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Thursday, February 26, 2004

Pittsburgh Airport Wi-Fi Free, For Now (also Columbia SC)

Saw this and thought I would add that Columbia, SC also has free Wi-Fi that reaches virtually all of the airport.  At least from the waiting area (outside of security) and all of the terminal area. I hope that more airports start doing this as it makes it much easier for the business traveler to stay in touch.  They don’t have to clog around the pay phones and such.

In October, the Pittsburgh airport launched a Wi-Fi network covering its food court: For now at least, accessing the network is free, which is unusual for an airport. The airport plans to extend the coverage throughout the concourses and hopes to keep access free until it can't afford to support the network without charging for it. Airport managers say that the goodwill that comes from offering free Wi-Fi boosts the airport's reputation for service and may also help passengers linger, when they may spend more time in shops. I think it's great to offer free Wi-Fi and I agree that there's only a small population willing to pay the current fees for access in other airports but the reasons given here for offering it free in Pittsburgh are funny. Personally, no amount of free Wi-Fi would make me hang out any longer than absolutely necessary in an airport, and I doubt I'm alone thinking that. Also, improving the reputation of the airport isn't really critical--it's not like people have a choice of airports. Silly reasoning aside, however, I'd love to see free Wi-Fi in more airports....
[Wi-Fi Networking News]

Windows XP ... Reloaded

Apparently MS is a Matrix fan. J 

"Despite repeated denials, Microsoft will indeed release an interim version of Windows XP that will bridge the gap between the initial XP release and Windows "Longhorn," currently due in late 2005 at the earliest. The new XP version will ship as a new retail product that replaces existing XP boxes and as a set of updates, dubbed Windows XP Reloaded, that existing XP users can install separately. Windows XP Reloaded will include all of the features from XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), due by mid-year, as well as a host of other unique features, including Windows Media Player 10, according to sources I contacted this morning."
[ActiveWin.com Headlines]

More snow

Geez.  Just what we need.  More snow and sleet and freezing rain.  I just got word that some of the schools are closing early too so who knows what the drive home is going to be like…. 

Wednesday, February 25, 2004

Pittsburgh Airport Wi-Fi Free, For Now (also Columbia SC)

Saw this and thought I would add that Columbia, SC also has free Wi-Fi that reaches virtually all of the airport.  At least from the waiting area (outside of security) and all of the terminal area. I hope that more airports start doing this as it makes it much easier for the business traveler to stay in touch.  They don’t have to clog around the pay phones and such.

In October, the Pittsburgh airport launched a Wi-Fi network covering its food court: For now at least, accessing the network is free, which is unusual for an airport. The airport plans to extend the coverage throughout the concourses and hopes to keep access free until it can't afford to support the network without charging for it. Airport managers say that the goodwill that comes from offering free Wi-Fi boosts the airport's reputation for service and may also help passengers linger, when they may spend more time in shops. I think it's great to offer free Wi-Fi and I agree that there's only a small population willing to pay the current fees for access in other airports but the reasons given here for offering it free in Pittsburgh are funny. Personally, no amount of free Wi-Fi would make me hang out any longer than absolutely necessary in an airport, and I doubt I'm alone thinking that. Also, improving the reputation of the airport isn't really critical--it's not like people have a choice of airports. Silly reasoning aside, however, I'd love to see free Wi-Fi in more airports....
[Wi-Fi Networking News]

TiVo-like devices to get booster shot

Coolio!  6 video streams.  Nice! 


[Neowin.net]

Cingular buys AT&T Wireless

Wow, this is news…. 

Well, it looked like it was going to be Vodafone for a little while there, but it turned out that it was Cingular that wanted...
[Gizmodo]

Exchange Server 2003 Security Hardening Guide

I know a few people who are getting ready for an E2k3 upgrade and thought they might enjoy this link.

