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School of Computer Science and Software Engineering

2005 Research Conference

A-Z Staff Research Profiles

Technical reports

Our technical report series includes the early publication of research and extended versions of research papers.

The 14th School of Computer Science & Software Engineering Research Conference

Conference details

Dates: 20-21 September 2005

Venue: Rottnest Lodge, Rottnest

Keynote speaker: Robert Glass, Computing Trends

Titles and keywords: 8 August (email to Lyndon)

Final papers: 12 August to supervisor(s)

Registration: 26 August via online submission

Conference committee: Asad, Babak, Daniel, James, Jason, John, Lucas, Sule, Tone, Lyndon While, Chris McDonald, Luigi Barone and Jeffrey Pollard

Conference programme

View the conference programme.

In years gone by, the School's research conference has been the focal point for the exchange of information regarding the substantial amount of research done by postgraduate students in the School.

Despite the considerable (financial) cost of the conference, we believe it is one of the most effective ways of fostering a sense of community and common purpose among the research students and staff of the School.

The academic aims of the conference can be summarised as:

  • To provide our postgraduate students with a serious "dry-run" of preparing and presenting a paper in a full conference atmosphere
  • To produce, as the proceedings, a document detailing the current state-of-research in the School for both internal and external use, and
  • To provide a deadline to stimulate the final completion of the many "almost finished" projects that we all have.

The most important thing about the conference is that you get up and give it a go. The talk you present does not have to be perfect or even particularly polished - in fact, this is your opportunity to present imperfect or incomplete work and get some sympathetic yet serious feedback on either the presentation or the work itself.

The Australian Computer Society recently adopted our research conference as part of their recommended best practice model - so let's keep it going!

Call for papers

Papers are invited from all members of the School. The conference proceedings will include both full research papers and and short papers on new research directions.

The expectations on research students at various stages of their studies are clarified below. Contributions are also encouraged from staff, from project students, and from participants from other WA universities and industry or government organisations.

Beginning Postgraduates [Those starting after 1 January 2005]:
You should submit a short (one or more pages) abstract or research proposal outlining the area that you wish to study, and present a talk on your area at the conference. The proposal and discussion need not be very detailed, and are in no way binding. Its purpose is simply to give others some idea of your planned area of research, and allow them to share with you the benefit of any experience they may have in related areas. For example, it may be that some of the staff or students can help with some pointers to literature, software, and resources within the School that have been used on previous projects in related areas.

Postgraduates [Full-time PhD students within their first three years, part-time PhD students within their first four years, MSc students within their first two years]:
You are expected to submit a full (about ten pages) paper related to your work for inclusion in the proceedings, and to present a talk on the work at the conference. For those who have completed one year this might be oriented more towards surveying the state of the art in your chosen field, discussing of problems you plan to address, and your progress so far. For those in later years it is likely to include more of your own contributions, and might be used as a practice paper for a conference or journal. If you'd like to discuss further what is expected please see your supervisor or one of the organisers.

Finishing Postgraduates [Postgraduates outside the above categories]:
You are strongly encouraged to give a talk on your work, but since it is recognised that you may be finishing off and writing up according to fairly tight deadlines, a single abstract page may optionally be submitted in place of a written paper. The page should contain title, author(s), and abstract.

Staff, Research Fellows, Visitors, etc:
You are invited to give a talk on a subject of interest, and submit either an abstract page (see above) or a paper for the proceedings. These may be technical research talks or talks on topics of broader interest (eg. the future of computer science, etc).

Project Students:
If you have some work that you would like to present - maybe from a paper on your project work - you are welcome to submit a paper. But otherwise you are invited to just come along, observe, question, discuss, and have fun!

Information about authors and speakers

Papers should be prepared using the templates provided and should be no more than 10 pages in length in this format. Read the ACM SIG Author Guide for detailed information about the preparation of manuscripts, but please be sure to use the CSSEtemplate.cls file instead of using the ACM SIG (acm_proc_article-sp.cls) class file.

You will get the best results and your files will be easiest to handle if you use LaTeX2e for the preparation of your camera-ready manuscript together with the corresponding class file CSSEtemplate.cls. Use bibliography style {plain} and see the sample bibliography sigproc.bib for example entries. A sample conference paper in the required format is available, together with the corresponding LaTeX file.

Using MS Word is not encouraged, since the layout of the pages (the position of figures and paragraphs) can change from printout to printo ut. Having said this, we do provide the template CSSEtemplate.doc to help MS Word users to prepare their camera-ready manuscripts.

Submissions should be completed via the online submission page.

Please note the deadlines for papers submitted to the conference. These deadlines are necessary in order to allow time for reviewing, collating, and printing the proceedings before the event. Note that even if your draft paper is not complete you should still submit what you have so far to your supervisor at this time.

It is anticipated that each speaker will be allocated 25 minutes. The talks themselves should be up to 20 minutes in length, leaving 5 minutes for questions and discussion. Facilities available will include an overhead projector and computer projector. Please use the special equipment request form if you require any other equipment.

If you have any problems with formatting or the deadline, you need to see one of the organisers before the cut-off date.

The conference venue is the beautiful Rottnest Lodge, a short ferry ride from Fremantle or Hillarys.

A facility to help assist in organising transport to the Rottnest ferry is available. See the conference registration form for more information.

School of Computer Science and Software Engineering

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Full service estate planning and tax attorneys for the North Carolina Sandhills.

phone icon910-944-9555

Estate Planning

While nobody wants to think about death or disability of themselves or their heirs, establishing an estate plan is one of the most important steps you can take to protect yourself and your loved ones. Proper estate planning not only puts you in charge of your finances, it can also spare your loved ones of the expense, delay and frustration associated with managing your affairs when you pass away or become disabled.  Once you have created (or received) wealth, then you want to be a good steward of that wealth for yourself, your spouse, and your property.

Providing for Incapacity

If you become incapacitated, you won’t be able to manage your own financial affairs. Many are under the mistaken impression that their spouse or adult children can automatically take over for them in case they become incapacitated. The truth is that in order for others to be able to manage your finances, they must petition a court to declare you legally incompetent. This process can be lengthy, costly and stressful. Even if the court appoints the person you would have chosen, they may have to come back to the court every year and show how they are  spending and investing each and every penny. If you want your family to be able to immediately take over for you, you must designate a person or persons that you trust in proper legal  documents so that they will have the authority to withdraw money from your accounts, pay bills, take distributions from your IRAs, sell stocks, and refinance your home. A will does not take effect until you die and a power of attorney may be insufficient to handle all of your concerns during your lifetime.

In addition to planning for the financial aspects of your affairs during incapacity, you should establish a plan for your medical care. The law allows you to appoint someone you trust – for example, a family member or close friend to make decisions on your behalf about medical treatment options if you lose the ability to decide for yourself. You can do this by using a durable power of attorney for health care where you designate the person to make such decisions. In addition to a power of attorney for heath care, you should also have a living will which informs others of your preferred medical treatments such as the use of extraordinary measures should you become permanently unconscious or terminally ill.  Now we combine the power of attorney for health care and living will in to one more comprehensive document!

Avoiding Probate

If you leave your estate to your loved ones using a will, everything you own will pass through probate. The process is expensive, time-consuming and open to the public. The probate court  is in control of the process until the estate has been settled and distributed. If you are married and have children, you want to make certain that your surviving family has  immediate access to cash to pay for living expenses while your estate is being settled. It is not unusual for the probate courts to freeze assets for weeks or even months while trying to  determine the proper disposition of your estate. Your surviving spouse may be forced to apply to the probate court for needed cash to pay current living expenses. You can imagine how stressful this process can be. With proper planning, your assets can pass on to your loved ones without undergoing probate, in a manner that is quick, inexpensive and private.

Providing for Minor Children

It is important that your estate plan address issues regarding the upbringing of your children. If your children are young, you may want to consider implementing a plan that will allow your surviving spouse to devote more attention to your children, without the burden of work obligations. You may also want to provide for special counseling and resources for your spouse if you believe he/she lacks the experience or ability to handle financial and legal matters. You should also discuss with your attorney the possibility of both you and your spouse dying simultaneously, or within a short duration of time. A contingency plan should provide for persons you would like to manage your assets (i.e. a trustee) as well as the guardian you would like to nominate for the upbringing of your children. The person or trustee in charge of the finances need not be the same person as the guardian. In fact, in many situations you may want to purposely designate different persons to maintain a system of checks and balances. Otherwise, the decision as to who will manage your finances and raise your children will be left to a  court of law. Even if you are lucky enough to have the person or persons you would have wanted selected by the court, they may have undue burdens and restrictions placed on them by the court, such as having to provide annual accountings. You should give careful thought to your choice of guardian, ensuring that he or she shares the values you want instilled in your children.

Planning for Death Taxes

Whether there will be any federal estate tax to pay depends on the size of your estate and how your estate plan works. Many states have their own separate estate and inheritance taxes that you need to be aware of (North Carolina has repealed the state estate tax). There are many well-established strategies that can be implemented to reduce or eliminate death taxes, but you must start the planning process early in order to implement many of these plans.  Failure to plan is planning to fail.

Charitable Bequests – Planned Giving

Do you want to benefit a charitable organization or cause? Your estate plan can provide for such organizations in a variety of ways, either during your lifetime or at your death. Depending on how your planned giving plan is set up, it may also let you receive a stream of income for life, earn higher investment yield, or reduce your capital gains or estate taxes.

