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A lot of gamers are pretty quick to deride the game industry's penchant for milking successful franchises with sequel after sequel, extending the life of even moderately successful games rather than creating entirely new worlds from whole cloth. There's a reason for this, though. Creating new worlds is tough, and once you've gone through all that trouble, you want to get the most out of your investment. Dishonored shows just how tough that process is, primarily by building a world that's so well realized that even a lot of successful game worlds seem shallow and flat in comparison.
Dishonored doesn't waste any time drawing you into its richly detailed world. As royal protector Corvo Attano, you return from a mission on a far-off shore only to see the Empress murdered before your eyes and her daughter Emily (who shares a quickly established close relationship with Corvo), kidnapped by the perpetrators. Framed for the crimes, you quickly bust out of prison with the assistance of a small band of rebels who want to help you clear your name and restore Emily to her rightful place on the throne over a conniving Lord Regent. Doing this means donning a metallic mask and going out to eliminate key players in the country's social and political scene.
There's a real sense of injustice driving the plot forward that persists even as the story goes through some eminently predictable twists and turns later on. But while the plot falters, the game excels in creating memorable and well-fleshed-out characters. The rebel supporters who send you on your missions start off as stereotypical ciphers, but quickly develop into rich, believable characters with motivations and backstories that are brought to life by some quality voice acting. As you complete your quest you'll run into members of high society and ne'er-do-wells skulking around back alleys, all brought together to an extent by the need to deal with a rat-borne plague that has recently infected the country.
The environment is rich with details—everything from intricate wall posters to eavesdropped discussions about politics and personal problems—and you feel like you've been dropped into a place that will continue to go about its machinations long after you leave. The only real issue is that the supporting characters sometimes tend a little too much toward expository dialogue, indulging in an annoying habit of telling you what just happened, then telling you what's going to happen, then telling you what's happening again and how it relates to what's about to happen.
Dishonored's steampunk-infused mix of old-world sensibilities and modern trappings is also a lot more memorable than any of the by-the-numbers plot points that take place inside of it. The game crafts a downright elegant mixture of Victorian-era propriety with magical metal-and-wood technology, driven by an abundant supply of whale oil. You're just as likely to run into an old-fashioned, sword-wielding guard as an imposing, three-story-tall Tallboy walker that hurls grenades from atop steel legs. Old-fashioned, spring-loaded traps exist next to crackling, electrical "walls of light" that vaporize anything that gets too close.
It's pretty easy to look ridiculous when mixing different inspirations in this way (see Will Smith's Wild Wild West film, for one example), but the developers do a great job of walking the fine line between magical realism and over-the-top craziness. It's a balance that's only enhanced by the game's beautiful environments, which are dominated by amazingly detailed architecture that just begs to be explored, and surprisingly interesting notes and books that help flesh out the game's mythos.
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The magical realism extends to your character, who slowly gains a number of supernatural powers as he finds mystical runes hidden throughout the world (the game tries to layer on some occult mumbo-jumbo to explain why you're searching for these powers, but it's pretty forgettable). The most important of these powers, by far, is the ability to "blink" across short distances, darting from one hiding spot to another without the risk of being seen, or warping up to high ledges and rooftops instantly. I ended up using this ability throughout the entire game—I loved the freedom of movement it allowed and the panoply of new, stealthy path options it opened up.
I also relied on Dark Vision, an ability that lets players see enemy guards and items through walls. It's a feature made all the more important because, for the most part, the game lacks any type of map or radar to orient you to your surroundings or the enemies that are trying to find you. This can lead to a lot of aimless wandering and accidental discovery by the guards if you don't proceed extremely carefully.
There's plenty of variety in the rest of the game's powers, including a very useful ability to briefly take control of animals and people to avoid detection and get into new areas. But what the "tech tree" has in breadth, it largely lacks in depth—each power only has two levels of advancement, and the second step often serves as a stronger version of the first. While I had grown much more powerful by the time I reached the end of the game, I also felt like there could have been greater plateaus of power that were left unexplored.
Corvo also has a handful of offensive superpowers available, but I didn't find them quite as useful. That's mostly because, for all the game's talk of letting players decide between stealth or action, Dishonored is ever-so-slightly tilted toward sneaking around over running in with guns blazing. The game's "chaos system" reprimands you for killing too many people by filling the world with shambling zombies (don't ask me to explain the backstory justification for this) and giving you a "worse" ending at the end of the game if you're too lethal. Further, the limited selection of projectile weapons in the game tend to be pretty inaccurate and limited in ammo, unless you're willing to invest heavily in upgrades later in the game.
For the most part, I found the selection of weapons and offensive abilities largely insufficient to handle the hordes of enemy guards that seemed to materialize out of nowhere every time I was spotted. Rather than hanging back and using cover to protect themselves, these guards tended to rush toward me in huge clumps, hacking with swords or simply stepping back a pace and firing a pistol directly into my face.
Handling this sort of mob from a first-person perspective with the somewhat clumsy combat controls usually felt more like a chore than a joy, and I found myself often reloading a recent save rather than trying to hack and shoot my way out of it. Other times I would simply dash away from the throng as fast as possible and blink myself to a nearby rooftop to get away, waiting for the guards to quickly lose interest in their pursuit once I was out of sight (in a few missions, I managed to leap in a boat and get carried away to safety even as the angry guards watched me and hurled projectiles from the shore).
If you rush through the handful of assassination missions that demarcate Dishonored, the game can end up feeling a bit short. But that would be largely missing the point. Each mission is filled with interesting side quests and plenty of hidden doodads to discover and collect, and the game seems to pride itself on the different ways you can complete necessary tasks.
To get by a wall of light, for instance, you might take away its power source. Or you could deactivate it with a security device, or sneak under it through a sewer tunnel, or take control of a rat and sneak through a hole in the wall. To sneak into a mansion, you might take out the guards at the front gate, or travel the rooftops to sneak into an open window, or eavesdrop on a conversation to obtain an invitation. And there's always a way to "eliminate" your current assassination target non-lethally, though the method is sometimes rather contrived and indirect. I imagine you could get through the game at least three times without completing a single mission precisely the same way.
And even though each mission centers on an assassination, the developers have found good ways to spice up the basic find-and-kill formula. One mission requires using some detective skills to determine which of three masked sisters is your actual target. Others will ask you to torture noblemen for crucial information, or figure out how to poison your target's drink while also protecting an insider informant, or determine which side to back in a morally ambiguous personal feud. Though the general outlines of each mission remain the same, you'll never feel like you know exactly what's going to be asked of you next.
Dishonored is the kind of game that makes you understand why sequels are so prevalent in this industry, because as soon as it's done you find yourself wanting to dive back into its rich and compelling world. For Arkane Studios to throw out all that work just for the sake of creating something new would be just as disappointing as trying to extend the world of a lesser game long after it has ceased to be interesting.
The Good
- Intricate, detailed steampunk world that you can't help but get lost in
- Strong, believable characters with rich backstories
- Well laid-out environments that encourage exploration
- Varied mission structure with multiple ways to solve problems
- Good variety of original, useful magical powers to use
The Bad
- Enemy AI acts pretty stupid after discovering you
- Combat feels like an also-ran to preferred stealth options
- Plot gets somewhat predictable as the game goes on
The Ugly
- Some people are going to complain that there isn't a multiplayer mode
Verdict: Buy it


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A video accusing the American government of selling out to Hollywood has made a splash after being featured on the front page of the Pirate Bay, where it has garnered over 10 million views. Anti-Hollywood sentiment is nothing new, especially on The Pirate Bay, but what sets this video apart is its top-notch—one might even say Hollywood-caliber—production values.
On Wednesday, Ars talked to an individual behind the video. He said he and a friend paid for the video out of their own pockets. They are hoping to "raise awareness" of what they view as America's repressive copyright policies.
The video has three scenes. In the first, the "American Motion Picture Association" announces it has hired "Senator Chris Rodd"—clearly references to the MPAA and its chairman, former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT)—to represent Hollywood. In the second scene, police carry out a military-style raid on a London home. The final scene takes place in an "undisclosed location." The kid arrested in London is now in chains, wearing an orange jumpsuit and a hood over his head. The young soldier guarding the prisoner asks an older American in a suit what the suspect did, and looks incredulous when he's told that he's been arrested for copyright infringement.
