Improvements in colorectal outcomes independent of laparoscopy, cancer diagnosisFRIDAY, July 25, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Implementation of an enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) colorectal program is feasible in a community hospital setting and significantly improves outcomes, according to a study published online July 23 in JAMA Surgery.
Cristina B. Geltzeiler, M.D., from the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, and colleagues assessed practice patterns and patient outcomes for all elective colon and rectal resection cases performed in 2009 (prior to ERAS implementation), 2011, and 2012. The ERAS program involves multidisciplinary efforts from anesthesia, preadmission, nursing, and surgery staff.
The researchers found that over the study period the use of laparoscopy increased from 57.4 to 88.8 percent (P < 0.001) and was accompanied by a significant decrease in length of stay (LOS; 6.7 versus 3.7 days; P < 0.001), without an increase in 30-day readmission rate (P = 0.49). There were decreases in use of patient-controlled narcotic analgesia (P < 0.001) and duration of use (P = 0.02). There was a trend toward decreased ileus (P = 0.02) and intra-abdominal infection (P = 0.24). Colorectal cancer diagnosis was not significantly associated with LOS, 30-day readmission rates, ileus, and intra-abdominal infection (all P > 0.05).
"Length of stay reductions resulted in an estimated cost savings of $3,202 per patient (2011) and $4,803 per patient (2012)," the authors write.


text:
Q: scalar arithmetic in Stata Riddle me this:
scalar bah = .1*1000.01
display bah

   1

scalar list

   bah =    100.001

display seems to deliberately show the wrong number. Why? What is the standard way of checking the value of a scalar? scalar list seems like it would be a mess if using many scalars.

A: This is off-topic for this site. Stack Overflow seems better. Moderators should probably move it.
Try something like:
display %18.0g bah

(See help format)
or
display scalar(bah)

