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Brief Chronology of the Development of the Neuman Systems Model
Model Development
NSM developed as a graduate course guide to integrate four variables of man.
Publication of "A model for teaching total person approach to patient problems",Nursing Research, May/June.
Refined model published in Riehl & Roy, Conceptual Models for Nursing Practice. Model classified as a systems model, and titled "The Betty Neuman Health-Care Systems Model: A Total Person Approach to Patient Problems".
Riehl & Roy, Conceptual Models for Nursing Practice, 2nd edition. Practice tools for NSM implementation added, and term "patient" changed to "client".
Neuman's first book, The Neuman Systems Model: Application to Nursing Education and Practice. Nursing process format & care plans included; Chapters include applications of the NSM to individuals, families and community; A total approach to client care.
The Neuman Systems Model, 2nd ed. Created environment added to expand concept of environment. Spiritual variable added to diagram as fifth variable.
The Neuman Systems Model, 3rd ed. Chapters on culture, international use of the Model, applications to administration and construction of conceptual-theoretical-structures for research added.
The Neuman Systems Model, 4th ed. Co-edited by Drs. Betty Neuman and Jacqueline Fawcett. Guidelines for clinical practice, model-based research, education and administration, plus appropriate tools highlight this edition.
The Neuman Systems Model, 5th ed. Co-edited by Drs. Betty Neuman and Jacqueline Fawcett. Chapters include an expansion of the client system as an individual, family, group and community. Highlights include advances in thinking about the created environment, reconstitution, and critical thinking within the context of the NSM. Middle-range theory development and integrative theorizing conclude the edition.
Neuman Systems Model: Celebrating Academics Practice Partnerships. Co-edited by Sarah Beckman and Jacqueline Fawcett. Demonstrates the continued international popularity, validity, and comprehensiveness of the Neuman work. The Model provides a wholistic, global, culturally relevant perspective for inter-disciplinary health care. A special feature of the book is the inclusion of contributing authors with various nursing education and practice backgrounds in conjunction with nursing students contributors. The structure of the book chapters -- with content addressing the quality and safety education for nurses (QSN) followed by example of academic-practice partnerships -- is an excellent format for sharing and validating information, and for identifying professional nursing practice responsibilities. This inclusionary approach to the book contents is a unifying factor that represents a comprehensive strategy for healthcare delivery in all cultures. (Neuman and Freiburger 2017)
Sources for further information
The five Neuman texts listed above contain in-depth information about the history of the development of the model, and each text presents original applications of the model to education, practice, administration and research that have evolved through the years.
Chapter 7 in the text by Jacqueline Fawcett, (2005). Contemporary Nursing Knowledge: Analysis and Evaluation of Nursing Models and Theories, 2nd ed., F.A.Davis, provides a detailed analysis and evaluation of the Neuman's Systems Model and an extensive bibliography.
The original diagram of the model, copyright in 1970, has not been altered other than adding the spiritual variable in 1995 and can be found in the Neuman textbooks.
The overall contributions of the model to the discipline of nursing are summarized by Neuman: "The Neuman Systems Model fits well with the wholistic concept of optimizing a dynamic yet stable interrelationship of spirit, mind, and body of the client in a constantly changing environment and society" (Neuman & Young, 1972).


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The year 2016 will "very likely" be the hottest on record, the UN said Monday, warning of calamitous consequences if the march of global warming cannot be halted.
Average temperatures for the year were set to hit about 1.2 Celsius (2.16 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels – meaning that 16 of the 17 hottest years on record were this century, said the UN's World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
to help us to understand and deconstruct capitalism in order to create a sustainable and peaceful social system.
We've lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that "regular" citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
The year 2016 set to be hottest on record

subset: commoncrawl


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Join us for a special dinner with Karl Worley and our friend, food writer and author Sheri Castle to celebrate the Appalachian foodways, and benefit the Appalachian Food Summit, a program of which Karl and Sheri are huge supporters.
This very intimate family-style meal will feature the classic dishes of the Appalachia with beverages by Blackberry Farm and Reedy Creek Wine. The evening will include conversation about preserving the rich history and the unique ingredients of Appalachian foodways.
Saturday July 15, 2017
6:30 pm
Biscuit Love Hillsboro Village
2001 Belcourt Ave. Nashville, TN 37212
$45 per person
Tickets are limited and are sold on a first-come first-served basis.


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Went for a bit of a ride on the weekend, sort of did half of Round The Bay In a Day, did 110 kms, but it wasn't really official-me and a mate just went for a ride on the same day the big ride was on. More packs to slipstream behind that way!
I got to thinking, as one does whilst riding a bike for an excessive period of time, (and it was an excessive period of time going the pace we were!) about the Kingdom of God and cycling.
See the phrase 'the Kingdom of God' is one that I love-as its my favourite topic at the moment, but is also one that I think we slightly lose the meaning of, seeing as how we don't live in a culture where Kings and Kingdoms really mean anything. To use, the King-or Queen as it is now, to us is just a far off monarch who doesn't really do much. Not the idea Jesus was trying to present I think.
See I think if Jesus were around today, he might use very different words to describe His Kingdom (which in a nutshell is 'wherever God reigns') than He did back in the day.
A metaphor I thought up was 'The Peloton of God'. (Basically a Peloton is a big pack of cyclists, usually the lead group in a race) See a peloton is ultimately about being in community, you can't form a peloton with only one person.
It's about helping each other out, about lightening each other's load, making the journey easier. Sometimes some are called to be out the front of the peloton, doing the hard slog, but they can't stay out there or they'll get burnt out.
In a peloton sometimes you get people who just hang on, who are struggling along, but are kept going by being part of the group. There are some that could push harder, but instead choose just to coast, which is Ok-but they aren't getting the most out of themselves as a cyclist.
Sometimes people will drop off the back because its all too hard, which sucks for them, and the rest of the peloton, but is just a reality of riding. The offer to join is always there, but not everybody is always up for it. Sometimes a stronger rider can drop back to the struggling rider and help pull them back in, sometimes this offer is accepted, sometimes rejected.
The peloton doesn't force anybody to join, people can always take their own journey. Sometimes people on different journeys will help out the peloton, any rider can be out the front if they choose. Even thought that person may be travelling a different path, sometimes their journey will overlap with that of the peloton of God.
So there you, its not a perfect analogy, I don't think any are, but its my attempt.
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It's Friday the 13th. Is it your lucky day?
I don't really believe the Universe is sitting up there with bated breath, watching our calendar—do you?
The idea of Friday the 13th being unlucky is a very old construct of group thought, a superstition.
The thing about most old thought like this, is that it's based in fear.
I would not say that we as humans have less to fear nowadays, but we now understand that we have the choice of attitude, that we decide how we perceive events that take place.
That choice belongs to us.
A lot if people will be talking about Law of Attraction, how we create our reality with our thoughts, today.
Yes, to an extent.
But the Universe is also busy creating from collective consciousness, which is not always aligned with positivity.
Stuff happens.
It's how you choose to perceive it that matters. If you perceive things small and in fear, you go down the fear path.
If you expand and look at things from place of love, your experience is different.
Choose for yourself today. Happy 13th.
Much love,
P.S. Discover courses in spiritual intuition here.
Kurt Cobain is not mentioned in this post.
In fact, the subject of this post likely doesn't even know who he is.
There comes a time in every teen's life when they move from the graphic tees section of Old Navy, to the official no-longer-a-preteen section.
That day was today.
Amidst the 4th of July specials we journeyed, looking askance at anything red, white or blue.
Instead the shopper, now 12.75 years, settled on a cardigan and skirt, as previously noticed in Teen Vogue.
If you have every waited in an Old Navy with the disco pop blaring, while said near teen tries on 368 items of clothing, dare we say you have not lived?
And yet... In the end, what was chosen was absolutely perfect for the shopper.
A new match, for an emerging personality. Worth trying on everything that did not fit, did not work.
Such is true for all of us, at every age.
We try on different aspects of ourselves, until we find what is most authentic, what is most interesting, what fits the best.
Well worth the time, the effort.
No matter when we start.
However long the journey takes.
Much love,
P.S. Find books on spiritual intuition here.
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Your Greatest Legacy
We will not conceal them from their children, but tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.
—Psalm 78:4
If you are a parent, at some point you will likely watch your children go through a crisis in their lives. It may be an unwanted divorce, an undeserved termination, or an unexpected illness. And it will be at that moment that our success or failure as a parent would become evident to everyone. Have we passed on to our children a faith in God that will help them navigate through the storms of life? Have we tended to their spiritual development as children so that the problems of life do not crush them but instead help them to grow? Have we modeled to them the grace and forgiveness that will keep them from bitterness that will destroy their lives?
As we are going to see this week, the two greatest legacies we can leave our children are a legacy of spiritual growth and a legacy of faith. We will see these two legacies illustrated in Genesis 47 through 50. This week marks the end of our study on the life of Joseph. Every time I teach about the life of Joseph, people tell me, "It seems like you were speaking directly to me in that lesson." And that's not the power of the preacher; that's the power of the Word of God.
There is something about Joseph's life with which each of us can identify—and that is all of the ups and downs he experienced in his life. Think about everything Joseph went through. He started out as a favored child of privilege; then he was betrayed by his brothers, who threw him in a pit and left him there to die. Then, through the miraculous providence of God, Joseph's life was spared, and he was taken by slave traders and raised up to become the head of Potiphar's household. But while he was there, he was falsely accused of rape and thrown back into prison. While he was in prison, Joseph was forsaken by his fellow prisoners. Then again the providence of God rescued Joseph from the prison and lifted him up to be the second in command to Pharaoh over all of Egypt.
Through all of those ups and downs in his life, God had a plan He was working out for Joseph. And now we will learn what God has to say about our own lives by observing two historical events that are recorded in these last four chapters of Genesis. First, we see the death of Jacob, Joseph's father; and second, we see the death of Joseph himself.
Far more than being just simple obituaries in the Bible, the reason so much space is devoted to these two deaths is because the deaths of Jacob and Joseph remind us of the two most important legacies we can leave for our children. What legacy will you leave behind for your children and grandchildren? This week you will learn how to leave the greatest possible legacy for future generations.
Today's devotion is excerpted from "Lessons in Leadership" by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2009.
Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.


