of the conversion ratio of the current mirror and of the value of the resistor will make it possible to select a value of voltage appearing at the terminals of the resistor that, in a binary manner, represents the fused or non - fused state of the fuse. in accordance with one feature of a fuse according to the invention, the fuse is blown by the application of a forward biasing current of the junction. however, it may also be desired to read the fuse state by subjecting it to forward biasing. reading the fuse state using a forward bias may be accomplished by : either a comparator with a very low threshold capable of distinguishing between an intact fuse exhibiting a voltage drop of 0. 6 to 0. 7 volts and a blown fuse exhibiting a voltage drop of 0. 1 to 0. 2 volts ; or another system of precise detection capable of identifying a difference between the current flowing through a forward biased junction and the current flowing through a junction short - circuited by diffusion of aluminum. it is also possible to read the state of the fuse by reverse biasing the junction between the shallow doped region and the well in which it is formed. the reading and blowing circuitry is more complex but the difference between the blown state of the fuse ( i. e. a short - circuited junction ) and the non - blown state ( i. e. a reverse biased junction ) is easier to detect. other features and advantages of the invention shall appear from the following detailed description, made with reference to the appended drawings, of which : fig. 1 shows a cross - section of the fuse according to the invention ; fig. 2 shows a schematic drawing of the fuse blowing control and fuse state reading circuit, fig. 3 shows another schematic drawing of the blowing and detection circuit ; fig. 4 shows an alternative schematic drawing illustrating reading of a reverse biased junction. the fuse according to one aspect of the invention therefore essentially has a shallow pn semiconductor junction covered with metal. the metal is capable of diffusing into the junction in response to a rise in temperature, to the extent of short - circuiting the junction. the junction is forward - biased during the blowing of the fuse as well as during reading of the state of the fuse. in the exemplary embodiment of fig. 1, the junction is formed by a semiconductor region 12 of the p + type formed in an n type well 11, itself formed in a p - type of semiconductor substrate 10. the types of conductivity could furthermore


exemplary embodiment of fig. 1, the junction is formed by a semiconductor region 12 of the p + type formed in an n type well 11, itself formed in a p - type of semiconductor substrate 10. the types of conductivity could furthermore be all reversed. the semiconductor may be silicon. the p + type region 12 may be demarcated laterally by thick insulating zones 14, preferably made of thick silicon oxide formed by localized thermal oxidation. the size of the region 12 may be some micrometers long by some micrometers wide. the depth of the region 12 is small : some tenths of a micrometer, preferably about 0. 2 micrometers. the concentration of n type impurities in the well is preferably the same as that used to form the wells of the p channel transistors of cmos integrated circuits. this concentration is, for example, 10. sup. 18 to 10. sup. 19 atoms per cm. sup. 3 approximately. the doping impurity may be phosphorus or arsenic, for example. the concentration of p + type impurities in the shallow region 12 is preferably the same as that used to form the self - aligned sources and drains of the p channel mos transistors. this concentration is, for example, about 10. sup. 18 to 10. sup. 20 atoms per cm. sup. 3 approximately. the doping impurity may be boron, for example. the upper part of the region 12 is in contact with a metal conductor 16 forming a first terminal a of the fuse. another metal conductor 18, electrically connected to the n - well, constitutes the other terminal b of the fuse. the conductors may be made of aluminium, for example, which is a metal commonly used in the field of silicon integrated circuits. aluminium has good properties of diffusion in silicon in the presence of a rise in temperature. this is why it is possible to make the conductor 16 out of aluminium. other metals with similar properties could also be used instead of aluminium. the conductor 18 is in contact with an n + type diffused region 20 that is locally diffused on the surface of the well and enables the setting up of an ohmic contact between the n well and the terminal b. this n + region 20 is separated from the p + region 12, for example by a portion of a thick insulator oxide region 14. the n + region 20 may surround the entire region 12. fig. 1 corresponds to an embodiment where


this n + region 20 is separated from the p + region 12, for example by a portion of a thick insulator oxide region 14. the n + region 20 may surround the entire region 12. fig. 1 corresponds to an embodiment where the n + region 20 surrounds region 12, and this is why an n + region 20 is seen on either side of the shallow region 12. the conductor 16 comes into contact with at least one part of the surface of the region 12, for example on a surface area of 1 micrometer by 1 micrometer at its center. the contact is designated by 22 in fig. 1. the fuse works as follows. while the fuse is intact, it constitutes a simple np diode between the terminals a and b. when this diode is forward - biased by a sufficient read current, there is a voltage drop of about 0. 6 to 0. 7 volts at its terminals. the read current is adjusted by a current source. the read current applied may be some microamperes for a junction surface area of about 10 square micrometers. to blow the fuse, a high current is applied to its terminals in forward bias, resulting in a current density possibly reaching a value of about 1 milliampere per square micrometer at the position of the contact 22 between the metal of the terminal a and the p + region 12. the ohmic resistance at the position of the contact is substantial, because the region 12 is not heavily doped. the heating by the joule effect prompts a substantial rise in temperature in the vicinity of the contact, melting the aluminium and the silicon in the vicinity of the contact. aluminium and silicon form a eutectic material at a far lower temperature than the melting temperatures of either aluminium or silicon, alone. the aluminium then - diffuses into the silicon, towards the junction between the region 12 and the n well. if a sufficient quantity of aluminium diffuses into the vicinity of the np junction, then the np junction will be practically short - circuited. the fuse is then in its blown state. the period of application of the current may be some seconds, for example 10 seconds, to achieve this result. in order to facilitate this process, the np junction is shallowly located with respect to contact 22. in the blown state, the fuse no longer behaves like a diode but like a simple low - value resistor. the reading current applied, for example some microamperes, generates a drop in voltage which can hardly exceed some tens of mill


in the blown state, the fuse no longer behaves like a diode but like a simple low - value resistor. the reading current applied, for example some microamperes, generates a drop in voltage which can hardly exceed some tens of millivolts. this voltage drop is far less than the drop in voltage at the terminals of the intact junction. in order to be used as a circuit locking element, the fuse is placed in a circuit that enables both an electrical blow - out command and a state detection command. a blow - out command circuit and a state detection circuit are therefore associated with the fuse. the use of a direct reading fuse has the advantage that one of the terminals of this diode is permanently connected to the ground. therefore, attempts at fraud are more difficult. fig. 2 shows a simple example illustrating the principles of this circuit. circuits of greater sophistication may be provided. the fuse is designated by the reference f in fig. 2. the terminal b of the fuse is connected to the ground vss which is the lowest voltage of the circuit, to which the substrate of an integrated circuit is usually connected when it is of the p type. the terminal a of the fuse is connected to a terminal of a breakdown transistor t1, the other terminal of which is connected to a positive supply terminal vcc of the integrated circuit. this voltage is the normal supply voltage of the integrated circuit, for example about 3 - 5 volts, because the principle of the fuse described in this invention does not require any particularly high blow - out voltage, unlike the fuses used in eprom memory cells. the gate of the blow - out transistor t1 may receive a blow - out command cl. this command is a voltage that enables the transistor t1 to be made conductive. the command voltage is a positive voltage with respect to vss if t1 is an n channel transistor, and it is a zero voltage or a voltage close to vss if t1 is a p channel transistor ). the dimensions of the transistor t1 are chosen so as to let through a current sufficient for the current density at the contact 22 to result in a temperature rise that will cause the contact metal to diffuse into the semiconductor. according to one embodiment, transistor t1 is capable of letting through one milliampere. the blow - out command circuit may be as simple as only this transistor t1. for reading the state of the fuse,


according to one embodiment, transistor t1 is capable of letting through one milliampere. the blow - out command circuit may be as simple as only this transistor t1. for reading the state of the fuse, there is provided a circuit comprising a current source scl to direct a read current of some microamperes into the fuse, from the terminal a to the terminal b. the current source is therefore connected between the terminal vcc and the terminal a of the fuse. there is therefore a current bias of the fuse in a direction causing the np junction to be forward - biased. the terminal a is furthermore connected to the input of a threshold comparator cmps that has an output s. the signal appearing at output terminal s indicates whether the voltage at a is greater than or lower than a predetermined threshold. according to one embodiment of the invention, the threshold of this comparator is at least about 0. 5 volts, and preferably about 0. 2 volts to 0. 3 volts. if the voltage at a ( measured with respect to the ground vss ) is greater than this threshold, the fuse is considered to be intact. if it is lower, the fuse is considered to be blown. in the example shown in fig. 2, the threshold comparator is constituted quite simply by an n type transistor t2 with a very low threshold voltage ( vt equal to about 0. 2 volts ). this transistor has its gate connected to the terminal a and it is series - connected with a p channel bias transistor t3 that is made conductive by its gate connected to the ground vss. a transistor t2 with a very low threshold voltage is obtained by avoiding the doping of its channel with p type impurities as is done for other n channel transistors of the circuit which rather have a threshold voltage of about 1 volt. consequently, the transistor t2 is a so - called " native " transistor. the point of junction between the drains of the transistors t2 and t3 constitute the output s of the comparator and makes it possible to give a signal representing the state of the fuse : the signal is close to vss if the fuse is intact and close to vcc if the fuse is blown. this signal may be used as desired, for example to prohibit a path of access to one zone or another of the integrated circuit, notably when the circuit


