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May-June 2009

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Retrospect: May 29, 1953: First Successful Ascent of Mount Everest

Known to the Nepalese as Sagarmatha, which means “Goddess of the Sky,” Mount Everest holds a fascination among adventurers as the ultimate mountain-climbing achievement. Situated in the Himalayan range along the border between Nepal and Tibet, Everest’s superlative height among the giants of the Himalayas adds to both the allure and the challenge of climbing it. At an elevation of 29,029 feet (8,848 meters) above sea level, its summit straddles the upper-limits of the
troposphere, where the low density of the air imposes a formidable physical challenge for climbers, even with the aid of oxygen. Furthermore, Everest’s location makes it susceptible to the effects of the Asian monsoon, whose seasonal shift in wind direction brings blinding blizzard conditions and hurricane-force winds during the summer months. Because of this, most ascents are attempted during a very short window of time—typically during the month of May—after the winter season and before the onset of the monsoon.

After 3 decades of attempts on the mountain, New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first known climbers to successfully scale Everest on May 29, 1953. But while Hillary and Norgay often receive the credit, they were actually part of a much larger team led by British Colonel John Hunt.

Of all the factors that can make or break an attempt to climb Everest, the weather is perhaps the most critical. Hunt described the challenges in his 1954 book,
The Conquest of Everest: “So climbing Everest takes a long time...And in the final stages particularly, the saving of time is vital, not only because of physical deterioration but also because of another factor, the most important of all—weather.”

Hunt knew that regular weather reports would be essential to the team’s efforts and had arranged to have specialized forecasts supplied by the Indian Meteorological Service broadcasted daily by the All-India Radio and BBC Overseas networks.

The broadcasts began on May 1, 1953, more than 2 weeks after the team had established Base Camp at an elevation of 17,900 feet. The forecasts, as Hunt described, “foretold daily ‘snow showers’ with accuracy but monotonous regularity, useful to ourselves but giving little idea to other listeners to the trials and handicaps these ‘showers’ were proving to be to the toiling carries in the Icefall and the Cwm.” The Khumbu Icefall and the Western Cwm (pronounced “koom,” a Welsh word meaning valley) are two critical areas the climbers had to traverse on their way to the summit.

By May 10, members of the team who worked to clear a passage through the Icefall and Cwm encountered what Hunt described as “a depressing period,” due to the unrelenting daily snow showers: “On May 10th and 11th it snowed heavily from about midday until after dark, leaving a mantle of snow over a foot deep to be plowed through in the intense heat which filled the Cwm each morning, unrelieved by the faintest breeze. On the second of these days, Ed Hillary’s party took no less than 4 and a half hours between Camps III and IV, a journey which in fair conditions would be covered by a laden man in under 3 hours.”

As their journey progressed, the team was buoyed by a change in the weather. The relentless snow showers had ended, giving way to clear afternoons and the ability to push forward with greater speed and ease than before.

As Hunt and other team members waited at camp in the days before the final assault to the summit, they listened with more than a casual interest to the weather reports on the radio to learn what conditions awaited them. Tuning their shortwave radios one evening they heard the following:

This is the Overseas Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. Here is the weather forecast for the Everest Expedition, valid for twenty-four hours commencing 12.00 hours G.M.T. or 17.30 hours Indian Standard Time...There will be mainly overcast skies with occasional thunderstorms, accompanied by moderate to heavy snow showers...Winds in free air at 29,000 feet above sea level will be mainly westerly at 35-40 miles, and the temperature in free air at the same altitude will be -16 to -12°F.

The team composed of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay was actually 1 of 2 pairs of climbers Hunt chose to attempt a final assault on the summit. The first pair, Charles Evans and Tom Bourdillon, came within 300 feet of the summit on May 26 before they had to turn back due to problems with their oxygen equipment. In his own account of the final assault in Hunt’s book, Hillary describes how he awoke “feeling very cold and miserable” in the early morning hours of May 27. “The relentless wind was blowing in all its fury and the constant loud drumming on the tent made deep sleep impossible,” he wrote. “Reluctantly removing my hand from my sleeping bag, I looked at my watch.

It was 4 a.m. In the flickering light of a match, the thermometer lying against the tent wall read -25° Centigrade.” Strong winds kept Hillary and Norgay from continuing until the following day, when they were able to climb to a height of about 27,900 before camping for the night. At 6:30 on the morning of May 29, they set out for the final assault on the summit. “The weather for Everest seemed practically perfect,” Hillary recalled of their final hours toward reaching their goal. “Insulated as we were in all our down clothing and windproofs, we suffered no discomfort from cold or wind.” At 11:30 a.m. local time, Hillary and Norgay took the final steps up a snowy ridge and stood, for the first time, on top of the world.

In more than half a century since their accomplishment, nearly 2,500 people have followed in Hillary and Norgay’s footsteps to reach the summit of Everest. However, considerable risks remain, not the least of which is the weather. Of the 210 people who have lost their lives attempting to climb Everest, 15 perished during the tragic 1996 climbing season, including 4 members of an expedition of which journalist Jon Krakauer was a member. Krakauer, who was on assignment for Outside magazine when “a rogue storm that blew in without warning” claimed the lives of his companions, went on to tell a more detailed account of the ordeal in his 1997 New York Times best-selling book, Into Thin Air. The passage that begins Krakauer’s book—taken from a 1938 volume by British mountaineer Eric Shipton titled, Upon That Mountain—seems as relevant to Hillary and Norgay’s pioneering achievement in 1953 as it does today:

The truth of course lies in the fact that, at altitudes of 25,000 feet and beyond, the effects of low atmospheric pressure upon the human body are so severe that really difficult mountaineering is impossible and the consequences even of a mild storm may be deadly, that nothing but the most perfect conditions of weather and snow offers the slightest chances of success, and that on the last lap of the climb no party is in a position to choose its day.

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A small constellation in the circumpolar region of the south pole of the sky.

There are only few bright stars in this region, but Tucana became known due to the presence of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and the second brightest globular cluster in the sky, 47 Tucanae, NGC 104.


What is “Turkey” ?

The name of Turkey can be divided into two components: the ethnonym Txrk and the abstract suffix –iye meaning “owner”, “land of” or “related to” (originally derived from the Greek and Latin suffixes –ia in Tourkia (Τουρκία) and Turchia; and later from the corresponding Arabic suffix –iyya in Turkiyya (تركيا).) The 1st recorded use of the term “Txrk” or “Txrxk” as an autonym is contained in the Old Turkic inscriptions of the Gxktxrks (Celestial Turks) of Central Asia (c. 8th century).

The English name Turkey 1st appeared in the late 14th century, and is derived from Medieval Latin Turchia.

The Greek cognate of this name, Tourkia was used by Byzantine emperor and scholar Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus in his book De Administrando Imperio, though in his use, “Turks” always referred to Magyars.

Similarly, the medieval Khazar Empire, a Turkic state on the northern shores of the Black and Caspian seas, was referred to as Tourkia in Byzantine sources. However, the Byzantines later began using this name to define the Seljuk-controlled parts of Anatolia in the centuries that followed the Battle of Manzikert in 1071.

The Arabic cognate Turkiyya in the form Dawla al-Turkiyya (State of the Turks) was historically used as an official name for the medieval Mamluk Sultanate which covered Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Hejaz and Cyrenaica.

The Ottoman Empire was commonly referred to as Turkey or the Turkish Empire among its contemporaries.

The Anatolian peninsula, comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest permanently settled regions in the world. Various Ancient Anatolian populations have lived in Anatolia, beginning with the Neolithic period until conquest of Alexander the Great. Many of these peoples spoke the Anatolian languages, a branch of the larger Indo-European language family. In fact, given the antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite and Luwian languages, some scholars have proposed Anatolia as the hypothetical center from which the Indo-European languages radiated. European part of Turkey, called Eastern Thrace, has also been inhabited since forty thousand years ago, and entered Neolithic by about 6000 B.C. with its inhabitants starting the practice of agriculture.

The earliest recorded inhabitants of Anatolia were the Hattians and Hurrians, non-Indo-European peoples who inhabited central and eastern Anatolia, respectively, as early as ca. 2300 BC. Indo-European Hittites came to Anatolia and gradually absorbed the Hattians and Hurrians ca. 2000–1700 BC. The 1st major empire in the area was founded by the Hittites, from the eighteenth through the 13th century BC. The Assyrians conquered and settled parts of southeastern Turkey as early as 1950 BC until the year 612 BC.

