text:
just a 'silly' question but it is first time I need this.How it works with vPhot and CLEAR files,images taken with ST10 but no filter at all,this because I need fast TS.
How the software recognize the CLEAR filter and how it manages it?
Thank you for help.
Stefano Pdovan,PSD


text: BigBoss1 #1 Posted January 18, 2019 One general attribute of feudal societies is that they respect laws or at least try to interpret them in one own favour. Succession laws are one if not the most important laws in a kingdom, not respecting them meant low legitimacy and that led to rebellion. Blood right was so important to Westerosi society that Robert was to be king just because he was the closer to the succesion after the targaryens. Robert took the throne because he had the army, the claim (being that the current dynasty was being deposed) and the charisma. Renly on the other hand may have the army and the charisma but he certainly lacks claim. He claims the throne by right of conquest but has no dragons to enforce it. He doesn't even believe Cersei's children to be illegitimate (like most of Westeros) He is taking the throne because he can, completely skipping over his brother. He could have definitely won the throne but the precedent of someone with a weak to no claim taking the throne just because he has a bigger army is set. Imagine the bloodshed as various warlords fight for the throne just because they can. Renly was irresponsible and obviously did not care for the consequences of his actions. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites

subset: commoncrawl


text: Sijun Forums :: View topic - The Great Ol' Mouse Log in to check your private messages Sijun Forums Forum Index >> Archive : Sep99 - Dec00 View previous topic :: View next topic Author Topic : "The Great Ol' Mouse" ShrimpishGuestMember # Posted: Tue Nov 09, 1999 4:15 am Hey, I got an E-mail from Craig Mullins the other day, and he told me that all his imges are done with the MOUSE!?! He said he bought a tablet a while back and he hated it. He never uses it. Also, he said that that's one reason he works at huge res's, for greater control with the mouse. So for all you mousers out there, don't give up! And for everyone who doesn't know who Craig Mullins is, shame on you, and visit his site: http://www.goodbrush.com Back to top AffectedmemberMember #Joined: 22 Oct 1999Posts: 1854Location: Helsinki, Finland Posted: Tue Nov 09, 1999 6:01 am Oh, man, that just depresses me... :P ------------------ Affected http://affected.cjb.net Back to top CWGabrieljunior memberMember #Joined: 09 Nov 1999Posts: 2Location: Spokane, Wa, USA Posted: Tue Nov 09, 1999 8:29 am I use a mouse to do all my artwork as well. I tried a tablet but just couldn't get used to it. The drivers for it also screwed up my system all the time. My cartoon http://www.penny-arcade.com/ My artwork: http://www.penny-arcade.com/gabeart/index.htm Back to top SPike.CoMmemberMember #Joined: 22 Oct 1999Posts: 194Location: Helsingborg, Sweden Posted: Tue Nov 09, 1999 11:37 am Well... I hate my mouse. So now we're even. It's a matter of taste. But I use my mouse when it comes to vector images and the arttablet to pixel graphics. Back to top chrisk82memberMember #Joined: 16 Jan 2000Posts: 91Location: CO Posted: Tue Nov 09, 1999 1:21 pm If you don't want to spend $260 for a Wacom (which was the price for a Wacom 6x8 Intuos at CompUSA), then check out the mice Microsoft have put out. The technology is cool. But don't spend your money on Microsoft's mice, go with this company instead - Razer (http://www.razerzone.com). They offer the same technology but with smaller and more easily controlled mice called Boomslang. 2 things wrong witht the Boomslang though, weird shape to get use to, and not available yet. Razer offers two mice right now. One for 69.99 if you preorder and the other for 99.99. The 99.99 one has more sensitivety. Back to top ShrimpishGuestMember # Posted: Tue Nov 09, 1999 1:31 pm No, he doesn't scan any sketches. He only uses the scanner for textures. And he doesn't draw like a line drawing and then colours it in. He throws paint around the screen 'til he gets something he likes, and then he refines it. But remember, ho works in 3000x5000 resolution. Back to top DuKEZmemberMember #Joined: 03 Nov 1999Posts: 317Location: BayArea Posted: Tue Nov 09, 1999 2:57 pm i use the mouse.. and i dont feel the same way.. someone loan me their tablet so i can compare Back to top TurboYVRmemberMember #Joined: 24 Oct 1999Posts: 189Location: Vancouver BC Canada Posted: Tue Nov 09, 1999 4:40 pm LOL. cool. I was p1mpin' Penny Arcade and Gabe in a thread a few days ago, and look who shows up.. Michael Krahulik himself. w00h00! Some famous faces hereabouts.... ------------------ TurboYVR (email@example.com) Vancouver, Canada Back to top lutherjunior memberMember #Joined: 04 Nov 1999Posts: 22Location: Japan Posted: Tue Nov 09, 1999 5:02 pm Hey, I'm not famous at all but I use the mouse for all my digital pics.. I don't see the problem with using it if you want, a lot of good artists do. Luther Back to top LeomemberMember #Joined: 24 Oct 1999Posts: 328Location: Russia Posted: Tue Nov 09, 1999 5:27 pm Hey guys! you must be kiddin' ... so you wanna say that Myth2 picture (and other stunning stuff) done only with a mouse? Great ! I use the mouse too... but i think that drawing with a tablet is faster'n'clean. /Leo Back to top Trance-RmemberMember #Joined: 03 Nov 1999Posts: 360Location: Burnaby, BC, Canada Posted: Tue Nov 09, 1999 6:47 pm I can't draw with a mouse, NEED TIIIIIIIPS! ------------------ Trance-R =P firstname.lastname@example.com Back to top mOOmemberMember #Joined: 25 Oct 1999Posts: 84Location: Iowa Posted: Tue Nov 09, 1999 7:02 pm If you are having trouble controlling it lowering the mouse sensitivity may help. Back to top chrisk82memberMember #Joined: 16 Jan 2000Posts: 91Location: CO Posted: Tue Nov 09, 1999 7:51 pm For good control with mouse: Always make sure the ball and tracks are clean. Get a plastic mouse pad like everglide. Have a roll of a day (as my English teacher might say). --I saw Gabriel also on here! I love his comics [This message has been edited by Chrisk82 (edited November 09, 1999).] Back to top Trance-RmemberMember #Joined: 03 Nov 1999Posts: 360Location: Burnaby, BC, Canada Posted: Tue Nov 09, 1999 8:27 pm Aaah~ That may help. Thanks4 dat tip! I'll try doing some drawings over Rememberance Day. Back to top Anthony JmemberMember #Joined: 22 Oct 1999Posts: 412Location: Oakville Posted: Tue Nov 09, 1999 10:07 pm What the blood clot do i do now?! Some people draw with a mouse and they are badass. Some draw with a Wacom and they are badass. I draw with the mouse... started about a year ago, or less... emailed Dhabih about checkin my work.. he mailed back saying mouse drawing sucks. I'm not trying to diss him *grin* obviously, i'm part of the 'juniour members' board, as everyone else. but ... well, it's sorta thrown me for a loop to NOW find out Craig Mullins draws his bad ass shit with a mouse. Nuff talk i guess...should get to work on something new with my mouse, until i buy the tablet (i'll use both i suppose). This wasn't really meant for an answer... just wanted to express some feelings *saw the Angel show today* YOU ARE NOT A PIECE OF STEAK STEAK<_----------------_>YOU ------------------ --------------- Digital Painting Gallery http://anthonys.8m.com "you must feel the force in order to use it Obi-Wan..." Back to top ShrimpishGuestMember # Posted: Tue Nov 09, 1999 11:31 pm I guess Craig doesn't actually NEED the pressure sensitivity, since all he uses is airbrush and paintbrush, and no lines, color values only, and remember: Results like his are only possible in humangous resolutions. He works at 3000x5000 pixels on a pic that will render at 300x500. Back to top CyberArtistmemberMember #Joined: 04 Nov 1999Posts: 284Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL Posted: Wed Nov 10, 1999 12:23 am Craig is a traditional painter... When you're using oils and gauche for the most part there's only on the paper and not on the paper, pressure only determines the size of the stroke (though pressing really hard can make some really gross strokes, and destroy your canvas/paintbrush). He also USES the program Painter, a program which most of you know is able to mimic the look of using real art medias on all sorts of canvases. This means that pressure isn't a big deal to him, color and form is. I on the other hand use mostly pencil and charcoal for my artwork... so I smudge stuff to hell, and I'm use to pressure sensetivity which one doesn't get with a mouse... but, that said, I am a mouse user. I happen to use a mouse because I have been for almost as long as I've been drawing, so I've gotten good with one, and also because I haven't been able to afford a tablet. I'd love to get one though, as I'm much more used to a pencil for drawing finely detailed works. Many traditional artists have a hard time using computer tablets it seems. They lack that grip that paper has. When you drag a tablet's pen over it's surface, most will slide like the plate is covered in slick oil. This can dramatically change how your work turns out. I haven't had a chance to use one of the new Intuos pads though, but I think I heard that it's pen/surface has a bit of a grip on it. Can anyone comment? ------------------ -CyberA(rtist) aka Ben Golus Cyber... Back to top BinkememberMember #Joined: 27 Oct 1999Posts: 1194Location: Sweden Posted: Wed Nov 10, 1999 12:49 am .............. im speechless but craig MUST of course have drawn the sketch on paper & then scanned in... because u cant draw that shit with the mouse cos just drawing the sketch with mouse is hard..i know cos that's what I do, because i dont own a scanner Back to top wakestarrGuestMember # Posted: Wed Nov 10, 1999 1:46 am There's also a small program to tweek the samplerate of a PS2 mouse. I found this helpful when I was drawing with the mouse. Search for ps2rate on altavista or whatever searchengine you prefer. It was originally made for all quakers out there -wakestarr Back to top FunfetusmemberMember #Joined: 26 Oct 1999Posts: 343Location: West Covina, CA Posted: Wed Nov 10, 1999 1:54 am I've only used the Intuos, so I can't compare, but its surface is pretty freakin slick. There is not, of course, anything preventing you from taping a piece of paper over it. ------------------ Funfetus iCE VGA Division http://www.funhousedigital.com Back to top LeomemberMember #Joined: 24 Oct 1999Posts: 328Location: Russia Posted: Wed Nov 10, 1999 4:00 am Shrimpish: yeah, it's ok to use 300x500 for web graphics, but Craig also working for printings so quality must be as higher as possible. /Leo Back to top MongoosememberMember #Joined: 22 Oct 1999Posts: 363Location: North Posted: Wed Nov 10, 1999 7:11 am Ermm.. he said 3000x5000 ... not 300x500. Back to top BinkememberMember #Joined: 27 Oct 1999Posts: 1194Location: Sweden Posted: Wed Nov 10, 1999 8:39 am WTF! but but... how the *heck* can craig mullins draw those things with the mouse i cant understand it he must make some sort of sketch first!! i mean...well i mean, you know..i mean..agh..!!!!! painting SKETCHES with a mouse is hard. Colouring isnt THAT hard though....hm.../me lowers mouse speed Back to top CyberArtistmemberMember #Joined: 04 Nov 1999Posts: 284Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL Posted: Wed Nov 10, 1999 10:44 am If you look at some of the "full res" images you can start to see some mouse-drawn looking lines. You can also see how he works (lots of very solid colors with lots of them to make it look blended). Very cool. ------------------ -CyberA(rtist) aka Ben Golus Cyber... Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First Sijun Forums Forum Index -> Archive : Sep99 - Dec00 All times are GMT - 8 Hours Page 1 of 1 Jump to: Select a forum Digital Art----------------Digital Art DiscussionWork in ProgressGallery/Finished Work Miscellaneous----------------Random MusingsArchive : Sep99 - Dec00 You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum Powered by phpBB © 2005 phpBB Group


