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Difference between revisions of "JTAG Finder"
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== (How) Does this work? ==
== (How) Does this work? ==
* The slides from my talk at [http://ph-neutral.org ph-neutral] 0x7d6 are
* The slides from my talk at [http://ph-neutral.org ph-neutral] 0x7d6 are [[Media:Jtag.pdf]] [http://hunz.org/jtag.odp odp].
(hunz.org seems dead so pdf version now uploaded to elinux, enjoy)
(hunz.org seems dead so pdf version now uploaded to elinux, enjoy)
Latest revision as of 04:13, 11 November 2011
User:Hunz is searching a maintainer for this project! Since he currently doesn't have the time/will to realize the further plans.
Due to his talk held at the ph-neutral, this article is undergoing a major rework.
- 1 (How) Does this work?
- 2 What does it look like?
- 3 Further plans / What's missing?
- 4 The Hardware
- 5 The Software
- 6 If it doesn't work
- 7 Comment from user of many JTAG tools
- 8 Links and related projects
- 9 Contact
(How) Does this work?
- The slides from my talk at ph-neutral 0x7d6 are here odp.
(hunz.org seems dead so pdf version now uploaded to elinux, enjoy)
- It did work with
- my fpga board (2 chips in one test chain) from http://www.fpga-dev.de
- the blackberry from the slides
- It didn't work with
- a grandstream SIP phone yet (maybe some (n)TRST) problem or JTAG disabled
- some kind of D-Link VPN gateway? (didn't ask for the exact name)
What does it look like?
scroll down to understand the meaning of the output
Further plans / What's missing?
Better methods
One should be able to reduce the number of necessary tries to (n * (n-1)) + (n-2) by reading the IDCODE from the Data Register:
Only TCK and TMS should be necessary for this, so one can look for TDO afterwards.
This method is described here: http://www.xilinx.com/xlnx/xil_ans_display.jsp?iLanguageID=1&iCountryID=1&getPagePath=11857
Possible problems:
- This doesn't work if a devices uses Bypass as default instruction, does it?
- One doesn't know the IDCODE in advance, thus detecting this pattern it is harder.
shift DR
shifting DR instead of IR might be faster? This is the case when the DR is smaller than IR.
The IDCODE must be 32 bits long, thus the DR register is 32 bits long if the IDCODE is loaded.
The IR length is usually about 36bits?
Better software
- retry on timeout
- live display for the status of each pin (at least while not scanning)
- IO entry field (to disable single pins or assign const values to them)
- (n)TRST support is missing (low active and with high active pulldown transistor)
- detect hi impedance pins by looking for pins that change their state with pullups (100k) on/off
- warn that hi impedance pins might be disconnected from the jtag!
- try the Hi + hi impedance pins for TMS, TCK, TDI first and
- the Low ones for nTRST first
- read IDCODE?
- assist the user in creating the relocations file (pullups on for all pins, user shall put cable between gnd and pin 1..30, one pin at a time)
Better hardware
- Arduino / Freeduino based hardware?
- Enable easy / fast deployment of the jtag finder
- USB connected or not (standalone) operation mode
- 1.8V support( needed for xbox 360 for example)
- AVR alone won't do here (except for tiny2313 but it doesn't have that much pins)
- thus I'm thinking about a cpld
- could use a whole gang of tiny2313's perhaps
- The current hardware is just a proof of concept. Let's build something fiddle-free.
- I'd like to design a circuit board for this - if you want one as well please add yourself to this list:
- Hunz
- Obsidian
- Let's collect some suggestions for the hardware here as well. My current suggestion is:
- USB powered, USB-to-Serial interface (115200 baud)
- socket for an ATMega16L or 32L? running at 7.3728 MHz (for the 115200 baud)
- DIL or SMD? (TODO: compare the costs)
- Obsidian: Wouldn't DIL make it easier for people to build their own boards?
- bootloader for firmware updates
- floppy connector compatible 2x17 pin header for the cable to the testpins
- extra STK500 compatible pinheaders (maybe unpopulated) without the 330 Ohm resistors for other applications
- costs: about 15-20 Euros
- PLEASE add your comments/suggestions!
- are 30 IOs enough or do you want more?
- Certainly sounds enough for me for the first design.
- the ATmega16/32 got 1/2kbyte of SRAM - it's enough for the JTAG scanner but maybe you'd like to do some other things with the board as well?
- do you want more processing power? again it's enough for the JTAG scanner but one might want to do other things which need more processing power
- or would you prefer to keep it simple, stupid?
- are 30 IOs enough or do you want more?
Better firmware (AVR)
- assembler for the scanning function -> speedup
- TX buffer, interrupt based TX while doing sth. other
- full duplex for uart? scan new pair while TX for old one running?
- TX only interesting pins?
- access the current TCK/TMS/TDI lines via RAM (ld/st) instead of IO (in/out) -> no case/if needed - just add the port offset
- better delay
- shift TMS/TDI, read TDO support - to use it as openwince-jtag cable
- autonomous scanning?
- 7.x MHz support
The Hardware
not much to explain - had an ATmega32 lying around...
The Software
- the current sourcecode is here: jtagscan.tar.bz2
- there's a file named relocations.avr
- it maps floppy connector / cable pin number to AVR port/pin
- AVR port A = 0, B = 1, C = 2, D = 3
- each AVR port got 8 pins
- first line in the relocations file is pin 1, 2nd is pin 2, etc.
- if there's a 13 in line 5 it means: cable pin 5 = avr port 13/8 (=1 = port B), AVR pin 13 mod 8 = pin 5
- use pullups
- should be useful for nearly any device to avoid thrashing input lines
- disabling it leads to false positives
- delay
- currently (1.8MHz), 0 is safe (about 100kHz)
- higher values will slow down the scanning process
- shift pattern
- you can leave this alone
- # shifts
- often you can reduce this to speed up the scanning process
- number of times the 8bit-pattern is shifted into current TDI pin
- so the number of bits shifted is #shifts * 8
- detection fails if the value is too small - retry with a bigger value if necessary
- 15 should be ok for most devices
- 4/3/2: TDO=6:11/20 means:
- for TCK pin 4,
- TMS pin 3,
- TDI pin 2,
- pin 6 ist a TDO suspect - the pattern was shifted in 20 times in at pin 2 (TDI) and found 11 times at pin 6
- more advanced: output while scanning a blackberry 7290
- scroll upwards and use the gallery
If it doesn't work
- have you tried a higher number of shifts?
- have you tried increasing the delay?
- have you run the scan a 2nd and a 3rd time?
- nTRST might be pulled low - the current software doesn't yet support this
- enhance the software ;) (ask me if you need help - scroll down for contact)
JTAG might be disabled
- by removing some 0-Ohm resistors on the circuit board (look for a connection to the testpins at missing resistors)
- by adding additional resistors to set pins to a constant value
- if you can't pullup/down a pin with 330 Ohm it's either Vcc/GND or disabled using this method
- look for a connected resistor and try removing it
- by a burned fuse directly in the chip
- bad luck for mortals like us ;-(
- by software
- maybe keeping the cpu in reset state might help?
Comment from user of many JTAG tools
I think this tool can be quite dangerous when used on some JTAG ports, if you look at [1], for example MPC BDM port (also usable as a JTAG connection) is bad one. If the port has only TCK/TDO/TMS/TDI/nTRST/nSRST pins, then nothing wrong *should* happen, but if there are other signals, be very careful.
Also if you just try random IR/DR scans on a JTAG-enabled chip you may destroy it. For example some CPLDs have special IR command that erases internal flash memory, but this command requires clocking and some termination. When run improperly it can destroy the flash.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JTAG
- The jrev tool by Stanislaw Skowronek tries to automate the process of reverse-engineering the board connectivity.
- http://www.asset-intertech.com/products/free_resources.htm - various resources
- http://www.openjtag.net/wiki/
- Common JTAG Pinouts
- Jabber: hunz at jabber.berlin.ccc.de
- silcnet channel: c3a


