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This is serious stuff and it's so easy to use!
This plastic polish is used by NASA and the Air Force. In fact, it's mandated for use on the B1B Stealth Bomber to clean, polish and protect the canopy. That's a $300,000.00 canopy!

  • Just spray it on any clear or colored plastic surface and wipe with a clean cloth
  • Penetrates and lifts even the most difficult stain without damaging the fragile surface of the plastic
  • Anti-static - it repels the dust and dirt normally attracted to plastic
  • Leaves an invisible, micro-thin layer of protection, sealing the porous surface, making it more resistant to dirt, dust and other contaminants
  • Regular use will help prevent hazing, yellowing and oxidation which diminishes the plastic's luster, strength and appearance
  • You'll also love how water beads and slides right off your bike when it rains!

  • Plexus Plastic Cleaners Product Reviews
    Review this Product  for a chance to win a $100 gift card.

    pleasant suprise - Bob F.   PA Recommended by Reviewer: Yes
    Pros: works great, easy to use
    Cons: cost

    I just tried it and it works great as many of the reviews indicated. It is expensive but then all good things cost more and I'll see how long a can last. If it can last a season, it won't be bad.

    It works....shiny and clear all day long. - scratches be gone   CA Recommended by Reviewer: Yes
    Pros: Improves scratches, works on helmets, visors, windshieds, bike parts
    Cons: No cons so far

    I used product as soon as I got it. I used it on my helmets, both bikes, windshields, fenders, bags, mirrors, chrome. Everything was shiny and clear after finishing. I applied once, cleaned with soft cloth I got cloth being sold along with Plexus cleaner. Then I applied a second coat immediately to test if visors and windshields improved after first coat. It improved and I was sold. I got the big can of Plexus and when that runs out I will be getting another right away. Definitely works.

    Great stuff - Robert   GA Recommended by Reviewer: Yes
    Pros: Excellent product for OEM windscreens
    Cons: expensive

    The bike dealer mentioned this product when I pick up a Kawasaki C14. This bike has a large windscreen and I noticed some very light fine scratches after washing.This stuff will clean the windscreen and helps make bug removal on the next wash easier. After washing the bike and very lightly washing the windscreen with lots of water, I polish it with Plexus. The windscreen will look like it just came out of the showroom...Avoid over-spray on the surrounding plastic as it will leave a coating and makes a mess of the mirrors.

    This stuff works - Jeff   NY Recommended by Reviewer: Yes
    Pros: cleans easily and does a great job on multiple surfaces
    Cons: na

    This product is amazing...cleans windshields and other surfaces easily.

    Worth the price - Craig E   FL Recommended by Reviewer: Yes
    Pros: Still the best.
    Cons: Cost

    If I were to add up all the other products I have wasted my time and money on, well...yes it is worthwhile the higher price tag. Ive tried everything, and keep coming back. The large can will last about a year on my three bikes. I use it on the entire bike except grips and tires. I carry it with me to clean my front end when I reach my destination. Easily cleans the love bugs here in Florida. Highly recommended.

    Multi-purpose polisher - popeye   ON Recommended by Reviewer: Yes
    Pros: Fast working plastic wax polish
    Cons: cost, reapply after a month.

    Have used it for 15 years. Excellent on plastic items, also good on paint clear coat. Too gentle to be used as a liquid sand paper but it does gently polish rough edges with a more abrasive cloth. I also use it to fix scratched CD's, DVD, BD's with microfibre and it works very nicely. Restores surfaces and protects after the cleaning from further scratches. It 100 works as advertised.

    Cleaner - RebusJ   SC Recommended by Reviewer: Yes
    Pros: Works great
    Cons: None

    I first bought this product while on a trip out west from a dealer in Utah, used it all the way back to South Caroline and it worked great for getting the bugs off the windshield and face shield. Still use it back home.

    Plexis up - 365247 Rider   OH Recommended by Reviewer: Yes
    Pros: EEEasy to use
    Cons: Have'nt found any.

    Keeps your bike looking new forever, windshields the same, plus it repels rain very well. Removes BUG CRUD to.

    Good stuff - SPP   TN Recommended by Reviewer: Yes
    Pros: Easy to use and great protection.
    Cons: Pricey.

    An easy way to protect windscreens.

    clear vision - Craig   PA Recommended by Reviewer: Yes
    Pros: Works really well
    Cons: price

    Best product for cleaningpolishing face shield. Expensive but worth the clear vision.

    Windscreen Cleaner - Windscreen Cleaner   IN Recommended by Reviewer: Yes
    Pros: Gets screen clean and leaves screen coated so next time is easy enough to clean.
    Cons: Does leave a film,

    Have been using Plexus since I have owned bikes and it works to do the job it was designed to do. Gives maximum opportunity to extend the life of your windscreen.

    Cleans everything plastic - Travman   GA Recommended by Reviewer: Yes
    Pros: Will clean anything plastic
    Cons: Expensive

    I use this to clean the windshield, the plastic fairing , fenders, helmets, and anything else that is plastic on the bike. Some metal part too. A little spray can go a long way. Best stuff I've used.

    PLEXUS IS THE TITS - JohnnyKLR650   NY Recommended by Reviewer: Yes
    Pros: Perfect for plasticpainted parts
    Cons: When it runs out...

    Best wax for bikes EVER Quick & Easy... Spray and wipe away... Shines everything like new PLEXUS IS THE TITS

    does the job - jrs   ID Recommended by Reviewer: Yes
    Pros: great for bugs, no streaks,
    Cons: price

    I've used Plexus for years and it is by far the best shield cleaner I have used. It is really good at removing bugs. A can will last all year.

    Plexus and the others - MIkeR   OH Recommended by Reviewer: Yes
    Pros: Of all the plastic polishes I've used, this is the best.
    Cons: High price

    Novus plastic polish used to be the benchmark product for me. It was hands-down better than the other offerings and less expensive than most. Then, I discovered Plexus. There is no comparison. Plexus is best. But Plexus costs a lot more. In addition, Novus appears to have changed its formulation and doesn't do as good a job on plastic Lexan and Plexiglass as it did just a few years ago.

    PLEXUS makes cleaning your bike a breeze! Leaves all plastics looking clean and removes minor scratches and sun swirls.... Best product that I have found!!!

    foxiefive - foxiefive   NY Recommended by Reviewer: Yes
    Pros: small can fits in tank bag easily.
    Cons: [None]

    Works great...does not leave scratches or streaks if used with microfiber cloth.

    Plexus WaxCleaner - Stinky   CT Recommended by Reviewer: Yes
    Pros: Excellent product for keeping your bike protected from sun and rain
    Cons: Sightly expensive, maybe they can make a hand spay application

    Cleaner - Alan   MS Recommended by Reviewer: Yes
    Pros: Great product
    Cons: To expensive

    Good cleaner and smells good, just to expensive.

    Plexus Plasstic Cleaner - alafan5490   AL Recommended by Reviewer: No
    Pros: [None]
    Cons: This clearner does not work.

    I would not recommend this product as it does not work. Reminds me of Lemon Pledge and smells the same. May buy a can of that to try. But no, did not cover even the small marks or clean the plastics. Sorry on this one.

    Part Number Status for Plexus Plastic Cleaners
    Options SKU Retail Price Our Price Availability
    7oz Plexus Plastic Cleaner 53-1101 $19.99 $15.99 Usually Ships in 1-3 Business Days
    13oz Plexus Plastic Cleaner 53-1100 $26.99 $21.99 Usually Ships in 1-3 Business Days

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If you're looking for dental and vision benefit products that command the attention of business owners and benefits administrators, you'll find them at CompBenefits. We offer a full line of dental plans from pre-paid dental to PPOs to indemnity and discount plans. We also offer hybrid dental plans – Access and AdvantagePlus – that combine sought-after features of multiple types of plans. Our Vision Care Plan has helped people throughout the country with their eye-health needs since 1968, and is sure to catch your clients' eyes.

Selling HumanaOne Individual Dental and Vision Plans (formerly CompBenefits Direct)
  • To sell HumanaOne Standalone Individual Dental and Vision plans, you need to get contracted and appointed with Humana. To do so, you will need to contact your local sales office. Please visit to find your local sales office.

  • After you are contracted and appointed, you will receive more information regarding your personal URL link and how to receive commissions.
Agent Resources:

  • – Click on this link to get more information about CompBenefits Group products.

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  • Direct Deposit Request form – Complete this form if you are currently receiving your commission checks via mail and would like to change to direct deposit.

  • Frequently Asked Questions – We have surveyed our agent service representatives to find the answers to some of your important questions.

  • Provider Search – Use this link to search for providers for a prospective client.

  • Individual Application – Your clients can sign up for an individual dental plan online simply by following the links from your HumanaOne Dental agent page and completing our online enrollment form. This way, sales commissions automatically roll over to you, the agent.

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text:
Last month, music legend/late-night television personality/drummer for the Roots Questlove donned his best tweed jacket and started teaching a class entitled Classic Albums at NYU. There are only a couple dozen insanely lucky students in the class, but NYULocal just published a lengthy interview with ?uesto and co-professor Harry Weinger for the rest of us.