 

This guide is designed to provide you with essential information about how to harden your Microsoft® Exchange Server 2003 environment. In addition to practical, hands-on configuration recommendations, this guide includes strategies for combating spam, viruses, and other external threats to your Exchange 2003 messaging system. While most server administrators can benefit from reading this guide, it is designed to produce maximum benefits for administrators responsible for Exchange messaging, both at the mailbox and architect levels. This guide is a companion to the Windows Server 2003 Security Guide . Specifically, many of the procedures in this guide are related directly to security recommendations introduced in the Windows Server 2003 Security Guide. Therefore, before you perform the procedures presented in this guide, it is recommended that you first read the Windows Server 2003 Security Guide.
[ActiveWin.com Headlines]

Hitachi blows its own 300GB trumpet

mmm.  I really would like one of these.  I wonder how many tv shows I could archive on one of these bad boys?  I checked and under my current configuration I have 3 days of TV shows (just the stuff I like) and it’s only taking up 12 Gig… 

Hard drives get bigger, smaller and more profitable
[The Register]

Tuesday, February 24, 2004

TiVo-like devices to get booster shot

Coolio!  6 video streams.  Nice! 


[Neowin.net]

Cingular buys AT&T Wireless

Wow, this is news…. 

Well, it looked like it was going to be Vodafone for a little while there, but it turned out that it was Cingular that wanted...
[Gizmodo]

Mom sues RIAA members for racketeering

It doesn’t look like it will hold up but more power to them! 

Don't call me scarface
[The Register]

A Phone You Can See From Both Sides

This looks cool.  Anything to make the phones lighter. J  Notice I didn’t say smaller… (remembering a MADTV episode where the phone was the size of a pinky nail). 

Mitsubishi Electric unveiled a prototype cell phone with an LCD display that can be viewed from both sides. In Mitsubishi Electric develops reversible LCD, the IDG News Service writes this could possibly affect the current trend in clamshell-type cell phones having two separate displays. Cell phones would also be thinner and cheaper.
[Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends]

Laptop phones

This looks kind of cool.  What they need to do is have a built-in Bluetooth module and sell the laptop with a Bluetooth headset.  I do like the fact that there is a display panel on the outside so that you can use the phone with the laptop in suspended mode.  I would need to see more information on this though to understand what is really going on.

 

It would be neat if it plugged into the FWD network or other SIP networks. J 

News.com on how some laptops could start doubling as phones:Manufacturers plan to start selling notebooks with integrated Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) this year and...
[Gizmodo]

The Infamous 9582 Event (continued)

If you know what that event id number means check this out. 

[This is a continuation of my The Infamous 9582 Event post last week.]

 

Just as I blabbed about last week in my other post, Exchange 2000 turned up a new event ID to Exchange admins and support folks across the lands.  The 9582 events made their first appearance shortly after a lot of admins upgraded their servers to Exchange 2000 SP1 or higher.  As I was saying before, the problem of VMF (virtual memory fragmentation) has been around for a long time, but not until SP1 or higher did we actually come out and report it when the VMF hit a critical state.  For this blog entry I’ll focus on the improvements in Exchange 2003…

 

In E2K, a large portion of the Store.exe's memory is allocated for the ESE Buffer (a.k.a. JET Buffer).  This buffer is placed in the Store.exe VA (i.e., virtual address space).  This buffer acts as a software-based disk buffer to help relieve some of the pressure on the disk subsystem.  Remember, going to memory is much faster than going to disk!  Out of the box, E2K uses a hard-coded buffer size of 858Mb, regardless of the amount of RAM, memory configuration, or OS.  As many people now know, this buffer size can be adjusted through the msExchESEParamCacheSizeMax parameter in AD.  In most E2K 9582 cases, when trying to prolong the VMF, we decrease the size of the ESE cache.  By decreasing the size of the buffer, you leave additional free virtual memory for Store.exe to use during runtime.  Whenever decreasing the size of the buffer, you must consider the potential disk I/O increase.  As you take more of the database out of virtual memory, you run the risk of putting a lot more pressure on the disks where the database resides.

 

In Exchange 2003, the ESE buffer is allocated intelligently based on whether the /3GB switch is set in the boot.ini file.  If the /3GB has been set (per Q266096), then the ESE buffer is automatically tuned to 896Mb.  If the /3GB switch has not been set (indicating less then 1Gb of physical RAM), then the ESE buffer is tuned down to 576Mb.  This auto-tuning means that smaller servers will not run out of virtual memory because the Store.exe is using less of a buffer and leaving more for runtime operations.

<snipped to save space.  Check out the link>

Death to Canned Meat

Thanks TechnoD!!!!