text:
As if there weren't enough story lines to sustain Sunday's game between the Seahawks and the Redskins, a new angle has been added on Friday, courtesy of Washington defensive lineman Kedric Golston.
As linebacker Lorenzo Alexander was being asked whether Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman should be on the field on Sunday given the positive drug test that was overturned on appeal, Golston interrupted.
"He's a cheater," Golston said of Sherman, via Jim Corbett of USA Today.
Cornerback DeAngelo Hall opted, uncharacteristically, to take the high road. "I'm happy he won it," Hall said of Sherman's appeal. "I don't know all the details of it. If he won his appeal, he won his appeal. We obviously would have been better off it he wasn't playing, but he's out there. We have to deal with who's out there. There's nothing we can do about it."
Other than, you know, call Sherman a "cheater."


text:
Once Upon a Time, Far, Far Away No.1: Hansel & Greedo
Yep, its another Star Wars themed illustration. I know, I know - I should move on to another subject, but what can I say? The title of my blog explains it all. But in a departure from the more graphic Iconoscopes, I wanted to turn my hand to a more artistic style. I can't remember how or why I came up with the idea for the series (it was probably whilst vegging on the commute to work) but this one was the first that popped into my head for some reason.
My girlfriend Anna helped me brainstorm some more ideas, some of which made me laugh so I'll be doing those ones next.
For anyone interested, this was created in Adobe Illustrator just using a mouse. (I mean the peripheral, not a rodent).


text:
"Beachscape" - Paul Pedulla
$ 595.00
Brand Paul Pedulla
Limited edition giclée print on enhanced matte paper, dry mounted, framed under glass or plexiglass, signed and numbered by the artist.
Image size: 20"x16" (framed piece is approximately 23"x19")
Paul Pedulla's contemporary paintings begin with fresh ideas about space and place. They are representational yet abstract. What you see is a moment, often revealing a relationship between neighboring houses, a house and the sky, a road and the landscape, the sky and the sea, figures in an environment or a window and the world it views.
The artist has been featured in ARTSCOPE Magazine, bostonartlife.com and his work has appeared in The Boston Globe and numerous other publications and blogs. He has had pieces accepted into many juried venues, including the 2013 "Off the Wall" Exhibition at Danforth Art Museum, juried by Dina Deitsch of the deCordova Museum. In addition, his work has appeared in exhibitions at Boston Public Library, Heartwood College of Art in Maine, Mass General Hospital's Illuminations program and more.
Works by Paul Pedulla can be found in collectors' homes and businesses from Los Angeles to Germany. At Vizivel, we offer limited-edition giclée prints of the artist's work, signed and numbered by the artist. For his original paintings, please contact the artist directly or one of the galleries in the USA that represents him.


text:
On November 29, 2012, FEMA issued a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) that removed approximately 1,400 structures and properties from the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), shown on the Flood Insurance Rate Maps for Denton County.
For those removed from the SFHA by the LOMA, Federal flood insurance requirements no longer apply, however flood risk still exists, and property owners may be eligible for a Preferred Risk Policy (PRP) at a lower rate. If you were removed from the SFHA by the LOMA, you should provide a copy of the letter to your lender and discuss PRP flood insurance options with your insurance agent.
For more information, and to see if your structure or property has been included, please click the Mapping Information button above, and see the links below. For mapping questions, contact the FEMA Mapping Information eXchange (FMIX) – 1-877-336-2627 (toll free).
For more helpful information, look under Resources and Related Links.
For mapping questions, contact the FEMA Mapping Information eXchange (FMIX) – 1-877-336-2627.
Click your state for county/parish flood risk specific information.
Click Here for the Latest Edition of
Sign up for our newsletter, The Voice, to learn the latest news on our mapping program and how it affects your community.
Copyright © FEMA RiskMAP6 | All Rights Reserved


text: Tired of waiting for Lucius Malfoy's new alternate reality drama, Awake? Wait no more! The entire pilot has been released to the internet masses. Sit back and watch a very sad tale about a detective (Jason Isaacs) stuck between two crappy realities: one where his wife is alive and his son is dead, and another where his son is alive and his wife is dead. Tell us what you thought in the comments.


text:
President Obama welcomed Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the White House – making the leader of the world's largest democracy the first guest at an Obama state dinner.
Observers of the carefully choreographed event noted India's emergence on the global economic scene and wondered if it made up for a prior snub, when Obama left the country out of his recent Asian tour.
- The National Review's Kevin D. Williamson wasn't impressed with the President's introduction of his Indian counterpart, quoting Obama's opening remark: "Yours is the first official state visit of my presidency, it's fitting that you and India be so recognized." Bad form, according to Williamson, who offered this snarky bit of advice to Obama: "Note to the Great Diplomat: When you do a head of state an honor, you don't remind him, in public, of the fact that you have done him an honor, particularly in self-aggrandizing terms of this sort."
- Writing in Foreign Policy, Daniel Twining argues that "the United States has an enormous stake in the emergence of a rich, confident, democratic India that shares American ambitions to manage Chinese power, protect Indian Ocean sea lanes, safeguard an open international economy, stabilize a volatile region encompassing the heartland of jihadist extremism in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and constructively manage challenges of proliferation, climate change, and other global issues."
- The Daily Beast's Tunku Varadarajan highlights George W. Bush's recognition of India's role in the world and urges Obama to show proper appreciation of allies. "One trusts that Mr. Obama will come to see these qualities as clearly as his predecessor did. If not, this could be one area in which history will judge Mr. Obama to have been 'dumb,' and Mr. Bush to have been the 'smart' one."
- Politico's Patrick Garvin points out Obama and Bush may have more in common that you'd expect, especially when a photo from the evening appears to show Obama toasting Singh with a glass of water. "When President Barack Obama took office, fans and DC socialites rejoiced that — after years with a sober President George W. Bush — there was a beer drinker back in the White House ," he writes. Maybe not.


text:
Choose your room
Located in David, Las Olas Beach Resort is in a rural location and within the region of Port of Pedregal and Parque Recreativo Omar Torrijos Herrera. Be sure to enjoy recreational amenities, including an outdoor pool, a sauna, and a fitness center. Additional amenities include babysitting/childcare, gift shops/newsstands, and a hair salon. Featured amenities include dry cleaning/laundry services, a library, and a safe deposit box at the front desk. A shuttle from the airport to the hotel is complimentary (available on request). Make yourself at home in one of the 48 air-conditioned guestrooms. Rooms have private balconies. Complimentary high-speed (wired) Internet access is available to keep you connected. Conveniences include phones, as well as safes and desks.
Reviews: Hotel Las Olas Beach Resort
Top Hotel Deals
Central America - Caribbean
Featured Destinations
Beach Hotels
Thank you!
There's only one more step left. Check your e-mail and complete the subscription to the newsletter


text:
Item #:
What's the difference?
Xenca Enerjii brings you state-of-the-art designs with a... see more
What's the difference?
Xenca Enerjii brings you state-of-the-art designs with a
NEW and IMPROVED!
Camouflage the age of your skin with our incredible NEW Anti-Ageing Cream. Formulated with collagen, hyaluronic acid, shea butter and zinc to help your skin look and feel younger, this exceptional product also contains Acetyl Hexapeptide-3, a unique anti-wrinkle peptide that has been scientifically proven to help reduce the development of wrinkles.
Xenca Enerjii brings you state-of-the-art designs with a combination of natural well-being technologies such as far infrared and negative ions. Our jewellery looks fantastic and is energy-packed and potent. Starting with a complex space age manufacturing process they are hand assembled with special components and tooling. Xenca Enerjii Snap On Watches feature a wrap-around silicone strap that adjusts perfectly to fit the wearer.
What are Negative Ions?
Negative ions have an invigorating effect on the human body and are created naturally by the energy associated with rolling surf, waterfalls and lightning. The levels of negative ions present in different environments highlight the deficiency of negative ions in our everyday domestic environment.
Base of Waterfall - 3000 ions/cm3
Countryside - 1500 ions/cm3
Offce Building - 150 ions/cm3
Home - 100 ions/cm3
"Negative ions increase the flow of oxygen to the brain; resulting in higher alertness; decreased drowsiness; and more mental energy," says Pierce J. Howard, PhD, author of The Owner's Manual for the Brain
The silicone in your Snap On Watch is infused with negative ion ceramic compound emitting 1000 ions per cubic centimetre.
What is Far Infrared?
Far infrared (FIR) is the invisible band of energy from the sun's spectrum that we feel as warmth. Enerjii FIR ceramic inserts absorb energy from various sources and release it for gentle warming. They emit a far infrared output that is identical to the specific wavelength produced by the sun. This wavelength is the safest and most beneficial to humans. Far infrared technology absorbs energy from all wavelengths and releases it in the far infrared wavelengths. Your Snap On Watch contains far infrared infused silicone with a wavelength emission of 4 to 14 micron wavelength and 90% emissivity.
XENCA is the trading name of Share in the Success Ltd, Company No: 7877806. Registered Address: Mentor House, Ainsworth Street, Blackburn, BB1 6AY Country of Origin: United Kingdom | The Code Guy
You now have items in your basket, totalling
The commisionable value of your order is
continue shopping
go to your basket