Amongst his many insights, Professor Questlove discussed his idea of a masterpiece:

A masterpiece is like a 4 ½ star review. I like those way better – journalists who know me know I hate perfect reviews. 4 ½ is the best you can get because once you get a 5 or a perfect or a 10.0 you dissect it and it’s too scrutinized. A 4 ½ star review or a 9.2 is just close enough to perfection where it’s not going to get scrutinized or run into the ground.

The seven records on which his class will focus:

Lady Soul, My Life, Here My Dear, There’s A Riot Going On, Off The
, It’ll Take A Whole Nation To Hold Us Back, 3 Feet High And
, Dirty Mind and Paul’s Boutique.

Whether he asks his students to call him Questlove or Professor Thompson:

Questlove: I just have them call me Questlove – again, I don’t want
the hierarchy title like I’m the king and you’re my subjects because
we’re all learning together.

And then there’s this enticing exchange to close out the interview:

NYU Local: Any word on the D’Angelo album? I heard he may appear at a Brooklyn Bowl show.
Questlove: They announced that already?
NYU Local: It’s a rumor going around.
Questlove: Nice rumor! [Laughs] On that note, I have to go to class.
NYU Local: Any legitimacy to it?
Questlove: I don’t know…. It’s definitely not in February, but at Brooklyn Bowl on Thursday nights I can do whatever I want. I’ve asked a lot of luminaries. I have someone – not D’Angelo – that I’m trying to pull a coup on to perform there. They’re of god status and they’re considering it.
NYU Local: Professor King just gave me a copy of the D’Angelo reissues and I’ve been playing it nonstop.
Questlove: Wait until you hear the new album.

Read the rest of the interview right here and start dreaming up ways to break into the Clive Davis Institute before the end of the semester.

[via NYULocal]


text:
Meghan McCain, the daughter of Senior United States Senator and former Republican presidential candidate John McCain, is appearing in Playboy this month. But wait, before you hastily open Google to find pictures from her shoot to laugh or gawk or whatever at, we should mention that she is fully clothed and merely interviewed for their "20 Questions" feature in the magazine.

Kind of a letdown, but her answers are kind of amusing nonetheless, and give us a lot of insight into who exactly Meghan is. For instance, she is "strictly dickly."

PLAYBOY: Say a little more about the hanging-out-in-bed-with-girlfriends part.

MCCAIN: Watch it, mister. My friends from home came over to support me, and we got in my parents' big bed. They have this huge California king and we just stayed up eating ice cream. I'm not a lesbian, if that's what you're asking. I'd be the first person to tell the world I was gay. I'm not private about anything. I think you should live how you should live. But I'm strictly dickly. I can't help it. I love sex and I love men.

The interview does cover her reaction to the infamous 2008 election, which saw her father lose presidency of the United State to Democratic candidate Barack Obama. She says:

PLAYBOY: Do you have any tips for the offspring of campaigners on the election trail?

MCCAIN: Get sleep, be nice and shut up. I wasn’t always a peach to be around. I could have been nicer to the Secret Service and some staffers, and I voiced my opinion way too much. It’s really stressful, though. The day before Election Day, I almost overdosed on Xanax. I had gained a lot of weight. I went up four sizes thanks to Starbucks and Snickers. Obamamania was at its height. I ended up going to Sedona with my girlfriends. All we did was play Rock Band for days and days and eat and sleep and hang out in bed watching TV. I was done.

So, there you have it. If you're still interested (really? why?) you can read the rest of the interview here.

[via Gawker]


text:
If all of you sneakerheads were excited about laying eyes on next years "Powder Blue" Air Jordan X retro, then seeing this retro release that is scheduled for February may just put you over the top. Having last been on the sneaker scene back in June 2010, as a part of the "Infrared Red" Pack, the folks over at Jordan have commissioned the equally popular "White/Infrared" colorway to be a part of next years retro run. Judging by this coloways retro success from three years ago, history will definitely be working in its favor come 2014.

Air Jordan VI

[via Sneakernews/Nikeblog]


text:
Cam Newton wants to appear on the cover of Madden 13. Bad. How bad? Well, apparently bad enough to release this video that features last year's NFL Rookie of the Year going on and ooooooon for more than seven minutes about why he deserves it. He talks shit to Calvin Johnson—the guy he'll face off against in the finals of the fan vote for the Madden cover—he provides us with a tour of his gaming room, and he even gives out his XBOX 360 and PS3 gamer tags (theACEboog1e and CAMdaGREATx2, respectively) and asks fans to challenge him to a game so he can prove why he deserves to rep for Madden next season. Guess we were wrong. Because after watching this, we'll be shocked if Cam doesn't take home the cover. Well played.

[via Rant Sports]

Follow @Complex_Sports for more news and commentary.


text:
For the last year or so, we've heard nothing but bad news about Vince Young. From his alleged money issues to his troubles getting back into the NFL, it's been one bad thing after another for VY. But today, we finally have some good news to report!

Earlier today, Young graduated from the University of Texas. It took him seven long years. But this semester, VY finally earned the last of the 30 credit hours that he needed to complete his degree in Youth and Community Studies when he left Texas for the NFL in 2006. And he's glad his journey is finally over.

"This will rank No. 1 because it is what I came to school for," he told CBS Sports. "I came here to get an education and to win a national championship. And now, I get to put that smile on my mom's face."

Good for him. It would have been easy—real easy—for VY to fold about a year ago and let his dreams of earning a degree die. But he kept at it and finally has something to show for all the hard work he put in at UT. You get an A for effort, Vince. Job well done.

RELATED: The Many Struggle Faces of Broke Athletes

[via CBS Sports]


text:
Over the course of the next few weeks, you're going to see and hear dozens and dozens of NBA predictions. But we're willing to bet that you're not going to come across any as crazy as the one that Jalen Rose just made in this Grantland video.

While discussing the Bobcats, Rose reveals that he has just one prediction for Charlotte this year. That prediction? That Michael Jordan will come out of retirement and play in a single game for the Bobcats.

Crazy, right? Yeah, $^%&*#! crazy is right. But after laughing in disbelief in the video above, Bill Simmons made a couple of good points about how MJ coming out of retirement could actually work. No chance, though….right?

RELATED: Michael Jordan Isn't Sure If He Would Be Able to Beat Kobe Bryant in a Game of 1-on-1

[via Grantland]


text:
The Community for Technology Leaders
RSS Icon
Issue No.02 - April-June (2010 vol.3)
pp: 110-115
Published by the IEEE Computer Society
Björn Haßler , University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Alan McNeil Jackson , Aptivate, Cambridge, UK
This paper presents an overview of Digital Divide issues associated with the global disparity in availability and cost of bandwidth. We give examples and discuss the relevance of this to global use of Open Educational Resources. Strategies for mitigating low-bandwidth challenges are discussed.
The Digital Divide
The term "Digital Divide" has a range of meanings. In the context of the current paper, we consider the term "Digital Divide" to mean the global disparity regarding available Internet bandwidth. Broadband Internet connections are extremely expensive in the developing world. Many users cannot afford them, and so have great difficulty accessing the Internet effectively and satisfactorily. This is particularly true when accessing the many sites designed for high bandwidth connections. No matter how important its content, if a site takes too long to load it becomes unusable.
As broadband is becoming the norm in the developed world, website and OER designers are forgetting the lessons of optimization learned when the best you could hope was that your users would have a 56 kbps modem dial-up connection. By allowing websites and OER content to grow in size not only do we provide a poor user experience for all users, but we make our sites virtually unusable with a slow Internet connection.
1.1 The Cost of Bandwidth
Physical bandwidth in developing countries is low (cf. Fig. 1), because it is prohibitively expensive. In 2004, low-income countries were paying more than 10 times the price that high- and middle-income countries did for a broadband connection [ 1]. A more recent survey (2007) shows that some African universities are spending the equivalent of 20 full-time salaries for a 2,000 kbps 1 Internet connection shared between 500 and 600 computers.

Fig. 1. International bandwidth per Internet user (2004).

The basic reason for the cost of Internet connectivity in developing countries is the lack of an extensive wired infrastructure. There are two aspects to this: One is international connectivity, the other is "last mile delivery." International connectivity often has to rely on satellite, both for high bandwidth satellite connectivity (e.g., for an Internet Service Provider) or by end users directly. This is expensive: The cost of satellite connections is several 1,000 USD per Mb/s per month. The second issue is the national connectivity ("last mile delivery"). This is relevant where an international connection (say by an Internet Service Provider) is distributed to end users, through a wired infrastructure or other means. The cost of this is also considerable, and typically similar to the cost of international connectivity.
It is difficult to make longer term predictions, but there seems to be broad agreement that, while some reduction in cost is expected over the next few years, the cost will become nowhere near as cheap as the cost of connectivity in the global North. (This does take new undersea fiber and new satellites into account.) One should be suspicious of the claim that "soon we'll all have infinite bandwidth at no cost," based on the experience of the broadband explosion in the North, which leverages our copper infrastructure via technologies like ADSL. There is no equivalent existing infrastructure in developing countries that could be leveraged for end users. Another disparity is the fact that the majority of the content is hosted within the North and there are high capacity undersea fiber interconnects connecting Europe and the US.
So, in absolute terms, connectivity in the South is much more expensive than connectivity in the "wired" North, and while there will be improvements, connectivity is nevertheless likely to remain much more expensive for the foreseeable future. However, there is an additional factor: Rather than looking at cost of connectivity in absolute terms, one should look at the cost of connectivity related to some economic measure, such as purchase power parity. When this is done, it only exacerbates the disparity, cf. Fig. 2. We should also bear in mind that while there are a growing number of regions that are connected now, there are many other regions that are not connected and will only gradually move into minimal provision over the next few years.