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I figured, since this is the last day of my 31st year, I would post a couple of things regarding my own daily eating and moving.
A friend of mine wants to go out tonight after work. I'm pretty sure we're going, so, I'm planning ahead. This is a place that we go semi-regularly, and I have a pretty good idea what I'm going to eat. So, based on my knowledge of portions, as well as what I want, I plugged the numbers into fitday.com. If you go out to eat, there's probably more calories than if you eat at home. Also, this morning, when I woke up, I was hungry. This isn't usually the case, but since I felt actual hunger, I ate something. A pear and some cashews. Quite a few cashews, in fact. I also had some coffee with a little bit of half & half.
Around 2:30 I headed out to the gym. Squat day. I haven't been to the gym yet this week, since I was feeling a little bit sore from my sprint session on Saturday, but I didn't want the whole week to get away from me without lifting. So, I left home at 2:30 for the gym and got back home around 3:30. One hour, including travel. Not too bad. If you think you don't have time, you probably don't have a plan when you head out the door. A plan is just as important for moving as it is for eating. Tomorrow morning I'm heading back to the gym and I probably won't stay more than 45 minutes. I'm sure the people at the gym think I'm crazy and wasting my time and money. I'm OK with them thinking that.
My calorie count for today is higher than normal, but according to the info that I've plugged into fitday for the month, I'm still around 1700-1800 calories per day, on average. And that's the way you should approach this. You don't have to be perfect every day. If you try to be, you'll probably make yourself crazy. But, if listen to your body and do a little bit of planning, you'll probably average out quite well and make some progress. This weekend will prove to be a test for me from a food perspective, as I have plans to go out to dinner tomorrow night with Rachel, and also on Sunday with Rachel and my family. So, a little bit of planning, and not over-doing it during the rest of the weekend is in order.
If you're interest in my macronutrient breakdown for the day, I've included it below. If I feel like it, I might have a beer tonight, but as of now, I don't feel like having a beer tonight. I'd much rather lift heavy things with ease in the morning. The breakdown looks like something that will have you making a call to your cardiologist, according to Conventional Wisdom. I'm willing to bet that's not the case.
Post thoughts to comments.


text: The articles in this collection focus on instruction - and writings arising from that instruction - in philosophy and the arts during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries with emphasis on Central Europe. The introduction brings together and expands upon many of the topics discussed - and conclusions reached - in the remaining seven articles. Four of these articles are devoted to examining the significance of two ancient authors (Aristotle and Cicero) and of two more recent ones (Petrus Ramus and Bartholomew Keckermann). The article on Keckermann is based in part on previously unpublished biographical and bibliographical source materials. Two concepts - encyclopedia and philosophy - as utilized in the 16th and 17th centuries constitute the subject matter of separate articles. And one article focuses primarily on curriculum plans written during the 16th and early 17th centuries. These eight articles are based on a wide array of printed and manuscript source materials which are cited together with library/archive locations and call numbers and which are made more easily accessible through three indices at the conclusion of this volume.


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Philanthropy Australia CEO Sarah Davies leads a unique team dispersed across Australia that are known for their self-motivation and high performance – traits that make their employees one of the organisation's most valuable assets.
Ms Davies said an employee's proven commitment to a greater purpose prior to taking on their role has proven beneficial.
"Working at a not-for-profit organisation can often be difficult and uncertain, and the people who come to work with us know this, and are absolutely committed to the cause," Davies said.
Despite being a small team, Philanthropy Australia works across all states and territories nationwide with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, keeping the team out of physical proximity.
Separated by what sometimes can be a tyranny of distance, the peak national body for philanthropic organisations has worked innovatively to achieve a win-win situation for employees and the organisation.
Ms Davies said this distance makes it that much more important to be collaborative and engaged.
"Collaboration is the key to going the distance in our work. There is a great African proverb that says if you want to go fast, go alone but if you want to go far, go together – and we want to go far," she said.
Philanthropy Australia ensures they 'go together' by meeting in person three times a year purely to collaborate, undertake team building exercises and think strategically rather than discussing day-to-day business operations.
While the topic of the meeting varies depending on what the team needs at the time, Philanthropy Australia's solution have, so far, focused on three themes:
- Nurturing interpersonal relationships.
- Aligning and understanding the personal values of team members.
- Collaborating to form a long-term strategy and how to best undertake organisational change – including what works well and what needs to be adapted better.
A most recent example of collaboration is their Strategic Plan for 2017-2020. Each team member contributed their individual expertise, whether it was administration, membership services or marketing, into the strategy to ensure it genuinely represented a team effort. It brought individual roles back to a core purpose.
The exemplary way in which this has assisted overall team development has demonstrated how Philanthropy Australia wins by recognising each employee's value and contribution despite being scattered across the country.
Our interviews with 50 leading CEOs showed leaders must be open to changed work practices which nurture and support staff rather than focusing on output. (CEO Insights)


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Australian – Bushrangers
Dancing with Ben Hall – Jackie French
Short stories all drawn from the author's own family history, tales of the cunning wombat Moriarty a meeting with Henry Lawson, and her great grandmother's dance with the bushranger Ben Hall.
Range the Mountains High – Judith Wright
Two children and their mother set out on horseback from Port Macquarie in 1870 to join their father and husband at a gold mine.
Robbery Under Arms -Rolf Boldrewood
The most famous story of bushranging ever told, first published in 1888.
Not for Children


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Personalisation of care and support has been a great breakthrough, and it retains broad political and sector support. But there's a danger of it being badly – and unnecessarily – damaged in these austere times.
The development of personalisation in social care is part of a wider shift in our society towards including all people as fully equal citizens. This is long overdue, has had to be fought for, and is far from complete. It has emerged primarily from the efforts and struggles of disabled and older people, with support from their progressive allies in public services.
Over many years, disabled people worked out how to achieve independence and avoid services that trap them in dependency and limited lives – by demanding direct payments and personalised support. They had to fight to take charge, often achieving this despite a service system that struggled to shift away from its institutional roots. In recent years, the social care policy of successive governments has started to reflect people's aspirations to direct their own lives, in particular through the introduction of personal budgets and an expectation of tailored support. While this is to be welcomed, it does not of itself transform the way people experience care and support. This big change to culture and practice is still in its relatively early stages in many areas.
In a period of severe resource pressures, and with worrying reports of significant budget cuts in disability and older people's services in some areas, we wait and hope for a funding solution from the government's Dilnot commission, which is due to report in the summer
In the meantime, there is a high risk of distraction from, and perversion of, the things that make personalisation real. In some places we see crude cuts being justified in its name, or restrictions on the use of personal budgets, which make no financial sense yet seriously hinder opportunities for creativity and efficiency. Where rigid local rules only allow individual budgets to be spent on "personal care", this means people can't make their money work harder by, for example, supporting themselves into work.
As a result, some people start to see personalisation as part of the problem rather than central to the solution. It's vital that councils and providers demonstrate the difference being made and share the results with local people. Evaluation carried out by In Control has shown an improvement in quality of life for two-thirds of people with a personal budget, and dignity in care improved for more than half. Further findings from a national personal budget survey will also be available soon, giving a detailed picture of their impact.
The Think Local, Act Personal Partnership is launched this week, a coalition of more than 30 organisations working in social care. It argues that when resources are tight, they have to be used especially well. This means a preventive approach. It also means personal budgets delivered without unnecessary bureaucracy so that people can target resources, based on their expertise in their own needs and lives. At times like this we mustn't take our eyes off the prize for which people have fought for so hard and so long. Instead, let's work, argue, influence and fight for true personalisation.• Martin Routledge led the Department of Health personalisation delivery team. He is now head of operations for In Control.


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Tag: national parks
Blue Ridge Dreams
Take an unforgettable journey through the Great Smokey Mountains.
National Parks Are in the Forever Business and Climate Change Is Bad for Business
The science is clear that our national parks are changing in fast-moving and highly concerning ways.
Anonymous Rangers
U.S. park rangers made this anonymous video showing their concern over the closing of America's national parks during the government shutdown.
How Will the U.S. Government Shutdown Impact Energy and Environment Issues?
With the federal government closed for business, what happens to cleanup at hazardous waste sites or critical weather alerts, for example?
A Boom With No Boundaries: How Drilling Threatens Theodore Roosevelt National Park
"A Boom With No Boundaries" explores how one of America's 59 national parks is already being affected by the pollution, traffic and noise associated with oil and gas drilling.
Visiting and Working in America's National Parks
More than 282 million people visit the over 400 U.S. national park areas every year.
Fracking Our National Parks
This summer's visitors to our national parks—along with future visitors—may be welcomed by dirtier air, polluted water, and natural gas and oil drilling operations that are fast encroaching on natural wonders.
The Environmental Downside of the Sequester: Will National Parks Close?
Reduced services and access will make families planning summer vacations think twice about coming to a national park.
Public Lands, Private Profits: Videos Reveal How Mining and Fossil Fuel Industries Threaten America's Treasures
The Grand Canyon in Arizona, Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, and the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming—three majestic places held in the public trust—are could be irrevocably changed by nearby mining and drilling.
National Park Service Asks "Where Are All the Young People?"
It seems that instead of the young backpacker often associated with national parks, the average national park visitor is actually middle-aged.