A well-crafted estate plan should provide for your loved ones in an effective and efficient manner by avoiding guardianship during your lifetime, probate at death, estate taxes and unnecessary delays. You should consult a qualified estate planning attorney to review your family and financial situation, your goals, and to explain the various options available to you. Once your estate plan is in place, you will have peace of mind knowing that you have provided for yourself and your family in case the worst happens.

Webb & Coyle, PLLC subscribes to the ethics of the Model Standards of Practice for the Charitable Gift Planner as recommended by the NC Planned Giving Council (www.ncpgc.org/standards).

Family Limited Partnerships & LLCs

A Family Limited Partnership (FLP) is a form of a limited partnership among members of a family. The main advantages of forming and funding an FLP involve estate and gift tax savings and asset protection. An FLP also allows you to retain control over the transferred assets while enjoying these advantages.

Once the FLP is established and your assets are transferred to  it, you can make gifts of limited partnership interests to your children or other beneficiaries. This accomplishes several different estate planning objectives simultaneously.

First, the value of each limited partnership interest which you give away decreases the value of your taxable estate and, consequently, any tax which your heirs would have to pay upon your death. The gifts are made using the annual gift tax exclusion, so you do not have to pay any gift tax on the transfer.

Second, the value of the partnership interests transferred to your beneficiaries is far less than the corresponding value of the assets in the partnership. Since limited partners do not have the ability to direct or control the day-to-day operation of the partnership, a minority discount can be applied to reduce the value of the limited partnership interests which you are gifting. Furthermore, because the partnership is a closely-held entity and not publicly-traded, a discount can be applied based upon the lack of marketability of the limited partnership interest. This allows you to leverage the FLP as a vehicle to transfer more wealth to your beneficiaries, while retaining control of the underlying assets. Lastly, a properly-structured FLP can have creditor protection characteristics since the general partners are not obligated to distribute earnings of the partnership.

However, for as once wide used as FLPs were, LLCs are frequently the most optimal business entity for most business owners nowadays, due to their flexibility and asset protection potential, as well as ease of administration.

Qualified Personal Residence Trusts

Our homes are often our most valuable assets and hence one of the largest components of our taxable estate. A Qualified Personal Residence Trust or a QPRT (pronounced “cue-pert”) allows you to give away your house or vacation home at a great discount, freeze its value for estate tax purposes, and still continue to live in it. Here is how it works: you transfer the title to your house to the QPRT (usually for the benefit of your family members), reserving the right to live in the house for a specified number of years. If you live to the end of the specified period, the house (as well as any appreciation in its value since the transfer) passes to your children or other beneficiaries free of any additional gift taxes. After the end of the specified period, you may continue to live in the home but you must pay rent to your family or designated beneficiary in order to avoid inclusion of the residence in your estate. This may be an added benefit as it serves to further reduce the value of your taxable estate, though the rent income does have income tax consequences for your family. If you die before the end of the period, the full value of the house will be included in your estate for estate tax purposes, though in most cases you are no worse off than you would have been had you not established a QPRT. An added benefit of the QPRT is that it also serves as an excellent asset/creditor protection vehicle since you no longer technically own the property once the trust is established and your residence is transferred to the QPRT.

Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts

There is a common misconception that life insurance proceeds are not subject to Federal Estate Taxes. While the proceeds are received by your loved ones free of any income taxes, they are countable as part of your taxable estate and therefore your loved ones can lose about half of its value to estate taxes.

An Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (“ILIT”) is created specifically for the purpose of owning your life insurance policy. A properly established and administered trust holds the policy  outside of your estate and keeps the proceeds from being taxable to your estate. The proceeds from the insurance  policy can then be used to provide your estate with the liquidity to pay estate taxes, pay off debts, pay final expenses and provide income to a surviving spouse or children. The ILIT will be the policy owner and beneficiary. Once your trust is established, you use your annual gift tax exclusion to make cash gifts to your trust. Your beneficiaries forgo the present gift (in lieu of the future proceeds) and the trustee uses the remaining gift to pay the premium on the life insurance policy. There are many options available when setting up an ILIT. For example, ILITs can be structured to provide income to a surviving spouse with the remainder going to your children from a previous marriage. You can also provide for distribution of a limited amount of the insurance proceeds over a period of time to a financially irresponsible child.

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Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6 Service Pack 1

Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) 4.6 Service Pack 1 provides the latest updates to App-V 4.6

Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6 Service Pack 1 (App-V 4.6 SP1) updates App-V 4.6 with the latest security and stability enhancements to help keep computers running App-V up-to-date, reliable, and more secure. The goal of this service pack is to increase the overall quality of the existing product features while maintaining a high level of compatibility with previous releases. ‘
Feature Summary:

  • Streamlined application sequencing – Improvements to the App-V 4.6 SP1 Sequencer make packaging applications for App-V easier and faster.
  • Support for using a read-only cache on RDS – App-V 4.6 SP1 now supports using a shared, read-only cache in both VDI and RDS environments.
  • Support for sequencing Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 – App-V 4.6 SP1 now supports sequencing the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0.
  • Customer Feedback and Hotfix Rollup – App-V 4.6 SP1 also includes a rollup up of fixes to address issues found since the Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6 release.

Download details Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6 Service Pack 1

Citrix Connector for System Center Configuration Manager 2007

Microsoft have recently jointly released the Citrix connector for ConfigMgr 2007.  Through this release, the ConfigMgr SDK has been used to extend and support the management of application services through XenApp.  Very cool indeed.

Here is the announcement. Links are below.

Citrix® XenApp™ 6 introduces integration with Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2 giving organizations a single, integrated view and management of all applications across the enterprise including on-demand apps by XenApp. The Citrix XenApp Connector leverages the Configuration Manager console to deploy and publish applications and updates to XenApp servers with zero disruption to users and extends the reach of Configuration Manager applications to a broader set of users, devices and access scenarios

Some resources for you:

  • Jointly authored whitepaper is available here
  • A Video Demo can be viewed here

Announcing App-V 4.6 RC and integration with Office 2010 Beta!

First of all, we are excited to announce the availability of App-V 4.6 RC! In August we announced the App-V 4.6 Beta. Since then we have taken in lots of customer feedback and continue to refine the App-V 4.6 release so that we can deliver a great product!  We invite you to check out the RC release by registering and downloading the App-V 4.6 RC release via Microsoft Connect, where you can also submit feedback directly to the team.

We’re not done though, in addition we’d like to share some great news and also announce our integration with Office 2010 Beta:

Microsoft Office 2010 Beta, Ready to be Sequenced With the Microsoft Office 2010 Beta Deployment Kit for App-V

As you know the Office team just completed a major milestone Microsoft Office 2010 Beta, congrats to the team!  Throughout the process of building Office 2010 the App-V and Office teams have been working very closely to make sequencing Office 2010 Beta possible with App-V 4.6 RC!  We have taken the feedback and requests from post-Office 2007 and App-V 4.5 releases, and have been hard at work implementing a solid integration experience for Office when App-V 4.6 releases in H1 2010.

So what’s Different when using Microsoft Office 2010 Beta and App-V 4.6 RC together?

Office 2010 has introduced a new piracy protection initiative, the Software Protection Platform (SPP) service.  This service uses a machine’s hardware characteristics and product key to activate the installation, which is performed during the first Office application launch.

Since the Office 2010 product activation is linked to the hardware on which Office is originally installed, customers who wish to deploy Office 2010 using App-V must physically install the SPP service on the sequencer machine before beginning the sequencing process – and on any client machines that will stream and run Office 2010.

Our engineering teams have collaborated to address the top customer issues that people were running into when virtualizing past versions of Office.   As a result, Office 2010 has a much more integrated user experience.  The Office 2010 integration delivers key productivity enhancements and a seamless user experience by enabling the following::

· Microsoft SharePoint Integration – You can open, edit, and save Microsoft Office documents using Microsoft SharePoint.

· Microsoft Outlook Fast Search – You can use Microsoft Windows Desktop Search to find specific messages in your inbox.

· MAPI Proxy – You can connect to your inbox using Microsoft Outlook Send To functionality.

· Microsoft Office Document Indexing – You can index your documents so that you can use Microsoft Windows Search to locate files.

· Virtual Mail Control Panel icon – You can use the Email icon in Control Panel to perform advance mail configuration.

· URL protocol handler – You can configure links in the browser and specify the appropriate associated Microsoft Office application.

· Send to Microsoft OneNote Printer driver – You can print documents to Microsoft OneNote.

To help customers facilitate this process, we have created the Microsoft Office 2010 Deployment Kit for App-V (Beta). The Deployment Kit contains both the required SPP licensing component and Office 2010 integration features.

And what’s even more exciting, you can get your hands on it now.

How Do I Sequence Microsoft Office 2010 Beta for App-V 4.6 RC?

1. Download Office 2010 Beta here

2. Download the Microsoft Office 2010 Deployment Kit for App-V (Beta)

3. Download App-V 4.6 RC on Microsoft Connect

4. Read the App-V recipe for sequencing Office 2010 Beta on Microsoft Connect.

For detailed information on whether your environment meets the requirements of Office 2010 and App-V 4.6 RC, please refer to the App-V recipe.

Please note: We are providing a recipe to support the sequencing and testing of these pre-release products on Microsoft Connect.  Please provide feedback via Microsoft Connect, by choosing FEEDBACK once logged into the App-V 4.6 Program.

We look forward to hearing about your App-V 4.6 RC and Office 2010 experience!

App-V 4.6 Beta Released!