text:
There's an old story of a traditional family gathering at holiday time. Mother carefully prepares the roast, and just before popping it in the oven, she cuts off a bit of the end. Daughter notices and says, "Mom, why did you cut the end off the roast before you put it in to cook?" Mother answers, "I don't know. We've always done it that way in our family." Not satisfied, daughter goes into the living room and asks grandmother, "Grandma, why do we always cut the end off the roast before we cook it?" Grandmother replies, "Well, honey, doing that makes it taste better." Great-grandmother, sitting at the end of the couch, laughingly retorts, "Darling, I started that habit. And I did it because we had such a small oven when we were starting out that it's the only way the roast would fit!"
Sometimes we do things because we've always done them that way and we're afraid to change what we think is traditional, or we think that if we give them up, we'll jinx ourselves. Sometimes we do them because we just don't know why we do them.
It looks to me like that's the case with group exercise these days. I see a lot of fitness facilities suffering under the following scenario:
Low attendance in most classes.
High wages paid per class hour to instructors regardless of class attendance.
No integration of classes into the mainstream programming of the facility. They're a stand-alone, non-marketed entity apparently supposed to advertise themselves.
No integration of instructor staff into the employee culture. Instead, instructors come in to "do their thing" and leave.
An extremely low percentage of total users compared to the number of overall club members.
A "dead, dark space" in the actual room housing the group ex classes for as much as two-thirds of the operating hours of the facility.
A money-losing program that is subsidized by all members regardless of use and that causes the attempted integration of another frequent money-loser — childcare. (Most owners report that nearly 75 percent of their childcare visits are due to group exercise users.)
A huge "opportunity cost" because that space might be used more profitably for something else that involves more members and generates greater revenues and profits.
Please don't think that I am "group ex bashing" — I'm not. I am, however, pleading with many owners to take a serious business look at their group exercise program to see if it makes sense for their facilities. Here are a few guidelines that I use:
Do class counts for the next month. Have a sign-in sheet for each class (this also protects you from a liability standpoint). Tally all classes' attendance and then divide by the number of classes in your tally period to come up with class attendance averages. In general, you are losing revenue and negatively marketing with any class that has less than eight people on average. (Unless it is a "paid" class that warrants a special fee — and I hope that you have priced it to make a profit! Most don't.)
Look at your classroom space. Is it "dark" more than 60 operating hours a week? Could it be used more profitably and to serve more members? (Examples: personal training studio; women-only training studio; weight management studio; a bigger cardio area for your club; "split" studios in which you have specialty (paid) classes such as Pilates, SCIFIT's Fit-Key, PACE, etc.)
Could you eliminate low-attended classes without upsetting your program? My experience says that most people won't end their membership because of a cancelled class if it is explained to them beforehand about provisions for cancellation. Instead, they will simply attend other classes.
Can you pay your instructors based on class attendance? Thousands of clubs have gone to an instructor base wage per class plus per-head attendance bonuses over a minimum attendance figure. The result? Class counts have generally risen and instructors have earned more money per class by keeping class attendances high.
Finally, can you really afford that loser program anymore? Most group ex programs, particularly in smaller clubs, cost 15 percent or more of a facility's payroll to cater to less than 10 percent of the membership base. Most group ex rooms have a hard cost of as much as 10 percent of total square footage cost of the facility. Add these two together and you recognize that you are running a subsidized program for a select few and discriminating against the far greater percentage of your general membership by so doing.
Take a look at group exercise in your club. Is it the end off the roast? Food for thought. Now it's up to you to nibble.
Michael Scott Scudder is a 30-year veteran of the fitness industry. He is a personal business trainer operating Fitness Focus, a consulting company that offers private workshops on pertinent fitness business matters. Questions and comments are welcomed by Michael at 505-690-5974 or [email protected].


text:
Need help keeping track of your department's finances? Check out the next four weeks of FMS training classes available to the campus community:
FMS 105 – Financial Reports (12/6, 9:00 to 10:30 AM)
FMS 101 - Introduction to the Financial Management System (12/6, 1:30 to 2:30 PM)
FMS 102 – Budget Overview and Details (12/12, 9:00 to 10:30 AM)
FMS 103 – PO's, Vendors, Invoices & Vouchers (12/14, 10:00 to 11:00 AM)
FMS 106 – Running a Query (12/26, 1:30 to 2:30 PM, online session)
FMS 102 – Budget Overview and Details (12/27, 1:00 to 2:30 PM)
Happy New Year!
FMS 101 - Introduction to the Financial Management System (1/3/13, 1:30 to 2:45 PM, online session)
Class locations will be verified at the time of registration. A class schedule, detailed descriptions and a registration form can be found online at http://www.cwu.edu/~pmits/fms_safaritraining/FMSTrainingSchedule.htm
Please note that registrations for all FMS classes close two days prior to the date of the class. Classes with no registrations will be canceled two days prior to the date of the class.
If you are new to your position, please ensure that you have requested the appropriate FMS access at least a week prior to the date of the desired class.
The FMS access form may be found online at


text:
Reporters in Sochi should be aware that their phone calls will be monitored, their internet activity recorded, their every move under surveillance by Russian authorities. That's probably not news. What is news is how blatant the government has been about making sure reporters know this in advance, almost surely in an attempt to scare off any pesky investigative journalism before it happens.
A series of articles last fall revealed the amazing extent of the centralized surveillance, which exceeds the capabilities of the Chinese monitoring system at the Beijing games, and is given much wider latitude to eavesdrop than even our own NSA programs. The very communications infrastructure in Sochi was built to give government security systems full access, and not a single text message, email, or phone call will go un-monitored.
Russia's response has been a big shrug. Voice of Russia, an official government organ, published an article telling visitors not to be afraid—it's for your own security. Then, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree authorizing the government to collect all phone and internet data at the Olympics. The Committee to Protect Journalists notes that reporters are twice specifically highlighted as targets in the decree.
What's unique about the decree is that it wasn't done quietly, but instead announced and its text published in full. The CPJ believes "this was done as a warning and a deterrent to journalists."
So! Heading to Sochi to cover the games? Planning on doing any serious work, concerning activists or opposition figures? Of course you are, because you're a good reporter. Just know that Russia's very interested, and will be listening in.
(It's also the reason an illicit NBC power couple is advised to put a long-running affair on hiatus.)


text:
CLEVELAND (AP) - An Ohio cancer patient has died less than three weeks after attending his daughter's wedding on a gurney to fulfill his promise to walk her down the aisle.
A spokesman for University Hospitals in Cleveland said 56-year-old Scott Nagy died at the hospital Monday.
The terminally ill Brunswick man wore a tuxedo and arrived by ambulance for his daughter Sarah's Oct. 12 church wedding in Strongsville. Guests cried and clapped as the pair made their way down the aisle with help from a volunteer team of medical professionals.
The Plain Dealer reported that from the gurney, Nagy gave away the 24-year-old bride, and when she burst into tears, he reminded her not to streak her makeup.
Nagy was diagnosed last year with urethral cancer and had been hospitalized for months.


