course, invalidate any warranty. For this reason, many are put off the idea altogether. Just as well, then, that Sky is now selling an expanded version with a 160GB hard disk for £400 (plus the installation costs outlined earlier). £400 is, of course, the same price of the original when first launched (note that the 40GB version will continue to be available). The Sky 160 will allow up to 80hrs of TV recordings to be stored - enough to make any digital TV junkie salivate.
But there's more to the new model than a bigger hard drive. Although the box looks similar to a standard version 2 box, albeit with '160' front-panel decorations - there is now USB 2.0 connectivity. There are front and rear sockets, but the supplied manual makes no reference to them. So what are their purpose? Sky's consumer PR executive would only say that the USB port on the Sky 160 is for future developments, for which they have no current plans.
Fair game?
There's an obvious possibility they might be used for gaming controllers or keyboards. But that would be the mere tip of the iceberg. At the recent IBC (broadcast TV) conference in Amsterdam, News Datacom showed content being copied from a USB-enabled Sky to a personal hard-disk video player.
The video player in question was the Lyra from Thomson (Thomson also makes the Sky 160 ). Sky plans to market this new kit as Sky To Go, sometime during the latter half of 2005. Another interesting application saw video content being 'streamed' from a Sky to a cigarette box-sized AV media receiver. This would plug into a TV via Scart, a handset in the remote location being used to choose recordings from the Sky planner for playback.
It couldn't be easier to use Sky . Recent refinements, such as the simultaneous two channel recording mode, and interactive channel recording, are a revelation, and the lack of tape and timers will ensure that the entire family will quickly feel confident about timeshifting their favourite TV shows.
USB and 160GB hard disk aside, there's no discernable difference in the software, hardware or usability from a standard Version 2 Sky device. A component output for projectors and displays would have been appreciated, as this means that a third-generation box will need to be launched to cope with Sky's planned move to a limited HDTV subscription service in 2006.
This latest version of the Sky is more of an evolutionary step than a revolutionary one. The uncharitable might wonder what took Sky so long to satisfy the demand for extra recording capacity, but its arrival is more than worth the wait. If you're into digital TV, then you should get into Sky . It's as simple as that. And life is far too short to contemplate anything smaller than 160GB.


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41CL Self-Update
Post: #21
|RE: 41CL Self-Update
10-21-2017, 10:06 PM (This post was last modified: 10-21-2017 10:08 PM by Mark Hardman.)
Post: #22
RE: 41CL Self-Update
(10-21-2017 02:07 PM)Sylvain Cote Wrote: Great news, 2 more 41CL updated!
You are a god! I just finished updating 109 images on my V2 board. From the start of FLCHK? to the completion of FLUPD, it took about 2h 24m. I cannot believe how thoroughly the update process has been simplified.
At the completion of the initial update, I was slightly disappointed that the OS sector had not been touched. I thought I'd drop by this thread and suggest updating the OS as a future feature. But in glancing through your excellent documentation, I noticed the Mode Control commands. I quickly set OSUPDT and, just to be sure, AUTOVFY; re-ran a FLCHK? on page 0x000; and performed a FLUPD on the five out-of-date images in the OS sector. Boom! Done in under 10 minutes.
I now need to update my V3 board. It should take less time, as I've been trying to keep it updated manually.
Thank you for the time and effort you've put into this utility.
Mark Hardman
Ceci n'est pas une signature.
10-21-2017, 11:49 PM (This post was last modified: 10-22-2017 06:23 AM by Sylvain Cote.)
Post: #23
RE: 41CL Self-Update
Hello Mark,
I am happy that you like it, but most of the recognition should go to Monte Dalrymple.
He took the lead of this project, wrote the YUPD update ROM and the great documentation.
My part was to write the Java program, do the alpha/beta testing and do the HHC-2017 presentation.
I am currently writing a manual for the java program but unfortunately free time is scarce at this moment and it's not finished, sorry about that.
Best regards,
Edit: typo
10-23-2017, 10:37 PM (This post was last modified: 10-23-2017 10:47 PM by BobVA.)
Post: #24
RE: 41CL Self-Update
Turned into a bit of an adventure here.
- I couldn't get anything to work (comm errors) without having the CL(v2) in turbo50
- Things went pretty well after that for a bit, but after successfully running FLCHK? (reported 89 updates needed) I couldn't get FLUDP to work, it resulted in a "NONEXISTENT" error on the CL.