We are excited to announce immediate availability of Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) 4.6 Beta. At TechEd EMEA we announced our commitment to ship the next version of App-V in H1 2010.  In March of this year, as part of the MDOP 2009 launch, we indicated that the development of App-V 4.6 was underway.  Today, we have reached a major milestone and are a step closer to our goal.

This will be the first version of App-V to support both x64 and x86 Windows platforms.  The primary focus of this release is to enable App-V to take advantage of 64-bit Windows platforms including Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.  We’ve also made some improvements in the App-V Sequencer such as simplifying the workflow for creating virtual applications and adding the ability to sequence true 64-bit applications, a first to market! For customers running Windows XP or Windows Vista, you can also use App-V 4.6 Beta and take advantage of the support for Office 2010, 64-bit platform support and additional features in the release.

Customers who want to get familiar App-V 4.6 Beta can register and download via Microsoft Connect.  As always, we want to hear from you.  We build great products by including feedback from our customers, so go ahead, test App-V 4.6 and give us feedback via Connect.

For customers who are currently using App-V 4.5 CU1 with their 32-bit Windows 7 systems, we will release an update to the 4.5 version of the product.  App-V 4.5 SP1 will be available within 90 days of Windows 7 general availability and provide full support for running App-V 4.5 and Windows 7 (32-bit) in production.

For those of you out there that also want to test this out with Configuration Manager, the required platform level is Configuration Manager 2007 R2 SP2.  Service Pack 2 for ConfigMgr is currently in open Beta, and can be downloaded.

Download here:

How to integrate App-V with SCCM without losing the features you care about

One of the most anticipated features of SCCM 2007 R2 is “App-V Integration”. We have recently tested the end-to-end scenario for this integration and we can say with confidence: it BLOWS :-( . In a nutshell, by integrating App-V with SCCM you lose App-V’s best features and reduce the solution to something that’s even worse than SCCM by itself!

So what happens when you enable the App-V/SCCM integration feature in the SCCM Management Console?

  • Control of the App-V client is seized by the SCCM client. If you had App-V running on its own before you enabled the integration, you’ll notice that all App-V apps that are published through App-V’s Publishing Server are now rendered invalid. On launch you’ll get a “Unable to initialize package information (0×00000000)” error.
  • You must now publish your App-V apps through SCCM as “Virtual Application Packages”. This works by importing the .XML file of the App-V package. SCCM will distribute the packages to its Distribution Points and you can enable those Distribution Points for HTTP(S) streaming.
  • To get the App-V apps to your clients, you’ll have to create SCCM advertisements. Basically SCCM advertisements replace the App-V Publishing Server. The behavior of getting App-V apps to your desktop now becomes eerily similar to SCCM’s way of installing applications. No more getting your shortcuts immediately upon logon (like you get with App-V); you will have to go get a cup of coffee and hope that SCCM is willing to give you your apps today.
  • If you created non-mandatory assignments, then you’ll have to go to Add/Remove Programs yourself and click “Run” for all the apps that you want. However clicking “Run” doesn’t actually run your app, it only registers the App-V app with the local App-V client. Don’t expect to see any progress bar or visual feedback that the registration actually happened; just keep scouring around in your Start Menu in hope of finding the shortcuts for your new app.
  • If you created mandatory assignments, you’ll get one or more notifications from SCCM (after some time ofcourse) that SCCM has App-V apps for you that it would like to register with the local App-V client. It will do that on *every* desktop you logon to. Prepare to spend quite a bit of quality time with the SCCM Client…
  • If you’re using either Windows Terminal Services or Fast User Switching in Vista, you’re SOL because the SCCM Client is allergic to terminal sessions. You’ll get a message telling you that “No programs are available to run from a Terminal Services session”. How nice. If you happen to be running the console session, you won’t notice this limitation because at the console session, everything works just fine. So make sure you also test your solution via a terminal session so you won’t get caught by surprise.

As a result of the findings described above, we were pretty disappointed with the solution and decided to reverse our decision to integrate App-V with SCCM. However we did like the idea of using SCCM Distribution Points to stream App-V apps from. So we had a go at doing a manual integration of App-V with SCCM so that we could use just the SCCM parts we wanted. The idea was inspired by Tim Mangan’s article which included this diagram:

In his article he never got around to actually testing if it was possible to stream an application that was published by App-V’s Publishing Server from an SCCM Distribution Point. He only verified that is was possible to install the App-V app through an MSI with SCCM. So we ventured to get HTTP streaming working against SCCM Distribution Points, with the shortcuts still being provided by an App-V Publishing Server. In a nutshell: it works! You do have to setup a few mechanisms to get load balancing working though.

Here is how it works:

  • First and foremost: disable the App-V integration with SCCM. To do this, go to the SCCM Console -> Site Database -> Site Management -> <Site> -> Site Settings -> Client Agents -> Advertised Programs Client Agent -> Properties and make sure “Allow virtual application package advertisement” is NOT selected.
  • Enable your SCCM Distribution Points for BITS, HTTP and HTTPS content transfer. To do this, go to the SCCM Console -> Site Database -> Site Management -> <Site> -> Site Settings -> Site Systems -> <your DP> -> ConfigMgr distribution point -> Properties and select “Allow clients to transfer content from this distribution point using BITS, HTTP and HTTPS”.
  • We found that (at least in the RTM version of SCCM 2007 R2) you don’t have to enable “virtual application streaming” on the “Virtual Applications” tab of the distribution point to be able to stream from a SCCM DP when using our manual integration. The added benefit of this is that you can now also use Secondary Site DP’s as streaming servers!
  • Set up an App-V Management Server on any server you like. You can even set it up on a SCCM server, it doesn’t matter. Use the default installation settings for the entire installation. After installation, set the Default Content Path to the following: http://%SFT_SOFTGRIDSERVER%
  • Add an App-V package to SCCM for distribution and streaming:
    • Go to the SCCM Console -> Site Database -> Computer Management -> Software Distribution -> Packages -> New -> Package . Enter the information about your package and click Next. Select “This package contains source files” and set the Source Directory to the location of your App-V package and click Finish. Note that you import the App-V package as a normal SCCM package and NOT as a Virtual Application Package. Importing it as a Virtual Application Package will cause the .SFT file in the App-V package to be renamed and cause the .SFT file to be added to not 1 but 2 locations on each SCCM Distribution Point, doubling storage requirements.
    • When the package is added to SCCM, find the Package ID and use it to update the streaming location in the App-V OSD files. For each OSD file in your App-V package, update the HREF statement to HTTP://%SFT_SOFTGRIDSERVER%/SMS_DP$/SMSPKG/<your SCCM Package ID >/<name of your SFT file >
      (If you are using a File Share Distribution Point, the IIS vdir may be different than SMS_DP$. Verify the vdir name in IIS Manager and ensure that all DP’s are either standard DP’s or File Share DP’s.)
    • Now add some SCCM Distribution Points to your package so that SCCM can distribute the App-V content
  • Import the same App-V package into the App-V Management Server so that you can distribute the shortcuts and set permissions:
    • On the App-V Management Server, go to the App-V Management Console, go to Applications
      -> Import Application and go to the same App-V package folder. Select the .SPRJ file and click Open. Perform your regular App-V import steps and finish the import.
    • The imported applications in the App-V Management Console should now show the correct http:// paths to both the OSD file(s) and the SFT file(s).
  • That’s it! Now just configure your App-V Clients on the desktops to use your newly setup App-V Management Server by configuring a Publishing Server and use Group Policy to set the %SFT_SOFTGRIDSERVER% to the name of a SCCM Distribution Point nearby. We set this variable to DNS name that uses DNS Round Robin to distribute the load to multiple DP’s.

Performance analysis of App-V, SVS, ThinApp and XenApp

XPnet created a whitepaper which analyze and describes the performance characteristics of Altiris SVS Pro, Citrix XenApp, Microsoft App-V and VMware ThinApp. Although the tested application set is limited it still gives a nice view of the performance characteristics of different Application Virtualization solutions.

VMWare commission the study, but did not aid or influence the results. VMWare chose Xpnet to study AppVirt performance because they developed Clarity Suite which is a fairly well known Office benchmarking application and because it’s freely available anyone can reproduce their results. This is the first real whitepaper which investigates the performance impact of various Application Virtualization solutions. My personal feeling is that there are more real independent tests to come..

The complete test report can be downloaded:


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TTC/April/2012 – Monkey Mind

The Chinese xinyuan, and Sino-Japanese shin-en, is a Buddhist term meaning “hear-/mind-monkey” – “unsettled, restless, capricious, whimsical, fanciful, inconstant, confused, indecisive, uncontrollable.” Over the last couple weeks in Rishikesh, I’ve spent a lot of time watching the monkeys – watching how they eat like us, sleep like us, and at times even seem to think like us. The monkeys here are smart – they know exactly the best time to snatch a bag of fresh vegetables, and can even apparently unscrew bottled water. Still, something is different. If you watch the monkeys closely, you can anticipate their movements, as they are quite predictable. One species of monkeys is quite amiable towards humans, while another aggressive. One likes bananas, and other mangoes. However, it is quite difficult to predict the actions, likes, and dislikes, of each human being passing on the street. We suffer the existential crisis and are all on a search for something more. Still we often remain monkey-like: “unsettled, restless, capricious, whimsical, fanciful, inconstant, confused, indecisive, uncontrollable.”

