text:
This product is no longer available.
The DSP56002EVM is a low-cost Evaluation Module (EVM) designed by Motorola to familiarize engineers and experimenters with the Motorola DSP56002 Digital Signal Processor (DSP) chip. The DSP56002EVM is very popular with Amateur Radio enthusiasts interested in DSP techniques. The EVM has been programmed to perform as a 1200 AFSK modem, 9600 bps FSK G3RUH modem, and various filters, just to name a few.
The DSP56002EVM was made popular by Johan Forrer, KC7WW, in the August 1995 QEX article entitled "Using the Motorola DSP56002EVM for Amateur Radio DSP." Johan created a software package for the DSP56002EVM.
Greg Jones, WD5IVD, President of TAPR, arranged for TAPR to have access to a large number of evaluation units from the Motorola DSP group. The purpose was to distribute these units to the amateur radio community for the support of DSP related research and development. Over a three year period, TAPR provided over 500 evaluation units into the amateur radio community.
The DSP56002EVM was discontinued by Motorola, but EVMs do appear on eBay or amateur radio for sale web pages.
- Using the Motorola DSP56002EVM for Amateur Radio DSP Projects
- The DSP Experimenters Homepage
- TAPR DSP Software Archives
- KC7WW's Collection of Utilities and Application Package for the DSP56002EVM
- Danie Brynard, ZS6AWK Interface
- Jabi Aguirre, EA2ARU Interface
For technical documentation on the DSP56002 and other DSP chips manufactured by Motorola. Visit the Motorola Digital Signal Processing web page. The DSP56002 Technical Documentation page has a link to DSP56002EVM Documentation and an overview of the DSP56002 chip.
Prentice Hall has published a text book entitled "Digital Signal Processing Applications With Motorola's DSP56002 Processor, 1/e" by Mohammed El-Sharkawy, Copyright 1997, ISBN 0-13-569476-0.
Using the Motorola DSP56002EVM for Amateur Radio DSP Projects
Motorola's low-cost DSP evaluation module covers all the bases for amateur use and development.
By Johan Forrer, KC7WW
Originally published in QEX August 1995
This article is about the Motorola DSP56002EVM, a low-cost,
powerful DSP evaluation module (EVM) intended for those experimenting with
digital signal processing (DSP). It is ideally suited for filtering CW
and EME signals, audio processing applications such as denoising and autonotching
and DSP modem work for HF digital and VHF/UHF modems for use in terrestrial
and satellite applications. I'll cover hardware and resources for application
development and present a collection of advanced DSP applications ready
for amateur experimentation. (See the Collection of Utilities and Application Package for the DSP56002EVM that appeared with this article.)
One way to learn about new computer hardware, especially processor chips, is to actually try your hand at programming them. Unfortunately, for an amateur experimenter with limited resources, mastering a complex processor like the Motorola 56002 DSP is a formidable task. This is not something for the faint of heart.
The recent introduction of low-cost EVMs by DSP chip manufacturers, however, has helped make DSP technology available to experimenters. These EVMs include sufficient educational materials to get you started: a small printed circuit card that contains the DSP chip, software to develop and evaluate educational programs and essential technical reference material. In an amateur-radio environment where cost and availability are major factors, these EVMs have been received with great enthusiasm. The DSP56002EVM is Motorola's entry into this market. The DSP56002EVM may be used either as a DSP development platform or for a free-standing application when using its onboard E(E)PROM memory. The DSP chip used on the EVM has an impressive track record in communication engineering. Its DSP chip is from the same Motorola DSP family as the chips used in the HAL PCI-4000 [1], AEA DSP 1-232, DSP 2-232 [2] and the DSP-12 [3]--and even in commercial and military products. If judged by these success stories, the 56002 presents splendid opportunities as it offers high clock speed and the advantages of its on-chip hardware emulator.
A Peek at the 56002 DSP
The computing engine of the DSP56002EVM is a 40-MHz 56002 DSP. This is a 24-bit processor, meaning that each instruction is 24 bits wide. Data and instruction words are kept in separate memory spaces. Instructions are stored in the "P"-space, short for program space. Two separate, independent data spaces, "X" and "Y" are available. This separation of data and instructions is called a Harvard architecture. This is quite different from the Von Neumann architecture used, for example, in the 80x86 processors. The Harvard architecture is typically used in DSPs and allows for extensive instruction parallelism.
The value of this parallelism becomes evident when one considers that the strength of DSP processors lies in their ability to multiply and accumulate (MAC) very efficiently. The 56002 scores high in this regard. It can multiply two operands, accumulate (sum) the result, fetch two new operands from its two independent data spaces, do address adjustment and fetch the next instruction--all in one clock tick. For a 40-MHz 56002, this happens 20 million times per second. Other DSP chips may have similar features, but having two data spaces and a 24-bit code/data architecture is a distinguishing feature of the 56000 family.
The 24-bit architecture of the 56002 allows a richer instruction set than that of comparable 16-bit DSPs. It also allows an impressive selection of extended addressing modes. These addressing modes are available in one-word instructions and also in a two-word instruction format. Which instruction format to use becomes a trade-off between ease of programming and programming for efficiency. Obviously, the additional dynamic range of 24-bit data (144.5 dB) over 16-bit data (96.3 dB) may prove valuable in certain applications. Higher computational accuracy, or perhaps the ability to detect weaker signals buried in noise, is possible.
The 56002 allows for a considerable degree of flexibility in interfacing configurations. Access by the outside world to the DSP is through several I/O pins, arranged as general-purpose I/O ports named, "PA," "PB," and "PC." Depending on the application, several of these I/O pins double up for use as signals for onboard peripherals such as a synchronous serial interface (SSI) or serial communications interface (SCI). When using these on-chip peripherals in applications, some of these I/0-port pins become dedicated and are no longer available for general-purpose I/O. Port PB in the DSP56002EVM is available at header J7 and is available for the user's interface. Initialization and use of these peripheral devices are documented in the 56002 user's guide. [4] Other DSPs have similar peripherals, particularly with respect to their capability to directly interface high-speed CODECS. But the 56002 SCI and OnCE peripherals are unique for the class of fixed-point DSPs.
The 56002 user-programmable phase-locked loop (PLL) determines the DSP clock rate. A 4-MHz crystal clock is available on the EVM to drive the PLL. This clock, incidentally, also serves as the clock for the on-board 6805 OnCE-interface microcontroller. Such a programmable system clock may serve several purposes. It may allow the designer to meet a variety of internal timing constraints. Or for portable equipment, a variable clock rate may be used for power management. The DSP consumes more power at higher clock rates than lower rates. Power consumption may thus be regulated by selecting the lowest internal clock rate that meets the requirements of the application.
One extremely useful feature of the 56002 is the inclusion of an on-chip sine-lookup ROM that comes in handy for use in communication applications, especially numerically controlled oscillators (NCO) for demodulators.
An Overview of the DSP56002EVM
Figure 1 shows a much simplified overview of the basic hardware components of the DSP56002EVM.
CODEC Interface (SSI)
A Crystal Semiconductor CS4215 coder-decoder (CODEC) handles analog signal conversion. This chip is designed for high-quality multimedia audio purposes and is capable of converting two analog signals to 16-bit digital values (A/D). It also contains two 16-bit digital-to-analog (D/A) converters. These A/D and D/A converters form the analog input and output capabilities of the EVM. The CS4215 is a flexible device, capable of a variety of user-programmable data conversion rates, programmable input gain and programmable signal output attenuation. The CODEC interfaces with the DSP via the DSP's SSI using a minimum of interface signals. DSP software must initialize the serial clock rate and framing method of the SSI for the particular CODEC. Additional control lines for reset, and data/control select, are required to fully command and control the CODEC. In the EVM's case, these control signals are assigned from peripheral port "C," as shown in Table 1.
M56002 port C
|SCI Receive (host port)
|SCI Transmit (host port)
|CODEC Data/Control (D/C)
|Not used (used for DCD in Leonid code)
|CODEC reset
|CODEC Frame synchronization
|CODEC Serial clock
|CODEC Receive (SSI Rx)
|CODEC Transmit (SSI Tx)
Note that the DSP56002EVM only implements a subset of the CS4215's capabilities. Of particular importance is the following: There is only provision for "mike" input, as the line input is disabled. Only one crystal is used, 24.576 MHz, which is connected to the "XTAL2" position of the CS4215--this normally is reserved for a 16.9344MHz crystal. XTAL2 must be selected when initializing data sampling rates. Typically, 8, 9.6, 16, 27.42857, 32 and 48-kSPS rates are available. These are commonly used rates for communications applications.
On-Chip Emulation (OnCE) Interface
A 6805-family microcontroller greatly simplifies the OnCE debugging interface. This single-chip solution not only saves board space, but also helps to keep costs down. Its purpose is to translate commands received via the serial interface from the PC-hosted debugging software into parallel control commands for controlling OnCE operation. The low-level OnCE interface logic is very intricate, consisting of several handshaking strobes and intricately-timed pulse sequences--not an easy task to program. The 6805 microcontroller takes care of all this low-level complexity and hides a great number of details from the user without restricting the capabilities of the OnCE, or perhaps only to a small extent: speed. The microcontroller, in its present form, is only capable of operating at a maximum speed of 19200 baud. At this speed, large DSP programs may take a while to download.
Although it is not crucial for a developer to know about the low-level debugger interface protocol to use the DSP5600EVM, it may be valuable when embedding OnCE capability into your own programs, or even to make it possible to use the EVM on other, non-DOS platforms. A summary of the OnCE interface protocol follows. [5]
Communication with the 6805-family microcontroller is eight-bit serial at 19200 baud. The host issues a command code that may consist of a single byte or may be multiple bytes, depending on the command. The response from the microcontroller is also coded, consisting of a single byte or multiple bytes. In certain situations, such as reset, there is no response, in which case the host should confirm that the EVM is in a usable state by a status query. Table 2 summarizes the command structure.
Host (Hex)
EVM Response (Hex)
|A0 Rx
|Read OnCE register Rx
|D7 RaRbRc (4 bytes)
|A1 Wa
|1-byte write
|D1 - success,
D2 - failed
|A2 WaWbWcWd
|4-byte write
|D1 - success,
D2 - failed
|Reset DSP
|no response
|Reset DSP
|no response
|Force OnCE into debug
|D3 - DSP dead
D5 - success
|Release OnCE
|D4 - success
|Read DSP status
|D7 Sa (2 bytes)
|..not used
|Reset the 6805
|no response
|..not used
|Check if 6805 is alive
|D6 - 6805 responding
|Obtain what code level
|La - code level
Host Port Interface (SCI)
The ONCE port is mainly used for debugging purposes. A more traditional serial interface is provided by the SCI. The DSP56002EVM provides a host connector (an optional feature) for this purpose. When the SCI interface is used, PC0 is programmed for SCI data receive and PC1 for SCI data transmit. (These assignments are also shown in Table 1.) Applications that use this interface for communicating with a host may use either ASCII or KISS format. [6] In stand-alone mode, the SCI port is the only means of communication with the EVM. Note that there is no provision for hardware flow control on the DSP560902EVM in its present form--applications must provide software flow control when needed.
Static RAM Memory
The 56002 DSP has 1024 24-bit words of on-chip static RAM (SRAM) that is divided as 512 words of P-memory, 256 words of X-memory, and 256 words of Y-memory. This on-chip memory runs at processor speed and usually is reserved for code that needs to run at the fastest possible speed, such as critical interrupt handlers or variables that need to be accessed very often.
An additional 32K words of SRAM is provided by three (32K x 8) 6206A SRAM chips. Dealing with address decoding logic for these fast DSP chips is very tricky due to the short access times and propagation delays in decoding logic. The EVM designers opted to use a simple, effective method of partitioning the address space. Address lines 14 and 15 and enables X/Y effectively allow for two addressing schemes. These are selected by jumper J12 (16K/32K). The resulting memory layouts are shown in Figure 2.
Both schemes lead to compromises--for example the 32K scheme has P, X and Y all residing in the same physical space. The programmer then has to guard against aliasing side-effects. For example, address P(220) is the same physical RAM location as X(220) or Y(220). In the 16K scheme, on the other hand, P and X share the same space with Y being independent. In this case, the programmer should watch out for aliasing P and X RAM locations. In addition, memory locations above 4000 are "shadow" RAM, that is, address decoding does not distinguish between locations in the range (0000 to 3FFF) and corresponding locations in the range (4000 to 7FFF).
These peculiarities have led programmers to take advantage of the hardware in clever ways. One programming trick that is often used to speed up DSP algorithms on the 56002 is to use a single location pointer for addressing two equal-sized I/O buffers. For example, let one buffer be used as a data source and another for a data destination. If X and Y are then set such that the corresponding elements of the input and output buffers reside at the same numeric address, for example: Input(10)is at address X(080), Output(10) is at address Y(080), then a common single pointer register (R2 in this case) does both fetching and storing of data at the appropriate locations.
move X:(R2),x0 ;Input comes from X move y0,Y:(R2) ;Output goes to Y
An example of how this is used can be found in the Leonid
kernel's CODEC interrupt handler, where code efficiency is crucial. Some
of these peculiarities become important considerations when porting 56002
code across different platforms. The amateur-radio application programs
in this article all use the 16K memory mapping.
One fact that is often overlooked pertains to external RAM: No matter which scheme is used, any data accessed in off-chip RAM involves multiplexing/demultiplexing of the address and data busses--the ultimate penalty is speed of execution. It is thus imperative that time-critical code reside in the on-chip RAM if at all possible.
Memory E(E)PROM
The DSP56002EVM includes an option to use an E(E)PROM for booting. This is essential for stand-alone applications. An EPROM such as a 27C256 would be suitable, but this assumes that the user has access to all the necessary tools to convert 56002 object code to a form suitable for booting the DSP. A much more elegant and useful alternative is to use an EEPROM, such as the Atmel At29C256PC FLASH PROM. It is relatively easy to program this device in-place using the software tools supplied with the DSP56002EVM.
Other Miscellaneous Glue Logic
Besides the DSP, CODEC and 6805 OnCE interface, very little additional logic is required to make a functional system. Shifting RS-232 levels to logic levels is handled by a MAX232--both transmit and receive pairs for the OnCE and host interface port are provided for. The 56002 reset logic also requires attention, as the DSP can be forced into one of several operating modes at reset time by presenting the hardware with a special reset signature. For the DSP56002EVM, a 74LS157 chip is used to present a binary "100" pattern to IRQA~, IRQB~, and NMI~ that places the DSP in "EPROM BOOT" mode. [4] Upon recognizing this state, and if a valid E(E)PROM device exists, the DSP's internal boot ROM then performs a bootstrap from this ROM, regardless of whether the ONCE port debugger is used or not.
Development Software and Tools for the DSP56002EVM
The DSP56002EVM ships with the Motorola 56002 version 5.3.2 assembler, Domain Technologies version 1.02 debugger and some (minimal) coding examples. [7] The assembler, as far as I can tell, is very similar to Motorola's professional edition. It generates COFF-format object code. No loader (a program that combines several preassembled objects) is used. This implies that all assembly code is assembled in one step--something that may become awkward when dealing with large projects. The generous use of include statements to read in different source code modules is one solution that helps. However, some public-domain software that includes a C language compiler, assembler, linker and 56000 simulator is available that may be of interest. [8]
Domain Technologies, Inc, developed Debug-EVM for the DSP56002EVM. This debugger bears similarities to professional in-circuit emulators in both appearance and capabilities. Such sophistication is made possible by the 56000 OnCE interface that effectively provides in-circuit emulation capability on silicon. Debug-EVM provides access and control over the internal workings of the DSP, memory and peripherals during the debugging process.
Debug-EVM is a DOS-based program that interfaces to the DSP56002EVM through a serial port at 19200 baud. Well-organized multiple-window displays allow for viewing data, program code, DSP registers and processor status in various formats. During the debugging stage of code development, DSP code and data is downloaded from the host PC to the DSP's memory. The developer can then manipulate registers and data, and place breakpoints as required. It also is possible to interact with a running DSP in a non-intrusive manner. This means that the DSP may be debugged at full speed. The debugger offers the following features:
- fully symbolic (data and code labels)
- source level debugging
- on-screen editing
- mouse support
- built-in assembler/disassembler
- character graphics (for plotting memory arrays)
- multiple memory display modes
- trace with count
- single step with count
- subroutine jump
- true real-time hardware breakpoint
- up to 128 software breakpoints
- up to four memory windows
- requires no on-chip monitor code
Amateur-Radio Applications for the DSP56002EVM
The software examples that come with the DSP56002EVM contain only the bare minimum to get you started. One of the included routines is a CODEC support routine, CODEC.ASM. This routine contains a collection of functions that initialize the CODEC and get it up and running. It is a complicated piece of code that requires that the programmer be knowledgeable of both how the CODEC chip works and also all the intricacies of the 56002 SSI interface. Fortunately, the use of define statements makes setting up the CODEC a fairly routine procedure. Transferring data to and from the CODEC is fully interrupt driven using agreed-upon buffer locations.
To make the DSP56002EVM more useful to other experimenters, I've put together a program package of useful additional programs. A listing of the programs included in the package is shown in Table 3.
Native DSP56002EVM applications (KC7WW)
|INOUT.ASM -- CODEC talk-through test
RTTY.ASM -- KC7WW's HF RTTY/AMTOR/Pactor (use with PCTOR)
RCOEFFS.ASM -- filter coefficients for above
TTYCD.ASM -- CODEC support for RTTY modem
EVM56K.PLT -- KC7WW's EVM radio interface schematic (HPGL)
EVM.PS -- KC7WW's EVM radio interface schematic (Postscript)
Ported applications based on the Leonid kernel
|TALK.ASM -- INOUT equivalent for Leonid
BIOS.ASM -- The source for the ported Leonid kernel
BIOS.CLD -- loadable module
INTEQULC.ASM -- essential include files
LEONID.ASM -- KC7WW's ported Leonid include file
FSK.ASM -- Jarkko's 1200 baud Bell 202 modem for the EVM
BANDPASS.ASM -- Jarkko's narrow CW filter
COEFF.ASM -- filter coefficients for above
QRMQRN.ASM -- a slightly modified version of Jarkko's LMS denoiser
Contributed programs by Jalocha, SP9VRC
|CORELNW.ASM -- Correlation-based filter
FFT-CUT.ASM -- Denoiser based on the spectral subtraction
PARLL1.ASM -- Early experimental 12-tone OFDM HF modem