 

 

Dirty rotten spammers.

 

BTW:  If you want to keep them out there is a neato blacklist program that is a plugin for MT. 

Behind the singing rodents in the Quiznos ad

I blog this only because my family thinks the same thing.

 

 

Freaks they are!  I mean the folks at Quiznos. J 

Seth Stevenson writes, “Never have I gotten so much mail on a single ad. I gather that you seek an explanation. And with great urgency. Many of you sound disturbed—as though your lives will be placed on hold until you’ve come to terms with these haunting creatures. I wish I could help. But what can be said? I mean, it’s a screeching, levitating prosimian in a bowler hat. You’ll find no easy answers here, people.”

The whole family has disliked these commercials thinking they’re more frightening than anything else.


[Lockergnome’s Technology News]

Canned Meat

Some of you may have noticed that I have turned off the comments to the blog.  Sadly I have become over burdened with SPAM in my blog.  Until I can get with my bud TechnoD I am turning it off..  I hate @E$@#$#@%#$^& Spammers.  We should just be able to find them and shoot them square in the head.

 

 

Phil would like to comment that he neither condones or promotes violence and would never dream of *actually* shooting someone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unless it was a spammer. J 

Monday, February 23, 2004

Mom sues RIAA members for racketeering

It doesn’t look like it will hold up but more power to them! 

Don't call me scarface
[The Register]

A Phone You Can See From Both Sides

This looks cool.  Anything to make the phones lighter. J  Notice I didn’t say smaller… (remembering a MADTV episode where the phone was the size of a pinky nail). 

Mitsubishi Electric unveiled a prototype cell phone with an LCD display that can be viewed from both sides. In Mitsubishi Electric develops reversible LCD, the IDG News Service writes this could possibly affect the current trend in clamshell-type cell phones having two separate displays. Cell phones would also be thinner and cheaper.
[Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends]

Laptop phones

This looks kind of cool.  What they need to do is have a built-in Bluetooth module and sell the laptop with a Bluetooth headset.  I do like the fact that there is a display panel on the outside so that you can use the phone with the laptop in suspended mode.  I would need to see more information on this though to understand what is really going on.

 

It would be neat if it plugged into the FWD network or other SIP networks. J 

News.com on how some laptops could start doubling as phones:Manufacturers plan to start selling notebooks with integrated Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) this year and...
[Gizmodo]

The Infamous 9582 Event (continued)

If you know what that event id number means check this out. 

[This is a continuation of my The Infamous 9582 Event post last week.]

 

Just as I blabbed about last week in my other post, Exchange 2000 turned up a new event ID to Exchange admins and support folks across the lands.  The 9582 events made their first appearance shortly after a lot of admins upgraded their servers to Exchange 2000 SP1 or higher.  As I was saying before, the problem of VMF (virtual memory fragmentation) has been around for a long time, but not until SP1 or higher did we actually come out and report it when the VMF hit a critical state.  For this blog entry I’ll focus on the improvements in Exchange 2003…

 

In E2K, a large portion of the Store.exe's memory is allocated for the ESE Buffer (a.k.a. JET Buffer).  This buffer is placed in the Store.exe VA (i.e., virtual address space).  This buffer acts as a software-based disk buffer to help relieve some of the pressure on the disk subsystem.  Remember, going to memory is much faster than going to disk!  Out of the box, E2K uses a hard-coded buffer size of 858Mb, regardless of the amount of RAM, memory configuration, or OS.  As many people now know, this buffer size can be adjusted through the msExchESEParamCacheSizeMax parameter in AD.  In most E2K 9582 cases, when trying to prolong the VMF, we decrease the size of the ESE cache.  By decreasing the size of the buffer, you leave additional free virtual memory for Store.exe to use during runtime.  Whenever decreasing the size of the buffer, you must consider the potential disk I/O increase.  As you take more of the database out of virtual memory, you run the risk of putting a lot more pressure on the disks where the database resides.

 

In Exchange 2003, the ESE buffer is allocated intelligently based on whether the /3GB switch is set in the boot.ini file.  If the /3GB has been set (per Q266096), then the ESE buffer is automatically tuned to 896Mb.  If the /3GB switch has not been set (indicating less then 1Gb of physical RAM), then the ESE buffer is tuned down to 576Mb.  This auto-tuning means that smaller servers will not run out of virtual memory because the Store.exe is using less of a buffer and leaving more for runtime operations.