close to vss if the fuse is intact and close to vcc if the fuse is blown. this signal may be used as desired, for example to prohibit a path of access to one zone or another of the integrated circuit, notably when the circuit is that of a chip card. fig. 3 shows another example of a circuit for controlling and reading the state of the fuse. in this drawing, the fuse f is supplied by a voltage generator ( n channel transistor t4 having its source connected to the terminal a and its drain connected to a p channel transistor t5 furthermore connected to vcc ). the biasing of the fuse is therefore rather a voltage biasing. it is such that the np junction tends to be forward - biased. the voltage applied in this embodiment may be tenths of volts, for example. this is obtained through a biasing of the gate of t4 by a transistor t7 and a transistor t8. the n channel transistor t7 is connected as a diode between the gate of t4 and the ground vss. the transistor t8 is connected between vcc and t7 and gives a supply current to t7. in this example, this current is obtained by a current mirror ( t5, t8 ) from the current flowing through the fuse. this sets up a negative feedback between the current flowing through the fuse and the voltage bias of this fuse. this feedback has the advantage of increasing the dynamic range of variation of the output signal. for reading of the state of the fuse, a circuit is provided to convert the current flowing through the fuse into voltage. for this purpose, there is provided a transistor t6, connected as a current mirror with respect to t5. this current mirror mirrors the current in the fuse in a resistor r. the junction point between the resistor r and the transistor t6 is the output s of the circuit. if the fuse is intact, the current that flows through it is relatively low and the current in the resistor r is also low. the voltage at the terminal s is close to vss. if, on the contrary, the fuse is blown, the current is far greater in the fuse and therefore is correspondingly greater in the resistor r. the voltage at the output s approaches vcc. it is thus possible to detect the state of the fuse. a transistor t9 ( p channel transistor ) connected between vcc and the


correspondingly greater in the resistor r. the voltage at the output s approaches vcc. it is thus possible to detect the state of the fuse. a transistor t9 ( p channel transistor ) connected between vcc and the gate of t4 ensures that the circuit starts up properly when the voltage is turned on but does not play any role thereafter. it has very low capacity to conduct current, because it has a great length and small width. finally, a transistor t10 capable of conducting substantial current plays the role of the transistor t1 of fig. 1 to blow the fuse. in yet another embodiment, shown in fig. 4, reading is done by reverse biasing of the np junction between the doped region 12 and the well 11. the end a of the fuse is grounded, and the end b disconnected from the ground for purposes of reading the state of the fuse. to this end, it is necessary to provide, firstly, for an isolation transistor t ' 1 between the terminal b and the ground and, secondly, a transistor t12 to connect the terminal a to the ground. the transistor t ' 1 is made conductive at the same time as t1 for the blowing of the fuse, both responsive to the blow - out signal cl. the transistor t ' l is non - conductive for reading the state of the fuse. this transistor should be as big as the transistor t1 since it also carries the fuse blow - out current. if the transistor t1 is a p channel transistor and the transistor t ' 1 is an n channel transistor, an inverter i1 receives the blow - out signal cl applied to t1 and reverses it to apply it to the control gate of t ' 1. the transistor t12 which is used to connect the terminal a to the ground may be a small n channel transistor. it carries only a small reading current. it is put into a state of conduction for the reading operation by a read signal lect present outside periods reserved for the blowing out of the fuse. the read circuit may be similar to that of fig. 2, with a source scl for the supply of current to the fuse through the terminal b and a simple threshold comparator cmps connected to the terminal b to detect the logic level present at the terminal b. the threshold of the comparator is far less critically important


question : what do you get when you cross a majestic 100 - kilowatt ( kw ) wind turbine with a hydrogen fueling station, a solar house, a pair of solar trackers ( high - tech solar electric panels that follow the sun ’ s daily path across the sky ), a 60 - kw solar field, a solar - powered carport and a geothermal energy project? answer : a pioneering and unparalleled energy park that will meet the heating and cooling needs of a municipal facility on long island while serving as a model for other local governments across the united states. the groundbreaking energy park is located at the town of hempstead ’ s conservation and waterways headquarters. settled in 1664, the town of hempstead – with a population of approximately 770, 000 people – is the most populous township in the united states. if it were incorporated as a city, it would be the second largest city in new york, ahead of buffalo and behind new york city. i live in an unincorporated village within the town of hempstead and i ' ve eagerly followed the energy park ’ s evolution and progress, which was underscored by the 100 - kw wind turbine that became operational in december. the first time i saw the new turbine, while driving on a nearby parkway, i was delighted beyond words and each time i ' ve seen it since it still manages to bring a smile. even better, within sight of the town ’ s energy park is the e. f. barrett power station, a fossil fuel - fired relic from the past that has for decades damaged long island ’ s south shore estuary from which it withdraws water and returns it at a much higher temperature. fortunately, on may 23, i had the pleasure of attending an event hosted by the town to mark a few milestones achieved by the wind turbine. town supervisor kate murray announced that the wind turbine has generated over 128, 000 kilowatt hours ( kwh ) in its first 24 weeks. to put the 128, 000 kwh into perspective, that ’ s enough electricity to power 14 long island homes for an entire year. standing 120 feet tall ( excluding the 35 - foot blades ), the turbine, the northern power 100, helps power long island ’ s only hydrogen fueling station, providing electricity to power a water - to - hydrogen conversion process which produces hydrogen fuel. the fuel is stored on site at the fueling station and is utilized by the town ’ s fleet of fuel - cell vehicles and a hydrogen / compressed natural gas internal combustion engine bus.


a water - to - hydrogen conversion process which produces hydrogen fuel. the fuel is stored on site at the fueling station and is utilized by the town ’ s fleet of fuel - cell vehicles and a hydrogen / compressed natural gas internal combustion engine bus. “ powered by the winds off point lookout, this wind turbine provides an almost constant supply of clean, renewable energy for the town, ” explains murray who received an environmental quality award from the u. s. environmental protection agency in april for her leadership and vision on the energy park. according to the epa, the town “ has taken several measures to reduce its energy use while saving its residents money in the process … supervisor murray has elevated the town of hempstead to a higher environmental standard, promoting sustainability throughout the community and, ultimately, setting an example for others. ” with local residents ( and taxpayers ) in mind, the town secured a $ 4. 6 million u. s. department of energy grant to cover the cost of the wind turbine - - estimated at $ 615, 000 - - and finance the construction of the other components of this unique park. ( the park also boasts a neat solar and wind - powered shellfish nursery that we produced a video about a few years ago. ) “ the town ’ s energy park is a model of how local government can provide leadership with clean energy that should be followed by communities across the nation, ” says neal lewis, executive director of the sustainability institute at molloy college. “ with gridlock on energy policy in our nation ’ s capital, local governments are taking the lead in retrofitting old buildings, converting vehicle fleets and installing renewable energy systems, ” says lewis, who also coordinates the long island clean energy leadership task force, which for seven years running has brought together local government officials with environmentalists in order to identify ways that government can lead by example in promoting clean energy. “ among the most active on long island are supervisor kate murray and the town of hempstead. ” “ the town of hempstead has been a leader in the pursuit of new, clean ways to generate the energy we use, ” noted michael d. hervey, chief operating officer of the long island power authority, which has supported many of the town ’ s initiatives and provided technical and financial assistance as the town ’ s investment in its energy park has grown. i was glad to see that new york city is taking note. at the may 23 event, i was introduced to a new york city department of sanitation energy manager who was on hand to see what


what we do to stop climate change climate change impacts are being felt across the globe as sea levels rise, tropical storms smash into coastlines, once - fertile lands battle with floods or drought and permafrost in the polar regions melts. although africa contributes relatively little to global warming, the region is suffering from its effects. unpredictable rainfall patterns are causing lower crop yields, soaring food prices and dwindling resources. although africa contributes very little to climate change, the region is suffering from its effects. unpredictable rainfall patterns are causing lower crop yields, soaring food prices and dwindling resources. while developed countries debate what climate change could mean for their future, it is already threatening the survival of the world ' s most vulnerable people. over 180 million people in sub - saharan africa alone could die as a result of climate change by the end of the century. unpredictable rainfall patterns, lower crop yields, soaring food prices and dwindling natural resources are already causing increased human migration, tension and conflict. click for the solutions to climate change warmer temperatures and altered rainfall patterns could also create new habitats for disease - carrying organisms such as mosquitoes, opening up new areas to dengue, yellow fever and malaria. south africa - in a position to lead south africa can influence the battle against climate change, being an active member of the african union, a vocal member of the g77, and one of the four developing countries poised to become a southern engine of global economic growth. its powerful combination of strong international leadership, progressive thinking and forward - looking policies are reflected in its calls for dramatic cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions and for mechanisms to help vulnerable countries adapt to the impacts of climate change. despite this, south africa is the 14th highest emitter of co2 in the world with emissions likely to rise sharply as energy demands increase. most of its carbon emissions, around 80 percent of its primary energy needs, come from coal. the government plans to re - commission several retired coal power stations, and build more in the coming decade, with the remaining increase in capacity expected to come from new nuclear power plants. as countless examples around the world show, nuclear power is not clean, cheap or safe. south africa planned new reactors include the untested pebble bed modular reactor, which will cost an estimated 14 billion rand ( us $ 1. 58 billion ). a move from highly polluting coal energy to expensive, risky nuclear energy is not a viable solution. enormous renewable energy potential south africa is not only coal dependent at home, but it exports 60 percent of


rand ( us $ 1. 58 billion ). a move from highly polluting coal energy to expensive, risky nuclear energy is not a viable solution. enormous renewable energy potential south africa is not only coal dependent at home, but it exports 60 percent of its coal, contributing to growing carbon emissions beyond its borders. it has set a target for renewable energy of four per cent of its total electricity requirements by 2013, and announced strong policies on energy and transport efficiency and carbon emission cuts. despite this, the government has no effective energy efficiency measures in place and almost no implimentation of renewable energy production. south africa has immense potential for developing renewable energy, especially solar and wind. greenpeace is campaigning for a global energy revolution using renewable energy, greater efficiency in energy production plus more efficient energy use. based on existing technologies, we can halve global carbon emissions by 2050 while providing affordable energy, jobs and economic growth. there is no time to delay. instead of making the same costly mistakes that the climate - changing economies of the developed world have made, south africa can leapfrog ' dirty development ' and lead the african energy revolution. it is not too late to stop dangerous climate change. greenpeace is calling for : - a peak in global emissions by 2015 and a steady decline thereafter ; - significant reduction in our dependency on fossil fuels, particularly coal, through the adoption of an energy revolution to move us from a world powered by fossil fuels and nuclear to one running on renewable energy ; - zero deforestation in the world ' s intact tropical forests by 2015 ; - ambitious government targets and timelines on energy efficiency in vehicles and appliances.