text:
Britain's financial regulator has fined the British queen's bank for money laundering failures as a French presidential candidate has said part of the queen's fortune "comes from drug trafficking."
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined the British queen's bank, Coutts Bank, 8.75 million pounds for failing to carry out correct checks on "politically exposed persons" and prevent money laundering.
"The failings at Coutts were serious, systemic and were allowed to persist for almost three years. They resulted in an unacceptable risk of Coutts handling the proceeds of crime," the FSA said in a statement posted on its official website.
The news comes less than a week after a fringe candidate for April's French presidential election said the British queen owed her fortune to drugs money laundered by "Jewish bankers in The City."
On 21 March, Jacques Cheminade, an independent presidential candidate running in the French election, said, "a part of the fortune of the Queen of England comes from drug trafficking."
"No, not any property, there are several other sources. But it is a series of trafficking in which, yes, there is trafficking drugs," Cheminade said on television LCP French National Assembly.
Known as the British queen's banker, Coutts was criticised for "significant, widespread and unacceptable" failures, as described by Tracey McDermott, acting director of enforcement and financial crime.
"The size of the financial penalty demonstrates how seriously we view its failures," McDermott said.

subset: commoncrawl


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text:
57 S.Ct. 126
81 L.Ed. 127
RESNICK et al. SAME v. ACME CAN CO.
Nos. 62, 63.
Argued Nov. 13, 1936.
Decided Dec. 7, 1936.
Appeals from the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Messrs. Homer S. Cummings, Atty. Gen., and William W. Barron, of Washington, D.C., for the United States.
Messrs. Samuel L. Einhorn and John Arthur Brown, both of Philadelphia, Pa., for appellees Charles and Joseph Resnick.
Messrs. D. Alexander Wieland and John Arthur Brown, both of Philadelphia, Pa., for appellees Acme Can Co.
Mr. Justice BUTLER, delivered the opinion of the Court.
Appellees were indicted for violations of the Act of May 21, 1928, 45 Stat. 685, 15 U.S.C., §§ 257—257i (15 U.S.C.A. §§ 257 257i). In No. 62, the indictment is in four counts, each of which charges that defendants sold for fruits and vegetables two-quart metal hampers which did not comply with the act in that they were not of any standard size authorized by the act and did not come within any tolerance established by the Secretary of Agriculture. In No. 63, the indictment is in two counts. The first charges that defendant manufactured two-quart metal hampers that were not of any authorized size or within prescribed tolerances without having submitted dimension specifications to the Secretary. The second charges sale of them. In each case, the accused demurred upon the ground that the facts alleged are not sufficient to constitute a violation of the act. The court sustained the demurrers and discharged the defendants. The United States appealed. 18 U.S.C. § 682 (18 U.S.C.A. § 682).
Section 1 of the Act (15 U.S.C.A. § 257) declares that 'the standard hampers * * * for fruits and vegetables shall be of the following capacities,' and specifies nine sizes based upon a bushel of 2150.42 cubic inches. The sizes so defined are one-eighth, one-fourth, one-half, five-eighths, three-fourths, one bushel, one and one-fourth, one and one-half, and two bushels. Computed according to the standard fixed, the capacity of a two-quart hamper is 134.4 cubic inches. Section 3 (15 U.S.C.A. § 257b) directs the Secretary of Agriculture to prescribe such tolerances as he may find necessary to allow in the capacities set forth in section 1. Section 4 (15 U.S.C.A. § 257c) commands that 'no manufacturer shall manufacture hampers * * * unless the dimension specifications * * * shall have been submitted to and approved by the Secretary of Agriculture, who is hereby directed to approve such specifications if he finds that hampers * * * made in accordance therewith would not be deceptive in appearance and would comply with' section 1. Section 5 (15 U.S.C.A. § 257d) makes it 'unlawful to manufacture for sale * * * (or) to sell * * * hampers * * * for fruits or vegetables * * * that do not comply with this Act (subdivision of this chapter).' Any one 'that violates this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $500.'
The question is whether the provisions of the act are effective to make the manufacture or sale of two-quart hampers punishable as a crime. The nine sizes standardized in section 1 are the only ones within section 4. The Secretary was not authorized by section 3 to prescribe tolerances in respect to two-quart hampers, and has not attempted to do so. The indictments must be construed to charge merely manufacture and sale of hampers each of capacity of two quarts, one-sixteenth of a bushel, 134.4 cubic inches. They do not charge that any such hamper purported to be of any size defined by section 1, or was in any respect liable to deceive. It follows that, unless the clause of section 5 which forbids manufacture or sale of containers 'that do not comply with this Act' makes criminal the manufacture or sale of two-quart hampers, the facts alleged do not constitute any offense.
Statutes creating crimes are to be strictly construed in favor of the accused; they may not be held to extend to cases not covered by the words used. United States v. Wiltberger, 5 Wheat. 76, 95, 5 L.Ed. 37; Fasulo v. United States, 272 U.S. 620, 628, 47 S.Ct. 200, 201, 71 L.Ed. 443. The clause just quoted is crucial; its words are plain and, having regard to the connection in which they are used, must be given the meaning naturally attributable to them. It is obvious that they do not extend to hampers other than the nine classes defined in section 1. The act applies to none of capacity less than four quarts. Pacific States Box & Basket Co. v. White, 296 U.S. 176, 183, 56 S.Ct. 159, 162, 80 L.Ed. 138, 101 A.L.R. 853. It expresses no condemnation of two-quart hampers. Before one may be punished, it must appear that his case is plainly within the statute; there are no constructive offenses. United States v. Lacher, 134 U.S. 624, 628, 10 S.Ct. 625, 33 L.Ed. 1080; United States v. Chase, 135 U.S. 255, 261, 10 S.Ct. 756, 34 L.Ed. 117; Fasulo v. United States, supra, 272 U.S. 620, at page 629, 47 S.Ct. 200, 202, 71 L.Ed. 443. As in absence of governmental regulation the making and selling of containers is untrammeled, failure expressly to permit is not to prohibit. Mere standardization of a bushel container at 2150.42 cubic inches would not make criminal the manufacture or sale of a half-bushel container having capacity of 1075.21 cubic inches. The prescribing of capacities of containers described in section 1 does not prohibit manufacture or sale of the two-quart hampers described in these indictments.
The judgments sustaining the demurrers and discharging the accused must be affirmed.
Mr. Justice STONE took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.


text:
Giants take Syracuse DT Jay Bromley in third round
The Giants selected Syracuse defensive tackle Jay Bromley in the third round of the NFL Draft on Friday night.
The 6-foot-3, 306-pound Bromley, a native of New York, recorded 10 sacks and 14.5 tackles for losses last season for Syracuse.
He fills a need with the loss of Linval Joseph to free agency this offseason, but again, I feel the Giants reached. I think Notre Dame defensive tackle Louis Nix III was a better pick in this spot, but the Giants love Syracuse guys.
Big Blue will not have another pick until the fourth round on Saturday. They have yet to take a tight end and will need safety help with the imminent suspension of Will Hill.
I'm not ecstatic about their draft so far, I think they could have gotten better value in the second and third rounds.


text:
Posted by Editor on 12/21/06
Iraq's Olympic Cycling Coach Slain
Associated Press is reporting that Iraq's Olympic cycling coach was killed after gunmen kidnapped him from his home in the latest attack on one of the country's sports figures.
48-year-old Mahoud Ahmed Fulayih body was recovered two days after he was kidnapped, according to the AP report. Fulayih was kidnapped three days after he returned with the cycling team from the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.
The AP report quoted Hussein al-Amidi, acting secretary general of Iraq's National Olympic Committee, "We lost another one. He is not a politician and has no link with any party," al-Amidi said. "It looks like no one is excluded from the violence."
|Return to Canadian Cyclist homepage | Back to Top