The native DSP56002EVM programs work with the code that came with the EVM--the Leonid kernel is not used. As the simplest code example, the INOUT.ASM program is particularly useful to a beginner to verify the operation of the EVM and carry out some experiments with the CODEC. RTTY.ASM is a bit more advanced and requires further background in FIR filter design. Note that it uses a modified version of the CODEC support routines. The program contains a thorough description of how the DSP modem works. A schematic for a radio interface is included for use with this program.
One code module that may be of general interest is the author's port of the Leonid kernel. This module runs some exciting amateur-radio programs developed by the Finnish Alef Null group. [9] The Alef Null group has been active in the development of DSP projects since 1992--the DSP CARD 4 is their fourth generation DSP card. The DSP CARD 4 is very similar to the DSP56002EVM in many respects, except that it uses a 56001. However, the DSP CARD 4 is a forerunner of the DSP56002EVM. The striking similarity in hardware and software allowed the author to port the Alef Null software to the DSP56002EVM.
Porting Alef Null programs requires only minor changes: pay careful attention to the CODEC input source, P, X, Y and L memory allocation. Then, preload BIOS.CLD before loading the Alef Null application. Finally, start the application using "GO 0." This allows the last-loaded application to gain access to the low-level kernel services. Review the included code examples in the experimenter's package for further details.
The experimenter's package would not have been complete without the contributions of Pawel Jalocha, SP9VRC. These include several excellent examples for advanced DSP experimenters. Pawel has been particularly helpful in including assembly directives that makes his programs run on both platforms.
A Brief Overview of the Leonid Kernel
A DSP kernel is loosely defined as a sort of "command module": a collection of DSP-resident code functions that control, manage and interact with a user's DSP application. An in-depth overview of a complex piece of DSP code the size of the Leonid kernel is beyond the scope of this article. I encourage you to obtain the Alef Null documentation and read it together with BIOS.ASM. The code is reasonably well commented.
The Leonid kernel consists of two parts: the low-level BIOS and a higher-level abstraction that contains several macro calls. The low-level BIOS is contained in BIOS.ASM while the higher-level macro calls are contained in LEONID.ASM. Be sure not to mix the ported versions with the original Alef Null code--these are not quite compatible.
The Leonid kernel contains several critical components necessary for amateur-radio networking applications. A low-level routine handles the HDLC protocol for assembly and disassembly of AX.25 data packets. In addition, the KISS protocol is used together with the HDLC routines. It is thus possible to use the DSP56002EVM with a TCP/IP (NOS) program without any additional hardware. All that is required is the radio, EVM and a PC running NOS. Besides these support routines, additional low-level support is also included for time-out detection and carrier detect--necessary requirements to successfully operate in a network environment. Jarkko's Bell 202-compatible 1200-baud FSK modem (FSK.ASM) is a good example that gives further insight into how this all is put together.
|(1) Initialize CODEC:
ctrlcd 1,r2,buflen,MIC,0.0,0.0,LINE|HEADP,0.0,0.0
|(2) Start CODEC:
opencd 16, NOHPF
Jump via P(0028)
|(3) Collect data from the CODEC:
waitblk r2, buflen, batch
A few hints may help you follow the interrelation of the different program modules. Figure 3 illustrates how a user program interacts with the kernel. Examine this in conjunction with TALK.ASM, a simple example that illustrates how to use the Leonid code and BIOS. The TALK program starts by initializing the CODEC using the "ctrlcd" call (step 1 in Figure 3). This is a macro call (defined in LEONID.ASM) that primes the CODEC's buffers and prepares various pointers and registers that work with the CODEC. The parameters used in the example shown are as follows:
1--initialize data buffers.
r2--use R2 as a data pointer for reading/writing to the CODEC's buffers.
buflen-defines the internal size of the CODEC's circular buffers.
MIC--A define that activates the microphone as input source.
0.0, 0.0--sets the left/right input gain (see CS4215 data sheet). [10]
LINE|HEADP--defines that activate line/headphone output.
0.0, 0.0--sets the left/right output gains (see CS4215 data sheet).
The CODEC is started in step 2 using the "opened" call. This macro requires two parameters: the first is the sampling rate (ie, 16 means 16 kSPS), the second is whether the on-chip high-pass filter is required or not (see the CS4215 data sheet for its implications). Note that this macro includes a jump instruction to P-address 0028. This location is part of a jump table that routes the command to the appropriate section within the BIOS. This jump table is shown in Table 4(b) as part of the low-order P-address space. The jump to P(0028) will be routed to the CODEC startup code that in turn will bring the CODEC to life. It is imperative that once the CODEC comes alive, its interrupt vector and all associated pointers and data buffers are ready. Otherwise, the code will crash and burn. Jarkko implemented a very efficient CODEC interrupt handler in the BIOS routine by using the so called "fast interrupt" feature of the 56002. The way this works is, instead of a proper interrupt handler routine, two instructions are placed in the interrupt vector address. When a CODEC interrupt occurs, only these instructions are executed, then program execution resumes. These fast interrupts are shown in Table 4(a). The actual instructions in the interrupt vector locations are indirect read/write via register R7, so it is imperative that R7 be reserved for this purpose. Similarly, R3 is used as a SCI buffer pointer (see the SSI interrupt vector in BIOS.ASM for further details).
|Interrupt vectors: P(0000-001F)
Stack Error vector
Trace vector
Software interrupt vector
IRQA vector
IRQB vector
SSI TX ------- Fast interrupt
SSI Tx error vector
SSI Rx ------- Fast interrupt
SSI Rx error vector
SCI Rx vector
SCI Rx error vector
SCI Tx vector
SCI Tx error vector
|Opens serial interface.
(a)=KISS command routine address else
(a)=0 for regular 8-bit serial I/O
(b)=Tx on/off routine address.
|Places a character in output queue
returns Z is buffer full, NZ otherwise.
|Retrieves a charater from the queue
returns with argument in (x0)
returns C if no data available, else NC
|Checks state of queue
returns C if no data available, else NC
|terminates a KISS frame.
|Rejects the current KISS frame.
|Places the current KISS frame.
|Gets next bit to be sent
returns with bit in C
Z if end of transmission.
|Opens CODEC at a specified sample rate
Sample rate code is in (x0).
|Shut CODEC down.
|Request a specified time delay
(x0) contains number of (1/baud) ticks.
|Writes to port PB
LSB of (x0) contains argument.
|Set transmision "in progress" state
Subject to persistence and DCD logic.
|Set "end of transmission" state.
Subject to persistence logic.
|not used.
|Illegal interrupt
Actual data collection occurs in step (3). The "waitblk" macro requires three arguments: "R2" indicates that register R2 is to be used as an input/output buffer pointer, "buflen" is the name of the input/output buffer to be used and "batch" contains the block size. The block size feature provides a flexible programming environment. This is illustrated by the following example: If you need to process one sample at a time, the block size will be one. But keep in mind that the data collection process occurs as a background task--often it may take longer to process a block of code than the period between CODEC interrupts. By working with chunks of data at a time, data collection can continue in parallel with processing. This remains valid as long as the time it takes to process a block of data is shorter than the time to acquire a new block of data, so the I/O buffers won't overflow. A further example to illustrate this method of data acquisition is doing real-time FFT processing. Assume that 256-point blocks are acquired and processed and 256 points are written back out. Now suppose it takes longer to process a 256-point FFT than the time between CODEC data interrupts. Clearly, it is not possible to output a continuous stream of processed FFT data. However, collecting a chunk of data first, the FFT calculation can now proceed to completion before the next 256-point chunk arrives. Thus, a continuous stream of data can be collected, processed and written back out, without gaps. There would, however, be a time delay between input and output of duration equal to the time it takes to fill a block.
A number of additional function calls are available that deals with the SCI, timer, KISS and HDLC interface routines. These are listed in Table 4(b).
This article shows that the DSP56002EVM is in a class of its own--outstanding in flexibility and capability that should be hard to beat for some time to come. It is capable of serving the needs of beginners and advanced experimenters in DSP. Amateur-radio experimenters in DSP can also take advantage of an established base of applications.
Jarkko Vuori and the Alef Null group's permission to use and publish their code is gratefully acknowledged. This contribution is an outstanding achievement in software engineering.
It was a pleasure to work and discover many new aspects about the 56002 with Pawel Jalocha. His advice, assistance and permission to use and publish his code is acknowledged.
I am also indebted to George Hawkins, K15X, and the folks at Motorola Digital Signal Processor Systems for their keen support.
1 PCI-4000. HAL Communications Corp, PO Box 365, Urbana, IL 61801, tel: (217) 3677373.
2 DSP-1232 and DSP-2232. AEA Advanced Electronic Applications, Inc (AEA), PO Box C2160, Lynwood, WA 98036, tel: (206) 774 5554.
3 DSP-12 Multimode Communications Controller. L.L. Grace Communications Products, Inc, 41 Acadia Drive, Voorhees, NJ 08043, tel: (609)751-1018.
4 The following literature may be ordered through Motorola's Literature Distribution Center, PO Box 20912, Phoenix, Arizona 85036 (Phone: 1-800-441-2447). Please note that some of these materials are free, others not:
DSP56000 Family Manual (DSP56K FAMUM/AD).
DSP56002 Digital Processor User's Manual (DSP56002UM/AD).
DSP5600010SP56001 Digital Signal Processor User's Manual (DSP56000UM/AD).
5 EVM56002 EVM ONCE Interface, Rev 1. 1. Craig Heller et al, Motorola Digital Signal Processing Division, Semiconductor Products Sector, 6501 William Cannon Drive West, Austin TX 78735-8598. This software is supplied with some versions of the kit.
6 Chepponis, M. and Karn, P. "The KISS TNC: A simple Host-to-TNC Communications Protocol," Proceedings of the Sixth ARRL Computer Networking Conference, ARRL 1988.
7 Domain Technologies, Inc, 1700 Alma Drive, Suite 245, Plano, TX 75075. Developers of the Debug-EVM. Version 1.02 was shipped with the author's system. An updated version, 1.0402, is available for downloading from Domain's BBS (214) 587-1090. Domain also offers a professional version of the debugger, the LINK-56002 development system. In addition, a 56002-based, ISA-bus development card is also offered. Domain Technologies may be contacted via the Internet at: firstname.lastname@example.com.
8 Public-domain software for the 56000-family is available from several Internet locations. One such location is ftp://nic.funet.fi in file /pub/ham/dsp/dsp56k-tools/gcc5616.tar.Z. This program is the work of Andrew Sterian and was intended for the 56116/56156 DSP but, with some reservations, is useful for the 56002. There also is a C language compiler for the 56002, by the same author. This one is named gcc56k.tar.Z. The Alef Null software package mentioned in Note 9, includes a (somewhat dated) assembler, linker, and simulator. These were placed in the public domain because they are not the latest official Motorola versions. However, they all work well. Another useful source for software is Motorola's Dr. Bub BBS (512) 891-3771 or (512) 891-3773.
9 Kaj Wiik, OH6EH and Jarkko Vuori, OH2LNS. Alef Null DSP CARD 4, User's Manual. Manual and software package available for downloading from jeeves.hut.fi. Look in the alefnul directory for program libraries and documentation.
10 CS4215 16-bit Multimedia Audio Codec. Crystal Semiconductor Audio Databook. Crystal Semiconductor Corporation, PO Box 17847, Austin TX 78760.
11 "KC7WW's experimenter's code package for the DSP56002EVM is available for downloading from: ftp://ftp.tapr.org/ hfsig/upload/EVM56Kl.ZIP.
Converted to HTML by N7HPR (www)
KC7WW's Collection of Utilities and Application Package for the DSP56002EVM
Note: The latest firmware based on the KC7WW code is available at Doug Braun, NA1DB, website at http://www.dougbraun.com
Radio InterfaceJohan designed a daughter board that provides a radio interface for the DSP56002EVM.
Collection of Utilities and Application Package for the DSP56002EVMVersion 3 - March 1996
Johan Forrer, KC7WW (email@example.com)
The code, schematics, and examples in this package are provided for personal use without any warranty on an "as is" basis -- "what you see is what you get." The code examples or schematics may not be used for resale or in any commercial or government applications without written concent of the author(s). The author and authors of the included software examples are not liable for any mishaps due to the use and/or abuse of this software package.
This version of the package accompanied the article in the August 1995 issue of QEX:
Using the Motorola DSP56002EVM for Amateur Radio DSP
by Johan Forrer, KC7WW
This package will get you started developing amateur radio applications with the Motorola DSP56002EVM. It assumes you have some prior experience with the DSP56002EVM, i.e., have assembled code and used the debugger a little bit.
The package evm56k3.zip is available from ftp://ftp.tapr.org/dsp/Motorola/dsp56002/evm56k/kc7ww/
Native EVM56002 Applications (KC7WW)
Applications based on the LEONID kernel port
Pawel's (SP9VRC) Programs
Danie's (ZS6AWK) Programs
(NOS) a collection of notes for running the EVM with NOS
The bulk of the more interesting applications are based on the work of the Alef Null group. I acknowledge the efforts of Jarkko Vuori (OH2LNS), Kaj Wiik (OH6EH), and their associates, for their excellent work. I am also most grateful for Jarkko Vuori's permission to port and post the Leonid monitor code for the EVM56K.
I recommend that the documentation of the Alef Null Project be obtained for reference purposes from ftp://jeeves.hut.fi in the alefnull directory. There are several components: source, tools1, and doc. It contains an appropiate introduction to what DSP is and also discusses modem theory as applied to the various software modules in the package. Makes for interesting reading.
Some exellent examples from Pawel Jalocha (SP9VRC) are included with his kind permission. Thanks Pawel for sharing your fine workmanship! I can recommend all the modems, denoiser/filters, and FSKIFACE works wonderfully with JVFAX7.1 (another outstanding program).
I also include a contribution by Danie, ZS6AWK - I am sure that this will also be appreciated by others.
Radio interface
NOTE: Using this interface to your EVM requires NO modifications to your EVM.
I included the schematic of my radio interface for the EVM56K. This schematic is basically adapted from the DSP4 and simplified to the bare essentials. The reader is referred to the DSP4 documentation for further details.
Also note that if you want to use the interface schematic, that a few jumpers need to be changed:
- J8 should have all four jumpers in standard mode, i.e., parallel to the short edge of the PCB.
- J10 should have PC0 and PC1 jumpers installed.
Just a note about FLASH EPROM: I have used the Atmel chip and have had good luck with it. To program the FLASH EPROM, first load your code using the debugger, then load the FLASH program supplied with the kit. Finally execute the FLASH program. The start address is given in the FLASH program, just look at the source code. When all is done, remove the debugger and push the "reset" button. The DSP will then boot from the FLASH EPROM.
EVM and DSPCARD4
The EVM56002 and the DSPCARD4 are very similar in many respects - deceptive differences, however will puzzle the beginner and expert alike. When porting the code between these two platforms be mainly aware of the following:
1. The DSP4 has seperate spaces for P, X, and Y - the EVM56K only has P/X, and Y. Be careful with X memory allocation. Also be aware of tricks that use a common address pointer that addresses both X and Y at the same time. The DSP4 software examples occasionally uses this method.
2. There is only one audio source connected on the EVM, i.e., "MIKE" input. The DSP4 allows a selection. Thus make sure that any code that you port has "MIKE" selected. You may optionally put the 20dB pad in if you need more gain at the cost of poorer audio quality. Also note that there is only one crystal on the CODEC, i.e. 24.5MHz, and it is connected to the WRONG crystal port, i.e. where the 16MHz crystal is supposed to be. This is no problem, though when you initialize th CODEC, make sure it looks for the 16MHz crystal - the 24MHz crystal is then selected and all is fine.
3. To use the Leonid monitor on the EVM, first load "BIOS", then your application(s) and finally "go 0" to start the code. If you plan to use the "SPY" program, or any other program that use the SCI, for that matter, you need to switch to the "terminal" port on the EVM as all communications using the EVM's SCI port is through that port.
4. Please look at the code for BIOS.ASM before using it:
a) You may wish to change the SCI baudrate to another value than the 9600 baud that I used.
b) For a faster EVM clock, enable the speed you wish. I have been using 40 MHz to maintain compatibility between several old and new systems. My EVM will run quite happily at 80 MHz.
This goes for the 1200 baud FSK modem as well. In that case you also need to make sure that you use a program that can talk in "KISS" mode, i.e. something like NOS will do just fine.
Note there are two experimental 1200 baud modems in the package. The OH2LNS version, FSK.ASM, is somewhat sensitive to audio input level - set this not more than 180 mV. Pawel's modem, FSK1200.ASM, is fairly insensitive to the input level.
5. If you are not a NOS guru, the following commands will let you monitor raw traffic (make sure you have the appropiate serial port, attached in your autoexec.nos file).
trace ax0 211 (then push F9, I assume "ax0" is your ax25 device)
6. When NOS is used, ensure that NOS and the EVM is communicating at the same baudrate. Please check the baudrate that Leonid is using by the setting in "baud" (line 182) - set it to the required rate and re-assemble BIOS.ASM.
7. You must use my version of the leonid.asm include file when building programs that use the Alef Null Leonid monitor calls.
Other Hints & Kinks
The EVM has only a provision for using MIC input -- LINE inputs are grounded through a capacitor. If you wish, these LINE inputs can be enabled, though this modification should only be attempted by a skilled person. You will need to work under good lighting and use a magifier glass to inspect your work. This one voids your warranty - beware!
Step 1). Referring to the CODEC: find the track running from pin 18, towards C207. Cut it close to C207. The LINE inputs are now disconnected from ground.
Step 2). Turn the EVM upside down and find the feed-thru tracks from pins 15 and 16. Between these two feed-thru holes, is a "L" shaped short track that feeds through to pin 16. This "L"-shaped track ties LINEL and LINER together - cut it. Now LINEL and LINER are independant.
Step 3). If you wish to connect LINEL and LINER to an independant input conditioning circuit, you may wish to use the feed-though holes on the bottom of the EVM for solder pads to gain access to LINER (pin 16) and LINEL (pin 18). I choose to bridge these pads so that MICR/LINER and MIRL/LINEL becomes connected.
I did this modification only to maintain software compatibility with some programs the use LINE as input. Otherwise it is best to leave this alone.
I trust that this collection of examples is of use. Please let the authors know that you are using their software and that you appreciate their indivdual efforts. The main thing is - please contribute your own efforts so that we all can grow in our experiences.
73, Johan, KC7WW
Danie Brynard, ZS6AWK
Danie, email@example.com, has been experimenting and using the DSP56002EVM for a variety of projects. He has built upon some of Johan's work and added a few of his own. Here is Danie's contribution.
ICOM IC820H Radio Interface
Danie modified Johan's radio interface design and tailored his to work with the IC820H. Here is the evmawk.txt file and evmawk.zip.
Index of Software
Danie maintains an index of software for the EVM. It is available as evmindex.txt.
Jabi Aguirre, EA2ARU
Jabi, email@example.com, has also been experimenting and improving upon Johan and Danie's work. Here is his contribution.
Photos of the pcb design Jabi modified from Danie, ZS6AWK's design.
Photos of the case Jabi has made for his EVM.
For more information on the pcb and case, contact Jabi at his email address above.