See also help scalar and the respective manual entry [P] scalar

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Join The Batman Universe Staff
Are you interested in sharing your love for Batman with other Bat-Fans? Have a special talent and need a place to share it? Then joining TBU might be the place for you. We are a group of fans working for fans to give quality material regularly and would love to find a spot on our team for you.
As a fan site, we do not pay our contributors, but there will be plenty of perks that come with working with us. From talking with professionals in multiple entertainment industries to covering events to establishing your talents with content you enjoy.
Our team is broken into three main areas of coverage.
TBU Comics Team: This team covers everything from the world of the Batman Universe comics. We cover all the news announced, review the various monthly issues, graphic novels, and collected editions released, and discuss the topics on various comic-related podcasts.
TBU Media Team: This team manages the news, reviews, and editorials covering films and movies, television, and video games.
TBU Culture Team: This team deals with everything that makes fans of Batman, Bat-Fans. From the merchandise releasing and being reviewed to events and unique topics relating to the fandom.
In addition to those teams, we also have a team that deals with all of the behind-the-scenes elements of making a site as big as TBU run smoothly. This includes audio editors, video editors, podcast hosts, graphic designers, and editors.
So do you have an interest in covering any of those sections? Are you interested in working behind-the-scenes? Are you already creating content elsewhere and want to share it with a larger audience? Or are you just looking at sharing your passion for the Batman Universe with like-minded individuals?
You have two ways to get in touch with us. You can send us an email at tbu@thebatmanuniverse.net to discuss current openings or if you are open to covering anything go ahead fill out our TBU Staff Application now. We will be in touch with you whatever way you contact us.
TBU Staff Members
Dustin Fritschel
Founder - Editor-in-Chief - Senior Editor - TBU Podcast Host
As someone who had too much time on his hands and now can't find enough, Dustin founded TBU as a way to connect with other Bat-Fans and keep them informed. Over the years, he has hosted various podcasts on the site and edited almost everything you read on the site. Outside of TBU, he operates an online toys and collectibles store and is always looking for a new venture to add to his ever-expanding list of things to keep him busy. In his free time, he spends time with his wife, three children, two cats, and dog in the suburbs of Chicago.
Scott Waldyn
Managing Editor - Staff Writer - TBU Podcast Host
Scott Waldyn has been a lifelong Batman fan, ever since he first watched the Michael Keaton-led 1989 film as a small child. Batman sparked a love of comics for Scott that has spanned decades. A few years ago, he stumbled upon the TBU Podcast and answered a call-to-arms to write for the site. Since then, he's helped out with editing, guest-hosting on the podcast, and reviewing some of Batman's flagship titles. Beyond Batman, Scott is a huge Godzilla nerd, loves video games, and writes novellas and short stories in his free time. Ask him to discuss cinema, and he'll talk your ear off. One day, he hopes to pen both his own comics as well as guest-write at least one issue of Batman.
Staff Editor - Staff Writer - Podcast Editor - TBU Comic Podcast Host
BJ Shea
Staff Writer - TBU Podcast Host
BJ has had two passions in his life: sports and comic books. Specifically Batman and Robin. Not a day has gone by where BJ hasn't watched or read something Batman-related. Currently, his goal is to collect as many Dick Grayson (his favorite character) issues as he can. Doesn't matter if he's Robin or Nightwing or Agent 37, he wants them. Another goal he has is to collect the complete Robin run of Tim Drake's classic series. Raised on reruns of Adam West and was there for the animated series, BJ is down for any version of Batman. The Dark Knight is his favorite movie ever. On any day, BJ is most likely watching sports, watching anything Batman, or The Office.
Staff Writer - TBU Comic Podcast Host
Theodis Wright
TBU Comic Podcast Host
Theo is a lifelong resident of Louisiana. He has been a collector of comic books since the age of nine, amassing a huge collection before losing most to Hurricane Katrina. Since then he's been working to rebuild that collection while continuing to delve into current books. Besides comics, he is an avid reader on topics of US history (don't ask why).
Adil Syed
Contributing Writer - TBU Podcast Host
Jamie Remolde
As a contributor to TBU, I focus on comics and graphic novels. I am relatively new to comics, as I really started to get into regularly reading them during the New 52 and Rebirth eras at DC Comics. Personally, I gravitate towards Batman and most of his allies because he is just an ordinary man. He may be incredibly wealthy, but he is not an alien or a god, or even a metahuman. I also like the character because he was able to turn an incredible tragedy in his life into his life's mission. I do not always agree with his actions, but I do trust his motivation. I came across TBU through the TBU Comic Podcast and answered the call for contributors. I am on my second stint with the site and am excited at new opportunities. On a personal note, I am similar to the current characterization of Tim Drake. I am queer. I identify as trans feminine, I was assigned the male gender at birth, but that never seemed to fit me. It is this self-examination that draws me to queer-centric stories of Tim Drake, Batwoman, Renee Montoya, and other openly queer characters. I feel we are all on a journey of self-discovery and understanding, and these characters have shown that they are brave and strong enough to travel their own path in a sense, I believe we all are queer in different ways.
Hannan Murano
Daniel Goldberg
I've loved Batman for my entire life, but really only started collecting comics about five years ago. "Batman: The Animated Series" is probably the biggest influence on my conception of the character. I'm a university professor in my day-to-day life, and I am particularly interested in the ways that fear and trauma drive Batman and the behavior of so many of his rogues.
Donovan Morgan Grant
Joshua Lapin-Bertone
Joshua is a legacy contributor to TBU, having been with the website since 2008. He's hosted The Gotham Chronicle Podcast, co-hosted The Batman Universe Comic Podcast, and has made numerous guest appearances on the other shows across the TBU network. He's also served as TBU's convention correspondent, where he's interviewed many comic creators and DC-related actors. In addition to his work at TBU, Josh has also served as a freelance contributor for DC Entertainment.
Batgirl to Oracle Host
Rob Myers
Robin: Everyone Loves the Drake Host - Everyone Loves Young Justice Host
In 1982, Rob received a book that changed his life. The book and cassette set was called "Batman and Robin, the Teen Wonder: The Case of the Laughing Sphinx." While Batman was a big deal, Robin is what stood out and connected him to the world of Batman. Then came Batman (1989) and how could you not love Batman? Shortly after joining TBU to do some action figure reviews, he got the podcasting bug and since then has launched two shows on the TBU Podcast Network. He also plays drums and collects comics, CDs, vinyl, and KISS merchandise.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