text:
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text:
During a Monday morning conference call, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said that National Security Agency (NSA) leaker Edward Snowden's digital trove of leaked documents and materials was "secured by the relevant journalistic organizations prior to travel."
Assange's comments could suggest that The Guardian and the Washington Post—where Snowden previously leaked information—are now in possession of his entire cache. Ars asked The Guardian and the Post to confirm this but did not receive an immediate reply.
This morning's call was arranged shortly after it was revealed that Snowden was not on an Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Havana. Assange would not disclose Snowden's location, so his whereabouts remain unknown. (Both White House and Ecuador representatives believe Snowden is currently in Russia.) Ars has made a complete recording of the call available as an MP3 or through a stream below.
"We are aware of where Mr. Snowden is," he said. "He is in a safe place, and his spirits are high due to the bellicose threats coming from the US administration—we cannot go into details as this time."
One reporter asked if WikiLeaks has obtained or was seeking to obtain Snowden's materials.
"That's a sourcing matter, so as a matter of policy we can't speak about it," Assange said. "In relation to publishing such material, of course WikiLeaks is in the business of publishing documents that are suppressed by governments. WikiLeaks has no problems publishing materials [or such] documents."
Bound for Ecuador via a safe path through Russia
Assange conducted the call from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London (coincidentally, Snowden is known to have also applied for asylum with Ecuador). The WikiLeaks leader was measured and answered nearly every question deliberately and precisely, speaking in a slow monotone. Additional WikiLeaks staff and supporters were also involved with the call, including Kristinn Hrafnsson, an Iceland-based WikiLeaks spokesperson who approached his country's government with an asylum application on Snowden's behalf.
"Edward Snowden left Hong Kong on the 23rd of June bound for Ecuador via a safe path through Russia and other states," Assange said. "Mr. Snowden has submitted an asylum application to Ecuador and possibly to other countries. Today we have seen a range of extreme bellicose statements from the US administration attempting to bully Russia and other nations from assisting in Mr. Snowden's asylum. Every person has the right to receive political asylum. It is counterproductive and unacceptable for the Obama administration to try and interfere with those rights."
Assange argued that the prosecution of previous whistleblowers like Bradley Manning "is part of a pattern of misconduct, part of the Obama administration's war on whistleblowers."
"The Obama administration hopes to erect a new interpretation of law which defines journalistic sources as spies, and that is not acceptable," he continued. "If such a precedent is permitted, it will result in the complete destruction of national security journalism within the United States. Already, serious national security journalists are speaking about how their government sources are too scared to reveal government misconduct in a national security sphere. That's an extremely serious matter. At the same as time the national security sector of the United States is increasing its share of the US tax burden and at the same time where unprecedented levels of criminality and abuse are being uncovered, it seeks to weaken the press, who is the only effective mechanism of bringing it to account."
"I instructed the organization to assist Mr. Snowden"
During the question-and-answer period, BBC reporter Paul Adams challenged Assange. Adams noted the "obvious irony" of trying to cooperate with the Chinese and Russian authorities: "Given their problematic relationship with the values of privacy and freedom of speech that you hold dear—and if Edwards Snowden ends up in Ecuador—doesn't the same irony pertain? I wonder: are you simply involving those countries because they're happy to stick one in the eye of the United States rather than upholding those values that you represent?"
Assange replied to start a quick back-and-forth:
"I simply do not see the irony. Mr. Snowden has revealed information about mass, unlawful spying which has affected every single one of us. The US administration has issued a series of bellicose, unilateral threats against him and against others who are attempting to support his rights. That is a very serious situation and any country that assists in upholding his rights must be applauded for doing so."
"Even when they don't uphold those rights for their own citizens?" Adams asked.
"That's another matter. In these cases, we do not criticize people for seeking refugee status in the United States despite its use of torture, drone strikes and executive kill lists and so on. No one is suggesting that countries like Ecuador are engaged in those types of abuse."
Throughout the conversation, Assange answered nearly all the questions himself. He did however seem a bit testy at times—for instance, in this exchange with Jeanne Whalen of the Wall Street Journal:
"What advanced communications did you have with Russian officials to ensure Snowden could land there? Can you tell us who they are and how you got contact with them in the first place?"
"In relation to Mr. Snowden's safe passage to asylum, there was no advanced communication with Russian officials prior to his departure from Hong Kong," Assange said.
"So he just landed there without the Russians knowing that he was coming?"
"I already answered the question."
"So your answer to that was 'yes'?"
"My answer was what it was," Assange concluded.
Toward the end of the call, Larry Abramson, NPR's national security correspondent, asked Assange if he had been involved early on in Snowden's plight. "Did you have any contact with Snowden before he left the United States, and were you part of decision to go to Hong Kong?" For now, Assange left this detail to the imagination.
"I instructed the organization to assist Mr. Snowden, but I cannot go into further details at this stage," he said.
In addition to the conference call, another new piece of Snowden information came to light this morning. According to the South China Morning Post, Snowden wanted a job with Booz Allen specifically so he could gather evidence on the NSA surveillance.
"My position with Booz Allen Hamilton granted me access to lists of machines all over the world the NSA hacked," he told SCMP on June 12. "That is why I accepted that position about three months ago."


text:
THE WHITE HOUSE, March 25, 2011— -- The top tax bracket for U.S. corporations stands at 35 percent, one of the highest rates in the world. So how is it possible that a giant of American business, General Electric, paid nothing in federal taxes last year, even as it made billions in profit?
And should the CEO of GE, Jeffrey Immelt, be advising the president on business?
For two years, President Obama has been talking about the need for corporate tax reform, declaring that the system is too complicated and that companies pay too much.
"Simplify, eliminate loopholes, treat everybody fairly," Obama said in February.
For those unaccustomed to the loopholes and shelters of the corporate tax code, GE's success at avoiding taxes is nothing short of extraordinary. The company, led by Immelt, earned $14.2 billion in profits in 2010, but it paid not a penny in taxes because the bulk of those profits, some $9 billion, were offshore. In fact, GE got a $3.2 billion tax benefit.
Watch "World News with Diane Sawyer" for more tonight on ABC.
"Two things are disconcerting. One is, there's disproportionate amount of profits being reported offshore. And then, even for the profits that are reported onshore, they're paying less than 35 percent," said Martin Sullivan, a contributing editor for Tax Analysts.
2010 was the second year in a row that GE recorded billions in profits and paid no taxes.
During that same period, Immelt has been a close advisor to the president on the business community, a relationship that rubs some the wrong way. Immelt serves as the chairman of Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.
In a statement, General Electric said that it "pays what it owes under the law and is scrupulous about its compliance with tax obligations in all jurisdictions." The company claims that its zero-dollar tax bill is largely a result of losses at its financial arm, GE Capital, due to the Wall Street meltdown.
White House: Immelt Advises on Jobs, Not Taxes
Today, White House spokesman Jay Carney said that the president is "bothered" by the idea that a U.S. company could pay no taxes, but he wouldn't talk about GE specifically. Carney was also quick to say that Immelt's council advises the president on job growth and not on tax policy.
"It is part of the problem of the corporate tax structure that companies hire, you know, armies of tax lawyers to understand how it works and to take advantage of the various loopholes that exist, that are legal in order to reduce their tax burden," Carney said.
When President Obama announced his decision to appoint Immelt to the unpaid advisory role on job creation in January, some critics wondered whether the move was appropriate. Under his leadership, GE laid off 21,000 American workers and closed 20 factories between 2007 and 2009. More than half of GE's workforce is now outside the United States.
Click here to return to the "World News" page.


