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Unholy grails of grain
Companies begin a difficult search for a climate-hardy variety
By Tiffany Stecker
March 28, 2011
In 2009, Monsanto, the biggest agricultural company in the world, did something that had been unthinkable just five years before.
It made a major investment in wheat.
This wasn't the company's first foray into developing more advanced wheat cultivars. In the 1990s, it had begun research in developing Roundup Ready wheat to add to its suite to herbicide-resistant crops. But economics reared its ugly head. Acreage in spring wheat had declined dramatically, and Monsanto ended the research in 2004.Just five years later, wheat markets were on the upswing. Growers began pushing heavily for private investment in research. Monsanto bought WestBred, a small grain biotechnology research firm out of Bozeman, Mont., in 2009 for $45 million. With the merger, Monsanto acquired WestBred's "germ plasm" -- a kind of toolbox of genetic resources that might improve wheat.
Monsanto gave itself five to seven years to develop genes that promoted drought tolerance and high yield. The company is now developing high-yielding, locally applicable varieties, and the next step will be to apply biotechnology know-how acquired in corn research to begin playing with wheat genetics, said Claire CaJacob, wheat technology lead for the company.
"The biggest focus is on drought and intrinsic yield," said CaJacob. Disease and pest control -- a factor also linked to climate change -- "is also pretty important."
In the short term, Monsanto will continue to develop its germ plasm through advanced breeding techniques, using molecular markers -- pieces of DNA that 'mark' a certain trait on a plant's genetic blueprint -- to formulate climate-hardy seeds.
Eventually, the company hopes to develop its germ plasm to a point where genes from corn and soy to improve yield, drought tolerance and nitrogen-use efficiency can be implanted into the wheat genome.
Looming challenge to seed developers
Monsanto could start field testing genetically modified wheat by 2012 and deliver the variety to the market in the next decade, said a spokesperson for the company.
With not a single genetically engineered wheat variety on the market, and a pressing need to feed an estimated 9 billion people by 2050, seed developers are beginning to grasp the challenge looming just ahead.
While traditional wheat breeding has been accelerated by modern science, it is still no match for the potential of genetic engineering. Isolating a drought-tolerant or nitrogen-efficient gene through crossbreeding different species -- even with today's molecular marker technology -- can take up to 20 years.In theory, genetic engineering can cut that time in half, even less. But there are other factors that are keeping genetic engineering research stalled.
According to Mark Sorrells, a researcher in plant breeding and genetics at Cornell University, the major factor holding back the technology is regulation, which can cost companies millions. More precisely, it costs between $100 million and $150 million to develop genetically engineered crops before they hit the market, according to a spokesperson for the Biotechnology Industry Organization.
In addition, unpredictable results might require multiple attempts at placing the transplanted gene into a wheat genome. And although official reports claim that bioengineered crops are no less safe than traditional ones, many people -- especially in Europe -- still refuse to accept them as a food crop.
But despite the costs, scientific uncertainty and public skepticism, even traditional plant breeders agree that genetic manipulation, along with age-old methods, is needed to keep the world fed through the next 40 years. The two approaches are complementary; both have their place.
And whether for transgenic or traditional breeding research, recent private investment in wheat has elicited a sigh of relief for many in the industry.
"There's only so much public investment that will go through research," said Jane DeMarchi, director of government affairs for research and technology at the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG). "If we limit ourselves to just public investment, we might not see the innovation we need for our crop to reach its potential."
Hybrid wheat, approaching the 'holy grail'
Like Monsanto, Syngenta, the third-largest seed company in the world, is looking to corn, wheat's competitor on the global market, for clues on making heartier varieties. The company is developing a hybrid variety of wheat -- a cross between two species of the same genus -- that is impossible to create in nature.
Hybrids are often much more vigorous than their inbred versions. In the case of corn, the hybrid variety far outyields its non-hybrid version, and responds better to fertilizer, as well.
"Hybrid wheat has been holy grail for people in wheat genetics," said John Bloomer, head of cereals for Syngenta. That's because hybrids are a moneymaker for seed companies, who can resell the choice variety every year. Otherwise, farmers would simply save the seeds themselves.
Since wheat naturally pollinates itself, cross-pollinating two parents from different varieties to create a hybrid is impossible without some genetic prodding. Expensive biotechnology is needed to correct this has inhibited hybrid research. Syngenta is using its experience from the development of hybrid barley -- a close relative to wheat -- to develop a hybrid variety of wheat.
For fighting climate change, research has centered on strengthening the rooting structure of wheat, enhancing the intake of water, increasing the plant's biomass and facilitating CO2 absorption.
Last year, Syngenta partnered with CIMMYT, a Mexico-based nonprofit corn and wheat research and training center, to do some more advanced wheat research. Using advanced genetic marker technology and traditional seed banks, the partnership seeks to develop both native and genetically modified traits for wheat. The company did not disclose its financial investment in the partnership.
"We're looking at genetics, native traits, GM approaches, seed care products," said Bloomer. "We're looking at all the tools possible to make plants utilize water better."