Fig. 2. Cost of Internet access as a percentage of mean income (2003).

This view of connectivity is accurate, despite improvements in mobile Internet connectivity. Data transfer for mobile browsing still has to get in and out of the country, so ultimately (in many regions) has to rely on satellite. However, much of mobile browsing in the developing world is based on GPRS, and while it can be comparatively cheap, it is also comparatively slow. We will come back to this later.
1.2 Estimating Available Bandwidth
In this paper, we distinguish "physical bandwidth" and "available bandwidth." The physical bandwidth is the size of the pipe: For instance, the size of the pipe to a country, to an institution, or to a home: An upper limit on connectivity. The "available bandwidth" is the actual bandwidth available to a typical user. Of course the "available bandwidth" is always lower than "physical bandwidth": There are technical reasons, such as "contention," 2 but also usage reasons: Typically, the "physical bandwidth" is shared between several users, each user having a fraction of the "physical bandwidth" as their available bandwidth.
Another important factor in utilizing bandwidth is the management of the local network. What is important to realize is that for a user on a poorly managed network, the available bandwidth may be a small fraction of the physical bandwidth: The remainder of the bandwidth might be wasted on network overheads, such as viruses or illegal file sharing. The African Tertiary Institutions Connectivity Survey [ 4] found that almost 2/3 of universities practice little or no management 3 of their connections: Universities have a hard time retaining skilled staff, and there has been a lack of awareness among management and funders as to the need and means to build up good network administration, policy, and training.
What is the typical available bandwidth in the developing world? In many countries in the developing world, international connections are routed through high latency satellite links, and it is hard to make a good estimate of available bandwidth: The available bandwidth to the end user depends on how much bandwidth is brought in, but also on how well this bandwidth is managed, and to how many users it is distributed. We chose to base our estimates on African Universities because there are surveys of their available bandwidth. According to the aforementioned ATICS survey [ 4], the average bandwidth available to an African university is 1,254 kbps. On average, there are about 600 connected computers in each university. Assuming that 1 in 20 of these computers is using the Internet at any one time (based on ADSL contention ratios), this would give each user about 40 kbps on average. However, most universities do not have a Committed Information Rate so their true bandwidth is roughly half of the stated bandwidth they have bought. In addition, many developing world institutions are not implementing effective bandwidth management practices which further reduces available bandwidth [ 5].
Taking this into account, we arrive at a figure of 20 kbps as a sensible upper limit on bandwidth available to the user, which is several orders of magnitude slower than the available bandwidth at a European and American university.
Briefly returning to mobile Internet connections, we also note than this connectivity is similar to mobile connectivity under GPRS, which is the dominant mode of connectivity in the developing world: Although better connectivity (such as EDGE or 3G) is becoming available in urban areas, basic phones that are used by the majority of users only support GPRS, if they are Internet capable at all.
1.3 Estimating the Size of a Usable Web Resource
How does available bandwidth translate into "usable" web resource sizes? What is the webpage size for low-bandwidth usable webpages? The Web Guidelines for Low Bandwidth [ 2] suggest a page size of between 25 and 75 kB. This is based on usability research, which found that users will abandon webpages that take longer than 10 seconds to load. Although if useful data start to appear within 2 seconds, they are prepared to wait up to 30 seconds for the page to finish loading [ 3]. Hence, the guidelines [ 2] suggest that at 20 kbps, the page can be no larger than 25 kB (to load within 10 s), or up to 75 kB if the page loads progressively.
We need to recognize that these limits are for the total page including images, external JavaScript files and external CSS files. Although sharing such files between pages allows them to be cached by the user's browser and reduces the loading time of subsequent pages, they should still be counted in the page size because they will slow down each user's first page view of your site, affecting their first impressions. If a user abandons a page because it takes too long to load they are not likely to revisit it. Although we have no evidence, it seems reasonable to assume that a user who is absolutely certain that they have found a useful resource will tolerate longer download times to wait for large documents, PDF files, or other media such as video or audio recordings. The tolerable time will depend on the perceived value, which in turn will relate to the ratio of the size of the information content to the size of its presentation. But this is only true when the user is certain they have found what they are looking for and not true for speculative downloads. The webpages that allow a user to find and access these resources and to preview their content must still conform to the above timing guidelines.
Overall, we are not advocating the use of large or unoptimized media objects, quite the contrary. However, we recognize that some information can only compress so far. Take, for instance, a large table of epidemiological data. To a health researcher, the value of this data may mean they would be willing to wait for potentially hours for it to download. However, if this table of textual data is presented in a PDF as an image for the sake of pretty presentation (as is sometimes the case) multiplying the size of the file by a factor of 10 or more, then this is not acceptable.
1.4 Web-Based Access to Open Educational Resources
The recommendation for "low-bandwidth usable" page sizes is to be contrasted with the size of the typical webpage [ 3], [ 6], that is now estimated to be about 300 kB (in 2008), having increased from about 100 kB in 2003. A page size of 300 kB is 4 to 12 times the recommended page size of 25-75 kB. This disparity of usability is widening, because the rate of average page size growth is much greater than the growth rate of available bandwidth in developing countries. Given these findings about average webpage size, it is no surprise that the average OER webpage would be of a similar size. As a use case, we consider navigating through MIT Open Courseware to a particular resource, cf. Table 1.

Table 1. Navigating through MIT OCW [ 8]

The timings are calculated from uncached page sizes, assuming an available bandwidth of 20 kbps. The page load times are given in minutes. For a typical user in the North, corresponding times would be seconds. We have used MIT OCW, because it is a leading exponent of OCW and OER. However, the MIT OCW website itself is typical, and many other OER related pages are similar. For instance, the OCWC consortium 4 front page comes in at 243 kB, while the Open University OpenLearn 5 front page comes in at 743 kB. From this use case, and comparison with other OER sites, it is quite clear that in terms of web accessibility, the vast majority of OER sites does not meet low-bandwidth accessibility requirements.
1.5 An OER Users View of Bandwidth
We have established that there are bandwidth related access issues affecting a large number of Internet users particularly in developing countries. We do not suggest that issues around bandwidth are the sole cause for poor use and slow uptake of OERs in developing countries (cf. for example Fig. 3), but compared to other barriers, we emphasize that bandwidth issues are an important contributing factor.
We may still ask to what extent the OER community subjectively experiences this issue. As part of a recent discussion on access to open educational resources conducted within the UNESCO OER Community [ 9], the issues around lack of bandwidth were echoed quite widely, and we include a number of quotes from that discussion to give a more individual and subjective perspective on the issues:
One of the barriers of using OERs in central and southern African universities is the issue of BANDWIDTH. They must pay very expensive for that and they have no money $\ldots$ (Rwanda)
If OER projects want to be helpful for developing countries $\ldots$ .there is a crucial need to develop resources accessible in low bandwidth $\ldots$ and by low..I mean almost dial-up! $\ldots$ I hope OER developers keep this in mind $\ldots$ . (Mexico)
I would like to enthusiastically embrace the idea of working harder on bandwidth management. $\ldots$ more effort should go into making resources usable in low-bandwidth environments (which is after all the target audience of this group). (Brazil)
When ever I send the websites of free available e-resources to our students, teachers and researchers they complain that they could not download the materials because of slow Internet or some times non accessibility. (Pakistan)
Last time we participated in the identification of OER materials but what we faced was the trouble of having access to Internet connectivity. $\ldots$ became extremely expensive and at the moment some schools cannot even afford to continue to have this connectivity. (Teacher at a Zambian secondary school)
$\ldots$ not to forget the issue of the bandwidth, which is much exaggerated by the cost. It is quite often to loose connection in a University because of the high bill to be paid. (Sudan)
With reference to bandwidth, this is an ongoing issue for teachers in my project. They cannot download videos, or watch them, because the CTC where they go to use the Internet has measured service via satellite, and once the bytes are used in a month, service is shut down until the bill is paid. (Guatemala)
Arguably such connectivity issues were discussed more widely than other access related issues (cf. [ 9] for the full UNESCO discussion report). That is not to say that other access issues are not important, but we might say that some of the other issues are currently "Northern issues," in the sense that they will only become relevant to the global South once some of the issues pertaining specifically to the South have been addressed. Access issues are generally important, but the South is suffering first and foremost from lack of bandwidth.

Fig. 3. World-wide visitors to MIT OCW. Source: MIT website [ 10].