I had been puzzling over Luis for some time. I couldn't get him interested in doing more drawing or writing, and he wasn't like other 3 to 5-year-old children in my Head Start class who were harder to engage in writing and drawing. Usually children who don't draw much have limited small motor skills and find it difficult. Sometimes they are more active by nature and find the sitting still part of writing difficult. Luis did not fit those profiles. He seemed more like someone who wasn't working at his potential. He could easily write all the letter forms neatly, and he has a gentle and patient personality. Nevertheless, he seemed stuck in drawing holiday icons — a pumpkin, a tree, a snowman, a heart.
Day after day, it was the same. If he was encouraged to put people into his drawing, he drew minimalist stick figures. There were no verbal stories that accompanied his drawings as there were even with children who only drew tadpole figures. There were no scribble action lines as in drawings by some children that are totally unrecognizable unless you hear the story. He wasn't interested in trying ideas from his classmates' drawings as many children are.
The most important work I do in the classroom is unseen, and perhaps unrecognized by most: watching the children and noting their interests. What I want is a classroom where children are busy and happy — though "focused," "absorbed," or "engaged" are probably better words because there is a type of busy-ness that is not as productive, when children seem wild or bored. This work is vital because it is when children are actively engaged that they learn (they gain competence and skills). "Interest" or "interesting" is a tricky concept because it might seem like it lies wholly in the activity itself, but I find that it is actually an interplay between the activity and individuals. So every teacher will find that there are some students who are more difficult to get — or keep — engaged.
So, how to interest Luis in writing? Typically I note children's interests simply by watching them and listening to them. In their actions or their words they give a clue. I looked for any little clue with Luis. In drawing, I looked for anything different. And one day, his drawing was different. It was simply a lot of irregular connected shapes. It looked like nothing: not a pumpkin, not a tree . . . It looked like a map! And I made that comment to him. A few weeks later, his drawing was different again. It had a tree, lines for water and a solidly colored space for sand. It was like a small map.
At that point, I definitely wanted to do map work with Luis, and I talked with Ruth Shagoury, a friend and university researcher who has been volunteering in my classroom for the past couple of years. We decided to collaborate on exploring maps and globes with the children, building on Luis's interest and expanding to working with the whole class.
We started with a three-dimensional version of a map. The globe in our classroom is much-loved, but old and out-of-date. Our first step was to get a new-and accurate!-globe that could spin on its axis. (There are also some excellent cheaper inflatable globes that are a good substitute.) We celebrated its newness by opening the box together. As I lifted it out of its package, we heard cries of, "A globe! Awesome!"
I held the globe out for them to see: "Our globe is old, and some of the countries have changed. So how is the new one different?"
"You can see the writing."
"It's not broken down the middle!"
"You know what's really neat? " I asked them. "I noticed where there's mountains, there's a bump. If I touch very lightly, I can feel it. And you can all touch the globe, too."
I made time for each child to touch the globe, before giving it a place of honor in the classroom — ready for further exploration and engagement. Then, we turned to the books.
As the Crow Flies: A First Book of Maps by Gail Hartman, illustrated by Harvey Stevenson is a perfect first book of maps. Readers see several animals' worlds, and the maps that show these places from their points of view. I read this book to them slowly, allowing them to comment and make connections to the globe. Then, we had a chance to do some playful explorations with maps.
I invited the children to choose one of our stuffed animals and create a habitat for that animal. They could use blocks, toys, some stones I had brought in — whatever they wanted to engage in imaginative play creating their animal's world. "So, if you chose the turtle," I asked the children, "what do you want for him to live in?"
"He needs water," Lacey added.
"Yes, those are wonderful ideas. Make your place for your animal, and when you are done, you can make a map of it, just like in the book."
The children enjoyed their imaginative play — and their animals' maps. In the pictures below, you catch a glimpse of their creations, and their beginning understanding of showing a three-dimensional world on a flat piece of paper. We'll continue to work with the other map books, and create more of our own.
It will come as no surprise that there was a lot of problem-solving, including mathematical thinking, social language, and imaginative language as we work on our maps. Just as I had hoped, this project was just the spark that Luis needed to move forward. He's much more interested in writing, and he has a look of pride about his work. He's doing new and different things — and noticing when other children get their ideas from him! Searching for his engagement, I found new connections for the whole classroom.
The following four books are especially good introductions to maps. Best of all, they inspire children to pick up crayons, pens, and paints to create their own maps.
What kind of maps does a rabbit use? Or a crow, an eagle, a horse, or a seagull? Readers follow along each animal as they show their "favorite" ways to go. This book serves as a wonderful introduction to basic maps and mapping. We see the world from each creature's point of view, as well the key landmarks in their world. The illustrations are clear and inviting. A perfect first book of maps!
Me on the Map is another simple book to introduce children to the idea of maps. The nameless little girl who narrates the book shows herself in her bedroom, then creates a simple map to illustrate herself in her room. From there, she expands to her neighborhood, city, state, country, and world. One mom we know used this book and the mapping activities it inspires to teach her son their address.
Lisa also begins her mapping in her bedroom. She includes everything in her room: all the furniture and even her Boston terrier, Penny. She decides it would be fun to map Penny's world as well as her own. Lisa explores Penny's journeys and as she does, she explains the tools she uses to make the maps. She needs keys and symbols as she looks at her familiar world from a different perspective. The maps are very simple and uncluttered, making them a wonderful guide for children to use as they create their own maps.
You can create maps of anything, like a map of your tummy, your heart, your dog or your day! In Sara Fanelli's bold, bright, and colorful book, you can search for and interact with each map. While there is no story, the book simply invites you to explore the pages, poring over the details and imagining new possibilities for maps. Children love to create their own maps after reading this book — especially the maps of their own hearts.
Erin Ocon discovers Worldwide Cinderella stories are a wonderful tool for building community and cultural awareness in her 7th grade classroom and with English language learners. Erin describes how she uses a range of Cinderella picture books with students, and provides an extensive booklist for expanding your library.
These books do double duty – building community and understanding of the sounds of language.
"Why isn't there an African-American Henry and Mudge?" asks a teacher. This question leads Shari Frost on a quest to find the best early readers for multicultural students. In this booklist, she highlights her top picks.
In this brief video, Melissa Kolb explains "Book Time" in her preschool class. It's a time when many volunteers read books informally to small groups of children in their home languages.