<snipped to save space.  Check out the link>

Death to Canned Meat

Thanks TechnoD!!!!

 

 

Dirty rotten spammers.

 

BTW:  If you want to keep them out there is a neato blacklist program that is a plugin for MT. 

Behind the singing rodents in the Quiznos ad

I blog this only because my family thinks the same thing.

 

 

Freaks they are!  I mean the folks at Quiznos. J 

Seth Stevenson writes, “Never have I gotten so much mail on a single ad. I gather that you seek an explanation. And with great urgency. Many of you sound disturbed—as though your lives will be placed on hold until you’ve come to terms with these haunting creatures. I wish I could help. But what can be said? I mean, it’s a screeching, levitating prosimian in a bowler hat. You’ll find no easy answers here, people.”

The whole family has disliked these commercials thinking they’re more frightening than anything else.


[Lockergnome’s Technology News]

Canned Meat

Some of you may have noticed that I have turned off the comments to the blog.  Sadly I have become over burdened with SPAM in my blog.  Until I can get with my bud TechnoD I am turning it off..  I hate @E$@#$#@%#$^& Spammers.  We should just be able to find them and shoot them square in the head.

 

 

Phil would like to comment that he neither condones or promotes violence and would never dream of *actually* shooting someone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unless it was a spammer. J 

Spamhaus crowned Internet heroes of 2003

Wow, the hero, Spamhaus has a wonderful Real-time Black Hole list that helps block spam.

 

The villain of 2003…..  Verisign!  Dirty stinking rotten @#$!!! 

ISPA awards: The good, the bad and the ugly
[The Register]

Internet Phone Patch is now shipping

This looks neat.  I am not quite sure what I would use one for but I still want one. J 

pulverInnovations's Internet Phone Patch started shipping a couple of weeks ago. While this is not a product that is easily described in five words or less, the feedback received to date has been mostly positive and as the word-of-mouth buzz...
[The Jeff Pulver Blog]

Sunday, February 22, 2004

Spamhaus crowned Internet heroes of 2003

Wow, the hero, Spamhaus has a wonderful Real-time Black Hole list that helps block spam.

 

The villain of 2003…..  Verisign!  Dirty stinking rotten @#$!!! 

ISPA awards: The good, the bad and the ugly
[The Register]

Friday, February 20, 2004

It's official

I canceled my Tivo service today.  Beyond TV has been working so well that I took the plunge and severed the last tie… That monthly charge.

 

So, now I will be hacking up a xmltv2tivo service so that my kids can use it to record Ed, Edd and Eddie J 

Thursday, February 19, 2004

It's official

I canceled my Tivo service today.  Beyond TV has been working so well that I took the plunge and severed the last tie… That monthly charge.

 

So, now I will be hacking up a xmltv2tivo service so that my kids can use it to record Ed, Edd and Eddie J 

Thursday, February 12, 2004

Exclusive: Windows 2000 & Windows NT 4 Source Code Leaks

Jumpin’ Jehosiphat!  This could be trouble! 


[Neowin.net]

WakeUp Tweak To Mitigate 2003 Alarm Bug

We saw this alarm bug all the way back in the first edition of PocketPC. 

"Wakeup Tweak is a little program that corrects a bug that appeared in Windows Mobile 2003 concerning alarms that don't always ring when they should. Everyone knows now that the PocketPC turns itself on at midnight to execute some maintenance routines, in particular the alarm initialisation. There is a fault in that the delay to switch on the Pocket PC is only 15 seconds, and that that time lapse is too short to do it correctly. Consequently, some users had have the unpleasant surprise of not hearing their Pocket PC ring out when it should have. This bug can be corrected by a change to the Registry, but if you are not too inspired to do this, you can install this utility instead." I say it mitigates the issue because the above registry tweak doesn't fix the problem 100% of the time. I've seen posts in the newsgroups that by changing the 15 seconds to 60 seconds, it greatly increases the chances you'll get the alarm, but doesn't guarantee it. Still very odd that I have no problems at all on my 2215, the device most people with the alarm issue seem to have. :?
[Pocket PC Thoughts]

Nachi variant wipes MyDoom from PCs

Back when Code Red first came out I remember talking with a few folks (you know who you are) about creating a retro-virus that would use the same exploitation and remove said virus.  All seems kind of funny now….  Or not so funny.  All of the flash back or bad press doesn’t seem to be happening like we envisioned does it? 