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Monday, September 30, 2013
fall card for Robyn
Just as I'm ready to wear tights and make soup in Georgia, Robyn is sporting lawn tank tops and making cold salads in Rio. I thought I'd send a little northern hemisphere back with her on her birthday card to remind her that somewhere there are leaves turning and days shortening and friends missing her.
Posted by Larissa Holland at 6:00 AM 7 comments
Friday, September 27, 2013
felt WIP
Posted by Larissa Holland at 12:20 PM 5 comments
Labels: felt crafts, gifts
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
tweaking and staging
I staged and took a bunch of photos a few days ago for the new Wee Princess Pea pattern. I'm hoping to finish up editorial tweaks and list the pattern by the first weekend in October. Time keeps slipping away. Where the heck did September go?
Posted by Larissa Holland at 6:00 AM 4 comments
Friday, September 20, 2013
coupla cards
If you have some time, paper scaps, fabric scraps and glue you have all you need to whip out some cards and save yourself some cash. It's a great excuse to be a hoarder. Top card is for my soon-to-be niece's wedding shower, bottom card is for my Mom's birthday. Guess where she's going?
Posted by Larissa Holland at 12:04 PM 3 comments
Labels: cards
Thursday, September 12, 2013
fall fabric and pretty crochet trims
AMH and Kaufman linen blends
Crochet trims found at my local Jo-Ann
Fall always puts me in a fabric buyin' and sewin' mood. I make big plans to sew for me and the girls every year and they fizzle because fall also puts me in a pattern designin' mood. But it could still happen. I have loved that Anna Maria Horner Field Study for a long time and splurged on 4 yards of my favorite colorway. I'm seeing a dress of some kind for me. And I had to snag more of the Kaufman Essex also because I love the Wiksten tank I sewed in the blue so much.The fabric is just so nubbly and drapey and good. I'm not sure what I'll do with that. I thought if I ever get around to making a second go at the Wiksten Tova dress it could be so good in that Essex. With tights! And clogs! Sigh.
I was out a couple weeks ago buying supplies for the Wee Princess Pea pattern and was so captivated by the brightly colored cotton crochet trims that I bought some with a plan to make something like a nightgown for the girls. I saw this pin and thought it would be a pretty simple project to make, even with addition of some loose sleeves. Just need to make the time to do it!
Posted by Larissa Holland at 2:26 PM 4 comments
Labels: stash
Saturday, September 7, 2013
late for brunch
"Ellora, the Queen says brunch is getting cold. Put down the book already and let's go."
"Inna minute."
I have pattern testers all lined up (thank you thank you thank you) and I'm putting the finishing touches on the Wee Princess Pea pattern now! I hope to have the PDF pattern available in the shop in late September.
This is a doll project that will be a delight and challenge to anyone who loves crafting, sewing, tins, doll houses and mini-anything. A couple of readers have asked about doing this project with their kids. While the finished toy is designed for school age kids, and while you could certainly include craft-savvy kids in the process, this is more of an adult skill project.
Posted by Larissa Holland at 11:57 AM 19 comments
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
fall scrap card for Leigh
Here's a scrap card how-to if you get inspired to make some of your own. I know it's not officially autumn yet, but I can pretend. Isn't September such a pretty word? *dreamy sighhhh* Fall is my favorite. With the buckets upon buckets of summer rain that were poured over Georgia (thank you, Father) I'm crossing my fingers for some eye popping tree leaves.
Bring on the pumpkin spiced everything.
In related news, I updated the blog's masthead with pretty pretty fall colors and a cinnamon stick. If you are reading via RSS, pop over to the mothership to see it.
Happy birthday, big sis. I looooooove youuuuu. Wanna trade birthdays? But not ages. Haha. (Ducking)
Posted by Larissa Holland at 6:00 AM 9 comments
Labels: cards, fabric crafts, paper crafts
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After the successful opening of a multi-functional Marine Biology Centre on the island, LUX* Maldives moves a step forward and invites guests to a new type of exploration of the underwater world of South Ari Atoll, by hosting, between 14 - 20 May 2012, the first 'Underwater Festival' in the Maldives.
'This time it's all about water' says the General Manager and passionate free-diver Dominik Ruhl 'we wanted to draw the curtains of the underwater world to our guests by giving them the unique opportunity not only to dive some of the most beautiful dive sites on the planet, but also to meet the experts of the sea and learn how to bring these treasures home'.
Boasting a gathering of marine experts on a global scale, the Festival highlights intense sessions of underwater photography led by award-winning photographers, ground-breaking introductory courses of free-diving and the innovative technique of fluo night-diving. An intense ensemble of water activities stretched over one week of lighter learning for keen divers, photography fanatics and water enthusiastic or just simply curious guests in search of a holiday with a difference.
With a strong focus on underwater photography, the festival's attendees have the opportunity to join training sessions with the experts throughout the week. From his hectic Parisian life, the multi-award winning underwater photographer Pascal Kobeh joins the festival as member of the jury and coach. 'I started shooting underwater pictures while I was a diving instructor here in the Maldives; I haven't stopped since then, and it became by profession' says Kobeh; 'it brought me here today with the same passion I had ten years ago and I am very excited to join the festival'.
Adding dimension to the event, LUX* Maldives hosts the founder of world renowned free-diving Team Mayol, Jean-Jacques Mayol, son of the free-diving legend and subject of Luc Besson's cult film "The Big Blue" (Le Grand Bleu) Jacques Mayol. Offering introductory free-diving sessions to the attendees, Mayol enables a personalized rediscovery of apnoea techniques, without any spirit of competition, including meditation and breathing exercises. Attendees can leave the snorkel aside and join his sessions throughout the week.
Set amidst an impressive variety of dive sites, pristine waters and frolicking marine life, LUX* Maldives partners with Eurodivers during the festival to launch a night-diving technique operated for the first time in the Maldives: The fluo dive. By using a set of special filters on masks and torches, fluo-dives enhance the diving experience of the festival's most daring attendees through experiencing the complex phenomenon of colour conversion.
Even the most determined divers must surface now and then, and for those moments on land, LUX* Maldives hosts stimulating and interesting workshops and forums during the festival with the resident marine biologist Chiara Fumagalli. Having monitored the marine life within the South Ari Marine Protected Area, Chiara presents an array of insightful facts with tailored projections and discussions under the stars.
Documentaries about the biodiversity of marine life, engaging underwater films and news regarding the ongoing research on the friendly whale sharks are just some of the topics of conversations in a toes-inthe-sand setting. As there is no competition without a generous reward, the Underwater Festival's attendees have the opportunity to win several prizes. The best pictures taken during the week and submitted to the professional judging of the Festival's jury, can bring much more than fabulous memories to the photographers-including substantial prizes such as a 5 nights complimentary stay in one of the LUX* Resorts & Hotels.
Special packages are available for those interested to participate, for more information please contact
us at email@example.com
In partnership with:
EUROD IVE RS (www.euro-divers.com) was founded over 40 years ago and operates diving centers in some of the world's best diving destinations such as Egypt, Thailand, Mauritius and Maldives to name but a few. Eurodivers at LUX* Maldives counts on a team of international diving instructors and is instrumental to the execution of the 'Underwater Festival'.
Pascal Kobeh (www.pascalkobeh.com) a master in underwater photography, Pascal Kobeh has published several books and directed the underwater photography of the movie 'Oceans' (Disney Production/2010). He was awarded as best underwater photographer (silver/1997 – gold/1998) at the Underwater Festival of Antibes and named 'Photographer of the Year' in the 2010 Veolia Environment Wildlife Competition.
Jean-Jacques Mayol (www.teammayol.com ) son of Jacques Mayol, legendary free-diver and subject of the movie "The Big Blue". Founder of Team Mayol, Jean-Jacques runs free-diving courses on a global scale by combining yoga with breathing techniques and starred in the soon to be released major movie production "ONE DEEP BREATH".
Junji Takasago (www. junjitakasago.com) is a nature and underwater photographer. Author of several nature photography publications, Junji was assigned to photograph "The Days with Jacques" – from the subject of the cult movie 'The Deep Blue' and developed a focus on dolphins' photography. A celebrity photographer in Japan, Junji exhibits throughout the country and travels frequently to the Maldives.