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inXile has offficially announced its Kickstarter for a new Torment. Let all Tappers commence their orgasmic peals of joy. Don't disappoint me, people!
Rule #2: Double-tap
My first thought looking at their Kickstarter Page was "HOLY FUCK! 1.3 Million already? They could hit ten million by the time fundraising ends! What makes these guys so much more special than Project Eternity or Double Fine?"
My second thought: "I understand there's more than enough talent on hand to make two killer games, but why couldn't these guys and Chris Avellone have just gotten together and made Planescape: Eternity?"
Basically we now have two different games that are spiritual successors to Planescape: Torment, made by two different teams, both of which are staffed by the original creators of Torment. It is awesome. But also a little weird.
Yeah Dix is right. Planescape is a D&D setting and I don't think they wanted to wrangle with adapting the rules and conventions again as well as securing the rights to use it. I think it's a good call to steer clear of that, for focus' sake, but I'm a little worried they might over-egg the philosophical angle with 'What can change the nature of a man?' type questions. In PS:T that quandry was at the core of the experience but it bobbed to the surface as you played the game, it was subtle and organic. With Torment: Tides of Numenera, they seem to be banging that drum already. 'What does one life matter?' I kind of wish they'd kept that one in the bag. I suppose they need a soundbite to get people into the mood.
Either way, very exciting times! Wasteland 2, Project Eternity and now Torment: Tides of Numenera! Of the three I think I'm looking forward to Project Eternity the most just because of Chris Avellone (Torment was his baby and I adored it, but from all accounts Obsidian's work on New Vegas, Neverwinter Nights and KOTOR were extraordinary) but the other two look/sound very promising. I honestly thought we'd never see any more rich pseudo text-driven RPGs, what with voice work and fully realised 3D worlds sucking up budgets but I'm so glad I'm wrong. Hurrah!!
Edit: By the way, it's worth checking out the updates because they're really interesting.
Dix is correct. Colin (McComb, who is a friend of mine and Creative Lead on Tides of Numenera) told me that they were unable to get Wizards of the Coast to release the Planescape license to them. In a way that's probably a good thing, since they'd likely have been shackled to the D&D system and subject to Wizards approval for stuff. Colin's opinion, and I agree, is thatPlanescape isn't necessarily important, but a Planescape-like setting is. Something... bizarre and lived-in. This world seems like a good choice to me.
I've been trying to get Colin to use us as an outlet for smaller pieces of news and updates. He's been kinda busy though.
This team is very close to the original Black Isle stuff. Brian Fargo and Colin were all over the Fallout franchise and the original Torment - Colin was essentially Avellone's #2 - and much of the team comes from the same pedigree. I have confidence the game will deliver, provided we gamers haven't been changed by modernity. Will we be able to enjoy isometric, turn-based RPGs? I think we will.
Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.
I hadn't really paid much attention to Project Eternity, but it looks like cause for enthusiasm as well. I really like the new setting for Torment: Numenera. It's science fiction fantasy from one of the D&D 3rd edition guys apparently. A world that exists in the ruins of several ancient civilizations, with all its mysteries and secrets waiting to be discovered and plundered. That really gets my juices flowing. It actually sounds more interesting to me than Planescape.
Steerpike, if you could convince Colin that would be stellar.
EDIT: Oh, and it's already funded.
Rule #2: Double-tap
So with the release of Wasteland 2, Tides is now the focus. I've recently realized something: I don't really enjoy role-playing via dialog trees. I think I've always known this, but just not on a conscious level. It's why, though I enjoyed the story, I never really clicked with Torment (the garbage combat didn't help either).
I hope this game is a grand success, but it's not something I'm eagerly anticipating.
Rule #2: Double-tap
Torment is heavily dialogue-driven, though it has its share of combat. I think Wasteland 2 is a lot more combat intensive, which makes sense because that's the style of game it is. One challenge with dialogue is flow. Things have to flow like a normal conversation would, and I've discovered that it's actually almost impossible to manage that. Plus, since dialogue is a game challenge now, rather than just story exposition, it's more open to save spamming and so forth, meaning all branches - even obviously "wrong" ones - need a good fleshing out.
For me, when the dialogue is good, I like the conversations more than turn-based combat. Planescape Torment made me stop and think about the dialogue choices I made. Mass Effect wasn't quite as deep, but the actiony combat helped offset that. There was a time when I'd prefer a slow turn-based system, but in my dotage I tend to get impatient and careless.
Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.
I had some trouble getting into Torment at points, though the writing and dialogue choices certainly weren't the problem - I thought that they were better done than most anything BioWare has produced, as a whole, in terms of getting the feeling I could play a character with some nuance if I wanted. The combat was lame even by Infinity Engine standards, which I think was generally hamstrung by its reliance on the second edition rules for Dungeons & Dragons, wherein combat did indeed pretty much suck.
Also, Torment's magic literally broke the game on my machine because my graphics card is too new. So there's that.
"Home is not a place. It is wherever your passion takes you."
Hey, so this exists as a real game now. I watched AJ stream a bit of it on twitch last night, it looks pretty cool. TONS of words. So many words. But that seems right for Torment.
Anyone else played it? Steerpike, didn't you have some sort of light involvement in the project?
If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever
I did, very briefly. I had the opportunity to do a lot more than I did, but it was a bad time for me; sort of like getting the chance of a lifetime about a month after you've lost the ability to take advantage of it. In the end I wound up barely being involved. Still, I'm excited to see if I recognize any of its words, and to see how the story has evolved since I worked on it.
The people at inXile are just incredible. Delightful to work with, friendly, so dedicated. For them the project was really a labor of love, and I'm sure they felt a lot of pressure to deliver something worthy of the name. How Kevin Saunders, Colin McComb, and Adam Heine managed that far-flung, global team is entirely beyond me. But you didn't have to work with inXile long to see that that Torment was in very good hands. I hope everyone enjoys it!
Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.
Steerpike said
The people at inXile are just incredible. Delightful to work with, friendly, so dedicated.
This pleases me. I want to root for InXile and stuff like this makes it even easier. I don't know if I'm prepared to play through so much dialogue though. I'm really becoming more of a show me through gameplay kind of guy, which is odd if you take a look at my gaming history.
Rule #2: Double-tap
Synonamess Botch said
I'm really becoming more of a show me through gameplay kind of guy, which is odd if you take a look at my gaming history.
I'm the same way, actually. I used to consider more text a generally good thing, especially in my younger days, but now a game has to work pretty hard to get me to tolerate short bursts of dialogue. It gets real confusing when I try to play an old JRPG or a visual novel like VA-11 Hall-A, things I know I would have loved ten or fifteen years ago for the reasons I now find them a little bit of a slog.
"Home is not a place. It is wherever your passion takes you."
Synonamess Botch said
Time to put us out to pasture. Well, me anyway 🙂
Ok straw poll: who here actually completed Planescape: Torment? And of those, who did it without help?
I completed it without help back in... 2007? That was the first time I'd played it and it was wonderful. My favourite RPG because of the writing, the characters (particularly Morte), the world and its stories, its themes and ideas, Mark Morgan's music, its sly winks and subversions of genre tropes. I didn't give a damn about all the D&D stats and die bollocks. That stuff just bogged it down for me. I've not played many RPGs through to completion but this just consumed me and stayed with me for a long time. Remarkable stuff.
Yup, I started livestreaming it last night, due to finally having a good headset mike and a computer that's good for it. Thanks for stopping by!
I'm about 4 hours in, and enjoying it so far. We're out of town for the weekend, but I'll probably make evening RPG streams a regular thing now that my rig is up to the task. http://www.twitch.tv/litagemini . I'll post a front page on the site when I have my graphics fixed. Right now they still say, like, 2013 and look broken, kind of bad.
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Step 1 – "Do I need a designer?"
Let's say you've already surrendered with yourself and you do not ask yourself, "Why hire an interior designer?" The time comes when you start looking for the right person for the job. Let's see what exactly we want from the designer, though?
- "I can not imagine whether the yellow one I have chosen will suit the purple pillows I have bought in advance"
In this case you do not need a designer. You need a visualizer to tell you exactly what you want, and he'll make it 1: 1.
- I do not understand anything from design. I have a lot of ideas, but I prefer doing my job, making money, doing technical papers, orders, supplies, craftsmen, materials, and so on.
Here is a tangible topic for conversation.
Step 2 – How do I find and choose a designer?
- I write in google "Interior Design and I look at the pictures here. Which turns out to be the most brutal ERROR that one can do, why the results are just CONTINUING! I look and I do not believe in my eyes. Or maybe this is the level of native designers and this is what the client is looking for?
- Help from a friend who used the service of one. / The condition is that your friend does not fall into the first point of step 1 /
After a while, we have identified 2-3-5 studios whose work we like. It's time to meet them and find out exactly what they're doing.
Step 3 – What exactly am I going to pay for?
- Design concept / idea – these are visualizations of your space or so-called 3D pictures.
- Design Concept + complete design documentation – above + all drawings for site implementation.
- The top two + supervisor – the designer does the project, you run it with your people (he cheats and licks you accordingly) and he goes from time to time to check if everything is OK.
- The first two + overall project management – no need to explain I think.
Step 4 – How much will I pay?
Let's say you are case 2 from step 1. 🙂 I will open the following bracket and tell a story about Picasso.
Picasso was painting in the park, and there was a woman near him. "Oh, you are the great Picasso. You will draw me a portrait! "… He drew the portrait and said" 4,000 dollars! "… The lady cried out, angry at how it could cost so much money for 20 minutes. The great Picasso responded with indifference, "Lady … it took me all my life!"
Let's go back to design again, where the situation is absolutely identical. How can one ask me 15 euro / m2, another one – 25, third – 10% of the project cost, and the fourth to work at a fixed fee regardless of the size of the project. The answer is one, because quality has a higher price.
And if your dream is to be an interior designer you can check the top colleges for interior design.