Following the collapse of the Hittite empire c. 1180 BC, the Phrygians, an Indo-European people, achieved ascendancy in Anatolia until their kingdom was destroyed by the Cimmerians in the 7th century BC. The most powerful of Phrygia’s successor states were Lydia, Caria and Lycia.

Starting around 1200 BC, the coast of Anatolia was heavily settled by Aeolian and Ionian Greeks. Numerous important cities were founded by these colonists, such as Miletus, Ephesus, Smyrna and Byzantium (later Constantinople and Istanbul), the latter founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 657 BC. The 1st state that was called Armenia by neighboring peoples was the state of the Armenian Orontid dynasty, which included parts of eastern Turkey beginning in the 6th century BC. In Northwest Turkey, the most significant tribal group in Thrace was the Odyrisians, founded by Teres I.

Anatolia was conquered by the Persian Achaemenid Empire during the 6th and 5th centuries BC and later fell to Alexander the Great in 334 BC, which led to increasing cultural homogeneity and Hellenization in the area. Following Alexander’s death in 323 BC, Anatolia was subsequently divided into a number of small Hellenistic kingdoms, all of which became part of the Roman Republic by the mid-1st century BC. The process of Hellenization that began with Alexander’s conquest accelerated under Roman rule, so that by the early centuries AD the local Anatolian languages and cultures has become extinct, replaced by Greek.

The Ottoman Empire’s power and prestige peaked in the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. The empire was often at odds with the Holy Roman Empire in its steady advance towards Central Europe through the Balkans and the southern part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. At sea, the Ottoman Navy contended with several Holy Leagues for control of the Mediterranean Sea. In the east, the Ottomans were occasionally at war with Safavid Persia over conflicts stemming from territorial disputes or religious differences between the 16th and 18th centuries.

From the beginning of the 19th century onwards, the Ottoman Empire began to decline. As it gradually shrank in size, military power and wealth, many Balkan Muslims migrated to the Empire’s heartland in Anatolia, along with the Circassians fleeing the Russian conquest of the Caucasus. The decline of the Ottoman Empire led to a rise in nationalist sentiment among the various subject peoples, leading to increased ethnic tensions which occasionally burst into violence, such as the Hamidian massacres.

The Ottoman Empire entered World War I on the side of the Central Powers and was ultimately defeated. During the war, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were deported and exterminated in the Armenian Genocide. The Turkish government denies that there was an Armenian Genocide and claims that Armenians were only relocated from the eastern war zone. Large-scale massacres were also committed against the empire’s other minority groups such as the Greeks and Assyrians.

After participating with the United Nations forces in the Korean War, Turkey joined NATO in 1952, becoming a bulwark against Soviet expansion into the Mediterranean. Following a decade of Cypriot intercommunal violence and the coup in Cyprus on 15 July 1974 staged by the EOKA B paramilitary organization, which overthrew President Makarios and installed the pro-Enosis Nikos Sampson as dictator, Turkey invaded Cyprus on 20 July 1974. Nine years later the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is recognized only by Turkey, was established.

Turkey is a parliamentary representative democracy. Since its foundation as a republic in 1923, Turkey has developed a strong tradition of secularism. Turkey‘s constitution governs the legal framework of the country. It sets out the main principles of government and establishes Turkey as a unitary centralized state.

The President of the Republic is the head of state and has a largely ceremonial role. The president is elected for a seven-year term by direct elections. Abdullah Gxl was elected as president on 28 August 2007, by a popular parliament round of votes.

The prime minister is elected by the parliament through a vote of confidence in the government and is most often the head of the party having the most seats in parliament. The current prime minister is the former mayor of İstanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose conservative Justice and Development Party was elected for a 3rd consecutive time in 2011 general elections. Although the ministers don’t have to be members of the parliament, ministers with parliament membership are common in Turkish politics.

In 2004, there were 50 registered political parties in the country. The Constitutional Court can strip the public financing of political parties that it deems anti-secular or separatist, or ban their existence altogether. The electoral threshold is 10% of the votes.

Related Sites for Turkey

  • Turkey – Travel Guide, Info & Bookings – Lonely Planet read Turkey
  • Butterball – Fresh & Frozen Turkey, How To Cook Turkey, Turkeyread Turkey
  • Cheap Holidays to Turkey 2013-2014 | lowcostholidays.com read Turkey
  • Good Eats Roast Turkey Recipe : Alton Brown : Recipes : Food Network read Turkey


The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) has issued a call to anyone involved with doping activity in cycling to come forward and talk before someone else accuses them of doping.

ASADA chief executive officer Aurora Andruska said people have already started to talk as a part of ASADA's investigation into cycling.

In a statement issued Friday Ms Andruska said support would be offered to people making a stand against doping in sport.

"But let me be clear; this is not an amnesty where full absolution is given," said Ms Andruska.

The investigation follows the fallout from the United States Anti-Doping Agency's investigation into Lance Armstrong and the US Postal Service pro cycling team.

That has already led to the resignation of former rider Matt White from his coaching role with Australia's pro team, Orica-GreenEDGE, due to his actions while a competitor.

"We know that it does not end here. But knowing and having the information to act on are two different things," Ms Andruska said.

"The days of remaining silent are over. The days of fearing what happens if the truth gets out are over. The days of protecting people who are in the wrong are over.

"We want to hear from you if you have experienced peer pressure to dope in your sport. We want to hear from you if you participated in organised doping to make the team or be the best. We want to hear from you if you have information about suspicious doping activity in your sport."

She said ASADA's investigation needed the cooperation of the sport and its athletes to get to the heart of the matter.

There is a confidential hotline on 13 000 ASADA (13 000 27232) or information can be left on a form on the website www.asada.gov.au.


In Health,

How much is the minimum required blood platelet in a human body?

Keats Health Supervisor
it varies. Anything below 150K is considered low. However, people can live without spontaneous bleeding with platelet counts as low as around 10K. There are minimum counts that are needed for certain procedures and this depends on how invasive the procedure is. For instance, something like a joint injection is ok to do at lower levels of platelets than say, open abdominal surgery.
+ 22 others found this useful


Graphene-Info is the web's leading resource on graphene material technology

Graphene is the world's strongest, thinnest and most conductive material, made from carbon. Graphene's remarkable properties enable exciting new applications. Our site brings you daily news and resources, all graphene focused.

Recent Graphene news:

The University of Wollongong spins-our graphene production technology

The University of Wollongong from Western Australia, developed a new patented process to manufacture surfactant-free graphene. The University licensed the technology to newly founded NanoCarbon Pty Limited (not to be confused with Poland's Nano-Carbon) which will commercialize the technology.

NanoCarbon aims to start producing graphene in 2015 in Australia in a pilot line. Until then, they will source the graphene materials from the University. The company will also be involved with graphene applications - such as high barrier films, lithium ion batteries, and water purification.

New graphene book: Physics of Graphene

This book provides a state of the art report of the knowledge accumulated in graphene research, expanding on graphene transport, optical and other properties for systems that include multilayer as well as monolayer graphene systems.

The book comprises experimental and theoretical knowledge. The book is also accessible to graduate students.

Graphene can enhance bio-chemical sensors based on silicon waveguides

Researchers from the University of Manchester developed a new way to modify the transmission of light that goes through a silicon wire (waveguide) - by wrapping graphene around the wire. Such silicon waveguide can be used to build a photonic microchip, and have also applications in highly sensitive bio-chemical sensor devices and perhaps photo detectors too.

The waveguides in this research are built in loops shaped like oval racetracks - and are called racetrack resonators. In a bio-chemical sensor, the light that leaks out of the waveguide is used for chemical sensing. The graphene coating adds further capabilities to such a sensor, such as making it more sensitive and selective. The researchers say that the graphene dramatically alters the way the light is guided through the device.

Graphene enables high-quality GaN on silicon

Graphenea demonstrated how gallium nitride (GaN) can be grown on silicon using graphene as an intermediary layer. GaN (and other semiconductors) are very appealing for applications such as LEDs, lasers and high-frequency and high-power transistors, and silicon is a great substrate for this, but it is very difficult to grown high-quality epitaxial GaN films on Si(100).

Graphene (in collaboration with MIT,Ritsumeikan University, Seoul National University and Dongguk University) found out that graphene can be used as an intermediary layer in such a structure. The hexagonal lattice of graphene has the same symmetry as that of GaN, and it can also be easily transferred to a silicon wafer. The company's method results in the best GaN(0001) layers on Si(100) demonstrated to date.