A monkey outside Krishna Cottage

My mother often talks about her monkey mind. When a bit of information seems to pass straight through, or she forgets something she’s known for a long, long time, she says – “Oops! Forgive my monkey mind!” Each of our minds jumps from one piece of information to another constantly throughout the day. Excellent multi-taskers, we’ve learned in an increasingly busy world how to process information rapidly. However, each of us seems to lose a bit of ourselves in this process – at least I know I have. As we allow the information in, our sense of self often gets lost in all the hubbub and commotion. Our mind becomes a jumble of instinct and programmed reactions  – a monkey mind

My Mala

However, our teacher suggested this week that each of us does not have a monkey mind, but instead a mind of a diligent researcher with a PHD. Our mind is constantly looking to analyze information so that we might find what we are looking for: peace, love, and happiness. As we move throughout the day, our minds naturally sift through information in the effort of finding this one shared goal that we all have in life. Just as asana practice gives one an increased amount of control over the body, meditation gives one this control over the mind. Focusing on the breath, we are learning here to transcend these monkey – or PHD researcher – thoughts and move in fact towards the centered goal that we all share: unity of the self and each other.

The Graduation Ceremony

This week we had the wonderful opportunity to attend a graduation ceremony of a class of Rishikesh Yog Peeth students from Iran. It was wonderful to see the shared joy and respect that each of the new teachers demonstrated and gave to their instructors. After two weeks of classes, and this ceremony, I have become certain that I will be able to harness practices taught in this course to still my mind and move towards peace, love, and happiness. Goodbye monkey mind, hello calm, still, centered me.

The Studio

One of the best and most affordable/economical yoga teacher training courses – RYT 200 – certified by Yoga Alliance and conducted at Rishikesh Yog Peeth (RYS 200) – a classical yoga and ayurveda centre in the sacred pilgrimage site of Rishikesh on the banks of the river Ganges in the Himalayas.

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Sindda shape puts your in the perfect position for any walking. It provide all benefit of a stability walking, plus you are supported on a cushion of air with 3 step real walking. You get a great comfortable walking position.


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89.1 WEMU

Black History

Jorge Avellan / WEMU

Frederick Douglass is one of the most iconic figures in American history, and, during the height of his career, he visited Ypsilanti to give three separate speeches.   We take a look back at his time in Washtenaw County, learn why he was here, and explore where he spoke.

Linda Williams-Bowie

Earlier this month, we took a quick look into the Underground Railroad in our Southeast Michigan.  As part of Black History Month, we continue exploring stories that came out of that era in Washtenaw County.

The First African-American Piano Manufacturer

May 9, 2014
Courtesty of Warren Shadd

Moments of the Movement: Joseph Lowery

Feb 12, 2014

The bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham was a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement. But for Freeman Hrabowski, now president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, it was personal. The Birmingham native was part of the movement as a child, and knew Cynthia Wesley, one of the four girls killed that morning. Here, he explains how the events of that day and the aftermath not only forever changed him, but Birmingham as well, and eventually, the country.

Each morning at 7:30 in February, experience the unheralded histories and testimonials of individuals who participated in the Civil Rights Movement during the 1950s and 1960s.

  With so much on the line, one might think that everyone in the Black community would be on the same page when it came to fighting for civil rights. But Birmingham native Freeman Hrabowski explains that many middle-class African-Americans worried that there could be serious consequences for families of protesters. Now the president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Hrabowski was one of the few middle-class children who not only joined the protests, but was trained to lead and protect the younger children who were often the catalyst for change in the movement.

Join host Maya Angelou on 89.1 WEMU Friday, February 8, at 9am. Angelou poetically and historically covers milestones by African Americans in Nobel Peace Prize, Grammy, Academy Awards, and cultural awards.


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Thursday, June 3, 2010

A Gift for a Colorado Friend

I have been slacking in the blogging department (both posting and visiting other blogs) big time! I just haven't felt like myself lately.

I haven't done a whole lot of stitching lately. I did start Heart in Hand's Spring Day but I am feeling like I am losing my stitching mojo! Not a good thing....

I wanted to stitch something special for Staci so I chose a design by Pine Mountain called "Friendship is the Sweetest Flower" and finished it as a pinkeep. I had such a great time meeting her and can't wait to get back to Colorado again.

Well, I think I'll close for now. Happy stitching to everyone and thank you all so much for your wonderful comments on my rr and Edgar's as well. I really love mine and it was fun to stitch on everybody's.

Wendy Jo


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Consumer Information Guide

Student Diversity

In accordance with the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, as amended, each postsecondary educational institution must make available information regarding student diversity as defined by the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).  Data reported are for enrolled full-time students.

Table 1 represents all enrolled students from July 1, 2011 – June 30, 2012.  Of the total enrolled students, those who received Pell grant funds during July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012 timeframe are shown in Table 2.

Note:  Information reported on student diversity for all enrolled students is from the IPEDS 12-Month Enrollment survey (July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012).  Pell recipients were those students from the 12-Month Enrollment survey who were disbursed Pell funds during the July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012 timeframe.


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Saturday, April 1, 2017

Cinema Retro Special “Viva Sabata”

By Fred Blosser

On a windy night, a black-clad stranger rides into Daugherty City, Texas. He flips a coin to a scruffy drunk who is strapped for the price of a drink. He exposes a crooked dice game in the local saloon, where most of the townsfolk seem to be congregated. Then he departs. In the meantime, down the street, a gang of acrobatic robbers breaks into the bank and heists a safe containing $100,000 in Army payroll money. The getaway crew escapes town before a wounded trooper can raise the alarm, but out on the trail they run into the stranger, Sabata, who picks them off with a tricked-out rifle and recovers the stolen money.

Thus, in under 15 minutes of running time, Gianfranco Parolini neatly sets up the events that will drive the remaining 90 minutes of his 1969 Spaghetti Western, "Ehi amico... c'è Sabata, hai chiuso!" -- better known simply as “Sabata,” as United Artists retitled the English-dubbed version that debuted in the U.S. in 1970. The original Italian title translates to something like, “Hey, Pal, Sabata’s Here, You Lose” . . . or maybe closer to the film’s rambunctious spirit, “. . . You’re Screwed.”

Bracketing the opening credits, Parolini economically introduces most of the movie’s main characters, establishes their personalities, and through their interactions with Sabata and each other, defines the interpersonal relationships that will drive the plot.

Sabata (Lee Van Cleef), the sharp-eyed “man who knows,” as the drunk Carrincha (Pedro Sanchez) calls him, deduces that the men behind the attempted robbery are the local businessman Stengel, his partner Ferguson, and their crony Judge O’Hara (Gianni Rizzo). He approaches them and demands $10,000 in hush money. Refusing, Stengel dispatches one assassin after another to kill him. Stengel’s henchman Slim, a hulking gunman named Sharky, two hit men dressed like the Earp brothers, and a nervous killer disguised as a clergyman all try and fail. With each attempt, Sabata raises his price higher and higher.

An old acquaintance, barroom minstrel Banjo (William Berger), one of the supporting characters deftly sketched in the opening saloon scene, ambles in and out from the periphery, toting his own tricked-out weapon, a carbine hidden under his musical instrument. Sometimes he sides with Sabata for money, sometimes he works for Stengel; in any event, not to be trusted by either. He and a greedy saloon girl, Jane, have a sort of romance characterized by mutual boredom and availability. Carrincha and a mute Indian acrobat, Alley Cat (Nick Jordan), help Sabata.

Arguably, “Sabata” represented the high tide of Spaghetti Western popularity in the States in 1970, benefiting from the box-office success of Sergio Leone’s groundbreaking films and preceding the decline of the genre as it sputtered toward a slow box-office death in the mid-‘70s. Where Leone’s movies were generally panned by mainstream U.S. media on their initial release, but nevertheless attracted a small early following of more progressive critics, “Sabata” ironically met the opposite reception.

Major outlets like The New York Times gave it good notices, but the pioneering book-length studies of the genre by Christopher Frayling and Laurence Staig & Tony Williams were lukewarm. Staig and Williams dismissed it as “a mixture of gimmickry and borrowed themes.” Citing Banjo’s hidden carbine, Frayling said that the movie was one of the “derivatives” inspired by Leone’s scenes in which “guns are fired from unexpected places.”

Other commentators over the years have noted additional Leone influences. Before you see Sabata’s face in the opening scenes, Parolini gives us a shot down the main street of Daugherty City, framed between Sabata’s boots in close-up -- a favorite Leone visual angle. Paralleling the three lead characters of “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” Parolini (who also co-scripted with Renato Izzo) builds the action around an unflappable protagonist, an icy bad guy, and a talkative, slippery secondary lead. Sabata’s black suit, black military coat, and fanciful weapons recall Colonel Mortimer’s from Van Cleef’s break-out Spaghetti role in “For a Few Dollars More.”

The argument that Leone cast a long shadow over Parolini’s movie is valid as far as it goes, but then Leone cast a long shadow over all the Italian Westerns that followed after his enormously successful pictures with Clint Eastwood. If we acknowledge that “Sabata” often follows the visual and dramatic conventions of Leone’s movies, it’s only fair to Parolini to note that he also departed from those conventions in ways that other Spaghetti directors such as Sergio Corbucci, Sergio Sollima, and Luigi Vanzi generally didn’t.

For example, like John Ford, Leone held a sentimental reverence for the sanctity of the traditional family; the families in his movies symbolize social stability. There are no traditional parents and children in Parolini’s universe, even if a kid’s chorus heard in the movie’s bouncy title tune suggests there will be. The only offspring and parent in “Sabata” are Sharky -- a burly, slovenly adult -- and his gray-haired old virago of a mother, who berates him verbally and physically for not settling a score with their neighbors the Mallorys. “They stole your woman, didn’t they?” she shrieks. No, Sharky retorts, “you sold her to the Mallorys.”