2. The Content Delivery Chain
We use a Content Delivery Chain model as a framework for thinking about the different aspects of bandwidth and connectivity [ 7]. This helps to clarify the factors contributing to available bandwidth.

Fig. 4. The content delivery chain.

The content delivery chain (cf. Fig. 4) represents the pathway of content: Starting with an item of content, it is delivered through an Internet connection to a local network and finally to the user. We refer to this model as a "chain" because successful content delivery depends on every link of the chain:

    Content providers have their role to play: They must ensure that their content is usable over existing connections. As we have seen, if the content provided does not meet low-bandwidth accessibility requirements, it is unlikely to reach recipients in the developing world.

    Of course some connectivity (physical bandwidth) must be present.

    Likewise, the local network must be well managed to fully utilize the bandwidth.

    Users are also critical. In many ways, user behavior is the largest factor determining the effectiveness of any Internet connection, and appropriate policies need to be in place.

The content delivery chain is limited by the weakest link, in the sense that total available bandwidth is limited by the weakest link in the chain.

Table 2. Time to Download Different Versions

We note that, rather than considering the whole content delivery chain, much of the discussion around bandwidth only focuses on the connection (that is the "physical bandwidth" of the connection). However, it is all elements of the chain that determine whether a piece of content is available to the user: All elements of the chain determine whether the available bandwidth is "effective," i.e., whether the available bandwidth can be used effectively to achieve a certain task, such as the successful use of content.
2.1 Effective Use of Bandwidth
We may ask whether an available bandwidth of 20 kbps means that you can make effective use of that bandwidth? In practice, even just 20 kbps is a viable connection, and a lot is possible with 20 kbps. However, it does require simultaneously good content in appropriate formats, good local network management and design, good bandwidth management policy (in particular, an Acceptable Use Policy), and user education to understand their responsibilities to use the scarce and expensive resource effectively.
As we see through the Content Delivery Chain, physical bandwidth ("pipe size") is only part of the issue: There are important considerations in terms of formatting the content, network management, user policies, caching, and smart use of connections that would make a huge difference (even with current pipe sizes). In the present context of OER, this has the advantage that it can be implemented by the OER community (providers and consumers) primarily with local effort, and without having to rely on external factors, such as improvements in physical bandwidth or sustained donor payment for satellite broadband.
Of course, one could argue that some of this is generic, and doesn't pertain specifically to OER. However, there are issues (such as formatting the content) where it becomes a specific OER issue. Also, one could argue that an effective, global OER community needs to take current barriers into account (regardless of whether they are specifically to do with OER or not), and do as best as we can to address these issues.
Another way of looking at this is to distinguish between content size and content information. For instance, the complete works of Shakespeare can be compressed to 2 MB in text only form, 6 equivalent to only six average webpages [ 6].
2.2 Content Delivery Chain: Content
Let us now look at some aspects of the content delivery chain in more detail. We start with the first element of the chain: Content.
Often content can be rendered in different formats, and in terms of enabling low-bandwidth access, it is important to provide alternatives. For text-based materials, a plain text version can be provided as an alternative. PDF carries a significant overhead, and where PDF is used, it should be optimized, cf. [ 2, section "PDF optimization"].
Multimedia objects (such as images, flash, and embedded sounds) should be used carefully, with consideration for the circumstance of the users. Where such objects are used, they should be linked to, rather than embedded in a page. Users should be warned of the size of the object when linking to it. Where possible, text alternatives should be provided for multimedia objects, such as a description, transcript, or plain text version of a document.
Files should not contain redundant information. For instance, quite often audio files are presented as stereo, when they are actually just mono files: Presenting the file as mono can halve the bandwidth without any loss of information or quality.
To give some sense of scale, Table 2 shows the time to download a 20-minute video, audio versions, and the script, over a connection that provides an effective bandwidth of 20 kbps.
This is assuming a continuous connection—in reality, a lengthy download is unlikely to run to completion and may have to be resumed several times.
It is quite clear that the provision of alternative formats enhances low-bandwidth accessibility. For instance, for video, we refer to the "video-audio-text" cascade [ 2], recommending that video should be provided in multiple formats, including low-bandwidth friendly mobile formats. However, video should also be provided as an audio-only version, as well as a text transcript if possible. The provision of multiple video formats, and the transition from video to audio is particularly important, because it can often be achieved in automated workflows without increasing the complexity of the overall publishing process. For automated video workflows see, for instance, the OpenCast project. 7
All users are effectively making cost/benefit decisions when choosing whether or not to download materials. While it may be argued that an audio-only version of a video resource is not as "valuable," this judgment is based solely on the resource itself and does not factor in the user's experience of accessing the resource. An audio version that can be used because it is readily accessible is far more valuable to its user than a video resource that cannot be accessed. Presenting resources in multiple formats and taking a "graceful degradation" approach empowers the user to make their own value judgments. It also gives users the choice to evaluate the materials before committing to a longer download.
Although this is the case for many OERs already, it is critically important that users can download materials, as opposed to materials just being available online (or, in the case of video, just available as streaming video). Obviously objects (such as images, javascript, and css) should be reused where possible to benefit from caching. To ensure that objects can be cached, sensible cache headers need to be set.
OpenLearn provides an example from the OER community, where multiple formats are made available programatically, including print formats, xml formats, and various package formats. While these formats aren't necessarily provided for low-bandwidth use, and don't necessarily contain low-bandwidth formats, it is nevertheless straight forward to see how low-bandwidth formats could be added programatically, without adding significant overheads to an existing multiformat delivery process.
2.3 Content Delivery Chain: Connection
Often the Content Delivery chain is seen from this aspect alone: The total physical bandwidth ("pipe size") of the connection. Where Digital Divide and bandwidth issues are discussed, often those issues are seen purely in terms of such infrastructural considerations. Of course, connectivity is an issue: There is a disparity in terms of connectivity, and particularly in terms of the cost of connectivity.
However, even with much improved connectivity, the other elements of the chain are still limiting factors on available bandwidth and how effectively this bandwidth can be used.
2.4 Content Delivery Chain: Local Network
It is important that local area networks (LANs) are well managed, including

    good design of the LAN, subnets, and routing,

    appropriate use of caching, and

    provision for virus protection.

Moreover, a well-managed LAN includes the ability to diagnose (and resolve) network problems, for which monitoring tools are essential. It is important to also take into account acceptable use policy [ 11]. The combination of the policy, monitoring, and tools are summarized in the so-called "BMO triangle," see [ 7] for details. Much of these are standard procedures in the North. However, in many institutions in the developing world, it is hard to retain suitably trained staff, and consequently local networks are not managed as well as possible.
Local area networks are important also from an OER perspective: Educational content can be provided on local area networks, so that users do not need to access the content via international networks.
2.4 Content Delivery Chain: Users
User behavior is one of the biggest factors in terms of effective use of bandwidth. Users share the available bandwidth with each other, and if some users are making heavy use of illegal file sharing, it stops other users from downloading OERs. In other words, it is essential to have an Acceptable Use Policy, and to raise awareness among users. As an example, we refer to TENET's Acceptable Use Policy. 8 If developing world institutions want effective use, then this can be made possible, but they must make some hard choices—one of them is prioritizing what this expensive scarce resource can be used for and by whom, cf., for instance [ 11].
But users can also empower themselves to make the most of existing bandwidth by using bandwidth optimizing tools. For instance, Aptivate hosts a free web-based service called Loband 9 that reformats any webpage into a text-only form that radically reduces its size.
2.6 Mobile Connectivity
Some Internet users may be familiar with the fact that mobile phones work quite well in some regions even in developing countries, and that even web browsing on the mobile phone can be affordable and reasonable. How does this experience compare to the Content Delivery Chain and scarcity of international bandwidth?
All mobile Internet connectivity still needs to go through national Internet gateways, and as such incurs the same cost as broadband traffic. However, one of the reasons why mobile connectivity is apparently cheaper to the end user is because it is slow.
In many parts of the developing world, mobile browsing (where available at all), will continue at GPRS connectivity. This is similarly slow as a typical desktop connection (20 kbps as discussed above). However, often this limited connectivity is usable on a mobile device, because the mobile device has optimized applications (such as Google Mail for Mobile, and the Opera Mini browser).
However, the same connectivity used on a netbook or desktop computer (with standard browsers and webmail) would be painstakingly slow indeed. To give an example: On Google Mail for Mobile, only the message itself is transferred, and would be of the order of a few kB. However, sending the same message using some webmail clients might require 100 times the size of the message (or more).
There are two important lessons from this: On the one hand, accessing the Internet through GPRS (as well as faster connections) typically means a slow and unreliable connection. At the same time, using smart strategies to work with that slow connectivity, such as content transcoding in Opera Mini, can make this slow connection usable.
In this way, mobile devices work with certain key elements of the Content Delivery Chain better than other devices, and thus allow to make better use of connections. We will now apply similar ideas to the delivery of OER.
3. Future Strategies
Because of the bandwidths available and the current size of OER content, from a user's perspective in many Southern universities, it is not correct to say that they are fully online—in the sense that users do not have a useable connection with OER content.
At the same time, there is a viable Internet connection that could be of tremendous value if used optimally, so it is also not right to say these universities are fully offline when considering access to OER.
In fact, there is a mixture of both modes, and this hybrid online/offline scenario has historically not been well provided for. In analogous situations, we have seen technology models swing from offline to online modes and back again as at first bandwidth increases and then the size of content. And yet there is some indication that hybrid modes may finally be addressed prompted by the use of mobile phones for Internet access. By their nature, mobile phones have intermittent connectivity and some effort is being made to address the issues of synchronization and fluid models that allow applications to run remotely or locally or in arbitrary combinations of those modes.
While we are just starting to see this approach used in mobile applications, OER would benefit from scaling this approach up to large databases of OER content and infrastructure at the institutional level.
What could a hybrid approach look like? We can imagine a scenario where a user obtains a content collection, which is put online within the local area network, and then occasionally synchronized. Because of the way bandwidth is utilized by users, the available bandwidth varies with the time of day, and throughout the week. Times where the network is less busy can be used for bandwidth managed synchronization.
There are some initiatives that have partially implemented this process, including the MIT OCW mirror site program, 10 which makes MIT OCW available in bulk, together with a password protected "rsync" facility. There are similar programs, such as the eGranary, 11 that make a range of educational resources available offline.
Providing offline content is important, but there are important requirements:

    Any OER/OCW provider should be able to easily provide their content as hybrid online/offline content.

    Any OER/OCW consumer should be able to easily obtain such content.

    Content needs to be updatable. Such updates need to respect the available bandwidth, and need to be automatic in as much as possible.

Clearly what would be most appropriate is a hybrid, synchronizing system that is both online and offline: A system that supports both modes and everything in between optimally.
What are the requirements for setting up such a system? In the following sections, we identify a number of components.
3.1 Federated Content Catalogues and Syndication
To be able to successfully and systematically make content available in such hybrid models, a good "catalogue" of OER content is needed. In other words, it is not sufficient to publish OER content in human readable form, but machine readable metadata and syndication features need to be provided, so that content can be pulled into hybrid delivery systems. This of course also has added benefits, such as enabling federated searching.
We do note that various "content catalogues" are available, that go some way toward this. This includes, for instance, the Open CourseWare consortium OPML feed, 12 that links to various institutional OCW index feeds. Unfortunately, none of the feeds terminate with a link to the actual resources, not to mention alternative versions of the same resource. 13
A notable exception to this is the OpenLearn index feed, which does terminate in links to actual resources. However, this OPML feed is not the one that is included in the OCWC OPML feed. The implication of this is that anybody wanting to gain access to the resources would have to go through the provider's webpages, which, as noted above, is substantial in size.
While certain tools (such as wget) could be used to automate the retrieval of these pages, this is fragile, and would have to be tailored for each content provider. A solution like the OpenLearn index feed (that links to resources) is a more robust solution and we think should be the standard for inclusion in OCWC's index feed, rather than feeds linking back to webpages.
We may compare this with the use of RSS feeds in podcasting, where a link to the actual resource (the media file itself) is included. Moreover, the yahoo media standard, 14 allows for providing all important content alternatives via the <media:group> element.
If such detailed feeds and federated catalogues were available (that linked through to the actual resources), it would be possible to ingest OER and OCW materials into hybrid content delivery systems easily and systematically. This would also help searching: At the moment, there are a number of initiatives that aggregate OCW content essentially manually, and these could be helped by providing more automatic means.
Moreover, where content is available in machine readable form, automated transcoding and content reformatting can be applied to make content available in a broader range of low-bandwidth friendly formats (similar to Lo-band for webpages). With those elements, a content delivery network could be built, that would allow users to share and reorganize content in a systematic way. Content could, thus, be easily cached offline, or shared on local area networks through peer-to-peer methods. At the moment providing content systematically is difficult, because there isn't sufficient organization of the content, and insufficient standardization on metadata and syndication formats. For further discussion, the resources of the Steeple project 15 can be consulted.
3.2 Content Caching Mechanisms on Local Networks
Once the content is available in suitable catalogues, it can then be cached. For this to work effectively, innovative caching systems are needed. Key elements of such systems would include the ability

    to prefetch resources when the network is less busy (and in this way gradually retrieve entire OCW/OER content catalogues),

    to be "primed" through offline data transfer (content from DVD or memory stick; once the cached is "primed" it can retrieve updates online), and

    to reshare data through offline means (e.g., through local writing to DVD, or through local peer-to-peer file sharing).

3.3 Contributing Content Back to the Community
A key component of a hybrid online/offline OER delivery system would be the ability for users in low-bandwidth circumstances to contribute resources back to the global community more easily: Users in low-bandwidth circumstances would use a local repository to deposit their OERs, whether this is newly written OERs, or other OERs that have been adapted in some way. These resources would then be available to other local users. However, the resources would also be retrieved from the local repository (in a low-bandwidth compatible way), and could be deposited with an international mirror server in a location with better connectivity.
In this way, locally authored resources could be shared globally: South to North, as well as South to South. In the recent UNESCO discussion [ 9], improving South to South sharing was recognized as an important and highly desirable element.
4. Conclusion
The strategies outlined could lead to significant improvements in low-bandwidth accessibility of Open Educational Resources, and we urge the OER community to address these issues with high priority. The issues are of high importance, particularly for OER producers and consumers in the global South, and are often missed from access discussions.
We see the methods that we have outlined above as pragmatic solutions to the situation now. We, as an OER community, are empowered to implement these relatively simple guidelines, and thereby provide significantly greater access for those who suffer from low-bandwidth connections, while taking nothing aware from users in high bandwidth environments. This is not about creating a lowest common denominator Internet, but we advocate creating multiple accessible pathways to address differing needs.
We take exception to the view that developing countries will have to wait until their infrastructure improves before they get meaningful access to these valuable open content resources. Of course, we do not argue against bandwidth improvements. However, we need to do what we can do. We (as the OER community) are empowered to increase accessibility of the resources we produce, but we are not directly empowered to create infrastructure in developing countries.
The possibility of obtaining and utilizing significant amounts of OER may be an important incentive for improving and managing local area networks, enabling other aspects of OER use, including reusing and contributing OERs back to the community. It will also improve non-OER related aspects, such as the ability to communicate in general, and to make effective use of the connection for other educational or academic purposes.
While ever increasing bandwidths in the North allow us to put ever larger forms of content online, we must at the same time ensure we address the issues around much slower bandwidths if we wish to build OER resources that are truly globally accessible. We cannot allow ourselves the luxury of waiting for globally universal broadband access. We can and we must make very significant progress right now with the approaches we have outlined above.

    B. Haßler is with the Centre for Commonwealth Education and the Centre for Applied Research in Educational Technologies, University of Cambridge, 1st floor, 16 Mill Lane, Cambridge CB2 1SB, UK.

    A.M. Jackson is with Aptivate, The Humanitarian Centre, Fenner's, Gresham Road, Cambridge CB1 2ES, UK. E-mail:

Manuscript received 4 Mar. 2009; revised 29 Apr. 2009; accepted 21 Jan. 2010; published online 20 Apr. 2010.

For information on obtaining reprints of this article, please send e-mail to:, and reference IEEECS Log Number TLTSI-2009-03-0033.

Digital Object Identifier no. 10.1109/TLT.2010.8.

1. Typical domestic broadband connections in the UK in 2009 are described as "8,000 kbps" with the average achieved bandwidth over 3,000 kbps.

2. Typically, an Internet Service Provider shares bandwidth between several customers. The number of customers determines the "contention ratio," so if bandwidth is shared between 10 customers the connection is said to have a contention ratio of 10. There are two main places where this contention can take place that are relevant to our discussion. First, between the customer and their in-country ISP. The second place is the contention over the international bandwidth. Even if an institution has a high bandwidth connection and low contention to their ISP, they may still have a high contention for the international bandwidth. Considering that most web resources are hosted in the US and Europe and that many developing countries do not have fully functioning Internet Exchange Points, which consequently means that even in-country traffic is often routed via the US and Europe, it is the contention over international bandwidth that is usually the most significant.

3. This may mean no firewall protecting the local network from intrusion or viruses, no proxy cache to avoid repeated downloads of the same content, no antivirus software and no Acceptable Use Policy.