text:
This is the wiki for the Clinical Biochemistry is a mandatory course of the MSc in Health Biochemistry on ESTSP. The official language for this course and wiki is Portuguese.
Clinical biochemistry is the study of biochemical exchanges that occur within the human body in relation with their application in the field of medicine. Millions of complex chemical reactions are going on in the human body at any given time, ranging from the balance of the endocrine system to the storage of human memory. By studying and understanding these highly complex reactions, medical biochemists have found ways to better fight infection and disease on the molecular level.
Progress in the fields of molecular biology, endocrinology, and cellular biology has been rapid in recent years. Since all of these scientific fields tie in closely with medical biochemistry, it has made keeping up with the latest advancements in the field extremely challenging. Medical biochemists have to study often to stay on the cutting edge of this ever-expanding branch of science.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Religion Remains Heart of Haiti 3 Years After Devastating Earthquake
Three years after one of the most devastating earthquakes in recorded history struck Haiti, killing more than 300,000 people, survivors are still facing critical problems and struggling to rebuild their lives – but are turning to God in even bigger numbers.
"Religion is at the heart of Haitian society. The level of suffering has been so high that clearly people feel dis-empowered to cope with the situation and the earthquake has led to an increase reference to religion and to churches," Haiti Program Director for Oxfam Yolette Etienne told The Christian Post in an email on Friday.
The catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake that decimated the Caribbean nation struck west of the capital, Port-au-Prince, on Jan. 12, 2010. Three years later, more than $12 billion has been collected through international charities and fundraisers to help Haitians recover from the tragedy, but a lot of work still remains to be done. Nearly 358,000 people are still living in over 500 camps scattered around the capital and rural areas. The people in these camps often lack access to basic services, such as health care, sanitation and education, and they are suffering from outbreaks of cholera and other diseases – although a flood of missionary groups has been working hard in assisting them to rebuild their homes and gain better access to food and water.
Etienne shared with CP that the situation in the country is still very critical. Many of the camps are located in less visible areas, where they are in danger of crime. Job opportunities are very scarce, and many people move from camp to camp in search of better living conditions. Some isolated groups are migrating to rural areas for short-term periods, but they know that their best chance of receiving support is if they stay closer to central authorities.
"The government's program for relocation, supported by some international donors, had reached around 44,000 people and it is expected to be extended to 50,000 more," Etienne said.
As for the $12 billion in funds gathered for Haiti, the program director shared that nearly 50 percent of that money had been pledged for reconstruction projects.
"Nearly all the rubble has been cleared from the street. There has been some construction of houses, roads and businesses. Donors must continue to support the government and its return and relocation program with emphasis on plans to address all camps and displaced persons. It is clear what is needed – a realistic long-term resettlement plan led by Haitians for Haitians that also puts people to work and build skills," Etienne added.
Women are especially suffering in the midst of the large-scale unemployment gripping Haiti, and Oxfam says it is working hard with the government to strengthen citizen participation and support employment creation.
Haiti has a long and unique history when it comes to religion – with most praciticing voodou, which was brought from Africa to the island during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. When the French occupiers banned the practice of voodou rituals, however, Haitians began integrating Roman Catholic saints and beliefs into their understanding of religion. Today, over 80 percent of Haitians profess to be Roman Catholic, while another 16 percent are Protestant – although traditional influences and practices still remain among many of Haiti's residents.
Etienne revealed that religion has been one thing that has been providing Haitians with a source of hope amid the chaos, and people are turning to church even more following the earthquake.
"To keep hope in times of desperation, people gathered in common spaces to pray together and to find community and strength when there seems to be no grounded plan to overcome the disasters and when disasters follow disasters. I'm not sure that people have changed significantly to develop more compassion, but they certainly seem to more often turn to religion. Even if there is no formal study, a bigger percentage of population is more regularly attending religious services," the Oxfam director said.
The government is facing a very long road in helping the hundreds of thousands of people in need – with foreign investments the major source of creating employment opportunities and pouring money into housing projects.
"However, given the challenges facing Haiti, these investments will take times, and it is important to advocate for a specific program to help the displaced people find a solution. It is obvious that most of the people in the remaining camps are among the most vulnerable in Haiti. It is still important to develop a timeline for closure of the camps and adequate investment in neighborhoods to improve access to basic services," Etienne insisted.
Various charity organizations are still calling on people to donate money for suffering children and families in the country, calling on them not to forget that the process of recovery still has a very long way to go.


