The first time you sign into developerWorks, a profile is created for you. Select information in your developerWorks profile is displayed to the public, but you may edit the information at any time. Your first name, last name (unless you choose to hide them), and display name will accompany the content that you post. All information submitted is secure. The first time you sign in to developerWorks, a profile is created for you, so you need to choose a display name. Your display name accompanies the content you post on developerworks. Please choose a display name between 3-31 characters . Your display name must be unique in the developerWorks community and should not be your email address for privacy reasons. Matthias Nicola is a Senior Technical Staff Member at IBM's Silicon Valley Lab in San Jose, CA. He focuses on DB2 performance and benchmarking, XML, temporal data management, in-database analytics, and other emerging technologies. He also works closely with customers and business partners to help them design, optimize, and implement DB2 solutions. Previously, Matthias worked on data warehouse performance at Informix Software. He received his Ph.D. in computer science from the Technical University of Aachen, Germany. (An IBM developerWorks Contributing Author) Lenisha Gandhi is a senior software development manager who manages a DB2 software engineering organization at IBM's Silicon Valley Lab. Lenisha focuses on temporal data management technology in DB2 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows (LUW). Prior to joining DB2, Lenisha worked in query development for the IBM Content Management organization. Summary: New IBMr DB2r temporal data management technology enables companies to track and query historical, current, and future conditions in a straightforward and efficient manner. The result is a simpler way to implement auditing and compliance initiatives, to pinpoint and correct human errors, to ensure the integrity of data over time, and to assess changing business conditions. Instead of hard-coding greater awareness of time into database applications, triggers, and stored procedures, companies can use simple SQL statements to instruct DB2 10 to automatically manage multiple versions of their data, as well as track effective dates for changing business conditions. This article introduces you to the key concepts and capabilities of DB2 temporal data management support on z/OSr and Linuxr, UNIXr, and Windowsr. It explains when this technology can be useful and provides examples to help you understand how easy it can be to deploy it. If "time is money," then DB2 temporal data management technology is designed to save you some of both. Built-in support for managing multiple versions of data and tracking effective business dates can save database administrators and application developers considerable time and effort. In prior releases, database professionals were forced to create triggers or complex application logic to manage time-dependent conditions. Now, DB2 minimizes or eliminates such efforts through the introduction of table design options, and query syntax and semantics, based on the ANSI/ISO SQL:2011 standard. An internal audit requires a financial institution to report on changes made to a client's records during the past five years. A pending lawsuit prompts a hospital to reassess its knowledge of a patient's medical condition just before a new treatment was ordered. A client challenges an insurance agency's resolution of a claim involving a car accident. The agency needs to determine the policy's terms in effect when the accident occurred. An online travel agency wants to detect inconsistencies in itineraries. For example, if someone books a hotel in Rome for eight days and reserves a car in New York for three of those days, the agency would like to flag the situation for review. A retailer needs to ensure that no more than one discount is offered for a given product during any period of time. A client inquiry reveals a data entry error involving the three-month introductory interest rate on a credit card. The bank needs to retroactively correct the error (and compute a new balance, if necessary). For each situation, time is critical. The new temporal data management support in DB2 helps companies implement time-aware applications and queries with minimal effort, as we'll discuss. However, before exploring the new capabilities, we will introduce some time-related concepts, including the differences between system time and business time. System time involves tracking when changes are made to the state of a table, such as when an insurance policy is modified or a loan is created. Business time involves tracking the effective dates of certain business conditions, such as the terms of an insurance policy or the interest rate of a loan. (Business time is sometimes referred to as valid time or application time. ) Indeed, some organizations need to track both types of temporal data in one table; such tables would be considered bitemporal . How do these concepts apply to the previous application scenarios? Scenarios 1 and 2 require knowledge of system time because understanding the historical state(s) of one or more tables is important. Scenarios 3-6 require knowledge of business time because understanding and managing the effective dates of various business conditions is important. Furthermore, scenario 6 may also require system time (i.e., it may require bitemporal support) if the bank wants to retroactively correct the data entry error and maintain a record of when the error was corrected. Time periods apply to business time and system time. As you might imagine, a period indicates the starting and ending points of a time interval. With DB2, administrators identify two columns in a table to indicate the start and end times of a period. Simple extensions to the syntax of the CREATE TABLE and ALTER TABLE statements accomplish this, enabling administrators to employ temporal data support for new or existing tables. DB2 uses an inclusive-exclusive approach for modeling time periods. Simply put, the period's start time is included in the period, but its end time is not. So, if the end time of an insurance policy was recorded as midnight on 31 Dec 2007, the policy would have been active until midnight, but not at midnight. IBM has worked with the ANSI and ISO SQL standard committees to incorporate these extensions into the latest SQL:2011 standard. IBM is the first database vendor to support temporal data management based on this new SQL standard. Other database vendors use proprietary syntax for temporal operations and for the definition of temporal tables. The built-in support in DB2 for managing temporal data reduces application logic and ensures consistent handling of time-related events across all applications that run against your database, including purchased applications. Through simple declarative SQL statements, administrators can instruct DB2 to automatically maintain a history of database changes or track effective business dates, eliminating the need for such logic to be hand-coded into triggers, stored procedures, or in-house applications. This, in turn, helps companies adhere more quickly to new compliance initiatives. Furthermore, a consistent approach to managing temporal data reduces query complexity and promotes enhanced analysis of time-dependent events. An IBM internal study compared implementing a subset of business time capabilities with built-in temporal data management support in DB2 vs. hand-coding equivalent logic in two homegrown implementations. One implementation used triggers and stored procedures, while the second used triggers and JavaT application logic. All tests were done with DB2 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows. The cost savings provided by the DB2 built-in support were striking. The built-in support in DB2 reduced coding requirements by more than 90 percent over both homegrown implementations. Implementing just the core business time logic in SQL stored procedures or in Java technology required 16 times and 45 times as many lines of code, respectively, as the equivalent simple SQL statements that use the new DB2 temporal features (see Figure 1 ). Furthermore, it took less than an hour to develop and test these few DB2 SQL statements. By contrast, the homegrown approaches required four to five weeks to code and test, and both provided only a subset of the temporal data management support built into DB2. Indeed, the homegrown logic didn't address system time, bitemporal data, views, and many other DB2 features. Thus, providing truly equivalent temporal data support through a homegrown implementation would likely take months. This is much longer than it would take to simply write the appropriate DB2 SQL statements, which we'll discuss shortly. To help you understand the temporal data management support in DB2, we use a common application scenario and sample data. The scenario involves car insurance policies, which we've represented in a single table for simplicity. The table tracks a subset of typical information associated with such policies: a policy identifier (ID), vehicle identification number (VIN), estimated annual vehicle mileage, whether a rental car will be provided if the car needs repair as a result of a claim, and the coverage amount (including accidental property damage, medical expenses, etc). Table 1 illustrates the basic structure of the POLICY table without any temporal support. The support in DB2 for system time enables you to automatically track and manage multiple versions of your data. By defining a table with a system time period, you're instructing DB2 to automatically capture changes made to the state of your table and to save "old" rows in a history table -- a separate table with the same structure as your current table. Temporal queries referencing your current table will cause DB2 to transparently access this history table when needed, as you'll see shortly. This feature enables you to work with historical data easily, avoiding the need for complex WHERE clauses with various timestamp and join conditions. Create the base table for current data -- Include three TIMESTAMP(12) columns, two for the start/end points of the system time and one for the transaction start time. (DB2 uses the transaction start time column to track when the transaction first executed a statement that changes the table's data.) You can define all three TIMESTAMP columns as GENERATED ALWAYS so DB2 will automatically generate these values on INSERT , UPDATE , and DELETE . This relieves you of specifying values for these columns when writing to the database and ensures that the timestamps are accurate. Optionally, you may define these columns as IMPLICITLY HIDDEN so they won't show up in SELECT * statements. Create the history table -- Define the structure of this table to be identical to the table containing the current data. You can achieve this easily by using a CREATE TABLE . . . LIKE statement. Alter the current table to enable versioning and identify the history table Let's step through an example to see how easy it is to instruct DB2 to automatically maintain multiple versions of your data using system time. Step 1: Create a table with a SYSTEM_TIME period -- (Our definition specifies that the TRANS_START column will be hidden.) You can also use the ALTER TABLE statement to modify existing tables to track system time. To do so, you would need to add appropriate TIMESTAMP(12) columns and define the PERIOD SYSTEM_TIME . DB2 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows supports automatic schema evolution across a user table and the associated history table. For example, if you add a column to the POLICY table, DB2 