today, the guam homeless coalition and the guam housing and urban renewal authority is conducting a one - day count of the island ' s homeless. about 150 volunteers will be dispersed throughout the island to help discern the island ' s homeless population. the annual event is used to determine about how many people in guam don ' t have homes, or live in substandard housing. it ' s a requirement because the local government receives continuum of care funding from the federal government. guam ' s homeless numbers have been high in recent years. in 2011, there were 1, 541 homeless. last year ' s count was 1, 301. and the counts are never fully complete, as not all homeless individuals are identified in the one - day events, so it ' s possible the numbers are even higher. there are some agencies and nonprofit groups that offer services and other assistance to the homeless. on a regular basis, an event called passport to services is held to aid the island ' s homeless and those at risk of homelessness, as well as other needy individuals. agencies, nonprofits and volunteers give out food bags and toiletries, offer free haircuts and help individuals obtain identification cards, among other services. but only a fraction of the island ' s homeless and needy show up, primarily because they don ' t have a reliable way to get to the event - - or to any agency or nonprofit offering assistance. the island ' s mass transit system is hugely inadequate, with limited routes, limited buses and long waits. if elected officials truly want to help the island ' s homeless, people with disabilities and others in need, they must work to bolster, expand and improve public transportation. they must not allow the current situation to persist. it won ' t be easy or inexpensive to fix public transportation, and it won ' t happen quickly. but this has been a longstanding problem that has continually been ignored by elected officials. and that has to change.


a chemical widely used in food packaging may be a contributing factor to women developing breast cancer, scientists have suggested. the study links the compound to the development of hormone sensitive tissue in mice and has prompted environmental campaigners to call for far tighter regulation of such chemicals. experiments at tufts university school of medicine in boston, massachusetts, have potentially worrying implications for human health since they suggest mammary glands of female mice grow in a way that makes them more likely to develop breast cancer and also to respond unusually to oestrogen, which fuels most breast cancer in humans. the compound involved is called bisphenol - a or bpa. it is used in plastic food containers, cans and dental sealants and other research suggests it leaches from products and is absorbed in low concentrations by the human body, the scientists behind the latest findings say in the journal endocrinology that they are involved in further work to test the hypothesis that exposure in the womb and shortly after birth to bpa in particular, and to oestrogens in general, might increase people ' s susceptibility to breast cancer. it is the second report in a week to raise concerns about widely used chemicals. research has also shown that phthalates, often found in plastics, affects the genital development of baby boys. the tufts researchers report " persistent alterations " to mammary gland development after giving doses of bpa to pregnant mice which were designed to mimic levels humans are likely to be exposed to. the rodents were treated late in pregnancy and about four days after birth. the offspring were checked as they reached puberty about 30 days later. the researchers found large increases in the number and density of terminal end buds, part of the mammary gland structure where breast tumours start in both animals and humans. they also found a drop in the number of cells programmed for death, the natural defence mechanism by which the body gets rid of damaged cells that might become cancerous. animals exposed to higher doses of bpa developed mammary glands more sensitive to oestrogen. professor frederick vom saal, of the university of missouri - columbia, commenting on the findings, said : " this is of tremendous concern because this is clearly a study that is relevant to human exposure levels to this chemical. " gwynne lyons, a policy adviser to environment group wwf uk, suggested that humans and wildlife were being put at risk. " because industry wants business as usual, the uk government and regulatory authorities in the european union member states are not adequately controlling these gender -


##ne lyons, a policy adviser to environment group wwf uk, suggested that humans and wildlife were being put at risk. " because industry wants business as usual, the uk government and regulatory authorities in the european union member states are not adequately controlling these gender - bending chemicals and are fighting shy of pressing industry to come up with safer chemicals. " a study to be published this week in the journal of the national cancer institute will raise questions over the long - term daily use of the pain - killer ibuprofen by suggesting it may increase breast cancer risk. researchers at the university of southern california studied the health histories of 114, 000 women and compared them to the pills and medicine they said they had taken. the painkiller is widely available over the counter and has long been seen as one of the safest drugs. researchers say further study of its possible effects is needed because of the public health impact should the findings be confirmed. but there is better news for women diagnosed with cancer who may choose to preserve their fertility by freezing eggs before they undergo chemotherapy or radiation treatments. existing freezing and thawing techniques can damage the eggs but scientists from the university of michigan told a conference in istanbul yesterday they had developed a promising process called vitrification, already tried in mice and scheduled for trials of women this autumn. this instantly freezes the eggs, preventing the formation of dangerous ice crystals.


by * * nora eisenberg * * ask most americans over the age of 20 what ’ s the shortest and most successful war in our history, and chances are they ’ ll say the 1991 gulf war. short and to the point, it was over in 43 days with only 148 u. s. fatalities in battle, a third from friendly fire. but ask paul sullivan, executive director of veterans for common sense and a gulf war veteran, and he ’ ll quickly inform you that the gulf war actually never ended and continues to take its toll every day. sullivan, who suffers himself from gulf war illness — a multi - symptom disease caused by wartime toxins and affecting most every bodily system — doesn ’ t mean only that the war lingers in the bodies of stricken veterans who battle the disease every day. he means literally the war never ended. a january 1991 legislative resolution authorized the war, and then an april 1991 resolution post facto established its dates. by design or neglect, this later legislation ’ s definition of the war ( 38 usc ( 101 ) ( 33 ) left the door open for continuing u. s. aggression in the region. the persian gulf war, the law stipulated, would be considered to have started on august 2nd ( when iraq invaded kuwait ). but the law stipulated no particular date for the war ’ s ending, which would be “ the date … prescribed by presidential proclamation or by law. ” neither of which has ever happened. additional legislation like the 1998 iraq liberation act and the 2002 iraq war resolution supplemented, but never replaced the 1991 persian gulf resolutions. clinton ’ s 8 - year aggression against iraq, a clear violations of international law, claimed its legality, in part, on the 1991 u. s. and u. n. resolutions. to the department of defense and veterans affairs, too, for many matters ( particular medals, pay, and benefits, etc. ), the persian gulf war is defined as beginning on august 2nd, 1990 and continuing through the present. legalities aside, iraqis, residents of neighboring regions, sick u. s. veterans and their families, and others know the 1991 gulf war for the catastrophe that has tormented for two decades. but most americans still remember it as our quick and easy war, a quick rout and sudden restoration of national shame of losing in vietnam, or as bush 41 put it, beating “ vietnam syndrome once and for all. ” the persian gulf war in its initial phase ( august 1990 - february 1991 ) accomplished many goals for the new world order envisioned by


of national shame of losing in vietnam, or as bush 41 put it, beating “ vietnam syndrome once and for all. ” the persian gulf war in its initial phase ( august 1990 - february 1991 ) accomplished many goals for the new world order envisioned by reagan and established by bush 41. it piloted not only the weapons of warfare the new empire would use for years to come — including establishing the very pernicious depleted uranium as the munition of choice replacing lead and tungsten — but the ideological and bureaucratic tactics with which it would prosecute unending war in the region. provoke, manipulate, lie to congress, the un, the public, bribe and bamboozle the international community, and, by all means, censor as you go. last month, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the start of allied military operations against iraq, nostalgia blared. at a gathering at bush 41 library, george hw bush repeated what he said at the end of desert storm, “ we got this one right, ” ( then he meant vietnam, now the current war ) declaring it the “ greatest ” honor of his life and the defining moment in his presidency. the kuwaiti envoy declared the world “ a safer place ” because of the successful war to free his country. journalists like john macarthur and seymour hersh have revealed astonishing facts about operation desert shield and desert storm and their aftermath, as the first phases of the american campaigns in the 20 year war were called. but systematic disinformation and censorship have guaranteed a public unscathed by visions of a most brutal military adventure. on the 20th anniversary of the ceasefire, for the world ’ s future as well as our own, let ’ s review basics about the persian gulf war, which continues still, ravaging over there, and here at home. 1. the persian gulf war had been in the planning for years before the iraqi invasion of kuwait provided a convenient justification. as scholars like frances boyle have asserted, soon after the 1988 termination of the 8 year iraq - iran war, the pentagon began planning the destruction of iraq. in october 1990, colin powell referred to a new military plan for iraq developed the year before. in early 1990, general schwarzkopf told the senate armed services committee of this new military strategy in the gulf and to protect u. s. access to and control over gulf oil in the event of regional conflicts, and after the war, he referred to eighteen months of planning for the campaign as commander of the u. s. central command. during january