UPDAT2B is show in CAT2 (but with -EXT FCN 3A shown below it instead of the "3B" shown in the documentation).
As I'm sure you can tell from the number of files that need updating, it's not been updated since 2014 (when Monte kindly did so to correct an issue).
Any ideas?
Post: #25
RE: 41CL Self-Update
(10-23-2017 10:37 PM)BobVA Wrote: - I couldn't get anything to work (comm errors) without having the CL(v2) in turbo50That's strange, Monte told me that all functions in the update rom are internally executed at 50x speed.
(10-23-2017 10:37 PM)BobVA Wrote: - Things went pretty well after that for a bit, but after successfully running FLCHK? (reported 89 updates needed) I couldn't get FLUDP to work, it resulted in a "NONEXISTENT" error on the CL.It's like the MMU has been turned off, have you unplugged/plugged the serial cable ?
Unplugging/plugging the serial cable more often than not turn off the MMU.
// try this:
XEQ "MMU?" // the result will be either YES or NO,
// if NO, then type:
// then do a:
// report what you are seeing here please
(10-23-2017 10:37 PM)BobVA Wrote: UPDAT2B is show in CAT2 (but with -EXT FCN 3A shown below it instead of the "3B" shown in the documentation).FLCHK? is doing the scanning part and FLUPD is doing the updating part.
Because FLUDP did not worked, no update has been done.
10-24-2017, 03:57 AM (This post was last modified: 10-24-2017 04:51 PM by BobVA.)
Post: #26
RE: 41CL Self-Update
(10-24-2017 03:28 AM)Sylvain Cote Wrote: It's like the MMU has been turned off, have you unplugged/plugged the serial cable ?
Nope, I didn't unplug the serial cable. FLCHK? finished normally and I then immediately put "*" in alpha register then executed "FLUPD", which didn't do anything because of the "NONEXISTENT" error.
The CAT 2 listing after transferring/installing the update ROM matches what's shown in the HHC presentation documentation, with the exception of the "3A" noted above instead of the "3B" listed in the "-EXT FCN 3x" line.
I checked CAT 2 immediately after getting the NONEXISTENT error and it still was the same as it was after I transferred / installed the update ROM image.
Is is possible I've got the wrong version of YFNX? I have version 1G on my CL and I noticed your example shows 2C. Would that make a difference? Or is everything I need in the update ROM image (i.e. FLUPD)?
Not sure what to tell you about the turbo50 command. Without it I couldn't even move the update ROM image over, even at 1200 bps. The transfer would end on a "Timeout" on the CL and then the CRC wouldn't match. Everything worked fine after setting turbo50, though. Could this also be an issue with the version of YFNX I've got? Is YIMP supposed to also set turbo50 and perhaps mine doesn't?
10-24-2017, 11:31 PM (This post was last modified: 10-25-2017 11:49 AM by Sylvain Cote.)
Post: #27
RE: 41CL Self-Update
Hello Bob,
Something is not right here, please bear with me ...
Build the update setup:
Connect your serial cable to the 41CL and to the PC before doing the following ...
Redo the 41CL basic setup:
Upload to the 41CL the latest UPDAT-3A.ROM file
Do the update process
Good luck!
Best regards,
PS: If it failed, please report all the messages that you see on the calculator and on the computer.
edit1: typo
edit2: add a last CDBEXP on the procedure
edit3: removed the CDBVER? check
10-25-2017, 02:02 AM (This post was last modified: 10-25-2017 05:17 AM by BobVA.)
Post: #28
RE: 41CL Self-Update
Thanks Sylvain!
The CDBVER? function reported [edit] 10/01/2014 - thanks Bob! [/edit], which was a little confusing since I ran it yesterday. Just to be sure I'm rerunning FLCHK? now. Will update this to let you know what happens.
Worked much better, successfully plowing though over a hundred updates and reporting "UPDATE DONE" on the 41.
However when I get to the last CDBEXP I get:
00:55:26 Received CORR_FLDB_2MB_EXPORT_REQUEST(0x4B)
And I'm not sure if that's a problem or not? I tried re-running entire procedure after restarting the 41 to a "MEMORY LOST" state (but skipping the FLCHK?). FLUPD finished in just a second with no messages on the PC side and with the same result from CDBEXP.
Thanks again for the help!