text:
Companies on the labour market
Companies and workers are the most important players on the labour market. Workers find employment in companies. With the wages and salaries they receive they buy products and support the functioning of the economy. Politics creates forward-looking incentives for companies so that they employ job seekers - for example committed women, experienced workers and people with disabilities.The Public Employment Service is continuously extending its range of services for companies. It has professionalized its vacancy-filling strategies and uses modern technologies such the job-Room, Austria's largest job market, with which new employees can be found and hired around the clock.
Promoting self-employment: micro credit
To start up your own business you need capital. However, a realistic business plan does not guarantee that your application for a loan will be approved.
Microcredit, an Austrian-wide initiative by the Ministry of Social Affairs, enables people to take the leap into self-employment or to extend a small company. It helps to close liquidity bottlenecks when there is a lack of own capital and collateral for loans.


text:
Darrin Klimek/Digital Vision/Getty Images
There are no UK Internet databases with details of prisoners in custody. If you are trying to trace someone you think is in a UK prison, you must send an official request to the prison service.
Contact the Prisoner Location Service, which is part of the UK prison service. You can either write, fax or send an email. The address and fax number can be found on the prison service website (see Resources).
Include the following information in your letter or email: the full name of the person you want to contact, any other names he or she is known by, date of birth and the reason you are getting in touch.
If the person you are looking for is in prison in the UK, the location service will pass your message to the prisoner.
The prisoner will be asked to give consent for his whereabouts to be released to you. If he gives consent, you will be given details of their location.
If you are the victim of a crime and want to locate a prisoner without going though these steps, contact the National Prison Service Victim Helpline on 0845 7585 112.
Most recent
- Victims of crimes can contact the independent charity Victim Support for free advice.
- Darrin Klimek/Digital Vision/Getty Images


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We support both global and local charities. FareShare is a British organisation doing great work in the UK. They take surplus food which would otherwise be wasted and redistribute it to places like lunch clubs for the elderly and women's refuges. We also support charity: water who not so long ago let us know that a project we funded had been completed. A well close to the village of Nimalamuaha in Mozambique now provides 376 people in this rural area with clean water.
We are grateful for all the help our customers have given us so far. You can find some fantastic photos of our garden furniture in some splendid gardens in our customer photo gallery. Continue to send in your photos please, and together we can really make a difference.
Our cast aluminium benches come in a number of colours. One of the newer colours we have made available is sandstone. This gorgeous colour makes a change from the more conventional colours found in most ranges of garden furniture. Our sandstone garden furniture brings a superb refined look to your garden or patio, and is outstandingly durable and weatherproof. An aluminium outdoor bench is a smart choice in this regard, as cast aluminium doesn't rot or rust. Wooden and iron furniture can be prone to this sort of damage when the elements get the better of them. Preventing this is not always easy, and sanding, coats of weatherproof paint and furniture covers constitute extra maintenance and extra costs. Aluminium patio furniture can be left outside all year round without issue. No rust, no rot. Opt for a high quality garden bench made from cast aluminium and spend more time enjoying your garden.
One of our best selling models of bench is the April bench. This sandstone garden bench has a backrest with sleek curves and a comfy seat with a lattice design. The Rose bench gets its name from the Rose design across the top of its backrest. The same pattern is on the Rose chair, one of our beautiful garden chairs which can be purchased individually and also comes with the Rose bistro set. In this way, the Rose bench can be paired with matching garden furniture sets to create a smart and uniform look in your garden. This white aluminium bench is 102cm by 55cm and weighs just 14kg. The final bench we have available in sandstone is the Jasmine bench. Its simple design has proven popular, with its lattice pattern following the contours of the backrest's frame.
Whichever bench you choose, we'll deliver it for free. Lazy Susan works with Geodis and Parcelforce, the latter dealing with deliveries of garden benches, generally. Parcelforce can offer next day delivery when an order is placed before midday, although this is not guaranteed and depends on your postcode (contact them directly for more information). They will send you a text message on the morning of delivery to let you know in which one hour time slot they will arrive. They also have a map on their website that allows you to track your delivery in real time.
Since many of our customers like to add extras when they purchase a patio bench, we offer some discounts right on the same page. Underneath the main product information are our discounted offers. Get a side table for your bench, a bistro table or another kind of garden table at 80% to 20% of its original price. Below these, select bench cushions at a up to 50% off. They are made from durable acrylic, with a zipped side for easy removal and washing of the cover. The bench cushions are available in stone, terracotta, green and blue.
The friendly Lazy Susan team is available for your calls and emails from 08:00 to 18:00 every day. They can provide more details about our aluminium garden furniture and respond to any other questions you have. They can also send you fabric and metal samples. These give you an idea of our materials and help you select the right colour. Call us on 01243 717197 or email us at [email protected]. We try to answer emails within 2 hours during office hours.
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Matvei Matveevich Gedenshtrom
Gedenshtrom, Matvei Matveevich
(Hedenstrom). Born circa 1780; died Sept. 20, 1845, in Tomsk. Russian explorer of Northern Siberia.
Gedenshtrom led an expedition in 1808-10 with geodesist P. Pshenitsyn and land surveyor I. Kozhevin to explore the Novosibirsk (New Siberian) Islands. The question of the so-called Sannikov Land, supposedly sighted by la. Sannikov (one of the members of the expedition) to the northwest of Kotel'nyi Island, first arose with the Gedenshtrom expedition. Gedenshtrom established the presence of the "Siberian polynya"—a large expanse of open water at the boundary of the drift ice and the continental shore ice. He described the seacoast between the mouths of the lana and Kolyma Rivers, and he made many trips through Yakutia and Transbaikalia.
WORKS"Puteshestviia po Ledovitomu moriu i ostrovam onogo, lezhashchim ot ust'ia Leny k vostoku." Sibirskii vestnik, 1822, parts 17-19.
Otryvki o Sibiri. St. Petersburg, 1830.