13. See

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The Community for Technology Leaders
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Issue No.09 - Sept. (2013 vol.35)
pp: 2104-2116
Lei Yuan , Dept. of Comput. Sci. & Eng., Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ, USA
Jun Liu , Siemens Corp. Res., Princeton, NJ, USA
Jieping Ye , Dept. of Comput. Sci. & Eng., Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ, USA
The group Lasso is an extension of the Lasso for feature selection on (predefined) nonoverlapping groups of features. The nonoverlapping group structure limits its applicability in practice. There have been several recent attempts to study a more general formulation where groups of features are given, potentially with overlaps between the groups. The resulting optimization is, however, much more challenging to solve due to the group overlaps. In this paper, we consider the efficient optimization of the overlapping group Lasso penalized problem. We reveal several key properties of the proximal operator associated with the overlapping group Lasso, and compute the proximal operator by solving the smooth and convex dual problem, which allows the use of the gradient descent type of algorithms for the optimization. Our methods and theoretical results are then generalized to tackle the general overlapping group Lasso formulation based on the eq norm. We further extend our algorithm to solve a nonconvex overlapping group Lasso formulation based on the capped norm regularization, which reduces the estimation bias introduced by the convex penalty. We have performed empirical evaluations using both a synthetic and the breast cancer gene expression dataset, which consists of 8,141 genes organized into (overlapping) gene sets. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is more efficient than existing state-of-the-art algorithms. Results also demonstrate the effectiveness of the nonconvex formulation for overlapping group Lasso.
Optimization, Convergence, Indexes, Algorithm design and analysis, Acceleration, Silicon, Convex functions,difference of convex programming, Sparse learning, overlapping group Lasso, proximal operator
Lei Yuan, Jun Liu, Jieping Ye, "Efficient Methods for Overlapping Group Lasso", IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis & Machine Intelligence, vol.35, no. 9, pp. 2104-2116, Sept. 2013, doi:10.1109/TPAMI.2013.17
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[3] H. Liu, M. Palatucci, and J. Zhang, "Blockwise Coordinate Descent Procedures for the Multi-Task Lasso, with Applications to Neural Semantic Basis Discovery," Proc. 26th Ann. Int'l Conf. Machine Learning, 2009.
[4] J. Liu, S. Ji, and J. Ye, "Multi-Task Feature Learning via Efficient $\ell_{2,1}$ -Norm Minimization," Proc. 25h Conf. Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence, 2009.
[5] L. Meier, S. Geer, and P. Bühlmann, "The Group Lasso for Logistic Regression," J. Royal Statistical Soc.: Series B, vol. 70, pp. 53-71, 2008.
[6] L. Jacob, G. Obozinski, and J. Vert, "Group Lasso with Overlap and Graph Lasso," Proc. 26th Ann. Int'l Conf. Machine Learning, 2009.
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[8] S. Kim and E.P. Xing, "Tree-Guided Group Lasso for Multi-Task Regression with Structured Sparsity," Proc. Int'l Conf. Machine Learning, 2010.
[9] J. Mairal, R. Jenatton, G. Obozinski, and F. Bach, "Network Flow Algorithms for Structured Sparsity," Proc. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems, pp. 1558-1566, 2010.
[10] P. Zhao, G. Rocha, and B. Yu, "The Composite Absolute Penalties Family for Grouped and Hierarchical Variable Selection," Annals of Statistics, vol. 37, no. 6A, pp. 3468-3497, 2009.
[11] S. Mosci, S. Villa, A. Verri, and L. Rosasco, "A Primal-Dual Algorithm for Group Sparse Regularization with Overlapping Groups," Proc. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems, 2010.
[12] Z. Qin and D. Goldfarb, "Structured Sparsity via Alternating Direction Methods," Arxiv preprint arXiv:1105.0728, 2011.
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[14] S. Boyd, N. Parikh, E. Chu, B. Peleato, and J. Eckstein, Distributed Optimization and Statistical Learning via the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers. Now Publishers. Inc., 2010.
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Solaris 9 moves to final beta

Sun Microsystems has rolled out the final test version of Solaris 9.

Sun Microsystems has rolled out the final test version of Solaris 9.

Available for download from Sun's Web site, the beta is aimed at helping users to start running applications and familiarising themselves with its new features.

The software includes improved management, security and Linux-friendly features that will be included when the final version of the operating system is released, expected to happen mid-year.

Sun has decided to integrate its Solaris Resource Manager software directly into Solaris 9. The software allows administrators to set the amount of processing power and memory that they want allocated to certain applications and users.

Solaris Resource Manager will continue to be offered as a separate product and as part of a bundle with Solaris 9, Moffitt said.

Sun has also started the first wave of its plan to bundle middleware from its iPlanet E-Commerce Solutions subsidiary into Solaris. Users will also receive a copy of iPlanet's Directory Server with the latest Solaris beta, and the software will support all Liberty Alliance-sponsored standard protocols.

Sun has said it will bundle other iPlanet software with Solaris, including the iPlanet Application Server, although it has yet to indicate a time frame for this.

"All of that middleware plays in a space that is incredibly competitive," said Tony Iams, an analyst DH Brown and Associates.

Iams said that Sun's bundling of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory, plus support for version 5 of the Kerberos protocol in the new OS, gives Sun a response to competitors such as Microsoft in the middleware market.

"You put Kerberos together with the iPlanet Directory Server and it is a full-blown response to what Microsoft is doing with Active Directory," Iams said. "Sun is going after large enterprise networks with lots of users hitting different servers and also individual Web servers that handle large amounts of traffic."

Microsoft also includes an LDAP directory and Kerberos support in its Active Directory for the Windows 2000 Server operating system.

Sun is also forging closer ties between Solaris and Linux. Users will be able to use both Solaris commands and Linux commands. In addition, users will find support for Linux shell scripts, Moffitt said.

Mark Uris, head of distributed systems at the US National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), has been testing Solaris 9 with a view to using it on the centre's desktop computers.

"I want to see how Solaris converges with Linux, especially on the desktop," Uris said. "We're trying to make the call as to whether or not we should go with Solaris or something like Red Hat Linux."

The ties between Solaris and Linux are likely to get closer over time, Moffitt said. "We consider it part of the natural evolution of how things go," he said.

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European Cloud Computing Strategy to create 2.5 million new jobs

All those involved in cloud computing, whether providers or customers, should follow developments in Europe in 2014 closely

This Article Covers

In September 2012, the European Commission adopted a strategy for unleashing the potential of cloud computing in Europe.

The European Cloud Computing Strategy outlines actions to deliver a net gain of 2.5 million new European jobs and an annual boost of €160bn, around 1% of GDP, by 2020. It is also designed to speed up and increase the use of cloud computing across the economy.

The strategy, which was the result of consultations with stakeholders and an analysis of regulation and technology, forms a key part of the EU’s digital agenda.

It has three key actions:

  • Safe and fair contract terms
    The Commission has published a proposal for a Common European Sales Law to deal with divergent national sales laws by providing contractual parties with a uniform set of rules. The strategy also has an aim of developing model contract terms to cover issues not covered by the Common European Sales Law.
  • Cutting through the jungle of standards
    Common technical standards need to be developed to ensure interoperability, and in addition the Commission is working with various bodies to develop an EU-wide voluntary certification scheme.
  • Establishing a European cloud partnership (ECP)
    The ECP brings together industry experts and the public sector to work on common procurement requirements for cloud computing in an open and transparent way. This is intended to make the public sector more effective as well as stimulating the European cloud industry.

Part of the EU Cloud Strategy’s implementation includes the establishment of a Cloud Select Industry Group, known as the C-SIG. The C-SIG was created with the intention of providing independent validation and advice on proposals of cloud computing and with a view to identifying main challenges and solutions in three main areas: certification schemes, service level agreements and codes of conduct.

This is further achieved through the members of the C-SIG and its three sub-groups. The members of C-SIG are representatives of major European and multi-national organisations which have a significant involvement in cloud computing.

The first plenary meeting of these sub-groups took place in mid-October 2013 and is an indication of the push for greater harmonisation of the EU Cloud Strategy and general cloud computing practice.

The three sub-groups of the C-SIG have been hard at work for the past few months:

  • The sub-group on certification
    This group has been working with a variety of players in the market, including cloud service providers, cloud customers, certification bodies and the European Network and Information Security Agency (Enisa), to provide an assessment of current cloud computing certification solutions and guiding principles and to define objectives important to the industry.
  • The sub-group on service level agreements (SLAs)
    This group was established to provide the necessary support to develop a model set of terms for cloud computing contracts between professionals. Recently, the SLA sub-group has been working on drafting definitions and creating a checklist to help IT directors make a sound decision when selecting cloud provider services.
  • The sub-group on codes of conduct
    This group intends to develop a code of conduct for cloud computing service providers to promote a harmonised approach to the application of data protection rules. The lack of current harmonisation of these rules is said to be one of the greatest barriers to the advancement of cloud computing.

Country guidance on cloud computing

In addition to the various activities of the European Cloud Computing Strategy, several European data protection authorities (DPAs) have recently published official guidance concerning data protection issues in relation to the use of cloud computing. Some points to note from the guidance from these DPAs include:

  • France
    The French DPA (CNIL) issued guidelines for the use of cloud computing in 2012, providing detailed sample provisions for a written contract. These provisions covered the essential elements that CNIL considers should be covered by a cloud computing services contract.
  • Germany
    The German Federal Office for Information Security published a whitepaper in 2012 that is geared towards the technical security standards for cloud service providers. While it includes many of the other recommendations noted in other countries’ guidance, there is a greater attention to detail with regards to best practices for internal security policies and procedures and encryption standards.
  • Spain
    The Spanish DPA has published a cloud computing guide which comments on various considerations that companies should have prior to engaging a cloud service provider, including use of risk assessments, deletion of personal data, and international data transfers to third countries which may require prior authorisation.
  • UK
    In the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published detailed guidance on cloud computing, which includes recommendations as to carrying out risk assessments, ensuring that security assurances from the cloud provider are adequate, the provider can delete copies of personal data, that a record of the data categories moved to the cloud is made, and that there is a cycle of continual monitoring of performance to ensure the cloud service is running as expected and in accordance with the contract.