will also add the same column to the POLICY_HISTORY table. Inserting data into a table with system time isn't any different from inserting data into an ordinary table. For example, imagine that on 15 Nov 2010 you needed to enter two new car insurance policy records into your POLICY table. The following statements accomplish this: When inserting each row into the current table, DB2 generates appropriate TIMESTAMP(12) values for system time columns and transaction start time. Note that none of these were referenced in the INSERT statements; DB2 automatically records the necessary information. Table 4 and Table 5 depict the contents of the POLICY and POLICY_HISTORY tables as a result of this query. (To make our example easier to follow, Table 4 and Table 5 show only the date portion of the TIMESTAMP(12) columns. Dates appear in YYYY-MM-DD format. Since the column containing the transaction's start time was defined as hidden, we've omitted it from Table 4 and Table 5 as well.) The SYS_START values in the POLICY table reflect when the rows were inserted (on 15 Nov 2010 in our example). The SYSTEM_END values are set to 30 Dec 9999 to indicate that these rows have not expired (i.e., the rows contain current data). When you update current data, DB2 automatically maintains an old version of the data in the appropriate history table. This happens transparently without any programming or user effort. Imagine that the following statement is executed on 31 Jan 2011 to change the coverage amount for Policy 1111 to 750000: Let's explore how DB2 processes this statement. As shown in Table 6 and Table 7 , DB2 updates the value of the row in the current table. In addition, it moves a copy of the old row to the history table. For both tables, DB2 correctly records the system time start and end values for these rows. In particular, DB2 sets the SYS_END column value for this row in the history table to the time of the transaction that issued the UPDATE statement. All this occurs automatically and transparently to the user. (Although not shown in Table 6 and Table 7, DB2 also records the transaction start time in both tables.) In effect, the processing by DB2 of this UPDATE statement records that Policy 1111 had a coverage amount of 500000 set from 15 Nov 2010 to 31 Jan 2011; thereafter, the coverage amount was set to 750000. As you might expect, any subsequent updates to policies are handled in a similar manner. For example, assume that Policy 1111 is updated on 31 Jan 2012 to change several details of the insurance policy, such as the annual mileage estimate, rental car coverage, and overall coverage amount. Here is the corresponding UPDATE statement: When you delete current data, DB2 automatically removes the data from the current table and maintains an old version of the data in the appropriate history table. DB2 sets the end time of the (deleted) data in the history table to the transaction start time of the DELETE statement. This happens transparently without any programming or user effort. As you'll see shortly, users can access this deleted data (i.e., old data versions) through queries that contain an appropriate time period specification. Imagine that the row for Policy 1414 is deleted on 31 March 2012 with the following statement: DELETE FROM policy WHERE id = 1414; As shown in Table 10 and Table 11 , DB2 removes the row from the current table and records the old version in the history table, setting the SYS_END column value for that row to the date of its deletion (31 March 2012). Querying a table with system time is simple. The syntax and semantics of basic SELECT statements remain unchanged. In particular, SELECT statements without any period specifications apply to data in the current table, as you might expect. Thus, existing applications, stored procedures, and database reports won't be affected by adding system time support to existing tables. Instead, you'll simply be able to include three new period specifications in your SELECT statements to transparently access historical data (or a combination of current and historical data). Let's explore a few examples so you can see how easy it is to write temporal queries involving system time. We'll start with the most basic scenario: a situation where you need to access only the most current information. Imagine that your current and history tables contain the car insurance policy data shown in Table 10 and Table 11 . Consider the following query: SELECT coverage_amt FROM policy WHERE id = 1111; As you might expect, DB2 returns one row with a coverage amount of 250000. (This is amount stored in the row that contains current information about Policy 1111.) What happens if you want to work with older versions of data? You simply include one of three supported period specifications in the FROM clause of your query: FOR SYSTEM_TIME AS OF ... enables you to query data as of a certain point in time. FOR SYSTEM_TIME FROM ... TO ... enables you to query data from a certain time to a certain time. DB2 uses an inclusive-exclusive approach for this period specification. In other words, the specified start time is included in the period, but the specified end time is not. FOR SYSTEM_TIME BETWEEN ... AND ... enables you to query data between a range of start/end times. DB2 uses an inclusive-inclusive approach for this period specification. In other words, the specified start and end times are included in the period. Let's step through an example. To obtain information about the coverage amount recorded in the database for Policy 1111 for 1 Dec 2010, you could write the following query: To resolve this query, DB2 transparently accesses data in the history table to retrieve the correct information (to return a value of 500000 for this query). Note that you didn't need to reference the history table in your query. The FOR SYSTEM_TIME period specification causes DB2 to automatically access the history table as appropriate. Let's consider another example. To determine the total number of policy records for vehicle A1111 since 30 Nov 2011, you could write the following query: Given our sample data, this query returns the value of 2. As shown in Table 10 and Table 11 , one row in the current table and one row in the history table (the second row) meet the query's criteria. Note that this query references only the current table in the FROM clause, but DB2 automatically accesses the history table due to the system time period specification. As mentioned, business time involves tracking when certain business conditions are, were, or will be valid. For example, a given product might have been priced at $45 during one month and $50 another month. Or a credit card may have an interest rate of 16 percent one year and 18 percent the next year. Business time is useful in such situations because it enables applications to track and manage effective dates easily. Like system time, business time requires the use of a time period (the start and end points of the business condition). However, unlike system time, there is no separate history table. Past, present, and future effective dates and their associated business data are all maintained in a single table. In addition, users supply the start/end values for their business time period columns when they write data to the database. Finally, there is no need for a transaction start time column. Let's explore how to use this new DB2 technology in our sample application scenario. Creating a table with business time merely involves including appropriate columns for the start/end points of the time period and a PERIOD BUSINESS_TIME clause. The business time start/end columns can be date or timestamp data types. Here's a simple example that creates a table for car insurance policies, including their effective business dates. In this example, the BUS_START and BUS_END columns are defined as DATE data types. The PERIOD BUSINESS_TIME clause instructs DB2 to use these columns to track the start and end points of business time values for each row. To ensure temporal data integrity, DB2 automatically generates an implicit constraint to enforce that BUS_START values are less than BUS_END values. The primary key constraint in this CREATE TABLE statement uses the optional keywords BUSINESS_TIME WITHOUT OVERLAPS . This instructs DB2 to ensure that primary key values are unique for any point in business time. In terms of our insurance policy example, BUSINESS_TIME WITHOUT OVERLAPS means that there cannot be two versions or states of the same policy that are valid at the same time. You can also use the ALTER TABLE statement to modify existing tables to track business time. To do so, you would need to add appropriate DATE or TIMESTAMP columns and define the PERIOD BUSINESS_TIME . Inserting a row into a table with business time is straightforward: You simply need to supply appropriate values for all NOT NULL columns, including the columns representing business time start and end values. For example, to insert a few rows into our sample POLICY table with business time, we could issue these statements: It may help to summarize the contents of this table in business terms. The data shows that Policy 1111 had a coverage amount of 500000 in effect from 1 Jan 2010 to 1 Jan 2011. From 1 Jan 2011 onward, a coverage amount of 750000 is in effect. Similarly, the table shows that from 1 May 2008 to 1 Mar 2010, Policy 1414 had coverage of 750000 for a specific vehicle with an estimated annual mileage of 14000. Effective 1 Mar 2010 to 1 Jan 2011, the coverage for this policy changed to 600000, and the insured vehicle was expected to be driven 12000 miles annually. Let's consider the effect of the temporal uniqueness constraint defined on this table (with the BUSINESS_TIME WITHOUT OVERLAPS clause). Imagine that we issued the following INSERT statement: DB2 would reject this statement and issue an error message because the statement attempts to add a row for Policy 1111 during the same time that one or more other rows are considered valid for this policy. This would violate the temporal uniqueness constraint. If we intended to adjust the coverage of Policy 1111 from 1 Jun 2010 to 1 Sep 2011, we would accomplish this with an appropriate UPDATE statement. You can still write traditional UPDATE statements for tables with business time periods. In addition, you can also use the new FOR PORTION OF BUSINESS_TIME clause to restrict the update to a specific business time period. If your update impacts data in a row that isn't fully contained within the time period specified, DB2 will update the row range specified by the period clause and insert additional rows to record the old values for the period not included in the update operation. Let's review an example to see how this works. Imagine that you want to update information for Policy 1111 for a portion of time from 1 Jun 2010 to 1 Sep 2011 -- specifically, you want to alter the coverage amount for that period of time. Here's how you could write the UPDATE statement: Note that the temporal restriction in the query ( FOR PORTION OF BUSINESS_TIME FROM . . . TO . . . ) appears after the table name, not as part of the WHERE clause. As shown in Figure 2 , there were originally two rows for Policy 1111. Both are affected by our UPDATE statement because the portion of business time being updated overlaps partially with the business period of each row. This overlap is illustrated in the upper part of Figure 2. When DB2 applies the update, each of the two original rows is split into two rows, as illustrated in the lower part of Figure 2. DB2 adjusts the effective dates of the rows automatically. Table 13 shows the resulting state of the POLICY table. The first row from Table 12 gets split into two new rows, shown in Table 13 . The second row from