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The wait is finally over; Mike Napoli is officially ours, but for a lot less, in terms of both time and money. The original deal was three years worth thirty-nine million dollars. The new deal is one year worth five million plus incentives to thirteen million. The problem, as I and probably anyone else suspected, was physical. During a physical, our doctors noticed something with his hip that caused some concern. Though a catcher by trade, he'll be our first baseman. That's certainly a better fit for his hip anyway. So now we can stop wondering and get on with the rest of our baseball lives.
As usual, we avoided arbitration with quite a few guys. Salty signed a one-year contract with no guarantee. Ellsbury signed a one-year deal worth nine million dollars, which is an extra-criminal steal. He'll be a free agent after this year, so this is probably the last time in his career that he'll earn less than ten million dollars per year, and even that's low. Breslow signed a multi-year deal.
Vicente Padilla has signed a one-year deal to pitch in Japan. Lastly, Terry Francona, who now manages the Cleveland Indians, will have a memoir coming out tomorrow about his time with us. It's called "Francona: The Red Sox Years" and was co-written with Dan Shaughnessy. An excerpt published earlier painted a less-than-rosy picture of Francona's relationship with the brass, which he now says is a misrepresentation of his book overall. Oh, the drama.
In other news, our Super Bowl drought continues. The Pats beat the Texans in the division playoff, 41-28, but lost the conference championship to the Ravens last night, 28-13. So that's it. Our season is over. Yet another example of the fact that our offense, outstanding as it is, was a bad match against Baltimore's defense, and our defense a bad match against Baltimore's offense. It was agonizing to watch and painful to recall. On the bright side, the Bruins have come to the rescue! We beat the Rangers, 3-1, on Saturday in the first game of the shortened season.

subset: commoncrawl


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Press Release
NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans received top honors at the 2013 World Travel Awards for excellence in sports tourism on Saturday, September 14th. This is the first time New Orleans has received the award since its inception in 2010. Nominees for the award included leading leisure travel and sports tourism destinations such as Chicago, Las Vegas, New York City, San Francisco, Toronto, Ontario and Vancouver, British Columbia.
For twenty years, the World Travel Awards has rewarded and celebrated excellence in the tourism industry with the input of distinguished travel professionals and consumers that represent more than 170 countries around the world. Votes are cast through an online year-long voting campaign that encourages global participation. More than 700,000 votes have been cast by participants in recent years.
New Orleans hosted an unprecedented series of sporting events in 2012 and 2013, including the 78th Annual Allstate Sugar Bowl, the 2012 Allstate BCS National Football Championship, 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four, 2013 NCAA Women's Basketball Final Four and Super Bowl XLVII, one of the most watched television events and highly rated events in sports history. 2014 sees the return to New Orleans of NBA All-Star Weekend (February 14-16) along with WWE's 30th edition of WrestleMania (April 6). The city is also home to the NFL's New Orleans Saints and the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans, as well as annual sporting events such as the Bayou Classic, the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, and the PGA Tour's Zurich Classic.
"This recognition from the World Travel Awards is testament to our city's unique ability to host the most spectacular events on the planet,†said Mayor Mitch Landrieu. "From Super Bowl XLVII to the 2014 NBA All Star Game to WrestleMania XXX, New Orleans will continue to partner with leading organizations, large and small, to host world-class events where residents and visitors have enjoyable and safe experiences.â€Â
"This award recognizes the extraordinary dedication and professionalism of the hospitality industry in our city,†noted Stephen Perry, President and CEO of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau. "Few places in North America can offer the combination of sporting venues, hotel rooms, and convention and meeting facilities that New Orleans can, and of course there's no better place to hold a celebration.â€Â
"New Orleans provides the complete visitor package to sports enthusiasts from around the globe,†said Mark Romig, President and CEO of New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation. "From thousands of hotels rooms to hundreds of restaurants and music venues and eye-popping museums and attractions within an easy stroll to the sports district, New Orleans is the ideal venue for any sporting event.â€Â
Jay Cicero, President & CEO of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation and Executive Director of the 2013 Super Bowl Host Committee which oversaw the effort to manage Super Bowl XLVII, remarked that "As entertaining and exciting as these big name events may be, their continued confidence in New Orleans as a host city is a true testament to our experience, service and first-rate execution as well as the proximity of our hotels, facilities and the French Quarter. There's something very special about New Orleans. Our passion for sporting events is ingrained into the city's one of a kind culture, history, and ambiance, and only trumped by the professionalism of our tourism and hospitality industry. It is an honor that New Orleans receives the award as North America's Leading Sports Tourism Destination.â€Â
"New Orleans has a well-earned reputation as a leader in hosting world-class sporting events,†said Allstate Sugar Bowl CEO Paul Hoolahan, "and the Sugar Bowl Committee is proud to have played an important role in developing that reputation. This city has a unique package of hotel, hospitality, entertainment and cuisine options that create a truly memorable experience for sports fans. Over the years, Sugar Bowl games, National Championship games and Final Fours have proved as much.â€Â
Saints and Pelicans owner Tom Benson added that "New Orleans is a world class city. Our sports facilities are second to none. Our hotels and hospitality are the gold standard. As an owner for an NFL and NBA franchise; I hear firsthand from other owners about their desire to come and enjoy our city and its hospitality. They cite the proximity of our hotels, restaurants and entertainment to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and the Arena. It is the perfect city to host any sporting event and I am proud to have the opportunity to share it with everyone.â€Â
As host city of Super Bowl XLVII, New Orleans welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors and more than 5,000 credentialed media during the two-week Carnival season. This was the first time since 2002 that the city hosted a Super Bowl and the tenth time overall in its history, tying with Miami for hosting most often in Super Bowl history.
The New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau is a nationally accredited, 1,100-member destination marketing organization and the largest and most successful private economic development corporation in Louisiana. The CVB and its members influence thousands of decision-makers and millions of visitors to choose New Orleans through direct sales, marketing, public relations, branding and visitor services at our New Orleans headquarters and offices in Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago, Phoenix and four foreign countries. Consistently recognized as one of the top five CVBs in the country, the New Orleans CVB celebrates its 53nd anniversary in 2013.
For more information, please visit www.neworleanscvb.com; www.facebook.com/neworleanscvb; www.twitter.com/neworleans.
New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation (NOTMC) promotes the city as a leisure tourism destination throughout the year. Annually, NOTMC's marketing campaigns include strategic print, broadcast, and Internet advertising and public relations. Websites: NewOrleansOnline.com; NewOrleansMuseums.com; GoNOLA.com; RadioFreeNewOrleans.com. Social Media: Facebook.com/NewOrleansOnline; Twitter.com/visitneworleans; YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/gonolatv.