Post: #29
RE: 41CL Self-Update
(10-25-2017 02:02 AM)BobVA Wrote: The CDBVER? function reported 10/14/2017, which was a little confusing since I ran it yesterday. Just to be sure I'm rerunning FLCHK? now. Will update this to let you know what happens.
CDBVER? returns the date stamp of the FCDB for the ROM pkg. you are updating to, not the date the operation was performed on. Which ROM pkg did you use, it appears that 10/01/17 is the latest set available at http://www.systemyde.com/hp41/files.html
--Bob Prosperi
Post: #30
|RE: 41CL Self-Update
Post: #31
RE: 41CL Self-Update
(10-25-2017 02:02 AM)BobVA Wrote: Thanks Sylvain!
By default FLUPD does NOT update the OS sector of Flash memory (pages 0x000 -
0x007). The report is saying that two pages in the OS sector are out-of-date.
Your CL will function just fine with the older software, but if you want to update
the OS sector you must explicitly enable that functionality. This is all explained
in the manual. I did it this way because updating the OS sector is dangerous,
and if something goes wrong only I can fix it. So READ THE MANUAL before
attempting it, and be aware that erasing the OS sector takes eight times as long
as regular sectors. So the CL will sit there, saying "ERS 000" for longer than you
might expect. Just leave it alone and let it do its thing!
10-25-2017, 07:02 AM (This post was last modified: 10-25-2017 07:05 AM by BobVA.)
Post: #32
RE: 41CL Self-Update
(10-25-2017 05:43 AM)Monte Dalrymple Wrote: By default FLUPD does NOT update the OS sector of Flash memory (pages 0x000 -
Thanks Monte!! I just read the update manual and now see how that works. (I also take your point on the potential for disaster, so I'll leave well enough alone until there's a pressing need to update the OS.)
This is a *fantastic* set of software and procedures. I'd been very reluctant to attempt updating the flash on the CL but this was sufficiently un-scary that I figured even I could do it. :-) Thanks again to you and Sylvain!
Post: #33
RE: 41CL Self-Update
(10-24-2017 11:31 PM)Sylvain Cote Wrote: Hello Bob,
Hi Sylvain,
even though the above is phantastic and comprehensive enough to run the update, I'd like to ask if there will be an 41CL update Manual / Compendium sometime? Thank you and Monte for the great work!!
Post: #34
RE: 41CL Self-Update
(10-27-2017 07:00 PM)JurgenRo Wrote: Hi Sylvain,Hello Juergen,
I have started to write it, so there will be one, but my free time for this is currently 30 minutes per day and I have spent that time answering public/private questions.
I am sorry for the delay, I will publish it as soon as it is ready.
Best regards,
Post: #35
RE: 41CL Self-Update
(10-27-2017 10:23 PM)Sylvain Cote Wrote:(10-27-2017 07:00 PM)JurgenRo Wrote: Hi Sylvain,Hello Juergen,
Hello Sylvain!
I wholeheartedly appreciate that you are spending your spare time for supporting the 41CL community, really! I'm sure that everybody with a 41CL will wait for the Manual happily and patiently. I've my 41CL V4 board (from 2016 iirc) up and perfectly running. This machine is so capable as it is so that there is no rush for me to update. On the other hand, I'd like to ;-) The "by hand" update process, which I do understand and I could carry out I guess, is but too cumbersome because there is such a great number of updates meanwhile. So, I'm really looking forward to having your Manual and Software and doing the "automated" update sometime :-) Thanks again, Sylvain!!
Post: #36
RE: 41CL Self-Update
(10-27-2017 07:00 PM)JurgenRo Wrote: ... I'd like to ask if there will be an 41CL update Manual / Compendium sometime?
Have you already read this: http://systemyde.com/pdf/cl_update.pdf
Post: #37
RE: 41CL Self-Update
(10-28-2017 08:25 PM)JurgenRo Wrote: So, I'm really looking forward to having your Manual and Software and doing the "automated" update sometime :-) Thanks again, Sylvain!!
Get a copy of the HHC presentation, here's a link. This includes exact, step-by-step instructions for several methods, including the fully automated update. The deck includes precise command sequences (and responses from both the PC and the 41CL) so in many ways it's even better than a typical manual.
Give it a read through (or two) and feel free to ask questions here before you begin. It really is very straightforward, you really can't screw it up. Keep in mind there are several methods described in the deck, so you can ignore the more advanced procedures like manual updates, updating from another CL machine, etc.