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Thanks to a partnership with Fat American (http://www.fatamerican.tv), Stuff White People Like is now offering t-shirts that are now available for pre-order.
The shirts are American Apparel (of course) and 100% of the profits will be donated to charity. But we need help finding a non-profit organization in need of some assistance.
Please send an email to email@example.com with "Non-Profit SUGGESTION" as the subject. Be sure to include a link and a short description of the organization and their work.


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Ukraine's First Nuclear Missile Museum Opens
To celebrate its Independence Day, Ukraine yesterday officially opened the first, and most likely only, nuclear missile museum
in the world there, the Pervomaisk Strategic Missile Forces Museum. Visitors can check out intercontinental ballistic missiles like "Satan" and "Sandal", as well as have a look around original bunkers. In the ITN video tour above, you also see a Soviet shitter that was used when the present day museum site was an active nuke silo. I'd go.
As a reader pointed out, Arizona has a nuclear missile museum, too! Titan Missile Museum.


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Exploring England #38
London's skyline is dominated by skyscrapers and towers; some are famous and are visited by thousands of tourists each year. At a height of 27 metres the White Tower, part of the Tower of London, was the tallest building in London at its completion in 1098. Standing at a far more impressive 306 metres and completed in 2012, The Shard is the tallest building in the UK.
Another tower, less well-known but claiming an equally significant place in English history, is the Jewel Tower, located behind the Houses of Parliament. Dating from the 14th century, the tower is one of only two buildings to have survived the 1834 fire which destroyed the Palace of Westminster.
Built in 1365 on the orders of Edward III, the tower was originally known as the 'King's Privy Wardrobe'. It housed his personal collection of jewels, silverware and luxurious wall-hangings. To protect the king's belongings, the ground floor had no windows and 18 locks were placed on the doors. A moat surrounding the tower, filled by water from the River Thames, added extra protection.
The tower later became known as the Jewel Tower because of a misconception that, in medieval times, it had housed the Crown Jewels. From 1580 to 1864, it was used as a storage facility for the official parliamentary records of the House of Lords. Documents including Acts of Parliament and the death warrant of King Charles I were filed by the Parliamentary Clerk, who lived in a small house next door.
Occupancy of the tower changed again in 1869 when the newly-created Standard Weights and Measures Department took up residency. With its thick stone walls, the tower was the perfect place for testing delicate instruments and creating standardised units of weight and measure. It was here the imperial system of measurement was developed. The Department continued its important work until 1938, when it was found that vibrations caused by an increase in passing traffic affected the precision of the instruments.
In 1987, UNESCO declared the Jewel Tower and its surrounding land a World Heritage Site. It is also protected as an Ancient Monument and Grade I listed building. Today, English Heritage has custody of the tower, which is open to the public every day. Exhibitions on all three floors showcase the different roles the Jewel Tower has played over the years, with replicas of King Edward's silver plate, copies of historical documents and 19th century measuring instruments on display.
The Jewel Tower may not be imposing or beautiful, but it's worth spending a couple of hours learning more about this unique building and its fascinating contents.