gulf and to protect u. s. access to and control over gulf oil in the event of regional conflicts, and after the war, he referred to eighteen months of planning for the campaign as commander of the u. s. central command. during january of 1990, massive quantities of united states weapons, equipment, and supplies were sent to saudi arabia in order to prepare for the war against iraq. 2. the united states manipulated saddam into invading kuwait, then used the invasion as a justification for the war they ’ d been waiting for. much debate surrounds the true content of the meeting between saddam hussein and ambassador april glaspie on july 25, 1990. but glaspie ’ s own cable, released by wikileaks on new year ’ s day, and long available at the bush library and on the website of none other than margaret thatcher, paints a picture of a government with a two - faced foreign policy. saddam complains that “ certain circles ” in the u. s. government were antagonistic to iraq and glaspie agrees, though with confidence and apparent sincerity she assures him of the “ friendship ” and “ non - confrontational ” agenda of the president and secretary of state. in another follow - up cable four days later, glaspie reports on her july 28th meeting with iraqi foreign minister tariq aziz, in which he complains of the u. s. ’ s increasingly provocative actions and glaspie herself seems increasingly frustrated. she writes that it is important not to hit iraq with “ bolts out of the blue ” such as cessation of u. s. exports, which has come as a surprise even to her. in both cables, it ’ s now clear, glaspie was presenting the official friendly position of the george w h bush administration, just as behind the scenes, government hawks were preparing a war. … the law stipulated no particular date for the war ’ s ending, which would be “ the date … prescribed by presidential proclamation or by law. ” neither of which has ever happened. the cia under william webster ’ s direction advised kuwait in actions that debilitated iraq ’ s economy and undermined its security. with cia consultation, kuwait engaged in economic warfare against iraq — extracting iraqi oil through slant drilling ; demanding immediate repayment of loans ; and thwarting negotiations over these disputes. meanwhile at the pentagon, dick cheney, still giddy from invading panama, was craving a shot at another country, in the name of defending small countries from bullies. in her july 29th cable


loans ; and thwarting negotiations over these disputes. meanwhile at the pentagon, dick cheney, still giddy from invading panama, was craving a shot at another country, in the name of defending small countries from bullies. in her july 29th cable, glaspie offers the state department advice on handling the matter, including keeping a low profile and reminding colleagues as she had saddam in the earlier meeting that “ we have never taken substantive positions on inter - opec or arab border disputes ” — which was the matter at hand. in her earlier cable, glaspie wrote that saddam made clear that “ if iraq is publicly humiliated by the united states it will have no choice but to ‘ respond, ’ however illogical or self - destructive that would prove. ” she advises the state department not to make him lose face. glaspie was not the only official to express this laissez - faire position. on july 26th, at a washington press conference, state department spokeswoman margaret tutweiler was asked by a journalist if the u. s. had sent any diplomatic protest to iraq for putting 30, 000 troops on the border with kuwait. “ i ’ m entirely unaware of any such protest, ” tutweiler replied. on july 31st, assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs john kelly testified to congress that the “ united states has no commitment to defend kuwait, and the u. s. has no intention of defending kuwait if it is attacked by iraq. ” two days later, on august 2nd, when saddam ’ s troops entered kuwait, he had no reason to believe that the u. s. would come to kuwait ’ s defense with a half - million troops. or that when he tried to negotiate a dignified retreat though arab leaders, the u. s. would refuse to talk as james ridgeway carefully chronicles in his january 1991 village voice articles. what ’ s not clear to this day is the nature of bush and baker ’ s behavior at the time. the u. s. policy toward iraq had never been consistent, and in the july 25 meeting, glaspie reports, saddam reminds her of u. s. double - dealing, mentioning in particular irangate, the reagan administration ’ s sale of weapons to iran at the same time as it was selling arms and allowing sale of toxic chemicals to iraq. did bush and baker mean to maintain the friendlier policy toward iraq and just mismanage, bungling us into war, as murray waas argued at the time? or did they engage in the


arms and allowing sale of toxic chemicals to iraq. did bush and baker mean to maintain the friendlier policy toward iraq and just mismanage, bungling us into war, as murray waas argued at the time? or did they engage in the most machiavellian of manipulations, using a seasoned and apparently sincere diplomat to say one thing as they were planning another? margaret thatcher ’ s account in her memoir is that as late as august 2nd, when the two met at a conference in aspen, bush was waffling about responding to the iraqi invasion until she famously said, “ this is no time to go wobbly on me, george, ” which may or not be so. what ’ s certain is that by sunday, august 5th, bush was in, announcing after a weekend at camp david, “ this will not stand. ” on august 6th, cheney received approval from the saudis for a large u. s. deployment. a wider and more “ certain ” circle was determined to humiliate saddam, leaving him, given his psychology, which he had clearly delineated for glaspie, no choice but to self - destruct. 3. the u. s. disinformed congress and the public to drum up war support for an unpopular war and bribed and bamboozled other countries if the cia, the pentagon, and by summer ’ s end the president and secretary of state were fixed on a war with iraq, during the fall of 1990, the american public and congress were not. to change that, the week after iraq invaded kuwait, the kuwaiti government, disguising itself as “ citizens for a free kuwait, ” hired the global pr firm of hill & knowlton to win americans ’ hearts and minds. in charge of the washington office of hill & knowlton was craig fuller, a close friend of george h. w. bush and his chief of staff when he was vice president. for $ 11. 8 million, fuller and more than 100 h & k executives across the country oversaw the selling of the war. they organized public rallies, provided pro - war speakers, lobbied politicians, developed and distributed information kits and news releases, including scores of video news releases shown by stations and networks as if they were bona fide journalism and not paid - for propaganda. did bush and baker mean to maintain the friendlier policy toward iraq and just mismanage, bungling us into war, as murray waas argued at the time? or did they engage in the most machiavellian of


- for propaganda. did bush and baker mean to maintain the friendlier policy toward iraq and just mismanage, bungling us into war, as murray waas argued at the time? or did they engage in the most machiavellian of manipulations, using a seasoned and apparently sincere diplomat to say one thing as they were planning another? h & k ’ s research arm, the wirthlin group, conducted daily polls to identify the messages and language that would resonate most with americans. in the 1992 emmy award - winning canadian broadcasting corp. documentary to sell a war, a wirthlin executive explained that their research had determined the most emotionally moving message to be “ saddam hussein was a madman who had committed atrocities even against his own people and had tremendous power to do further damage, and he needed to be stopped. ” to fit the bill, h & k concocted stories, including one told by a 15 - year - old kuwaiti girl named nayirah, to another h & k concoction, the house human rights caucus looking to pass as a congressional committee. according to the caucus, nayirah ’ s full name would remain secret in order to deter the iraqis from punishing her family in occupied kuwait. the girl wept as she testified before the caucus, apparently still shaken by the atrocity she witnessed as a volunteer in a kuwait city hospital. according to her written testimony, she had seen “ the iraqi soldiers come into the hospital with guns and go into the room where … babies were in incubators. they took the babies out of the incubators, took the incubators and left the babies on the cold floor to die. ” during the three months between nayirah ’ s testimony and the start of the war, the story of babies tossed from their incubators stunned americans. bush told the story, and television anchors and talk - show hosts recycled it for days. it was read into the congressional record as fact and discussed at the u. n. general assembly. by the time it emerged that nayirah was a kuwaiti royal and the daughter of the kuwaiti ambassador to washington and that she had never volunteered in any hospital and that the incident and her testimony had been provided by h & k, it was too late. the war had already begun. another concoction was top - secret satellite images that the pentagon claimed to have of 250, 000 iraqi troops and 1, 500 tanks on the kuwait - saudi border, visible proof that saddam would be advancing soon on


. the war had already begun. another concoction was top - secret satellite images that the pentagon claimed to have of 250, 000 iraqi troops and 1, 500 tanks on the kuwait - saudi border, visible proof that saddam would be advancing soon on saudi arabia. yet the st. petersburg times acquired two commercial russian satellite images of the same area, taken at the same time, that showed no iraqi troops near the saudi border, and the scientific experts whom the times hired could identify nothing but sand at the supposed location of the advancing army. but the st. petersburg times story evaporated, and the pentagon ’ s story stuck. when bush addressed a joint session of congress on sept. 11, 1990, he reported that developments in the gulf were “ as significant as they were tragic ” : iraqi troops and tanks had moved to the south “ to threaten saudi arabia. ” saudi reluctance to host foreign troops and bases that would desecrate their sacred sites, the holiest in all of islam, gave way in the face of an imminent invasion, and the war had its staging area. american discomfort with a war to defend a country most had never heard of began to transform into dread that the saudi oil they relied on would be swallowed up by a monster. under u. s. pressure, united nations security council adopted unprecedented resolutions allowing nations to use “ all means necessary ” for their enforcement. the u. s. won security council votes by forgiving huge loans, recognizing dictatorships diplomatically, agreeing to sell arms, and more. boyle identifies specific violations and subversions of the u. n. charter in these activities, most importantly the mandate to negotiate peaceful resolutions to international disputes. and, according to boyle, in its decision to go to war and in its conduct of the war itself, the u. s. perpetrated a nuremberg crime against peace. as james baker has often admitted, winning allies for the first gulf war in 1991 involved “ cajoling, extracting, threatening and occasionally buying votes. ” 4. the gulf war ’ s stated goal of ejecting iraqi troops from kuwait quickly revealed itself to be destroying iraq the war ’ s stated intention was to remove iraq ’ s presence from kuwait. but quickly, that intention changed to destroying iraq. the air and missile attack of iraq continued for 42 days, dropping more bombs in that brief period than bombs in all wars in history combined. iraqi aircraft and anti - aircraft or anti - missile ground fire offered no resistance. the aerial and missile bombardment in a matter of hours destroyed