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OAKLAND (AP) — City officials have agreed to relinquish broad power over the embattled Oakland Police Department to a court-appointed director to avert what would be an unprecedented federal takeover.
As part of a tentative deal announced Wednesday, the compliance director could seek approval from a judge to fire the police chief.
U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson could approve the deal at a hearing next week. He demanded last month that the parties reach some sort of agreement now that a decade has passed since a federal judge ordered reforms to settle a police brutality lawsuit.
The agreement allows the department to avoid the "stigma" of being under federal receivership, said attorney John Burris, who has been overseeing the brutality lawsuit settlement with fellow lawyer Jim Chanin.
However, Burris said the department will still be under some federal control.
"It is a good proposal and it has some teeth to it," he said. "We really wanted to have someone in place outside of the city with the authority to remove the chief and or his command staff. ... It speaks to the accountability of the Police Department and its officers."
Police Chief Howard Jordan and Mayor Jean Quan told reporters Wednesday that they also were pleased with the deal and believe it moves the department forward.
Last month, attorneys for Oakland asked the judge to allow the city to appoint an onsite compliance director.
"I think everyone at that table wants OPD to be at the forefront in terms of leading constitutional policing and building and supporting and maintaining public trust," Jordan said.
Quan added, "This is something that we want. Oakland has a stake in making sure that the community trusts the department."
Oakland's deal is close to being a receivership, which would have given federal officials full control of the department, said Robert Weisberg, a law professor at Stanford University. However, under the agreement, the city will have a say in choosing a compliance director.
"It's a subtle kind of arrangement as a compliance officer is a shade below under the strict control of a federal receiver, but it still allows the judge to monitor things," said Weisberg, director of Stanford's Criminal Justice Center. "It appeared that the possibility of receivership caused both parties to finally realize that they had to find some common ground after all of these years."
The compliance director would be required to get the Police Department to complete its reforms by the end of 2013.
Burris said a critical step will be selecting a director, "preferably a former police chief who has worked in a major department and has excellent knowledge of law enforcement and good communication skills."
Jordan told reporters the city is in the process of identifying potential compliance directors.
Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Police Executive Research Forum, said Oakland was long overdue for a solution.
"I think it's unfortunate that it had to come to this point," Wexler said Thursday. He added, however, that a third party might help resolve the problems.
Barry Donelan, president of the Oakland Police Officers Association, said the near 11th-hour deal finally removes some uncertainty surrounding the beleaguered department. He noted that the department has 200 fewer officers than four years ago and is battling a violent crime rate that is up more than 23 percent from last year.
"This deals gives us some leadership in our city that is certainly needed," Donelan said. "The crime rate is souring, our officers are overworked, and we welcome someone who can help us get into compliance."
The 2003 lawsuit was filed amid claims that several rogue officers beat or framed drug suspects in 2000. The claims resulted in nearly $11 million in payments to 119 plaintiffs and attorneys.
The settlement initially called for the reforms to be completed within five years. But Burris and Chanin said high-ranking city officials have thwarted those efforts, and the lawyers asked the judge in October to place the department under federal control.
A frustrated Judge Henderson said in January that he was "in disbelief" that the Oakland police had failed to adopt the reforms and threatened federal takeover of the agency.
A federal monitor appointed to the case repeatedly reported that the department was stalling on completing key tasks, including tracking problem officers and reporting the use of force.
However, Jordan and Quan have insisted the department is making progress with the reforms. City attorneys said 10 of 51 assigned tasks were left to complete.
If Henderson approves the deal, he would hold a status conference about six months after a compliance director is chosen. If he doesn't see any acceptable progress, he could issue several orders including receivership.


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Preorder: In production. Ships in four weeks.
Iron dye is colorfast and won't rub off on feet. Each pair is dyed by hand, so natural variation in color tone is to be expected.
Each pair is made by master shoemakers in the shoes' town of origin: Athani, India. The leather keeps getting softer, richer, and custom-formed to your foot the more you wear them.
Every pair is dyed by hand in a simple process using water + iron. The myrobalan in our leather reacts with iron for a colorfast black, which won't rub off on your feet or fade over time. Iron-dyed shoes can be easily re-conditioned at home to restore the deepest black; some natural variation in color tone is to be expected.
Woven Shoes run big and fit best when they start out tight. Take a full size down and use our break-in tips. For example, if you're normally a 10, order a 9.
If you are normally a half size, take 1.5 sizes down. For example, if you're normally a 10.5, order a 9.
After a few days of wear, toe box and footbed will mold to your foot for the perfect fit.
Not sure which size is best for you? We're here to help - firstname.lastname@example.com
The same kind of leather has been used to make shoes in Athani for generations. It's tanned using just a few ingredients: water, acacia tree bark, and myrobalan (the nut of a Terminalia chebula tree). Every piece of leather is infused with myrobalan, which is also a natural dye; when mixed with iron, myrobalan reacts to create a deep black. So, we can simply dip our shoe leather in water + with iron for a colorfast black dye that won't fade or rub off.
We believe in products with a sense of place. Mohinders are made by master shoemakers in Athani, India, whose designs are iconic to the surrounding region: Northern Karnataka. Follow our off-the-beaten-path journey through Karnataka's red-rock climbing walls, cave temples, and outdoor sandal markets along the way.