Obviously, the video is over the top. Nothing exactly like the incident depicted has happened in real life. The US government doesn't subject copyright defendants to the same harsh treatment as suspected terrorists. But after the commando-style raid on Kim Dotcom's mansion in January, it may be close enough to the truth to make it effective propaganda.
The website associated with the video depicts Kim Dotcom, Richard O'Dwyer, and others as victims of a copyright regime run amok. The site is short on details about who's behind it, providing only an e-mail address.
On Wednesday, Ars spoke to one of the producers, who identified himself as "Andrew," via Skype. He told us he's a financial professional outside the United States. He created the video with a friend who also works "on the stock exchange."
Believing a video would attract a wider audience than a text-based website, they hired a director and a sound professional to produce a 3-minute video. "Andrew" told us the whole video cost about $5000 to produce, and that he and his friend funded the project out of their own pockets. "We really don't have much to do with the Internet industry as a whole," he told us.
If this video is a hit, it could be the first in a series of videos focused on "online freedom and copyright." The next one might be tied to the American elections in November.
Why the secrecy? "You see what's happening with people who are involved in this kind of stuff," "Andrew" told us. "Especially when you're directly attacking against political figures. We don't want to attract unnecessary attention in our lives."
He said he was motivated by the sight of people "getting arrested left and right in different countries for various copyright infringement 'offenses.'" He said that copyright issues "affect pretty much anybody."

subset: commoncrawl


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The team carpet tiles feature:
The vinyl backing helps to ensure a rugged grip and the tiles are easy to install. No under padding is required when installing. The Sports Team Carpet Tiles is the perfect way to show your team pride and spirit in your home office or gym.
Upon receipt and after installation your carpet tiles should be treated with a stain-resistant product such as Dupont Stainmaster as carpet fibers can stain especially if being utilized in high traffic areas.
*Note: As we carry over 5000 different styles of sports mats all sports mats are manufactured when they are ordered so production time is 8-12 business days. Cancellations & quantity changes need to be received within 24 hours of your order being processed as your sports mat has already entered into production after that time period. For more details on shipping times and lead times by visiting our Shipping Guide/FAQ


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Introduction ============ [![[Xen screenshot]](http://www.netbsd.org/gallery/in-Action/hubertf-xens.png)](http://www.netbsd.org/gallery/in-Action/hubertf-xen.png) Xen is a hypervisor (or virtual machine monitor) for x86 hardware (i686-class or higher), which supports running multiple guest operating systems on a single physical machine. Xen is a Type 1 or bare-metal hypervisor; one uses the Xen kernel to control the CPU, memory and console, a dom0 operating system which mediates access to other hardware (e.g., disks, network, USB), and one or more domU operating systems which operate in an unprivileged virtualized environment. IO requests from the domU systems are forwarded by the hypervisor (Xen) to the dom0 to be fulfilled. Xen supports two styles of guests. The original is Para-Virtualized (PV) which means that the guest OS does not attempt to access hardware directly, but instead makes hypercalls to the hypervisor. This is analogous to a user-space program making system calls. (The dom0 operating system uses PV calls for some functions, such as updating memory mapping page tables, but has direct hardware access for disk and network.) PV guests must be specifically coded for Xen. The more recent style is HVM, which means that the guest does not have code for Xen and need not be aware that it is running under Xen. Attempts to access hardware registers are trapped and emulated. This style is less efficient but can run unmodified guests. Generally any amd64 machine will work with Xen and PV guests. In theory i386 computers without amd64 support can be used for Xen <= 4.2, but we have no recent reports of this working (this is a hint). For HVM guests, the VT or VMX cpu feature (Intel) or SVM/HVM/VT (amd64) is needed; "cpuctl identify 0" will show this. TODO: Clean up and check the above features. At boot, the dom0 kernel is loaded as a module with Xen as the kernel. The dom0 can start one or more domUs. (Booting is explained in detail in the dom0 section.) NetBSD supports Xen in that it can serve as dom0, be used as a domU, and that Xen kernels and tools are available in pkgsrc. This HOWTO attempts to address both the case of running a NetBSD dom0 on hardware and running domUs under it (NetBSD and other), and also running NetBSD as a domU in a VPS. Some versions of Xen support "PCI passthrough", which means that specific PCI devices can be made available to a specific domU instead of the dom0. This can be useful to let a domU run X11, or access some network interface or other peripheral. NetBSD used to support Xen2; this has been removed. Prerequisites ------------- Installing NetBSD/Xen is not extremely difficult, but it is more complex than a normal installation of NetBSD. In general, this HOWTO is occasionally overly restrictive about how things must be done, guiding the reader to stay on the established path when there are no known good reasons to stray. This HOWTO presumes a basic familiarity with the Xen system architecture. This HOWTO presumes familiarity with installing NetBSD on i386/amd64 hardware and installing software from pkgsrc. See also the [Xen website](http://www.xenproject.org/). Versions of Xen and NetBSD ========================== Most of the installation concepts and instructions are independent of Xen version and NetBSD version. This section gives advice on which version to choose. Versions not in pkgsrc and older unsupported versions of NetBSD are intentionally ignored. Xen --- In NetBSD, xen is provided in pkgsrc, via matching pairs of packages xenkernel and xentools. We will refer only to the kernel versions, but note that both packages must be installed together and must have matching versions. xenkernel3 and xenkernel33 provide Xen 3.1 and 3.3. These no longer receive security patches and should not be used. Xen 3.1 supports PCI passthrough. Xen 3.1 supports non-PAE on i386. xenkernel41 provides Xen 4.1. This is no longer maintained by Xen, but as of 2014-12 receives backported security patches. It is a reasonable although trailing-edge choice. xenkernel42 provides Xen 4.2. This is maintained by Xen, but old as of 2014-12. xenkernel45 provides Xen 4.5. This is new to pkgsrc as of 2015-01 and not yet recommended for other than experimental/testing use. See also the [Xen Security Advisory page](http://xenbits.xen.org/xsa/). Ideally newer versions of Xen will be added to pkgsrc. Note that NetBSD support is called XEN3. It works with Xen 3 and Xen 4 because the hypercall interface has been stable. Xen command program ------------------- Early Xen used a program called xm to manipulate the system from the dom0. Starting in 4.1, a replacement program with similar behavior called xl is provided, but it does not work well in 4.1. In 4.2, both xm and xl work fine. 4.4 is the last version that has xm. You must choose one or the other, because it affects which daemons you run. NetBSD ------ The netbsd-5, netbsd-6, netbsd-7, and -current branches are all reasonable choices, with more or less the same considerations for non-Xen use. Therefore, netbsd-6 is recommended as the stable version of the most recent release for production use. For those wanting to learn Xen or without production stability concerns, netbsd-7 is likely most appropriate. As of NetBSD 6, a NetBSD domU will support multiple vcpus. There is no SMP support for NetBSD as dom0. (The dom0 itself doesn't really need SMP; the lack of support is really a problem when using a dom0 as a normal computer.) Architecture ------------ Xen itself can run on i386 or amd64 machines. (Practically, almost any computer where one would want to run Xen supports amd64.) If using an i386 NetBSD kernel for the dom0, PAE is required (PAE versions are built by default). While i386 dom0 works fine, amd64 is recommended as more normal. Xen 4.2 is the last version to support i386 as a host. TODO: Clarify if this is about the CPU having to be amd64, or about the dom0 kernel having to be amd64. One can then run i386 domUs and amd64 domUs, in any combination. If running an i386 NetBSD kernel as a domU, the PAE version is required. (Note that emacs (at least) fails if run on i386 with PAE when built without, and vice versa, presumably due