of iraq continued for 42 days, dropping more bombs in that brief period than bombs in all wars in history combined. iraqi aircraft and anti - aircraft or anti - missile ground fire offered no resistance. the aerial and missile bombardment in a matter of hours destroyed most military communications and over the course of the next few weeks attacked iraqi soldiers who were unable to secure food, water, and equipment due to this breakdown. some 100, 000 iraqi soldiers died, according to general schwarzkopf, most of whom were incapable of fighting. mostly, the allies aimed at civilian facilities — shelters, mosques, homes, schools, hospitals markets, commercial and business districts, schools, hospitals, mosques, churches, shelters, factories, office buildings, vehicles on highways, bridges, and roads. though estimates of civilian deaths during the war range from 25, 000 to over 100, 000, all count children at above 50 % of the immediate casualties. iraq ’ s infrastructure — which people lived in, worked in, drove on, received medical treatment in, studied in, prayed in, and shopped at — was bombed, leaving the most sophisticated of arab states in a primitive and catastrophic state. american discomfort with a war to defend a country most had never heard of began to transform into dread that the saudi oil they relied on would be swallowed up by a monster. by most accounts, at least one hundred thousand people died soon after the war from dehydration, dysentery, malnutrition, starvation, and illnesses, from contaminated water, starvation, and exposure to impure water, hunger, cold, and shock. in the period between the end of desert storm and the start of operation iraqi freedom, the degraded environment and sanctions led to the death of an estimated million more, half of them children. medicines, food, baby formula — these were among the essentials kept from the iraqi people in the initial and ensuing stages of the war against iraq. these were among the essentials that sanctions under both bush presidents and clinton kept from the iraqi people, constituting nuremberg crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide under international and u. s. law, according to legal scholars. 5. a system of censorship was established to hide the true war from the public, including killing of our own and the war ’ s launching of al qaeda in the lead - up to war, u. s. media organizations, with rare exceptions, had begun to back away from investigative reporting and journalistic scrutiny. once the war began, government censorship combined with this self - censorship produced


launching of al qaeda in the lead - up to war, u. s. media organizations, with rare exceptions, had begun to back away from investigative reporting and journalistic scrutiny. once the war began, government censorship combined with this self - censorship produced a media blackout. the restrictions on the press were tighter than during any earlier american war. journalists could not travel except in pools with military escorts, and even then most sites were off - limits. department of defense guidelines stated that stories would not be judged for “ potential to express criticism or cause embarrassment, ” but journalists weren ’ t taking any chances. when news anchors weren ’ t hosting retired generals and pundits, or screening eerie green images of the coordinates of the day ’ s targets, they were praising the military on a job well done. pentagon censors had to clear all war dispatches, photos and footage before they could be released. two months after the war ended, the editors of 15 news outlets protested to secretary of defense dick cheney about the pentagon ’ s control. but the damage had been done. the real war was never reported to the american public. as for our own, we saw no images of returning coffins filled with u. s. service members, nor, in the days and months after the war, coverage of the war ’ s aftermath : the almost 300, 000 troops who returned profoundly ill from gulf war illness, a profound physical illness caused by toxins that we released in iraq, sickening and killing the iraqi people and our own troops. it took 18 years for a congressionally - mandated scientific panel to report that the conditions affecting the skin, stomach, minds, hearts, lungs and every other organ of hundreds of thousands of american veterans was not psychological, as the government had insisted for almost 20 years. als ( lou gehrig ’ s disease, multiple sclerosis, disabling neuropathies, heart attacks, difficulty breathing, walking standing — all these, we now know, were caused by neurotoxins including experimental anti nerve gas pills soldiers had to take or risk court martial, insecticides and pesticides that the military administered recklessly, sarin and other gases released into the air when we bombed an iraq military storage facility, with a growing body of evidence regarding the role of depleted uranium. to date, in all the iterations of war in the region, almost a million troops have become patients in the va system, many with systemic illnesses like those inflicted on millions of iraqis and our own soldiers in the first operation


of depleted uranium. to date, in all the iterations of war in the region, almost a million troops have become patients in the va system, many with systemic illnesses like those inflicted on millions of iraqis and our own soldiers in the first operation of the war against iraq. we heard little about the 20, 000 troops occupying saudi arabia after the war, the growing regional resentment for the destruction and death, injuries and insults of invasion and occupation. for years, we heard little about the saudi muslim radical osama bin laden, his outraged protests, for which he was banished, wandering the region, recruiting young followers to avenge the desecration of islam ’ s sacred sites. there was and still is no mainstream media coverage of the roots, just of the proclamations of them versus us, hatemongers versus freedom lovers, barbaric cowards versus civilized heroes. we could read, in time, about bin laden ’ s jihad, but little appeared of the fatwa he and his counterparts throughout the middle - east issued, except the often - quoted statement that it was the duty of every muslim “ to kill the americans and their allies — civilians and military, ” leaving out the second part of the sentence — “ in order to liberate the al - aqsa mosque and the holy mosque [ mecca ] from their grip, and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of islam, defeated and unable to threaten any muslim. ” the 21st year of war begins the war that supposedly ended on february 28th 1991 legally never ended. and functionally, it merely began the next stage of the war against iraq. interestingly, iraq never signed the ceasefire that ended the immediate fighting. and the u. s. quickly resumed firing on iraq. seymour hersh ’ s new yorker article “ overwhelming force ” exposed a third highway of death, just off highway 8 west of basra, near the rumaila oil field. two days after the ceasefire and the day before peace talks were to begin. two - star general barry mccaffrey overrode his division commander and ordered his 24th division to engage in an all - out attack on a retreating republican guard tank division on their way back to baghdad. as hersh describes it : “ apache attack helicopters, bradley fighting vehicles, and artillery units from the 24th division pummelled the five - mile - long iraqi column for hours, destroying some seven hundred iraqi tanks, armored cars, and trucks, and killing not only iraqi soldiers but civilians and children as well. ” there were


and artillery units from the 24th division pummelled the five - mile - long iraqi column for hours, destroying some seven hundred iraqi tanks, armored cars, and trucks, and killing not only iraqi soldiers but civilians and children as well. ” there were no u. s. casualties in this massacre, which came to be called the battle of the causeway, the battle of rumaila, and the battle of the junkyard — for all the exploded tanks and vehicles piled on the road. lieutenant general ronald griffith, commander of 1st armored division of vii corps, told hersh that the iraqi tanks were facing backwards, atop a trailer truck taking them to baghdad. “ it was just a bunch of tanks in a train, and he made it a battle, ” hersh reports griffith saying, but mccaffrey “ made it a battle when it was never one. that ’ s the thing that bothered me the most. ” made it a battle when it was never one. that statement could summarize u. s. policy toward iraq for the past 20 years. mccaffrey retired a hero, becoming clinton ’ s drug czar. and clinton, whose presidency has been romanticized in recent years, maintained his own brutal policies, including a continuous war on iraqi civilians and structures. a policy of brutal sanctions killed at least a million people, and sickened more. no - fly zones, established in 1991 as a condition for peace, were enforced with forceful bombing campaigns. indeed, as raw story editors have argued, the no fly zones protected no one but functioned largely to provoke iraq, providing the u. s. a fresh excuse for renewed attack. in 1993, to retaliate for the attempted assassination of george h. w. bush, clinton bombed iraqi intelligence offices. in 1998, clinton signed the iraq liberation act, whose goals were much the same as those announced by bush jr., namely regime change and the establishment of democracy. at the end of 1998, his operation desert fox, unleashed a four - day aerial bombardment of baghdad and other major cities. and thereafter, u. s. and u. k. planes, at human and material cost, bombed iraq repeatedly, using more firepower, as raw story has calculated, than the military under george w. bush in his lead up to his own war — or his phase of the longest war. provoke, manipulate, lie to congress, the un, the public, bribe and bamboozle the international community, and, by all means, censor as you go — for two decades


a - minor chord variation for guitar working with some of my guitar students in concord and walnut creek ca recently, i took the time to show them some a - minor chord variations for guitar. one of the first chords you typically learn when taking guitar lessons is the open a - minor chord. to add some enhancement and color to songs using the a - minor chord, try the following : on your first down strum ( beat 1 of 4 beats per measure ) remove your left hand 3rd finger. now string 3 has no finger. this changes chord name to a - minor 7th. cool sound but now brace yourself. for second down strum on your guitar slide your left hand am7 ( a minor 7th ) formation up two frets known as a whole step. this creates a lush and very rich but dissonant sound known as a bm7 / a. when you see a slash after chord name, the letter name to the right of slash indicates the bass note thus the open 5th string is known as the “ a ”. then on final strums on beats 3 and 4 of this simple one measure pattern you must do following : put your left hand 2nd finger on fret 5 string 4 and your left hand 3rd finger on fret 5 string 3 and with strumming hand strum downwards from 5th string. this will give your guitar a rich sound with the open strings. this guitar chord is known as an a - minor 9th. you can apply this to any song where you have 4 strums for a - minor. an example would be bob dylan ’ s “ knocking on heavens door ”. the song starts by two down strums for g and for d and then goes to 4 strums for a - minor. then it does two down strums again for g and d and finishes with 4 strums on c. that ’ s the complete song. try playing it on your guitar with the a - minor chord formations and i think you ’ ll love the sound by adding the variation to the song. want a free guitar lesson on this and other cool chord variations, email me and let ’ s get started ( new guitar or banjo students only ).