Doping Graphene with Lithium enables highest performing conductive transparent film

Researchers discovered that lithium-doped graphene sheets (3-60 layers in thickness) result in the highest ever sheet resistance and transmittance ever reported for continuous thin-films. This may prove to be an important step towards an ITO replacement for touch panels and solar cells.

The lithium was inserted between the graphene layers. As a result of this electrochemical intercalation, the Fermi level is upshifted by the doping effect, resulting in a more transparent and conductive material.

MicroDrop technologies is testing graphene for nano printing and 3D printing

Germany-based Microdrop Technologies (a private provider of equipment, software and services for advanced precision microdispensing and inkjet printing applications) reports that they tested graphene for for applications in micro printing, 3D printing and other related applications - and it exhibited excellent quality and characteristics.

The company will now start advanced tests for applications such as conductive inks, biochips, biomedicine and nanocoatings. Microdrop used graphene supplied by Australia-based miner company Talga Resources. This is Talga's first graphene sale.

New cabron-based sponge enables most efficient solar steam power generation device

Researchers from MIT developed a carbon-based sponge that can be used to make a steam-based energy generation device. They say that such a device can reach an energy efficiency of 85%, better than current solar-powered commercial devices.

The newly developed sponge is made from a combination of graphite flakes and carbon foam. It floats on water, and when sunlight hits it, it creates a hotspot which draws up water through the pores in the material, which evaporates as steam. The process generates very little heat and can produce steam at low solar intensity (the lowest optical concentration reported thus far).

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Imagine no cap and no draft this year. I would bet anything that Leinart are Bush would end up going to the same team to play together again. That would suck, if it wasn't the Vikes they went to.

I'd be pissed if there was no NFL draft. That is my favorite weekend of the year.


Homemade Almond Joys

me holding

bite cupcake 2

It’s totally okay to eat cake for breakfast, right? As long as you go on the stair climber afterwards? That’s how I justify things…it works.

Saint Patty’s Cake Bites

st pattys n ice cream 005

That day is almost here! The day where rivers, beer, faces, hair, and food all have something in common. GREEN.


Music and Visual controlled and shaped by movement.

A study of the influence of a body’s movement on the sound and visual environment. fLUX is a first step in illustrating the fluidity of human movement in sound. Capturing its expressiveness and its constantly changing nature.

How did this project use Max?

The articulations of the dancers Movement is sent to Max by the Kinect Camera and OSCeleton. Msp and Jitter are used to create the sonic and visual interactions. The Dancers Movement controls and shapes whats seen and heard.


How much does a GS-11 make?

A GS-11 is expected to make about $28.74 per hour which translates to $59,987 annually. This pay scale is used for federal employees and can vary depending on location. You can find out more information here:
1 Additional Answer
A government employee who has a grade of GS-11 can expect to earn anywhere from around 56,000 to 74,000, depending on the location of the employment.
Explore this Topic
A GS 12 is one of the higher ranking levels of federal government employment. There are 10 steps in the GS 12 ranking altogether. The total range this position ...
The Apollo 11 weighed 46,768 kilograms. This weight includes the weight of the command and lunar module. The number may not seem like much, but that is a lot! ...
How much you should weigh if you are 11 years old depends on whether you are a boy or girl and your height. An 11 year old girl that is 5 feet tall should weigh ...


What Is the Definition of Community?

Community is the region in which people, plant or animals live and interact under similar environmental conditions. It can also be a group of people that have similar interests.
1 Additional Answer
Ask.com Answer for: what is the definition of community
a locality inhabited by such a group.
Ecclesiastical a group of men or women leading a common life according to a rule.
More Definitions
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Source: Dictionary.com
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The word communalism refers to the process of forming collective communities, where property and resources are owned by the community and not individuals. It can ...
Communication in nursing is the imparting or exchange of information in such a way that the receiver can understand and act on that information and provide feed ...


Beintehaa: Aaliya to have a major showdown with Zain’s sister Barkat!

Barkat continues to create a uproar in the Abdullah family, but this time Aaliya will put a stop to her evil plans

Aaliya (Preetika Rao) and Barkat (Dimple Jhangiani) absolutely hate each other is a known fact. But what you don’t know is that these two ladies are going to have a major showdown in the upcoming episode of Beintehaa.

From what we hear, Barkat will create trouble in the Abdullah pariwaar by brainwashing Shazia (Namrata Pathak) and Nafisa (Gunjan Vijaya), who will demand for a divide in the property. This will obviously upset the family members, but the two bahus would be adamant on their words. Aaliya will see Barkat having a chat Shazia and Nafisa, as a brainwashing tactic. This is when Zain’s (Harshad Arora) wifey will lash out at Barkat, which will lead to a hungama in the Abdullah family.

Aaliya’s sentiments will not shared by her husband who refuses to see anything wrong in Barkat and instead scold her for being harsh towards her little sister.

Will this tamashaa lead to another misunderstanding between the couple who are just discovering love for each other. How will Aaliya put a stop to Barkat’s evil plans? Well, all we can do is just wait and watch. Keep watching this space for all the updates on Beintehaa.Subscribe to me on YouTube


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otpor tekućine izobličenju (zbog unutarnjeg trenja) الكعوب complete function خَفَّفَ; خَوَّرَ; رَقَدَ; سَبَّخَ; سَكَّنَ; فَتَّرَ; فَتَرَ; قَتَلَ; كَسَرَ مِنْ حِدَّته; لَطَّفَ; هَدَّأَ زرائب الخنازير uitgeroei جزر ميلانيزيا gently in manner, firmly in deed B-ISDN rekenmeester mbaj осмо (elektronički) sustav knjiženja dužničkih vrijednosnih papira živa variant of 劫, to rob, to plunder, to seize by force, to coerce, calamity sloj upravljanja uslugama death rate serment, promesse, pacte, alliance clever, skillful sauer (adj.) množení valovito gašenje cost effective antisemitism (comp) general library إختصار لكلمة إختصار payments العين رماديّة فاتحة اللون etureuna, kärkireuna, johtoreuna, nouseva reuna abductions مايبيل الانحرافات تَبَاحَثَ; تَجَادَلَ; تَحَاجَّ; تَحَاوَرَ; تَنَاظَرَ; تَنَاقَشَ cause to be impervious to sound, insulate against noise, impenetrable to noise, insulated against noise, make something soundproof odbor za proračun a judge is a speaking law, law a silent judge (Cicero) sarhosh critical damping bělavý obtainer إرفإن personeel uriner deer الفينات Kundenberatung malicious talk, outrage, offense; rumor, malicious gossip; dishonor, disgrace, public outrage, something causing public outrage živa životinja napisano lanyard


Tom Senior at

EA have previously explained that a desire to retain full control of the patching and updating process motivated their split with Steam. "We take direct responsibility for providing patches, updates, additional content and other services to our players. You are connecting to our servers, and we want to establish on ongoing relationship with you" wrote Origin head, David DeMartini on the Origin blog back in July 2011.

Ubisoft have rebooted their Uplay service recently, and its verification procedures and achievements are built into FC3 and AC3. It's odd that they'd disappear from the UK store and remain available in the US. Hopefully they'll re-appear, as Brink eventually did.


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Photovoltaic energy

To develop alternative energy

Faced to the mass use of fossil resources and their harmful effects on the environment, it is essential to develop cleaner alternative energy sources. Photovoltaic energy is one of these alternative energy sources.

In pictures

Worldwide energy needs, more than 80% of which are based on fossil fuels, continue to grow and this is mainly due to the emergence of certain economies: they could increase by 55% between now and 2030. The reserves of fossil resources are decreasing and the pollution caused by burning them, which generates CO2, a greenhouse gas, is partly responsible for global warming.

Photovoltaic energy is a renewable energy source and an alternative to oil. It directly converts sunlight into electricity. This is a complex transformation that requires the use of photovoltaic panels.

Two main technologies are currently used: traditional technology, known as "crystalline" (85 % of the total market) and the most innovative technique, using thin layers, which currently only represents 15 % of the market, but is rapidly growing.

Whichever technology is considered, the manufacturing of photovoltaic panels requires huge quantities of extremely high purity gases.

The Group supplies silane, in particular, the "doping" gases that change the electronic properties of silicon and are used to produce the electricity, and the carrier gases that transport them.

The Group is also involved in research programs in Europe, America and Asia to develop technologies that use the gases more efficiently and to reduce the environmental impact of the manufacturing of panels.