to bugs in the undump code.) Stability --------- Mostly, NetBSD as a dom0 or domU is quite stable. However, there are some open PRs indicating problems. - [PR 48125](http://gnats.netbsd.org/48125) - [PR 47720](http://gnats.netbsd.org/47720) Note also that there are issues with sparse vnd(4) instances, but these are not about Xen. Recommendation -------------- Therefore, this HOWTO recommends running xenkernel42 (and xentools42), xl, the NetBSD 6 stable branch, and to use an amd64 kernel as the dom0. Either the i386 or amd64 of NetBSD may be used as domUs. Build problems -------------- Ideally, all versions of Xen in pkgsrc would build on all versions of NetBSD on both i386 and amd64. However, that isn't the case. Besides aging code and aging compilers, qemu (included in xentools for HVM support) is difficult to build. The following are known to work or FAIL: xenkernel3 netbsd-5 amd64 xentools3 netbsd-5 amd64 xentools3=hvm netbsd-5 amd64 ???? xenkernel33 netbsd-5 amd64 xentools33 netbsd-5 amd64 xenkernel41 netbsd-5 amd64 xentools41 netbsd-5 amd64 xenkernel42 netbsd-5 amd64 xentools42 netbsd-5 amd64 xenkernel3 netbsd-6 i386 FAIL xentools3 netbsd-6 i386 xentools3-hvm netbsd-6 i386 FAIL (dependencies fail) xenkernel33 netbsd-6 i386 xentools33 netbsd-6 i386 xenkernel41 netbsd-6 i386 xentools41 netbsd-6 i386 xenkernel42 netbsd-6 i386 xentools42 netbsd-6 i386 *MIXED (all 3 and 33 seem to FAIL) xenkernel41 netbsd-7 i386 xentools41 netbsd-7 i386 xenkernel42 netbsd-7 i386 xentools42 netbsd-7 i386 ??FAIL (*On netbsd-6 i386, there is a xentools42 in the 2014Q3 official builds, but it does not build for gdt.) NetBSD as a dom0 ================ NetBSD can be used as a dom0 and works very well. The following sections address installation, updating NetBSD, and updating Xen. Note that it doesn't make sense to talk about installing a dom0 OS without also installing Xen itself. We first address installing NetBSD, which is not yet a dom0, and then adding Xen, pivoting the NetBSD install to a dom0 install by just changing the kernel and boot configuration. For experimenting with Xen, a machine with as little as 1G of RAM and 100G of disk can work. For running many domUs in productions, far more will be needed. Styles of dom0 operation ------------------------ There are two basic ways to use Xen. The traditional method is for the dom0 to do absolutely nothing other than providing support to some number of domUs. Such a system was probably installed for the sole purpose of hosting domUs, and sits in a server room on a UPS. The other way is to put Xen under a normal-usage computer, so that the dom0 is what the computer would have been without Xen, perhaps a desktop or laptop. Then, one can run domUs at will. Purists will deride this as less secure than the previous approach, and for a computer whose purpose is to run domUs, they are right. But Xen and a dom0 (without domUs) is not meaningfully less secure than the same things running without Xen. One can boot Xen or boot regular NetBSD alternately with little problems, simply refraining from starting the Xen daemons when not running Xen. Note that NetBSD as dom0 does not support multiple CPUs. This will limit the performance of the Xen/dom0 workstation approach. In theory the only issue is that the "backend drivers" are not yet MPSAFE: http://mail-index.netbsd.org/netbsd-users/2014/08/29/msg015195.html Installation of NetBSD ---------------------- First, [install NetBSD/amd64](/guide/inst/) just as you would if you were not using Xen. However, the partitioning approach is very important. If you want to use RAIDframe for the dom0, there are no special issues for Xen. Typically one provides RAID storage for the dom0, and the domU systems are unaware of RAID. The 2nd-stage loader bootxx_* skips over a RAID1 header to find /boot from a filesystem within a RAID partition; this is no different when booting Xen. There are 4 styles of providing backing storage for the virtual disks used by domUs: raw partitions, LVM, file-backed vnd(4), and SAN. With raw partitions, one has a disklabel (or gpt) partition sized for each virtual disk to be used by the domU. (If you are able to predict how domU usage will evolve, please add an explanation to the HOWTO. Seriously, needs tend to change over time.) One can use [lvm(8)](/guide/lvm/) to create logical devices to use for domU disks. This is almost as efficient as raw disk partitions and more flexible. Hence raw disk partitions should typically not be used. One can use files in the dom0 filesystem, typically created by dd'ing /dev/zero to create a specific size. This is somewhat less efficient, but very convenient, as one can cp the files for backup, or move them between dom0 hosts. Finally, in theory one can place the files backing the domU disks in a SAN. (This is an invitation for someone who has done this to add a HOWTO page.) Installation of Xen ------------------- In the dom0, install sysutils/xenkernel42 and sysutils/xentools42 from pkgsrc (or another matching pair). See [the pkgsrc documentation](http://www.NetBSD.org/docs/pkgsrc/) for help with pkgsrc. For Xen 3.1, support for HVM guests is in sysutils/xentool3-hvm. More recent versions have HVM support integrated in the main xentools package. It is entirely reasonable to run only PV guests. Next you need to install the selected Xen kernel itself, which is installed by pkgsrc as "/usr/pkg/xen*-kernel/xen.gz". Copy it to /. For debugging, one may copy xen-debug.gz; this is conceptually similar to DIAGNOSTIC and DEBUG in NetBSD. xen-debug.gz is basically only useful with a serial console. Then, place a NetBSD XEN3_DOM0 kernel in /, copied from releasedir/amd64/binary/kernel/netbsd-XEN3_DOM0.gz of a NetBSD build. If using i386, use releasedir/i386/binary/kernel/netbsd-XEN3PAE_DOM0.gz. (If using Xen 3.1 and i386, you may use XEN3_DOM0 with the non-PAE Xen. But you should not use Xen 3.1.) Both xen and the NetBSD kernel may be (and typically are) left compressed. In a dom0 kernel, kernfs is mandatory for xend to comunicate with the kernel, so ensure that /kern is in fstab. TODO: Say this is default, or file a PR and give a reference. Because you already installed NetBSD, you have a working boot setup with an MBR bootblock, either bootxx_ffsv1 or bootxx_ffsv2 at the beginning of your root filesystem, /boot present, and likely /boot.cfg. (If not, fix before continuing!) Add a line to to /boot.cfg to boot Xen. See boot.cfg(5) for an example. The basic line is menu=Xen:load /netbsd-XEN3_DOM0.gz console=pc;multiboot /xen.gz dom0_mem=256M which specifies that the dom0 should have 256M, leaving the rest to be allocated for domUs. To use a serial console, use menu=Xen:load /netbsd-XEN3_DOM0.gz console=com0;multiboot /xen.gz dom0_mem=256M console=com1 com1=9600,8n1 which will use the first serial port for Xen (which counts starting from 1), forcing speed/parity, and also for NetBSD (which counts starting at 0). In an attempt to add performance, one can also add dom0_max_vcpus=1 dom0_vcpus_pin to force only one vcpu to be provided (since NetBSD dom0 can't use more) and to pin that vcpu to a physical cpu. TODO: benchmark this. Xen has [many boot options](http://xenbits.xenproject.org/docs/4.5-testing/misc/xen-command-line.html), and other tham dom0 memory and max_vcpus, they are generally not necessary. As with non-Xen systems, you should have a line to boot /netbsd (a kernel that works without Xen) and fallback versions of the non-Xen kernel, Xen, and the dom0 kernel. Now, reboot so that you are running a DOM0 kernel under Xen, rather than GENERIC without Xen. Using grub (historic) --------------------- Before NetBSD's native bootloader could support Xen, the use of grub was recommended. If necessary, see the [old grub information](/ports/xen/howto-grub/). The [HowTo on Installing into RAID-1](http://mail-index.NetBSD.org/port-xen/2006/03/01/0010.html) explains how to set up booting a dom0 with Xen using grub with NetBSD's RAIDframe. (This is obsolete with the use of NetBSD's native boot.) Configuring Xen --------------- Xen logs will be in /var/log/xen. Now, you have a system that will boot Xen and the dom0 kernel, but not do anything else special. Make sure that you have rebooted into Xen. There will be no domUs, and none can be started because you still have to configure the dom0 tools. The daemons which should be run vary with Xen version and with whether one is using xm or xl. Note that xend is for supporting "xm", and should only be used if you plan on using "xm". Do NOT enable xend if you plan on using "xl" as it will cause problems. Running xl without xencommons=YES (and starting it) will result in a hang (so don't do that; follow the HOWTO!). The installation of NetBSD should already have created devices for xen (xencons, xenevt), but if they are not present, create them: cd /dev && sh MAKEDEV xen TODO: Give 3.1 advice (or remove it from pkgsrc). For 3.3 (and thus xm), add to rc.conf (but note that you should have installed 4.1 or 4.2): xend=YES xenbackendd=YES For 