text:
Naughty JavaScript can be planted in IM status messages
Technique shown for ICQ as well as Skype
Security shortcomings in both ICQ instant messenger for Windows and the ICQ website create a possible mechanism for account hijacking, a security researcher warns.
Levent Kayan warns that the software fails to screen against the inclusion of JavaScript code in user-supplied status messages. The shortcoming means that this JavaScript code might be run on a victim's machine providing they are tricked into opening the booby-trapped status message using a vulnerable ICQ client.
The technique might be used to steal session cookies, enabling the hijacker to impersonate victims, or (with greater difficulty) to gain access to local files on a compromised PC. Kayan found a similar cross-site scripting flaw involving Skype earlier this month.
Heise Security was able to reproduce the flaw discovered by Kayan using the current 7.5 version of ICQ. ICQ told the security news site that it was in the process of developing and testing a security fix. ®


text:
I ran the San Francisco marathon
Yesterday, I ran in the San Francisco Marathon. What an experience!
But I'll start telling this story from the beginning, which was the end of 2012. This is when I signed up, marked my calendar and chose a training plan. February 11th was the first of many, many training days.
The training was pretty great. The first week didn't feel hard, and this probably planted a big seed of confidence early on. The continuing weeks built up in the length of each training run, which in turn means longer duration… and soon enough, I was spending more than an hour running for practice. A few weeks later, it was going to even longer.
Important background detail of things also happening during this time: my BB love had a career change after realizing that some things are more important than others. She was in need of a student to practice teaching a new subject: Yoga. I sometimes became that student, and I've really been enjoying Yoga!
In some styles of Yoga, I find it possible to get a slice of something that I can best describe as " inner enlightenment"; being in certain poses, focusing on my breathing and with my eyes closed, I become aware of things that can only be seen without seeing. Luckily for me, the Yoga that Kelly likes to teach does this for me, and frequently. However, it probably also helps me that I'm in love with this woman, and her smile alone makes me happy.
Anyway, I've been able to find that kind of trance-like state of mind during running. It seems that somewhere after 45 minutes of running, my brain finally lets my body be in auto-pilot to regulate my breath and effort, and maintain a decent form… and then BAM, there I am: a clear mind -and probably a creepy smile to all the people that see me run by.
I would often come home and talk to Kelly about all the things I thought about while I ran, with a catchphrase that I thought about myself: "You know… I was thinking… because I was running, right? And when I run, I think, right? ( wait for acknowledgement> So, I was thinking while I was running that…" and then something would come out. Good ideas, things to talk about, different points of view on things we'd already talked about… stuff that was interesting to talk about, and all of that talking would make me feel closer to her.
I started to love running. How could I not, right? It was an outlet of energy, an excuse to eat uncontrollably, a source of blocks to keep building the relationship that I hold dearest, and also time to be alone, outside and even unplugged at times.
I think that a big part of this training program -and probably that of any program- was that it was sort of a snowball and it builds momentum, and also kind of like an athletic version of How To Eat an Elephant. I made the commitment way ahead of time, and the strategy was simple: I would take 4 bites a week, and the last bite would be a big splash.
The last bite was indeed interesting.
I got to the start line with enough time to walk around and shake of the nervousness. I was about 30th in line for the porta-potties with 25 minutes to go, and I decided that the chance to get locked out of my corral was not worth the little pee I had to make.
The Marathon started, and things got going smoothly. Pretty soon I was feeling pretty good! I was sticking to the pace-keeper for a 3:45 finish along with about a hundred other hopefuls, with plenty of time to take in the gorgeous sights as the sun rose.
About 50 minutes into the whole thing, I ran past one of the aid stations, which had a line of 3 already for the porta-potties, and I thought to myself "If I could just pee already, this would all be even better!". So it was without shame that I pulled over as soon as I saw a suitable tree to hide behind on the side of the rail, and emptied my bladder.
45 seconds later, I was a new man. I joined the human train of sweaty faces huffin' and puffin' into the first hills, and aimed to catch the 3:45 leader who was now out of sight.
The course was fun during the first hour, and running on the Golden Gate Bridge was pretty amazing. I enjoyed the view, the privilege of running on the bridge itself (fun fact: it's the only time of year that this is legally possible!), the cool ocean breeze and the cheers of encouragement from people that drove by. I also really enjoyed the company of so many people that were doing the same as I was. Being one of thousands, felt kind of like a pack, or a herd. Men and women of all ages, sizes, shapes, religion and origins, all doing the same thing.
The first half of the San Francisco marathon is quite scenic. One of the last landmarks before going into Golden Gate Park is Baker Beach, and then something more than just the landscape changes: supporting locals come out. Some hold signs, some blast their stereos and dance on the sidewalk, some poke their head from behind their front door as they sip coffee in their bath robes.
To each and every one of those people being unofficial cheer volunteers: I noticed you, and I appreciate you!
The volunteers of the race were phenomenal. Most of them could be classified as either young kids at the water stations, or some sort of gnarly 50+ year old sportin' leather and chillin' next to their Harley which was blocking a street or two. At each water station, there were at least 2 super-enthusiastic volunteers who would go out of their way to make sure no one missed water/gatorade if they needed it. I hope these people were properly recognized with more than a souvenir T-shirt, because they were super-duper-cool.
Back to the running story now: that good feeling faded, and by mile 14 I was starting to feel worrying discomforts in my legs. Then reality sunk in: I hadn't caught up to the 3:45 leader since that pee behind a tree, and there had been a few more pees behind trees since that, too!
Novice wisdom I'd read and already knew about says that you should make sure to not go too hard at the beginning, to pay no attention to all the endorphins and to slow down. Turns out, that's kind of hard to do! Also and in retrospect, I wasn't very good at going slower during training either.
So, in the last 10 miles of the Marathon, I worked on finding exactly where that gear is between "boring slow" and "building heat". If I could re-do my training, I'd make a bigger conscious effort to run in that gear.
After running through the Haight as I listened to some trance music for motivation, I was in a mostly uncomfortable place. I took walk breaks when coming into water stations, to make sure I'd gulp everything down and stretch out calves and hamstrings.
This strategy got me to mile 23, and that's when I felt like it was time to do as they say in the vernacular and dig deep. Another fascinating term about this practice that could also apply: HTFU.
I focused on my breath, my form, and put my headphones away. I knew I could run the last 3 miles, and after doing some fuzzy math I figured that I could still make a sub-4 hour finish… If I started going even a bit faster.
Luckily, there were tons of cheer stations along the south-east portion of the course, and they provided enough distraction from my body complaining and wanting to quit.
Quickly reviewing the recent events, I realized I wasn't really enjoying myself. My inner dialogue became an argument about whether to finish under a time limit or to enjoy the thing that I'd been excited about for weeks.
That discussion came to an abrupt end when the finish line was within sight. It looked like I was going to finish under 4 hours, and that alone gave me a boost to also enjoy every second of that moment that lasted about 3 seconds.
After the finish line, I was quickly wrapped in a cool space blanket, accosted by paparazzi and eating and drinking whatever was within reach. It was probably during this time of of exhaustion, accomplishment and enjoyment of delicious snacks that I managed to do what I've just now discovered happened at some point: my activity was deleted from my Garmin GPS wristwatch.
But that's ok, Garmin. You can't take my marathon away, because I did it! Sure, I would have loved to see the pretty graphs that show my speed, heart rate and elevation gain over time, I don't need them.
Yesterday, I ran the San Francisco Marathon.