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- Rig Rundowns
- Reviews
- Gear
- Artists
- How-to
- Lessons
- Pro Advice
- Win
PG's Jordan Wagner is On Location in Anaheim, CA, for NAMM 2010 where he visits the Electro Harmonix Effects booth. In this segment, they demo two of their latest pedals for us; the Ring Thing Modulator and the Iron Lung Vocoder.
The Ring Thing Modulator is a modulation control allowing guitarists to explore a new sonic world that is both familiar and inventive. It boasts complex modulations with interactive parameters create any sound your mind can imagine -- from metallic sweeps to subtle color changes to unique and limitless modulations. It has articulate pitch shifting, preset tuning, selectable waveforms and external control delivers sound designer mystery, with a rock 'n' roll edge. The control knobs are Blend, Wave, Filter/Rate, Ring/Depth, Coarse and Mode (pitch-shifting).
The Iron Lung was designed around the V256 Vocoder and put in their smallest, die-cast chassis. It uses the highest resolution of 256 bands to deliver defined vocoder performance while its Gender Bender control lets you adjust a male to female emphasis that delivers numerous and exacting possibilities at the turn of a knob. An XLR input allows your microphone of choice to be used with three-independent gain controls. To round it out, the tone control integrates with the Gender Bender to refine the tone.


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138 Ratings
Chateau Giscours Margaux
Wine Details
Wine Description
(2009 Vintage) This Classified Growth in 1855 is the first label of Château Giscours. It is of great finesse and elegance. Delicacy and power are combined in this flask to bring you the elegance expected of a great Margaux wine. The aging potential of this great wine is between 8 and 20 years or even more for the most exceptional vintages.
Expert Reviews
Robert Parker(2011 Vintage) Rating: 88/100 - As reviewed by Robert Parker on 04/21/2014
Robert Parker(2009 Vintage) Rating: 94/100 - As reviewed by Robert Parker on 02/20/2012


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NAILS Magazine is the professional's choice. We feature the latest in Technique, Style, Business, and Health issues to help nail techs and salon owners do their jobs better and make money!
See our most recent issueSubscribe to NAILS Magazine hereNAILS Magazine Nail ArtNail Art Gallery Magazine


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At Classic, a cross-section of NY history
From Hunt to Beltran, key names resurface under game's brightest spotlight
NEW YORK -- Heroes and villains seldom fade away in his city, not when they have done their best or worst on a baseball field. How many years ago did Gionfriddo deny Joe D. in the World Series? And though the Dodgers, that Yankee Stadium and both players are gone, this market holds to that moment. Like elephants and rock and roll, New York City doesn't forget.
So it was at the 84th All-Star Game on Tuesday night when new memories were made at Citi Field by guys named Matt, Mo, Mauer, Machado and the Prince of triples. We were reminded by the largest crowd in the park's 4 1/2 years that the game was played here before last Thursday.
Of course, the portion of the public that crammed its way into the Mets' home park saluted David Wright and Matt Harvey and paid its respects to Robinson Cano and the great Mariano during the patriotic introductions. And Rivera was appropriately hailed as he stood alone on the mound before the eighth inning, a nice touch for a nice man. But others warranted some sort of recognition from this sweaty gathering dressed mostly in orange, blue and pinstripes.
New York wanted Adam Wainwright to know it has neither forgotten nor forgiven him for the pitch -- a toxic curve -- he threw to Carlos Beltran to end the National League Championship Series at Shea Stadium in 2006. Here in Flushing, Queens, a Bronx cheer was directed at the Cardinals pitcher. And similar sounds serenaded Wainwright's teammate then and now and Beltran's current colleague. Citi Field jeered Yadier Molina.
It was Molina's home run in Game 7 of the same series that brought the Cardinals to the threshold of the World Series and the Mets to their knees.
New York reacted to the introduction of Beltran, too. It was purely positive -- finally. If New England could forgive Bill E. Buckner, how could this market continue to hold Beltran responsible for a Game 7 lapse because he took a nasty pitch? The market owes him even more of an apology. But the reception afforded him on Tuesday night was a nice beginning.
Beltran gave what he could when he played here. That he still has more to give -- albeit to the Cardinals -- seven years later is to be celebrated and respected. He has so much talent, and he does care.
Not surprisingly, most of those who paid to witness this game appeared to be from the five boroughs and their satellite communities.Their choice of jerseys said as much: Yankees 2s and 42s, for certain, but also 7s and 23s for a revised set of M&M Boys -- Mantle and Mattingly, Mets 5s for Wright, 41s for Tom Seaver, 16s for Dwight Gooden and 33s for Harvey and variations.
A older gentleman wore a Harvey shirt but had an index card with the letters H-U-N-T pinned to the back of the jersey. Ron Hunt was the Mets' first 33 and, in 1964, the first elected Mets All-Star.
More creative was the younger man who had purchased a Mets 43 jersey -- presumably last year when it was worn by R.A. Dickey, one of the Mets' All-Stars. But Dickey's jersey had been revised. The 4 in his 43 had been covered by a 3. And the D-I-C-K had been covered by H-A-R-V. Nice touch. But he didn't want to pose.
This was a Mets-centric event, of course, from the ceremonial first pitch -- a semblance of a fastball Seaver threw from the rubber all the way to the plate and Wright, his catcher -- to final score, 3-0. Seaver pitched for Mets teams that were offensively challenged and familiar with the bottom of the ninth at home. Harvey is in similar circumstances now. At least Wright, with a well-struck single over the shortstop in the seventh, was responsible for 33 percent of the National League's production.
The Yankees' representatives had their moments as well. Cano was the game's lone casualty; he was struck in the right leg by one of Harvey's pitches in the first inning. And Rivera was more than saluted.
By its end, the evening and a 2014 Corvette had become the personal property of the Yankees' closer. He was named the game's Most Valuable Player, though his contribution was modest and mostly ceremonial and spiritual. It was feel-good memorable, too.
Rivera was applauded by players in both dugouts before and after his inning -- the eighth this time.
"We definitely wanted to see him in the ninth, but you want to guarantee that he goes in and has his moment," the Rangers' Joe Nathan said after pitching the ninth. "Regardless of what inning he got to pitch tonight, that moment was pretty cool. Pretty cool for us as players, pretty cool for the fans and I'm sure it was absolutely amazing for Mo.
"Obviously, it would have probably been even better in the ninth for him, but we got him in the game, we got him his moment and we got a win. It's no secret how much I look up to him, so to be able to do that for him was awesome."
Nathan, appropriately, is a New Yorker. He'll remember the evening and presenting to Rivera the last ball he threw for the save. Of course he will. New York doesn't forget.