2 things to have before you begin:
A. New (or freshly charged) batteries (it could take up to several hours, depending on its age)
B. Plenty of patience.
Also, my suggestion is to skip the optional step of clearing the flag to disable the speaker, as hearing it beep is reassuring to know things are happening as you proceed (at least for the first 50 or so...).
--Bob Prosperi
Post: #38
RE: 41CL Self-Update
(10-28-2017 08:25 PM)JurgenRo Wrote: The "by hand" update process, which I do understand and I could carry out I guess, is but too cumbersome because there is such a great number of updates meanwhile.
Hello Jurgen,
I must say that I am a little lost here.
What you are seeing in this thread is the automated update process.
From the calculator side, you only do open, scan, update, close.
From the computer side, you only run the clupdate program with the needed parameters.
IMHO it cannot be more automated than that with what we currently have.
The only tedious part is the transfer of the update ROM and this is only because it was not part of the Flash space before now.
For sure, the manual will show several update technique, but the basic part will be very similar to the content of this thread.
I am sorry if what you are seeing here is not what you were expecting, I really am, but it is, what it is, and what will be available, at least from me.
Best regards,
Post: #39
RE: 41CL Self-Update
Firstly, Sulvain, you are a necromancer of the first order, I bow to you :-)
Secondly the only truly automated system is to send the CL out for update and have it returned :-)
Thirdly, your system is perfect and my version2 will be attempted once I am back to the HP free time mode.
Very busy upgrading my pilot skills to left seat 777 and the 41cl beta version is at my side .
Beta regards to all ;-)
Post: #40
RE: 41CL Self-Update
(10-28-2017 11:45 PM)Sylvain Cote Wrote:(10-28-2017 08:25 PM)JurgenRo Wrote: The "by hand" update process, which I do understand and I could carry out I guess, is but too cumbersome because there is such a great number of updates meanwhile.
Thank you all very much for your replies, hints and recommendations that I truly do appreciate!
However, I do know the documents cited, which are great! And, yes, I did read them Also, I did watch the HHC update documentation Video of Sylvain, which is awesome. As well as it is the step-by-step instruction of Sylvain in this thread. It is comprehensive (as I said) and I did understand that in fact it constitutes the whole update process.
But then agian, my hope in context with a Manual is to have a nice printable document that sit next to me while I'm updating my machine. The docment, that's what I would wish, should explain not only the process of updating itself but also what is needed on the Computer to get Sylvains' Software running. And, are there glitches with the Installation of the SW (if any) and if so, how to sort out possible Problems.
I know that all the Information and data for a succesful update is there. And I do understand that. But it is so much Information spreaded out here in the Forum and elsewhere (at Montes' page, at HHC) that my feel is, it would be a good idea to have a clean document, stripped down to what is really necessary and comprehensive enough, to give answers if problems occur. I thought that this is the actual idea of the Manual. As far as I did understand you, Sylvain, the Manual will do exactly that. That is the only reason why I'd like to be patient and to have a to-get-to-the-point document rather than a variety of single (however brilliant) documents and media with different contents. If I'm wrong here, I'm sorry. But then again, Sylvain, I do not understand why you are writing a Manual at all if this is not necessary ... I must admit, I'm a litte bit lost on this here
I am aware that all the present documents are brilliant documents of ist own, no question. But I still hope to have this stripped_down_bring_it_all_together_and_leaving_out_not_necessarily_needed Information document sometime.
Sylvain, my last input was just to say "thank you". Please, take into account that I'm not a native Speaker and as such I'm always struggling to find the right words. But, be sure there is no offense or something intended. By no means ...
All the Best,
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Measuring 8 m in diameter and 439 m deep, the new access shaft at Jim Walter Resources' Number 7 coal mine in Alabama, is a major feat of engineering. It is also just possibly a world record in large diameter raiseboring.
It was on December 7, 2014, that Raisebor, a division of Cowin & Company Inc., completed the record raise using its Atlas Copco Robbins 123RH C raiseborer equipped with a multi-modular wing system (MMWS) reaming head.
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Epiroc operated under the trademark "Atlas Copco" prior to January 1, 2018.


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If the shit hits the fan you'd have to be insane to not want a gun.
Via Washington Examiner:
A top financial advisor, worried that Obamacare, the NSA spying scandal and spiraling national debt is increasing the chances for a fiscal and social disaster, is recommending that Americans prepare a "bug-out bag" that includes food, a gun and ammo to help them stay alive.
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HT: Drudge


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