text:
Letter CCCXLVII.
Libanius to Basil.
Every bishop is a thing out of which it is very hard to get anything. 3279 The further you have advanced beyond other people in learning, the more you make me afraid that you will refuse what I ask. I want some rafters. 3280 Any other sophist would have called them stakes, or poles, not because he wanted stakes or poles, but rather for shewing off his wordlets than out of any real need. If you do not supply them, I shall have to winter in the open air.
πρᾶγμα δυσγρίπιστον. γριπίζω=I catch fish, from γρῖφος, a creel.324:3280


text:
Health Information
For health related concerns, students can contact Bassett Convenient Care at 315.867.2884 or visit them at 321 East Albany Street, Herkimer, NY 13350. For emergencies, call 911.
A Note on Immunization Requirements
New York State Law requires that students who are on campus for 6 credits or more need to have proof of 2 MMR's (Measles, Mumps & Rubella). This law applies to all students born after January 1, 1957.
A new Public Health Law effective August 15, 2003 makes it mandatory for ALL college students taking 6 or more credits on campus to receive information about Meningitis Disease and Vaccine. ALL students must have a record of receiving the Meningitis Vaccine OR sign a waiver declining the vaccine.
All students will have 30 days from the first day of school to comply with the above requirements. Holds will be put on all your records until these requirements are met. (This means that no transactions can be made on your accounts, example: dropping/adding classes, financial refunds, etc.)
NY State of Health: What Does it Mean for You?
NY State of Health, The Official Health Plan Marketplace, is where New Yorkers can shop for, compare
and enroll in health insurance coverage. You have a choice of health plans and help finding the plan
that is right for you. It's the only place to get financial assistance to reduce the cost of coverage.
Health insurance offered in the Marketplace includes a comprehensive set of benefits.
To learn more, visit nystateofhealth.ny.gov or call 1-855-355-5777.
For questions about health records or immunizations, please contact Lori Dolly, Administrative Assistant to the Dean of Students at 315-866-0300 ext. 8276 or by email at email@example.com or by visiting the Dean of Students Office located in the Classroom Administration Building, room 264.
Health Forms
- Health History/Physical Exam Form
- Procedure to Obtain Health Records
- Records Release
- Health Records Request Form


text: It takes alot to get those lovely locks tip top! Now share your tip and toe art with us as well. Discussion of hair products, tools, styles, dyes, and general tips & tricks. We want to see that new haircut, or color, or that fabulous new manicure! Industry professionals welcomed!