this article is intended to explain in a nutshell how booting works in general, what the haiku counterparts of standard boot process elements are and how to get everything together for a working boot in case this is not done automatically. these are things you will encounter installing / booting most operating systems, so it ' s not entirely haiku specific. 1. the basic boot process 1. 1 the bios when you turn on a bios based ( as opposed to firmware based ) system, which is still the most common today, the first thing loaded will be the bios ( basic input output system ). it is like a small operating system of its own and has the purpose of configuring the system hardware and provide an environment that a more high level operating system can work with. for example it configures pci devices, harddrive controllers, usb, the processor itself and sets up acpi tables in main memory. current bioses are quite a bit more advanced than they were in the past, commonly having support for usb keyboards and usb mass storage to allow operating in so called legacy free configurations ( i. e. without the old ps / 2 input and maybe without some of the more traditional pc architecture components ). ok, not going into more detail as that ' s not essential here. so when the bios has done its job, it will try to find a master boot record ( mbr ) on any of the harddisk - like medias or other boot method specific block on other media ( el - torito on cds / dvds for example ). something like a usb memory stick is regarded as being harddisk - like, because it really is emulating a scsi harddisk to the system. when it finds a boot record, it then loads that into memory and instructs the cpu to start execution of the instructions present. 1. 2 the master boot record generally this is just the first block of any harddisk - like medium, usually 512 bytes in length. it contains boot code in the first part and the partition table at the end of the block. what you have there as boot code depends on what boot manager you have installed. you have either installed a boot manager explicitly, for example grub or the beos boot manager, or it was implicitly installed for you when partitioning the device ( during windows setup for example ). boot managers range from totally simple ones that are just enough to find the partition marked active and jump to the partition boot code of said


boot manager, or it was implicitly installed for you when partitioning the device ( during windows setup for example ). boot managers range from totally simple ones that are just enough to find the partition marked active and jump to the partition boot code of said partition, to almost complete operating systems with editing capabilities and other fancy features. 1. 3 the partition boot record additionally to the master boot record, there can also be a partition boot record. it ' s located at the start of a partition and contains further boot code. depending on the boot manager you are using and how you configured it, this boot code will be executed or not. in the case of haiku the partition boot code does locate the " / boot / beos / system / zbeos " file which then starts the operating system boot process. additionally it contains the partition offset needed to access this partition during boot. a wrong value for that offset is probably one of the most common reason why a haiku installation doesn ' t start to boot. as mentioned, whether or not the partition boot code is used depends on the boot manager and boot manager configuration. if you take grub installed as boot manager in the mbr and booting linux. grub knows how to handle most linux filesystems and it does know how to load and start a linux kernel off of it. therefore it can directly load linux without the need for any additional boot code. however grub does neither know how to handle bfs and find the zbeos boot loader, nor would it really know how to execute it. therefore you cannot use grub to directly boot haiku. instead you need to chainload the partition boot code of the bfs partition, as it knows how to handle both the bfs and zbeos. 1. 4 the boot loader after the boot loader ( zbeos in case of beos / haiku ) has been found and loaded into memory, it is executed. the boot loader is the one providing you with the haiku boot menu when pressing the space bar in early boot and is the one detecting basic system configuration. it also contains the logic to find and load the kernel ( kernel _ intel on beos and kernel _ x86 on haiku ) as well as some boot modules required. boot modules include the bus managers, bus and device drivers required by the kernel to successfully access the boot volume to load the rest of the modules and execute anything it needs to fully boot the system. if you boot to an ata harddisk


required. boot modules include the bus managers, bus and device drivers required by the kernel to successfully access the boot volume to load the rest of the modules and execute anything it needs to fully boot the system. if you boot to an ata harddisk it would require for example the ide or ata bus manager, the harddisk controller driver and the helper modules used by them. booting from usb would require the usb bus manager, the host controller drivers and the usb _ disk driver for example. the boot loader also provides the kernel with configuration information and info about initial memory layout for example. this data passing between the boot loader and the kernel is specific to haiku and the haiku revision, it is possible that the information passed changes from one revision to another. this also makes it obvious that a zbeos from a beos installation cannot work with a haiku kernel. likewise using a beos bootfloppy that provides such a zbeos is not going to boot haiku. 1. 5 the kernel once the kernel is loaded and starts executing it sets up a working environment. memory management, bootstrapping and configuring non - boot cpus, timers, interrupts, filesystems, module infrastructure, drivers... everything that is needed for a fully working system and has not yet been loaded. once this environment is set up, the kernel will start the bootscript, that then launches the different servers to provide a usable userland. 2. installing haiku if you intend to put haiku onto a dedicated partition on your normal harddisk, you have several options to do so depending on your host operating system and wehther or not you intend to use a pre - built image or build from source. 2. 1 building from source building from source generally has the advantage that you can do modifications, include optional packages and that making everything bootable is mostly taken care of automatically. on the other hand it is of course quite a bit more time consuming and resource intensive. see the building haiku on ubuntu linux article for more details if you ' re building from linux. building from windows is described in this tutorial, note though that under windows you can currently only build images and not install directly to a partition. if you ' re building on beos see the tools section of of the getting started page and see this article on getting the source and building it. 2. 2 copying a pre - built image if you can ' t or don '


a partition. if you ' re building on beos see the tools section of of the getting started page and see this article on getting the source and building it. 2. 2 copying a pre - built image if you can ' t or don ' t want to go through building from source, you can also take an already built image. you can download those from haiku - files. download a raw image, not a vmware one. note that these are test images, they are not complete distributions that include a lot of software, both to keep the size and complexity of building them down. future releases will include a more complete set of software obviously. when you ' ve downloaded the raw image, you need to get this image to the partition or medium you intend to install it to. under beos, linux or basically everything except windows you can use dd to just copy it over, using the partition or drive as a target. # under beos to partition x on the master on the first channel dd if = / path / to / image of = / dev / disk / ide / ata / 0 / master / x # under beos to the raw slave on the first channel ( overwriting the mbr ) dd if = / path / to / image of = / dev / disk / ide / ata / 0 / master / raw # under linux to partition x on the first harddisk dd if = / path / to / image of = / dev / hdax # under linux to the raw second scsi disk ( could be a usb drive ) dd if = / path / to / image of = / dev / sdb make extra sure that you have the right partition picked there, as these commands are destructive. recheck with a partitioning tool to verify for example. note that you ' ll probably need administrative rights under linux, so use sudo or su to execute these commands. if you want to put the image at the absolute start of the drive ( so that you don ' t need an additional boot manager ), make sure that you write to the whole raw drive and not to a partition. you do that by specifying a raw device instead of a partition. under linux you would for example omit the partition number resulting in " sdb " instead of " sdb1 ". under beos you would pick the "... / raw " path instead of one with a number. if you use such a command, you overwrite the mbr containing the partition table.


kernel, but essentially the steps are the same. most of the things can and will be further automated when haiku will be released, but others are more complicated and not within the power of haiku. 3. 1 making the partition bootable if you built from source directly to a partition the build system has most probably done the required steps to make the partition bootable automatically. if so you can skip this point and continue with configuring the boot manager below. when you just create a plain partition and initialize it to a bfs filesystem or if you copy over a complete haiku image, this doesn ' t necessarily make the partition bootable. the partition boot record may be missing, or the partition offset could be misconfigured. the prebuilt images for example contain a partition offset of 0 for example, since they are not actually partitioned. they only consist of a direct bfs filesystem, so the offset to that is 0. this will work in exactly one case, where you don ' t actually put it into a partition. if you for example copy such an image directly to a usb drive starting from 0, overwriting the mbr ( destoying all partitions already there ), then this will boot. if you however copy an image to the first partition on your harddisk, this will not work out of the box, as the boot code in the partition boot record won ' t find the desired filesystem at offset 0 ( that ' s where the mbr still is ). to make sure a partition boot record is there and it contains the right partition offset, you can use the tool " makebootable ". makebootable will do both, write the partition boot code to the beginning of the partition and detect and write the partition offset to where it is needed. you can use the makebootable from beos if you have a beos installation that has access to the partition in question. to do that, mount the volume you have haiku installed to and use : where " / haikumountpoint " is where you have mounted your haiku volume to. note that the beos makebootable can be used, because the partition boot record does only load the zbeos boot loader. as haiku does provide a zbeos as well and there is no information passed from the partition boot code to the boot loader, this is compatible between beos and haiku and you can use a beos makebootable with