4.1 (and thus xm; xl is believed not to work well), add to rc.conf: xencommons=YES xend=YES (If you are using xentools41 from before 2014-12-26, change rc.d/xendomains to use xm rather than xl.) For 4.2 with xm, add to rc.conf xencommons=YES xend=YES For 4.2 with xl, add to rc.conf: xencommons=YES TODO: explain if there is a xend replacement For 4.5 (and thus with xl), add to rc.conf: xencommons=YES TODO: explain if there is a xend replacement TODO: Recommend for/against xen-watchdog. After you have configured the daemons and either started them (in the order given) or rebooted, use xm or xl to inspect Xen's boot messages, available resources, and running domains. An example with xm follows: # xm dmesg [xen's boot info] # xm info [available memory, etc.] # xm list Name Id Mem(MB) CPU State Time(s) Console Domain-0 0 64 0 r---- 58.1 With xl, the commands are the same, and the output may be slightly different. TODO: add example output for xl before the xm example, after confirming on 4.2 and resolving the TODO about rc.conf. ### Issues with xencommons xencommons starts xenstored, which stores data on behalf of dom0 and domUs. It does not currently work to stop and start xenstored. Certainly all domUs should be shutdown first, following the sort order of the rc.d scripts. However, the dom0 sets up state with xenstored, and is not notified when xenstored exits, leading to not recreating the state when the new xenstored starts. Until there's a mechanism to make this work, one should not expect to be able to restart xenstored (and thus xencommons). There is currently no reason to expect that this will get fixed any time soon. anita (for testing NetBSD) -------------------------- With the setup so far (assuming 4.2/xl), one should be able to run anita (see pkgsrc/misc/py-anita) to test NetBSD releases, by doing (as root, because anita must create a domU): anita --vmm=xl test file:///usr/obj/i386/ Alternatively, one can use --vmm=xm to use xm-based domU creation instead (and must, on Xen <= 4.1). TODO: confirm that anita xl really works. Xen-specific NetBSD issues -------------------------- There are (at least) two additional things different about NetBSD as a dom0 kernel compared to hardware. One is that modules are not usable in DOM0 kernels, so one must compile in what's needed. It's not really that modules cannot work, but that modules must be built for XEN3_DOM0 because some of the defines change and the normal module builds don't do this. Basically, enabling Xen changes the kernel ABI, and the module build system doesn't cope with this. The other difference is that XEN3_DOM0 does not have exactly the same options as GENERIC. While it is debatable whether or not this is a bug, users should be aware of this and can simply add missing config items if desired. Updating NetBSD in a dom0 ------------------------- This is just like updating NetBSD on bare hardware, assuming the new version supports the version of Xen you are running. Generally, one replaces the kernel and reboots, and then overlays userland binaries and adjusts /etc. Note that one must update both the non-Xen kernel typically used for rescue purposes and the DOM0 kernel used with Xen. Converting from grub to /boot ----------------------------- These instructions were [TODO: will be] used to convert a system from grub to /boot. The system was originally installed in February of 2006 with a RAID1 setup and grub to boot Xen 2, and has been updated over time. Before these commands, it was running NetBSD 6 i386, Xen 4.1 and grub, much like the message linked earlier in the grub section. # Install mbr bootblocks on both disks. fdisk -i /dev/rwd0d fdisk -i /dev/rwd1d # Install NetBSD primary boot loader (/ is FFSv1) into RAID1 components. installboot -v /dev/rwd0d /usr/mdec/bootxx_ffsv1 installboot -v /dev/rwd1d /usr/mdec/bootxx_ffsv1 # Install secondary boot loader cp -p /usr/mdec/boot / # Create boog.cfg following earlier guidance: menu=Xen:load /netbsd-XEN3PAE_DOM0.gz console=pc;multiboot /xen.gz dom0_mem=256M menu=Xen.ok:load /netbsd-XEN3PAE_DOM0.ok.gz console=pc;multiboot /xen.ok.gz dom0_mem=256M menu=GENERIC:boot menu=GENERIC single-user:boot -s menu=GENERIC.ok:boot netbsd.ok menu=GENERIC.ok single-user:boot netbsd.ok -s menu=Drop to boot prompt:prompt default=1 timeout=30 TODO: actually do this and fix it if necessary. Updating Xen versions --------------------- Updating Xen is conceptually not difficult, but can run into all the issues found when installing Xen. Assuming migration from 4.1 to 4.2, remove the xenkernel41 and xentools41 packages and install the xenkernel42 and xentools42 packages. Copy the 4.2 xen.gz to /. Ensure that the contents of /etc/rc.d/xen* are correct. Enable the correct set of daemons. Ensure that the domU config files are valid for the new version. Hardware known to work ---------------------- Arguably, this section is misplaced, and there should be a page of hardware that runs NetBSD/amd64 well, with the mostly-well-founded assumption that NetBSD/xen runs fine on any modern hardware that NetBSD/amd64 runs well on. Until then, we give motherboard/CPU/RAM triples to aid those choosing a motherboard. Note that Xen systems usually do not run X, so a listing here does not imply that X works at all. Supermicro X9SRL-F, Xeon E5-1650 v2, 96 GiB ECC Supermicro ??, Atom C2758 (8 core), 32 GiB ECC ASUS M5A78L-M/USB3 AM3+ microATX, AMD Piledriver X8 4000MHz, 16 GiB ECC Older hardware: Intel D915GEV, Pentium4 CPU 3.40GHz, 4GB 533MHz Synchronous DDR2 Running Xen under qemu ---------------------- The astute reader will note that this section is somewhat twisted. However, it can be useful to run Xen under qemu either because the version of NetBSD as a dom0 does not run on the hardware in use, or to generate automated test cases involving Xen. In 2015-01, the following combination was reported to mostly work: host OS: NetBSD/amd64 6.1.4 qemu: 2.2.0 from pkgsrc Xen kernel: xenkernel42-4.2.5nb1 from pkgsrc dom0 kernel: NetBSD/amd64 6.1.5 Xen tools: xentools42-4.2.5 from pkgsrc See [PR 47720](http://gnats.netbsd.org/47720) for a problem with dom0 shutdown. Unprivileged domains (domU) =========================== This section describes general concepts about domUs. It does not address specific domU operating systems or how to install them. The config files for domUs are typically in /usr/pkg/etc/xen, and are typically named so that the file name, domU name and the domU's host name match. The domU is provided with cpu and memory by Xen, configured by the dom0. The domU is provided with disk and network by the dom0, mediated by Xen, and configured in the dom0. Entropy in domUs can be an issue; physical disks and network are on the dom0. NetBSD's /dev/random system works, but is often challenged. Config files ------------ There is no good order to present config files and the concepts surrounding what is being configured. We first show an example config file, and then in the various sections give details. See (at least in xentools41) /usr/pkg/share/examples/xen/xmexample*, for a large number of well-commented examples, mostly for running GNU/Linux. The following is an example minimal domain configuration file "/usr/pkg/etc/xen/foo". It is (with only a name change) an actual known working config file on Xen 4.1 (NetBSD 5 amd64 dom0 and NetBSD 5 i386 domU). The domU serves as a network file server. # -*- mode: python; -*- kernel = "/netbsd-XEN3PAE_DOMU-i386-foo.gz" memory = 1024 vif = [ 'mac=aa:00:00:d1:00:09,bridge=bridge0' ] disk = [ 'file:/n0/xen/foo-wd0,0x0,w', 'file:/n0/xen/foo-wd1,0x1,w' ] The domain will have the same name as the file. The kernel has the host/domU name in it, so that on the dom0 one can update the various domUs independently. The vif line causes an interface to be provided, with a specific mac address (do not reuse MAC addresses!), in bridge mode. Two disks are provided, and they are both writable; the bits are stored in files and Xen attaches them to a vnd(4) device in the dom0 on domain creation. The system treates xbd0 as the boot device without needing explicit configuration. By default xm looks for domain config files in /usr/pkg/etc/xen. Note that "xm create" takes the name of a config file, while other commands take the name of a domain. To create the domain, connect to the console, create the domain while attaching the console, shutdown the domain, and see if it has finished stopping, do (or xl with Xen >= 4.2): xm create foo xm console foo xm create -c foo xm shutdown foo xm list Typing ^] will exit the console session. Shutting down a domain is equivalent to pushing the power button; a NetBSD domU will receive a power-press event and do a clean shutdown. Shutting down the dom0 will trigger controlled shutdowns of all configured domUs. domU kernels ------------ On a physical computer, the BIOS reads sector 0, and a chain of boot loaders finds and loads a kernel. Normally this comes from the root filesystem. With Xen domUs, the process is totally different. The normal path is for the domU