text:
Nicholas Wolfrom Reznick
Nick Reznick lived an amazing life of love, laughter and adventure. While exploring the beauty of the canyon country that he enjoyed so much, Nick was lost in a small aircraft accident near the town of Escalante, UT. A resident of Escalante, and formerly of Flagstaff, AZ, he was a well known farmer, river runner, horseman and outdoor enthusiast.
Nick's parents were co-founders of Arizona River Runners, now the largest river-rafting company in Grand Canyon. He spent his younger years exploring the rivers and byways of the American West with his family, fostering a passion for river rafting that spanned his entire life. A thousand stories and a million laughs will be recounted of Nick's exploits and antics. His sense of humor and his generosity and willingness to help others endeared him to countless friends. Nick could fix just about anything. As one local farmer said, "Losing Nick is like losing a third and fourth hand." If it was stuck, he could unstick it. If it was broken, he could usually fix it.
After being raised in Southern California by parents Barbara and Nick Sr., Nick moved to Flagstaff and teamed with his brother Peter in real estate development. In 1984 he pursued a degree in business management from the San Jose State University, and then returned to Flagstaff, joining with his brother in refurbishing an old dairy building, acquiring Mountain Dell Water, Inc., and building University Terrace Subdivision. Nick became a skilled backhoe operator and was handy with tools. He also worked as a commercial river guide and location scout for the film industry.
In 2005, Nick and his wife Melanie moved to Escalante after purchasing the Fire Rock Farm. At the farm he grew certified weed-free horse hay, fruits, berries, and vegetables…especially asparagus. Nick was an avid horseman roaming the countryside astride his beloved horse, Rooster. He was also a successful beekeeper and was the go-to man whenever a renegade swarm was on the loose. An accomplished heavy equipment operator, Nick could often be found helping his neighbors excavate a foundation or dig a ditch. As the secretary of the Pine Creek Irrigation Company he was well known to the farmers in the Escalante area.
Nick is survived by his wife Melanie, brothers Peter (Zaira), Flagstaff, AZ, and Greg (Olga), Berkeley, CA; sister Neva, Seattle, WA; brother-in-law Blake, Dallas, TX, and 10 nieces and nephews. Nick will be remembered as everybody's favorite uncle, even to the children of his many friends. A celebration of his life is planned in the spring and will be announced at a later date.
In honor of Nick's memory, please perform a random act of kindness, lend a hand to your neighbor and put a smile on someone's face.


text:
The Office of International Programs serves both international students and students wishing to spend time on a Study Abroad program in the fall, spring, or summer.
Oklahoma Christian University also has a rich heritage of supporting missionaries and other families that live abroad. The children of these families, the Third Culture Kids, have a special place in our hearts and a program created especially to aid them in their college experience.


text:
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text:
Louisville (lōō´ēvĬl), city (1990 pop. 269,063), seat of Jefferson co., NW Ky., at the Falls of the Ohio; inc. 1780. It is the largest city in Kentucky, a port of entry, and an important industrial, financial, marketing, and shipping center for the South and the Midwest. Whiskey distilling is a traditional industry in the city, which also produces the famous Louisville Slugger baseball bats. Other manufactures include motor vehicles; naval ordnance; wood, paper, and tobacco products; processed foods; and computers and software. There is also chemical and aluminum processing and printing and publishing.
A settlement grew after George Rogers Clark built (1778) a fort as a base of operations against the British and the Native Americans. The city was chartered by the Virginia legislature in 1780, when Kentucky was part of Virginia, and named for Louis XVI of France. Louisville developed as a portage place around the falls (until a canal was built in 1830) and as a river port and major commercial center. Many famous steamboats were constructed there. With the arrival of the railroads in the mid-19th cent., the city became the terminus of both the southern and midwestern rail lines, and shipping expanded significantly. During the Civil War it was a center of pro-Union activity in the state and a military and supply base for federal forces.
The Univ. of Louisville (est. 1798), Bellarmine College, Spalding Univ., and two theological seminaries are there, as is Churchill Downs, a noted racetrack and scene of the annual Kentucky Derby (first held in 1875). The city has many parks and is the site of the state fairgrounds. It has a symphony orchestra and an opera company and hosts an annual festival of new American plays. Among the points of interest are the American Printing House for the Blind; the J. B. Speed Art Museum; the Kentucky Center for the Arts; the Muhammad Ali Center, a museum and cultural-educational center honoring the boxing champion and native; the Actors Theatre of Louisville; "Farmington," a historic home (built 1810); the Filson Club, with a historical library and museum; the Jefferson County Courthouse (1850); and Cave Hill Cemetery, where Clark is buried. Nearby are "Locust Grove," the last home (1809–18) of Clark, and the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery, the burial place of Zachary Taylor. Fort Knox is in the area.


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Thank you everybody who attended this class and got their hands dirty painting and glittering with me! Hope you had fun!
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Thank you everybody who attended this class and got their hands dirty painting and glittering with me! Hope you had fun!
11 comments:
- Julie Tucker-Wolek said...
Ohhhh this is GORGEOUS! I loveeeeeeeee the colors, the little birdcage and those scissors!!!
- February 29, 2012 at 12:01 PM
- Blossom inch said...
this is a very beautiful book...gorgeous
- February 29, 2012 at 12:24 PM
- Julia Cheang said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- February 29, 2012 at 7:14 PM
- Julia Cheang said...
Your experiment of assuming an altered ego works really well. The book is simply gorgeous! I have enjoyed the class very much because you made the multi-needle coptic binding method seemed so easy and straight-forward. :)
- February 29, 2012 at 7:19 PM
- teacher jessy said...
Wow this is just divine! I guess I say wow all the time when I am at ur blog! Gosh so much to see on this cover itself /)
- March 1, 2012 at 6:43 AM
- honeyclarck said...
This is a great inspiring article. I am pretty much pleased with your good Exam Cram work. You put really very helpful information. Keep it up. Keep blogging. Looking to reading your next post.
- March 1, 2012 at 6:51 PM
- Lisa S. said...
LOVE this Sharon, what a wonderful gift! All of the little touches are treasures waiting to be discovered, lucky friend. :-)
- March 2, 2012 at 1:07 AM
- Lisa S. said...
Me again, I wanted to share with you that I have selected your blog to receive the Liebster Blog Award. I am always inspired by the artful creations you make and I'd love to share your talent with others. I hope you'll check out my blog for deets and that you will accept it.
- March 2, 2012 at 1:19 AM
- Heather Jacob said...
Delish !!!!! you are so awesome Sharon .. loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee everything you do ... hugz x
- March 2, 2012 at 5:52 AM
- jaz said...
WOWWWW this JAZ is soooooooooooooooooooooooooo fortunate! Thank you sharon!!!
- March 2, 2012 at 9:45 AM
- sylvie said...
- March 3, 2012 at 2:49 PM


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I haven't had a chance to blog about it, but most of my friends know I have tried many different eating strategies and while I like most of them in the long-term it always seems extreme and I never get to eat the things I really like. I've juiced, gone vegetarian, raw vegan (that didn't last long), and numerous other "plans". My opinion is they just don't work well for me for a couple of reasons. First I don't enjoy it, and second I feel trapped. I don't really have time today to go into why I enjoy Paleo eating or how much better I feel on a paleo diet, but I did want to share this awesome gluten and milk free Paleo pancake recipe because it was fantastic and my kids LOVED it!
Here is the recipe for them:
Start with 1 package gluten-free all-purpose pancake mix (cravings place)
8 eggs
2 scoops protein powder ( We use vanilla egg protein nothing with milk or soy)
2 cups unsweetened almond milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup grape seed oil
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 package enjoy life mini chocolate chips.
put everything in a mixing bowl and thoroughly mix everything together, then brown on a lightly oiled griddle.
This makes a HUGE batch of pancakes. We eat all we can then freeze the rest. They are great tossed in the toaster oven and re-warmed. I like them with a little organic maple syrup but this morning I at three of them plain in the car on my way to work. They taste great and the chocolate adds just the right amount of sweetness. Eating well on a Paleo diet is really not hard at all once you learn how. If you would like to learn some awesome Paleo Hacks check this out.
Let me know how you like these! If you have another recipe you enjoy please share in the comments!


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Texture: Slightly tough and sticky at first, the chew mellows to a pleasant malleability. It's easy to spread on the tongue to pop and crack. It does get a teensy bit too soft for my taste, but it might be just fine for you.
Presentation: Trident Layers's packaging is cute and clever, with an admirable minimalistic style. Besides the Trident logo and text, the only graphic on the package is a cherry being sliced into by a juicy lime wedge. Gets the point across without any unnecessary obnoxious color, holographic fonts, or neon bursts.
Overall: As I said, I've not been much of a fan of Trident Layers. This one has made me a believer.
Rating: ooooo (five gumballs)


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|Phoenixville, Pa.
|High School:
|Saint Pius X HS
|Sports Management
2012-13: Fuga was named to the third team All-Conference squad. He played in all 23 rounds this season for the Cobras and averaged a team low 75.2. Fuga also had the lowest round of the year when he shot a 68 at the Kiawah Island Invitational (9/17/12) in the first round. He was also awarded team MVP honors.
2011-12: Fugua had an outstanding freshman year for the Cobras posting 75.1 scoring average in Coker's 11 tournaments. He earned Conference Carolinas All-Tournament honors with three top five finishes and three top 10 finishes. His low round of the year was a 69 (-3) at the Tusculum Fall Classic.
High School: Three-sport letter winner at St. Pius X in golf, baseball and basketball, Fuga was a four-time team MVP in golf and four-time First Team All-Area selection. He was also named All-PAC-10 First Team for four years in golf. He won two junior tour tournaments, was a two-time club champion Phoenixville Country Club and he was the 2012 Bellewood Country Club Champion. He has hit two hole-in-ones during his golf career.
Personal: Son of Donna and Stephen Fuga...he has a sister Stephanie Fuga.


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Gyro Kabobs 337 Main Ave. De Pere, WI 54115
Phone: 920-339-0048
Seasoned Chicken, Stacked, Roasted, Sliced YUMMM!
Gyro Kabobs is a family owned local Greek restaurant located in the historic main street district of West De Pere near St. Norberts College.
With our open style kitchen you can watch as your gyro is prepared just the way you want it. While you wait have a chat with the owners Max and Laura.
Check us out on facebook and find out about our specials and deals.
People love us on Yelp!