text:
Posts Tagged 'HBase'
HBase vs Cassandra: why we moved
My team is currently working on a brand new product – the forthcoming MMO www.FightMyMonster.com. This has given us the luxury of building against a NOSQL database, which means we can put the horrors of MySQL sharding and expensive scalability behind us. Recently a few people have been asking why we seem to have changed our preference from HBase to Cassandra. I can confirm the change is true and that we have in fact almost completed porting our code to Cassandra, and here I will seek to provide an explanation.
For those that are new to NOSQL, in a following post I will write about why I think we will see a seismic shift from SQL to NOSQL over the coming years, which will be just as important as the move to cloud computing. That post will also seek to explain why I think NOSQL might be the right choice for your company. But for now I will simply relay the reasons why we have chosen Cassandra as our NOSQL solution.
Caveat Emptor – if you're looking for a shortcut to engaging your neurons be aware this isn't an exhaustive critical comparison, it just summarizes the logic of just another startup in a hurry with limited time and resources!!
Did Cassandra's bloodline foretell the future?
One of my favourite tuppences for engineers struggling to find a bug is "breadth first not depth first". This can be annoying for someone working through complex technical details, because it implies that the solution is actually much simpler if they only looked (advice: only use this saying with established colleagues who will forgive you). I coined this saying because in software matters I find that if we force ourselves to examine the top level considerations first, before tunnelling down into the detail of a particular line of enquiry, we can save enormous time.
So before getting technical, I'll mention I might have heeded my motto better when we were making our initial choice between HBase and Cassandra. The technical conclusions behind our eventual switch might have been predicted: HBase and Cassandra have dramatically different bloodlines and genes, and I think this influenced their applicability within our business.
Loosely speaking, HBase and its required supporting systems are derived from what is known of the original Google BigTable and Google File System designs (as known from the Google File System paper Google published in 2003, and the BigTable paper published in 2006). Cassandra on the other hand is a recent open source fork of a standalone database system initially coded by Facebook, which while implementing the BigTable data model, uses a system inspired by Amazon's Dynamo for storing data (in fact much of the initial development work on Cassandra was performed by two Dynamo engineers recruited to Facebook from Amazon).
In my opinion, these differing histories have resulted in HBase being more suitable for data warehousing, and large scale data processing and analysis (for example, such as that involved when indexing the Web) and Cassandra being more suitable for real time transaction processing and the serving of interactive data. Writing a proper study of that hypothesis is well beyond this post, but I believe you will be able to detect this theme recurring when considering the databases.
NOTE: if you are looking for lightweight validation you'll find the current makeup of the key committers interesting: the primary committers to HBase work for Bing (M$ bought their search company last year, and gave them permission to continue submitting open source code after a couple of months). By contrast the primary committers on Cassandra work for Rackspace, which supports the idea of an advanced general purpose NOSQL solution being freely available to counter the threat of companies becoming locked in to the proprietary NOSQL solutions offered by the likes of Google, Yahoo and Amazon EC2.
Malcolm Gladwell would say my unconscious brain would have known immediately that my business would eventually prefer Cassandra based upon these differing backgrounds. It is horses for courses. But of course, justifying a business decision made in the blink of an eye is difficult…
Which NOSQL database has the most momentum?
Another consideration that has persuaded us to move to Cassandra is a belief that it is now has the most general momentum in our community. As you know, in the business of software platforms the bigger you get the bigger you get – where platforms are perceived as similar, people tend to aggregate around the platform that is going to offer the best supporting ecosystem in the long term (i.e. where the most supporting software is available from the community, and where the most developers are available for hire). This effect is self-reinforcing.
When starting with HBase, my impression then was that it had the greatest community momentum behind it, but I now believe that Cassandra is coming through much stronger. The original impression was partly created by two very persuasive and excellently delivered presentations given by the CTOs of StumpleUpon and Streamy, two big players in the Web industry who committed to HBase some time before Cassandra was really an option, and also from a quick reading of an article entitled "HBase vs Cassandra: NoSQL Battle!" (much of which has now been widely debunked).
Proving momentum comprehensively is difficult to do, and you will have to poke about for yourself, but one simple pointer I offer you is the developer activity on IRC. If you connect to freenode.org and compare the #hbase and #cassandra developer channels, you will find Cassandra typically has twice the number of developers online at any time.
If you consider Cassandra has been around for half as long as HBase, you can see why this is quite a clear indication of the accelerating momentum behind Cassandra. You might also take note of the big names coming on board, such as Twitter, where they plan broad usage (see here).
Note: Cassandra's supporting website looks much lovelier than HBase's, but seriously, this could be a trend driven by more than the marketing. Read on!
Deep down and technical: CAP and the myth of CA vs AP
There is a very powerful theorem that applies to the development of distributed systems (and here we are talking about distributed databases, as I'm sure you've noticed). This is known as the CAP Theorem, and was developed by Professor Eric Brewer, Co-founder and Chief Scientist of Inktomi.
The theorem states, that a distributed (or "shared data") system design, can offer at most two out of three desirable properties – Consistency, Availability and tolerance to network Partitions. Very basically, "consistency" means that if someone writes a value to a database, thereafter other users will immediately be able to read the same value back, "availability" means that if some number of nodes fail in your cluster the distributed system can remain operational, and "tolerance to partitions" means that if the nodes in your cluster are divided into two groups that can no longer communicate by a network failure, again the system remains operational.
Professor Brewer is an eminent man and many developers, including many in the HBase community, have taken it to heart that their systems can only support two of these properties and have accordingly worked to this design principle. Indeed, if you search online posts related to HBase and Cassandra comparisons, you will regularly find the HBase community explaining that they have chosen CP, while Cassandra has chosen AP – no doubt mindful of the fact that most developers need consistency (the C) at some level.
However I need to draw to your attention to the fact that these claims are based on a complete non sequitur. The CAP theorem only applies to a single distributed algorithm (and here I hope Professor Brewer would agree). But there is no reason why you cannot design a single system where for any given operation, the underlying algorithm and thus the trade-off achieved is selectable. Thus while it is true that a system may only offer two of these properties per operation, what has been widely missed is that a system can be designed that allows a caller to choose which properties they want when any given operation is performed. Not only that, reality is not nearly so black and white, and it is possible to offer differing degrees of balance between consistency, availability and tolerance to partition. This is Cassandra.
This is such an important point I will reiterate: the beauty of Cassandra is that you can choose the trade-offs you want on a case by case basis such that they best match the requirements of the particular operation you are performing. Cassandra proves you can go beyond the popular interpretation of the CAP Theorem and the world keeps on spinning!
For example, let's look at two different extremes. Let us say that I must read a value from the database with very high consistency – that is, where I will be 100% sure to receive the last copy of that data which was previously written. In this case, I can read the value from Cassandra specifying consistency level "ALL", which requires that all the nodes that hold replicated copies of that data agree on its value. In this case, I have zero tolerance to either node failure, or network partition. At the other extreme, if I do not care about consistency particularly, and simply want the maximum possible performance, I can read the value from Cassandra using consistency level "ONE". In this case, a copy is simply taken from a random node amongst those holding the replicas – and in this case, if the data is replicated three times, it does not matter if either of the two other nodes holding copies have failed or been partitioned from us, although now of course it is also possible that such conditions may mean the data I read is stale.
And better still, you are not forced to live in a black and white world. For example, in our particular application important read/write operations typically use consistency level "QUORUM", which basically means – and I simplify so please research before writing your Cassandra app – that a majority of nodes in the replication factor agree. From our perspective, this provides both a reasonable degree of resilience to node failure and network partition, while still delivering an extremely high level of consistency. In the general case, we typically use the aforementioned consistency level of "ONE", which provides maximum performance. Nice!
For us this is a very big plus for Cassandra. Not only can we now easily tune our system, we can also design it so that, for example, when a certain number of nodes fail, or the network connecting those nodes falters, our service continues operating in many respects, and only those aspects that require data consistency fail. HBase is not nearly so flexible, and the pursuit of a single approach within the system (CP) reminds me of the wall that exists between SQL developers and the query optimizer – something it is good to get beyond!
In our project then, Cassandra has proven by far the most flexible system, although you may find your brain at first loses consistency when considering your QUORUMs.
When is monolithic better than modular?
An important distinction between Cassandra and HBase, is that while Cassandra comes as a single Java process to be run per node, a complete HBase solution is really comprised of several parts: you have the database process itself, which may run in several modes, a properly configured and operational hadoop HDFS distributed file system setup, and a Zookeeper system to coordinate the different HBase processes. Does this mean then that this is a modularity win for HBase?
Although it is true that such a setup might promise to leverage the collective benefits of different development teams, in terms of systems administration the modularity of HBase cannot be considered a plus. In fact, especially for a smaller startup company, the modularity of HBase might be a big negative. Let me explain…
The underpinnings of HBase are pretty complex, and anyone in doubt of this should read the original Google File System and BigTable papers. Even setting up HBase in pseudo distributed mode on a single server is difficult – so difficult in fact that I did my best to write a guide that takes you past all the various gotchas in the minimum time (see https://ria101.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/setup-hbase-in-pseudo-distributed-mode-and-connect-java-client/ if you wish to try it). As you will see from that guide, getting HBase up and running in this mode actually involves setting up two different system systems manually: first hadoop HDFS, then HBase itself.
Now to the point: the HBase configuration files are monsters, and your setup is vulnerable to the quirks in default network configurations (in which I include both the default networking setups on Ubuntu boxes, and the subtleties of Elastic IPs and internally assigned domain names on EC2). When things go wrong, you will be presented with reams of output in the log file. All the information you need to fix things is in there, and if you are a skilled admin you are going to get through it.
But what happens if it does wrong in production and you need to fix it in a hurry? And what happens if like us, you have a small team of developers with big ambitions and can't afford a team of crack admins to be on standby 247?
Look seriously, if you're an advanced db admin wanting to learn a NOSQL system, choose HBase. It's so damn complex that safe pairs of hands are going to get paid well.
But if you're a small team just trying to get to the end of the tunnel like us, wait 'til you hear the Gossip…
It's Gossip talk dude, Gossip!
Cassandra is a completely symmetric system. That is to say, there are no master nodes or region servers like in HBase – every node plays a completely equal role in the system. Rather than any particular node or entity taking on a coordination role, the nodes in your cluster coordinate their activities using a pure P2P communication protocol called "Gossip".
A description of Gossip and the model using it is beyond this post, but the application of P2P communication within Cassandra has been mathematically modelled to show that, for example, the time taken for the detection of node failure to be propagated across the system, or for a client request to be routed to the node(s) holding the data, occur deterministically within well bounded timeframes that are surprisingly small. Personally I believe that Cassandra represents one of the most exciting uses of P2P technology to date, but of course this idea is not relevant to choosing your NOSQL database!
What is relevant are the real benefits that the Gossip-based architecture gives to Cassandra's users. Firstly, continuing with the theme of systems administration, life becomes much simpler. For example, adding a new node to the system becomes as simple as bootstrapping its Cassandra process and pointing it at a seed node (an existing node within your cluster). When you think of the underlying complexity of a distributed database running across, potentially, hundreds of nodes, the ability to add new nodes to scale up with such ease is incredible. Furthermore, when things go wrong you no longer have to consider what kind of nodes you are dealing with – everything is the same, which can make debugging a more progressive and repeatable process.
Secondly I have come to the conclusion that Cassandra's P2P architecture provides it with performance and availability advantages. Load can be very evenly balanced across system nodes thus maximizing the potential for parallelism, the ability to continue seamlessly in the face of network partitions or node failures is greatly increased, and the symmetry between nodes prevents the temporary instabilities in performance that have been reported with HBase when nodes are added and removed (Cassandra boots quickly, and its performance scales smoothly as new nodes are added).
If you are looking for more evidence, you will be interested to read a report from a team with a vested interest in hadoop (i.e. which should favor HBase)…
A report is worth a thousand words. I mean graph right?
The first comprehensive benchmarking of NOSQL systems performed by Yahoo! Research now seems to bear out the general performance advantage that Cassandra enjoys, and on the face of it the figures do currently look very good for Cassandra.
At the time of writing these papers are in draft form and you can check them out here:
NOTE: in this report HBase performs better than Cassandra only respect of range scans over records. Although the Cassandra team believes they will quickly approach the HBase times, it is also worth pointing out that in a common configuration of Cassandra range scans aren't even possible. I recommend this to you as being of no matter, because actually in practice you should implement your indexes on top of Cassandra, rather than seek to use range scans. If you are interested in issues relating to range scans and storing indexes in Cassandra, see my post here https://ria101.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/cassandra-randompartitioner-vs-orderpreservingpartitioner/).
FINAL POINT OF INTEREST: the Yahoo! Research team behind this paper are trying to get their benchmarking application past their legal department and make it available to the community. If they succeed, and I hope they do, we will be treated to an ongoing speed competition galore, and both HBase and Cassandra will doubtless be improving their times further.
A word on locking, and useful modularity
You may no doubt hear from the HBase camp that their more complex architecture is able to give you things that Cassandra's P2P architecture can't. An example that may be raised is the fact that HBase provides the developer with row locking facilities whereas Cassandra cannot (in HBase row locking can be controlled by a region server since data replication occurs within the hadoop layer below, whereas in Cassandra's P2P architecture all nodes are equal, and therefore none can act as a gateway that takes responsibility for locking replicated data).
However, I would reflect this back as an argument about modularity, which actually favours Cassandra. Cassandra implements the BigTable data model but uses a design where data storage is distributed over symmetric nodes. It does that, and that's all, but in the most flexible and performant manner possible. But if you need locking, transactions or any other functionality then that can be added to your system in a modular manner – for example we have found scalable locking quite simple to add to our application using Zookeeper and its associated recipes (and other systems such as Hazelcast might also exist for these purposes, although we have not explored them).
By minimizing its function to a narrower purpose, it seems to me that Cassandra manages to implement a design that executes that purpose better – as indicated for example by its selectable CAP tradeoffs. This modularity means you can build a system as you need it – want locking, grab yourself Zookeeper, want to store a full text index, grab yourself Lucandra, and so on. For developers like us, this means we don't have to take on board more complexity than we actually need, and ultimately provides us with a more flexible route to building the application we want.
MapReduce, don't mention MapReduce!
One thing Cassandra can't do well yet is MapReduce! For those not versed in this technology, it is a system for the parallel processing of vast amounts of data, such as the extraction of statistics from millions of pages that have been downloaded from the Web. MapReduce and related systems such as Pig and Hive work well with HBase because it uses hadoop HDFS to store its data, which is the platform these systems were primarily designed to work with. If you need to do that kind of data crunching and analysis, HBase may currently be your best option.
Remember, it's horses for courses!
Therefore as I finish off my impassioned extolation of Cassandra's relative virtues, I should point out HBase and Cassandra should not necessarily be viewed as out and out competitors. While it is true that they may often be used for the same purpose, in much the same way as MySQL and Postgres, what I believe will likely emerge is that they will become preferred solutions for different applications. For example, as I understand StumbleUpon has been using HBase with the associated hadoop MapReduce technologies to crunch the vast amounts of data added to its service. Twitter is now using Cassandra for real time interactive community posts. Our needs fit better with the interactive serving and processing of data and so we are using Cassandra, and probably to some degree there you have it.
As a controversial parting shot though the gloves are off for the next point!
NOTE: before I continue I should point out Cassandra has hadoop support in 0.6, so its MapReduce integration may be about to get a whole load better.
O boy, I can't afford to lose that data…
Perhaps as a result of the early CAP Theorem debates, an impression has grown that data is somehow safer in HBase than Cassandra. This is a final myth that I wish to debunk: in Cassandra, when you write new data it is actually immediately written to the commit log on one of the nodes in the quorum that will hold the replicas, as well as being replicated across the memory of the nodes. This means that if you have a complete power failure across your cluster, you will likely lose little data. Furthermore once in the system, data entropy is prevented using Merkle trees, which further add to the security of your data 🙂
In truth I am not clear exactly what the situation with HBase is – and I will endeavour to update this post as soon as possible with details – but my current understanding is that because hadoop does not yet support append, HBase cannot efficiently regularly flush its modified blocks of data to HDFS (whereupon the new mutations to data will be replicated and persisted). This means that there is a much larger window where your latest changes are vulnerable (if I am wrong, as I may be, please tell me and I will update the post).
So while the Cassandra of Greek mythology had a rather terrible time, the data inside your Cassandra shouldn't.
NOTE: Wade Arnold points out below that (at the time of writing this) hadoop .21 is about to be released, which will solve this problem with HBase.
HBase vs Cassandra & comparing NOSQL solutions
If like me, you have moved your enterprise to the NOSQL database camp, you will trying to figure out which NOSQL database will be the best long term option. This is no easy task, because we are still at the beginning of the cycle.
Our choice came down to HBase vs Cassandra. We chose HBase for its vibrant community, faithful Google BigTable-like design and because it can use hadoop for storage (which is already quite mature). Right now we're quite far down the road with HBase but trying to keep our minds open.
Checkout the first serious comparison of NOSQL solutions I found. Cassandra does nicely. hmm:
Quick install HBase in "pseudo distributed" mode and connect from Java
Platforms used: Ubuntu karmic, hadoop-0.20, hbase-0.20.3, Java client
This post will be useful for those wishing to setup HBase on a single server machine in pseudo distributed mode. The advantage of running the database in this mode is that it can then be accessed over the network, for example to allow a bunch of developers to start crafting Java code against it. It is also a nice stepping stone to fully distributed mode, either on your own servers, or somewhere like EC2.
On first reading of the HBase documentation, setting up pseudo distributed mode sounds very simple. The problem is that there a lot of gotchas, which can make life very difficult indeed. Consequently, many people follow a twisted journey to their final destination, and when they finally get there, aren't sure which of the measures they took were needed, and which were not. This is reflected by a degree of misinformation on the Web, and I will try and present here a reasonably minimal way of getting up and running (that is not even to say that every step I take is absolutely necessary even, but I'll mention where I'm not sure).
Step 1: Check your IP setup
I believe this is one of the main causes of the weirdness that can happen. So, if you're on Ubuntu check your hosts file. If you see something like:
127.0.0.1 localhost
127.0.1.1 <server fqn> <server name, as in /etc/hostname>
get rid of the second line, and change to
127.0.0.1 locahost
<server ip> <server fqn> <server name, as in /etc/hostname>
127.0.0.1 localhost
18.104.22.168 hbase.mycompany.com hbase
If you don't do this, the region servers will resolve their addresses to 127.0.1.1. This information will be stored inside the ZooKeeper instance that HBase runs (the directory and lock manager used by the system to configure and synchronize a running HBase cluster). When manipulating remote HBase data, client code libraries actually connect to ZooKeeper to find the address of the region server maintaining the data. In this case, they will be given 127.0.1.1 which resolves to the client machine. duh!
Step 2: Install Hadoop Packages
Hadoop is quite a big subject – hell the book has over 500 pages. That's why it is great that there is a company making pre-packaged distributions called cloudera. So my recommendation here is to go with those packages. Perform the following steps, but check the important notes before proceeding:
a/ If you are on Debian, you need to modify your Apt Repository so you can pickup the packages. In the instructions following, if you are running a recent Ubuntu distro like karmic, then configure your cloudera.list to pickup the packages for "jaunty-testing". Make sure you choose hadoop-0.20 or better.
Instructions http://archive.cloudera.com/docs/_apt.html
b/ Install the packages setting up hadoop in standalone mode
Instructions http://archive.cloudera.com/docs/_installing_hadoop_standalone_mode.html
c/ Install the package the sets up the pseudo distributed configuration
Instructions http://archive.cloudera.com/docs/cdh2-pseudo-distributed.html
You should begin the above process with your system in a completely hadoop-free state to be sure the steps will work correctly. For example, if you have an entry for a hadoop user in your /etc/passwds file that is different to the one the config package wants to install, installation of the config package can fail. Furthermore, old items may have the wrong permissions which may cause later steps to fail. To find everything on your system you need to remove, do:
cd /
find -name "*hadoop*"
cd /etc
grep -R hadoop
Step 3: Prepare user "hadoop"
We are going to make it possible to login as user hadoop (or rather, do a sudo -i -u hadoop). This will make it possible to easily edit for example configuration files while keeping their owner as hadoop. We are also going to run HBase as user hadoop.
Change the following entry in /etc/passwd
hadoop:x:104:112:Hadoop User,,,:/var/run/hadoop-0.20:/bin/false
hadoop:x:104:112:Hadoop User,,,:/var/run/hadoop-0.20:/bin/bash
There is a lot of talk on the Web about setting up ssh for the hadoop user, so that hadoop can ssh to different nodes without specifying a password. I'm not sure that this is necessary any more, but the weight of recommendation (including here http://hadoop.apache.org/common/docs/current/quickstart.html) persuadesd me to do this anyway. So next:
# sudo -i -u hadoop
hadoop$ ssh-keygen -t dsa -P '' -f ~/.ssh/id_dsa
hadoop$ cat ~/.ssh/id_dsa.pub >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
Step 4: Configure hadoop
Open /etc/hadoop/conf/hadoop-env.sh and make sure your Java home is correctly set e.g.
export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun-184.108.40.206
Step 5: Test hadoop
Checkout the Web-based admin interfaces e.g.
Step 6: Install the HBase package
You need to download and install the latest version from http://www.apache.org/dyn/closer.cgi/hadoop/hbase/. Proceed as root as follows:
# cd ~
# wget http://apache.mirror.anlx.net/hadoop/hbase/hbase-0.20.3/hbase-0.20.3.tar.gz
# tar -xzf hbase-0.20.3.tar.gz
# mv hbase-0.20.3 /usr/lib
# cd /etc/alternatives
# ln -s /usr/lib/hbase-0.20.3 hbase-lib
# cd /usr/lib
# ln -s /etc/alternatives/hbase-lib hbase
# chown -R hadoop:hadoop hbase
Step 7: Configure HBase
Now, login as hadoop and go to its conf directory
# sudo -i -u hadoop
hadoop$ cd /usr/lib/hbase/conf
a/ Then update the Java classpath in hbase-env.sh, just like you did for hadoop-env.sh
b/ Inside hbase-site.xml, configure hbase.roodir and hbase.master. The result should look something like below, notes following:
<description>The directory shared by region servers.
Should be fully-qualified to include the filesystem to use.
E.g: hdfs://NAMENODE_SERVER:PORT/HBASE_ROOTDIR
<description>The host and port that the HBase master runs at.
1/ hbase.rootdir must specify a host and port number exactly the same as specified by fs.default.name inside /etc/hadoop/conf/core-site.xml. Basically it tells HBase where to find the distributed file system.
2/ hbase.master specifies the interface that the HBase master, or rather the Zookeeper instance HBase will start (more later) will listen on. It must be externally addressable for clients to connect. This is a good point to double-check the IP setup step at the beginning of this post.
Step 8: Start up HBase
If you have not already started hadoop, then start it e.g. as described by cloudera:
for service in /etc/init.d/hadoop-0.20-*
sudo $service start
Next, start HBase as the hadoop user:
hadoop$ /usr/lib/hbase/bin/start-hbase.sh
Step 9: Check HBase is up and running
Open up the HBase Web UI e.g. http://hbase.mycompany.com:60010
Step 10: Open HBase shell, create a table and column family
You need to login to hbase, and create a table and column family that will be used by the Java client example:
me$ /usr/lib/hbase/bin/hbase shell
hbase(main):001:0> create "myLittleHBaseTable", "myLittleFamily"
Step 11: Create Java client project
Create your sample Java client project with code, as described for example at http://hadoop.apache.org/hbase/docs/r0.20.3/api/index.html.
Next, you need to add a special hbase-site.xml file to its classpath. It should specify the ZooKeeper quorum (the minimum running ZooKeeper instances, in this case, your hbase server). The client contacts ZooKeeper to find out where the master, region servers etc are (ZooKeeper acts as a directory for clients, but it also acts a definitive description of the HBase cluster and synchronization system for its own nodes). Based upon the foregoing, the contents will look something like:
<description>The host and port that the HBase master runs at.
A value of 'local' runs the master and a regionserver in
a single process.
Step 12: Yeeeha. Build your Java client, and debug
Watch your e.g. NetBeans Ouput window for a trace of what is hopefully happening… welcome to the world of HBase