Carrincha, who looks a bit like Sharky in girth and disheveled appearance, laments his life of thirst and poverty: “I curse the mother who bore me, and my brother, and my whole family.” Almost everything Carrincha says is prone to exaggeration, so it’s difficult to know whether this sentiment is real or not. Regardless, it mirrors and reinforces the satiric relationship between Sharky and his mother, poles away from the traditional relationships portrayed by Leone and Ford.

Playing with the “trio” aspect of “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” Parolini assigns the trickster role of “the Ugly” not to the boisterous Mexican (in name, at least) Carrancha, as Eli Wallach’s Tuco was “the Ugly” in Leone’s movie, but to the Anglo drifter, Banjo. This way, Parolini finds not only differences but also similarities between the two characters, including allusions to a shared history during and after the Civil War and maybe a shared past outside the law. This gives their relationship an extra dimension not present in the relationship between the Good and the Ugly in the Leone movie.

Critics and fans who appreciate “Sabata” on its own terms usually employ terms like “hectic and chaotic,” and “fun” that’s “not to be taken too seriously.” The movie hardly lets up for a moment (none of Leone’s long, measured takes), but a term like “chaotic” can be misleading if you think it means slipshod. In fact, even though Parolini doesn’t build the movie around a mystery as Leone does in “For a Few Dollars More” (what do those seemingly shared flashback memories by Colonel Mortimer and Indio mean?) or around a character arc as Sollima does in “The Big Gundown” and Corbucci in “The Mercenary,” “Sabata” has its own ingenious design. Beyond the action, stunts, and cynical humor, “Sabata” bears repeated viewing to appreciate the two techniques that Parolini uses to bring unity to the film.

One technique is repetition. Little details that appear in one scene in the visuals or in the dialogue will unexpectedly and sometimes subtly reappear later in a different context. Slim’s loaded dice in the opening saloon scene always come up 7. There are seven men in the getaway crew from the bank robbery whom Sabata ambushes. When Sabata checks into a hotel in Daugherty City, Banjo’s squeeze Jane gives him Room 7 -- “next to mine,” she says suggestively. (Sabata isn’t interested. As Jules Feiffer once observed of Superman, he is so self-sufficient and self-confident that he doesn’t need to pursue every woman he encounters, or even to respond to every pass that comes his way.)

Parolini’s other technique is music. Like Ennio Morricone’s compositions for Leone, Marcello Giombini’s score is integrated into “Sabata” as an essential part of Parolini’s fabric. Like Morricone, Giombini tailors certain musical themes and cues to specific characters in the story. As John Mansell observes in his liner notes for a 2001 CD soundtrack edition, Sabata’s theme incorporates “a rather buoyant sounding guitar piece … interspersed with a solo muted trumpet, occasional harpsichord flourishes plus the added support of choir, which is carried along on a backing of slightly upbeat percussion.” Banjo’s theme is a cocky melody plucked on his namesake instrument, sometimes augmented by jingling bells like those sewn on his trousers.

But Mansell’s description of Sabata’s theme, while insightful, fails to note that the theme also incorporates a glissando passage like the swirling of the wind. Sabata is associated with the wind throughout the movie. In the first scene, tumbleweeds blow down the street and lamplight flutters as Sabata rides into Daugherty City. In the closing scene, Parolini and Sabata use the wind to the same ironic effect that John Huston used it at the end of “Treasure of Sierra Madre” and Stanley Kubrick in the finale of “The Killing.” Although Judge O’Hara wonders if Sabata is a government agent, and Stengel snaps back that “he’s nothing -- just a drifter who’s after our money,” the man in black perhaps suggests his true elemental nature when he advises Stengel in one exchange: “Don’t shoot at the wind.”

Parolini and Giombini also take their partnership one step further than Leone and Morricone did in their collaborations. In Morricone’s scores, Leone’s primary characters have (in the words of Staig and Williams) their own “individual musical signatures” -- the template followed by Parolini with Sabata’s and Banjo’s themes. The difference is that, in Morricone’s scores, in any one scene where the character either enters or dominates the action, his theme predominates. Parolini combines his individual themes for Sabata and Banjo as point and counterpoint in the same scene to underscore the two gunmen’s shared history and one-up rivalry.

Banjo’s theme sounds a little like the old military marching tune, “The British Grenadier,” a reminder of Banjo’s allusion to his and Sabata’s Civil War past on different sides of the conflict: “You in the North and me in the South.” In their first meeting after Sabata’s arrival in town, Banjo plays a mocking version of the tune, in increasingly frantic tempo, as if trying to get under the other man’s skin. Sabata stops the performance by shooting one of the pegs off the banjo. “You were out of tempo,” he says dryly.

Near the end of the film, as Banjo leaves Daugherty City in apparent triumph after a pivotal final encounter with Sabata, a merry version of his banjo theme begins to play, bolstered by a fife and drum that underlines the similarity to military marching music. The jingle of bells joins in with a close-up of the bells on Banjo’s trousers. The viewer senses that this is the victorious music that Banjo probably hears in his own imagination. However, Sabata’s wind-theme presently swirls in. As if in competition, the strum of the banjo gains tempo, becoming increasingly insistent. Remembering the association of the fast-tempo strumming with the much earlier scene in which Banjo was humiliated, you may anticipate that Banjo’s present victory will be short-lived, too.

There isn’t an official 45th anniversary edition of “Sabata,” but the Swiss label Explosive Media recently released a new Blu-Ray combo pack that also includes a DVD print, a supplemental disc of interviews and features, and a nice souvenir booklet in German, copiously illustrated with stills and pictures of various international posters.

“Sabata” and the two Parolini films that immediately followed it are popularly known as “The Sabata Trilogy,” although only one is a true sequel. “Indio Black, sai che ti dico: Sei un gran figlio di . . .,” released in Italy in 1970, was imported to the U.S. the following year as “Adios, Sabata.” Yul Brynner played the hero who wears black, this time a black fringed shirt and bell-bottom trousers instead of Lee Van Cleef’s more formal outfit. In the Italian version, he’s Indio Black; in the dubbed U.S. print, Sabata.

Both movies are strongly linked in casting and style. Three of the major supporting roles in the two movies are occupied by the same actors (Jordan, Rizzo, Sanchez) and fulfill similar functions in character and plot. Dean Reed, who looks like the young Roger Moore, plays an opportunist named Ballantine who serves as this film’s surrogate for Banjo. There are several big-action set pieces, mostly involving Sabata’s mission in Mexico to relieve a tyrannical officer, Colonel Skimmel, of a hoard of gold during the revolution against Maximilian.

“Adios, Sabata” is an entertaining Spaghetti with a bigger cast of extras and more explosions than its predecessors. One set piece, in which Sabata sends the no-good Murdock Brothers to their “just reward” in a showdown at the Bounty Hunters’ Agency, is particularly well dialogued and choreographed.

But “Sabata” is the better movie, partly because Van Cleef and Berger had stronger chemistry than Brynner and Reed, and partly because Brynner’s character is a more traditional soldier of fortune and do-gooder (he’s friends with benevolent old priests and small children) than Van Cleef’s enigmatic loner. Although Bruno Nicolai’s score for “Alias Sabata” is quite good on its own terms, the title track emulating the full-on symphonic, choral sound of Morricone’s Spaghetti music, it isn’t as ingeniously integrated into the movie as Giombini’s composition was.

Parolini’s authentic sequel to “Sabata,” released in Italy in 1971 as "È tornato Sabata... hai chiuso un'altra volta," reached the States in 1972 as “Return of Sabata.” Lee Van Cleef returns as the lead character, and Giombini returns as the soundtrack composer, but unfortunately this movie doesn’t measure up to its predecessors.

As in “Sabata,”Van Cleef’s character rides into a town where a cabal of seemingly respectable citizens is engaged in nefarious activity. This time, the heavies are the outwardly pious McIntocks who trumpet civic expansion in Hobsonville by raising money for new buildings and businesses. They do so by imposing exorbitant taxes on the town’s goods and services.

In truth, patriarch Joe McIntock is conniving with his brother-in-law, banker Jeremy Sweeney, to smuggle the money out of town for his own enrichment. Sabata, who arrives in Hobsonville as a sharpshooter in a traveling circus sideshow, following a hunch about something being rotten somewhere, uncovers the fraud. As in “Sabata,” he demands blackmail from the bad guys in return for keeping their secret. The McIntocks, reluctant to pay, send a series of would-be assassins after him.

Again, Parolini employs his stock troupe of Jordan, Rizzo, and Sanchez in supporting roles, and inserts a slippery intermediary character, Clyde (Reiner Schone). Clyde, like Banjo, shares a Civil War past with Sabata. Giombini’s music isn’t as ingenious as his score for the first movie, and the circus aspect of the story never quite jells with the plot about the McIntocks’ scam; as a whole, the movie lacks the little visual and aural details that wove “Sabata” together.

Another problem: Sabata loses much of the steely, enigmatic quality that defined his personality in the first movie. In “Return of Sabata,” an old girlfriend, a hooker named Maggie, drifts into town, and Sabata shacks up with her. Maggie is never quite integrated into the story either. Sabata as a mysterious loner in the original film was intriguing. As a more conventional character with a sexy main squeeze, like a hero out of a paperback adult western, he isn’t. Still, “Return of Sabata” hardly merits a place among the “50 Worst Movies of All Time,” as the Medved brothers asserted in their 1978 book. Maybe Parolini has the last laugh: the Sabata movies live on while the Medved book is long forgotten.