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Patent lawsuits target Reebok
Reebok is target of a pair of patent lawsuits
Reebok faces a pair of lawsuits claiming it infringed on patents for an athletic shoe and lacrosse sticks.
Lacrosse equipment manufacturer STX LLC of Baltimore claims that the Canton company's 6K ILL lacrosse sticks infringe on a 2004 patent. Reebok began selling its version this past fall, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.
The lawsuit asks a judge to issue a preliminary injunction against Reebok, plus damages and attorney's fees.
In another suit filed recently in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, two men claim patent infringement by Reebok and its parent Adidas USA, as well as New Balance Athletic Shoe of Brighton, Nike and Under Armour.
William Cummings of Mahway, N.Y., and Jay Levine of New City, N.Y., obtained a patent in 2002 for a "stabilizer athletic shoe." The patent was reissued to them in April 2008.
The patent describes an athletic shoe design that includes features that increase foot and ankle stability to minimize injuries.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction against the companies, damages and attorney's fees.
"New Balance respects the intellectual property rights of all individuals and companies," said Edward Haddad, that company's vice president of intellectual property. "During our development process, we do extensive research to ensure we do not infringe on the patents of others. However, we will go through our due diligence to review Mr. Cummings' claims and respond to the lawsuit accordingly."
An attorney for the two plaintiffs in the New York suit did not return a message seeking a comment, and Reebok did not respond to a request for a comment.


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Story by
Paul Sawers
Paul Sawers was a reporter with The Next Web in various roles from May 2011 to November 2014. Follow Paul on Twitter: @psawers or check h Paul Sawers was a reporter with The Next Web in various roles from May 2011 to November 2014. Follow Paul on Twitter: @psawers or check him out on Google+.
Contacts+, the Palo Alto-based company behind the popular Android app of the same name, has launched its popular contacts app for iPhone.
Following its relaunch on Android six months ago after a sizable seed round of funding, the service has garnered around four million users, and an iPhone incarnation was always on the cards.
When you first install the Contacts+ app, it will ask to sync with your Facebook account, populating your contacts with their relevant profile pictures. You can then find your contacts using a text-based search or a dialer, which provides a predictive search of names and numbers. You can press and hold on a contact's photo to make a call, and even prioritize your contacts by importance rather than alphabetically.
Additionally, Contacts+ creates groups automatically based on who you interact with most – though this of course can be manually performed. The automated smart groups feature is unique to the iPhone version.
As with other similar apps out there such as Sync.me, Contacts+ can reel in additional information for your contacts from other third-party services to synchronize their information, covering Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and more. Contacts+ is a graduate of the UpWest Labs Silicon Valley Accelerator that works with Israeli entrepreneurs.
Disclosure: This article contains an affiliate link. While we only ever write about products we think deserve to be on the pages of our site, The Next Web may earn a small commission if you click through and buy the product in question. For more information, please see our Terms of Service
Headline image via Thinkstock
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By Danilo Masoni and Leila Abboud
MILAN/PARIS (Reuters) - IMM Hydraulics, a small exporter of hoses for industries such as agriculture and mining, is the kind of firm that should be at the center of Italy's efforts to rekindle its stagnant economy.
Instead, the company, located in the Abruzzo region of central Italy, is wrestling with a basic impediment to profitability: a woefully slow broadband connection. With just 2 megabits (MB) per second, IMM Hydraulics' broadband connection lags behind the 5 MB typical in Italian cities, which in turn is well behind an average of 12 MB in France and 16 MB in Germany.
"It takes us days to process an order whereas it could take half an hour," said finance director Marcello Di Campli. "Broadband is one of our biggest problems, probably just after our access to credit."
Europe's fourth-largest economy has long been an Internet laggard, its creaky networks stunting the development of online commerce and banking. Italians pay among the highest prices in Europe for broadband speeds on a par with Estonia or Cyprus. As a result, only half the population uses the Internet at least once a week and Italian firms generate 5.4 percent of sales on-line compared to 13.9 percent elsewhere in Europe.
Now the reformist government of Prime Minister Mario Monti has identified better broadband as a national priority to spur growth and reduce Italy's 11 percent unemployment and bulging deficits.
"The statistics on e-commerce are chilling ... The broadband gap constrains growth by reducing the competitiveness of export-oriented companies," said Paolo Gentiloni, former communications minister and member of a group of deputies that has made proposals to support online commerce and government services.
In the government's sights is one-time monopoly Telecom Italia, which it believes has long thwarted competition and put off investing in its domestic network because of its huge debts.
Monti's government has enlisted state-backed finance body Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) to work out a plan with Telecom Italia and its rivals to create a nationwide super-fast fiber optic broadband network.
One of the most radical options under discussion is for Telecom Italia to spin off its existing network of decades-old copper lines - worth between 9 and 15 billion euros - into a separate company that would run Italy's fixed telephone and broadband system and sell capacity to other Internet providers on a wholesale basis. The new "access network company" could be partly state-owned and would have more incentive to invest in broadband, say advocates, because it would have neither debt to pay nor market share to defend.