kernel to be a file in the dom0's filesystem. At the request of the dom0, Xen loads that kernel into a new domU instance and starts execution. While domU kernels can be anyplace, reasonable places to store domU kernels on the dom0 are in / (so they are near the dom0 kernel), in /usr/pkg/etc/xen (near the config files), or in /u0/xen (where the vdisks are). Note that loading the domU kernel from the dom0 implies that boot blocks, /boot, /boot.cfg, and so on are all ignored in the domU. See the VPS section near the end for discussion of alternate ways to obtain domU kernels. CPU and memory -------------- A domain is provided with some number of vcpus, less than the number of cpus seen by the hypervisor. (For a dom0, this is controlled by the boot argument "dom0_max_vcpus=1".) For a domU, it is controlled from the config file by the "vcpus = N" directive. A domain is provided with memory; this is controlled in the config file by "memory = N" (in megabytes). In the straightforward case, the sum of the the memory allocated to the dom0 and all domUs must be less than the available memory. Xen also provides a "balloon" driver, which can be used to let domains use more memory temporarily. TODO: Explain better, and explain how well it works with NetBSD. Virtual disks ------------- With the file/vnd style, typically one creates a directory, e.g. /u0/xen, on a disk large enough to hold virtual disks for all domUs. Then, for each domU disk, one writes zeros to a file that then serves to hold the virtual disk's bits; a suggested name is foo-xbd0 for the first virtual disk for the domU called foo. Writing zeros to the file serves two purposes. One is that preallocating the contents improves performance. The other is that vnd on sparse files has failed to work. TODO: give working/notworking NetBSD versions for sparse vnd. Note that the use of file/vnd for Xen is not really different than creating a file-backed virtual disk for some other purpose, except that xentools handles the vnconfig commands. To create an empty 4G virtual disk, simply do dd if=/dev/zero of=foo-xbd0 bs=1m count=4096 Do not use qemu-img-xen, because this will create sparse file. There have been recent (2015) reports of sparse vnd(4) devices causing lockups, but there is apparently no PR. With the lvm style, one creates logical devices. They are then used similarly to vnds. TODO: Add an example with lvm. In domU config files, the disks are defined as a sequence of 3-tuples. The first element is "method:/path/to/disk". Common methods are "file:" for file-backed vnd. and "phy:" for something that is already a (TODO: character or block) device. The second element is an artifact of how virtual disks are passed to Linux, and a source of confusion with NetBSD Xen usage. Linux domUs are given a device name to associate with the disk, and values like "hda1" or "sda1" are common. In a NetBSD domU, the first disk appears as xbd0, the second as xbd1, and so on. However, xm/xl demand a second argument. The name given is converted to a major/minor by calling stat(2) on the name in /dev and this is passed to the domU. In the general case, the dom0 and domU can be different operating systems, and it is an unwarranted assumption that they have consistent numbering in /dev, or even that the dom0 OS has a /dev. With NetBSD as both dom0 and domU, using values of 0x0 for the first disk and 0x1 for the second works fine and avoids this issue. For a GNU/Linux guest, one can create /dev/hda1 in /dev, or to pass 0x301 for /dev/hda1. The third element is "w" for writable disks, and "r" for read-only disks. Virtual Networking ------------------ Xen provides virtual ethernets, each of which connects the dom0 and a domU. For each virtual network, there is an interface "xvifN.M" in the dom0, and in domU index N, a matching interface xennetM (NetBSD name). The interfaces behave as if there is an Ethernet with two adaptors connected. From this primitive, one can construct various configurations. We focus on two common and useful cases for which there are existing scripts: bridging and NAT. With bridging (in the example above), the domU perceives itself to be on the same network as the dom0. For server virtualization, this is usually best. Bridging is accomplished by creating a bridge(4) device and adding the dom0's physical interface and the various xvifN.0 interfaces to the bridge. One specifies "bridge=bridge0" in the domU config file. The bridge must be set up already in the dom0; an example /etc/ifconfig.bridge0 is: create up !brconfig bridge0 add wm0 With NAT, the domU perceives itself to be behind a NAT running on the dom0. This is often appropriate when running Xen on a workstation. TODO: NAT appears to be configured by "vif = [ '' ]". The MAC address specified is the one used for the interface in the new domain. The interface in dom0 will use this address XOR'd with 00:00:00:01:00:00. Random MAC addresses are assigned if not given. Sizing domains -------------- Modern x86 hardware has vast amounts of resources. However, many virtual servers can function just fine on far less. A system with 256M of RAM and a 4G disk can be a reasonable choice. Note that it is far easier to adjust virtual resources than physical ones. For memory, it's just a config file edit and a reboot. For disk, one can create a new file and vnconfig it (or lvm), and then dump/restore, just like updating physical disks, but without having to be there and without those pesky connectors. Starting domains automatically ------------------------------ To start domains foo at bar at boot and shut them down cleanly on dom0 shutdown, in rc.conf add: xendomains="foo bar" Note that earlier versions of the xentools41 xendomains rc.d scripth usd xl, when one should use xm with 4.1. Creating specific unprivileged domains (domU) ============================================= Creating domUs is almost entirely independent of operating system. We have already presented the basics of config files. Note that you must have already completed the dom0 setup so that "xl list" (or "xm list") works. Creating an unprivileged NetBSD domain (domU) --------------------------------------------- See the earlier config file, and adjust memory. Decide on how much storage you will provide, and prepare it (file or lvm). While the kernel will be obtained from the dom0 filesystem, the same file should be present in the domU as /netbsd so that tools like savecore(8) can work. (This is helpful but not necessary.) The kernel must be specifically for Xen and for use as a domU. The i386 and amd64 provide the following kernels: i386 XEN3_DOMU i386 XEN3PAE_DOMU amd64 XEN3_DOMU Unless using Xen 3.1 (and you shouldn't) with i386-mode Xen, you must use the PAE version of the i386 kernel. This will boot NetBSD, but this is not that useful if the disk is empty. One approach is to unpack sets onto the disk outside of xen (by mounting it, just as you would prepare a physical disk for a system you can't run the installer on). A second approach is to run an INSTALL kernel, which has a miniroot and can load sets from the network. To do this, copy the INSTALL kernel to / and change the kernel line in the config file to: kernel = "/home/bouyer/netbsd-INSTALL_XEN3_DOMU" Then, start the domain as "xl create -c configname". Alternatively, if you want to install NetBSD/Xen with a CDROM image, the following line should be used in the config file. disk = [ 'phy:/dev/wd0e,0x1,w', 'phy:/dev/cd0a,0x2,r' ] After booting the domain, the option to install via CDROM may be selected. The CDROM device should be changed to `xbd1d`. Once done installing, "halt -p" the new domain (don't reboot or halt, it would reload the INSTALL_XEN3_DOMU kernel even if you changed the config file), switch the config file back to the XEN3_DOMU kernel, and start the new domain again. Now it should be able to use "root on xbd0a" and you should have a, functional NetBSD domU. TODO: check if this is still accurate. When the new domain is booting you'll see some warnings about *wscons* and the pseudo-terminals. These can be fixed by editing the files `/etc/ttys` and `/etc/wscons.conf`. You must disable all terminals in `/etc/ttys`, except *console*, like this: console "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" vt100 on secure ttyE0 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" vt220 off secure ttyE1 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" vt220 off secure ttyE2 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" vt220 off secure ttyE3 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" vt220 off secure Finally, all screens must be commented out from `/etc/wscons.conf`. It is also desirable to add powerd=YES in rc.conf. This way, the domain will be properly shut down if `xm shutdown -R` or `xm shutdown -H` is used on the dom0. It is not strictly necessary to have a kernel (as /netbsd) in the domU filesystem. However, various programs (e.g. netstat) will use that kernel to look up symbols to read from kernel virtual memory. If /netbsd