Ever hear of the Mondial de l'Automobile in Paris? It's a motor show in Paris with historical roots… in fact, it was the first International Automobile, Sports, and Cycling exhibition, back in 1898. Well, here we are in 2016, and times have changed. The show has adapted accordingly, focusing on new energies and the environment. One startup in particular, Ivizone, is looking to move with the evolving needs of Mondial de l'Auto, and developed a unique solution for engaging with visitors: a contextual experience for the three stands of Fiat Group.
For the length of the show, Fiat, Jeep, and Alfa Romeo stands are equipped with Estimote beacons. Estimote beacons are deployed on every car, providing a magical digital experience that pushes specialized content to users. Users and visitors are sent informative videos, images, technical specs, and sound about the cars around them, enhancing their interactions with the three brands. While the Mondial de l'Auto is an informative excursion already, this takes education about the fleet of vehicles involved to the next level! Users can even "like" the cars they see in the app, flagging the cars that are important to them and referring back to them later.
There are some basic restrictions involved when using beacons, in order to experience all they have to offer: the appropriate app needs to be installed, notifications enabled, and Bluetooth must be activated. Thus, to flourish and succeed in engaging with users at Mondial de l'Auto, creating a use case where the user is eager to download and live the digital experience in real time is crucial. Thanks to free WiFi connections offered at each of these stands, Fiat Group can maximize their outreach, encouraging visitors to download and get going quickly with their app (built in collaboration with WayVLaB).
Ivizone used their app and beacons to their full potential, even integrating analytics into the setup. Based on the information acquired from the WiFi access points and the application, there are two levels of analytics available: one for the number of visitors at every stand, and one level with insights on every car. This allows Ivizone to feed back data to Fiat Group, providing valuable ground floor research into how their app and cars performed amongst attendees.
"We have in average of 7,000 visitors per day on every of the 3 stands since the beginning of the Mondial de l'Auto. We have more than 400 people connecting to the WiFi every day! If this experience is successful, we will push the deployment in every car dealership of the group," says Noel-Edouard Chenu of Ivizone.
Check out the FCA Mondial app, and be sure to keep your eye on Ivizone Group to see what else they have in store!