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The Micro Python project can be found at micropython.org
The Micro Python project has been Kick-started! Thanks to all backers! You can find the project, including the software and hardware, at micropython.org.
Stretch goals!
We have passed the initial funding goal of £15,000!
We have passed the first stretch goal of £40,000! This means that Wi-Fi will be supported via a CC3000 module. Micro Python will include a library which allows you to connect to the internet via wi-fi. For this to work, you will need to add a CC3000 wi-fi module. This module connects via SPI pins to the Micro Python board.
We have passed the second stretch goal of £50,000! This means that Ethernet will be supported via a WIZ820io module. Similar to the CC3000 module, you connect the WIZ820io module via SPI to the Micro Python board, and access it through a library.
We have passed the third stretch goal of £60,000! This means that there will be support for the NRF24L01+ low-power wireless module. Again, this will be library support.
What is Micro Python?
Micro Python is a lean and fast implementation of the Python programming language (python.org) that is optimised to run on a microcontroller. The Micro Python board is a small electronic circuit board that runs the Micro Python language. The aim of this Kickstarter campaign is to make Micro Python open source software so you can use it in your own projects, and also to fund a small manufacturing run of Micro Python boards so that you can own one for yourself!
Python is a scripting language that is very easy to learn, yet highly expressive and very powerful, and has a huge existing community. Running on a small microcontroller, Micro Python allows you to effortlessly blink LEDs, read voltages, make motors and servos move, play sounds, write data to SD cards, communicate wirelessly, and be the brains of your robot, among countless other things. It is the perfect choice to control your next project!
When building an electronics project, like an intruder detector or a smart robot, a microcontroller is used as the "brain", and does all the decision making and control. There are two kinds of things that a microcontroller typically needs to do. It must do low-level control of lights, LCD displays, motors, etc, as well as high-level tasks such as reading and writing data and images, communicating wirelessly, and being an artificial intelligence. Micro Python allows you to do both low-level and high-level control, by augmenting the Python language with inline assembler and native types, as described below.
How do I use it?
The Micro Python board comes preinstalled with Micro Python and is suitable for everyone, whether a beginner or an expert robot builder. It requires no set-up, no compiling and no soldering, and if you don't know Python it is very easy to learn the language.
You plug the board into your PC (Windows, Mac and Linux all work) using a USB cable. It then acts just like a USB flash drive.
To control servo motors, it is a simple as writing the following code:
Put this code in a text file and copy it to the Micro Python USB flash drive, press the reset button on the board and it will run! You can also open a terminal emulator (freely available for Windows, Mac and Linux) to connect to the board over USB and type these commands directly to the board (which gives you a Python command line), and it will run them as soon as you press the enter key.
To flash an LED once a second, you could use the following code:
To read the accelerometer and print out the x-axis value:
You have the full Python programming language at your disposal, and can write functions and classes, make lists and dictionaries, do string processing, read and write files (to the SD card or built-in flash storage), and have more sophisticated features such as generators, closures, list comprehension and exception handling. The possibilities for programming are endless!
The board has many input/output pins which can be connected to other circuits, and you can solder on wires to make it part of your own project. The board can run without a PC, as long as it is connected to a battery or other power supply between 3.6V and 10V.
Some of the rewards on offer include a kit of parts with the Micro Python board. These kits allow you to get started programming and building things straight away. There will be a set of online instructions explaining exactly how to get it all working, and detailing some example projects. Even with just the Micro Python board on its own you can still do some pretty nifty things, such as logging accelerometer data, making a Python USB mouse, and using the USB serial Python command line. These projects will also be explained online for you to follow.
You may be wondering how the Micro Python board compares with other, similar boards. Compared with an Arduino, the Micro Python board is more powerful, easier to program, and you don't need a compiler on your PC. Compared with a Raspberry Pi, the Micro Python board is cheaper, smaller, simpler (you can make one yourself, or even modify the design to fit your needs) and it uses less power. Most other boards are programmed in C, which is a low-level language and can be difficult to program correctly. On the other hand, Python is a very high-level language, which means that Python has simpler, smaller code to do the same thing as C.
What reward should I choose?
It's totally up to you! But here are some pointers to get you thinking. If you would like to support the development of Micro Python and see it become free open source software, then choose the "Supporter" reward. This, and all other reward levels, will get you access to the source code and board design files a few months before they become open to the public. All reward levels allow you to have your name in the source code as a supporter, if you like.
If you want a single board on its own, go for the "Single board" reward. To have some fun making servo motors move, the "Robotics kit" is for you. If you are new to microcontrollers and electronic circuit building, and want to learn how to build and program some nifty circuits, then the "Starter kit" has everything you need (except a USB cable, which you probably alread have).
For the more adventurous, there is the "Wireless kit" which is the "Starter kit" plus a Bluetooth module, speaker, amplifier, microphone and light sensor. The "Batteries included kit" is the "Starter kit" plus a Bluetooth module, an additional Micro Python board, an additional servo, a rechargeable LiPo battery with charger, and a mini-joystick.
For the people who don't need any introduction to microcontrollers and programming, there is the "Hacker's kit" and "Jumbo hacker's kit" which have 2 or 4 Micro Python boards, pure and simple. If you want it early, there is a limited reward to get a handmade board, as well as access to all the source as soon as the campaign ends. There are also limited rewards where you can choose to have a specific Python library implemented in Micro Python, or choose to have Micro Python ported to a different board. Get in touch for details if you are interested in this.
A note on shipping. Shipping is free within the UK. For outside the UK, the shipping price is for non-tracked shipping. If you want tracking, please increase the shipping price to £10.
Tell me more about Micro Python...
Certainly! Micro Python is a complete rewrite, from scratch, of the Python scripting language. It is written in clean, ANSI C and includes a complete parser, compiler, virtual machine, runtime system, garbage collector and support libraries to run on a microcontroller. The compiler can compile to byte code or native machine code, selectable per function using a function decorator. It also supports inline assembler. All compilation happens on the chip, so there is no need for any software on your PC.
Micro Python currently supports 32-bit ARM processors with the Thumb v2 instruction set, such as the Cortex-M range used in low-cost microcontrollers. It has been tested on an STM32F405 chip.
Micro Python has the following features:
- Full implementation of the Python 3 grammar (but not yet all of Python's standard libraries).
- Implements a lexer, parser, compiler, virtual machine and runtime.
- Can execute files, and also has a command line interface (a read-evaluate-print-loop, or REPL).
- Python code is compiled to a compressed byte code that runs on the built-in virtual machine.
- Memory usage is minimised by storing objects in efficient ways. Integers that fit in 31-bits do not allocate an object on the heap, and so require memory only on the stack.
- Using Python decorators, functions can be optionally compiled to native machine code, which takes more memory but runs around 2 times faster than byte code. Such functions still implement the complete Python language.
- A function can also be optionally compiled to use native machine integers as numbers, instead of Python objects. Such code runs at close to the speed of an equivalent C function, and can still be called from Python, and can still call Python. These functions can be used to perform time-critical procedures, such as interrupts.
- An implementation of inline assembler allows complete access to the underlying machine. Inline assembler functions can be called from Python as though they were a normal function.
- Memory is managed using a simple and fast mark-sweep garbage collector. It takes less than 4ms to perform a full collection. A lot of functions can be written to use no heap memory at all and therefore require no garbage collection.
Tell me about the Micro Python board...
The Micro Python board is an electronics development board that runs Micro Python, and is based on the STM32F405 microcontroller. This microcontroller is one of the more powerful ones available, and was chosen so that Micro Python could run at its full potential. The microcontroller is clocked at 168MHz and has 1MiB flash and 192KiB RAM, which is plenty for writing complex Python scripts. The board measures 33x40 mm and is pictured below.
The board has a built-in USB interface that presents itself as a serial device (CDC VCP) as well as a removable storage device (MSC). When connected to a PC, you can open a serial communications program and interact with the board through a Python command line. You can also print messages and read input, since the serial device acts like stdin and stdout. The board also acts as a storage device (a USB flash drive) and you can easily copy your Python scripts to the board's local filesystem or SD card, and they are then executed independent of the PC.
Powered by a battery, the board can compile and execute Python scripts without any PC connection. There is a Micro SD slot for storing large amounts of data, 2 LEDs, a switch, a real-time clock, an accelerometer, and 30 general purpose I/O pins. The I/O pins include: 5 USARTs, 2SPIs, 2 I2C busses, 14 ADC pins, 2 DAC pins, and 4 servo ports with power.
There is a special pin, BOOT0, which is used to reprogram the microcontroller. By connecting the BOOT0 pin to the 3.3V pin next to it, and resetting the board with the reset button, you enter the "device firmware upgrade" mode. This is a standard USB mode and allows you to easily put an updated version of Micro Python onto the microcontroller (using freely available software for Windows, Mac and Linux). It also allows you to download your own version of Micro Python if you want to modify it, or even download your own C program.
The Micro Python board is suitable for everyone, regardless of knowledge in hardware or software. With a few lines of Python code in a text file, anyone can start flashing LEDs and responding to accelerometer input, all without soldering, or connecting components, or installing software on your PC.
Why Kickstarter?
I wanted to share with you my passion for robotics and programming, and, have a chance to give something back to the open source community that I rely on everyday.
I need your support to make Micro Python open source software, and to help fund the production of the Micro Python boards. Making electronic circuits in bulk allows the cost to be kept low. Components are much cheaper when bought in bulk quantities.
With your support I can have the Micro Python boards professionally assembled at a very reasonable cost. This directly benefits you, as the reward of a Micro Python board means you can have a fantastic and powerful development board at a very low price.
If the Kickstarter campaign is successful, Micro Python and the Micro Python board will be made available under Open Source Software, and Open Source Hardware licenses. Backers will get early and complete access to the source code of Micro Python, and a few months later it will be released to the general public. You can implement new features in Micro Python or port it to your own board, or to a different microcontroller.
The Micro Python software will be released under the MIT license.
What about those technical details?
Okay! Here they are, the technical details for the Micro Python implementation and the Micro Python board. There are many extra details that are not listed here. Please ask if you would like further information, as I would be more than happy to share it with you.
The Micro Python implementation is a complete rewrite of Python specifically designed to be run on a microcontroller with minimal flash storage and minimal RAM. When design decisions were made, the first priority was to minimise RAM usage, then minimise code size, and, finally, to execute quickly. Some of the important features of the implementation are listed below.
- Follows the Python 3.3 grammar and language semantics. This means that Micro Python produces equivalent byte code (up to optimisations) to the official CPython version 3.3.
- Size of space-optimised binary compiled to Thumb v2 machine code: around 60KiB. This includes the parser, compiler, runtime and garbage collector, but excludes all other code, including file system support and libraries related to the specific microcontroller. This size will increase if more Python libraries are added.
- Size of all code, including FAT support, SD card, USB serial, USB mass storage, USB HID, Bluetooth, LCD, servo, timer: about 110KiB.
- Minimum RAM required to compile and execute "print('hello world')": around 4KiB.
- Memory is managed using a fast, non-precise, mark-sweep garbage collector. This eliminates reference counting overhead in flash code size and object RAM size. A fast CPU and small amount of RAM means that a complete garbage collection takes under 4ms. The garbage collector RAM overhead is 2 bits per 32 bytes = 1KiB for 128KiB usable RAM.
- Size of int object: 4 bytes, stored on the stack or directly in a tuple/list/dictionary.
- Size of other objects: 32 bytes, plus extra for, eg, elements of a list.
- Limit on number of objects: none, so long as there is enough RAM.
- The grammar is encoded in a compact table using EBNF which is interpreted on-the-fly when parsing.
- RAM is minimised during compilation by performing 3 separate passes over the same data structure.
- There are 4 types of code emitters, selectable per function by function decorators: (compressed) byte code, native code, native code with native types, and inline assembler. Byte code runs on a virtual machine, similar to CPython. Native code has each byte code unrolled to its equivalent machine code, and supports the full Python language. It takes about 2-3 times more RAM, but runs about 2-3 times faster than byte code. The third type, native code with native types, has byte code unrolled to machine code and further assumes that integers are smaller than 31 bits, so that it can use a single machine instruction for integer and pointer operations. You can think of it as "Python syntax, C semantics". For tight loops that perform arithmetic and bit manipulation (common on a microcontroller), it can perform close to the speed of the equivalent C program. The fourth code emitter is inline assembler. It uses the Python grammar, but is interpreted as a list of machine code instructions. Inline assembler can be called from normal Python code with integer and pointer arguments.
- Python exceptions are handled using a variant of setjmp/longjmp. This reduces the amount of flash and RAM needed to implement exceptions.
- A function (byte code, native or inline assembler) can be called on an interrupt long as it does not allocate heap memory (since it can be called while a garbage collection is taking place). In practice this is not a big restriction, as you can do a lot of things using only memory on the stack. For example, you can make loops with while/for, do integer arithmetic and bitwise operations (but no bignums), call other functions and access and overwrite elements of collections like bytearrays (but not create new ones).
The Micro Python language can also run on a PC (it was developed under Linux on a 64-bit machine) and can be used as a lean version of Python where low memory usage is important. The PC version of Micro Python (compiling to byte code) actually runs faster than CPython for the various benchmarks I have tested, and the native compilation option makes Micro Python run significantly faster than CPython.
You can think of Micro Python as a "mini Python operating system", and the boot-up process proceeds as follows:
- Power on, or hard reset. If the DFU (device firmware upgrade) header is enabled (across BOOT0 and 3.3V pin) then the device enters DFU mode, allowing you to upgrade the Micro Python binary, or download your own C/C++ program.
- Otherwise, it goes into boot mode and the boot-LED turns on.
- Checks for a local filesystem on the flash. If none exists, or it is corrupt, a fresh one is created.
- Checks for /boot.py. If it doesn't exist, a fresh one is created.
- Runs /boot.py to configure USB and other low-level parameters that can't be changed without a reset.
- Sets up USB interfaces, depending on the configuration in boot.py. The default is a CDC VCP (virtual communications port, to redirect stdio) and an MSD (mass storage device for the flash and SD card). The MSD allows Linux/Mac/Windows to access the flash and SD card filesystem just like a USB flash drive. This way you can easily copy Python scripts to the board, and copy data files back.
- Boot-up finishes successfully and the boot-LED turns off.
- The main Python script is run if it exists. Default is /src/main.py. This is your main Python program and it can do whatever you like!
- If the main script doesn't exist, or exits, REPL (read-evaluate-print-loop) mode is entered. This gives you a standard Python interpreter prompt over the USB serial device. Exiting from this will soft-reset the board.
Technical details of the board and microcontroller:
- STM32F405RG microcontroller.
- 168 MHz Cortex-M4 CPU with 32-bit hardware floating point.
- 1 MiB flash storage, 192 KiB RAM.
- Micro-B USB connector, with software support for USB serial, USB mass storage, and USB HID (mouse, keyboard).
- Micro SD slot.
- MMA7660 3-axis accelerometer, up to 64 6-bit samples per second per axis.
- 4 LEDs, 1 reset switch, 1 user switch.
- 3.3V LDO regulator at 300mA, power from USB or external voltage source between 3.6V and 10V.
- Real-time clock with date and time.
- 30 general purpose I/O lines, 28 are 5V tolerant (unless in ADC mode).
- Communication: 2x SPI, 2x CAN, 2x I2C, 5x USART.
- 14x 12-bit ADC pins (analog signal in).
- 2x DAC pins (analog signal out).
- Board dimensions: 33mm by 40mm.
- Board weight: 6 grams.
- Board I/O connectors: 46 holes, standard 0.1 inch separation.
A pinout of the board is shown below. A pink triangle denotes that the pin is connected to a timer and can be used, for example, as a PWM output for a servo.
The production plan
The software is written and working. It still lacks some more advanced features, but these will be implemented over the duration of the Kickstarter campaign, and the code will be ready to install on the production boards.
Two iterations of the Micro Python board have been produced. The PCBs for these were professionally made by EuroCircuits, and components hand soldered by myself. These prototypes are fully functional and execute Micro Python with all the features described above. The final version of the board will have only minor differences to the second prototype, pictured above.
After the Kickstarter campaign has ended and the funds are received, the first thing to do will be to order the critical components: the STM32F405 microcontroller and the MMA accelerometer. I will then source the rest of the components. Knowing the parts, I will then make final adjustments to the PCB design and send it off for manufacture.
Once all parts and the PCBs are received I can then move to the assembly stage. I have a quote from the UK company Newbury Electronics to assemble the production run of the boards, and to keep costs down, I must place a large order, which is part of the reason for the Kickstarter campaign. The assembly time will be around 25 days.
During assembly I will be organising the rewards, putting together the different kits, and working out the shipping details. I will also continue to develop the Micro Python software and start work on implementing requested libraries and other microcontroller support.
The aim is to have the boards and kits shipped by the end of March, 2014.
The video was filmed and sequenced by Viktoriya Skoryk, http://vskography.com.
The music used in the video is http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/netBloc_Vol_37_FIVE/07_-_Broke_For_Free_-_Something_Elated by http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/.
Risks and challenges
There is less risk with the software (the Micro Python implementation) than with the hardware (the Micro Python board). The software is mostly finished, except for implementing some more advanced features of the language and writing some additional Python libraries. I do not see any significant problems with finishing the software, as most of the difficult parts (compiler, memory manager, exception handler) are complete.
If software development is delayed and features are not implemented by the time the boards ship, the boards can always be reprogrammed by the user with an update available over the web.
The hardware side of things can have the following two problems: delays, and component sourcing. Delays can be in the PCB production and the assembly, but just take extra time and are not a show-stopper. Component sourcing is the biggest risk. Almost all the components can be interchanged with alternate manufacturers, most without even changing the PCB layout. The only one that cannot be interchanged is the STM32F405RG microcontroller chip itself. These chips are in "active marketing status" with STMicroelectronics, so should be available one way or the other for the coming years.Learn about accountability on Kickstarter
Funding period
- (30 days)