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Here in the photography department at Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales we look after images for all of the seven museum sites including the Archaeology department. That means taking new photographs of archaeological objects, and scanning historical photographs (e.g. prints and slides).
Here's an example of how both are used.
Segontium Roman Fort, Caernarfon
These photos from the 1920s show the excavations at Segontium led by Sir Mortimer Wheeler, the then Keeper of Archaeology and later Director of National Museum Wales. They were scanned from glass plates. Here's a few of the 102 images from this collection:
The photographs may be of use to modern archaeologists interpreting the site, but personally I like spotting the shadow of the photographer and his tripod (we've all managed to do that haven't we!) and checking out those fabulous 1920s hats!
Here's where modern photography comes in. The following images were taken recently of objects from the 1920s excavations.
The images are digitally archived so that they're accessible for use in exhibitions, publications, presentations and online.
Some of the finds from Segontium will be on display in the new galleries at St Fagans National Museum of History opening in 2018.
You can see more historic photographs here.
You can find out more about Segontium Roman Fort by clicking here or by visiting the site.
We're working hard getting our collections online so you can search our object database and see information and images of our collections for yourself.


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Posts Tagged 'Locking'
Locking and transactions over Cassandra using Cages
Anyone following my occasional posts will know that me and my team are working on a new kids game / social network called http://www.FightMyMonster.com. We are trying to break new ground with this project in many ways, and to support the data intensive nature of what we are trying to do we eventually selected the Cassandra database after working with several others.
This post is about a library we are using with Cassandra called Cages. Using Cages, you can perform much more advanced data manipulation and storage over a Cassandra database. This post explains why and gives some more information.
You can find Cages here http://cages.googlecode.com.
Brief Background
For those that aren't already familiar with Cassandra (skip this if you are), it can be described as the best representative of a new breed of fast, easily scalable databases. Write operations are evenly spread across a cluster of machines, removing the bottleneck found in traditional SQL database clusters, and it can continue operating even when some nodes are lost or partitioned. The cluster is symmetric in the sense there is no master node, nodes communicate with each other using a P2P protocol and can be easily added and removed by an administrator.
In order to deliver these characteristics, which are particularly valuable to Web 2.0 enterprises but also will likely prove useful in other industries too, Cassandra offers what is known as a NoSQL model. This model is significantly different to a traditional SQL model, and many coming from more traditional database backgrounds will more easily understand Cassandra as a highly scalable, highly resilient distributed structured storage engine. While NoSQL offers some unique advantages to developers when compared to SQL, it is also the case that whereas in SQL complex operations can be specified in a single statement that is either executed or not (i.e. that have ACID properties), in Cassandra complex operations on data must usually be comprised from several different operations, which can only be made reliable individually.
What Cages is for?
In many cases, websites and systems can be built against Cassandra without regard to ACID issues. Data storage and manipulation can be limited to operations against single rows (and for those that don't know, rows in NoSQL models are really like multi-level hash tables which can contain hierarchical "ready-joined" data, and generally offer many more possibilities than SQL rows). Where a mutation of these rows must be reliable, or immediately seen by other clients of the database, Cassandra allows the developer to choose from a range of consistency levels that specify the tradeoff between performance, safety of storage and the timeliness with which data becomes visible to all.
This system is undeniably very effective, but when the systems you are building involve complex data structures and manipulation, you can still quickly reach situations where your logical operations necessarily involve several individual Cassandra read and write operations across multiple rows. Cassandra does not get involved in managing the safety and reliability of operations at the higher logical level, which means guaranteeing the logical consistency of your data can require some extra work. Some people, particularly those wedded to SQL databases, advocate storing some parts of your data in traditional SQL databases. For us though, it is most definitely preferable to develop and use Cages!
What is Cages?
Cages is a new Java library that provides distributed synchronization functionality, and soon additional functionality for things like transactions, by using the services of a ZooKeeper server or cluster. ZooKeeper is a very active project and the system is currently widely used. It started life as a Yahoo Research project, see here http://research.yahoo.com/project/1849 and is now an important Apache project, see http://hadoop.apache.org/zookeeper/. Cages has wide application, but its development will be very much driven by needs in relation to Cassandra.