I don't know the answers. I had you direct the pictures as a gift to a retirement center and just trust you to have high standards of quality.
Great picture in a perfect frame for my remodeled living room.
It was amazing, and the service was wonderful!
The photograph was amazing. Given as a retirement gift. Had a local framing business add a brass plaque to the mat once it was delivered.


After two sparsely attended community meetings to discuss the budget gap South Pasadena faces that could reach more than $1 million this coming fiscal year, city officials are now urging residents to take part in an online survey.
City officials attached major significance to the outreach program because the budget gap may require cuts to services and an increase in taxes as well as new taxes.
Moreover, the city is looking at the budget over the next five years but it's the next budget cycle that needs solutions now since an official balanced budget should be in place by July 1. The city's fiscal year runs from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020.
However, after two community meetings – one on the evening of March 13, where 17 people attended and another on March 24, a Sunday afternoon, where 11 people showed – city officials are now asking residents to take an online survey in the comfort of their own home.
Pope said the city was disappointed in the turnout for the community meetings but is confident the tide will turn when officials visit specific groups such as Rotary, Kiwanis and Women Involved in South Pasadena Political Action (WISPPA), to name just a few.
Back on Feb. 20, the City Council gave its unanimous approval to develop a plan to include the public in budget discussions that will require cuts to services. The city is also looking at ways to raise revenues by increasing or adding taxes, like increasing the sales tax or adding a public safety parcel tax.
City officials explained the necessity for the public's inclusion in the budget deliberations in a recent staff report presented to the City Council.
Even Mayor Dr. Marina Khubesrian weighed in publicly on the importance of including the public during these budget talks at a recent City Council meeting.
At the first community meeting at the South Pasadena Public Library's Community Room, it was stated that the budget gap could increase to possibly as much as $2 million for the upcoming year.
The gap is being driven, in large measure, by increased liability due to pension costs as well as unexpected infrastructure needs, such as a $3-million water treatment plant to keep up with more stringent state water requirements.
The fact is, according to City Manager Stephanie DeWolfe and Finance Director Craig Koehler, the budget has too many variables at this time to be specific about the exact size of the gap.
The survey contains recommendations for increasing revenue that includes installing parking meters in the business district of Fair Oaks Avenue and Mission Street ($245,000 a year); impose a retail cannabis tax, which would involve changing the law because cannabis is illegal in So Pas ($48,000 a year); tax short-term rentals such as Airbnb's ($50,000 a year); tax on visitors to small boutique hotels, which doesn't exist now ($930,000); enhance recreational opportunities in the Arroyo Seco Golf Course (unknown revenue); and maximize use of city parking lots (unknown revenue).
The survey asks respondents to indicate the level of support for any of the items, from 1 being strongly oppose to 6 being strongly support.
The survey also recommends a hike in the sales tax by 0.75 cents per $100 of sales (about $1.5 million a year) and a new public safety parcel like the one in neighboring San Marino ($947,000 a year at a cost to landowners of $24 – $384 per parcel, depending on the size).
The survey also recommends ways to trim expenses by reducing video production quality of City Council meetings (savings of $25,000 a year); eliminating crime prevention programs such as women's self-defense courses and neighborhood watch ($26,000 savings a year); reducing the purchase of library books ($40,000 savings a year); reducing lawn maintenance and trash pickup at city facilities from weekly to bimonthly, ($70,000 savings a year); eliminating the police cadet program ($60,000 savings a year); eliminating special events like Concerts in the Park ($25,000 savings a year); and reducing teen center activities and events along with classes for seniors ($25,000 savings a year).
DeWolfe said there would be no full-time employees affected but part-time employees could lose their jobs.
DeWolfe also has continually said that the city's financial gap is a modest one compared to other cities in the state.
However, she also mentioned that if the city wanted to expedite some of the tax proposals requiring ballot measures it would have to declare a fiscal emergency.
"I am hesitant to do that because of the message it sends," she said.