is not the running kernel, those lookups will fail. (This is not really a Xen-specific issue, but because the domU kernel is obtained from the dom0, it is far more likely to be out of sync or missing with Xen.) Creating an unprivileged Linux domain (domU) -------------------------------------------- Creating unprivileged Linux domains isn't much different from unprivileged NetBSD domains, but there are some details to know. First, the second parameter passed to the disk declaration (the '0x1' in the example below) disk = [ 'phy:/dev/wd0e,0x1,w' ] does matter to Linux. It wants a Linux device number here (e.g. 0x300 for hda). Linux builds device numbers as: (major \<\< 8 + minor). So, hda1 which has major 3 and minor 1 on a Linux system will have device number 0x301. Alternatively, devices names can be used (hda, hdb, ...) as xentools has a table to map these names to devices numbers. To export a partition to a Linux guest we can use: disk = [ 'phy:/dev/wd0e,0x300,w' ] root = "/dev/hda1 ro" and it will appear as /dev/hda on the Linux system, and be used as root partition. To install the Linux system on the partition to be exported to the guest domain, the following method can be used: install sysutils/e2fsprogs from pkgsrc. Use mke2fs to format the partition that will be the root partition of your Linux domain, and mount it. Then copy the files from a working Linux system, make adjustments in `/etc` (fstab, network config). It should also be possible to extract binary packages such as .rpm or .deb directly to the mounted partition using the appropriate tool, possibly running under NetBSD's Linux emulation. Once the filesystem has been populated, umount it. If desirable, the filesystem can be converted to ext3 using tune2fs -j. It should now be possible to boot the Linux guest domain, using one of the vmlinuz-\*-xenU kernels available in the Xen binary distribution. To get the linux console right, you need to add: extra = "xencons=tty1" to your configuration since not all linux distributions auto-attach a tty to the xen console. Creating an unprivileged Solaris domain (domU) ---------------------------------------------- See possibly outdated [Solaris domU instructions](/ports/xen/howto-solaris/). PCI passthrough: Using PCI devices in guest domains --------------------------------------------------- The dom0 can give other domains access to selected PCI devices. This can allow, for example, a non-privileged domain to have access to a physical network interface or disk controller. However, keep in mind that giving a domain access to a PCI device most likely will give the domain read/write access to the whole physical memory, as PCs don't have an IOMMU to restrict memory access to DMA-capable device. Also, it's not possible to export ISA devices to non-dom0 domains, which means that the primary VGA adapter can't be exported. A guest domain trying to access the VGA registers will panic. If the dom0 is NetBSD, it has to be running Xen 3.1, as support has not been ported to later versions at this time. For a PCI device to be exported to a domU, is has to be attached to the "pciback" driver in dom0. Devices passed to the dom0 via the pciback.hide boot parameter will attach to "pciback" instead of the usual driver. The list of devices is specified as "(bus:dev.func)", where bus and dev are 2-digit hexadecimal numbers, and func a single-digit number: pciback.hide=(00:0a.0)(00:06.0) pciback devices should show up in the dom0's boot messages, and the devices should be listed in the `/kern/xen/pci` directory. PCI devices to be exported to a domU are listed in the "pci" array of the domU's config file, with the format "0000:bus:dev.func". pci = [ '0000:00:06.0', '0000:00:0a.0' ] In the domU an "xpci" device will show up, to which one or more pci busses will attach. Then the PCI drivers will attach to PCI busses as usual. Note that the default NetBSD DOMU kernels do not have "xpci" or any PCI drivers built in by default; you have to build your own kernel to use PCI devices in a domU. Here's a kernel config example; note that only the "xpci" lines are unusual. include "arch/i386/conf/XEN3_DOMU" # Add support for PCI busses to the XEN3_DOMU kernel xpci* at xenbus ? pci* at xpci ? # PCI USB controllers uhci* at pci? dev ? function ? # Universal Host Controller (Intel) # USB bus support usb* at uhci? # USB Hubs uhub* at usb? uhub* at uhub? port ? configuration ? interface ? # USB Mass Storage umass* at uhub? port ? configuration ? interface ? wd* at umass? # SCSI controllers ahc* at pci? dev ? function ? # Adaptec [23]94x, aic78x0 SCSI # SCSI bus support (for both ahc and umass) scsibus* at scsi? # SCSI devices sd* at scsibus? target ? lun ? # SCSI disk drives cd* at scsibus? target ? lun ? # SCSI CD-ROM drives NetBSD as a domU in a VPS ========================= The bulk of the HOWTO is about using NetBSD as a dom0 on your own hardware. This section explains how to deal with Xen in a domU as a virtual private server where you do not control or have access to the dom0. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of VPS providers; only a few are mentioned that specifically support NetBSD. VPS operators provide varying degrees of access and mechanisms for configuration. The big issue is usually how one controls which kernel is booted, because the kernel is nominally in the dom0 filesystem (to which VPS users do not normally have acesss). A second issue is how to install NetBSD. A VPS user may want to compile a kernel for security updates, to run npf, run IPsec, or any other reason why someone would want to change their kernel. One approach is to have an adminstrative interface to upload a kernel, or to select from a prepopulated list. Other approaches are pygrub (deprecated) and pvgrub, which are ways to have a bootloader obtain a kernel from the domU filesystem. This is closer to a regular physical computer, where someone who controls a machine can replace the kernel. A second issue is multiple CPUs. With NetBSD 6, domUs support multiple vcpus, and it is typical for VPS providers to enable multiple CPUs for NetBSD domUs. pygrub ------- pygrub runs in the dom0 and looks into the domU filesystem. This implies that the domU must have a kernel in a filesystem in a format known to pygrub. As of 2014, pygrub seems to be of mostly historical interest. pvgrub ------ pvgrub is a version of grub that uses PV operations instead of BIOS calls. It is booted from the dom0 as the domU kernel, and then reads /grub/menu.lst and loads a kernel from the domU filesystem. [Panix](http://www.panix.com/) lets users use pvgrub. Panix reports that pvgrub works with FFsv2 with 16K/2K and 32K/4K block/frag sizes (and hence with defaults from "newfs -O 2"). See [Panix's pvgrub page](http://www.panix.com/v-colo/grub.html), which describes only Linux but should be updated to cover NetBSD :-). [prgmr.com](http://prgmr.com/) also lets users with pvgrub to boot their own kernel. See then [prgmr.com NetBSD HOWTO](http://wiki.prgmr.com/mediawiki/index.php/NetBSD_as_a_DomU) (which is in need of updating). It appears that [grub's FFS code](http://xenbits.xensource.com/hg/xen-unstable.hg/file/bca284f67702/tools/libfsimage/ufs/fsys_ufs.c) does not support all aspects of modern FFS, but there are also reports that FFSv2 works fine. At prgmr, typically one has an ext2 or FAT partition for the kernel with the intent that grub can understand it, which leads to /netbsd not being the actual kernel. One must remember to update the special boot partiion. Amazon ------ See the [Amazon EC2 page](../amazon_ec2/). Using npf --------- In standard kernels, npf is a module, and thus cannot be loaded in a DOMU kernel. TODO: Explain how to compile npf into a custom kernel, answering (but note that the problem was caused by not booting the right kernel) [this email to netbsd-users](http://mail-index.netbsd.org/netbsd-users/2014/12/26/msg015576.html). TODO items for improving NetBSD/xen =================================== * Make the NetBSD dom0 kernel work with SMP. * Test the Xen 4.5 packages adequately to be able to recommend them as the standard approach. * Get PCI passthrough working on Xen 4.5 * Get pvgrub into pkgsrc, either via xentools or separately. * grub * Check/add support to pkgsrc grub2 for UFS2 and arbitrary fragsize/blocksize (UFS2 support may be present; the point is to make it so that with any UFS1/UFS2 filesystem setup that works with NetBSD grub will also work). See [pkg/40258](http://gnats.netbsd.org/40258). * Push patches upstream. * Get UFS2 patches into pvgrub. * Add support for PV ops to a version of /boot, and make it usable as a kernel in Xen, similar to pvgrub. * Solve somehow the issue with modules for GENERIC not being loadable in a Xen dom0 or domU kernel. Random pointers =============== TODO: This section contains links from elsewhere not yet integrated into the HOWTO. * http://www.lumbercartel.ca/library/xen/ * http://pbraun.nethence.com/doc/sysutils/xen_netbsd_dom0.html


text:
Interactive Tool: Are You Depressed?