More about


homework help

Image text transcribed for accessibility: Fill in the truth table for the 3 outputs of the 7485. What is the binary value of input A? What is the decimal value of input A? Does a 1 on the outputs indicate a true or false state? How many outputs can be high (true) at the same time? What is the decimal value range of input B? Lowest # Highest #

Answers (1)


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General Miguel Malvar

Essay Writing Contest

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Miguel Malvar, The Last Holdout

© 1996 by Paul Dimayuga and PHGLA
All rights reserved

General Miguel Malvar (1865-1911)

Few men lead lives with unquestionable conviction and character. And when it comes to the leaders of the revolutionary movement, such a person would definitely be the exception. Bickering and personal rivalries plagued the movement, caused factionalism and disunity, and may have prevented the revolution from reaching its full potential.

One person of such exceptional character was Miguel Malvar. There may have been flaws in his character but none were in the same league as those of the more controversial and celebrated revolutionary leaders.

Malvar was born in 1865 in Santo Tomas, Batangas to Maximo Malvar and Tiburcia Carpio. Maximo was an enterprising businessman who improved his lot from a simple logging operation to owning rice and sugarcane fields just off the slopes of Mount Maquiling. This success enabled his children to acquire an education, an achievement common to those who would eventually lead the revolution. Malvar spent three years in secondary school, married, and started acquiring land. He prospered from the oranges he planted there. In turn, Malvar sent his brother Potenciano to secondary school. Potenciano finished his studies and later became a doctor.

 By the mid-1880's, discontent among the Filipinos resulted in organized movements for reform. Batangas was no different from the rest of the Tagalog region. Earlier leaders of the reform movement in Batangas were Felipe Agoncillo, Ananias Diocno, and Ruperto Laurel among others. Agoncillo has been identified as an active member of the Liga founded by Rizal. This point is important because some historians do not believe that the Katipunan existed in Batangas before 1896. It is clear that when the Liga dissolved most of its members reorganized into other societies, many into the secret society of the Katipunan. No undisputed proof exists but it seems unlikely that the reform movement followed a different path in Batangas.

Early discontent

Early Batangas political leaders used their influence to agitate against Spanish authority personified by the friars. The movement spread rapidly because of strong anti-friar sentiment. In Santo Tomas, this action was led by Malvar who had been elected gobernadorcillo in 1890 against the Recollect Fr. Garces. After gaining influence and respect, Malvar made known his opposition to friar control of much of their daily lives. Garces worked intensively to defeat Malvar in subsequent elections. This started a power struggle between the two which often featured the fielding of puppet candidates, bribery, and other irregularities. Throughout the province, anti-friar sentiment grew to strain relations between the native political elite and the colonial power. By the eve of the discovery of the Katipunan in Manila, Batangas was rife with resentment and ready for a revolution.

 While Andres Bonifacio was not very successful in Manila and its environs, Emilio Aguinaldo was scoring significant gains in Cavite. So successful was the revolution there that his army made a push across the Batangas border in late September 1896 and occupied Talisay in hopes of spreading the revolution. Intense fighting quickly broke out in the western and northern parts of the province. Civilians were massacred in Nasugbu and this became the rallying point for people to rise up in arms. As a man of political power, Malvar personally put an army together and participated in the battle for Talisay with Aguinaldo's men. This was the beginning of Malvar's military life.

 Colorful though they may be, the revolutionaries lost most of the battles they fought. Luckily, the colonial government's priority was to pacify Manila and the suburbs north of it. For a while there seemed to be a chance of keeping the revolution alive. Then on February of 1897, Governor-General Polavieja ordered a multi-pronged attack on the southern provinces, which isolated Cavite from Batangas. This caused the revolutionaries to retreat all the way to Biak-na-Bato. While the more prominent figures of the revolution were embroiled in personal conflicts, Malvar regrouped and linked up with Sebastian Caneo of the Colorum and the bandit Aniceto Oruga to broaden his area of operation. Though not very successful, he was able to consolidate the leadership in Laguna, Tayabas, and Batangas and keep the momentum of the revolution going.

 He was opposed to negotiating peace with Spain and he ably showed his willingness to fight on but the Pact of Biak-na-Bato was signed by other less enthusiastic leaders. That officially ended the fight for independence.

 Tasked with rounding up his followers, Malvar traveled around the province of Batangas to make sure the terms of the agreement were met and left for Hong Kong as part of the negotiated terms.

A new enemy

Not long after Dewey decimated the Spanish armada, fighting broke out again in May 1898. With the help of the Americans, Aguinaldo returned in mid-May, followed shortly by Malvar. The revolution the Spaniards had left for dead was very much alive. In fact fighting was already taking place in many parts of Batangas when Malvar returned to take charge of an army once again. By late July, much of the province had been liberated and Malvar and his troops turned towards Tayabas. Local governments had already been set up as the first shots were being fired in Manila to mark the beginning of the Philippine-American War. Around this time, Malvar was in the process of setting up a real provincial army. He recruited people who he believed would be loyal to him. In doing so, he inadvertently chose people who would later lead their own armies and not cooperate with each other.

 By May 1899, Malvar's Batangas Brigade was ordered to reinforce troops in Muntinglupa to prepare for an assault on American garrisons. The main thrust of the American offensive until then had been concentrated north of Manila making the battles in the southern provinces relatively light. This situation changed when the American command decided to pacify the rest of the Tagalog region. Malvar retreated slowly to Calamba and from there supervised the defense of Batangas. An elaborate trench defense was created around Santo Tomas and Tulo, Laguna. Other towns likewise prepared trench lines. The seaside communities prepared for an amphibious assault which, however, never materialized.

 In retrospect, Malvar may have spread his forces too thinly so that when the American assault in January 1900 finally came much of the established defenses were easily overrun. As Malvar's army suffered consecutive defeats, it started dissolving. When the order to conduct guerrilla warfare was given, Malvar had been mainly hiding in the hills around Maquiling and traveling occasionally to check with his field officers. Morale had dropped but Malvar was determined to keep the fight going. This was enough to inject new vigor into his army which he reorganized into zonal columns led by officers with their own areas of responsibility. He imposed taxes on the populace to feed his troops.

He understood that it was essential to maintain favorable relations with the civilians because his army's success depended on their help. At this point, much of the people still supported their general. But as the war dragged on, many of the well-to-do started seeing the benefits of cooperating with their new colonial masters. Collaboration became widespread and support for Malvar started waning. Even if the majority were still for resistance, it was impossible to get needed support. Crops were left unharvested, people were sick from various diseases, work animals were being stolen, and there was too much hardship to endure.

Malvar takes over

Aguinaldo was captured and shortly after, his successor Gen. Mariano Trias also surrendered. The task of running whatever was left of the resistance fell on Malvar. He accepted the task with realistic expectations, saying that although there were others more capable of the job, the rule of succession dictated that he take the job.

 One of his first manifestos reversed Aguinaldo's policy of favoring the elite. He described the role of the peasantry in the struggle and how through them it might still be won. So while American-formed civil governments were being established, the resistance movement was still active. Many towns showed two faces: one for the benefit of the Americans, the other to aid their resistance fighters. The result was a significant upsurge in military activity. In December 1901, Malvar who had previously taken only a defensive stance launched a major offensive against several American-held towns in Batangas. Though their gains were short lived, it was proof that the war was far from over.

 A month before that offensive, significant changes had taken place in the American command. Gen. Samuel Sumner had been relieved of command of the Third Brigade and replaced by Gen. James Franklin Bell. Convinced of the need to end the war soon, Bell resorted to controversial tactics and strategies. He instituted a "scorched earth" policy. Civilians had to live in hamlets. Men were rounded up routinely for questioning. This marked the most destructive phase of the war. Relentlessly pursuing Malvar and his men who were close to starvation, his strategy worked. Ranks were broken, morale dropped, and surrender of Malvar's forces grew extremely high.

End of revolutionay succession

By April 1902, many of Malvar's former officers had changed sides and had become volunteers for the American force. They exposed his hideaway. Believing that a few more months of fighting would only imperil the masses and surrounded by Americans and their native troops, Malvar with his sick wife and children surrendered on April 13, 1902. By the end of April, most of Malvar's troops had also surrendered and the battle for Batangas was over.

 Malvar retired to a quiet farming life and prospered from the land he had fought hard for. He died in October 1911, the last general to surrender to American occupational forces.

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BARCELONA, Spain, AUGUST 1. SZAKADATI gives some candid answers from his vantage point of sitting behind the desk of the largest continental sport organization in the world for the past 14 years, revealing a depth of compassion for athletes and their future rarely seen among other sport executives.