Such a move would amount to something of a revolution in Europe and would test whether the state can be more effective than the private sector in building national broadband infrastructure.
Australia's government provided the blue-print in 2009 when, frustrated with the slow pace of investment, it became the first country to create a national company charged with building a single open access fiber broadband network to 90 percent of homes by 2021. Britain adopted a slightly different approach, requiring BT Group to create a separate subsidiary to sells wholesale access to competitors and build fiber broadband across the country.
Telecom Italia, like other former telecom monopolies in Europe, owns the last meters of copper lines to homes and businesses, which it then rents out to competitors - mobile operators Vodafone, Wind, and Hutchison's 3 - for a monthly fee set by regulators.
In Italy and elsewhere, it is these decades-old copper lines that need to be replaced by fiber optic wires to boost broadband speeds to up to 100 megabits per second. Updating those wires will cost 200 billion euros, says the European Commission, a sum telecom operators will struggle to mobilize.
Italy can't just issue orders to Telecom Italia because the company is no longer owned by the state but by individual shareholders and a consortium of three Italian banks and Telefonica. So government officials are using other ways to persuade it.
After months of fruitless negotiations between Telecom Italia chairman Franco Bernabe and CDP head Franco Bassanini, the state pledged to invest up to 500 million euro in Metroweb, a competing fiber broadband project in Italy's north, to up the pressure, a source close to the Metroweb group said.
Bassanini told Reuters that the CDP was "absolutely open to finding an agreement" and that talks with Telecom Italia were ongoing on "a broader hypothesis" than just the Metroweb investment. He acknowledged that the creation of a combined network company that merged all the current Italian network assets would be "highly sensitive" for Telecom Italia.
According to a person close to Telecom Italia, the CDP has hired Deutsche Bank to analyze the value of its network in preparation for hiving it off.
The pressure is taking effect: Telecom Italia is debating the spin-off idea internally and Bernabe has promised a decision by the end of this year.
Telecom Italia has also agreed to share some infrastructure with rival broadband provider Fastweb and to co-ordinate the rollouts of their respective fiber networks in a bid to cut costs - a deal that could make negotiations over a broader nationwide project easier, analysts say.
But Telecom Italia executives are divided over whether spinning off its fixed network is wise, said two people close to the company. Chief Executive Marco Patuano is backing the move because he believes the infrastructure's value will decline with the advent of super-fast mobile technology known as LTE, as well as competing fiber projects in Italy.
By contrast Bernabe believes owning the last meters of copper into people's homes represents a competitive advantage since rivals must pay to access it to be able to offer broadband to their customers. He has repeatedly said Telecom Italia will not do anything to lose control over its network.
Governments around the world are trying different strategies to upgrade their systems.
The United States is relying solely on competition in the private sector while Japan and Korea have ploughed public money into building nationwide fiber-optic networks, a task made easier by dense urban geography. Sweden and Norway became European leaders in fibre-optic broadband penetration via a mixture of tax breaks, subsidies for rural deployments, and in Sweden's case, requiring state-owned municipal utilities to create local networks.
Although it is early to judge Australia's nationwide fibre project, Britain's effective separation of BT in 2005 has taken the country from the middle of Europe's rankings on broadband speeds, cost and usage to near the top.
In the European Union, telecom operators and policymakers have spent the past year fighting. Operators argue they shouldn't have to share the new networks with rivals if they are to bear the cost of building them alone. The wrangling has contributed to upgrade delays in Italy and elsewhere.
Brussels now says member states will not be required to make the operators share fibre networks and has given operators free rein to choose what technology to deploy, in a regulatory framework that will operate to at least 2020.
Crucially, regulators will no longer set the prices at which incumbents sell wholesale access to smaller competitors on new fibre networks, so long as incumbents offer "equivalent" prices to everyone.
Gabrielle Gauthey, a former telecoms regulator in France who now works at Alcatel-Lucent, argues governments have a role to play in enabling adequate broadband coverage.
"Many telcos just don't have the money to invest the sums that are needed," said Gauthey. "It's a massive effort not unlike electrifying a whole country."
A network spin-off could help Telecom Italia reach its debt reduction targets and cut its 30.4 billion euro debt pile - and the operator seems to be seriously considering the idea. In a recent presentation to investors at a Sanford Bernstein conference, Telecom Italia said the rewards of a separating out its fixed network now outweighed the risks.
A banker close to Telecom Italia put the probability of the group going through with the spin-off at 70 percent, and two other banking sources say the company is considering appointing two banks to advise it on the mechanics.
A decision can't come soon enough for businessmen like Siro Badon, who owns a business in a shoe manufacturing district near Venice where local companies export 92 percent of the 20 million pairs of shoes made every year.
"Some companies in our district work with brands like Louis Vuitton and Armani with stylists in Paris and all over the world. Imagine the huge damage it causes not being able to communicate swiftly," Badon said.
"Sometimes I feel we are carrying an old country on our shoulders. I wait and hope."
(Editing by Sophie Walker)