What does this tool help you learn?
This interactive tool can help you assess your symptoms and find out if you might have depression. It calculates how many common symptoms of depression you have and—based on your answers—suggests where you might be on a scale from not depressed to depressed.
Although this tool is not for diagnosis, it may help you find out whether you should seek help from your doctor.
PHQ-9 copyright 2005, Pfizer, permission granted. The PHQ-9 assessment is adapted from PRIME MD TODAY and developed by RL Spitzer, JBW Williams, K Kroenke, et al.
What does your score mean?
The more symptoms of depression you have, the higher your score will be. Your score will appear as one of the following:
- You are unlikely to have depression.
- You may have mild to moderate depression.
- You may have moderate to severe depression.
- You may have severe depression.
As with all screening tools, this tool gives you a place to start. Keep in mind that a higher score does not necessarily mean that you have depression. Also, a lower score does not always mean you are depression-free. This tool can help you examine your feelings and think about whether your symptoms might be symptoms of depression. But using this tool is not a substitute for a thorough evaluation by your doctor. If you are concerned about any of your symptoms, seek medical help.
What's next?
If your symptoms include plans or thoughts about harming yourself or another person, detachment from reality (psychosis), or excessive use of alcohol or drugs, contact your doctor or local hospital for help right away.
Many people with depression delay seeking medical advice and treatment because they believe depression is not serious or they think they can get through it, or even beat it, on their own. Sometimes people who are deeply depressed feel that nothing will help. But like other major health problems, depression cannot be overcome without treatment. In fact, untreated depression can get worse, cause other health problems, and may last for years or even a lifetime. It can have a serious impact on both you and the people you care about.
With treatment such as counseling and medicines, the symptoms of even major depression may begin to improve in a few weeks. The choice to seek evaluation and treatment is a very important first step on the path to feeling better. For more information, see the topic Depression.
Current as of: May 28, 2019
Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:Adam Husney, MD – Family Medicine & Kathleen Romito, MD – Family Medicine & Lisa S. Weinstock, MD – Psychiatry
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated, disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. Learn how we develop our content.


text:
LONGMONT — Longmont vs. Dillard's will soon hit the courtroom.
At 9 a.m. Thursday, the city will ask a Boulder County District Court judge to grant Longmont immediate possession of the store, located in the Twin Peaks Mall. If the judge agrees, it means mall owner NewMark Merrill Mountain States can start the mall's $80 million redevelopment without waiting for the court to set a price for the store.
NewMark Merrill had hoped to break ground on the new mall this fall. But as plans were developed, Dillard's became a sticking point; the retailer owns its own building and has a covenant with the mall giving it veto power on any reconstruction. Talks between NewMark and Dillard's hit a wall by April 1; follow-up talks between the city and Dillard's also proved fruitless and led the city to go to court, asking for a condemnation.
Work is now expected to begin this winter if the store changes hands. The owner had hoped to have it mostly open by the 2014 holiday season, but managing director Allen Ginsborg recently said that spring 2015 was now more likely because of the delays.
Because the mall was declared a "blighted" area in 2008, the city can use eminent domain to fix the blight under Colorado law. Before filing with the court, the Longmont Urban Renewal Authority offered Dillard's $3.6 million. The retail chain responded with an offer of $5 million, the same price it had set during the NewMark negotiations.
Unless a settlement is reached, the final price will be set through the court, a process that can take months.
An assessment released in early May by the Boulder County Assessor's Office valued the Dillard's property at $2.9 million.
The city plans to put $27.5 million into the mall's redevelopment, to be repaid by the additional property and sales tax from the new mall and by a levy the mall will place on itself.
Scott Rochat can be reached at 303-684-5220 or email@example.com.


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Sometimes, even as a person pisses you off, they make a point that you can't ignore. In a recent forum discussion that I was involved in, scientists were accused of making pronouncements from on high. The argument was that scientists jump to a conclusion that seems desirable to them, and then treat it as an infallible truth.
Of course, my initial reaction was to pronounce that I, as a practicing scientist, never make pronouncements. But, looking at my articles from the perspective of someone who really knows absolutely nothing about science—as a practice or as a body of knowledge—I can see how one could see little beyond a list of assertions. The truth is more complicated, of course, but it's a truth that science writers find challenging to convey. Science is impossibly broad, and the leading edge sits, precariously balanced, on a huge, solid, and above all, old body of knowledge. To illustrate this problem, I am going to tell you the story about how the speed of light came to be the ultimate speed limit for the entire universe.
What I want you to remember from this story is that any new fact or change in our understanding sits upon generations of accumulated knowledge. Most of that knowledge is now trusted as "mostly correct," though some of it still lies in the "probably not too badly wrong" category. Sitting beneath that is a body of work stretching back some 6,000 years, some of which is still highly relevant.
My overall point is that, even if I were to extend each of my peer-reviewed articles by some 3,000 words—I already get complaints about the length of some of my articles—I still would not have covered the science of an entire subject. By choosing a starting point for the knowledge described in an article, I really am pronouncing from on high that everything beyond that point is established, trusted knowledge, while everything after that point will be explained to some extent.
So, how do we measure stuff anyway?
My arbitrary beginning for this story—and make no mistake, it is a story that leaves out any number of complications—is Galileo. Apart from being a telescope builder extraordinaire, Galileo also had an important insight into the process of measurement. He saw that if he was on a moving boat and fired a cannon forward, he could measure the speed of the cannon ball and come up with a number. But, the poor guy on the receiving end of the cannon ball—giving up his life in the name of science—would, when making the same measurement, come up with a different answer.
Needless to say, a violent disagreement might ensue (provided the target survived the cannonball) over whose measurement was correct. Galileo saw that the difference between the two measurements was the speed of the boat. That is, the person receiving the cannon ball sees that it is moving a bit faster than Galileo because the target sees that the cannon that fired the ball was also moving. Once this extra speed is taken into account, agreement could be reached between different measurements, and Galileo could return to upsetting other people.
The key point that Galileo made clear was that measurements are always relative to some benchmark. We measure the speed of a car relative to the ground, and we measure the speed of stars relative to each other (including the Sun). This principle underlies a lot of modern physics, and it's so fundamental that we don't even give it a name when we teach it anymore.
But it turns out that this principle is, in fact, wrong sometimes. Showing how we know it's wrong and why we found out that it is wrong is what this story is really all about.
Another arbitrary beginning: the story of light
Galileo was not the only person into optics and telescopes. Newton and Huygens both made huge contributions to our understanding of light—Newton demonstrated that white light contained all the colors of the rainbow, while Huygens created a model that explained the structure of the patterns light created after it had passed by a sharp edge.
But these two giants of science disagreed about what light actually was. Newton thought that light was a particle, while Huygens thought that light was a wave. Critically, all observed phenomena could be explained by both models, so both had their adherents and critics. Note, though, that this dispute happened a bit before 1700, but this issue remained unresolved until the middle of the 19th century.
That is not to say that no one cared or did anything about it. On the contrary, evidence for the wave theory of light accumulated and the particle theory of light had to be modified to accommodate the new findings; as it became more complicated, the number of people who supported it shrunk.
The straw that broke the camel's back when it came to support for light as a particle was Young's experiment that demonstrated that light, like water waves and sound waves, could be made to interfere—one of the reasons this took so long is that Young needed a relatively modern light source to make his observations. In the meantime, an important question remained unanswered: if light was a wave, what was doing the waving?
Yet another arbitrary beginning: the story of electricity
Off in a disregarded corner, people with names like Faraday and Gauss had begun to get interested in why, after you had rubbed a cat with a bit of amber, bits of paper would stick to both the cat and the amber, but not to each other. Equally interesting was why compass needles pointed north. Although these phenomena had been known for a long long time, no one had really investigated them—or if they had, their findings had been lost. In any case, scientists got interested in static electricity and magnetism.