text:
Not Just Another Kitchen
The following story was sent to me by an Ohrnet reader:
Everyone always knew that Rabbi Nosson Tzvi was special. After all, there aren't many people who could take a yeshiva and build it up to a network of thousands of people who learn Torah. Not to mention the Rosh Yeshiva's severe case of Parkinson's which would have incapacitated anyone lesser than he. Nor does it take an ordinary man to proclaim, truthfully, that although he didn't manage to know every person who learnt in his yeshiva, he "loved every single one".
One man my husband stood next to at the levaya, proudly told my husband that he works in the kitchen in the Mir. "The kitchen in the Mir is like an extension of the Beit Midrash," he said, and elaborated with a story.
One Chanuka, a lady in the kitchen of the Mir was inspired to make latkes for the yeshiva. For hours she slaved over the potatoes and the hot oil, and she made a total of three thousand (!) latkes. She excitedly sent it up to the yeshiva dining room and then left for a break. Rabbi Nosson Tzvi saw the platters of latkes, and also saw that no one was eating them. Apparently, all those three thousand latkes were no good. Something had gone wrong in the recipe. Realizing how painful this would be to the cook, Rabbi Nosson Tzvi quickly called a caterer and ordered three thousand latkes. He paid for them. He discreetly had the bad latkes taken away and replaced with the new ones. It wasn't long before the three thousand were reduced to zero as word got out that they were really good. The fine young men, who were unaware of the drama behind the latkes, went to compliment the lady on the delicious Chanuka treat.
Which is why, the kitchen staffer told my husband, he loves working in the Mir kitchen. Because everyone that Rabbi Nosson Tzvi knew about was worthy of the same respect, time, compassion, and even money, that he was known to provide to his own students.