Viewing the Arab Spring uprisings and wars presently unfolding in various nation’s capitals directly on the other side of the Mediterranean in close proximity to Europe, and as a consequence, now seeing hundreds of top athletes leaving the Middle East to train and compete in Europe, Szakadati gives his assessment of the welfare of the athletes, the economics driving the issues and other emerging threats to sports.

The Interview

SW: From sitting behind your desk with the issues you’ve faced, what were the main concerns with LEN and sports in general in Europe?

Laszlo Szakadati: I have to mention three main points here, which concerned me a lot. The first one was the financing. To be straight here, when it comes to generating income…to gain more sponsorship, to sell the aquatic sport disciplines in a proper manner, in my view this was a failure.

Second. LEN always struggled with the overall World competition calendar. In spite of always being flexible and collaborative, our spots and our dates were regularly overtaken and overlapped by other significant or non-significant competitions.

Third. The cancellation of the 2012 European Swimming Championships in Antwerp, Belgium was also a big setback. Although these were subsequently hosted by Hungary and the Netherlands, the impact and the profit was not the same anymore.

SW: In your time at LEN, you helped successfully integrate into LEN three countries that were recently at war with each other in the Balkans.

Then, there was the construction of the new 50m pool complex and facilities in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Many credit you for helping to make it the most successful, European post-war integration project because of the many swimming competitions that were fast tracked and the numerous aquatic events for families, for all age-groups and abilities, that all three sides currently share without incident together.

What are the important issues that concern you? Explain.

Laszlo Szakadati: Thank you. Yes, that situation concerned me a great deal. Let me start off with the economic crises. We feel it and it is filtering down everywhere.

First it was only at the top. Now it’s getting closer and closer to the bottom. This is like bleeding from several wounds. When I read the news that a city like Detroit is going bankrupt, it is shocking. And generally everybody is suffering everywhere. But the worst is, that nobody is telling the real truth and you hear non-sense explanations and excuses all around. In my humble opinion, contrary to the predictions, the worst is yet to come economically, and we have to expect dark times for several years.

War threat. In reality it is a linear consequence of all the above. There is tension everywhere in the World. There are ongoing conflicts because of existing and imaginary dictators, religion, civil, ethnic, natural sources, territories, poverty, etc. Add all this and multiply those with the other crises, and it is like we sit on a tinderbox! Enough to get a spark…

Lack of human relationships. With all these problems, unfortunately human beings are walking and passing by each other without one word, without proper communication. There are no feelings anymore, nor sentiments or care for each other. We are slowly becoming like senseless robots, repeating daily routines. Is this really the bright future?

SW: Consequently unemployment is rising?
Laszlo Szakadati: Well, this is also naturally coming with the given circumstances. The unemployment among the young generation was never so high, at least not in Europe. Do you know how many talented world-class musicians are sitting on the street corners playing for pennies? Or how many talented painters and photographers are working in vain… only to pay the rent? And in the meantime the actual and future pensioners fear for their pensions. I’m sure in the mean time in certain countries, these funds have vanished already.

The Hard Truth: Lack of Jobs for Olympic Athletes a Major Problem, By Steven V. Selthoffer, Chief European Columnist, Swimming World, October 18, 2012.

So, all in all I don’t want to sound pessimistic and I wish somebody will prove the contrary, but, honestly I can’t see things being bright in a distance of the next 15-20 years.

SW: What are the things that you see on the horizon that are threatening the sport?

Laszlo Szakadati: Wow! Big question. There are a few.

First. Current trends of television audiences. Most probably much of this was never revealed or discussed in detail or as a priority. Because for one reason or another, nobody around was interested. They should have been.

But if one looks at the analysis of TV audience figures from 2006 to today (related to European Swimming Championships, European Water Polo Championships and European Short Course Championships) these show a sharp and dramatic decline.

Obviously, there may be various explanations and excuses, related to certain circumstances, but this is not the space to enter in to details. However, nobody can argue with the fact that this is not good for the aquatic sports.

It’s time for someone to make a thorough study. The alarm bells are ringing…

Second. Lack of sponsorship — LEN struggles to get new sponsorship deals. FINA struggles to get new sponsorship deals.

One thing is certain, none of these organizations can say that a “Big One” (a major new sponsor) hit the roof (has signed on) in over the past 20 years!

If you look at Championships (World or European) we always have the same companies displayed. Which in my opinion is very modest.

If you think, that the market is already saturated by sports sponsorship combined with the fact that the TV audience metrics are decreasing, it is not the best prospect for the future.

Third. High costs. Unfortunately the costs to stage World or European Championships are increasing from one production period to the other. In some cases, budgets are hitting unrealistic figures, and given the fact of the economic crises, the question will be always there: “Who can still afford to host these events?” “Will these events really be profitable?” Those are key questions.

Fourth. Calendar congestion. The many events that are staged over a calendar year, and the lack of a sensible approach based on what is in the best interest of the swimmers to produce world-class times and the need to harmonize the various international calendars, certainly does not help. These problems can only continually harm the athletes and sports in the long term.

Fifth. Fierce competition with other sports. If you look around and see other sport disciplines… What they did for development… How much more innovation they brought in… How much more courage they had to change things… Adapting and empowering their executive teams to change and to market the sport better to supporters, sponsors and TV… certainly aquatics is not among the first tier.

Today, as other disciplines “boomed” over the years and established themselves in certain key market positions, the time to do something and have a “slice of the cake” is becoming less and less.

So we better not wait. Time is definitely running out…

SW: Are there other things that complicate matters?

Laszlo Szakadati: Yes. This one in particular. There is a real lack of innovation. Aquatics (swimming) has always been a very traditional sport. And in my experience it takes a significant amount of time to get through the bureaucracy with new proposals, changes, or any innovations. This is without a doubt putting a halt on keeping up the pace with modern times. And it hurts us competing with other sporting disciplines.

Doping. Luckily now, this is not a major issue. But, one has to be extremely careful and ever vigilant. Just look at cycling and one can immediately understand how such cases can undermine the entire movement and good will and destroy the image of the sport. So, in my opinion this needs maximum attention!

End of Part 2
Part Three will continue tomorrow. Szakadati talks about the conflict between LEN and FINA, sport politics and the marginal influence of the athletes in sports.

Part 1

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Sleep and the power of suggestion

Sunday - 2/9/2014, 8:05pm  ET

WASHINGTON - Can we succumb to the power of suggestion when it comes to sleep? If someone tells us we had a good night of sleep, will we buy into it?

A new study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, "Learning, Memory and Cognition," addresses this question and suggests a placebo can have a positive effect on our sleep.

Sleep is something many of us struggle with. Not enough of it or poor quality sleep can affect our mood, judgment, health and performance.

Researcher Christina Draganich and Kristi Erdal, a psychology professor at Colorado College, analyzed 164 student volunteers in a fake sleep study.

The students were split into two groups and educated on the positive effects of good sleep. They were then connected to fake machines registering their brain waves.

The next day one group was told their sleep was above average while the other group was told their sleep was below average. Then came a series of cognitive testing on their listening and processing skills.

The above average group performed significantly higher than the second group suggesting planting a placebo even about the quality of sleep has a positive influence on behavior. So if a person of authority tells you your sleep quality was good, does it make it so?

Sleep doctor Carol Ash, who spoke on the study during an interview with CBS This Morning last month, says "Other studies have shown that too, that if a trusted authority figure gives you information, you'll believe it."

All good news in the short term, but nothing can beat a good night's sleep.

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© 2014 WTOP. All Rights Reserved.


Presentation Abstract

Presentation Number 153.06
Title The Columbia/Cornell/Caltech Palomar Transient Factory (CCCP) Praesepe Campaign: Studying the Rotation-Activity Relation in an Intermediate Age Cluster
Author Block Kevin R. Covey1, J. Lemonias2, M. Agueros2, N. Law3, A. Kraus4, K. Hamren1
1Cornell University, 2Columbia University, 3University of Toronto, 4University of Hawaii, Monoa.
Abstract For several decades, observational surveys have demonstrated a closerelationship between a star’s rotation period, magnetic activity, and age. The age-activity-rotation relation is well documented in clusters younger than 500 Myrs, but its subsequent evolution is less clear. Using wide-field, multi-epoch photometry from the Palomar Transient Factory, we have monitored ~530 members of the Praesepe open cluster, a ~600 Myr nearby Hyades analog. With light curves containing >150 measurements over more than three months, we have measured rotation periods for ~50 K & M-type cluster members. These rotation periods span the gap between the periods measured for solar-type Hyads and the lowest-mass Praesepe members, and indicate that the orderly mass-rotation relation seen for higher mass Praesepe members begins to break down at ~0.6 Msun. Below this critical mass, a range of rotation periods spanning an order of magnitude are observed for stars with similar masses. Combining these rotation measurements with archival X-ray and Halpha observations completes the portrait of the ~600 Myr age-activity-rotation relation, and enables a detailed comparison with Praesepe's sister cluster, the Hyades.