The opportunities with cloud computing are very significant, as are the challenges, however, significant steps have been taken by the European Commission to try to deal with those challenges.

2014 will be a key year in ensuring that the opportunities are also secured, or at least given a firm foundation, and therefore all those involved in cloud computing, whether providers or customers, should follow these developments closely.

William Long is a partner at law firm Sidley Austin.

This was first published in January 2014

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Need a last minute Christmas gift? How about a $12,000 3D printed gun?

I'm not sure if people are champing at the bit for this deal, but if you're a gun collector and you want to be the only one on the proverbial block, here's your chance.

The first company to produce a working version of a metal semi-automatic pistol with a 3D printer is offering to sell them as a collector's piece for $11,900.

Solid Concepts, a 3D printing services company, first unveiled the gun last month. The pistol is a replica of the storied .45-caliber, M1911 semi-automatic that served as the U.S. military's standard-issue sidearm for more than 70 years. Solid Concepts demonstrated the gun by initially firing 50 rounds with it. Since then, the company said it has fired nearly 2,000 rounds through the pistola without a single malfunction.

3D printed gun

(The 1911 .45 semi-automatic pistol fresh off the 3D printer)

Accuracy? In the first 50-round test fire, several of the bullets struck the bullseye at about 30 yards.

Unlike the very first company to make a 3D printed gun -- the single-shot, plastic Liberator -- Solid Concepts is not trying to promote the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment. Its purpose in printing the firearm was to demonstrate its ability to turn out precision, durable parts that could withstand the massive pressure created by firing a bullet.

Solid Concept's pistol is made with industrial-grade 3D printers using the Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) and Direct Metal Laser Sintering techniques (DMLS). Both DMLS and SLS use lasers to melt metals, even titanium, at temperatures exceeding 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The 3D printers work by laying down a fine layer of powder and then using a laser to fuse granules together, building an object layer by layer from the ground up.

The difference between the two techniques is that DMLS tends to be used with alloys.

(A demonstration of DMLS 3D printing)

Solid Concepts will print out 100 limited edition 1911 3D Printed metal guns with serial numbers and the option of unique customization using the company's additive metal manufacturing technology (also known as 3D printing). Each 3D Printed gun will be manufactured using Inconel 625 (a Nickel-Chromium-Molybdenum alloy ) and stainless steel components. Engineers will complete the gun with some fine tuning through post-printing machining and hand polishing. Each assembled pistol will undergo 100 rounds of test firing.

Additionally, Solid Concepts is offering people who purcahse one of the limited edition pistols the chance to tour their Texas facility to see their gun being printed, and to join their lead additive manufacturing engineers on the range for the first test firing of their limited 1911 gun. “This is a chance to own a piece of history,” Solid Concept's vice president of marketing, Scott McGowan, said.

The gun will arrive in a wooden showcase box with a 3D Printed metal plaque describing the unique qualities of the pistol and a certificate of authenticity. The gun went on sale today. If you're interested in purchasing one of the limited edition 1911 pistols, email Solid Concepts at:

(The finished gun)

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DRAM shortage from Hynix fire to hit PCs hardest

Repairs to the fabrication plant could take three to six months

The fire damage suffered by SK Hynix's Wuxi, China DRAM fabrication (FAB) plant last week, along with the resulting power outage and clean room contamination, is expected to lead to a number of problems in the short term for DRAM supply, a new report finds.

Most acutely, the fire that blazed for almost two hours appears to have damaged equipment used for making PC DRAM, which has sent memory prices skyrocketing more than 27% over the past week.

DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce, said the fire accident experienced by SK Hynix's Wuxi Plant on Sept. 4 originated from its Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) machinery in the FAB's clean room. Previously, Hynix had attributed the fire to equipment installation.

"Other than the severely burned equipment, the fire, heavy smoke and power shortages are known to have also contributed to the direct contamination of the clean room and the notably damaged wafer production lines," DRAMeXchange wrote in its research report.

The fire may have damaged as many as 60,000 memory wafers, DRAMeXchange said.

Saving the fabrication plant from even greater damage, the report noted, was the fact that SK Hynix's Wuxi Plant is based on a special "Gemini" architecture, one which enables the clean room and other important facilities to operate independently.

"Under such a design, even when a major accident hits an area, a plant would still be able to maintain at least 50% of its total production capacity," the report stated. Other areas of the factory were affected by smoke damage, DRAMeXchange said.

"Sources with close knowledge of semiconductor equipment," have indicated the recovery could take from three to as long as six months to complete, the report stated.

To facilitate the entire process, SK Hynix has sent up to hundreds of professionals and engineers to visit the accident site and to assess the situation more carefully, DRAMeXchange reported. "Once the damages to the Wuxi Plant have been clarified, the DRAM industry is projected to be in for a series of major challenges," DRAMeXchange noted.

Some PC equipment manufacturers are seeking help from first tier module makers and Taiwanese DRAM manufacturers to ensure their future supply can be secured, the report said. A tightening of the DRAM inventory could happen as soon as Q4 of this year.

A longer lasting price surge in the DRAM market, additionally, could also become inevitable. "TrendForce believes Samsung and Micron will be the biggest beneficiaries of the current situation with SK Hynix, and that the growth and decline of the three major DRAM manufacturers will be considerably affected in the periods to come," the report said.

With regards to bringing the undamaged portion of the plant back to full production, "it is taking some time for a thorough safety check by the Chinese fire & safety authorities and for the inspections of damaged equipment," SK Hynix said in a statement. "However, we plan to complete inspections and full restoration of the air ventilation system and facilities in order to resume production in October."

"Further, we will make every effort to ramp up operations in stages in order to fully recover normalized production level in November," Hynix added.

Meanwhile, to minimize disruptions its DRAM supply, Hynix said it will increase its DRAM production in its Korean headquarters.

Lucas Mearian covers storage, disaster recovery and business continuity, financial services infrastructure and health care IT for Computerworld. Follow Lucas on Twitter at  @lucasmearian or subscribe to Lucas's RSS feed . His e-mail address is lmearian@computerworld.com.

See more by Lucas Mearian on Computerworld.com.

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Facebook Home goes after mobile market with 'ferocity'

A year after calling mobile a 'risk,' Facebook pushes forward with mobility efforts

Less than a year after Facebook called mobile one of its biggest risks, the social network has made another big move to attack the mobile market.

On Thursday, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's co-founder and CEO, unveiled a launcher, called Home, for the Android platform. The home screen and app family will sit on top - and not replace - the Android operating system.

While many had speculated -- again -- that Facebook was going to unveil its own smartphone, Zuckerberg made it clear that he's focused on making people's mobile phones more social - not creating a whole new phone or diving into the hardware market.

"We want to bring you this experience of knowing what's going on around you right on your phone," he said during a news event to announce Home. "The home screen is really the soul of your phone. You look at it about 100 times a day. It sets the tone for your whole experience."

That's a big advance into mobile for a company that just last spring listed mobility among its "risk factors" in an amended filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, The company admitted that the quickening shift from traditional desktop or laptop computers to mobile devices was hurting Facebook's advertising plan, since it had no way to monetize this growing mobile trend.

Mobile has been a tough nut to crack, not just for Facebook but for all Internet companies. However, given Facebook's massive popularity and 1-billion-member user base, it was a very visible problem for the world's largest social network.

Those days are over, according to Brian Blau, an analyst with Gartner Inc.

"I think they got [mobile] a while ago, but what you're seeing now is them optimizing their experience," he said. "I think this is one in a step of many moves to attack the mobile market with their full ferocity."

Facebook has been strategically focused on mobile for several quarters now.

In 2012, the company finalized its acquisition of Instagram, a popular photo-sharing app, redesigned its iOS app and delivered new development tools for iOS and Android.

In January, executives speaking during the company's fourth-quarter and year-end earnings meeting, called Facebook a "mobile company" and noted that the number of Facebook's monthly active mobile users jumped 57% from a year earlier to 680 million in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Facebook unveiled a launcher, called Home, which, in part, replaces your home screen with a Facebook centric home screen. Do you want Facebook Home as your smartphone's home screen?

Facebook reported that it had more users accessing the network from mobile devices than from laptops or desktops.

Company executives also were quick to point out that mobile accounted for 23% of Facebook's ad revenue in the last quarter of 2012. That's up from 14% in the third quarter and zero at the beginning of last year.

To add an Android launcher to that mix should only help Facebook work its way further into the mobile market.

"This goes a long way to helping Facebook deal with this mobile issue," said Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group. "At least from what I've seen so far, it's a good step in the right direction.... I think it's the only road for them to go down."