- 1 ). in case you are using the beos boot manager, just re - run the " bootman " command and add the new haiku partition to the boot menu. if you have another boot manager consult its documentation on how to chainload partitions, most should support such a thing, possibly named a bit different. in doubt just add an entry for the partition, probably this will cause it to chainload, even if not explicitly named so. 4. easy installation through usb drives the above steps should get you going in most cases, but maybe sound a bit scary or involved. my personally recommended method that should work on most current hardware would be to make a dedicated usb drive like a usb memory stick to boot haiku. to do that, you can take a relatively small usb drive that has enough space to fit the image onto. then you just copy that image directly to the raw drive, not to a partition, replacing everything including the mbr, destroying all the partitions that were on there ( see above as to tools to use ). this is destructive and you can ' t use anything after the image size of that drive, but if you get some cheap small usb memory stick just for that purpose it ' s certainly one of the easiest ways to boot haiku. once you ' ve booted haiku you can also do an installation from there, initializing partitions with bfs using drivesetup and using the installer to do a proper installation. note that you cannot currently create partitions under haiku. use your preferred partition tool to create a dedicated partition before booting haiku. note also that the installer doesn ' t have a link in the haiku menu, therefore just run it from the terminal. if you additionally execute it from " / bin " this works around the makebootable problem, giving you the commands : that should work and be pretty usable to boot devices that you have no other means to put haiku onto otherwise. this works for example out of the box on the asus eee, but really should work for every usb bootable x86 machine. if it doesn ' t, please make sure that your issue is documented in a bug report at our bug tracker. we cannot fix it if we don ' t know that it ' s broken. i hope this clears up some things. if nothing else this should get you a better starting point for troubleshooting if it indeed doesn ' t boot.


wednesday, jan. 4 ( healthday news ) - - nearly one in four girls who gets the human papillomavirus ( hpv ) vaccine mistakenly thinks that her risk of getting other sexually transmitted diseases is lowered, a new study indicates. hpv is the most commonly transmitted sexually transmitted infection ( sti ) in the united states, with nearly 30 percent of sexually active girls aged 14 to 19 infected. some virus types can raise the risk for genital warts and cervical cancer. " i think it ' s important to counsel [ girls ] about what the vaccine protects against, " said lead researcher dr. tanya kowalczyk mullins, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the cincinnati children ' s hospital medical center and the university of cincinnati college of medicine. the findings were reported in the january issue of the archives of pediatric and adolescent medicine. two hpv vaccines are now licensed in the united states. one, gardasil, protects against two hpv strains linked with genital warts and two hpv types linked with cervical cancer. another vaccine, cervarix, induces immunity to the two hpv types linked with cervical cancer. the hpv vaccine is recommended by the u. s. centers for disease control and prevention for boys and girls aged 11 to 12, with catch - up immunizations recommended to the age of 26 for women and 21 for men. in the study, mullins polled 339 girls, average age nearly 17, after their first of three hpv doses, and their mothers. nearly 60 percent of the girls were sexually experienced. mullins wanted to know the girls ' perceived risk of getting hpv after the vaccination, their perceived risk of getting other stis and their perceived need for continued safer sex behaviors. " most girls correctly thought the vaccine does not protect them against stis other than hpv, " mullins said. however, 24 percent of the girls mistakenly thought they were at lower risk for other stis such as syphilis and gonorrhea after the hpv vaccine, she found. girls who thought this were less likely to have information about the vaccine and about hpv infection. doctors who discuss the hpv vaccine with girls and their parents ' ' may need to emphasize the limitations of the vaccine and to specifically address that the vaccine does not prevent other stis, ' ' the researchers wrote. mullins said it is not known how girls perceive risk after the entire three - dose series. the study was supported by the u. s. national institutes of


specifically address that the vaccine does not prevent other stis, ' ' the researchers wrote. mullins said it is not known how girls perceive risk after the entire three - dose series. the study was supported by the u. s. national institutes of some study co - authors reported receiving grants from merck, which makes gardasil. one reported doing consulting work for sanofi pasteur, which has marketed gardasil in europe. the study results bear " no big surprises, " said dr. h. hunter handsfield, a member of the board of directors for the american social health association and a professor of medicine at the university of washington center for aids and std in seattle. he is an advisor to merck for its hpv vaccine. " if anything, it ' s a fairly pleasing result that it ' s only 24 percent [ who think the hpv vaccine protects against other stis ], " he said. before the vaccines were available, handsfield said, " social and religious conservatives " expressed worries that teens would practice safe sex less often after getting the vaccine. the latest findings suggest this isn ' t happening by and large, he noted. doctors do need to be clear with their young patients when giving them the hpv vaccine, handsfield said. they need to tell them that the vaccine does not protect against all stis, and that when the patients become sexually active they need to practice safer sex behaviors, such as using condoms. for more on hpv, go to the u. s. national library of medicine.


| risk factors fainting is a loss of consciousness that happens quickly and sometimes without warning. a fainting episode usually resolves within seconds to minutes. if fainting is caused by another condition, then the condition will need to be treated. in general, fainting is caused by decreased blood flow to the brain. blood flow to the brain copyright © nucleus medical media, inc. decreased blood flow to the brain can be caused by : most commonly, vasovagal spells. vasovagal spells can occur : - during medical procedures - during times of high stress, trauma, or fright - after standing still for a long period of time fainting can also occur as a side effect to medications. these include : - blood pressure medications - medications to regulate heart rhythms - certain antidepressants factors that increase your risk of fainting include having a history of fainting. symptoms may include : - sudden loss of consciousness - inability to remain standing or sitting - consciousness regained without any need for intervention - dizziness or lightheadedness before losing consciousness call your doctor if you are having episodes of fainting. this is especially important if you : - have a heart condition - have a job where you or others may be at risk if you faint. examples include airline pilot, bus driver, or machinist. call for medical help or go to the emergency room right away if you have : - weakness or numbness of face, arm, or leg, especially on the left side of the body - loss of balance, coordination problems - vision problems - severe headache - rapid, irregular heartbeat ; chest pain your doctor will ask about your symptoms and medical history. a physical exam will be done. tests may include : treatment will depend on the underlying condition that has caused fainting. this may include medications, lifestyle changes, or surgery. if you are diagnosed as having fainted, follow your doctor ' s if you are prone to fainting : - know the warning signs. if you feel that you are going to faint, sit or lie down right away. - get up slowly and carefully from lying down. start by sitting up for a minute and then stand up. - drink plenty of fluids. - discuss dietary changes with your doctor. - avoid using alcohol or other drugs. there are certain physical maneuvers that rapidly raise blood pressure and blood flow to the brain. they are called physical counterpressure maneuvers. when these are done during warning signs, you may be able to prevent fainting. examples include : - crossing your legs while tensing the muscles


that rapidly raise blood pressure and blood flow to the brain. they are called physical counterpressure maneuvers. when these are done during warning signs, you may be able to prevent fainting. examples include : - crossing your legs while tensing the muscles of legs, abdomen, and buttocks. - forcefully squeezing a rubber ball or other object as hard as possible. try to use your dominant hand. - gripping one hand with the other while tensing both arms and raising the elbows slightly. benditt d, goldstein m. fainting. american heart association, circulation website. available at : http : / / circ. ahajournals. org / content / 106 / 9 / 1048. full. published 2002. accessed april 25, 2013. chen ly, benditt dg, et al. management of syncope in adults : an update. mayo clin proc. 2008 ; 83 ( 11 ) : 1280 - 1293. fainting. american academy of family physicians family doctor website. available at : http : / / familydoctor. org / familydoctor / en / diseases - conditions / fainting. html. updated july 2010. accessed april 25, 2013. miller th, kruse je. evaluation of syncope. am fam physician. 2005 ; 72 ( 8 ) : 1492 - 1500. syncope evaluation. ebsco dynamed website. available at : http : / / www. ebscohost. com / dynamed / what. php. updated march 5, 2013. accessed april 25, 2013. 2 / 6 / 2007 dynamed ' s systematic literature surveillance. available at : http : / / dynamed. ebscohost. com / about / about - us : van dijk n, quartieri f, blanc jj, et al. effectiveness of physical counterpressure maneuvers in preventing vasovagal syncope : the physical counterpressure manoeuvres trial ( pc - trial ). j am coll cardiol. 2006 ; 48 ( 8 ) : 1652 - 1657. last reviewed april 2013 by please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. it is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. call your healthcare provider immediately if you think you may have a medical emergency. always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. copyright


be tick free - a guide for preventing lyme disease lyme disease in new york state the new york state department of health ( nysdoh ) and local health departments continue to investigate the spread of lyme disease throughout new york state. lyme disease is a bacterial infection caused by the bite of an infected deer tick. untreated, the disease can cause a number of health problems. patients treated with antibiotics in the early stage of the infection usually recover rapidly and completely. since lyme disease first became reportable in 1986, over 98, 500 cases have been confirmed in new york state. what is lyme disease? lyme disease is caused by bacteria transmitted by the deer tick ( ixodes scapularis ). lyme disease may cause symptoms affecting the skin, nervous system, heart and / or joints of an individual. over 98, 500 cases have been reported to the new york state department of health since lyme disease became reportable in 1986. who gets lyme disease? lyme disease can affect people of any age. people who spend time in grassy and wooded environments are at an increased risk of exposure. the chances of being bitten by a deer tick are greater during times of the year when ticks are most active. young deer ticks, called nymphs, are active from mid - may to mid - august and are about the size of poppy seeds. adult ticks, which are approximately the size of sesame seeds, are most active from march to mid - may and from mid - august to november. both nymphs and adults can transmit lyme disease. ticks can be active any time the temperature is above freezing. infected deer ticks can be found throughout new york state. how is lyme disease transmitted? not all deer ticks are infected with the bacteria that cause lyme disease. ticks can become infected if they feed on small animals that are infected. the disease can be spread when an infected tick bites a person and stays attached for a period of time. in most cases, the tick must be attached for 36 hours or more before the bacteria can be transmitted. lyme disease does not spread from one person to another. transfer of the bacteria from an infected pregnant woman to the fetus is extremely rare. what are the symptoms of lyme disease? in 60 - 80 percent of cases, a rash resembling a bull ' s eye or solid patch, about two inches in diameter, appears and expands around or near the site of the bite. sometimes, multiple rash sites appear. the early