Using Cages for locking
Cages offers three locking classes, ZkReadLock, ZkWriteLock and ZkMultiLock.
Single path locking
The simplest application of Cages can be to enforce correct updates on data values inside Cassandra (or some other NoSQL database). For example, you may have issues with that old chestnut, the Lost Update Problem. This happens where you read the data with one operation, modify the data and then write it back with a second operation. Problems occur when another client performs the same operation simultaneously, such that the last client to write back the modified value will overwrite the modifications made by the other.
Thus in its most simple form, two clients wish to donate some money to a bank balance. Both simultaneously read the same bank balance value B1. The first client adds donation D1, and writes back (B1 + D1). The second client adds donation D2, and writes back (B1 + D2). Unfortunately bank balance B2 = B1 + D2, and donation D1 has been lost.
Cages provides an easy fix:
void depositMoney(int amount) { ZkWriteLock lock = new ZkWriteLock("/accounts/" + accountId + "/balance"); lock.acquire(); try { // 1. Read the balance // 2. Update the balance // 3. Write the balance back } finally { lock.release(); } }
Note that the paths passed to the lock classes can represent actual data paths within a NoSQL model, or can simply represent logical control over parts of a wider data model (so long as your application faithfully adheres to the rules you set).
Multi path locking
The Lost Update Problem is the most simple locking scenario where Cages can be applied. In our case, while many parts of our system even use Cassandra without locking, often with low consistency levels for maximum performance, there are several areas where we necessarily perform complex operations over contended data that involve numerous individual read and write operations. To begin with, we decided to treat the cases by nesting the ZkReadLock and ZkWriteLock single path locking primitives. However, there is a problem doing this in a distributed environment.
It is a simple fact that in a distributed environment, many situations where you acquire single path locks in a nested manner can result in deadlock. For example, if one operation sequentially tries to acquire R(P1) then W(P2), and a second operation simultaneously tries to acquire R(P2) then W(P1), deadlock will likely result: the first operation will acquire R(P1) and the second operation will acquire R(P2), but then the first operation will block waiting to acquire W(P2) and the second operation will block waiting to acquire W(P1).
Avoiding these problems with single path locks is no simple matter. For a start, the logical detection of closed wait graphs (deadlock) in the distributed environment is difficult and expensive to perform. The simplest approach to solving the problem is to try to acquire locks with a timeout, such that if you get into a deadlock situation, your acquire() calls throw an exception and you abandon your attempt. The problem here though is that your code has to handle the exception, and possibly rollback parts of the operation performed earlier under the protection of the outer lock.
For all these reasons, when an operation needs to acquire locks over multiple paths in the distributed environment, ZkMultiLock is the class to use.
ZkMultiLock allows you to specify any number of read and write locks over paths, which may then all be acquired "simultaneously". If your operation can acquire all the locks it needs together at the outset using ZkMultiLock, this avoids any possibility of deadlock. This provides slightly worse performance where multiple paths are specified and locks on the paths are highly contended. But in practice, locks are rarely that highly contended, and you just need to guard against the disaster of simultaneously running operations interfering with each other and corrupting data. Because of the dangers of deadlock, in the Fight My Monster project have mandated that only ZkMultiLock can be used unless there are very special reasons, a situation we have not yet encountered.
void executeTrade(long lotId, String sellerId, String buyerId) { // In the following we need to hold write locks over both the seller and buyer's account balances // so they can be checked and updated correctly. We also want a lock over the lot, since the value // of lots owned might be used in conjunction with the bank balance by code considering the // total worth of the owner. Acquiring the required locks simultaneously using ZkMultiLock avoids // the possibility of accidental deadlock occurring between this client code and other client code // contending access to the same data / lock paths. ZkMultiLock mlock = new ZkMultiLock(); mlock.addWriteLock("/Bank/accounts/" + sellerId); mlock.addWriteLock("/Bank/accounts/" + buyerId); mlock.addWriteLock("/Warehouse/" + lotId); mlock.acquire(); try { // 1. check buyer has sufficient funds // 2. debit buyer's account // 3. credit seller's account // 4. change ownership of goods } finally { mlock.release(); } }
Transactions for Cassandra
Transactions are a planned feature at the time of writing, 12/5/2010. It should be too long before they make it into the library, so I will explain a bit about them here.