Jeff Kagan, an independent industry analyst, said this is a smart move for Facebook. But he doesn't envision a majority of Android users will download the new home screen.

"While I think Home will be a success, I don't think the majority of wireless users will be interested in this full time, always on, Facebook connection," he said. "But this will help Facebook continue to grow.... Mobile is a revolution in industry after industry. Today we never leave the house without our wallet, car keys and wireless phone. That's the direction we are moving in with wireless. And that's the future that Facebook wants to be a leader in."

Facebook unveiled its new Home launcher for Android devices on Thursday.

Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at  @sgaudin, on Google+ or subscribe to Sharon's RSS feed . Her email address is sgaudin@computerworld.com.

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how to tell motherboard dead?

January 1, 2013 at 09:07:57
Specs: Windows 7

can any one help medion 8820 stopped working i thought psu but when i pull 4 pin plug i belive its called P4 from board psu works IE fires up blue light in front. Does this mean mobo dead?

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Report •

January 1, 2013 at 09:35:41
That 4-pin plug supplies power to the processor. Without it, the system won't boot up. Lights or fans are no indicator that the PSU is good. All that proves is that the PSU can put out enough power for the lights or fans, it doesn't necessarily mean it can power up the entire system. Try unplugging everything from the PSU except the two main plugs to the board. Remove all cards (switch monitor cable to unboard video port, if available) & unplug all USB devices. Then see if the board will fire up.

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>> FIRST SOLAR Latest News

MAR 04, 2013 - Washington Business Journal

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Energy-saving ATMs unveiled by Diebold

Diebold Inc. unveiled an ATM that automatically switches between three power sources to use about 40 percent less energy, the Canton Repository reports. The northeast Ohio ATM maker calls it the world's first intelligent-powered ATM, switching between a solar panel, an alternating current grid and an internal battery for its power. Diebold (NYSE:DBD) developed the machines to meet the government of India's inclusion initiatives to expand banking services across India. Morning Call is compiled…

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Haven't Signed Up? Here Are the Obamacare Basics

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- As Uncle Sam continues to work the kinks out of the Affordable Care Act health insurance exchanges, more consumers are logging on and checking into their options. With only a few weeks to go before the March 31 deadline for individuals, 3.8 million consumers have signed up for the exchanges through Feb. 25. The Affordable Care Act is built on the premise that the more people who sign up (especially healthier, younger Americans), the better the system works. Time is growing short for people to sign up for insurance through the exchanges, and many may have questions ... Read More

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About Concordia Conservatory

The Concordia Conservatory, a preeminent center for music education in Westchester County, is a welcoming community where children and adults find lifelong inspiration and joy through learning, performing, listening to, and participating with others in music. Concordia Conservatory offers top quality music programs for early childhood, youth, adults and seniors.

The Conservatory's mission is to inspire, instruct, and enrich lives through music, offering excellence in education and performance.

Concordia Conservatory, a division of Concordia College-New York, is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt educational institution.

Since 1977, Concordia Conservatory has offered music programs for early childhood, youth, and adults.

Financial aid and active community outreach partnerships provide access for all. Concordia Conservatory  is governed by a 20-member advisory board.

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Letter: I like Herschlag

I have been following the blogs and letters to the editor written by Allan Herschlag for the past several months. He seems to be well-versed in all issues of local interest. I’m impressed by the way he draws a conclusion because it is obviously based on his research. It appears to me that he would be a good person to be on the city council, since he would bring fairness and reason while keeping an eye on spending tax money wisely.

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Little Sonny

People who’ve heard Little Sonny’s albums, New King of the Blues Harmonica and Black and Blue on Enterprise Records (a division of the Stax Organization), are surprised to see him in person. From the funky music he plays, listeners expect an old, raggedy, hard-drinking stereotype of the typical down-and-out bluesman.

"I suppose some of the things I’ve been through should have driven me to drink," admits the youthful, clean-cut Sonny, who doesn’t drink, smoke, or mess with dope. "I’ve seen too many bad examples of too much alcohol. Also, my mother was very religious, and I promised her I’d never drink. If I’ve got an audience, that’s all the alcohol I need. I couldn’t go onstage and do a good job if I were high."

Little Sonny surprises many people, especially young blues fans, with his sober approach to the blues, but he’s just trying to be himself.

"The idea that a man has to use foul language, dress raggedy and bummy, and get into cuttin’ and shootin’ scrapes in order to sing the blues is just a sham. I feel what I sing and play because of the things I’ve been through. I’ve had my share of hard times, but that doesn’t give me an excuse to drink and swear and cut up."

When Sonny plays his harmonica or sings the blues, all the rugged experiences he’s survived come out in his music.

Born in a one-room country shack in Greensboro, Alabama on October 6, 1932, he spent many of his younger days hungry and barefoot. He’s never seen his father. And he was looked after by his mother who made their clothes without the benefit of a sewing machine.

"The other kids used to laugh at me, but I made up my mind that I was going to be somebody regardless of what people thought. When I started playing music, people told me to my face that I’d never make it," Sonny admits. "The blues is a living thing, and I have lived the blues. When I think of the unfair things that have happened to me because of the color of my skin, of all the times I’ve had to go in the back door, I know I’ve paid my dues."

Sonny, who was born Aaron Willis, listened to the blues on the radio when he was a boy. His mother considered the blues "the old people’s way, something dirty," but she bought her son five-cent harmonicas. Sonny tried to play them without much success.

Baseball was his main interest. He played on sandlot teams in Alabama for a few years before moving to Detroit seventeen years ago.

"I knew no baseball scout was going to see me as far back in the woods as I was. I didn’t really have aspirations of being a musician when I came to Detroit. But then, I saw Sonny Boy Williamson."

Sonny was "spellbound at the way he played. After the show I went home and practiced for hours. Every day after that I would practice until I got the sound I wanted."

Sonny Boy Williamson also inspired Aaron Willis to adopt the name Little Sonny. Working in a used car lot by day, Little Sonny would go from bar to bar at night making a little money taking pictures and hoping for a chance to sit in with the musicians onstage.

After sitting in with Washboard Willie at the Good Times Bar one evening, Sonny was offered ten dollars a night, three nights a week by the club owner. Within six months, Sonny formed his own group. During the years that followed, he worked five shows a night in many Detroit bars and clubs, packing the rooms every weekend. He spent two years at the Bank Bar, four and a half at the Congo Lounge, five years in the Apex Bar, and two years at the Calumet Show Bar. He still took Polaroid pictures of the customers between sets and often he earned more money from the photography than from entertaining. It was a rough grind, but he managed to make a living and eventually to buy a car and a home for his wife and four children.

Sonny has had some unpleasant experiences with small record companies over the years. He sent a homemade demo tape of "I Got to Find My Baby" to Duke Records in Texas. They sent him a contract and issued the rough tape. He never got near a recording studio. The musician’s union got him out of that one. All Sonny received for recording "Love Shock" with the JVB Recording Company was twenty-five dollars he borrowed from them. He started his own label Speedway and although he couldn’t get any airplay, he sold enough copies of "The Mix Up" in the clubs he worked to clear expenses.

Excello Records bought "Love Shock" from JVB and got Sonny’s name on a two-year contract. But they never recorded him, so he sat it out. "Orange Pineapple Cherry Blossom Pink" sold well for Wheelsville, USA Records, but Sonny was never paid. Then, Revilot Records expressed an interest and he cut "The Creeper." It sold fairly well, but Sonny didn’t like the way the sound was mixed. He was in control of the next few sessions which produced "Don’t Ask Me No Questions" and "Sonny’s Bag," his first Top Twenty hit in Detroit. From then on, things got better.

Late in 1969, Al Bell, executive vice president of the Stax Organization, offered Sonny his first opportunity to cut an album. New King of the Blues Harmonica,released on the Enterprise label, was recorded in five and a half hours. Sonny and his band knew all the songs so there were few retakes.

For his second album, Black and Blue, Sonny flew to the Stax studios in Memphis and recorded eleven sides in one weekend. It was the #1 blues album in Detroit and #3 on the local LP charts. Sonny has played several music festivals, he headlined two blues concerts at Wayne State University, he’s been written about in several books on the blues, and, in general, his reputation has been growing.

Sonny’s music has been called everything from blues to jazz, and some listeners detect spiritual and rock influences. He enjoys listening to and learning from all kinds of music.

"I’m working on my own ideas," says Sonny, "not something the other man has already done. A lot of other blues musicians say I’m playing rock music because it’s up-tempo, and it’s a different style. They’ve never heard it before and they refuse to say it’s blues.

"Other harmonica players will play their part of a song then pause, then play again. Well, I’m constantly playing. I breathe in and out of the harmonica, and I fill in where other musicians would have a space," says Sonny, who prefers an Old Standby 34B harmonica for its fast action and tone quality.

Little Sonny has been playing the blues for sixteen years. He’s had over a dozen singles and two albums. He’s received excellent reviews for his performances and recordings. But he knows that there’s still more territory to be covered before he can sit back and say he’s had that really big break.

"I’ll pay my dues until the day comes," he says. "My time will come, and I’m going to work for it."

That’s what the blues is all about.