303 Magazine's final pool party is taking place this Sunday, September 7 at The Breakers Resort. Maxim magazine voted 303's pool parties as one of the best in the nation and this Sunday, you'll find out why.
Join hundreds of Denver's hottest as we wish farewell to summer and say hello to football season. This pool party is the official 303 Magazine kickoff for the Broncos game. The game starts at 6:30 p.m., so come to the pool at 11:00 a.m. and relax under the sun until the game starts on the big screen TVs.
Unlike the other pool parties, this one has a dress code: BLUE & ORANGE to showcase your Broncos pride. The fashion desk at 303 put together a few inspiration looks for Sunday. We'll see you by the pool!
If you don't have a Broncos swimsuit, you can still support Denver's team by pairing orange and blue, even white. Show off your tan one last time this summer with one of these styles above.
Men might have it easier than women when planning a pool party look. But for this party, be sure to go with your Broncos colors still. You can do blue, white or orange board shorts on the bottom, but match it with a Broncos hat!
303 Magazine 10-Year Anniversary Issue: Read it Now!


As part of its sports content, Irish national broadcaster RTÉ has at present 24 days of racing coverage including popular races the Irish Grand National, Irish Champion Stakes and The Irish derby, as well as festival coverage of Punchestown and Galway.
Committing a further year of sponsorship, Boylesports will receive heightened coverage of its betting brand throughout race days and additionally on RTÉ Sport's digital and social media channels.
Geraldine O'Leary, Commercial Director of RTÉ television stated that Boylesports continued sponsorship was a testament to the RTÉ Sports professional coverage of racing; "Irish racing remains on terrestrial free-to-air television and Boylesports has secured a powerful association with Irish Racing across all of RTÉ's market-leading platforms."


text:
Q: How can I be sure I'm not losing signals when using pause()? I'm writing a program that uses fork to create child processes and count them when they're done.
How can I be sure I'm not losing signals?
what will happen if a child sends the signal while the main program still handles the previous signal? is the signal "lost"? how can I avoid this situation?
void my_prog()
{
    for(i = 0; i<numberOfDirectChildrenGlobal; ++i) {
        pid = fork();
        if(pid > 0)//parent
            //do parent thing
        else if(0 == pid) //child
            //do child thing
        else
            //exit with error
    }

    while(numberOfDirectChildrenGlobal > 0) {
        pause(); //waiting for signal as many times as number of direct children
    }

    kill(getppid(),SIGUSR1);
    exit(0);
}

void sigUsrHandler(int signum)
{
    //re-register to SIGUSR1
    signal(SIGUSR1, sigUsrHandler);
    //update number of children that finished
    --numberOfDirectChildrenGlobal;
}