text:
Events post
6:00 pm – Qigong & Tai chi
This class is designed for both beginning and experienced students, and includes a variety of practices and forms for balance, flexibility, focus, strength, relaxation and enhanced breathing techniques. Students will learn Qigong Warmup, 8 Silk Brocades, Organ Cleansing/ Detox, Yang style Tai Chi short forms, and Tai Chi stick & sword in an active, fun and educational environment. Adults (and children under 18 accompanied by a parent or guardian) are welcome.
Tuesday @ Rec 6, Room 2
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Saturday @ Rec 3 (except for the last Saturday of each month)
10:00 am – 11:15 am
Saturday @ Rec 6 (only on the last Saturday of each month)
10:00 am – 11:15 am


text:
Sierra Nevada, skiing with sea views
Sierra Nevada
Skiing for all, beneath the Andalusian sun, with views of the coast. This could well sum up what it is like to ski at Sierra Nevada, in the stunning mountains of Granada. The privileged location of this Andalusian ski resort guarantees a high proportion of sunny days, even in mid-winter. This is not all, however. There are also a host of inviting activities to enjoy after a wonderful day's skiing.
Any skier, from beginner to expert, will want to keep coming back to Sierra Nevada. You only have to go once to see that it is one of the best ski resorts around. Can you imagine skiing down a piste with the warm rays of the sun on your face, as you look out over the stunning landscapes of the Nature Reserve that surrounds you? Well don't just imagine it. Come and experience this and much more in Granada's winter park.
It is Europe's southernmost ski resort, situated in southern Andalusia, at more than 3,000 m above sea level. It is the resort's geographical characteristics that give it ideal weather conditions for skiing: during much of the season there are wonderful sunny days. If you are a good skier, you should definitely go up to the Laguna and Veleta pistes. They are so high that, on a clear day, you can see the coast and the sea on both sides of the Mediterranean. This is a spectacular view that it is well worth recording forever in your memory.
Purist winter sports lovers will find a truly delectable environment here as well. The resort is located within the Sierra Nevada Nature Reserve, designated UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and National Hunting Reserve. All this alongside modern, quality, welcoming facilities that are designed for both beginners and for experts looking for intense, new sensations. They can try their hand at night skiing, a wonderful experience beneath the resorts stunning, star-filled sky.
The delights of Sierra Nevada do not finish when the pistes close, however. There are a host of après-ski activities on offer to round off a perfect day's skiing. Cinema, ice-skating, sledge rides, no end of shops, discos, bars and cafés where you can meet other visitors and skiers... These are just a few of the options on offer. There is no excuse for not getting stuck into the fun and enjoyment to be found all over the resort.
There are loads of reasons to come to Sierra Nevada. There are areas to be enjoyed by visitors of all ages. Make the most of the occasion to visit the Alhambra - the city of Granada is only 32 kilometres away. You can even have a swim in the sea if you like - the beach is just over 100 kilometres away.
You won't regret it.
Have you found this information useful?