Table 12 also gets split into two new rows, shown in Table 13 . To delete data from a table with business time periods, you can restrict the delete operation to a specific range of time by specifying the FOR PORTION OF BUSINESS_TIME clause. If a row to be deleted has data that isn't fully contained within the specified time range, DB2 will ensure that the appropriate information from the row is preserved. Let's look at an example to clarify this. Imagine that a client wants to suspend his car insurance policy from 1 Jun 2010 to 1 Jan 2011. Assuming the client is referring to Policy 1414, the following DELETE statement will accomplish this: Querying a table with business time is simple. Three optional clauses enable you to specify temporal queries so you can assess past, current, and future business conditions. Of course, you can still write basic SELECT statements (i.e., non-temporal queries) against a table with a business time period, and DB2 processing of such queries will remain unchanged. We'll explore a few examples so you can see how easy it is to write temporal queries involving business time. But first, we'll start with the most basic scenario: a situation where you don't need to consider any temporal conditions. Imagine that your POLICY table contains the information shown in Table 15 . (This is the same data shown in Table 12 , immediately after we created the POLICY table and inserted four rows.) To determine the total number of insurance records you have for Policy 1111, you could write the following query: SELECT COUNT(*) FROM policy WHERE id = 1111; Since this query contains no temporal predicates, DB2 returns a value of 2. What if you want to consider various temporal conditions for these insurance policies? You simply include one of three supported period specifications in your query's FROM clause, right after the table name: FOR BUSINESS_TIME AS OF ... FOR BUSINESS_TIME FROM ... TO ... FOR BUSINESS_TIME BETWEEN ... AND ... Let's step through an example. To obtain information about the coverage in effect for Policy 1111 on 1 Dec 2010, you could write the following query: Temporal queries against tables with business time are internally rewritten to a query with appropriate WHERE clause predicates on the appropriate date or timestamp columns defined for the start and end points of business time. As you've learned, DB2 support for system and business time is straightforward. But the DB2 temporal data management capabilities don't end there. We mentioned that DB2 enables you to maintain system and business time in bitemporal tables. Furthermore, DB2 on Linux, UNIX, and Windows supports temporal views and a register setting that allows your database to function much like a time machine. While it's beyond the scope of this article to provide a full discussion of these and other advanced temporal topics, we'll describe each briefly. Bitemporal tables allow you to manage data with system time and business time simultaneously, combining the benefits of both. For example, you may decide to use business time to manage your application's logical notion of time, such as the validity periods of insurance policies, and also use system time to track the history and timestamps of changes that transactions make to these policies. Administrators can easily create or alter a table to include both system and business time. For example, the following CREATE TABLE statement defines a bitemporal table with a BUSINESS_TIME period on the BUS_START and BUS_END columns, as well as a SYSTEM_TIME period on the SYS_START and SYS_END columns. After creating this bitemporal table, you need to create a compatible history table and enable versioning. Then you can insert, update, delete, and query rows in this table using the syntax described earlier for system time and business time. We'll review a short example here. Imagine that you have a bitemporal POLICY table and associated history table as shown in Table 17 and Table 18 . (The TRANS_START column is omitted for simplicity.) Table 19 and Table 20 illustrates the contents of the POLICY and POLICY_HISTORY tables after these operations. (For simplicity, only the date portions of the timestamps for SYS_START and SYS_END are shown.) DB2 will return the results shown in Table 22 . The customer service representative can explain when changes occurred to the policy, as well as when these changes were in effect (or set to take effect). DB2 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows allows you to use two types of views with temporal tables. Such views provide flexibility for application design and allow you to expose data for different points or periods in time to different users. First, you can define views on a temporal table where the view definition contains a FOR SYSTEM_TIME or FOR BUSINESS_TIME clause to restrict the view to a certain point or period in time. Then you can perform regular SQL queries against these views. A query against these views can't contain a FOR SYSTEM_TIME or FOR BUSINESS_TIME clause because the time constraint in the query might conflict with the time constraint in the view or lead to ambiguity. Second, you can define views on a temporal table without a FOR SYSTEM_TIME or FOR BUSINESS_TIME constraint in the view definition. Such views expose data for all points in time and can be accessed with queries that include a FOR SYSTEM_TIME or FOR BUSINESS_TIME clause. Such a clause is then automatically applied to every table in the view definition that contains a SYSTEM_TIME or BUSINESS_TIME period, respectively. In summary, DB2 offers you considerable flexibility when working with views and temporal data. You can use temporal constraints in a view definition or in queries against views over temporal tables. New register settings enable you to run existing applications against data from a certain point in time without changing the application itself. For example, imagine that you have an existing application that contains many SQL queries or a set of reporting queries you need to run from time to time. With the new temporal features in DB2, you may want to run those against a past point in system time, or against a past or future point in business time. However, enhancing all existing SQL statements with a FOR SYSTEM_TIME or FOR BUSINESS_TIME clause can be labor-intensive. Similarly, creating views for all affected temporal tables can also be tedious. Therefore, DB2 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows provides special registers to set a database session to a specific point in time. For example, you could use the following SET commands to set the session's system time to 10 a.m. 1 Jan 2008: SET CURRENT TEMPORAL SYSTEM_TIME = '2008-01-01 10:00:00'; Subsequently, any queries against system period temporal tables (or bitemporal tables) performed in the same session will see data as of 10 a.m. 1 Jan 2008. That is, all queries in the session are internally rewritten to use the clause FOR SYSTEM_TIME AS OF '2008-01-01 10:00:00' that you saw earlier. DB2 performs this rewrite automatically for you; you don't need to change your application and SQL statements in any way. Similarly, you could set the following special register to look at the data from one month ago: SET CURRENT TEMPORAL SYSTEM_TIME = current timestamp -- 1 MONTH; When the CURRENT TEMPORAL SYSTEM_TIME special register is set to a value other than NULL, any DML operations (insert, update, delete, merge) against system period temporal tables are not meaningful and are disallowed. For business time, you can set the CURRENT TEMPORAL BUSINESS_TIME special register to apply queries, updates, deletes, etc. to past or future points in business time. For example, consider the following register setting: SET CURRENT TEMPORAL BUSINESS_TIME = '2012-06-01'; It means that queries and DML statements against tables with business time (or bitemporal tables) are rewritten to use the clause FOR BUSINESS_TIME AS OF '2012-06-01' . Again, DB2 performs this rewrite automatically for you. Similar to the usage guideline for views, you must avoid applying two time constraints at the same time. That is, you either set a system time (business time) special register or you use system time (business time) constraints your SQL statements, but not both at the same time. The time machine can accept only one destination at a time (no pun intended). The temporal support in DB2 was designed to allow easy migration of existing database tables to the new temporal capabilities. There are two common scenarios to consider: If you have existing tables without timestamp columns and you want to turn these into temporal tables with system time or business time periods, you can use ALTER TABLE statements to add the required timestamp columns and period definition to the table. For a system period temporal table, you would then also create a history table like your original table and use another ALTER TABLE statement to enable versioning. The second scenario involves migrating tables that already have timestamp columns. For example, you might already be using triggers to set timestamp columns and populate a history table. In that case, you can reuse the existing timestamp columns and history table. You simply perform ALTER TABLE statements to declare that the existing timestamp columns are now interpreted as a SYSTEM_TIME period. You can then drop your triggers and issue another ALTER TABLE statement to enable versioning between your base table and history table. Similar migration options exist for business time as well. The new DB2 temporal data support provides simple yet sophisticated capabilities for managing multiple versions of your data and tracking effective business dates. Based on the temporal features in the SQL:2011 standard, DB2 enables database professionals to work with temporal data in an efficient manner, saving considerable time and effort when compared with hard-coding temporal logic into triggers, stored procedures, or homegrown applications. Build your next development project with IBM trial software , available for download directly from developerWorks. Now you can use DB2 for free. Download DB2 Express-C , a no-charge version of DB2 Express Edition for the community that offers the same core data features as DB2 Express Edition and provides a solid base to build and deploy applications. Cynthia M. Saracco works on database management and XML technologies at IBM's Silicon Valley Lab. She has co-authored three books and taught university-level courses on various software technologies. Matthias Nicola is a Senior Technical Staff Member at IBM's Silicon Valley Lab in San Jose, CA. He focuses on DB2 performance and benchmarking, XML, temporal data management, in-database analytics, and other emerging technologies. He also works closely with customers and business partners to help them design, optimize, and implement DB2 solutions. Previously, Matthias worked on data warehouse performance at Informix Software. He received his Ph.D. in computer science from the Technical University of Aachen, Germany. Lenisha Gandhi is a senior software development manager who manages a DB2 software engineering organization at IBM's Silicon Valley Lab. Lenisha focuses on temporal data management technology in DB2 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows (LUW). Prior to joining DB2, Lenisha worked in query development for the IBM Content Management organization. developerWorks: Sign in The first time you sign into developerWorks, a profile is created for you. Select information in your developerWorks profile is displayed to the public, but you may edit the information at any time . Your first name, last name (unless you choose to hide them), and display name will accompany the content that you post.