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In this ongoing series, we ask executives, entrepreneurs and business leaders about mistakes that have shaped their business philosophy.
Sierra Smith
While a student at Harvard Business School, Sierra Smith co-founded Zorpads, a company that makes odor-eliminating inserts to fit in any shoe.
The Mistake:
Early on, I had a hard time filtering advice—and knowing that advice is just that, it's advice. It's not a command, it's not a "you must do this." We learned this a bit the hard way, particularly with Zorpads.
We met with lots of investors when we were fundraising. One said, "This is 100 percent a direct-to-consumer product. Don't even consider retail; direct-to-consumer is where the growth is at."
So we poured all of our time and resources into working on just that, and then we met with another investor who said, "You definitely need to go for retail. Retail's the channel to get it in front of eyeballs. Maybe direct-to-consumer is a piece of that, but retail is where you'll likely see the most growth."
So then we pivoted and focused our time and attention on trying to get retail partners.
Ultimately, I came to the realization that advice is advice, and an ability to filter it is paramount. Also, not all advice is the same. [As an entrepreneur, you have to choose] whose advice you take seriously. You can do that by understanding what their background is and what experiences they've had, so you can take their advice within the context of who that person is. Naturally, someone who's had a lot of success going direct-to-consumer is going to skew you in that direction because that's what they know. And vice versa.
Advice is advice, and an ability to filter it is paramount.
The Lesson:
Know that there's a bit of your own instinct and gut sense in all of this. I can admit that when they told me to go all-in on direct-to-consumer and move away from any sort of retail, my gut feeling was that it didn't make sense. But I thought, "This person is much more important and has been much more successful than I have, so I'm going to take their advice."
I kind of ignored my own instincts in a way that was ultimately unproductive. I still think it's incredibly valuable to go out there and get as much advice as you can from all sorts of different people, but now I just think of them as options.
Follow Zorpads on Twitter at @zorpads.
Photo courtesy of Sierra Smith.


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Throw another Kardashian on the pile.
Kris Jenner, the tireless "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" matriarch and mom-ager of the clan's $65-million business empire, is quietly working on a daily talk show for Fox, sources say.
Jenner, 56, has been hankering for her own talk show for some time now.
She's appeared all over daytime TV since the family's reality show became a hit — guest hosting on "The View" and the CBS daytime talk show, "The Talk."
Last July, gossip site hollywoodlife.com reported that Jenner was "very interested" in hosting a daytime talk show with Khloe Kardashian as part of their $40 million deal with E!
But now that Khloe is set to become a co-host — with Mario Lopez — of Simon Cowell's "X Factor" starting next month, Kris appear ready to move on without her.
The show is to be done by Twentieth (which, like The Post, is owned by News Corp).
Spokesmen for Twentieth and Jenner did not return e-mails asking for comment this morning.


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I see little or no value to weighing in on the subject of capital punishment. People have their opinions and relatively few seem interested in changing them. But I would like to express in personal terms how I felt after the news coverage of Saddam Hussein's hanging. I'd like to share it especially for those who support executions, not to change their opinion necessarily, but simply to make a request of them.
The best word to describe my feeling: dirty.
I felt the same way when the "Shock and Awe" campaign was launched on Baghdad. I thought of all the little children cowering in closets and under beds, feeling (I imagine) that the whole world was coming to an end. I imagined them tearfully asking their moms and dads why this was happening and who was doing this to them, and them answering, "The United States." I felt embarrassed, ashamed, and polluted to be party to frightening innocent people, much less killing them as collateral damage. I thought of how similar "shock and awe" are to "terror," and because I don't want to terrorize anybody, those bombs didn't speak for me. And yet, against my will they did, and I felt dirty.
I know that Saddam was in no way innocent. I know he deserved to be held accountable for his disregard for human rights, for human life. But even if I supported capital punishment, I think I would still have felt dirty. Perhaps I'm too morally thin-skinned, but taking the human life of a person in the name of human life brings no sense of justice or satisfaction to me. Rather, it brings the opposite.
Others see it differently, I know. Some might use Bible verses to justify "eye for eye, tooth for tooth, life for life" (although Jesus seemed to put a rather authoritative spin on those verses, preceding them with "You have heard it said," and following them up with "But I say to you…"). Whether executions are justified or ot, I feel dirty and ashamed whenever I hear of an execution, and Saddam's was no different. I hope I don't ever stop feeling that way.
I have friends who have become sexual addicts. They tell me the first time they cheated on their spouses, they felt terrible. But somehow they survived, and the next time, they still felt bad, but a little less so. By the twentieth time or the fiftieth time, they felt the tiniest pang of guilt, nothing much, really. Cheating became easy. The same thing happens with liars and spouse abusers and other addicts.
We've all seen similar patterns in our own lives. We become desensitized to things we shouldn't, and as that happens, we are in such great danger of becoming worse people than we ever imagined being, ever wanted to be.
So, if you felt as I did after the execution of Saddam Hussein, dirty, I wouldn't dismiss the feeling. I would say that it might be a redemptive dirtiness, and without it, I am afraid of what we could become.
Brian McLaren (brianmclaren.net) has written several books, including A New Kind of Christian, A Generous Orthodoxy, and most recently, The Secret Message of Jesus. He is a Red Letter Christian and serves as board chair for Sojourners/Call to Renewal.
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Sara Dane
Collins, 1955 - Social Science - 448 pages
A television mini-series set in the days of early colonial Australia. Portrays the rags to riches story of a servant girl, Sara Dane who was transported to New South Wales for a crime she did not commit. Gives an insight into the daily lives of Australian convicts.
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Alison Andrew Maclay Annie Banon began Botany Bay Bourget Bramfield Captain carriage Clapmore close colony convicts dark David door Duncan Elizabeth emancipists England eyes face farm feeling fingers gave gaze Geoffrey Watson Georgette glanced Glenbarr gossip Government House Governor Governor Phillip gown hair hand Hawkesbury head horse Hyde Farm Jeremy Hogan Jeremy's John Macarthur Julia Kintyre kissed knew Lady Linton land laughed leaned lips listened London looked Louis ma'am Macarthur marry never nodded Parramatta paused Port Jackson quietly reached realised remember Richard Barwell Romney Marsh Ryder Sara Dane Sara's Sebastian seemed ship shook shoulders shrugged Sir Geoffrey slowly smile South Wales South Wales Corps spoke stared steps stood suddenly Sydney Sydney Cove talk tell There's thought told took Toongabbie touched Trigg turned veranda voice waiting watched wife window woman women


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Eskrima Workshop
When: March 7, 2013; 6-8pm
Where: SMSU 236
The Philippines has what is known as a BLADE CULTURE. Blade fighting in the Philippines is a living art. Local folks in the Philippines are much more likely to carry knives than guns.
Eskrima refers to the Filipino weapon-based martial art fighting system. Come join us as we learn the basic Eskrima movements. Feel free to bring your own STICKS!
For the safety of our members, please REFRAIN from bringing knives and swords.
For more information please contact Aaron Benoza by email at email@example.com


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Probably the most known monument in Aosta, the Saint Orso's Church is part of a vast medieval building, the so called Collegiata of St Peter and St Orso. Founded over a proto-christian church, around year one thousand a monastic community took residence there and the Basilica was reconstructed under St Anselm (the future archbishop of Canterbury). Finally, by end of 15th century, "inside" the original structure was built the actual church by commission of George de Challant. Because of this architectural decision there is today a large space between the original wooden roof and the top of the internal naves. Such space has been restructured, it can be visited and contains original and fascinating frescoes of the 10th century. Internally the church, as shown by the 360 photo, has three naves with decorations and paintings dating from the end of 15th century. The finely carved wood choir is of the same age.
The name "Italy" is shrouded in mystery; some etymologists trace it to a Greek word meaning "the land of young cattle."Italy was fond of Jupiter and Mars from the very start, Jupiter for fatherly good luck and Mars for war!But it all began with Rome. Rome was founded by Romulus and Remus who were sons of Rhea and Mars.The twins were abandoned at birth out of a fear that they would grow up and later overthrow Amelius, usurper of their grandfather's rightful throne.Wrongful mis-doings most foul! Treachery and sabotage!! HOW would these two blessed infants make their way in such a world?As it turns out, the twins didn't have to make their way very far, because one of them killed the other one and then they weren't twins anymore. But that happens later.First they got rescued by a she-wolf who suckled them with her milk and raised them as her own until they were discovered by the shepherd Faustulus.Faustulus fed them meat and bread and also raised them as his own until they were old enough to return to Amelius and hack him up as planned. They reinstated the grandfather Numitor to his rightful throne and went off to celebrate by starting a town of their own.They chose a hilly area where the mama wolf had saved them from certain death in the barren wilderness and began scouting locations.Romulus liked one hill. Remus liked another. The circle of crows like Romulus' hill, so Romulus killed Remus and named the town after himself. Thus Rome was born and Italy with it.Text by Steve Smith.


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In what signifies their desperation toward their depleting roster, the Lakers suited up Kendall Marshall on Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Staples Center a day after acquiring him.
Marshall learned of the Lakers' interest while staying in a hotel room Thursday in Texas, where he getting ready to play for the Delaware 87ers of the NBA Developmental League against the Austin Toros. On Friday, Marshall arrived in time for the morning shootaround, where he introduced himself to teammates and learned basic sets regarding Mike D'Antoni's system.
"It's been a roller coaster," Marshall said. "I've kind of seen some of the down sides of the league as well as some of the good sides. But I'm more aware now. I'm more grateful. Humbled by the opportunity."
The Phoenix Suns drafted Marshall with the 13th pick out of the 2012 NBA Draft, but he averaged only three points and three assists in 48 games last season. The Suns traded him as part of a larger deal in October to Washington, which immediately waived him. But with long-term injuries to Kobe Bryant (fractured left knee), Steve Nash (nerve issues in back), Steve Blake (torn ligament in right elbow) and Jordan Farmar (strained left hamstring), the Lakers signed Marshall to a non-guaranteed deal.
"Part of it could've been me. Part of it could've been the organization," Marshall said. "Part of it could've been just the way basketball works. I can't blame anybody for the way it happened."
The Lakers signed Marshall partly because of his familiarity with D'Antoni's offense stemmed from the one former Suns coach Alvin Gentry incorporated. Gentry worked on D'Antoni's staff when he coached Phoenix from 2003-2008.
"What he'll bring is good ball-handling," D'Antoni said. "He's a very heady basketball player. He's improved his shot."
Hands-on approach
Blake has returned to the court and performed plenty of drills that made him such a playmaking threat with the offense.
Blake drives to the basket. He works on pick-and-rolls. Blake shoots floaters. He attempts reverse layups.
There's only one caveat, though.
"I pretty much do everything," Blake told this newspaper. "But I just use my left hand."
Such is life for the veteran who remains sidelined for at least five more weeks because of a hyperextended right elbow. Blake spent the past week mostly resting and then fitting in the aforementioned drills in private workouts.
But Blake estimated he remained "two or three weeks" away from increasing his workload. It also appears he's nowhere close toward using his right arm.
"It hurts too much to bend," Blake said before entering the trainer's room to receive a new brace to support it.
Waiting game
Considering the Lakers will re-examine his strained left hamstring on Dec. 24, guard Jordan Farmar maintained it's still possible he could play when the Lakers host the Miami Heat on Christmas Day at Staples Center.
"I don't want to risk anything," said Farmar, who averaged 9.2 points and 4.4 assists before missing the past nine games. "It'll be good for me in the long run to be right before I get out there."