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Single-Ended Class A B AB ultralinear
VI. What is Single-Ended, Class A, B, AB, ultralinear, etc?
1. Class A means that the power tube conducts the same amount of current all the time, whether idling or producing full power. Class A is very inefficient with electricity but usually gives very low distortion. * There are single-ended class-A, or SE, amplifiers. They use one or more tubes in parallel, which are all in phase with each other. This is commonly used in smaller guitar amps and in exotic high-end amplifiers. Many audiophiles prefer the SE amplifier, even though it has relatively high levels of even-order distortion. Most 300B high-end amplifiers are SE. Negative feedback, which can be used to decrease the distortion of an amplifier, is felt by some people to sound inferior. Most SE amps have no feedback.
Unfortunately, the high saturation currents in SE-amp output transformers tend to limit the bass-frequency response of such amps. Unless you use a subwoofer with a separate driver amplifier, the SE amp will tend to give inferior performance. We also feel that keeping distortion down is important (though not as important as engineers tend to think). SE amps made with low-mu triodes can have very low distortion, IF they are properly designed. Beware of some SE amps that are designed entirely "by ear", especially those made by small companies run by audio-guru egomaniacs. The amps made by such firms might NOT do everything well, and might not be the sound you would prefer.
* Push-pull class-A amplifiers also exist--they use two, four or more vacuum tubes (always in pairs) which are driven in opposite phase to each other. This cancels out the even-order distortion and gives very clean sound. Push-pull Class A operation usually involves low plate voltages and high plate currents, compared to Class AB operation below. The high currents might tend to wear out the tube cathodes faster than in an AB amplifier.
* There are two kinds of class-A operation, which can apply to single-ended or push-pull. --Class A1 means that the grid voltage is always more negative than the cathode voltage. This gives the greatest possible linearity and is used with triodes such as the 300B, and sometimes with audio beam tetrodes and pentodes. (Such amps are rare in the modern trend-driven and ego-ridden world of high end audio today--most gurus lean either toward Class AB beam-tube amplifiers, or toward SE triodes.)
--Class A2 means that the grid is driven MORE POSITIVE than the cathode for part or all of the waveform. This means the grid will draw current from the cathode and heat up. A2 is not often used with beam tetrodes, pentodes or triodes like the SV300B, especially in audio. Usually a class-A2 amplifier will use vacuum tubes with special rugged grids, such as the 811A or SV572 triodes. Class A2 also requires a special driver circuit, that can supply power to the grid.
2. Class AB applies only to push-pull amplifiers. It means that when one tube's grid is driven until its plate current cuts off (stops) completely, the other vacuum tube takes over and handles the power output. This gives greater efficiency than Class A. It also results in increased distortion, unless the amplifier is carefully designed and uses some negative feedback. Most guitar amps are push-pull Class AB. The biggest high-end amplifier manufacturers love to build big Class AB amplifiers using 6550s or KT88 type beam tubes--primarily because their wealthy customers often have very inefficient speakers, such as electrostatic panels or Magnepans. (There are class-AB1 and class-AB2 amplifiers; the differences are the same as were explained above--the vacuum tube's grids are not (AB1) or are (AB2) driven positive. AB2 is rare in today's high end market, primarily because the egomaniacs who often design such amps do not how to design a reliable and good-sounding AB2 amplifier....)
3. Class B applies only to push-pull amplifiers in audio; it SOMETIMES applies to RF power amplifiers with one vacuum tube. It is like Class AB, except that the vacuum tubes idle at or near zero current. This gives even greater efficiency than Class A or AB. It also results in increased distortion, unless the amplifier is carefully designed and uses some negative feedback. If careful design is not undertaken, the result may be crossover distortion, which appears at the midpoint of the output waveform and has very bad-sounding effects in audio. Most solid-state audio amplifiers use class B, because the transistors undergo less heat stress when idling. Class B amplifiers can sound very good, if well-designed. The classic Altec 1570 is an example.
4. Ultralinear operation is usually considered to be invented by David Hafler and Herbert Keroes in 1951. It uses only beam tetrodes or pentodes, and special taps on the output transformer. The taps connect to the screen grids of the vacuum tubes, causing the screens to be driven with part of the output signal. This lowers distortion considerably. It is usually seen only in hi-fi amplifiers that use power tubes such as the 6L6GC, 6550/KT88, EL84 or EL34. All classic Dynaco amplifiers used ultralinear connection. It is VERY hard on the screen grid of the vacuum tube, especially the EL34 type. So good-quality EL34s are critical in such amplifier circuits.
Eric Barbour, Senior Editor VTV METASONIX
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Are you getting started with your own website? Then you are in the right place to learn how to do that!
Here is a free HTML tutorial which will teach you HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) in order to start creating your website step by step. You can find everything related to HTML illustrated with examples for each chapter separately to help you fully understand the markup language.
In our website you can find the HTML editor, where you can edit the HTML code, and click on the submit button to see the result.
HTML is not so difficult, so we are sure you will enjoy learning. After successfully completing the HTML book, you will have a challenge!
Test yourself with this HTML Basic Quiz and see how much you have learnt.
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Yes Way Rosé x Club W's "Summer Water"
Price: $18
Region: Napa
Retailer: Club W
Back in March, I was in NYC to host a wine tasting. It was still cold, like snowing (okay, it was a "flurry", which apparently means something to people who live in snow cause for me, it was fucking snowing and "flurry" is not a real word if it's missing a "Mc"), but all of my friends who lived there kept excitedly going on and on about how ROSE SEASON WAS COMING.
"Rosé season?" I pondered, looking out a gray city window, wistfully. "What the fuck is that?"
It took me all of fifteen seconds to realize that much like how I don't understand "suede season" or "winter", "rosé season" is something that people who live outside of California experience because it gets so cold that they cannot drink rosé. On the one hand, I'm like, "Why would you guys ever live like this?! I drink and wear whatever I want all the time!"
On the other hand, I will never experience the sheer joy on two dudes' faces two weeks ago in Brooklyn while I watched them put back their fifth bottle of rosé by the pool at the McCarren Hotel. I don't know if I've ever been as happy as those two dudes in my whole life the way they were acting over this shit. It was FINALLY ROSE SEASON! EVERYTHING WAS GOING TO HAPPEN NOW! IT'S FUCKING ROSE SEASON, MAN!
It is that emotion that my friends at Yes Way Rosé captured with their Napa pinot noir rosé, Summer Water. It's an excitement encapsulated in an easy-going attitude that even us Californians know is specific to summer. It's three months where everything feels possible. There are endless ideas for long weekends and trips to get the hell out of town, daydreams of desert nights, bougainvilleas and beaches. Outdoor movies and the smell of lighted grills, street fairs and the feel of first kisses (even when they are your one hundredth). Everything is beautiful in the summer, a blown-out Polaroid memory waiting to be made. And it all truly seems possible. The sun is out-- what couldn't we do?
Summer Water is an extremely pleasing bottle, whether you're looking at it or drinking it. The label is a design dream with its poppy minimalism. And it tastes like having the most fun. It tastes like those dudes' faces, which were extremely happy and laughing and one of them looked EXACTLY like Bradley Cooper, so also attractive. They were going to Governor's Ball and were just so fucking stoked on life. "THIS SUMMER IS GOING TO BE THE BEST SUMMER!!!" they said like they'd never said it before. And that is exactly what Summer Water tastes like.
Now, who wants to find a boardwalk and get into some trouble with me and my Summer Water?
Tasting Notes: The light floral and strawberry bouquet makes for a wonderful transition into its flavor profile: strawberries with hints of pears and peaches, and a striking minerality. Dry and frisky, this wine takes me to a place where there is lots of sunshine, very little clothing and even less responsibilities.
Ross Test: SOMEONE! QUICK! GET A BOAT! THIS WOULD BE THE BEST ON A BOAT!