A: It's recommended to use sigaction instead of signal, but in both cases it won't provide what you need. If a child sends a signal while the previous signal is still being handled, it will become a pending signal, but if more signals are sent they will be discarded (on systems that are not blocking incoming signals, the signals can be delivered before reestablishment of the handler and again resulting in missing signals). There is no workaround for this.
What one usually does is to assume that some signals are missing, and lets the handler take care of exiting children.
In your case, instead of sending a signal from your children, just let the children terminate. Once they terminate, the parent's SIGCHLD handler should be used to reap them. Using waitpid with WNOHANG option ensures that the parent will catch all the children even if they all terminate at the same time.
For example, a SIGCHLD handler that counts the number of exited children can be :
 pid_t pid;

 while((pid = waitpid(-1, NULL, WNOHANG)) > 0) {
       nrOfChildrenHandled++;
 }

A: To avoid this situation you can use the posix real-time signals.

A: Use sigaction instead of signal to register your handlers, and the delivery of the signals is assured.


...because we're going to the Chapel and we're...gonna get maaaaaarried!
Then we'll leave the Chapel and head to a Historic Battleship for drinks, tours, dinner, and dancing. Among the other wedding planning items we've checked off of our list, the most fun was food tasting! Duh.
Because I'm also the Event Manager at our reception venue, I knew just who I wanted to do our catering: Gordon Biersch. Bryce and I headed down to their waterfront restaurant one evening after work for one of the most fun meals of our lives! Just weeks prior to this we'd seen a couple in a restaurant getting plate after little plate of varied items and they, too, were food tasting for their wedding. It's fun to be those people!
Our first pupus (appetizers) were crostini with smoked salmon and capers (left) and crab and artichoke spread (right)! The salmon was our favorite and Bryce deemed it "a must!"
The next item is one we've been very familiar with, in leftover form! There are times I get to try out some of the excess food from events at work and even fewer times when said grub makes it home to Bryce. We both adore these delectable little chicken wraps, even when they're hand-me-downs. Eating them just after they were prepared as a welcome upgrade and they tasted even better when served fresh! They have a great crunch which is due to the hidden water chestnuts - brilliant.
We quickly graduated to large plates and dinner menu items. I spy a happy camper groom!
This Cajun pasta with shrimp, chicken, and andouille sausage was packed with flavor! It carried the perfect amount of heat: just enough for a spice-lover like Bryce and not too much for a wimp like me.
Our food tasting was a steadfast turtle for the first half - slow, steady, and winning the race. After the pasta we kicked into high-hare gear and went all out for an unsustainable amount of time! There were more plates than we had room for.
The chicken hibachi was saucy and good, according to my notes! Chicken is always a must-have and I also commented that it was safe. But hey, so was the turtle and he won.
We were becoming very full and didn't bother indulging in the plates that we didn't LOVE upon first bite. The other dinner dish worth mentioning is the short ribs and mashed potatoes. Comforting and delicious, plus those little crunchies on top are incredible!
The chef is actually from Italy and made these cannolis just for us! Like I do, he too got his shells from the store. The filling was sumptuous and so light. The orange zest was a pleasant surprise and felt like a nice hug from an old friend.
I think this photo says it all: Happy Wife, Happy Life. Isn't that right, Bryce?!
We enjoyed every second of our food tasting and can't wait for the real deal with our friends and family just 4 months from now. Hopefully we'll actually get to eat that day so that all of our hard work and taste buds' research pays off!
Since I've told you all about the PROS of wedding planning, I should take this moment to mention the CON. My seamstress has told me twice not to gain any weight! I've been authorized to lose or maintain although I cannot gain.
Okay bridezilla, put down the cannoli and take a brisk walk! Stay tuned for continuing wedding fun.
How fun! And cannot wait to hear more about the planning:) I love wedding related stuff!
Alyson, it was so fun! If only the rest of the planning were as enjoyable/tasty :) We're trying cakes soon - I have high hopes.