light - colored clothing with a tight weave to spot ticks easily. - wear enclosed shoes, long pants and a long - sleeved shirt. tuck pant legs into socks or boots and shirt into pants. - check clothes and any exposed skin frequently for ticks while outdoors and check again once indoors. - consider using insect repellent. follow label directions. - stay on cleared, well - traveled trails. avoid contacting vegetation. - avoid sitting directly on the ground or on stone walls. - keep long hair tied back, especially when gardening. tick life cycle deer tick life cycle the deer tick passes through four life stages ( egg, larva, nymph, adult ), over a two year period egg to larvae eggs are fertilized in the fall and deposited in leaf litter the following spring. they emerge as larvae in late summer of that year, seeking their first blood meal. the tiny larva crawls around the forest floor and onto low - lying vegetation looking for an appropriate host. their first host is generally a mouse or other medium - sized mammal or bird. once attached, the larvae embed their mouth parts and feed for several days. if the host is infected with a disease such as lyme, the tick may be infected during this feeding. the larvae then drop off their host into the leaf litter where they molt into the next stage, the nymph, remaining dormant until the following spring. larvae to nymph during the spring and early summer of the next year the nymphs end their dormancy and begin to seek a host. nymphs are commonly found on the forest floor in leaf litter and on low lying vegetation. their host primarily consists of mice and other rodents, deer, birds and unfortunately humans. most cases of lyme disease are reported from may through august, which corresponds to the peak activity period for nymphs. this suggests that the majority of lyme disease cases are transmitted by nymphal deer ticks. after feeding for several days the nymph ticks drop off to the forest floor. nymph to adult over the next few months the nymph molts into the larger adult tick, which emerges in fall, with a peak in october through november. both male and female adults find and feed on a host, then the females lay eggs sometime after feeding. adult ticks wait for host animals from the tips of grasses and shrubs approximately one meter above the ground. when an animal or person brushes by the vegetation, they quickly let go and climb onto


a host, then the females lay eggs sometime after feeding. adult ticks wait for host animals from the tips of grasses and shrubs approximately one meter above the ground. when an animal or person brushes by the vegetation, they quickly let go and climb onto the host. adult ticks feed on their host for five to seven days. the female will become engorged with blood, providing nourishment for her developing eggs. after feeding and mating, the female tick drops into the leaf litter where she lays thousands of eggs. she will become dormant as the temperature drops below 40° f. ticks can only crawl ; they cannot fly or jump. ticks found on the scalp have usually crawled there from lower parts of the body. some species of ticks will crawl several feet toward a host. ticks can be active on winter days when the ground temperatures are above 45 degrees fahrenheit. there are two groups of ticks, sometimes called " hard " ticks and " soft " ticks. hard ticks, like the common dog tick and deer tick, have a hard shield just behind the mouthparts ( sometimes incorrectly called the " head " ) ; unfed hard ticks are shaped like a flat seed. soft ticks do not have the hard shield and they are shaped like a small raisin. soft ticks prefer to feed on birds or bats and are seldom encountered unless these animals are nesting or roosting in an occupied building. the most commonly encountered ticks in new york state are the deer tick, american dog tick, and lone star tick. how to remove a tick you find a tick attached to you or your child! don ' t panic. not all ticks are infected, and your risk of acquiring lyme disease is greatly reduced if the tick is removed within the first 36 hours after attachment. remove the tick promptly and properly : - using tweezers, grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible. - gently pull the tick in a steady, upward motion. - wash the area with a disinfectant. - when trying to remove the tick : - do not touch the tick with your bare hands. - do not squeeze the body of the tick as this may increase your risk of infection. - do not put alcohol, nail polish remover or vaseline on the tick. - do not put a hot match or cigarette on the tick in an effort to make it " back out. " - do not use your fingers to remove the tick. these methods do not work and


polish remover or vaseline on the tick. - do not put a hot match or cigarette on the tick in an effort to make it " back out. " - do not use your fingers to remove the tick. these methods do not work and only increase the likelihood the tick will transmit lyme disease to you. applying alcohol, nail polish remover, or a hot match can irritate a tick and cause it to regurgitate its gut contents into your skin. the gut contents of a tick can contain the lyme disease - causing bacterium. while removing a tick, if the tick ' s mouthparts break off and remain in your skin, don ' t worry. the mouthparts alone cannot transmit lyme disease, because the infective body of the tick is no longer attached. the mouthparts can be left alone. they will dry up and fall out by themselves in a few days, or you can remove them as you would a splinter. after cleaning the area, watch the site of the bite for the appearance of a rash 3 to 30 days after the bite. the rash will usually be at least 2 inches in diameter initially and will gradually expand to several inches in size. rashes smaller than the size of a quarter are usually a reaction to the bite itself and do not mean you have lyme disease. if you develop this type of rash or flu - like symptoms, contact your health care provider immediately. although not routinely recommended, taking antibiotics within three days after a tick bite may be beneficial for some persons. this would apply to deer tick bites that occured in areas where lyme disease is common and there is evidence that the tick fed for more than one day. in cases like this you should discuss the possibilities with your doctor or licensed health care provider. creating a tick - free zone around your home while deer ticks are most abundant in wooded areas, they are also commonly found in our lawns and shrubs. there are a number of measures homeowners can take to reduce the possibility of being bitten by a tick on their property. ticks and their primary hosts - mice, chipmunks and other small mammals - need moisture, a place away from direct sunlight and a place to hide. the cleaner you keep the area around the house, the less likely your chances of being bitten by a tick. although it may not be possible to create a totally tick - free zone, taking the following precautions will greatly reduce the tick population in your yard. - keep grass mowed. - remove leaf litter, brush and


chances of being bitten by a tick. although it may not be possible to create a totally tick - free zone, taking the following precautions will greatly reduce the tick population in your yard. - keep grass mowed. - remove leaf litter, brush and weeds at the edge of the lawn. - restrict the use of groundcover, such as pachysandra in areas frequented by family and roaming pets. - remove brush and leaves around stonewalls and wood piles. - discourage rodent activity. clean up and seal stonewalls and small openings around the home. - move firewood piles and bird feeders away from the house. - manage pet activity ; keep dogs and cats out of the woods to reduce ticks brought into the home. - use plantings that do not attract deer ( contact your local cooperative extension or garden center for suggestions ) or exclude deer through various types of fencing. - move children ' s swing sets and sand boxes away from the woodland edge and place them on a wood chip or mulch type foundation. - trim tree branches and shrubs around the lawn edge to let in more sunlight. - adopt dryer or less water - demanding landscaping techniques with gravel pathways and mulches. create a 3 - foot or wider wood chip, mulch, or gravel border between lawn and woods or stonewalls. consider areas with decking, tile, gravel and border or container plantings in areas by the house or frequently traveled. - widen woodland trails. - if you consider a pesticide application as a targeted treatment, do not use any pesticide near streams or any body of water, as it may kill aquatic life or pollute the water itself. always read and follow pesticide label directions and precautions tick and insect repellents : deciding on their use there are many different products on the market, with different ingredients, concentrations and effectiveness. the most effective contain deet, permethrin ( only to be applied on clothing ), picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus. if you decide to use one, be sure to follow label directions and apply repellent carefully. about insect repellents deet ( the label may say n, n - diethyl - m - toluamide ) comes in many different concentrations, with percentages as low as five percent or as high as 100 percent. in general, the higher the concentration the higher the protection, but the risk of negative health effects goes up, too. use the lowest concentration that you think will provide the protection you need. picari


as five percent or as high as 100 percent. in general, the higher the concentration the higher the protection, but the risk of negative health effects goes up, too. use the lowest concentration that you think will provide the protection you need. picaridin ( also known as kbr3023 ) and oil of lemon eucalyptus were registered for use in new york state in 2005. both repellents have been shown to offer long - lasting protection against mosquito bites but there are limited data regarding their ability to repel ticks. products containing permethrin are for use on clothing only, not on skin. permethrin kills ticks and insects that come in contact with treated clothes. permethrin products can cause eye irritation, particularly if label directions have not been followed. animal studies indicate that permethrin may have some cancer - causing potential. permethrin is effective for two weeks or more if the clothing is not washed. keep treated clothing in a plastic bag when not in use. if you decide to use any kind of repellent, carefully read and follow all label directions before each use. on the labels, you will find important information about how to apply the repellent, whether it can be applied to skin and / or clothing, special instructions for children, hazards to humans, physical or chemical hazards and first aid. children, pregnant women and repellents children may be at greater risk for adverse reactions to repellents, in part, because their exposure may be greater. - keep repellents out of the reach of children. - do not allow children to apply repellents to themselves. - use only small amounts of repellent on children. - do not apply repellents to the hands of young children because this may result in accidental eye contact or ingestion. - try to reduce the use of repellents by dressing children in long sleeves and long pants tucked into boots or socks whenever possible. use netting over strollers, playpens, etc. - as with chemical exposures in general, pregnant women should take care to avoid exposures to repellents when practical, as the fetus may be vulnerable. when thinking about using a repellent, consider a combination of things, including where you are, how long you will be outside and how bad the bugs are, and if those bugs carry disease. every situation is different. use the following questions to make a " profile " that fits your situation - this may help you decide if you want to use