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I edited my list to include a couple of titles I forgot like Brave & Bold, sci-fi anthologies, Bat-characters, and more, taking it to the top 100 longest running titles (unless, of course, if I forgot something!)
Thanks for the catch Jim Kelly! Looks like we had different Flash totals "married guy" - it's certainly possible I've made mistakes in my totals and that I'm off in a few places. However, I don't think I'm off anywhere by too much, so I think this gives us a sense of where things are. I used mainly DC.Fandom.com and researched the various series, but didn't include annuals or special issues.
One question is what to do with a series that separates into two books. For example, when Green Lantern was relaunched as Green Lantern Corps in 1986, but continued the numbering of GL, should we include that GLC relaunch as part of the GL legacy numbering? Or should it be counted with later GLC titles, like the one launched in 2006?
Another question arises with Teen Titans and Legion, and whether two ongoings should be counted together or not - like the Legion series . You'd think the answer would be no, but then when you get into legacy titles and rebranding and reprints, things get complicated....
And I certainly agree with CaptCleghorn, that Flash should be next for a fourth legacy renumbering!


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Posts Tagged 'important upgrade'
Israel Tour Needs Your Energetic Support
(Note: We are asking you to be part of the support team for this work of light. Please see the itinerary at the end of the blog so you can follow our movements. Thank you for continued support and light.) The scope of our mission in Israel is becoming more clear. The channeled words below…Read More


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In Hebrew the word for Julie Seltzer's arcane profession is soferet; she's a scribe, a Hebrew calligrapher who writes sacred texts on parchment. A mere handful of women do what she does, and an even more select handful are practiced in the especially ritualistic craft of writing particularly holy scrolls, including the Torah, considered the foundation of Jewish life and thought.
Age-old Jewish law declares that only men be trained for such work, and that a Torah that has been created by a woman is unsuitable for use in worship, strictures that are still upheld in Orthodox communities and congregations. But Ms. Seltzer, who is 34, and a few others are widening an ancient tradition in a modern age. She estimated that perhaps 10 women in the world write the Torah and the other restricted documents containing quotations from Hebrew Scriptures, including those for the tefillin, small leather boxes housing Scriptural passages, and mezuzot, which are affixed to doorframes.
All of this makes Ms. Seltzer's performance — an admittedly odd word for what she's up to, and one she doesn't like — at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco unique and compelling. As the central element of a new exhibition, "As It Is Written: Project 304,805," a simply and elegantly organized introduction to the fundamental role of the Torah in Jewish life, she is creating a new holy scroll.
Working in a gallery in full public view, amid displays that explore the Torah as both historical artifact and contemporary object of inspiration, Ms. Seltzer is painstakingly reproducing the ancient text — which consists of the Five Books of Moses, who is said to have received them whole as a divine message from God — on sheets of parchment made, as prescribed by law, from the skin of a kosher animal (in this case a cow). Her writing tools are black ink and quills she carves from turkey feathers.
Letter by letter (the exhibition is named for the precise number of Hebrew characters in the Torah), line by line (there are 42 lines in a column of text), column by column (four columns constitute a sheet of parchment) and sheet by sheet (62 sheets will be needed to complete the scroll), she is adhering to the complex laws, outlined in the Talmud, that were developed by early scribes and well established by the sixth century.Continue reading the main story
Among them: Every word should be spoken aloud before it is written, and no word may be written from memory. (Ms. Seltzer is working from a copy of the text known as a Tikkun.) When her scroll is complete, no letter may be touching another, a stricture that often requires corrections with a blade and chalk to restore the parchment color. Ill-formed letters must be corrected as well, with the offending ink scraped away and then re-inked; no letter may be made correct by an act of erasure. The different names for God must be treated with special care.
Ms. Seltzer began her work in early October. Writing six or seven hours a day for five days a week, she estimates that the project will take 14 months to complete. According to Connie Wolf, the museum's director and the curator of the exhibition, this will be the first time a Torah has ever been written from beginning to end in public, though synagogues that commission Torahs often have scribes demonstrate their work for the congregation.
"We wanted a woman for this project," Ms. Wolf said. "We're a contemporary institution, and women are making progress in this arena; we wanted to provide the opportunity."
Ms. Seltzer, a small, dark-haired woman with pale blue eyes and an easy smile, radiates calm not only in conversation but also within the fierce concentration her work requires. She began her training only two years ago — "I'm a newbie," she said — and continues to study. Her primary teacher is Jen Taylor Friedman, a New Yorker born in Britain who is just 30 but among the very few women to have completed an entire Torah. According to Ms. Wolf, she may indeed be the only one who has ever done so.
"I've never seen a source that says otherwise," Ms. Friedman said in a telephone interview. "But 'ever' is a big word, and Judaism has been around for a long time."
Ms. Seltzer said she had much to learn and that her work would only get better and more confident over time, but to an inexpert eye, at least, her calligraphy is lovely. The script style, developed in the 16th century, features staunch strokes and delicate flourishes; seven Hebrew letters are embellished with three-pronged antennaelike crowns.
The work is indisputably artful, but it's not intended to be expressive. The idea is to copy exactly; writing a Torah is less an act of creativity than of sublimation.
"I know the museum sees it that way, but if I thought this was a performance, I wouldn't be able to do it," Ms. Seltzer said.
And indeed, in that very denial lies the art in her performance. Watching her impossibly steady hand, the deft maneuvering of the quill (each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet requires its own separate technique) and the inexorable progress of the text across a column and down a page yields a palpable sense of ancient ritual that slows your breathing, and you can't help seeing that she is communing deeply with the text as she copies it. The writing is an act of faith.
"I was into the 'begets,' " she said during a break on a recent morning, recalling a moment of elation. She was referring to two segments of Genesis next to the story of Babel that trace the Biblical generations from Noah to Avram, later renamed Abraham by God.
"They go on for a while, so I smiled when I saw Avram," she said. "I was excited."
She pointed at the place in her written text.
"There he is!" she said, beaming.Continue reading the main story