Buddy Ft. Pharrell -- Far As They Know Lyrics Grind hard far is today yeah shine hard far is to pay go ball hard as far as they know as far as they know She say why you dog your hair 'cause it's not allowed get it have no life so it has to die I'm the man hatter your favorite actress bad cracker I know black hackers and financial fat duckers but still I'm the fat packer who knows trappers ain't got packers in eleven mad packers there will be your life with the permanent tempo p**sy is my teacher I'm an info for the info straight from my mental I drop pictures upon my tempo shoppy pay not pencil I'm sorry now what I meant, now why I love the things I so oriental I'll take the golden diamonds dipped em all around my dental 'cause I like it bitch, if you need that then I guess you're psychic, shit all the picky cube and chain right there's a bitch you are out of your statue watch what you ask for niggas you cannot break me crack, me a fracture a scratch out of your zone tighting your corset come nigga saw, tuxedo sure said what the boe tie you know why, of course I am so hot all creativity I'm comparable to no guy your girls says oh hi look at the staring cube you jump off the bridge I'm still holding your parachute you're fly, right? Hook: Grind hard far is today yeah shine hard far is to pay go ball hard as far as they know as far as they know oh Grind hard far is today yeah shine hard far is to pay go ball hard as far as they know as far as they know My intangibility mixtin with my agility seems to be the reason why most these niggas ain't feelin me but the fragility mixtin with the virginity is like the main reason why me in the manasili see simmy seems the most venomous spit it in the premecies was crashed the mission to call you my.. I'm a sinner, you can find me where are the sinners is use the beginner I'm a section you are virginicies and see before you judge and get the talking you're talking just remember you the defender so nigga you gonna have to surrender 'cause call me the number one contain the hell and all the way from counting in my chain from Virginia my birthday in September so she limbo and right before I chop it down I'll be screaming our timbo I'm the abominable biological diabolical take a look in my follow if you're not frighten


MATCH REPORT EVERTON U21'S 0 READING U21'S 0 Everton faced Reading today at Goodison Park at the U21 level with a welcoming back to the fold for Darron Gibson who has been absent since his injury at West Brom 11 weeks ago. Everton huffed and puffed putting Reading under a lot of pressure but the stubborn visitors defence held out as Everton needed the victory to make the cut for the next stage of this development league with fixtures running out. 5 players in today's starting line up were ion the bench for the seniors yesterday at the Madejski stadium. The opening quarter of an hour offered very little for either side but Junior went close with a shot narrowly over the frame of the goal with a rasping shot. Vellios was next to go close as his shot was only inches wide of Henly's post with game remaining goal less. Junior having a busy afternoon went close again for the home side as Vellios played him through but Henly was quick off the mark to pounce on the ball. Henley repeated his heroics with a good reflex save to deny Junior from a blues corner moments later. Jordan Obita with 6 England U19 caps to his name threaded a ball inside to Aaron Tshibola but the 17 year old forced Mateusz Tadul into a save. Just before the break Everton conjured up some nice football with Conor Grant about to get on the receiving end of Kennedy's ball but a Reading defender blocked it out. Tyias Browning sped down the flank and won a corner which came to nothing as the second half got underway. Dominic Samuel who signed a professional contract with the Roylas 12 months ago after his impressive goal scoring for the U18's netting 13 in 14 games caused a little bit of danger with two attempts. The first one going over the bar then a block from Distin denying the youngster. Hallam Hope replaced Gibson on 63 minutes with the Irishman glad to get some match practice under his belt then 2 minutes later Vellios produces a shot which Henly did well to save. Alan Stubbs threw on 2 more subs hoping that would change the game but the teams took a share of the points at the final whistle.


Does it feel like your soul being invigorated by warmth and love? Do your fingers tingle with the sheer magnificence and grandeur of something greater than yourself? Is there an anticipatory sense of the sublime - as though any minute now, your mind will expand exponentially to a greater truth - a higher truth? ( Originally Posted by statistics16 ) How can you feel the presence of god, spiritually...? I think it's one of those things that varies from person to person and their religious beliefs. I do not think there is a right answer here. For example, I am an atheist so I do not feel "the presence of God" because I do not think that he is there. Even when I used to believe in god, I never felt his presence as such. I would ask for help and no help came, so I asked myself "If I do not feel God with me, how do I know that he is there?". However, a deeply religious person might think that God is around them in everything they do, because that is what they want to think and what their religion preaches. They might think that God is helping them with all of their decisions and he lives "in them".


Bettman said that if their isn't a new bargaining agreement with the NHLPA by September 15th then their will indeed be an NHL lockout. How would you guys feel if their was indeed a lockout? Where would all of the NHL players play if their was one and how long would it take to get a new agreement done if it doesn't happen by Set. 15th? I personally think it would be upsetting if this where to happen again, this summer has been pretty boring so far and having this boring feeling throughout the rest of this year up to summer 2013 would be depressing. Discuss. But yes, I think there will be a lockout, but not the full season. I think it'll be a shortened season. Something like a 50-60 game season. As a side note, the Heat would have Sven, Brodie, and Bouma in addition to existing guys like Reinhart, Ferland, Lamb, Horak, Howse, Nemisz, Byron, Street and Kolanos. Also, if it's going to be a shortened season, Cervenka could even join the Heat for a couple of months. I fully expect him to go back to Russia if there's a season-long lockout though. The one thing I dont understand is, if the NHL goes to another lock out doesnt this demonstrate Bettman and the NHLPAs incompetence? A second lock out after just 7 years seems like the head honchos are not doing their jobs. Why do they wait only 60ish days to begin negotiations, especially when they know how hard headed the NHL and Bettman and the GMs are. How many times can the same mistakes be made till its time for a new NHL commissioner? Last lockout, i was still single and my lifestyle wasn't overly affected. However, now older/wiser, weaker liver, and most importantly, married, means my hockey addiction can't be avoided, so i'm certain i will feel the ill effects much more that being said, shame on everyone involved. I'd love to be able to boycott this, and hope that they can't hammer out a deal for another full year or so and they all suffer a year+ loss of income and be forced to really make the necessary sacrifices, but i'm weak. I know i will do my best to get my love of the NFL back such that i can do my part in at least putting my money to a less bush league league for few years. Last lockout, i was still single and my lifestyle wasn't overly affected. However, now older/wiser, weaker liver, and most importantly , married, means my hockey addiction can't be avoided, so i'm certain i will feel the ill effects much more that being said, shame on everyone involved. I'd love to be able to boycott this, and hope that they can't hammer out a deal for another full year or so and they all suffer a year+ loss of income and be forced to really make the necessary sacrifices, but i'm weak. I know i will do my best to get my love of the NFL back such that i can do my part in at least putting my money to a less bush league league for few years. If there is a lockout, your wife will make you make up for all those nights you watched the games as opposed to spend "quality time" with her, what ever the heck that is. Lots of extra chores, more alone time with her which sucks becuase you will have to listen to her talk about her friends and family which you dont care about let alone care to talk about. My suggestion to you is pick up a hobby to occupy you monday to saturday and watch football every sunday. I tried the whole baseball and mma thing, didnt work and I just felt cheapened afterwards. I can see there being a lockout for maybe a few weeks. 2 months at most. I'd be shocked if there wasn't a deal in place by the end of October. The players know the owners will sit out for a year. There's no point in going through the whole song and dance again. Maybe we'll miss some pre-season, but once actual game cheques start disappearing and given what happened 8 years ago, the players will concede to almost everything, and the NHL will throw them a consolation prize. Bettman and Fehr don't hate each other the way Goodenow and Bettman did. We'll be fine. If there is a lockout, your wife will make you make up for all those nights you watched the games as opposed to spend "quality time" with her, what ever the heck that is. Lots of extra chores, more alone time with her which sucks becuase you will have to listen to her talk about her friends and family which you dont care about let alone care to talk about. My suggestion to you is pick up a hobby to occupy you monday to saturday and watch football every sunday. I tried the whole baseball and mma thing, didnt work and I just felt cheapened afterwards. well my wife is an RN, and therefore works shifts, including nights/weekends, so getting center ice worked great, as i was able to watch plenty of hockey without disrupting the personal life. That being said, the wife's pretty cool in that she's down to watch the game.. I'm just more annoyed than anything else. I was so sure that the at least one of the NBA/NFL were going to get locked out last season, those greedy, self-centered group of players/owners got their ___ together, yet here we are, the NHL back to the lock out within 7 years. It's laughable. like i said, shame on everyone involved. If they do strike, i hope they can't cut a deal for 2-3 years and suffer the loss of income and NHL experience for that period of time.