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Tuesday, June 26, 2007

The First Fire

The first local fire of the season started yesterday. I didn't get a picture of it, but there's a good one on a great local blog I just discovered, Farr Feed. I had been inside all afternoon (escaping the heat) and didn't know anything about it until about 5:30 when Ron got home. He called on his cell phone from the driveway asking about the fire. I ran outside to look and was shocked by the huge cloud of smoke to the northwest of us.

It looked like it was near Tres Piedras, which worried us a little, since we own 40 acres south of TP. We hopped in the car and drove up Blueberry Hill to get a better look. We drove partway up and saw that the fire wasn't quite to TP and wasn't endangering our property, so we turned around and drove home to watch the news and see if they would mention the fire.

It wasn't the top story, of course, but the did mention it. At 6:00, it was only 40 acres, but it continued to grow. They're calling it the Double D Fire, since it's near the Double D Ranch, which is east of Tres Piedras. They expect to have the fire fully contained later today.

sam said...

The last I read, the fire had spread to 350 acres. I'm not from New Mexico, but I have a close friend who lives in the Taos area, so I'm trying to keep up with the story of the fire.

Are fires like this one common in the Taos area?

Beth said...

Sam - I guess it's still not out yet. I'm not sure how big it's gotten. We had a very wet spring, which caused a lot of growth, followed by a dry summer, so that growth is dead or nearly dead, so there's a lot of fuel for fires. We get really big ones, much bigger than this, every few years. Small ones like this are common every summer.

sam said...

Small??? Good lord! Where I live, that would be considered huge!

Thanks for the info, Beth.


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Sunday, December 1, 2013

montrous diversions

Every student finds a period when they burn out. I don’t know if there is any way to get around it. The hamster wheel keeps spinning, by your own actions, and then suddenly one goes,”Oh, I’m tired.”
I hit that point, that wall, that heavy stone block. So like a typical student I caught up on sleep and looked for diversion.
I found it last week with the most frustrating board game I’ve ever played. The Horror of Arkham is a role playing game with a confusing and complicated set of rules. The game was purchased on an impulse, I will not deny it, because it could be played by one person or eight. I liked the idea that if we wanted to we could play it alone. Nothing is more frustrating than wanting to play a board game and can’t due to lack of players. Slowly but surely my son and I are learning to traverse the zones, move about monsters and battle them with success. In the meantime it is baffling.

However I do enjoy this frustrating menace. It is a cooperative game. Players are not pitted against each other but the board. We work together to thwart the monsters. We help each other do battle. I like that.

The board has consumed my dining room table all week. It comes down today to make way for Christmas decorating. In the meantime we converse around it like true dungeon and dragon geeks. The change in language has been a bit of a holiday. Instead of thinking about composition, copy and pastel chalk, I’ve been wondering about what to do with Sister Mary’s lowering sanity level due to monsters breaking through gate portals and a Doctor lost among space and time.

I did some art study but on a very small scale: thumbnail compositions of squiggles and blocks. Art is never very far away.

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Example Birthday Fix Workflow
The following is an example CRM Workflow that shows off the power of the SonomaPartners.DateTimeUtilities. The goal of the workflow is to workaround the native Time Zone issue when storing Date fields in CRM.

If you use a Date only field such as Birthdate, CRM will store the time as midnight in the user's local time zone. The issue with this is that, for example, if a user who updates the Birthdate field is in Central time zone then a user in Mountain time zone views the Birthdate, it will be one day earlier. This is because the Date/Time field is stored as midnight Central time which is 11 PM Mountain time the day before.

With the SonomaPartners.DateTimeUtilities, we can work around the time zone issue with a workflow using four simple steps.

1) First add a step for GetDateParts passing the Birthdate field into the custom activity.

2) Next use a Check Condition on the result of the GetDateParts custom activity. We want to check if the "Hour" is NOT set to 12. This way the Birthdate will not be updated multiple times if the Hour is already set to Noon.

3) Add a step for a successful Check Condition from step 1. This step will call SetDateParts passing in the Birthdate field and also with the "Hour" argument set to 12. This will overwrite the Midnight Date/Time field and set it to Noon.

Note: The default value of each argument is -2147483648 (the minimum value of an integer), therefore if you update the arguments, you will see each null value set to -2147483648 which is intended.

4) Lastly, add a native workflow step to Update the Contact record setting the Birthdate field to the result of the SetDateParts activity. This will set the Birthdate to Noon which gives some buffer so that users in other time zones will still see the same Date rather than the day before or the day after.

Other Examples
The utilities can be helpful for having a workflow wait til a more specific Date/Time. For example, you could have a workflow execute a process at 2 AM the day after a record is created. This can be done is three simple steps as well.
  1. Pass the Created On into the AddDateParts with the "Day" argument set to 1. This will add 1 day to the Created On Date/Time and return the result.
  2. Pass the result of the AddDateParts activity into a SetDateParts activity with the "Hour" argument set to 2. This will set the Hour to 2 AM.
  3. Lastly, make a Wait step and set the Date/Time to the result of the AddDateParts activity (which is now set to 2 AM the day after the original Created On)

Last edited Jul 24, 2012 at 3:27 PM by bscarlavai, version 10

nathanmarshall Feb 19, 2015 at 5:04 PM
Great little plugin, thanks for creating and sharing this!

For those who don't know how to install... download the relevant .dll file and use the plugin registration tool in the SDK to register the plugin.

Helpful link: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/gg309580%28v=crm.5%29.aspx

claytonsmith Feb 16, 2015 at 9:53 PM
Any chnace of adding a calculation for Week Number ie 1-52? Otherwise a great little tool

Nicole_CRM Oct 28, 2014 at 6:10 PM
Can someone please provide installation instructions for this utility?

UlrichFaden Aug 21, 2014 at 4:03 PM
Hi Sonoma Team,
thanks for this practical tool set!
I try to calculate a new start date from a subscription, where i have to add X months to the current start date. When i do this with your tool it adds e. g. for 3 months 90 days and not full 3 months so he calculates e. g. 30.11. instead of 1.12. Any idea how to solve this?
Thanks in advance, Uli

seeenu007 Dec 19, 2012 at 12:36 PM
Could any one tell how to use this? This utility should be registered with Plugin? If yes what are the steps to be added?

bryce2071 Nov 9, 2012 at 3:57 PM
how to install?


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Crimestoppers Increases Reward In Reserve Murder

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Crimestoppers and the family of Donovan Bailey hope an increased reward will help solve the man’s murder.

In April, Bailey was shot several times while driving on Wast 13th Street in Reserve.

Thursday morning, Crimestoppers announced the reward in the case had been increased to $10,000.

“This is going to go up on a billboard,” said Crimestoppers’ Darlene Cusanza.  “People are going to remember this case.  Ten thousand dollars is a lot of money.  They’re going to make that call.”

Anyone who can help detectives solve the case can collect the reward by calling 504-822-1111.


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NSV File Format

Nullsoft streaming video file that comes with Winamp

NSV is a file extension for a streaming video container format created by Nullsoft. NSV stands for NullSoft Video. NSV files can contain compressed streaming video, multiple audio tracks, subtitles, and other data. NSV files can be opened by WinAMP.

MIME type: application/x-winamp

Learn more about .NSV files:

Jessica Scarpati discusses enterprise video streaming tools.

Visit the NullSoft web page.

Read about video compression standards at

This was last updated in August 2010
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Saturday, October 30, 2010

Shellac & Axxium - Test Drive

When my friend Sarah sent me a text asking if I'd heard about the "CND manicure" I just thought "Urgh - no thanks.  No wasting my money on manicures that last about 1-2 days in mommy land."  While I love the pampering of a mani, I get so disappointed when, after shelling out $30, my polish chips the next day or, if I'm lucky, the day after.  For that reason alone I almost never polish my nails.  There is no polish that can stand up to baby baths, washing bottles, washing diapers, fixing dinner, washing dishes, etc etc day after day.  Or, excuse, me.. there wasn't.  Now, there is!

Enter CND's Shellac system and perhaps slightly more well known OPI's Axxium system.  After looking into this "CND manicure" I became more and more intrigued.  It claims to be a manicure that lasts  "14+" days.  *insert jaw drop here*  I was VERY skeptical.   I was guessing it didn't really last 14 days.  Or, if it did, it would be a major ordeal to remove including damaging the nail bed.  The more I read on CND's website, ( I noted they claim minimal removal time and NO damage to the nail.  Did I mention the ZERO dry time (no trying to fish for your keys like a wingless chicken after the mani).

While looking into CND (and doing my regular neurotic research) I came across a few other "14 day" manicures.  The most popular being by polish pro OPI.  They call theirs the "Axxium" system.   In my reviews it seemed that Axxium was slightly more "durable" (i.e. you can actually paint OVER the color you got at the salon, and then remove it with nailpolish remover to see the original polish) however the down side was that reports said it took quite a bit more to remove (more time and more "doin'") and after repeated use might damage the natural nail.

In the name of fair research, my friend Sarah got the Axxium and I got the Shellac (what we won't do for the sake of science).  Below are photos of our progress and the eventual "re-do".   After the photos I'll give you the "low down" on what we both thought! [Note:  I don't have the first few days of Axxium - I pulled Sarah into my scheme a little late in the game, but you'll still get a complete picture of the durability)]

Day One, Shellac

Day Three, Shellac

Day Five, Axxium

Day Six, Shellac

Day Eight, Axxium

Day Nine, Axxium:  Post Pumpkin Carving

Day Ten, Shellac: Note Grow-out

Day Eleven, Axxium

Day Thirteen, Shellac

Day Fifteen, Axxium

Day Fifteen, Shellac (Yikes Grow-out!)