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What are the major causes of water pollution?

The main causes for water pollution are :

Disposal of waste:

This waste includes sewage, garbage and liquid waste from factories and homes. Wastages from chemical factories contain many toxic or poisonous chemicals. These are discharged into rivers. The river-water becomes poisonous for fish and other aquatic animals and plants.

Chemical fertilizers and pesticides:

Farmers use fertilizers for growth, and pesticides to kill insects that damage crops. Fertilizers and pesticides which are good for plants, may be harmful to human beings and animals. Many of these chemicals get dissolved in rainwater which flows into ponds, canals, rivers and seas.

Disposal of human excreta and animal dung:

The rain washes away human excreta and animal dung into rivers, ponds and lakes. Drinking this polluted water may cause several water-borne diseases such as diarrhea, dysentery, jaundice, typhoid and cholera. Polluted river-water can cause diseases to the whole population.


XUnit: Beyond the Fact Attribute (Part 2)

One thing I initially missed about NUnit compared to XUnit (besides built-in support for it in tools like TeamCity) is attributes like SetUp and TestFixtureSetUp that enable you to decorate a method with variables that need to be set (or any other logic that needs to run) before each test or before all the tests in a test fixture.  When I first adopted test-driven development as a work practice, I felt it made things easier.  But the authors of NUnit eventually came to a different conclusion about those attributes, and implemented XUnit without those attributes as a result.

Rather than define attributes for per-test and per-fixture setup, the authors of XUnit recommend using a no-arg constructor where you’d use SetUp and IUseFixture where you’d use TestFixtureSetUp or TestFixtureTearDown.  While this took me some time to get used to, leveraging the interface made it easier to handle the external dependencies of code I needed to implement and test.  One technique I’ve adopted to give myself additional flexibility in my test implementations is to add an extension point to the implementation of the SetFixture method

In this example, the extension point is a method named AdditionalFixtureConfiguration.  Calling it inside SetFixture ensures it will be called before each test class derived from UnitTestBase.  Making the method virtual and keeping it free of implementation means that I only need to override it if I need additional pre-test setup for particular test scenarios.  Because we use StructureMap as our IOC container, the equivalent of UnitTestFixture class in my example has a public attribute of type StructureMap.IContainer.  The AdditionalFixtureConfiguration method provides a natural home for any setup code needed to configure additional mappings between interfaces and implementations, set up mocks, and even inject mocks into the container if a concrete implementation isn’t available (or isn’t needed).

While this is the implementation I’ve chosen, there are certainly other ways to accomplish the same thing.  Instead of defining AdditionalFixtureConfiguration in UnitTestBase, I could define it in UnitTestFixture instead and call it in every SetFixture implementation (or not , if that customization wasn’t needed).  I prefer having the abstract class because it makes for simpler actual test code.

Everyone is Junior at Something–Even You

Hanselminutes #427  was an excellent interview with Jonathan Barronville, the author (perhaps the most intelligent and articulate 19-year-old I’ve ever heard) of this article on Medium.  The discussion covered a lot of ground, and posed a number of thought-provoking questions.  Three of the questions struck me as especially important.

What is senior?

In the podcast, Hanselman suggested three criteria: years in industry, years writing code in a language, and age.  Since I’ve been in the industry for 18 years, have been writing production C# code for about 10 of them, and turned 40 at the beginning of the year, those criteria argue in favor of me being considered senior.  Those numbers can also work against me in a way (and not just because of the field’s well-known problems with age discrimination).  Before I took my current job (over 2 years ago), I hadn’t written any production ASP.NET MVC, jQuery or knockout.js.  The last time I’d written any production JavaScript before then was before also jQuery and node.js even existed.  So from the perspective of those technologies, I was junior (and still am in some respects).

While industry today seems to have a fetish for young developers, there is merit to that interest in one respect.  Men and women entering the industry right now, whether they’re fresh out of college (or even younger) are too young to have any memory of a world where Google didn’t exist.  They’re too young to remember a world before web pages.  Some of them have been writing software for the majority of their lives.  It’s natural to them in a way it wasn’t for me because I had to go to college to get access to really good computers and high-speed Internet.

That said, the number of years (or lack of them) isn’t an advantage or disadvantage if you haven’t had the sort of experiences you can grow from as a developer (and learned the right lessons from them).  Regardless of what age you were when you had the experiences, if you’ve had to build software that solved enterprise-level problems, dealt with scaling, refactoring and enhancement of large systems, or integration of systems, both succeeding and failing at addressing those challenges are what really make a senior developer.  More time in industry may give someone more opportunities to have those experiences, but if they haven’t had them, they’ve just been writing software for a long time.

What is the rush to be senior?

Hanselman made a comparison between tradesmen like carpenters and plumbers (who have to work as apprentices for 3-5 years and pass an exam before they can become journeymen) and our industry, where someone can have senior in their title without much experience.  While some of it (if not most of it) has to do with pay, there are drawbacks.  Because our field is relatively young in the grand scheme of things, there aren’t universally accepted standards and practices (especially compared to some branches of engineering, which have hundreds of years of history).  We place too much of a premium on speed, and not enough on depth of experience (and the time it takes to earn it).  One of the end results of this is the sort of interviews I’ve experienced on a regular basis.  I’ve seen tons of resumes from people with senior titles who are stymied by interview exercises that ask fairly basic questions (on the level of the Fizz Buzz test).

I’d been working for less than four years when I first got “senior” added to my title.  It came with a nice raise (which I was certainly happy about) and more responsibilities (team leadership), but I certainly wasn’t senior in terms of software development experience after that short a period of time.  Not unlike what the classic Peter Norvig essay suggests about teaching yourself programming in ten years, that’s about how long it took for me to see myself as legitimately senior from an experience perspective.  Even now, having spent over 17 years in industry, I’m sure there are workplaces where I wouldn’t be considered senior because I haven’t architected super-large systems or led a team with dozens of people—and I’m alright with that.  I’ve matured enough after this amount of time to be more concerned with what kind of work I’m doing (and what I’m learning) than I am with what title an employer gives me.

Are we okay with not knowing something and then learning?

This question points in two directions:

  • are we okay with ourselves not knowing something and then having to learn it?
  • are we okay with others not knowing something and then having to learn it?

For me, the answer to the first question is yes.  In the case jQuery and knockout.js (and other unfamiliar technologies like RavenDB), I had to be okay with not knowing.  Doing my own research, and not being too proud to ask a lot of questions younger developers on the team who clearly had more experience with those technologies was necessary to advance to the point where I could do all that work myself.

The answer to the second question is the key to many of the problems with our industry, particularly when it comes to issues of gender and diversity.  Too many in our industry go beyond not being okay with someone not knowing something and cross the line to being condescending, rude, and even hostile.  I’ve been on the receiving end of that kind of treatment more often than I care to remember.  Too many workplaces allow people with superior technical skills to act like children instead of adults in interacting with their co-workers.  There is more and more being written about the sexism in the industry (pieces like this one, and this one), but not nearly enough on the negative impact that environment has on the ability and desires of others to learn and grow as professionals.  I think the persistently low numbers of minorities and women in the tech industry has as much to do with the perception (if not reality) that a lot of tech companies have high “a**hole thresholds” as it does with insufficient exposure to math and science in school.

The bottom line for me from the article and the podcast is not only that everyone in this industry starts out as junior level, but that technology changes so quickly that we will all be junior at something at multiple points throughout our careers in the tech industry.  We need to keep that knowledge in mind so that we can be more patient with ourselves as we learn and with those we work with as they learn.

XUnit: Beyond the Fact Attribute

After using XUnit for unit testing the past couple of years, I finally got a bit tired of the cut-and-paste-and-modify cycle of expanding test coverage for functionality I was building.  I’ve used “row test” functionality in NUnit and MbUnit in the past, but hadn’t gotten around to finding out how to use them in XUnit until quite recently.  The process I followed was relatively short: (1) Add the xunit.extensions dependency to my existing test assembly, (2) take a test that class that contained significant duplication and re-factor it to leverage one of the row testing attributes available.