(Warning : distressing scenes) video showing a senseless attack on a kangaroo has been used by prosecutors to argue for a tougher sentence for those responsible. This video has been edited, however viewer discretion strongly advised The limp baby roo is then picked up by the tail and thrown several metres before it slams into a tree trunk. Throughout the film the three men can be heard laughing before saying they planned to drop the dead kangaroo in the middle of a street. The joey had been caught by a dog and put into the boot of a car that the Saunders brothers were travelling in. It was later taken to Lions Park in Seymour where it was brutally killed. Zachary Hunter Appearance of three men in Seymour Magistrates Court accused of torturing and killing a young kangaroo. Zachary Hunter. Picture: Stuart Walmsley Source: Herald Sun Zachary Hunter, 23, pleaded guilty over his role in the incident that led to the joey's death in October last year. Picture: Stuart Walmsley Source: Herald Sun Brett Saunders played no role in the actual attack on the animal other than to catch the joey. The incident sparked widespread outrage with some animal rights' activists calling for the men to be jailed. The footage was shown by Victoria's Director of Public Prosecutions John Champion, SC, who has launched a County Court appeal against the non-conviction sentences of the men. The landmark appeal is believed to be the first of its kind where the victim of crime is wildlife. Baby kangaroo attack A still image from the sickening footage of a savage attack on a defenceless baby kangaroo. Brothers Brett and Scott Saunders and friend Zachary Hunt were fined and placed on good behaviour bonds over the attack in Seymour. Source: Supplied SHOCKING: One witness recalled the kangaroo looked like it "had been so traumatised it just stood there in terror". Picture: SUPPLIED It comes as wildlife experts say there has been a worrying spike in wildlife assaults across Victoria over the past year. Lawyers for the men this week said they had suffered harrassment and received death threats since the incident was made public. But DPP John Champion, SC, argued the men's sentences were "manifestly inadequate" and said tougher punishment was in the public interest. Australian Society for Kangaroos spokeswoman Fiona Corke said she hoped the appeal would deter future perpetrators of animal cruelty crimes.


Re: Is it possible to get out of a contract with o2 due to no signal if you are outside the 28 days? A couple of small things to note. The last post was written over a year ago...I doubt who ever wrote it is still monitoring this post. if you do follow the last posters advice then you will fuirst have needed to lodge a formal complaint with your provider, this can often be done by phone but always best to to write the complaint so that you have a record of it. it can take up to 8 weeks for them to resolve the complaint or give you a Final Response but it is only after this has been received that you can then approach the Ombudsman, if you try to involve him before this time they will only place an official standard complaint for you and you are back to square 1 (and day 1) of the complaints process and may have to wait another 8 weeks for the providers reply. As the last postersuggested too, you may find some help on the weblinks. Re: Is it possible to get out of a contract with o2 due to no signal if you are outside the 28 days? I had the same problem with three. They ran tests and told me the reception on my area is fine but my calls kept dropping! They blamed my iphone even though I took it to apple store and had it checked, updated software etc. tried a Orange simcard in the same phone and reception was amazing! In the end I called up the ombudsman for mobile phones. They advised me to write a letter! I can send you a template if you like but if you call the Ombudsman, they can advise you further! Well story cut short, I wrote them a letter stating sales of good act and Supply of Goods and Services Act, and under those act's i got the contract cancelled! I was only into 6 months of it out of 24 months. They cancelled the contract and refunded me outstanding amount. You'll find some help here:http://whatconsumer.co.uk/know-your\\... and http://www.ombudsman-services.org/commun\\... Re: Is it possible to get out of a contract with o2 due to no signal if you are outside the 28 days? The reason I chose O2 was because it had the best coverage according to their website. None of them said there would be a 'good' signal but their website said reasonable signal and showed 2/3 bars. I've spoken to a few people and have a few possible aerials I could try if I can't get anywhere in cancelling the contract. If the signal had suddenly gone downhill they would have allowed me out but because it was always the case they won't budge it seems. I haven't had a really hard try yet though so I don't think I've done all I can yet. Re: Is it possible to get out of a contract with o2 due to no signal if you are outside the 28 days? I agree with maxstream - if the coverage map says its good and it isn't then you may have a case but it will depend on the small print in your contract. There are some rural areas where no mobile coverage is good - I can get an orange signal in about a third of my house (vodaphone and O2 are even worse) and getting 3G is about as likely as winning the lottery - its one of the joys of living in the countryside (along with slow broadband and paying through the nose for heating oil !). The best way to try out the recption is to get a free sim from each provider and put 5 or 10 PAYG on it and then see what reception you get before tying yourself into a contract. Once you know which one works (if any) then go for that one. Simple solution to not having a phone upstairs is to get a landline extension put in (or do it yourself) - not very expensive and then you'd have a definite phone that you could rely on. Re: Is it possible to get out of a contract with o2 due to no signal if you are outside the 28 days? My view is that you can only justify ending the contract if the coverage maps say reception is good when it isn't and if, when notified, they don't put things right. Yes, there are boosters and aerials. The little strips that cost a few pence and are a few inches long are, I believe, useless but there are aerials that look like aerials for 10 - 30 which could help. Is it possible to get out of a contract with o2 due to no signal if you are outside the 28 days? I moved into a new house in October and due to lack of signal (its quite a rural area) I shopped around and using network coverage checkers decided o2 was the best option. I ordered a new phone/contract online and it arrived 1st December. Immediately it was obvious that the signal wasn't any better than T-mobile had been however because we knew the area was bad I wasn't sure what to do so I kept hold of it and thought I'd just have to get on with it. I've sinced decided I'm ridiculous for thinking I could have 2 years with a phone I cannot make/receive a call from my house and contacted them today. (yes I know outside my return period, I'm stupid!) They did a couple of test calls to my handset (after asking me to remove voicemail) to verify that I was not able to receive calls however then came back to me and said they could not log it as it had been like that when i took the contract and was not a new issue. So why test my line? Again, I know I should have contacted them sooner however I feel its unreasonable that they expect me to pay 30 a month for 2 years with no service. They advised I switch my phone settings from 3g to analogue but didn't know how I did that and were going to call me back. I'm still waiting several hours later and they are now closed. A few points, I'm aware I'm outside their return policy period. When I called they said the coverage data on the internet (which is how i decided who to go with) hadn't been updated since 2009. Surely that is extra ground for them to allow me to return it regardless of timescales? I also searched on Ofcom and there are only 2 local masts both of which belong to Orange. As far as I can find through research online they offer no kind of booster for signal like some of the other networks? Has anybody got any advice on how I can either get out of my contract or even reduce my monthly rental if they won't do that or boost my signal so I can actually use the free texts/minutes I'm paying for? I have a toddler and it makes me nervous that I have no phone upstairs. If somebody broke in during the night etc I wouldn't be able to call anybody or get help. Cookie Use MoneySupermarket uses cookies, small text files which are downloaded to your computer's hard drive when you visit most websites. Cookies are harmless files which can help improve the experience. Cookies allow websites to respond to you as an individual. The website can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences. By accepting cookies, MoneySupermarket is able to provide you with a better service and customise your experience with us.