Wow.  Let me again say it:  WOW!   I was (and am) totally converted.  These manicures both did truly live up to exactly what they promised.  They were mirror shiny and "no chip new" the entire time until we both had them re-done.  They also are really and honestly dry the minute your top coat comes out from under the UV light.  And I mean "drag my keys across it" dry.   The down side is that if your nails grow lightening fast like mine do, you'll have some icky grow out to live with (or you'll have to have it done more often than every 2 weeks).   However if you look at Sarah's, the combo of the light colored French and her reasonable growth cycle shows almost no noticeable grow out.

When it came time to have a re-do we both decided to stick with the company we'd started with (hence I stayed with Shellac and Sarah with Axxium).  When I asked Sarah about her removal process she said it took about 30-45 mins and involved the nail stylist coating her fingernails with acetone-soaked cotton, wrapping it in foil, and then heating it.  After that the nail stylist had to file some the remainder off.  [My guess is this is the point some nail techs can cause damage it they're not careful.]   For Shellac, CND makes these little "acetone soaker band aid thingies" that wrap around each fingernail and you let it sit for 10 mins.  Then, it literally flakes/crumbles off (my stylist used an orange stick to scrape it off).  The way my nail tech described it (who went to the official CND training) the acetone literally breaks down the bonds/structure of the gel polish so it flakes off.  No buffing. or filing was required prior to my re-do.  However for both our "re-dos" the whole process took about an hour and a half or slightly less.  So it sounds like a wash there.

Here are our respective new nail "dos":

New Axxium (Sarah decided to go all one color this time)

New Shellac.  Hey its Halloween Weekend!!

So - from what I have seen it sounds like Shellac may be slightly less durable than Axxium in theory (I say in theory since I sure didn't see any damage in my 15 days and while at the salon getting my re-do, a lady told me she kept hers on four weeks!).  In return, it sounds like Axxium has the potential for more damage to the nail than Shellac in theory (again I say in theory because Sarah experienced no problems and I presume it depends on the ability and experience/training of your stylist).  I would say whichever system you choose you will not be disappointed!

Now, what everyone wants to know:  Price.   Generally from my midwestern shopping around (Iowa, Kansas City, Chicago) both are comparable in price and tend to run from around $35 on the low end for an "express" version (which means no mani pampering - just the polish process) to over $50 on the high end (at more chi-chi salons and/or including more pampering).  The big key:  shop around in your town!!  The first place I had mine done would have charged me $10 to remove the polish IF I was getting the process redone and $14 if I just wanted it off.  I called around and found that right in my own backyard, my local salon would do the removal for FREE, IF you were having the process redone.  They did charge $10 if you just wanted it off and weren't having another service.  I figured that was more than fair.    NOTE:  Since these processes are becoming so popular so fast, not many salons have been able to get ahold of the process (many of the materials are on backorder from the companies).  CND has a "shellac salon locator" on their website.  For OPI you may have to just call around a bit.  Even in Des Moines I was able to find about eight salons that did Shellac.

Lastly:  I absolutely want to give a shout out Melissa at Shear Style Salon in Ankeny  where I had my re-do.  She fit me in on short notice, as I mentioned she did not charge for removal since I was having the process redone, she had this great new glitter technique I'd never seen before (the benefit of being CND trained), and she's just a really damn nice person!  I really enjoyed my time with her!   If you live in the Des Moines area and want to go Shellac - by all means give Melissa a call.  You'll be glad you did!  I know this will be my new Shellac home from now on.


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A review of “Fatherless America”

A review of “Fatherless America” by Chester E. Finn in Commentary:

And as for the now-absent biological father, even when he provides financial support and regularly visits his progeny, Blankenhorn is brutally candid: “The end of co-residency and the rupture of the parental alliance mean nothing less than the collapse of paternal authority. Visiting fatherhood almost always becomes disempowered fatherhood, a simulacrum of paternal capacity. . . . [O]nly wishful thinking permits us to continue viewing him as a parent at all. At bottom, he is no longer a father. A second reason for the low visibility of the type of fatherlessness arising from family breakup has to do with social class. Whereas illegitimacy happens mostly among people who live on the other side of the tracks, much divorce and separation take place in “our” own neighborhoods, indeed among our friends and relations, and sometimes even ourselves. If we are honest, we will acknowledge that this makes it harder to condemn the practice, or even to depict it as a pressing social problem. We are engaged, in Senator Daniel P. Moynihan’s evocative phrase, in “defining deviancy down.”

The entire review is here. Please note that the book is not new. Fatherless America and this review were written in 1994.

This entry was posted in Academia, Anticipated problems, Fatherlessness and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

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Hello and Happy first day of autumn, peeps... or spring, if you are from one of those upside-down places. Hopefully the equinox will bring a breeze of hope for a nearer Friday into your hearts. Odd-weekenders excluded, of course. Y’all sail on into the happy seas of sloth ahead, and call out fair skies as you will.

Stop in and paint us a picture of what’s going on in your life. I am sure there’s something colorful for you to add.


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Contact Us
White Plains Daily Voice serves White Plains, NY
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White Plains Daily Voice serves White Plains, NY

Nearby Towns

White Plains Ranks Among Top 100 Small Cities

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.  White Plains night life, parks and trails, and proximity to Manhattan make it an ideal city to live in for 30-year resident Gerri Napolitano, as well as CNNMoney Magazine, which ranked it No. 44 in its annual list of the top 100 small cities in America.

The magazine ranks American cities for its September issue each year based on job opportunities, fiscal strength, quality of schools, safety, good health care, cultural and outdoor activities, and even nice weather. White Plains didn't make the top 100 in 2011, but was ranked 53rd in 2010.

Napolitano and her friend Patricia Meller, a five-year resident, dined at Pranzi in the White Plains City Center, a short walk from their downtown apartments.

Its very walkable, said Meller, who added she likes walking her dog in Saxon Woods Park. You have city and suburbia.

In White Plains, 7.7 percent of the 57,500 residents walk or bike to work, compared to the average of the 99 other small cities of 3.2 percent, according to Money Magazine. It also listed White Plains as having higher-than-average diversity and education, with its students scoring 65.1 percent and 57.8 percent above the state average in reading and math, respectively. The average among the other top 100 cities was 28.2 and 29.2.

Napolitano also likes the city, as well as Westchester Countys efforts in recent years to make it more appealing for young people, combatting a trend that has seen many leave the area after finishing school. While there are 26 colleges, universities and professional schools within 20 miles of White Plains, according to Money Magazine the city had 4.27 percent job growth between 2000 and 2011, compared to 25.01 percent among the other top 100 cities.

Another caveat for both Money Magazine and Napolitano is the high taxes and cost of living.

Weighing the positives and negatives, Meller agreed with Napolitano, who said, "It should be ranked higher."

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The White Ravens

A Selection of International Children's and Youth Literature

Presented by   Internationale Jugendbibliothek / International Youth Library

Spanish / Chile

El Sol, la Luna y el Agua. Un cuento de Nigeria

(Sun, Moon and Water. A fairy tale from Nigeria)

Herrera, Laura (retelling)
Vargas, Ángeles (illus.)
Santiago de Chile: Ed. Ekaré Sur, 2015. – [30] p.
ISBN 978-956-8868-29-1

Sun  | Moon  | Water  | Creation myth  | Folk tale  | Picture book

White Ravens issue: 2016

Reading age: 4+

All over the world, human beings have always wondered how the world began and why nature is the way it is.
This picture book retells a well-known Nigerian creation myth, which exists in several different variations. Pondering the beginnings of the world, it explains why the sun and moon are in the sky. They first live together on Earth, until one day they invite Water to visit them. Anticipating trouble, Water states that the space may not be sufficient. So Sun and Moon keep enlarging the house. In the end, it is still too small, as Water brings her enormous family along. Sun and Moon must leave Earth from the rooftop of their house and have lived in the sky ever since then. Only at night, the sun remembers her friend Water and sinks down low to play with her. Laura Herrera narrates this myth in a plain, natural language. Because she builds dialogue and refrains into the text, the story is well suited to reading out loud. The double-page illustrations by Ángeles Vargas are mainly kept to a palette of red, yellow and green tones; their aesthetic is reminiscent of African folk art.


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Happily Ever After... And a Donkey

Today my Mom and Dad celebrate 38 years of wedded bliss. They offer Hubby & I a very wonderful example of how a marriage can work, and work well. These days, happy unions seem to be in the minority, so it is very refreshing to see a successful one. They’ve had their ups and downs (who hasn’t?), but they have always persevered. Maybe it is their faith. Maybe it is their unwavering love. Maybe it is just plain stubbornness. Maybe it’s a combination of all of the above. Whatever it is, I can only hope I’ve inherited their ability to always work things out. (so far, so good!)

For their anniversary I usually try to give them something unexpected or home-made (or both). Typically, these gifts are a little bit corny or silly (okay, almost always). My family is a bit corny and silly though, so it works.

This year I’ve been dabbling in making softy toys. Recently I came across a pattern for a donkey. It was in an old 1970s craft book that I found at a garage sale. I wasn’t sure if it would turn out or not, but wanted to give it a try. I knew that if it was cute enough, I’d have to give it to my parents, as they are now the proud owners of Lucinda the donkey.