What are current best practices and future plans for sharing programs between containers? I mean the ability to install a program either on the host, or in a special resource (container, volume, etc.) and have it available in other containers. This is useful for performance reasons (a single copy of the program in memory) and also for easier maintenance (updating the program could be done once).
Shared disk device. I put shared programs in a disk device that I share with most of my containers (through a profile, to make it easier). I have a host directory that is shared as /var/share/opt and is accessible read-only by all containers, except for one container which has read-write access (via id map). In that directory I have subdirectories like jdk1.8.0_191, which I then link to in each container via a symbolic link /opt/jdk8 -> /var/share/opt/jdk1.8.0_191. I can therefore have multiple versions, so each container can upgrade separately.
This method may require some work to separate the read-only parts of the shared program from its data parts, and this requires some working knowledge of the program I'm trying to share. Programs like the JDK, Ant and Go can be shared as-is. For example Go uses $GOPATH to find the variable .go files that it compiles. Application servers and PHP applications notoriously mix code and data (for example by having configuration files and plugins that are hard to separate from the core program, or by automatically updating their plugins), but some can be fixed by moving data directories outside the php code and using symbolic links.
This method doesn't work with programs installed through the package manager (such as apt-get), nor through snap. For this reason, I often prefer to install the programs that I use manually (by unpacking an archive), rather than install them from the package manager. This also allows me to use the latest version more easily.
Clone a container. Cloning a container, using "lxc copy" (–container-only or from a snapshot) is a way to share all its programs, if a copy-on-write storage driver is used (zfs or btrfs). This is useful for containers that run the same programs, such as website frameworks. A template container would be used to install all necessary programs and then cloned to instantiate other containers that use the same programs. However, modifications to the original container don't propagate to the cloned containers. One could carefully structure such a system to put most writeable data in a shared volume and then have scripts that would quickly clone the original template, and then move the data from the old instances to the updated instances. I do this in some cases.
Share snaps between containers. I would install a snap once in something like a storage volume, and "attach" it to multiple containers. Don't snaps already have a read-only portion for the programs and a read-write portion for data? The read-only part should be shared, along with any updates to it. The write-only part should be cloned. Sharing snaps seems an ideal use-case for them.
Share OS packages. Perhaps the same thing could be done with the standard package manager, e.g. apt, apk, etc, though this would require making those package managers more like snap. But because of package dependencies, a better solution would be to share all packages, described next.
Share all OS packages from one container to another container. Let's say I have a container T that I use as a template for other containers. I would install any OS packages that I need in container T and then I would instantiate other T-like containers through an LXD command, similar to copy. This command would share all read-only package files and create copy (or copy-on-write) of the variable (writeable) data. But most OS package managers don't have a notion of read-only files (with the notable exception of snaps). Everything is writeable by the container root. This is very similar to the existing lxc copy command, except that it would also propagate updates, additions, and deletions of packages.
Package management should evolve to match container use-cases.
How about automatic sharing through zfs ou btrfs automatic deduplication ? Seems much simpler and reliable, and would not imply meddling with updates.
Do you use deduplication? Could you point me to the commands I'd need to use? Doesn't it have significant memory requirements?
Not yet, but I have already thought about it and I am planning (hoping) to use it someday. From what I have seen, btrfs don't have online dedup and it's necessary to use some sort of cron job to launch an utility that dedup file by file (not block by block AFAIK, not sure). I don't know about memory use but it does not sound as something that should be very memory hungry. I have not gone beyond because to be candid the way to do it was not obvious at first glance so I have given it a pass for now.
I know almost nil about zfs (don't use it), but it's famed for its online dedup; something that should be very memory intensive indeed.