Locking allows you to synchronize sequences of read and write (mutation) operations across rows stored on your Cassandra cluster. However, the locking classes do not solve the problem that occurs when part way through a complex operation your client machine expires, leaving the data inside the distributed database in a logically inconsistent state. For many applications the likelihood of this occurring is low enough for the locking classes alone to be sufficient. But there may be a small number of operations within applications for which data simply must be logically consistent, and even a very rare failure is unacceptable. This is where transactions come in.
For those that are interested, the following explains how they will work.
A new ZkTransaction class will provide the functionality, and it will need to be used in conjunction with the ZkMultiLock class. ZkTransaction will provide a simplified version of the Cassandra Thrift API that allows a series of data mutation operations to be specified. Client operations wil will proceed by first specifying the necessary locks that must be held, and then specifying the set of data mutations that must be performed by the transaction. When the transaction has been specified, it's commit() method must be called passing the ZkMultiLock instance as a parameter.
At this point, internally Cages will add a reference to a transaction node created on ZooKeeper from each single path lock node held. The ZkTransaction instance reads from Cassandra the current values of the data it is required to modify, and writes it into the transaction node as a "before" state. Once this is done, it sets about applying the data mutations specified in the necessary sequence of individual Cassandra read and write (mutate) operations. Once all operations are performed, the references to the transaction node from within the locks are removed, and then finally the transaction node itself is deleted – the transaction has now been committed, and the developer can release() the ZkMultiLock.
ZkTransaction can provide a guarantee of consistency for Cages clients because if during the execution of the sequence of individual Cassandra mutation operations the client machine suddenly dies, Cages will immediately revoke the locks the client holds. From this point any instances of ZkReadLock, ZkWriteLock or ZkMultiLock wishing to acquire the released paths must first rollback the transaction node by returning the relevant data to its original "before" state specified. The key point is that any processes that need to see the data in a logically consistent state, and therefore always acquire locks referencing the data in question before accessing it, will always see it as such. This provides a form of ACID for complex operations against a Cassandra database.
void executeTrade(long lotId, String sellerId, String buyerId) { ZkMultiLock mlock = new ZkMultiLock(); mlock.addWriteLock("/Bank/accounts/" + sellerId); mlock.addWriteLock("/Bank/accounts/" + buyerId); mlock.addWriteLock("/Warehouse/" + lotId); mlock.acquire(); try { // 1. check that buyer has sufficient funds // .... // 2. perform mutations using transaction object ZkTransaction transaction = new ZkTransaction(NoSQL.Cassandra); transaction.begin(mlock); try { // 2. debit buyer's account transaction.insert(buyerId, "accounts", bytes("balance"), bytes(newBalance)); // 3. credit seller's account // ... // 4. change ownership of goods // ... } finally { transaction.commit(); } } finally { mlock.release(); } }
Scalability and hashing ZooKeeper clusters
It is worth saying first off that a three node ZooKeeper cluster using powerful machines should be able to handle a considerable workload, and that where usage of locking and transactions is limited on an as-needed basis, such a setup will be able to provide for the needs of many Internet scale applications. However, it is easy to conceive of Cassandra being applied more widely outside of typical Web 2.0 norms where usage of locking and transactions is much heavier, and therefore the scalability of ZooKeeper must be examined.
The main issue is that for the purposes described it is not desirable to scale ZooKeeper clusters beyond three nodes. The reason for this is that while adding nodes scales up read performance, write performance actually starts degrading because of the need to synchronize write operations across all members, and therefore clustering really offers availability rather than performance. A good overview of the actual performance parameters can be found here http://hadoop.apache.org/zookeeper/docs/r3.3.0/zookeeperOver.html. The question then, is what to do where ZooKeeper becomes a bottleneck.
The solution we suggest is simply to run more than one ZooKeeper cluster for the purposes of locking and transactions, and simply to hash locks and transactions onto particular clusters. This will be the final feature added to Cages.
Note: since I wrote the above Eric Hauser kindly drew my attention to the new "Observers" feature in ZooKeeper 3.3. This may greatly raise the limit at which hashing to separate 3 node clusters becomes necessary. I am hoping to collate performance information and tests in the near future so people have more of an idea what to expect. See http://hadoop.apache.org/zookeeper/docs/r3.3.0/zookeeperObservers.html
That's it. Hope it was interesting. Please bear with me as Cages develops further over the coming weeks and feel free to test and report.
Final note
Check out the comments too because there are already useful several clarifications and expansions there.