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Sleater-Kinney: the name suggests a joint sociological survey, or perhaps a university residence hall. Turns out it's the Lacey, WA street on which the band held practices. It's a fitting name for a group that spent more than a decade interrogating the nature of being a band. Formed by two Evergreen State University students in the searing heat of the riot grrrl movement, Sleater-Kinney maintained a breakneck pace: releasing seven albums in 10 years, touring worldwide, and providing some of the more intelligent interviews in rock.
In a sense, Sleater-Kinney (whose classic lineup consists of drummer Janet Weiss and founding members/guitarists/vocalists Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker) were one of the most professional bands of the indie-rock boom. Theirs was a non-corporate professionalism, one that saw them reach astounding levels of popularity without ever jumping the indie-label ship. They kept their heads down and challenged each other toward greatness, in the process expanding their instrumental and structural vocabulary through seven fantastic-to-incredible albums. Fame, motherhood, breakups, marriage: None of it could slow Sleater-Kinney down.
While Wikipedia still, as of today, has Sleater-Kinney pegged as a "riot grrrl" band, that's clearly not the whole story. The riot grrrl scene was a revolution on par with '77 punk or the first wave of American hardcore — two scenes that, despite their democratic promise, proved to be largely unaccommodating for women. It was a free region for feminist ideas and feelings and alliances and outrage, incorporating art and poetry and zinemaking and theory. Like John Peel's beloved indie hobbyists or the DC peripherals dutifully chronicled by Ian MacKaye, the majority of self-identified riot grrrls saw expression as a vital end in itself. The idea wasn't to do something important. It was to do something, which was inherently important.
Having said that, Sleater-Kinney was unique. Their first album, recorded in a day, put them on the map. By their third record, they were underground stars. A bassless power trio, with Tucker holding down the rumbling low-end and Brownstein darting about with curled midrange lines, Sleater-Kinney developed an awesome chemistry, as lines seamlessly meshed and clashed within the confines of a hooky three-minute song. In Weiss, the band had one of indie rock's greatest treasures, a drummer capable of everything from assault-rifle rolls to the thundering tomwork of the gods. They wrote pop songs, punk-rock songs, songs of seething dudgeon and sexist nose-tweaking. They spent an album unpacking 9/11 and being a mom, and it was a triumph. Then, having taken their sound to its developmental endpoint, they went to the woods for intuitive, monolithic thrashing.
To see Sleater-Kinney as a riot grrrl band does them a bit of a disservice; to see them as an indie rock band, on the other hand, does a disservice to their origin, and their ideals. Brownstein, Tucker, and Weiss were keen to lay out (and explode) the expectations set out by a larger world. They never stopped rocking about rock, because they were always thinking about it (and it was always being thrown in their faces). But when they sang about someone pricing your body or crawling up the stairway to heaven, it was never just about music. Sleater-Kinney remains on hiatus, but we're still reenacting the same battles.
What follows is a list of Sleater-Kinney albums in some kind of order. Worst to best, ostensibly, but they're all indispensable. We can talk Portlandia in the comments. Start the Countdown here.


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The following press release arrived from the governor.
Governor Dannel P. Malloy and First Lady Cathy Malloy are inviting Connecticut residents to attend the annual open house and tour of the Governor's Residence, located at 990 Prospect Avenue in Hartford, which will be decorated for the holiday season and open to the public.
This year's open house will be held:
- Friday, December 6, 2013 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
- Saturday, December 7, 2013 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
- Sunday, December 8, 2013 from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
"My wife Cathy and I look forward to opening the Governor's Residence each year, continuing a longstanding Connecticut tradition and sharing in everyone's holiday spirit," Governor Malloy said. "We are proud of the Connecticut businesses and organizations who each year so generously donate festive decorations, in addition to having the opportunity to display decorations from our family's own personal collection."
There is no admittance fee and tickets are not needed. Additionally, the Governor's Residence is ADA accessible. Tours will be aided by about 30 volunteer docents, some of whom have volunteered for over 20 years. The Residence will display four decorated Christmas trees and feature appearances from Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus greeting children throughout the weekend. Visitors are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy, which will be collected by members of the United States Marines for the Toys for Tots program.
Live entertainment will be performed by the following:
Friday, December 6
10:00-11:00 a.m. – Coast Guard Choir (Dr. Bob Newtown, Director)
1:00-2:00 p.m. – Travelers Choir
Saturday, December 7
10:00-11:00 a.m. – Emmanuel Christian Academy bell ringers (Glen Mason, Director)
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. – On the List (Flute Ensemble) (Erin Vivero, Director)
12:30-1:30 p.m. – Choraliers (Hall High School, West Hartford)
2:00-3:00 p.m. – Manchester Symphony Chorale
Sunday, December 8
12:00-1:00 p.m. – Sweet Harmony (Nicole Raposo, Director) and Densonians (Tim Rhone, Director)
1:00-2:00 p.m. – Charter Pal Flutes (Virginia Church, Director)
2:00-3:00 p.m. – Solo Choir (Conard High School, West Hartford) (Sam Eurich, Director)
3:00-4:00 p.m. – CONN Men (UConn, Storrs)
While at the open house, guests can also purchase the Governor's annual holiday ornament, which this year features the Governor's Residence Guest Cottage, which is located on the east side of the property. It will be sold for $20 and all proceeds will benefit the Governor's Residence Conservancy, a nonprofit organization responsible for planning and supervising the preservation, restoration and maintenance of the Residence and its grounds.
This is the 23rd year that the holiday decorations, including wreaths, Christmas trees and seasonal plants, have been donated to the Residence at no cost to the state. This year, those generous donations come from the Connecticut Nursery & Landscape Association, the Connecticut Greenhouse Growers Association, the Connecticut Christmas Tree Growers Association, Christmas Northeast Inc. (GE Holiday lighting of Trumbull), and the UConn Horticultural and Agricultural Department. In addition, decorations this year will include gingerbread houses of historic sites made by Sweet Maria's (Waterbury), Café Louise and Classic Cakes (West Hartford), Max Downtown (Hartford) and Spellbound (Avon).
Those with additional questions about the open house should email email@example.com or call 860-524-7355. Information about the history of the Governor's Residence can be found on the Governor's website.


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Intel and Cisco Partnership : Hello Cisco UCS™ M3 series!
I invited today Eoin McConnell, who is the Intel Xeon Processor E5 Family Product Line Manager within Intel's DataCenter and Connected Systems Group, to comment on Cisco Third Generation of Fabric Computing's launch.
"Three years ago Cisco timed its entry into the compute side of the data center with the launch of the Intel® Xeon® 5500 series when it introduced Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) to the world. Few outside the walls of Cisco would have suspected that in such a short time Cisco would have grown significantly in this space. It now has nearly 11,000 UCS customers and has risen to No. 3 in MSS in the blade market, according to IDC.
Cisco has partnered with Intel in delivering innovation in the data center around UCS from the beginning. On March 8, 2012, Cisco launched the UCS "M3" server line. The company coordinated this introduction to follow immediately on the heels of Intel's introduction of the Intel® Xeon® processor E5 family. The three stellar offerings that are available immediately are the Cisco UCS B200 M3 Blade Server, the Cisco UCS C220 M3 Rack Server, and the Cisco UCS C240 M3 Rack Server.
Intel Dylan Larson and Cisco Scott Ciccone had recently a quick conversation about the features and the benefits of this new offering
This third generation sets the mark, and definitely has Cisco delivering new innovation for the cloud. Cisco has always looked to Intel to deliver world-class foundational building blocks that allow the company to innovate. The M3 series will in fact be the first UCS series to implement Intel l® Trusted Execution Technology, which many believe is fundamental to securing cloud architecture.
But better yet, the Intel Xeon processor E5 family integrated the I/O directly into microprocessor and removed the separate I/O hub, delivering latency reductions and better bandwidth with PCIe Gen 3. So what did Cisco do? They set off to innovate on top of that technology with the VIC 1240. You can certainly dig more into this card, but the takeaway here is you get a multiplier effect in I/O performance when you couple the 3x I/O bandwidth of the CPU with the 30 percent reduction of CPU utilization with the VIC 1240.
I think this quote in an article I found on TechTarget in February said it best in exploring how Cisco UCS delivers the truly unified data center: "Anything else is just a server that has been retrofitted."
Thanks for the partnership, Cisco, and congratulations on the M3! "
In an effort to keep conversations fresh, Cisco Blogs closes comments after 60 days. Please visit the Cisco Blogs hub page for the latest content.


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The Problem: Embalming and burying humans, and animals for that matter, in environmentally unfriendly coffins like metal or treated wood do unnecessary damage to the planet and go against the natural order of biodegradation.
The Idea: Coffins should be primarily made of materials that biodegrade at roughly the same rate as the body inside. Replacing treated woods with high-density compressed paper products or untreated natural woods would be a good start. Using non-toxic biodegradable colorants and finishing's (hinges, ornaments, etc…) as well would be the ultimate goal. Likewise for linings, padding's and other internal fixtures, using natural cottons and silks as opposed to synthetic nylon and polyester fabrics would further contribute to a healthier planet.
There are certainly options like this available, but I would urge that this be more mandated than recommended for any below-ground burial. Above-ground burials and cremations I have no strong opinion about, other than I do not want to be laid to rest in either way. I have every confidence that clever craftspeople and artisans could create respectful and practical coffins without wrapping the whole thing in metal or plastic.
A friend noted that many cemeteries offer burials using only a shroud, which is a nice offering, but may be challenging for on-lookers to see the shrouded body of the decedent. I propose that the biodegradable coffin is a healthy compromise between the two.