Virus War gets really confusing
[The Register]

Wednesday, February 11, 2004

Exclusive: Windows 2000 & Windows NT 4 Source Code Leaks

Jumpin’ Jehosiphat!  This could be trouble! 


[Neowin.net]

Cracking Bluetooth

I wondered how long it would be before someone jumped on someone else’s Bluetooth phone to get on the internet…  I didn’t see a mention of how they were going to fix it.. Other than just turning Bluetooth off, which really isn’t an answer is it? 

Security firm can connect to some Bluetooth phones and extract data quietly: Flaws in some phones allowed this group of researchers to write a tool that lets them simply connect, extract, and depart without a Bluetooth pairing procedure or alerting the phone's owner....
[Wi-Fi Networking News]

SimpleTech Announces 8GB Compact Flash Card

Hehe, 8GB!!!! 


[Slashdot]

Tuesday, February 10, 2004

Cracking Bluetooth

I wondered how long it would be before someone jumped on someone else’s Bluetooth phone to get on the internet…  I didn’t see a mention of how they were going to fix it.. Other than just turning Bluetooth off, which really isn’t an answer is it? 

Security firm can connect to some Bluetooth phones and extract data quietly: Flaws in some phones allowed this group of researchers to write a tool that lets them simply connect, extract, and depart without a Bluetooth pairing procedure or alerting the phone's owner....
[Wi-Fi Networking News]

It's Official -- Star Wars on DVD

Cool!  I will add this to my wish list!! 


[Slashdot]

A Way Out of Automated Phone Hell

I know someone who needs to put this in.  As a matter of fact, I think he is dealing with this kind of thing at this very moment. J 

Do endless automated messages make you mad? A program aims to detect that anger and transfer you to a real person before you lose your cool. By Louise Knapp.
[Wired News]

Monday, February 9, 2004

Fish Wirelessly

Fishing AND WiFi?  This I like! 

Boaters in the middle of Lake Conroe in Texas can now access the Internet: Jarvis Entertainment Group, West Hills Park Joint Venture, and Del Lago Resort are building a Wi-Fi network that will completely cover the lake. The network also covers the 18-hole golf course at the Del Lago Resort....
[Wi-Fi Networking News]

Ethical Wi-Fi Borrowing

I don’t know why, but after reading this article I am suddenly very thirsty!

If I put a sign up at my house stating “Have a glass of water, for free”, isn’t that the same thing? 

The Ethicist endorses borrowing a neighbor's Wi-Fi signal: In a fairly one-sided debate of the issues, the mention of Time-Warner's Roadrunner threat letters to purposeful Wi-Fi sharers aside, The New York Times's columnist Randy Cohen says that unless you inconvenience the unintentional service provider you're borrowing from, you're not going to ethical heck. His summary of Time-Warner's issue is specious, though. The company argues, in effect, that while you may have a glass of water at a neighbor's, you may not run a pipe from his place to yours. Actually, because the service is unmetered, it's more like saying, we're providing you unlimited water for personal use, and guests are okay, but you can't run a pipe to a neighbor's house. (Cohen quotes Mike Godwin, the formulator of Godwin's Law, which is infallibly accurate.) (I like the sound of "unintentional provider." I've been trying to find a term to cover the difference between community wireless nodes run by individuals who aren't necessarily bound to keep them running and community wireless nodes and other free nodes that are designed and "advertised" as available all the time. I was thinking purposely persistent provider, but perhaps the distinction is "unintentional provider" and "intentional provider.") [Nods to Cory D. for prompting this digression.]...
[Wi-Fi Networking News]

Sunday, February 8, 2004

Fish Wirelessly

Fishing AND WiFi?  This I like! 

Boaters in the middle of Lake Conroe in Texas can now access the Internet: Jarvis Entertainment Group, West Hills Park Joint Venture, and Del Lago Resort are building a Wi-Fi network that will completely cover the lake. The network also covers the 18-hole golf course at the Del Lago Resort....
[Wi-Fi Networking News]

Wednesday, February 4, 2004

Good Technology Partners With Pocket PCs

Great googlie-mooglie!!  I know some folks that need to test this out….. 