In my case, the area I picked that would benefit from row testing was workflow testing.  We implement our workflows as state machines with transition tables that define a starting state, an ending state, and the event that triggers the state change.  I’d previously tested these workflows with one unit test per transition, with those three attributes (start state, end state, event) being the only thing different between them.  This meant a single test  that took these attributes as parameters should be sufficient to test transitions, and that the row testing attribute(s) would contain the actual values.

The Theory attribute supports a number of different data sources, including inline data, Excel data, and SQL Server data.  I started with inline data believing it would be the simplest.  But I wasn’t able to get that to work because the InlineData attribute of Theory only appears to support primitives (int, bool, string, etc).  Our workflow events and statuses are classes with attributes that are static and read-only.  From there, I moved on to try the PropertyData attribute.  This attribute takes one string argument that needs to match the name of a property added to the test class that returns a collection of object arrays with one set of test parameters per entry.

Following that approach worked much better.  The results display pretty nicely in ReSharper as well:

I’m still working on a code example of this to make available on GitHub, but here are a few links I found useful in getting up to speed with the additional capabilities of XUnit:

Learning New Programming Languages

Important advice from The Pragmatic Programmer (page 62):

“Learn at least one new language every year.”

It’s advice I’ve been trying to follow more seriously since I first started reading the book last month.  One site I’ve been using to learn more JavaScript that’s proven to be pretty cool for that is codewars.com (thanks Dean).  The katas are small enough that it doesn’t take a ton of research to figure out how to do something in a language you’re learning.  Once you’ve developed a working solution, you can see how others have solved it (and compare your solution to theirs).  Since you write and test the katas in the browser, there’s none of the overhead of firing up an editor or uploading your solution somewhere.  Ideally I’d be writing a few katas per day, but a few katas a week are what I’ve been able to manage so far.

Since Apple introduced yet another language (Swift) at WWDC earlier this week, I’m starting to learn that language as well.  So far, the syntax is a lot easier to grasp than Objective-C.  The only real hassle with writing the code examples as I read the language guide is that XCode 6 Beta crashes every half hour.

With both languages (or any language really), the real leap forward comes from building something non-trivial with them. Figuring out what that non-trivial something will be is another challenge altogether. I wish there were a sites like codewars.com (or Project Euler) that put out larger-scale problems intended to be solved with software. Being part of the developer interview loop at work pushed me to create a few problems of that sort for use in interviewing developer candidates, but none of those exercises require more than 20 minutes of work. More significant challenges should make it useful to explore features beyond basic control flow and data structures.

When Third-Party Dependencies Attack

Last week provided our office with an inconvenient lesson in what can happen when third-party dependencies break in unanticipated ways.  PostSharp is a key third-party dependency in the line of business web application we sell.  On the morning of May 20, our continuous integration server (we use TeamCity) began indicating a build failure with the following message:

  • PostSharp.3.1.34\tools\PostSharp.targets(313, 5): error MSB6006: “postsharp.4.0-x86.exe” exited with code -199.

The changed file was a Razor template file–nothing at all to do with PostSharp.  Only one person on our development team was experiencing this error on their local machine, but the end result–not being able to compile the solution locally–pretty much eliminated the possibility of that person being productive for the rest of the day.  As the day progressed, the CI server began showing exactly the same error in other branches–even with no changes to code.  It wasn’t until the next day that we received the explanation (and a resolution).

Reading the entire explanation is worthwhile, but the key reason for the failure is this:

“we … assumed that all failures would be in the form of a managed exceptions. We did not anticipate that the library would terminate the process.”

The fail-safe code that PostSharp implemented around a third-party licensing component assumed all failures would be managed exceptions (which they could catch and deal with accordingly).  Instead, this third-party component simply terminated the process.  The end result–any of their customers using the latest version of PostSharp couldn’t compile any solution that included it.  There’s no way of knowing for sure how many hours of productivity (and money) was lost as a result of this component, but the amounts were probably significant.  To his credit, the CEO apologized, his development team removed the offending dependency and sacrificed the feature which depended on it.

There are many lessons to be learned (or re-learned) from what we experienced with PostSharp, but I’ll talk about three. First, if a third-party dependency is critical to your application and has a licensing option that includes support, it is best to pay the money so that you have recourse if and when there’s an issue. On the Microsoft stack, this is proving increasing costly as more third-party .NET libraries and tools raise their prices (there are quite a few formerly free .NET tools that have been purchased by companies and re-released as rather costly closed-source software).

Second, whether or not there are licensing costs, it’s a good idea to have more than one option for critical third-party dependencies. In the case of aspect-oriented programming on .NET, there are a number of alternatives to PostSharp. The vendor is even confident enough to list them on their website. So if licensing costs are significant enough a concern, it may be better to choose an open-source option that is less-convenient but gives you the ability to customize it than a paid option which doesn’t (and yokes you to a specific vendor).

Third, It may make sense to avoid taking on a third-party dependency altogether. When it comes to the Microsoft stack, it’s likely that they offer a framework or API with at least some of the capabilities you need for your solution. In the case of AOP, Microsoft offers Unity to support those capabilities. Especially in the case where you’re only considering the free tier of capabilities for a third-party dependency where Microsoft offers a product, if that free tier functionality isn’t a significant improvement, it may be best to stick with the Microsoft option.

Another Tale of a Developer Interview Loop

There are literally millions of links on the internet about interviewing developers–interview questions, posts on why the way you do it is wrong, and even guides on making it through an interview process.  Here’s one more, about the interview process at my current employer.

Before I joined my current company (back in 2012), before I even set foot onsite, there was a phone screen.  At the time, there seemed to be one developer responsible for phone screening every prospective developer candidate for the entire company.  If memory serves, the phone screen lasted around 45 minutes.  The questions were challenging, but not impossible to answer.  When the in-person interviews were scheduled, I had no idea what I was in for.  Over the course of 5 hours, I spoke to 7 different people who had some role in 2 or 3 different projects or products within the company.  The first hour, they put a laptop with Visual Studio in front of me and asked me to write a console app that performed three different tasks (I won’t go into too much more detail as we still use the same exercise to this day).  I was able to complete the exercise with enough time to spare for my two interviewers to ask me questions about my solution (which while it worked correctly, was not the most elegant).  The rest of the interviews were all questions, some behavioral/team/”fit”-related, but mostly technical.  All the developer hires that came in after me presumably went through a similar process.

Fast-forward to the fall of 2013–we’ve won a contract that more than doubles the amount of work we need to deliver.  The pressure is on to find, hire and onboard as many good developers as we can find.  An interview process that works just fine when you only hire a new developer every month or two scales poorly when you have a month or two to hire a dozen developers.  So we involve more developers in the interview process and cast a wide net for prospective hires.  After spending many man-hours interviewing candidates who struggle with our programming exercises, we find a few external candidates to hire–but far less than the dozen we need.  We end up grabbing people from other teams within the company to compensate.

So when our company changed the process again to involve developers in the phone screen process, I did some Googling to find out what sort of questions make an effective phone screen.  By far, the most useful post I’ve found is Steve Yegge’s Five Essential Phone-Screen Questions.  Reading (and re-reading) the whole thing is definitely worth your time.  Our recruiters only allot 30 minutes of time for our phone screens (and I usually have code to design & write, or bugs to fix), so my phone screen generally only covers 3 of Yegge’s 5 areas–coding, OO design and data structures.  In the coding area, instead of giving the candidates homework (or having them read the code over the phone), I started sharing a Google document with them and watching them write their answer to the coding question.  This is a great way to get a sense of how quickly a prospective developer hire can come up with a solution on the fly.  A more involved (and somewhat more buggy) approach, is to use the .NET Fiddle online console along with its collaboration feature.  If it doesn’t crash on you during the interview, you’ll be able to see if the solution compiles and runs successfully on the spot.  Thirty minutes has proven to be enough to get in a coding exercise and enough questions about OO design and data structures to have a good feel for whether or not it would be worthwhile to move someone on to the in-person interview phase of our process.  Since in-person interviews are generally conducted in pairs, each 30-minute phone screen that properly rejects a candidate saves 2-4 man-hours of additional interview time.

If there is any revision I would make to the current interview process, it would be to push our simpler questions into the candidate “homework” idea Yegge mentions early in his post.  Then we could preserve our 30 minutes of phone screen time for candidates who we already know have handled our easiest exercises.

Farewell RockNUG!