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STREAM: Pony Girl – 'Candy'
Folktronica is the kind of genre-mash that you think is a terrible idea until you hear it work.
With "Candy", the third track on the new LP Foreign Life from Ottawa's Pony Girl, it works so well because the mash creates an atmosphere instead of stealing the show. Its form is like a vaccum holding two voices in unison. Like the tinfoil spaceman album art, there's a kind of weightlessness to it. The song is built around some acoustic guitar strumming, but it's the synth underneath, adding all its texture, that makes the song.
With a six-piece band, this restraint is all the more interesting.
Foreign Life is out Nov. 7 on So Sorry Records.


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Home > A. Molecular pathology > ACTA2
Thursday 11 February 2010
actin, alpha 2, smooth muscle, aorta; AAT6; ACTSA; ACTA2
The protein encoded by ACTA2 gene belongs to the actin family of proteins, which are highly conserved proteins that play a role in cell motility, structure and integrity.
Actins (ACTss)
Six different actin isoforms have been identified in vertebrates by amino acid sequencing: skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, 2 smooth muscle (enteric and aortic), and 2 cytoplasmic (beta and gamma).
Their amino acid sequences are similar and well conserved in evolution; e.g., skeletal and cardiac actins differ by only 4 amino acids, and skeletal muscle and cytoplasmic beta-actins differ by only 25 amino acids out of a total of 374.
Alpha, beta and gamma actin isoforms have been identified, with alpha actins being a major constituent of the contractile apparatus, while beta and gamma actins are involved in the regulation of cell motility. This actin is an alpha actin that is found in skeletal muscle.
Multiple alternatively spliced variants, encoding the same protein, have been identified.
Integrin accelerates the synthesis of alpha-SMA in contracture of hypertrophic scar.
findings confirm that ACTA2 mutations are important in familial TAAD, while the first sporadic and young-onset TAAD case with an ACTA2 mutation was also identified
Mucosal remodeling with alterations of NCAM+ or alpha-SMA+ subepithelial and interstitial cells may play a critical role in UC-associated tumorigenesis.
Observational study of gene-disease association. (HuGE Navigator)
Alpha-SMA metabolism in basal cell carcinoma is associated with a more aggressive behaviour of this tumor.
heterozygous ACTA2 mutations predispose patients to a variety of diffuse and diverse vascular diseases, including TAAD, premature CAD, ischemic strokes, and MMD
TNF-alpha abrogated TGFbeta1-induced SMalphaA gene expression at the level of transcription without disrupting phosphorylation of regulatory Smads.
These findings indicate the existence of alpha-smooth muscle actin-positive endothelial cells in adult aortic endothelium and the possible association with progression of atherosclerosis.
Ezrin and alpha-smooth muscle actin are predictive immunohistochemical prognostic markers for patients with an osteosarcoma
Study shows that missense mutations in ACTA2 are responsible for 14% of inherited ascending thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections (TAAD).
GATA-6 regulates human alpha-SMA expression via a novel regulatory cis element in the alpha-SMA promoter-enhancer
Apha-smooth muscle actin may prove to be a valuable marker in the evaluation fibrosis progression and an early indicator of the development of fibrosis.
Smooth muscle alpha-actin is expressed in endothelial cells derived from CD34+ human cord blood cells
Human smooth muscle alpha-actin gene is a transcriptional target of the p53 tumor suppressor protein
Defects in this gene cause familial thoracic aortic aneurysm type 6 (AAT6). (MIM.611788)
Mutations in smooth muscle alpha-actin (ACTA2) cause coronary artery disease, stroke, and Moyamoya disease, along with thoracic aortic disease. (19409525)
Mutations in smooth muscle alpha-actin (ACTA2) cause coronary artery disease, stroke, and Moyamoya disease, along with thoracic aortic disease. Guo DC, Papke CL, Tran-Fadulu V, Regalado ES, Avidan N, Johnson RJ, Kim DH, Pannu H, Willing MC, Sparks E, Pyeritz RE, Singh MN, Dalman RL, Grotta JC, Marian AJ, Boerwinkle EA, Frazier LQ, LeMaire SA, Coselli JS, Estrera AL, Safi HJ, Veeraraghavan S, Muzny DM, Wheeler DA, Willerson JT, Yu RK, Shete SS, Scherer SE, Raman CS, Buja LM, Milewicz DM. Am J Hum Genet. 2009 May;84(5):617-27. PMID: 19409525


text: On 10/27/2011 5:30 AM, Brian E Carpenter wrote: > If Abbott and Costello volunteered to act jointly as ISE, with a clear > indication of how they would self-organize, the IAB might wish to > appoint them. A carefully placed weasel word such as "normally" > would make that possible. Ahh. Now I understand. Please don't do that. It's a classic case of thinking that it's important to have flexibility, but actually creating a far less stable process. To give the IAB this flexibility is to then require that when the IAB use it they suddenly develop special skills at assessing the likely success of this unusual form of management. (Companies do, sometimes, have co-presidents or the like but it's rare that it works all that well.) Choose Abbot as ISE or choose Costello. Let them select the other as an assistant, or whatever you want to call them. There is no improvement in management outcome achieved by a 'team' appointment. What there /is/ is an increase in management risk. d/ -- Dave Crocker Brandenburg InternetWorking bbiw.net


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Cambridge Advanced Imaging Centre
Studying at Cambridge
SEM images of the different attachment structures of the caterpillar Bicyclus anynana.
Tweets by CamMicroscopy
© 2019 University of Cambridge
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The fasting blood glucose test
A diabetes diagnosis can be scary, but if you've been feeling unwell there is relief in knowing the cause. For those who have experienced excessive thirst, frequent urination, and/or fatigue, a fasting blood glucose test may be ordered to determine blood glucose levels. Fasting (no food for at least 8 hours) stimulates the release of the hormone glucagon, which in turn raises plasma glucose levels.
The fasting blood glucose test: what is it?
The procedure. The test consists of a simple blood test, which is sent to a lab for analysis. Prior to being tested, a person must not to eat for 8 hours. Because of this fast, the test is usually conducted first thing in the morning after an overnight fast.
The results. Results for the fasting plasma glucose test traditionally fall into three result areas: normal, impaired and diabetes.
- Normal fasting glucose. Blood sugars under 100 mg/dL are considered normal for a fasting blood glucose test.
- Impaired (pre-diabetes). Individuals with blood sugars between 100 and 125 mg/dL are considered to have a form of pre-diabetes (impaired fasting glucose).
- Diabetes. If an individual tests at or above 126 mg/dL, a second test is traditionally ordered. If the the second test confirms the first test results, that individual has diabetes.
More about the fasting blood glucose test
Dr. Jennifer Perkins, an endocrinologist at Duke University says the fasting glucose test is not perfect, "a fasting sugar can miss populations that have normal fasting sugars, but abnormal postprandial sugars (like impaired glucose tolerance)." She adds, "it can be used as an inexpensive screening test for impaired fasting glucose and/or diabetes, however, it is largely being replaced by the hemoglobin A1c." (Hemoglobin A1c test provides an average of your blood sugar control over a six to 12 week period, and is used in conjunction with home blood sugar monitoring to make adjustments in your diabetes medicines.)
For those who have a normal fasting blood glucose result, but are at risk of developing diabetes (genetics, overweight, high risk ethnic groups, women who've had gestational diabetes and/or individuals with impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance), a doctor may follow up with an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). This test is another method used to detect diabetes, and is usually done during pregnancy to diagnose gestational diabetes. It can also be used to diagnose pre-diabetes. The liquid is a cola like solution that is a designated amount of carbs (usualy 75 grams). Patients must fast for at least 8 hours before the test. Blood is drawn before consuming the drink, and again every 30 to 60 minutes after. This test can take up to 3 hours.
When it comes to your health, it's better to have a diagnosis than to remain in the dark. If you are experiencing these symptoms, talk to your doctor about a glucose test. The sooner you have an answer, the sooner you give your body what it needs.