text:
This Week's Theme: Harsh Realities
Web of Deception and What Must Be Hidden
When someone deceives you, these questions come to mind:
What's their motivation?
Who are they trying to deceive, and why?
What are they hiding, and why?
Who benefits if the lie is accepted as truth?
What are the consequences of the truth being revealed?
You and I and everyone else is being lied to on a grand scale, so we should be asking these questions. Here is a chart of what's being hidden:
The short answer to the above questions is simple; everyone generating huge profits from the debt-based shell-game which is the global economy is desperate to hide the truth from everyone who isn't colluding on the ill-gotten gains.
Let's consider each player and their lies.
1. The Federal Government: the Fed, Treasury, agencies and elected officials. The government is a huge beneficiary of debt-fueled prosperity: tax revenues rise, giving politicians more free candy to spread around to grease the palms of their wealthy contributors and distract the voters with entitlements and other free-spending goodies.
The nightmare scenario for any politician is a shrinking budget. when some budget item has to be cut, then some donor or constituency will be screaming. Not only is this unpleasant, it might cost the politico the next election. much better to lie and keep the debt machine rolling onward and upward.
How does the government deceive us? Let's count the ways.
Employment/Unemployment: Job hunters vanish without a trace after six months, and ghost jobs are created in the hundreds of thousands by a bogus "birth/death" model.
Inflation: As even the mainstream media is now admitting, official inflation is grossly manipulated to appear half of the true rate (3% vs. 6%). This lowers payments to those costly entitlement retirees and maintains the illusion that interest rates can be kept low because inflation is so low.
GDP: The GDP number always comes in "hot" and is usually revised downward later, when nobody's looking.
Federal Deficit: The Federal deficit contains a huge deception: the Social Security surplus is spent to offset current spending, reducing the "official deficit" by hundreds of billions each and every year. In exchange for these trillions, the Government issues the Social Security fund an IOU. The IOU is now about $4 trillion.
If this fiscal legerdemain were outlawed, then the true Federal deficit would be double or triple the "official" deficit.
"A strong dollar is in the interests of the nation." Hahaha... is that why you've engineered a 33% decline in our buying power since 2002 (the dollar index dropped from 120 to 80 in that time and is currently 78.) I'd hate to see what would happen if a weak dollar were in our interests.
All these accounting tricks serve one purpose: to deceive the citizenry and the world into believing the U.S. economy is stronger than it actually is.
2. The government has opened the floodgates of money and loosened banking regulations to help all those poor investment bankers. Regulators who should have provided oversight of the lending, mortgage and derivative markets have been idling away their time, doing anything but their job. Who's benefitted? Their pals churning all the origination fees, that's who.
3. The banks sold hundreds of billions in "safe investments" to institutions, domestic and foreign alike. Only now are the true risks and illiquidity of these SIVs, MBS, CDOs, etc. being revealed in the grim light of day.
4. Our trading partners who export vast quantities of goods to the U.S. (and who run stupendous trade deficits with the U.S.) have bought trillions in U.S. debt to keep us afloat. Since Americans don't save anything, somebody has to give them a credit card to fund all that spending.
So what's hidden? How utterly dependent the U.S. is on foreign buyers of Treasuries and debt to keep U.S. interest rates low. That's another little wink-wink, of course; when the Fed slashed the Fed Funds rate a half-a percentage point, headlines blared "Fed Cuts Interest Rate." Meanwhile, back at the Long-Term Interest Rate Ranch, 30-year mortgage rates actually went higher after the Fed's cut. Huh? Yes, that's right--because the market sets the long-term interest rates, not the Fed. Not that you'll ever read much about that, though.
So the "debt junkies" in the U.S. get their "fix" of abundant, low-interest debt from the "pushers" who need the junkie to keep buying exports and oil.
5. Exporters weaken their own currencies to keep goods affordable to the U.S. debt junkies. No matter how low the U.S. dollar sinks, the Japanese Yen and the Chinese Yuan stay at about the same exchange rate. Curious, isn't it? The Euro rises, the Canadian dollar rises, the Swiss Franc rise, but the Yen drops and the Yuan nudges up a couple percent.
The Pushers are happy to keep the cost of their "product" affordable to the hapless debt junkie. Manipulating Forex (foreign exchange) rates and sopping up another trillion in U.S. debt--hey, it's all in a day's work to keep the exporting profits rolling in.
6. The biggest supplier of debt junkies--a.k.a. debt serfs--is the real estate industry. Debt serfs couldn't believe their good fortune: not only were their houses rising in value at a fast clip (a rise fueled by subprime mortgages and "no document" loans), but banks and mortgage brokers were happy to loan them stupendous sums of practically free money on their rising equity to buy more furniture, flat-screen TVs, additions, carpeting, and heck, a second or third "investment property" ( i.e. speculative leveraging to buy more real estate.)
Whoo-hee, it doesn't get any better than HELOC (home equity line of credit) Heaven. And the lenders were happy to keep it all going onward and upward--the origination fees and re-finance fees were in the billions.
As for financial trickery--the real estate industry is a master. Sales figures for new and existing house look great--and then the number of escrows that actually closed is released quietly much later--a much lower number. Listing are "refreshed" so potential buyers won't see the original asking price or how many months the house has been on the market. Buyers were told they could refinance their option-ARM loans into a fixed rate virtually any time they chose to; not true, but so what? The buyer signed and the origination fee was pocketed. Yeah for our team!
7. The key was the astounding creation of new money via lending. OK, you're a bank. You need a paltry 1% cash reserve. So bank $1 million in deposits and you can write $100 million in new loans tomorrow, created right out of thin air.
But what a bother to be limited to a mere 100-fold leverage. So sell that first $100 million to a European bank as an SIV (structured investment vehicle) which puts it off-balance sheet--then write another $100 million in new loans. Rinse and Repeat. Is there any wonder that banks are terrified of the merry-go-round being shut down?
8. All that free cash from newly enriched homeowners spread everywhere: into more real state, SUVs, vacations, and even into the stock market. And since the market never goes down, it's also "safe" to margin your account and buy 50% more stock than you could have with only cash (which was borrowed off your house).
And to maintain the illusion of growing profits, corporations cook their books a la Enron. The game is still being played; liabilities are shunted off the balance sheet, profits are goosed with phony pro-forma numbers and trickery, analysts' estimates are magically exceeded every quarter by a penny, and insiders rake off hundreds of millions in stock option profits while the gullible debt serfs plow their 401K and IRA contributions into the market at the very top, having foolishly believed the insiders' accounting.
9. Investment banks have written hundreds of trillions of stock market derivatives--for nice plump fees, of course. What's the risk? Why, the market is safer now with all these derivatives floating around out there marked to model/myth/back-of-this-envelope.
10. And through it all, the mainstream media--endlessly worried about its own profitability-- soaked up hundreds of millions in advertising revenues from every business benefitting from the debt bubble. Realtors, furniture sales, home improvement stores, you name it--even as ad income from classified employment ads disappeared, these stalwarts of the debt/housing bubble economy were happy to spend millions on print and broadcast ads.
Which explains why the media has been asleep at the wheel until things are so obvious even they can't ignore them any longer. The media discovered the housing bubble a mere 18 months after it broke, and it is now discovering that inflation--I'm shocked, just shocked-- does not reflect reality.
What happens to media revenue and profits when the recession takes down their advertisers? And that's why the media and everyone else has kept all the web of deception under wraps as long as possible--because once the wheels finally fall off, so do their immense profits.
Correspondent Zeus Y. submitted a link and a comment which reveals how the financial deception has been disseminated as propaganda; even as the numbed citizenry are brainwashed into how "prosperous" they are, reality intrudes:
"The Karl Roves think they can "create" reality by simply gulling people into believing that what is good for Wall Street is good for everyone, and then bemoan the liberal media for getting people to be "irrationally" pessimistic as they are having to make choices between bread and heat. Man, something here is screwed up and it isn't the people who are suffering."
What used to last four days might last half that long now. Pay the gas bill, but skip breakfast. Eat less for lunch so the kids can have a healthy dinner.
Across the nation, Americans are increasingly unable to stretch their dollars to the next payday as they juggle higher rent, food and energy bills. It's starting to affect middle-income working families as well as the poor, and has reached the point of affecting day-to-day calculations of merchants like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., 7-Eleven Inc. and Family Dollar Stores Inc.
Pantries that distribute food to the needy are reporting severe shortages and reduced government funding at the very time that they are seeing a surge of new people seeking their help.
While economists debate whether the country is headed for a recession, some say the financial stress is already the worst since the last downturn at the start of this decade.
From Family Dollar to Wal-Mart, merchants have adjusted their product mix and pricing accordingly. Sales data show a marked and more prolonged drop in spending in the days before shoppers get their paychecks.
Does that sound like "prosperity," "low inflation," a "growing economy," and "a strong dollar" to you? Frequent contributor Michael Goodfellow sent in this disturbing financial fact:
An article in yesterday's Financial Times said that, "Only $9.9 billion of home equity loan securitizations have come to market since July 1---A 95% DECLINE FROM THE $200.9 BILLION IN THE FIRST HALF OF THIS YEAR AND A ROUGHLY 92% DECREASE FROM THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR."
Funny, isn't it, how little notice that stunning contraction received in our media.
There is something you can do to stop the financial deception juggernaut. Astute readers Charley R. and Graham M. recommended the petition analyst Karl Denninger has started, Financial Petition. Karl's blog Market Ticker has been listed in my right sidebar for many moons, and Karl is one of my heroes for starting this campaign to end financial deception.
You can also write your congressperson a personal letter; their staff supposedly give more weight to private letters than petitions. You can find congressional addresses via a web search.
Thank you, Rudy B., ($20.00) for your generous and much appreciated donation to this humble site. I am greatly honored by your support and readership. All contributors are listed below in acknowledgement of my gratitude.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
This Week's Theme: Harsh Realities
Terms of Service
Correspondents' email is strictly confidential. This site does not collect digital data from visitors or distribute cookies. Advertisements served by third-party advertising networks such as Adsense and Investing Channel may use cookies or collect information from visitors for the purpose of Interest-Based Advertising; if you wish to opt out of Interest-Based Advertising, please go to Opt out of interest-based advertising (The Network Advertising Initiative)
If you have other privacy concerns relating to advertisements, please contact advertisers directly. Websites and blog links on the site's blog roll are posted at my discretion.


text:
Water Damage Restoration in Stamford, Connecticut
If you have experienced water damage in Stamford, Connecticut, you've come to the right place. Restoration 1 of Fairfield County has been drying and restoring Stamford water-damaged properties since 2015. Give us a call at (888) 599-5535 now and let us expertly resolve your water damage and your worries.
Swift Stamford Water Damage Response
We know that time is of the essence when you've experienced water damage in your Stamford property. Within just 24 hours after a leak or flood, microbes can begin to grow, and structural integrity of your building can become compromised. The affected areas must be dried quickly and thoroughly. When you call Restoration 1 of Fairfield County, our technicians will be on the scene quickly begin the process of rectifying the situation.
The Restoration 1 of Fairfield County Stamford Water Damage Cleanup Process:
- Access the damage
- Contain the problem
- Make the area safe
- Thoroughly dry affected areas
- Restore to prior condition
Seamless Water Damage Service in Stamford
Because Restoration 1 of Fairfield County has been a leading Stamford Water Damage Restoration Company since 2015, you'll get the professional service and quick response time that you need. Your biggest investment has been damaged, and we understand the importance of containing the problem and helping you with a solid remedy. Our Stamford water damage restoration crew is standing by to handle your call. We'll arrive on the scene quickly to assess the damage and come up with a solution at a reasonable price. From start to finish, we'll be with you every step of the way until your property has been restored to it's original condition.
Call for a Free Consultation Over the Phone
(888) 599-5535
★★★★★ - "Thank you for finishing the work so quickly!"
Terry B., Water Damage Restoration in Stamford, CT2019-12-16
★★★★★ - "In the last 2 years I have used Restoration 1 of Fairfield County for cleaning and air quality control. Great company."
Jospeh S., Indoor Air Quality in Stamford, CT2019-04-12
★★★★★ - "Professional fair priced and get the job done ! Highly Recommend"
Richard S., Water Damage Restoration in New Canaan, CT2019-05-20
★★★★★ - "They are EXPERTS! This team not only solved our very stressful problem, they educated us and put our minds at ease. Their professionalism and through work had our home back to normal in just a matter of hours! It was the most efficient and cost effective solution. I HIGHLY recommend them if it ever happens to you!! Awesome company!"
Anhtuan N., Water Damage Restoration in Greenwich, CT2019-04-12
★★★★★ - "Thank you for your patience while our flood insurance claim was processed. We appreciate all the work that you did for us and with us during our difficult time back in September. We will never forget your kindness and support.
Happy New Years"
Moly B., Water Damage Restoration in Wilton, CT2019-01-02
★★★★★ - "I just wanted to say thank you to you and your staff for making a difficult situation much easier and much more pleasant. I really appreciate your professional, courteous manners and the way you handled the entire job. Thank you again and I hope you enjoy the rest of the summer."
Donna in New York2018-08-27
★★★★★ - "Restoration 1 of Fairfield County are not only great at their profession but a genuinely kind and helpful people. They spent the appropriate amount of time doing a thorough inspection and evaluation. They offered realistic recommendations for the remediation. Precision is also professional and reasonably priced. I highly recommend them!"
Meera D., Mold Testing in New Canaan, CT2019-04-12
★★★★★ - "Thank you so much Restoration 1!!! Your professionalism and genuine care for your clients is impeccable! You've gained a lifetime customer and a lifetime of referrals based on your outstanding service! I will recommend this company to anyone who is seeking a detailed professional mold inspection. My family and I had been getting sick for months and had no clue it was linked to the mold/moisture in our home. Thank you, thank you for being honest and upfront about the condition our of home in order for us to urgently seek alternate living arrangements. Words cannot explain how very thankful My husband and I are with your services."
Jack T., Mold Remediation in Belle Haven, CT2019-04-12
★★★★★ - "Came quickly to remove the mold.Highly recommend! Now we are mold free."
Jessika H., Mold Remediation in New Canaan, CT2019-04-12
★★★★★ - "Thank you for all the work on our new home."
Sean D., Mold Remediation in Wilton, CT2018-09-05
★★★★★ - "Did a great job at a fair price! Thank you, Restoration 1! Great mold removal experts. Tests were done accurately very professionally done."
Robert K., Mold Testing2018-03-09
★★★★★ - "Restoration1 of Fairfield County responded right away to my call. Water flooded the basement. They are truly professional and friendly. I am glad our plumber recommended them. Water Gone. Problem Solved!"
Jim in Fairfield, CT
★★★★★ - "Rufino know's his stuff. He is a man you can count on to be thorough and thoughtful and there when you need him. His restoration company is a first class operation. I have seen the back end operations and know just how solid a foundation his operations are built on. I recommend Rufino and Restoration! at the top level excellence and service."
James Hisey II, Water Damage Restoration in New York City, NY
★★★★★ - "The guys from Restoration 1 saved Me from a mold disaster in My basement , that I made worse by trying to do it myself. true life savers. Thanks Guys."
Yosef B., Mold Remediation in Bridgeport, CT
★★★★★ - "Restoration 1 came out early Sunday morning to help us with a water issue from a broken pipe. They responded in less than an hour. Great customer service."
Janice and Scott K., Emergency Water Removal in Newtown, CT
★★★★★ - "Your immediate response and efficient solution to my problem is to be commended. I greatly appreciate the fact that my property as well as my well being was of great concern to you and your team. Thank you again."
Ms. Georgette, Mold Remediation in Danbury, CT
★★★★★ - "I was traveling outside the country and received a call from my neighbor. My neighbor informed me that my basement was flooded with 3 feet of water. I called my insurance agent and they recommended Restoration 1. They were there quickly and worked thru the night to remove the water. Great team of guys to help Us from start to finish."
John T., Emergency Water Removal in Darien, CT