Last week was the final monthly meeting of the Rockville .NET User Group (aka RockNUG) after a seven-year run. I greatly appreciate the leadership of Dean Fiala. It takes a lot of effort to find sponsors, meeting locations, and speakers consistently, and he always came through. Fortunately, the name and domain will live on for future use in special events (like another Robocode programming contest).

Being part of this group made an important impact on my career as a software developer in the DC metropolitan area. I learned a ton from the different keynote speakers over the years. The n00b talk portion of each monthly meeting gave me opportunities to present shorter talks of my own. In these, I learned a lot from the research needed to give a good presentation and from the audience who received it (through their questions and other information they volunteered). I’ve met a number of friends in the industry through this group, and even recruited one of them to join me at my current employer.

A lot has changed since RockNUG first started. For one thing, there are far more user groups now than there were 7 years ago. This means a lot more competition to find speakers. The other change has been in web development on the Microsoft stack–it requires fewer Microsoft-exclusive technologies today than in the past. The increasing popularity of web applications and the success of frameworks like Ruby on Rails, jQuery, node.js, knockout.js (as well as languages like JavaScript) has broadened what those of us working in Microsoft shops need to know in order to be successful. So very few of the talks over the past couple of years have had a .NET-specific focus. Finally, there is a lot of great learning material available on the web now. Between companies like Pluralsight, WintellectNOW, and conferences that post their keynote presentations online, there are a wealth of learning opportunities for developers that don’t even require them to leave their desk.

None of these online options can replace the in-person interaction, networking and opportunities to build friendships that a user group like RockNUG can provide. So even though RockNUG has come to an end, I still believe in user groups. I’ll be on the lookout for groups just like it (or perhaps even create one).

Managing Your Tech Career

Episode #980 of .NET Rocks was an excellent 52 minutes on career management for developers.  Since turning 40 this year, I’ve been thinking a lot more about my career and where I want to take it from here.  The entire episode is well-worth listening to, but I would distill the essence of the advice from the guest (John Sonmez) down to this: market yourself.

When I gave a talk to some software engineering students back in February, I encouraged them to start blogs, give presentations and talks, and start podcasts (so far I’ve only done the first two myself).  I suggested all of these things primarily as a way for them to improve their knowledge, but a higher profile on the internet is certainly a positive side-effect of doing those things.  One point I didn’t add (which Sonmez brings up in his interview) is that consistency is very important.  He recommends a blog post every week.  That’s a goal I’m striving to meet (though not always succeeding).

Another related point Sonmez made is that developers need to set aside regular time to manage their career.  The amount of time averaged something like an hour every two weeks.  Consistency is especially important here as well–if not mandatory, given how quickly technology advances.  I’ve recently started reading The Pragmatic Programmer, and it makes a similar point but uses investment terminology.  Section 5 of the first chapter (Your Knowledge Portfolio) make this point:

“Your knowledge and experience are your most important professional assets.  Unfortunately, they’re expiring assets.”

Knowledge about specific programming languages, databases, etc can age very poorly.  Failing to consistently add new assets to your knowledge portfolio, to diversify and balance those assets among various technologies (of varying maturities), and to “re-balance” that portfolio over time can result in obsolescence.  Given the prevalence of ageism/age discrimination  that already exists in information technology, having old or irrelevant skills is a quick way to end up at the margins of IT, working in companies that are yoked to technologies that will make it increasingly difficult for them to serve their business goals (much less to serve your goals of having a fulfilling technology career).

I saw this first-hand in an unexpected way when I attended South by Southwest in 2013.  One of the shuttle bus drivers I rode with regularly between my hotel and the various conference venues was actually doing it for income between short-term software development gigs all over the country.  He was an older gentleman whose skills (at least on the Microsoft stack) hadn’t advanced beyond VB6.  While there are still a ton of software systems built in VB6 (I certainly built my share of them in the late 1990s and early 2000s), his knowledge portfolio means that contract work maintaining VB6 code may be all that’s available to him.

In my own career, I’ve been working to broaden my own knowledge portfolio beyond the Microsoft stack.  Microsoft itself is doing some of this by adopting external technologies like JavaScript, jQuery, and knockout.js for web application development.  Angular.js is a framework strongly supported by Google that Microsoft has made sure plays very well with ASP.NET MVC.  So building my knowledge of JavaScript, and platforms like node.js are also goals for me in doing what I can to remain an attractive candidate for hire–whether as an employee, or for a future of self-employment.

Code Generation with LINQPad 4

How to Debug Small Programs

This brilliant post by Eric Lippert is one I wish I’d had available to point to last month when I spoke to some software engineering undergrads.

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Radiograph right femur: minimally expansile, lytic lesion with ground glass density and sclerotic borders extending from femoral neck into diaphysis with cortical thinning especially of the inferior aspect of the femoral neck.

MRI: low T1, high T2 signal mass centered in the medullary canal with cortical thinning but no cortical disruption. Adjacent soft tissues are normal.

Radiograph tib/fib: additional mixed lytic and sclerotic lesion longitudinally oriented in tibia.

Polyostotic fibrous dysplasia.

Fibrous dysplasia is a non-hereditary developmental anomaly of unknown origin causing replacement of medullary bone by fibrous tissue. Eighty percent of cases are monostotic, however, 20%, as in this case, are polyostotic. Any bone can be affected, but there is a predilection in the polyostotic form for the femur, tibia, pelvis, ribs and facial bones. Patients usually present in late childhood with pain or pathologic fracture.

On plain radiographs, fibrous dysplasia is characteristically a diaphyseal or metaphyseal lucent lesion with a homogenous, smoky radiodensity termed a "ground glass" appearance. Sclerotic borders, endosteal scalloping, variable degrees of central sclerosis and an absence of periosteal reaction are other common features. On MRI, the findings are relatively nonspecific: the lesion demonstrates low T1 and variable T2 signal within the medullary canal.

The differential diagnosis includes non-ossifying fibroma (eccentric, cortically based lytic lesions with sclerotic rim); solitary bone cyst (lytic, intramedullary lesions usually without a sclerotic rim or central sclerosis, and usually more round or oval shaped); aneurismal bone cyst (usually quite expansile with marked cortical thinning; fluid-fluid levels on MRI); enchondroma (solitary form usually has chondroid matrix; polyostotic form (Ollier¿s disease) has long, lytic lesions with vertical striations); osteomyelitis (generally more destructive with cortical disruption and soft tissue findings, periosteal reaction).

In this case, the disease was polyostotic, which raises the additional possibility of syndromic involvement. McCune-albright syndrome is characterized by fibrous dysplasia, café-au-lait spots and precocious puberty. Mazabraud¿s syndrome consists of polyostotic fibrous dysplasia and intramuscular myxomas. Other endocrinopathies including hyperthyroidism, Cushing's disease, hypophosphatemia, and hyperprolactinemia have been associated with fibrous dysplasia

Complications of fibrous dysplasia include pathologic fractures and malignant degeneration, most commonly into osteosarcoma or fibrosarcoma. In the femur, the ¿shepherd¿s crook¿ deformity can occur, which is varus angulation at the femoral neck. In this case, the patient developed hip pain due to impending pathologic fracture, and a pre-emptive reconstruction nail with interlocking screws was placed through the femoral neck.

Resnick D, Niwayama G. Diagnosis of Bone and Joint Disorders. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: WB Saunders;. 1988: 4057-70.

MJ Kransdorf, RP Moser, Jr, and FW Gilkey. Review: Fibrous dysplasia. RadioGraphics 1990; 10: 519.

WH Jee, KH Choi, BY Choe, JM Park, and KS Shinn. Fibrous dysplasia: MR imaging characteristics with radiopathologic correlation Am J Roentgenol., Dec 1996; 167: 1523 - 1527.


Portrait sitting prices start from £75, whether an indoor shoot or outdoor!

I have a “mobile studio” and can come to your home. This is often easier for smaller children, as they can stay in familiar surroundings, and are more relaxed.

If you prefer, we can meet at an outdoor location of your choice, maybe a country park or woods for what’s known as environmental portraits. These shoots are becoming more popular, but are dependent on suitable weather!


3 languages

This Qing dynasty drama focuses on the schemes in the Harem between Emperor Yong Zheng's wives. The paramount of romantic C-dramas. Zhen Huan (Sun Li), initially a kind and innocent young lady, enters the palace and eventually finds herself caught in the conflict between the empress and concubines. Zhen Huan discovers that the palace is actually a cruel and harsh place, and learns how to survive on her own.

Genres: Romance, Costume & Period
Original title: 后宫·甄嬛传
Country: China
Rating: PG-13