Michael Langan talks to photographer Lee Baxter. It's a candid insight of an artist at work, and he learns that a good photograph takes far more than simply an eye for a good-looking man... ........................................\\... The Manchester-based photographer Lee Baxter has developed a style of image-making that is distinctive and appealing. He combines an interest in architecture with an eye for a good-looking man to create photographs that are thoughtful, intimate, and subtly sexy. The treatment of his subjects -- whether buildings, the sky, urban landscapes or people -- always conveys a sense of character, and while they are very real they are never mundane. I met up with him to talk about his work. When did you start taking photographs? I've been working with a camera since about 1998. I'd been doing computer-based graphics up until that point, quite commercial stuff, and spent my twenties going out clubbing before finally deciding I wanted to do a degree. I asked myself, what is it that I really like? Photography was the thing. Whose work inspires you? Who do you admire? One of the first photographers I had a thing for was Joel Peter Witkin. A friend gave me a book of his work many years ago and I was transfixed by every page. He uses cadavers and dead bodies to create beautifully crafted images and that, along with his very dark themes, really struck a chord with me. I also love the sexy, quirky quality of the work of Helmut Newton and Guy Bourdin. I don't try to reproduce what these photographers are doing but I just really like looking at them and they give me energy. The painter Francis Bacon has also been a great influence on me -- I adore the visceral quality of his work. Where do you find the guys you photograph? Most of the recent ones have been friends, and Facebook is a good source. Some good-looking men are often quite shy and I have to convince them that they're going to look good in the photos and I'm not going to make them look pornographic. That's quite interesting, that engagement with somebody. I try to keep the shoot very conversational, as if I'm not really taking photographs. I usually try to do the shoots quite quickly, even though I've thought a lot about what I'm going to do beforehand. If it's not working I just try something else, to make the process as organic as possible. The longer you take the more fake people's smiles can become, though these days you can show people how it's looking during the shoot and if they like the images they'll relax more. And you don't manipulate or alter your images? No, I use Photoshop as sparingly as possible and just try to capture what is there. I also crop within the frame as I take a shot, staying true to the image at its origin. Obviously, I'm trying to find something that is interesting to look at but I really want to let images speak for themselves. I like to work with natural light and also keep a natural feel to the imagery, using flash very sparingly. Some people make their photos look very unrealistic -- David LaChapelle does this brilliantly -- but that's not really where I see myself, though I do love that kind of work. You've taken a lot of pictures of David Hoyle  -- have you known him a long time? Yes, going back to when I was seventeen. We just get on really well and we trust each other. He allows me to photograph in his dressing room, so nowhere's out of bounds. Because he's a performer he knows how the camera works so it can be quite easy for me to capture something amazing. One of the characteristics of your work is the way that you place people in the frame. You're not frightened of having a lot of space around a subject or putting them in interesting spaces. In terms of composition I think that comes from my graphics background. I try to think about what lines up really nicely. I've always really loved Mark Farrow's work with The Pet Shop Boys and I love the idea of the tiny image with lots of white space around it. It's not so fashionable any more but if you use it well it still works. I like the idea of a lot of texture in the background. Is there a link between your work and your sexuality? It's more common these days to see men presented as things to look at but did you have to work through that at all? It's never really been an issue to be honest. At the same time I do want to capture the fact that these guys have a personality. Obviously, some of them are more decorative than others and I don't have a problem with that, but I don't want them just to be lumps of meat to look at. Trying to connect through their eyes, or through a little gesture, can be enough to make the pictures more intimate. I've already created some kind of trust with these guys so the last thing I want to do is present a set of images that totally objectifies them and turns them into something else. You also take a lot of pictures of architecture. Where does your interest in cityscapes come from? When I first started photography I was more comfortable taking pictures of buildings than people, so it's just carried on from there. Having said that, I don't want to focus on just obvious, famous buildings. Is it possible to describe what Manchester, as a city, brings to your work? Without wanting to be clich, there's a gritty realism to Manchester, it being an industrial town. I try to find areas where there's a sense of beauty that maybe not everyone sees. It's got a really good arts community as well. It's quite small, but everyone helps each other out. You've taken some images of the sky in Ancoats that are really striking. I used to work in an office there and some of the skies were immense. That area is really being developed at the moment but there's still a touch of Lowry in that industrial landscape. There was a really stormy sky that day. By including some of the buildings I wanted to keep an essence of the city in there as well. And you have an exhibition coming up in Manchester this autumn? Yeah, it's called Splendid and is going to be about structure -- of men and of buildings, the two things integrated. There'll be lots of images of Manchester, some of Berlin and maybe a few of London. What direction is your work going in? I want to challenge myself and maybe do more images where I've created a set or something staged, with more people involved. I'd love to do something with dancers, maybe something outside, with a real sense of movement. I'd like to work with people who are very aware of their bodies. How do you feel about what's happening to photography as an art form, with the influence of new technologies and equipment? There are still people who never use digital and keep it quite analogue, but I like the instant results that digital gives you. If I'm out on a shoot I know exactly what I'm going to get at that moment in time. I see people Photoshopping beautiful images to death and with Instagram you can add a filter to a photo of a bowl of fruit or a coffee cup and it looks nostalgic, but it's still just a coffee cup. I like Instagram but it's not something I'd use in my work -- I feel like it's cheating. But who knows, in a few years I might do something that is completely about the unreality of an image, but I would want to make it look as if that was definitely what I was doing. ........................................\\... You can see more of Lee's work in our featured gallery this month: Eyes & Skies About Polari Magazine Polari Magazine is an LGBT arts and culture magazine that explores the subculture by looking at what is important to the people who are in it. It's about the lives we lead, not the lifestyles we're supposed to lead. Its content is informed & insightful, and features a diverse range of writers from every section of the community. Its intent is to help LGBT readers learn about their own heritage and to sustain a link between the present and the past. Polari is designed to nurture the idea of community, whether that be social and political, or artistic and creative. It is your magazine, whether you want to read it, or whether you want to get involved in it, if you're gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, or queer. Polari Magazine is all these: it's a gay online magazine; it's a gay and lesbian online magazine; it's an LGBT arts and culture magazine. Ultimately, it is a queer magazine.


How To Do Updos For Curly Hair How To Do Updos For Curly Hair 5 1 user ratings Enlarge A hairstylist demonstrates a stylish up do for curly hair that anyone can do by themselves even when in a rush. It's a hairstyle that's perfect for day and night. If you've got naturally curly hair, I'm going to show you how to do an up do that takes seconds. It's so easy, it's great for work or going out, just a really cool up do for curly hair. So, we're going to start with using an elastic, and you can get them anywhere actually, even supermarkets sell these now. It's just a really large hair band, basically, and we're just going to pop it over the top of the head. So, when you're doing this at home yourself, just keep it firm with one hand and tuck the hair with the other hand. It's quite a soft look so it doesn't matter if it's too messy, and this bit of volume is perfect as well. So, we're going to take the curls and just bend them over and tuck them in the elastic there and let the loose curls just kind of hang over, and then do the same all the way around. When you get to the front, just decide whether you want pieces down or if want quite a bit more of a vintage look and pull the hair back, or if your hair's very curly, you might want to just tuck it all in and keep it out of your way. It doesn't matter if you can see the band either, it looks quite cool. And again, you're just pulling the hair back and tucking it into the elastic at the sides. If your hair is very curly or a bit shorter, you could actually get away with just leaving that out and sitting naturally. But her hair's just a little bit too long to do that. So, you can leave it like that, plain if it's just a day look, or if you want to kind of finish it up a little bit for an evening or for a wedding or something, you can pop a little bit of sparkle in the side. It would also look great with something a little bit more like this, which is also really on trend for this year. And that's it, a great up do for curly hair, good for day looks or work or if you're just in a rush. .


In 1966 disgraced British colonel bequeaths a mysterious letter to his only son. The "item in question" that Adam's father's letter leads him to acquire from a safe deposit box in Switzerland is a precious Russian Orthodox icon made long ago for the Russian czars which by misadventure came into the possession of Hermann Göring sometime in the 1930s. Göring wanted Scott's father (one of his jailers at Nuremberg ) to have it in token of his kind treatment and because Göring realized Scott's father would be unfairly blamed for his pre- execution suicide . But the icon contains something that even Göring did not dream of: the only official Russian copy of a secret codicil to the Alaska Purchase treaty by which the United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867. " Seward's Folly " turns out to have not been a true purchase at all, but a 99-year lease akin to the British hold on Hong Kong , with a right of return to Russia (now the part of the Soviet Union ) if they can only retrieve their copy before the lease deadline, only days away.