text:
My list of 10 Picture Books I Couldn't Teach Without is posted at
Cathy Mere, author of MORE THAN GUIDED READING and blogger at Reflect and Refine: Building a Learning Community, in cooperation with Mandy at Enjoy and Embrace Learning, invited/challenged members of the Kidlitosphere blogging community to come up with ten picture books they couldn't teach without. Please visit my other blog especially for educators to see which titles I chose...and to devise your own "if I were on a desert island" collection! You can also use this wonderful "Jog the Blog" feature to easily browse ALL the top ten lists of ALL the participants! What fun.
Meanwhile, the schoolbell's ringing! Readers, please line up for some middle-grade novels that will really stretch your thinking.FICTION
ME AND ROLLY MALOO by Janet S. Wong (Charlesbridge, 2010)
Jenna Lee is a smart, math-loving fourth grader, but is frowned upon by the more popular girls in her class (and their mothers) for being slightly shabby and idiosyncratic. Queen Bee Rolly Maloo concedes to some limited friendship with Jenna, though, when it means she can ask for an answer on a high-stakes test. When Mrs. Pie busts them in the act of cheating, it is the beginning of a turn of events that can send Jenna Lee into a downward spiral...unless a few loyal classmates speak out, and a teacher in a compromising position can solve the mystery behind the misbehavior. Cheating makes for an engaging subject, but beyond that, many complex issues are addressed here with honesty, age-appropriateness and aplomb: economic class prejudice, the pressures and impact of high-stakes testing on school communities, the difference between tattling and protecting, and the effect of parental gossip. All of this is done in a completely fresh format, a hybrid of straight prose and graphic novel that wholly compliments each other; thought balloons and conversations in illustrated form sometimes alternate with the prose, other times run parallel, always offering insights, contradictions and inner thoughts of the children (of both genders), the teacher, the principal and the parents, each informing decisions that move the plot and begs the question: what would you have done? Moreover, the author does something that is very rare in children's intermediate fiction: she includes the grown-ups. Children in real life overhear what adults say, and their lives are impacted daily by the decisions large and small that adults make. Likewise, in this work of realistic fiction, young readers can see what the grown-ups are thinking, and why they do what they do...whether right or wrong. Ultimately, the conflict is resolved believably to the reader's satisfaction, even happily and hopefully as Jenna's mom finds a new start with a baking business, and manages to "stick it" to the woman who thought the worst of her daughter. At no point is the young reader underestimated here, and this is a book about decisions that is sure to be widely enjoyed for its format and widely discussed for its content. While challenging to read aloud, it's sure to create conversation, making it a a stupendous choice for book clubs and classroom sets, and an engaging read for individual fans of classroom stories and realistic fiction as well. Ultimately a tool for the empathetic imagination, in turning her talents toward the middle-grade novel, this versatile poet and picture book author has turned out the best work of her career. (8 and up)
Also of interest:
MARY MAE AND THE GOSPEL TRUTH by Sandra Dutton (Houghton Mifflin, 2010)
"Them stripes in the hills," I say. "Shows all the different ages of the earth. You can't see it now. It's way back."
Now Mama's mood just gets worse. "Ain't no different ages."
I don't know what she's talking about. "Why not?" I say.
Mama don't answer right away. She says to Granny, "I swear, them teachers ought to stick with spelling and numbers."
Mary Mae's teacher is not sticking to spelling and numbers, but instead, presents an enthusiastic unit on the Ordovician age, fostering an interest in trilobites and archeology well-matched to Mary Mae's budding curiosity about the natural world. But this fifty thousand year old history doesn't jive with the evangelical view of the world as six thousand years old, and from Mary Mae's mother's point of view, threatens her eternal soul. Mary Mae's tendency to ask "why?" trickles over into Sunday School, and when her fossil collection and essay titled "Interview with a Trilobite" are discovered, Mama reacts with a decision to homeschool, even though teaching is definitely not mama's forté. Mary Mae is frustrated, and wonders, is there any way she can find a balance between what she must believe and what she longs to learn? Perhaps her participation in the church's Noah's Ark puppet show will give voice to the balance that is in her heart. Dutton does a fairly brilliant job of respecting both sides of a prickly argument. The church's loving embrace of its congregants, eager to celebrate and give thanks for good news conveys a great warmth ("Jonathan Safer jumps up. 'I got a B on my history test.' ''Praise the Lord!' Everybody yells. 'Amen!'"), as does her secular teacher's desire to accommodate ("I'm sorry,' says Miss Sizemore. 'I wish I'd known. You know, I could have given you different assignments, the why I do Shirley Whirly.' 'Nope,' I say. 'I like science. I want what everybody else gets.' Then I get a lump so big in my throat I can't even talk"). Both are sensitively drawn, and the character of Grandma, who sees the wonder of her maker in all things, serves as a central pillar to both ends of the scale. The detail, lack of cynicism and inherent contemplation of this novel could have only been written by somebody who has experienced both sides of the coin. As the daughter of two Sunday school teachers in Ohio, the author says, "I wrote this book for kids like me who love discovering things, whether the Bible, the backyard, or a history book. I want them to have the courage to ask questions." In a storm where sometimes two grown-ups sides rage, the likable, high-spirited child character remains central. Teachers: the only thing I balked at in the book was a linguistically colloquial reference to a woman's breasts, which I chalked up to regionalism, worth being aware of but not a deterrent for collection development. Readers of all faith backgrounds and educational backgrounds will sympathize with and like Mary Mae, and find plenty to discuss. Provocative in the very best way, this is a brave and timely book that leaves you the better for having read it. (10 and up)
THE WITCHY WORRIES OF ABBIE ADAMS by Rhonda Hayter (Dial, 2010) It's hard to resist a good witchy-poo story, and Abbie makes for quite the endearing heroine, with the focus on magic instead of malice as she tries to survive school among her regular human classmates, from whom she must hide her unusual skills and identity. Pros of being Abbie: with a special talent for time travel (and freezing time, when necessary), she is able to do her history homework using primary sources. Cons: little brother is a pain (and uses his magic powers against his teacher when given a time-out), keeping secrets from best friends is no fun, auditions for a school play is causing jitters, and, yes, the kitten her father brought home as a pet is actually Thomas Edison under a spell. Normal stuff like that. The author's background in movie production is apparent in this debut, each chapter episodically framed in thirty-three short chapters that move cinematically through the story arc. The real magic of this book is that history is woven through the novel absolutely painlessly, and just as Abbie's many interesting relatives make appearances throughout, this is a book the whole family can enjoy. The breezy pace, believable preteen voice (and vulnerability), good humor, eye of newt and toe of frog will work a spell of confidence-building success for reluctant readers. Of all the varied problems Abbie Adams might have, finding friends in contemporary readers should not be one of them. My favorite witchy school story since DIARY OF A FAIRY GODMOTHER. But of course, in that case, I was biased. (10 and up)
Also, please check don't forget one of my favorite school stories of last year, EXTRA CREDIT by Andrew Clements, a great story and a springboard for international learning and activities! I would like thirty copies, please (along with a classroom set of Mitali Perkins' RICKSHAW GIRL). Click for reviews, and many more solid intermediate picks.
Links are provided for informational use. Don't forget to support your local bookseller.
More Esmé stuff at www.planetesme.com.


text:
Standard 7(a) Evaluation Criteria
To be considered for a 7(a) loan, applicants must meet certain eligibility requirements. These requirements are designed to be as broad as possible so the program can accommodate the most diverse variety of small business financing needs.
What SBA Looks For:
Operate as a for-profit company.
Do business (or propose to) in the United States or its possessions.
Meet SBA Size Standards.
Be an eligible type of business. While the vast majority of businesses are eligible for financial assistance from the SBA, some are not. Check this list of Eligible and Ineligible Types of Businesses to see if your company qualifies.
Plan to use proceeds for an approved purpose. 7(a) loan proceeds may be used to establish a new business or to assist in the operation, acquisition or expansion of an existing business. This list explains Eligible and Ineligible Use of Proceeds.
Not have funds available from other sources. SBA does not extend financial assistance to businesses when the financial strength of the individual owners or the company itself is sufficient to provide all or part of the financing. Both business and personal financial resources are reviewed as part of the eligibility criteria. If these resources are found to be excessive, the business will be required to use those resources in lieu of part or all of the requested loan proceeds.
Ability to repay the loan on time from the projected operating cash flow of the business.
Good character. SBA obtains a "Statement of Personal History" from the principals of each applicant firm to determine if they have historically shown the willingness and ability to pay their debts and whether they have abided by the laws of their community.
Management expertise and commitment necessary for success.
Feasible business plan


text:
"The effect of the new translation, which should be applauded, is to make Beauvoir more herself. . . still lively, still apropos." –Slate
"This is the edition Beauvoir herself would have wanted, one so true to the original that we can hear her voice in the text. Borde and Malovany-Chevallier's new translation is long overdue, and it is a triumph." —Margaret Simons, Distinguished Research Professor Emerita, Southern Illinois University
"[Borde and Malovany-Chevallier's translation] can be read with confidence, enlightenment, and pleasure. . . . A significant step forward and a remarkable achievement. So if you're one of those people who always meant to read The Second Sex—why not now?" —Women's Review of Books
"From Eve's apple to Virginia Woolf's room of her own, Beauvoir's treatise remains an essential rallying point, urging self-sufficiency and offering the fruit of knowledge."
"[A] long-awaited achievement." –"Book Bench," newyorker.com