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Over 1,000 runners pound the pavement in annual Giunta road race
FALL RIVER — They made quite a noise as they thundered down the street, about 2,000 pairs of running shoes slapping the asphalt, the regulated breath of the runner blowing from 2,000 sets of nostrils.
They were running the 20th annual Thomas J. Giunta Memorial 5K Road Race and they made their way up High Street in a thick pack, at the beginning of the race before the fastest move to the front.
Before the race began, music blared into the air and a crush of contestants milled about in the street, stretching, drinking water, sometimes bobbing their heads to the music.
Judging from the T-shirts on display, there were contingents from law enforcement agencies all over the area, including Somerset, Taunton and Providence. Fall River firefighters ran in a group as did numerous other contingents.
James Donovan stood by with his dog, Sarah Eloise. Both of them had numbers and both were running in the race.
"She needs to lose a little weight," Donovan said of the little brown dog who was, in fact, a bit roly-poly.
And there were lessons to be learned.
"They're cops," a woman said to the toddler whose hand she held. "We like cops."
"I've made a lot of friends here," said Fall River police Officer David Pacheco, swallowing hard, tearing up a little.
Pacheco is one of the race's organizers.
"It's such a memorable day in the city of Fall River," said Mayor Will Flanagan said. "It's an emotional day, too."
"This is a very special day for us, it's not only auspicious but solemn," Fall River police Chief Daniel Racine said.
In addition to staging a signature event in downtown Fall River, the race helps support a scholarship in Giunta's name that has so far handed out $120,000 to 104 students.
Flanagan held the starters' pistol in the air and one shot cracked out in the pre-race stillness. Runners leapt from the starting line.
And it was very quiet in downtown Fall River for a bit, just after noon as the runners were off.
They finished on Bedford Street, nearly back where they'd started and from there those who chose to could walk to the Bank Street Armory and feast on everything from Domino's Pizza to hot dogs, pasta, chourico and peppers and grinders.
While awards are given in quite a few divisions within the race, the overall winner among the men was Matthew Moussamih at 16:55 and in the women's Lindsay Anspach with a time of 18:54.


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