Riverina Lions to roar in the face of adversity MORE than 50,000 kilometres of travel and ten years of hard work could reap the ultimate reward on Sunday when Riverina Lions strive to capture its maiden premiership by beating Eastlake in the ACT Women's AFL grand final at Manuka Oval. As the build-up to the big game continues, Riverina Lions skipper, and club founder, Julie McLean, revealed the exact amount of work and scheduling it has taken for the club to compete in the Canberra-based competition. The plan to form a women's Australian football team in the region was hatched in 2002 when Leanne Hodge contacted McLean with the idea to be a sister club with Wagga Tigers when it was playing in AFL Canberra. A true football lover, McLean was thrilled with the concept, and after months of planning, Riverina Lions was formed and commenced competing in Canberra in the 2003 season. Riverina Lions have gathered momentum each season and the team has played off in two grand finals, in 2005 and 2011, when it lost, ironically, to Eastlake, on both occasions. The tyranny of distance -- Riverina Lions have to travel to Canberra to play every second week of the competition -- and player numbers have been struggles at times during the 10-year journey but McLean said the club was in great shape for the future. McLean has done the calculations and Riverina Lions travel, on average, a staggering 5000 kilometres per season just to play football, meaning over the course of the 10 years the team has racked up roughly 50,000 kilometres on the road from Wagga to Canberra. McLean, who has played 154 games for the club, claimed a premiership triumph on Sunday would be just reward for the amount of hard work, travel and planning that has gone into making Riverina Lions a successful club. "If we can win it this weekend we would have travelled 50,000 kilometres to get it," McLean said. "When you are doing it (travelling) you don't really notice it but we have worked it out at least 5000 kilometres per year. "It requires plenty of preparation and early starts and commitment. "Numbers wise and skills wise we keep continuing to improve each year and that's a real positive." Riverina Lions suffered a serious setback before a ball had been kicked this season when its home base at McPherson Oval was all but washed away during the floods that hit the city in March. It took a massive rebuilding effort from Riverina Lions, North Wagga Football Club and the North Wagga community to get the facility repaired and operational and McLean said a premiership victory this year would taste sweeter due to the adversity. "With everything that happened with the floods, we didn't even know if we would have a team or a facility for a while," McLean said. "It would be a fitting reward to win it." Riverina Lions have been the most dominant team of the season and finished with the minor premiership before beating Eastlake in the major semi-final to move straight into the grand final. Despite its success, and the fact it has lost just two games this year, Riverina Lions will be forced to travel -- again -- to vie for the crown, but McLean said Riverina Lions would not be traveling to Canberra on Saturday even though the game will commence at 9.45am Sunday. "We have gone over there the night before with the other two grand finals and it didn't work that well," McLean said. "It made people nervous being there the night before the game and had them thinking about everything too early. "We will keep to our normal routine, we will leave Wagga at 5am (Sunday) and we should be there by 8am to have a good stretch and get ready." McLean admitted it had been hard to contain the nerves and excitement given the team had last week off, but said Riverina Lions would be doing its best to keep to its normal routine and structure. "Time has been going slowly but we have been training well," McLean said. "We will prepare the same way we have all year, we are treating it as just another game but obviously there is a bigger reward here for the winner." Riverina Lions have defeated Eastlake on all three occasions this season and the grand final will commence at Manuka Oval at 9.45am on Sunday.


I can't wait for the sequel to come out in a few years. And a few years after that. And a few years after that... Lyrics after the jump. Gary Said Lock You Out Don't call it a rollback We've planned this for years Fans are in tears while Peter Karmonos cheers Makin the doors slam down like a es-crow Listen to the revenues grow Expansion, oversaturate Into the struggling markets that the players hate Watch me carve HRRs For a lockout that'll make you watch Nascar Don't you ever learn, everyone's burned Except my pal David Stern Gotta make sure every owner profits fair and square Unless it's from a revenue share I'm gonna lock you out Jacobs said lock you out I'm gonna lock you out Edwards said lock you out I'm gonna lock you out Leonsis said lock you out I'm gonna lock you out Snyder said lock you out Don't you call this a talk with two sides I'm gonna break these guys I'm gonna hang this NHLPA out to dry And I won't bat an eye Just like 2004 they called it madness Watch the sadness In the eyes of the fans As they're signing petitions Why would I listen? Me The Napoleon Rambo And when I drop ultimatums get ready cuz it might go BLAW How's Bob Goodenow? He's working at Holy Chow You won't win here, Mr. Fehr, we're not scared Cause Selig doesn't work here Buck-passing, pay-slashing Looking like The Count, and you can hear me laughing Owners threw millions at the UFAs But we knew we'd get it back with the CBA I'm gonna lock you out Dolan said lock you out I'm gonna lock you out Melnyk said lock you out I'm gonna lock you out Katz said lock you out I'm gonna lock you out Illitch said lock you out Pockets getting filled When I send my bill, eight mil The meanest and leanest Owner of Phoenix I'm a genius I'm gonna lock them out and let you understand That I hear the hate from the fans When I'm holding Stanley in my hand... Scram! Boooooooooooo! Listen to the way you booed this dude Payback, payback, payback, payback Disruption, cutbacks, and layoffs Empty arenas like the Leafs in the playoffs Owners (What!) Owners (What!) Who's greedy? (We're greedy!) And now I hear the fans are mad (So sad!) But don't be flattered, never think you matter Cause you are screwed And you'll come crawlin' back when it's through We gotta thank you The best fans in the world and P.S. [BLEEP] YOU! Yeah, it could hit them hard about things like not wanting to give up 25% of their salaries that come from contracts the owners signed just so that the owners can make money with teams so mismanaged that even yearly revenue increases of 7% aren't enough to help them be profitable - why won't the players just give the owners all their money? They could play for 100k a year and live comfortably and then the poor, poor owners wouldn't have to suffer the indignity of only being millionaires when everybody knows that sports owners should be billionaires. So I preordered the mighty DGB book from Amazon US and of course, it's out and Amazon doesn't even have it to send. But look! An email from Amazon saying I should have it! Yay! ... on Wednesday! ... a day after my birthday. There's a Leafs' joke somewhere in there.


NBAA: Boeing unveils BBJ version of 737 Max Boeing today revealed the 737 Max will be converted into a Boeing Business Jet (BBJ), with deliveries starting to the VIP market almost as quickly as the re-engined and updated narrowbody enters commercial service in 2017. The BBJ Max 8 will become the fourth version of the 737 family to be aimed at the business aviation market, and the announcement precedes a decision by Airbus on whether to offer a corporate jet version of the similarly re-engined A320neo . The same changes being introduced with the 737 Max 8 - including new CFM International Leap-1B engines, split-tip winglets and a redesigned tail cone - are expected to deliver similar performance improvements for the BBJ market, but with a different emphasis. Airlines are more focused on the fuel savings, while business jet passengers are more influenced by increased range and reduced cabin noise, Taylor says. Boeing The BBJ Max 8 should improve range by roughly 600nm compared to the roughly 5,670nm range of the BBJ2, the business jet version of the 737-800, he says. A BBJ version of the 737 Max 9 will follow the introduction of the version based on the 737 Max 8. By announcing the BBJ at NBAA , Boeing beats Airbus in the race to develop alternative versions of the re-engined narrowbodies. Airbus unveiled the A320neo nine months before Boeing launched the 737 Max family in August 2011, but has yet to announce an Airbus Corporate Jet (ACJ) version. The delay has baffled Airbus' competitors in Seattle. "I'm fascinated they haven't moved out more quickly than not," Taylor says. Boeing, meanwhile, is continuing to evaluate other opportunities for spin-offs of the 737 Max. Boeing adapted the BBJ into a military surveillance and patrol aircraft, and Taylor says the example will be followed with the BBJ Max. "Inevitably it will," he says. "The military is typically not an early adopter of these kinds of things, so not right in the front end." Boeing has sold 157 BBJs since introducing the type 15 years ago. Check out all the latest news and views on our dedicated NBAA show page .