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Ha! You thought that Department of Justice approval was the finish line for the long, drawn out satellite radio merger? Well, it wasn't, but the end is getting closer as Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is reportedly officially backing the merger. There were also some interesting concessions made by the companies to keep things moving along.
1. The company(s) would need to freeze prices for three years. 2. "A la carte" options would need to be available within three months of the merger. 3. 8% of their airspace (24 channels) would need to be dedicated to noncommercial and minority programming.
The backing by Martin and the stipulation that the merger would have to be enacted within three months (or at least the a la carte programming component) is so far great news for consumers. More as the long, slow slog toward satellite radio supremacy continues. [NYT via Giz]


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Learn more about how eTrAC can help your organization manage populations in post-acute settings, please call us at 1-866-554-4776
Request contact
By clicking on the link, you will be leaving the official Royal Philips Healthcare ("Philips") website. Any links to third-party websites that may appear on this site are provided only for your convenience and in no way represent any affiliation or endorsement of the information provided on those linked websites. Philips makes no representations or warranties of any kind with regard to any third-party websites or the information contained therein.


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1 Citrus trees need continuous soil moisture as the fruits ripen, so be careful to continue irrigating them as necessary. If you haven't done it, obtain and apply some Citrus Grower Blend Micronutrients, available at many garden centers and home improvement stores. It will dramatically increase the sweetness of the fruit.
2 Force yourself to wait a bit longer before harvesting those now-orange naval oranges and tangerines. They may curl your eyebrows if you yield to the temptation. Robertson naval oranges will sweeten in December; Washington naval oranges usually sweeten closer to the end of the month and continue getting sweeter in January and February. Most homegrown tangerines taste best if you can wait until February to start the harvest. So for now, look – and maybe drool a bit – but don't touch yet.
3 Carrotwood trees are blooming now. To prevent the formation of those hard, messy seedpods and fruits on these and other ornamental trees-spray the foliage with "Florel Fruit Eliminator" before flowering ends. It's available from garden centers and home improvement stores. The active ingredient, a natural plant hormone called ethephon, causes the fertilized flowers to fall off so fruits can't develop.
4 As soon as the leaves fall off your deciduous fruit trees, apply dormant spray. Spray Volck Oil Spray Dormant Season Insect Killer to smother overwintering borers and other insects hiding inside the bark. This product is commonly available at home and garden centers.
5 Here's another reminder to clean out those rain gutters. Perhaps you could clean out the gutters as you put up holiday decorations. Or just do it. You will be grateful you did.


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Black derbies with laces
. 100% Leather : Crafted from abbrazzivato calf leather with silver "démasqué". Premium laces with metallic nozzles. LE FLOW logo in black rubber at the back of each shoe. Unique black EVA ultra-light rubber sole with white paint injection. Leather lining
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Email us at email@example.com


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A quote I follow:
"The more you know, the more prepared you will be"
"Remember back in the days, when niqqaz had waves, gazelle shades and corn braids"...I started searching for Rap Music that was meaningful. I Had just gotten out of high school (2002) and all I was hearing on the radio was 50 cent, nelly, and BS like that. The times of true Emcee-ing were long gone, yet I was not aware were it had gone. Every now and then I would hear and old-school classic being played, and wondered "who is that? What album did it come from?"
Greatest Rap Albums of All-Time (in no particular order...except for number 1):
1- Illmatic- Nas
Coming out of Queens, NY, Nasir Jones (aka Nas, Nasty Nas, Nas Escobar, Nastradamus), created one of the best, if not THE best, albums of all time. "Illmatic" came out in the golden era of rap (early 1990's) and it is said to be the
Best songs on the album: All of 'em!!! But if I had to choose:
"It ain't hard to tell" (check out my sig)
"Memory Lane"
"NY state of mind"
2- "Paid in Full"- Eric B. and Rakim
3- "Lifestyles of the Poor and Dangerous"- Big L
4- "The Low End Theory"- A Tribe Called Quest
5- "Strictly for my Ni66az"- Tupac


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Learn to ski and snowboard for free in NH
Beginning Jan. 12
If you have been trying to get a friend to learn how to ski or snowboard or cross country ski, this month there is a huge deal to get them started.
Learn to Ski and Snowboard for free the week of Jan. 12 to 18 at participating Ski NH Resorts. This includes not only instruction and lift tickets but also rental equipment.
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Participants must register with Ski NH at SkiNH.com to download a Learn to Ski & Ride Free coupon, then make a reservation with one of the participating resorts.
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To get more information visit SkiNH.com or call Ski NH at 603-745-9396 or send an email to email@example.com.


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Oferta especial para la exposición de la SÁBANA Santa en Sevilla
Friends of Alcoba del Rey.
So you can come to Seville and have the chance to behold the extraordinary exhibition on the Holy Shroud of Turin, we offer you this special offer for the period of time between the Holy Week and the Festival, a time of unsurpassable weather in our city.
Thus, the offer is valid from 4 to 15 April inclusive.
The offer includes the following:
— One night in a superior romantic room for two people…
— Two tickets for the exhibition on the Holy Shroud in Seville…
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The price of the offer for one night is 150€ (taxes included).
You will not have to bother going to buy the tickets because we get the for you and give them to you at reception together with you room key…
After the Holy Week, you shouldn't miss the chance to get to know everything about the sheet that most likely wrapped the body of Christ after the crucifixion, the body of the man that has most influenced the history of the last two millenniums.
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– On the phone: 954 91 58 00
– By email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Further information on the Exposition about the Holy Shroud here:
Negativo fotográfico de la Sábana Santa mostrando el rostro del crucificado
Fotografía de la Sábana Santa al trasluz mostrando el cuerpo completo
Issue featured by Alcoba del Rey de Sevilla Hotel
Categories: Hotel


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Man dies in Castle Shannon fire
Neighbor on Sleepy Hollow Road tried to save Donald Dyson
A 75-year-old man died after an early morning fire at a Castle Shannon duplex.
Officials said the building on Sleepy Hollow Road caught fire started sometime before 4 a.m. Thursday. A neighbor saw the flames and rushed in to help the man get out of the duplex.
(Photos: Castle Shannon fire)
Craig Mrazek was able to pull Donald Dyson onto the front porch, but Dyson was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of death has not been determined yet.
"I was just hopeful at that time that we would have been there to save that person, but it just didn't work out that way," Mrazek said.
Firefighters said there were oxygen tanks inside the home that could have exploded and put more of the nearby residences in danger.
"They seem to be intact, and we haven't gotten any reports that any of these tanks exploded," Castle Shannon Fire Chief Bill Reffner said. "There's a good chance there was an oxygen release, but not an explosion."
The man who pulled the victim out of the home suffered burns to his hands and is expected to be fine.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
"We have seen some smoking material in there, and through our preliminary interviews, the occupants do appear to be smokers," Allegheny County Emergency Services Chief Alvin Henderson Jr. said.