"Good Technology Inc., a developer of mobile corporate data and messaging systems, on Tuesday said its software will now work on handheld devices powered by Microsoft Corp.'s Pocket PC platform, potentially allowing millions more people to use the technology...Closely-held Good on Tuesday unveiled GoodLink 3.0, an updated version of its system, which now will work with devices driven by Microsoft's Pocket PC software, such as those made by Hewlett-Packard and Dell Inc." I'm assuming this means that Good's always-on email technology has been ported to Pocket PCs, and I'm curious how it works. Nevertheless, beRIM and Good competing over platforms, I think we're edging closer to the day that Pocket PCs can become true replacement for Blackberry-style devices. 8)
[Pocket PC Thoughts]

Tuesday, February 3, 2004

Good Technology Partners With Pocket PCs

Great googlie-mooglie!!  I know some folks that need to test this out….. 

"Good Technology Inc., a developer of mobile corporate data and messaging systems, on Tuesday said its software will now work on handheld devices powered by Microsoft Corp.'s Pocket PC platform, potentially allowing millions more people to use the technology...Closely-held Good on Tuesday unveiled GoodLink 3.0, an updated version of its system, which now will work with devices driven by Microsoft's Pocket PC software, such as those made by Hewlett-Packard and Dell Inc." I'm assuming this means that Good's always-on email technology has been ported to Pocket PCs, and I'm curious how it works. Nevertheless, beRIM and Good competing over platforms, I think we're edging closer to the day that Pocket PCs can become true replacement for Blackberry-style devices. 8)
[Pocket PC Thoughts]

Sony's first Blu-Ray recorders

Wow!  Now this would be something to put in your HTPC! 

First two high-capacity Blu-Ray recorders are due out from Sony in May. Sony's Blu-Ray discs can hold up to 23.3GB of data. Read [Thanks, Kowalski]...
[Gizmodo]

Why your Movable Type blog must die

Well, despite this authors extreme views on Movable Type I happen to like it.  I will still look at Live Journal but only because I don’t want my site to blow up.  Those of you who regular this site, please let me know if I should be worried about the delicate nature of MT? J  Anyway, if you want to hear more from someone who obviously doesn’t like most of the blogs in the US, click the link below… 

In the past, blogging was an interesting pastime. Now, with the advent of the ridiculously popular weblog package Movable Type, the Web is in risk of drowning under a tidal wave of morons who throttle search engines with writing that has no purpose and such PageRank-destroying features as "TrackBack".
[kuro5hin.org]

TiVo price drop; catches Janet bare-breasted too

MythTV users did too! 

TiVo discounts all Series2 DVRs by $50 while TiVo users (repeatedly) view Janet Jackson's bare breast.
[Ars Technica]

Monday, February 2, 2004

Sony's first Blu-Ray recorders

Wow!  Now this would be something to put in your HTPC! 

First two high-capacity Blu-Ray recorders are due out from Sony in May. Sony's Blu-Ray discs can hold up to 23.3GB of data. Read [Thanks, Kowalski]...
[Gizmodo]

Outlook Shutdown Addin

This problem has been around since the old Windows Inbox program.  If this COM add-in truly gets rid of Outlook, why, oh why can’t they just put it in the next SP of Outlook? 

If you have problems with Outlook remaining in memory when you exit it, Outlook Shutdown Addin is for you. This is a COM add-in which enables Outlook to shutdown completely when a user exits from the application, eliminating the need to open Task Manager to end OUTLOOK.EXE.
[Slipstick - Outlook and Exchange News]

Philips to mass produce electronic paper displays

Cool!!!  They have been talking about e-paper for quite some time now.  I just hope this isn’t vapor ware and that it will hit the US market sometime… 

A few months ago Philips revealed that they we working on electronic paper, and now it looks like they're close to mass-producing them, with the...
[Gizmodo]

Google Protests Give Web Site an Audience

Booble… That’s just too funny. J 

Booble, a search engine for sex sites looks an awful lot like Google. Now Google is trotting out the lawyers.
[New York Times: Technology]