Food & Wine Blog Nearly every human being on the planet is familiar with the concept of 2000 calories per day, which is the average amount of energy a human adult needs to sustain a healthy life. But what many people fail to realize is that it is less about quantity of calories you take in, and more about the quality of the food. 2000 calories of processed toxins is far different than 2000 calories of nutrient rich whole foods. The unfortunate reality is that the vast majority of people in the United States and other Western countries are not eating properly. Instead, there is an entire so-called health and wellness industry whose only purpose in life is to sell products. And considering how many overweight and depressed people there are in the United States who are consistently looking for a way to look better and feel better about themselves, it's no surprise when they take the bait of a magical pill. You cannot compress health and wellness into a magical pill or a special formula. It comes through whole foods and natural living. Even the Bible talks about this concept, because if you look at the people who lived in the Garden of Eden, regardless of whether or not you are religious, the stories all talk about how human beings in the beginning of time reliving hundreds and thousands of years. How, and why? The reason why is fairly simple. In the beginning of time, regardless if you are religious or not, men did not rely on supplements and pills and synthetic chemicals to fuel their bodies. Instead, they were only eating the natural products that come from the planet, things like fruits and vegetables, not processed protein shakes and lowfat lattes and diet sodas. It's 70% food and only 30% diet, so the issue is not in the lifestyle so much as it is the food. Whole food diet plans are the only way you can achieve total health and wellness and a body that is naturally sexy and toned through regular exercise. While The Mediterranean Diet is certainly the most famous of the whole food strategies, the reality is that any type of food combinations which include organic products and whole foods that have not been processed are superior in every way to the products the health and wellness industry tell you are good for you. You can either eat out of a can or a wrapper, or you can enjoy the bounties of Earth. It's your call. The secrets of the Mediterranean Diet whole foods are the real power behind the Mediterranean Diet Plan and Lifestyle.


Art Talk with NEA Literature Translation Fellow Dan Bellm Dan Bellm. Photo by Annie Silverstein "We owe it to each other to read world literature, to cross borders, to enter other lives and times in the way that only great writing can." -- Dan Bellm Professor, editor, translator, and poet -- 2013 NEA Literature Translation Fellow Dan Bellm has some serious Renaissance man bona fides. In addition to translating the work of Pablo Neruda, Manlio Argueta, and Csar Vallejo, he has been translating French writer Pierre Reverdy's work for almost a decade. In 1998, Bellm received the Caesura Prize, judged by Mark Doty, for his poem, "Aspens," and an Artists Fellowship for Literature from the California Arts Council. Bellm's poems have appeared in such publications as Poetry , Ploughshares , The Threepenny Review , and Word of Mouth: An Anthology of Gay American Poetry . We spoke with Bellm about his writer's life, his philosophy of literary translation, and why he likes taking apart poems to "see how they tick." NEA: What's your version of the artist's life? DAN BELLM: The artist's life, to me, means doing work I love, which includes continuing to try work that challenges or scares me. I'm not very interested in writing or translating the kind of poem I've already written or translated. The work has to pose some kind of question or riddle that I don't know the answer to; when I'm lucky, I grab a thread and just hold on. Or to take a different metaphor, I think of how pole vaulters keep raising the bar. And although not all writers do, I love giving public readings of my own and others' poetry. I consider it an essential part of my work. Poems are meant to be read aloud and passed on; once they're written and spoken, they're not "mine" any more. NEA: What do you remember as your earliest engagement with the arts? BELLM: Since I'm a literary artist, I'd have to say that my most important early memory is of my mother taking me to the public library in my hometown, Springfield, Illinois, starting when I was three or four, to pick out books, bring them home, and read them together -- a habit that's never come to an end. My sister Eileen, two years older than me, brought books home from kindergarten and first grade, too. It's all traceable back to that time, the amazing experience of words on paper coming to life as I learned to read. And leaping forward, I have to thank my high school English teacher, Jim Burke, for noticing me, and pushing me to read challenging books that weren't on "the list," and really wanting to hear what I thought of them. NEA: Can you tell us about the project your NEA grant will support. How do you choose the works you translate? BELLM: I'm working on a translation of French poet Pierre Reverdy's (1889-1960) great postwar work, Le chant des morts (Song of the Dead), a volume of 43 poems written from 1944-1948. Although it's by far the most important book of Reverdy's middle and late career -- the time after he and his wife fled the very center of the Parisian art and literary world, in order to live a quite secluded life near the monastery of Solesmes in northern France -- Le chant des morts has been neglected by English-language translators, who have focused almost entirely on the poems of his Parisian years (1910-1926). Only four of its poems have ever appeared in English, and those are in books that are long out of print. Le chant des morts is a very unusual [account] of the public and private aftermath of war. It's not a documentary or a narrative -- it's about troubled states of soul. Reverdy has such a sure command of image, and the emotional atmosphere of life-at-the-edge-of-death in postwar France seems so strangely familiar, that I really believe that this poetry will speak eloquently to our own time. I have been working with Reverdy's poems for a decade or more, starting with two collections of his prose poems, and I've turned to Le chant des morts because it's so centrally important in his work. NEA: When and how did you begin your work as a literary translator? BELLM: I began to translate long before I had any thought of being a published translator. From the minute I started reading poetry in other languages -- Spanish and French, mostly -- I started wanting to make the poems that I loved "my own." It was always a bit like taking a clock apart to see how it ticks, and hoping to put it back together still ticking. I started teaching myself Spanish (my strongest second language, and the one I most frequently translate from) nearly 40 years ago, and well before I had made it through a bilingual edition of Pablo Neruda's poems, I was quibbling with the English translations, making notes in the margins and thinking, "How hard could it be to improve on this?" That kind of beginner's arrogance turned out to be useful, because it got me to begin, and it motivated me to continue long enough to appreciate just how difficult the art and craft of translation is. NEA: What is your process and how does your philosophy regarding translation impact that process? BELLM: I'm as "slow" a translator as I am a poet. Translations for me, typically, go through many drafts, and have to pass some kind of test of time before they feel complete. To describe my philosophy as a translator, I'd say that I am not an "academic" translator oriented to the kind of work that favors literalism or strict verbal "accuracy" over an engagement with the entirety of a poem's music. I love, and try to live by, the nineteenth-century poet and translator Dante Gabriel Rossetti's rather modest advice: "A good poem shall not be turned into a bad one." My deepest commitment is to translating as faithfully as possible the whole gesture a poem makes -- all of its resources of sound and meaning -- into a fully realized poem in English. NEA: How does your work as a poet inform your work as a translator and vice versa? BELLM: For me, translating has always gone hand in hand with being a reader and a poet. Throughout my decades of writing poetry, I've always had a translation project, or several, going on as well, whether or not I've had any intention of publishing those. I learn about how poems work, and I pay deep attention to the nuances and music of words; it's the closest act of "close reading" possible. I've been greatly influenced by such poet-translators as Galway Kinnell, Robert Hass, Marilyn Hacker, Chana Bloch, W.S. Merwin, and Robert Bly, all of whom consider the practice of translation deeply connected to their craft as poets. I always urge poetry students to try translating, as part of their craft, too, and for the past couple of years, I've been teaching literary translation in the MFA in Creative Writing Program at Antioch University, Los Angeles. NEA: I understand that you had an opportunity to see some of the original paintings by Pablo Picasso that accompanied the original publication of Le chant des morts . What was that experience like for you? BELLM: It's thrilling to see the original publication that these poems first appeared in -- a stunningly beautiful, hand-lettered edition, with 125 color lithographs by Picasso, brought out by the French art publisher Triade in 1948. The Museum of Modern Art in New York owns a copy, and it's an important work not only in Reverdy's oeuvre, but in Picasso's as well. It's hard to imagine the poems any other way now; I hope that any publication of my translation that occurs will include some of Picasso's work. Reverdy is quite a visual poet, and he was deeply connected throughout his life with such painters as Picasso, Braque, Matisse, and Gris, all of whom illustrated one or more of his books of poetry. Although Reverdy himself resisted all such labels, I think of many of his poems in visual terms as a kind of Cubist or Surrealist painting, the way they play with geometry and point of view, and up-end our expectations about narrative coherence or rational sense. NEA: What does the phrase "Art Works" mean to you? BELLM: I like this phrase in the sense that it puts "art" and "work" together. Not everyone agrees -- including, say, my own Dad! -- but it's a real job. And art itself works, of course -- it creates change, it forms and affects lives. It's an essential part of education, though it's often the first thing that gets cut. I guess we still need slogans like this because we're a society that still doesn't see art as absolutely central. NEA: Why do you believe it's important for the NEA to support literary translation? BELLM: Because we're all citizens of the world. We owe it to each other to read world literature, to cross borders, to enter other lives and times in the way that only great writing can. Without literary translation, there would have been no Renaissance, for example. Translation keeps a multiplicity of voices alive -- and it breathes new life into our own voices, our own English language.