I have a stash of wool yardage, and one bit in particular is a lovely shade of grey that I thought would be perfect. For her mane, I used the blue yarn left over from when I made my Grandma’s Afghan. I cut out the pieces as directed, and then struggled a little bit with how to assemble them (not the greatest of instructions). Once I’d figured that out, she came together easily. I made a little blanket out of some leftover fleece and felt. Her bridle was made from a little scrap of trim that had been buried in a box of sewing notions we found at an auction. So, as with most of my little projects, she cost very little to make. In fact, the only true cost was what we spent at the printers, expanding the pattern to the correct size.

She’s about a foot tall, and though not perfect - I am very proud of the final result. I think I’ll be using this pattern again for sure. I gave her to my parents on Saturday while we were visiting them, and they were tickled with the gift. So the project was, in my opinion, a braying success.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!  I love you guys.  :)

1 comment:

  1. That is one cut cuddly toy! And probably better house-trained that the real macoy! Mind you, it must be great to have the real Lucinda, and what fun for Little Man!
    My very best wishes to your parents. It is indeed an awe-inspiring thing these days for a marriage to last any length of time...don't know why; but what a great thing to celebrate.
    Z xx

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In the off chance you don't happen to have a clue who I could possibly be, I'm a friend you possibly can rely on. I really don't necessarily mean to brag but as now you are inside my blog, you will absolutely fail to see a lot of things if you do not visit my weblog regularly.

The simple truth is that I am into all sorts of outings, which includes actively playing roulette. Heh, I'm sure that's not what you imagined hearing on my very first piece of writing however you will notice for yourself I am not confined to just that. I want to to enjoy my life!

Just remember to continually remember this. Our business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves. - E. Joseph Cossman

Don't be the product, buy the product!


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Project Description

Product Template is an emulation of a shopping app with placeholders for Category, Group Category, and Detail data.

You can leverage this template even if you are not building a Shopping based app, but the implementation scenario is closest to the template. Please refer to the “snapshots” folder under the root template folder to get a glimpse of the template look and feel.

Download includes the following

  • Source (C# and JS)
  • Package
  • Snapshots
  • Documentation

Last edited Feb 7, 2013 at 9:55 AM by win8templates, version 3


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Thursday, April 16, 2015

April 6, 2015 Please Take Care of My Refrigerator ep 21 videos & recipe Lee Kyuhan Kim Kibang

Program - Please Take Care of My Refrigerator
Channel - JTBC
MC - Kim Sungjoo, Jung Hyungdon
Chef - Hong Seokcheon, Choi Hyunseok, Sam Kim, Kim Poong, Mihal Ashminov, Jeong Changwook, Lee Wonil, Park Junwoo
Airdate - April 6, 2015 (Monday)
Episode - 21
Guest - Lee Kyuhan, Kim Kibang

# Love of Your Life Recipe

# Sam and Cheese Gratin Recipe

# Theme

(1R) Dish for espaping from solo
Mihal Ashminov - Very Very Lovely Girl
Park Joonwoo - Love of Your Life L.O.L (win)

(2R) Cheese-rich Nutty Dish
Sam Kim - Sam and Cheese Gratin (win)
Kim Poong - Cheese-rich Toast

[Watch Take Care of My Fridge Videos]
video origin : Take Care of The Refrigerator official on Naver Cast

1. Well-informed person Park Joonwoo, Super taster Lee Wonil! Intern chefs are capable persons

2. 10 years solo Kim Kibang, when his refrigerator is opened, 'Wellcome to husband's home

3. Sam Kim's natural enemy Kim Poong, too provoking!

4. 'If it is tasteless...' high praises are continued. Sam Kim and Kim Poong's potential power burst

5. [15 minute recipe] Chef Park Joonwoo's L.O.L

6. [15 minute recipe] Chef Sam Kim's Sam and Cheese Gratin

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Friday, August 29, 2008

Windows Server 2008 – is it more than just another Operating System?

Windows Server 2008 – is it more than just another Operating System?

Let's start off with some basics. These are my views from the information I have.

That's not to say the information I have is correct, or I could have misinterpreted it.

Moreover, these views may not be shared by many, even those inside the company.

I am a Microsoft User – there I've said it, no going back now. However, that doesn't

mean I am a Microsoft lover, I have a desire to push an alternative such as Linux to the

desktop and Open Office or the new Lotus Symphony as an application suite. Still, I

digress; this article is my view on Windows Server 2008.

There are a number of elements in W2K8 which makes it interesting, and that I have

used the word elements is an indication of the first thing that caught my interest. W2K8

differs from earlier version of Windows in that it is not a huge Operating System that

includes everything Microsoft could think you needed in one cumbersome package.

W2K8 is componentised. If you do not want the server to be an Active Directory

controller, don't load the component (Microsoft apparently calls them "roles"), and so

on. What a simple but amazing development. Likewise, if you come from a UNIX

background you can opt not to load the Windows GUI front end role. For those users

running large, transaction intensive databases where every bit of performance is

needed for the application, this is another interesting move.

One of, if not the most important element of W2K8 is Hyper-V. With Windows Server

2008 everything you need to develop and support a Virtualised Infrastructure is there

from day one. It's another role if you want it to be, but expect this to be the released as

a product in its own right in the near future in competition to VMWare, the current

Virtualisation environment of choice for most organisations. One of my colleagues has

just Virtualised most our servers to run on a single IBM Blade, including a server just

managing print. However, in an effort to push what the technology offered he installed

Hyper-V as the base and installed Virtual Servers onto that, apparently this makes our

operating environment quicker and more resilient. You can purchase Windows Server

2008 without Hyper-V if you wish. The estimated saving with be in the region of £20.

Another "role" I find worth mentioning is called Presentation Virtualization with Terminal

Server. With an ever increasing requirement for users to access company data from

multiple locations there has been an exponential growth in the use of Terminal Services.

However, earlier versions suffered a little from issues around printing and the creation of

cut down desktops, hence the increased usage of software from the likes of Citrix.

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Windows 2008 Resources and Development

Windows 2008 Resources and Development
Windows 2008


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Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Camp Gordon Johnston World War II Museum, 4/12/2017

Right here in Carrabelle, FL, is the Camp Gordon Johnston World War II Museum. It is dedicated to the "heritage of the soldiers of World War II, especially those who trained at Camp Gordon Johnston (CGJ)." Signs with mileage to key WWII battles is posted near the entrance to the Museum. It is named for Colonel Gordon Johnson, a highly-decorated veteran of World War I.

Today the museum is housed in an old elementary school, but it will be moving to a location across Highway 98 from Carrabelle Beach. We learned that the new museum is scheduled to open in June2017

CJG opened in 1942 and was used primarily to prepare amphibious troops along with their support personnel for WWII combat for both the Pacific and Atlantic theaters during WWII. More than 250,000 men and women were trained between 1942 and 1946. All branches of the military were trained here. The camp extended for 20 miles along the eastern panhandle in Florida from Ochlockonee Bay to Carrabelle.

The CJG Museum has extensive displays of the history of the various units that trained at the camp including photos of the area during the years it was open. The buildings at the camp were basically tar paper shacks. Heat was provided by coal stoves and this showers and latrine were located nearby. All uniforms, furniture, cabinets, and other artifacts are vintage WWII items, most excavated from the camp. The first photo is that of an officer's quarters

The barracks had sand floors and were very primitive.

Also shown is the living room of a typical family during the war with period artifacts.

Entertainment during the war was primarily listening to the radio (also the source of news on the war) and music. This organ was built in London around 1900. It was common for ladies to play and others to join in with song.

An authentic officersmess kit and a command post radio used during the war were displayed.

This hands-on display had several mines, artillery shells, and a grenade (I was surprised at how heavy it was) used during WWII. A mine sweeper was on display as well. Also shown is a Type 44 carbine used by the Japanese and a Carcano (Italian bolt action carbine) used by the Italians.

In late 1943, the US Army 4th Infantry Division trained for the Normandy Invasion on D-Day on Carrabelle Beach and Dog Island. It was their last stop before shipping out to the UK for the invasion on 6/06/1944. They were the first amphibious infantry assault team to arrive on French soil during the battle.

This display is a tribute to the African Americans who served in WWII, including the 50,000 from Florida. Although the units were primarily segregated during the war, many were trained here in FL and some at CGJ. Blacks from the north were, not surprisingly, appalled at the way they were treated in the south.

Forty ships were attacked, damaged, or sunk off of the coast of Florida coast by U-boats (German submarines) as shown in the map below. U-157 was sunk by the US Coast Guard in 1942.

378,000 German and Italian prisoners-of-war were imprisoned in the US during WWII. About 10,000 of them were held in Florida: 7,500 at Camp Blanding and the other 2,500 at Camp Gordon Johnson.

Many veterans, and their families, have contributed various artifacts brought back from the war abroad and other personal items, such as uniforms and photographs.

Banners commemorating various units can be seen in the museum.

And many photographs taken when the camp was in use are on display including this one of troops at an outdoor church service.

While I feel that I already know a lot about WWII, this museum provided new insights particularly about the amphibious training that occurred here in Carrabelle and the military activity in the state of Florida during the war. The courage and bravery of all who served will never be forgotten by our grateful nation. This iconic photo taken at the end of the war was also on display.

There is no admission fee to visit the museum but donations are gratefully accepted. Guided tours can be arranged by appointment (two weeks in advance notice required). For additional information about the Camp Gordon Johnston WWII Museum, go to www.compgordonjohnston.com

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