Design Problem

To create an identity / logo for the Center for Biomedical Research Informatics (CBRI).

Design Objectives

Create a logo or wordmark that symbolizes what CBRI does and stands for. Make an artistic connection between living systems and a biology aspect and information technology. Keep the design professional while incorporating state-of-the-art technology and the center’s trustworthy and substantial environment Convey the idea of narrowing down complex data into organized and easy-to-understand systems Visualize logo / wordmark for use in web, stationary, and posters in a consistent design

We worked with students from Sara Steil’s ‘GDII: Identity and Symbols’ course. Beginning with a collection of seventeen forms, after a semester of discussion we narrowed the field to five. This afternoon we selected the winning entry. An organic form, evoking thoughts of inter-connection between ideas and organisms. A form that is both old (Yin and yang) and new.

Look for this logo as we roll out deployment early in the new year.

The National Geographic Society, IBM, geneticist Spencer Wells, and the Waitt Family Foundation have launched the Genographic Project, a five-year effort to understand the human journey—where we came from and how we got to where we live today. This unprecedented effort will map humanity’s genetic journey through the ages.

With a cheek swab sample of your own DNA submitted to the lab, the Project will test either your mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down each generation from mother to child and reveals your direct maternal ancestry; or your Y chromosome (males), which is passed from father to son and reveals your paternal ancestry.

Results reveal your ancestry along a single line of direct descent (paternal or maternal) and show the migration paths they followed thousands of years ago. Results also place you on a branch of the human family tree.

Interesting.

Under wraps for cleaning and storage as the Art Institute of Chicago builds a new wing, they are not expected to see the light of day until 2009. Made glorious in the early light of morning, just as the Institute opens, enter the museum and hurry to the back to catch the sunrise. Perfecting the space in blue radiance are the America Windows by Marc Chagall. (larger image)

The America Windows, 1977, a gift of Marc Chagall, the City of Chicago and the Auxiliary Board of the Art Institute of Chicago, commemorate the American Bicentennial in memory of Mayor Richard J. Daley.

Though in storage they retain their brilliance in my memory. (larger image)

Our migration from CCGB.UMN.EDU to CBRI.UMN.EDU bumps up against another configuration we take for granted. Our TCP wrappers are configured to allow our tightly integrated collection of systems to interoperate fairly freely.

This morning we received a call from one of our collaborators explaining he was no-longer able to access one of our web services. A quick test of all the servers involved showed all systems ready and produced no error. Moving to the protocol layer we found this:

ssh_exchange_identification: Connection closed by remote host

Pointing to the out of date TCP wrapper configuration. Corrected by adding ‘.kunaufamily.org’ to the sshd entry in the /etc/hosts.allow file on the execution host:

#
# hosts.allow   This file describes the names of the hosts which are
#               allowed to use the local INET services, as decided
#               by the '/usr/sbin/tcpd' server.
#
sshd :   .cbri.umn.edu .ccgb.umn.edu

I understand another possible solution is to add:

host *
UsePrivilegedPort no

to the ‘config’ file in the master or the user level .ssh/ directory. I have chosen the more systemic approach and am in the process of updating the relevant hosts.allow files.

This also corrects a lingering Veritas connection issue for some of our LINUX based production servers.