They discovered that some materials conducted electricity, that magnets could cause an electric current to flow, and that currents could be used to create magnets. The two were linked, but no one really knew how. Empirical laws were derived that allowed electricity and magnetism to be exploited—dynamos, electric motors, and alternators were all in the process of revolutionizing life, though their effects would take a while to percolate through society. But, despite the applications, the underlying principles remained obscure—we had laws, but no theory.
There were two problems with the laws developed for electricity and magnetism: first, they didn't shed any light on what electricity or magnetism were or why they were linked—the concept of charge had been introduced, but no one knew what a charge might be. Second, they weren't predictive: that is, whenever anyone found a new magnetic or electrical phenomena, a new law was required.
That's where things stood until the late 19th century, when Maxwell decided to use some new-fangled math to describe electricity and magnetism. He found a common set of equations that described both phenomena and how they were linked to each other.
Maxwell's work didn't win instant acceptance. In the first place, it didn't do anything about the first problem—Maxwell's equations offer no insight into the origin of electricity or magnetism, beyond the charge concept, anyway. Meanwhile, there were other theories floating around that were purely mechanistic—they solved the first problem, but failed to be predictive (or at least, accurately predictive). In addition, Maxwell's work introduced a series of new problems.


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Is magic back for New England? Sox enjoy a big lead, Pats favored to win it all
Are we, once again, the hub of the baseball/football universe? The folks at BetUS.com think so. They just came out with their odds to win Super Bowl XLII and, to the surprise of everyone who's been living in a cave for the past few months, the Patriots have been installed as 3-1 favorites to raise another Lombardi Trophy in February.
Some perspective - the defending champion Colts got 7-1 odds to repeat, which means it must be OK to start writing those ''Why can't Peyton Manning win the big one?'' stories again.
Coincidentally, the latest World Series odds (also from BetUS.com) have the Sox as 3-1 favorites, too. Yes, that was before Curt Schilling's shoulder owie, but a 10-game lead is some comforting insulation.
So the degenerate gamblers think we're rushing headlong into another sports paradise, which is nice. Of course, we must point out that odds have become a touchy subject around here lately.
Celts, Bruins? forget them
After all, the Celtics spent months making loud beeping sounds as they tried to back up to the Greg Oden loading dock, and you know where that got them. They had the second-best chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick (19.9 percent) and wound up tumbling all the way to No. 5. So now Oden and Kevin Durant will be cloistered in the Pacific Northwest and we're reduced to talking to Joakim Noah about daddy Yannick's groundstrokes and Billy Donovan's mental state. Oh, what fun.
Then, of course, there's poor Dave Lewis, who thought he was a mortal, lead-pipe lock to return as Bruins coach until GM Peter ''Mulligan'' Chiarelli tapped him on the shoulder and said, ''Um, Dave, could I see you in my office?'' Now it's Claude Julien running the show. Or Claude Lemieux. Or Claude Rains. Or Julie Andrews. Whoever.
By the way, let's hope Question 1 on Chiarelli's ''So, you want to coach my team?'' quiz was something along the lines of, ''How many Bruins skaters, maximum, are allowed on the ice at one time, assuming you don't pull your goaltender?'' If the answer came back as, say, nine - which is what Lewis often seemed to think - let's hope Chiarelli moved on to the next candidate.
But back to the Big Two (Pats and Sox), who have been carrying the pro sports banner around here for quite a while.
Despite coming off an all-time playoff choke job - up 21-3 in the final minute of the first half of the AFC championship game in Indy - the Patriots are all the rage now. With Adalius Thomas, Randy Moss, Donte' Stallworth and Wes Welker in the fold and Junior Seau making like Roger Clemens, the Pats have become the darlings of the preseason magazines. A sampling of Super Bowl predictions: Sporting News - Patriots over Cowboys; Street & Smith's - Patriots over Saints; Pro Football Weekly - Patriots over Saints; Athlon - Patriots over Cowboys.
Do you see a trend here?
While the Patriots have potential, the Red Sox have reality. At 46-25 they own the best record in the majors and the biggest cushion of any division leader. The Yankees made some noise by winning nine straight and 11 of 12, but those rambunctious Rockies took them down a peg in Denver this past week. Meanwhile, the Sox seem to have righted their ship, even if Julio Lugo's average is collapsing faster than Vince Wilfork in a flimsy lawn chair.
And while we're on the subject, what kind of odds could you have gotten on this back in April? Home runs since May 9: Coco Crisp 4, Barry Bonds 3.
Anyway, might we be gearing up for another 2004 around here? And by 2004, we mean that magical, 13-month span in which the Patriots won Super Bowl XXXVIII (Feb. 1, 2004), the Red Sox won the Series (Oct. 27, 2004 - as if you could ever forget), and the Patriots won Super Bowl XXXIX (Feb. 6, 2005).
Could we get that lucky again, just three years later?
Nothing is guaranteed, of course. But name another city that has a better chance of turning that sort of championship double play.
Indy is disqualified because as good as the Colts are, there's no major league baseball in town. Oakland is out, too, since they don't have a real NFL team.
New York? Well, with twice the teams, it's always got a shot, although the Yankees have a ton of ground to make up, the Mets seem to be allergic to June, the Jets have the misfortune of playing in the Patriots' division and the Giants have the wrong Manning under center.
Minneapolis? Well, you gotta like any team that has Torii Hunter, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Johan Santana (that would be the Twins). But your Vikings quarterback is Tarvaris Jackson and you can't feel good about that.
Milwaukee/Green Bay? Philadelphia? Long shots in football and baseball, respectively.
Kansas City? Pittsburgh? No, on the baseball front.
Baltimore? Cincinnati? Ditto.
Detroit? Phoenix? Only if you believe in football miracles.
San Diego? Ah, now, there's a worthy adversary.
The Chargers - at 6-1 the second-best option for 2007, according to BetUS.com - might have knocked off the Patriots in the AFC divisional playoffs last season if they hadn't taken fistfuls of stupid pills right before kickoff. Coach Marty Schottenheimer is no longer an employee (probably a good thing) but LaDainian Tomlinson, Philip Rivers and Shawne Merriman are (a better thing). The Chargers come to Foxboro in Week 2 and that's a game that should be circled in red on your calendar.
Rehearsal this weekend?
No need to wait that long for a Red Sox-Padres tilt. We get a potential World Series preview this very weekend at Petco Park, where the hosts can show off their exquisite pitching staff, led by Jake Peavy (9-1, 1.98 ERA), Greg Maddux (6-3, 3.90), Chris Young (6-3, 2.26) and save king Trevor Hoffman.
Come the fall, arms like that could make San Diego's quality of life even better than it already is.
Summer officially started the other day, which means that NFL training camps and pennant chases aren't too far away.
Enjoy the lull now.
Check back in August and September and October, when we could be sitting on top of the world again.
Eric McHugh of The Patriot Ledger (Quincy, Mass.) may be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Tie Dye Knit RomperRegular price $24.00
Romper with snaps for easy diaper changes
Shipping Policy
Free shipping on orders over $75. Flat rate shipping of $5 on all orders under $75. Orders will ship via USPS First Class or Priority Mail depending on package size. Some larger items may ship via UPS. All orders will be sent out next business day.
We are not responsible for lost or stolen packages. We will always do our best to help work with the postal service, but please file a claim with USPS before reaching out.
Refund Policy
We accept returns on unworn, unused merchandise with original tags, within 14 days of purchase. Must present original receipt for a full refund. Store credit will be issued on returns after 14 days. No returns will be accepted after 60 days from purchase date. All "SALE" items are final. Baby registry gifts may be returned 14 days after shower date.
Hi, my name is Taleigh and I am so happy you are here!
Bows & Arrows is a children's clothing, toy and gift boutique located in the Texas panhandle. We offer items sized newborn to size 10 and gifts for everyone in between. I know you have a lot of options when it comes to shopping online, so I am so thankful you landed here!
Like I said, my name is Taleigh and owning my own store has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember!
I grew up in a suburb of Houston, then attended college at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX (wreck 'em!) where I met my husband, Lance. After a year in the big city of Dallas and working in the corporate world, we decided to move back to his hometown of Spearman, TX in 2012. We have 3 beautiful children here with us on earth and one sweet angel baby boy watching over us from Heaven. We opened Bows & Arrows in 2017, and we are so thankful for each and every customer along the way! By shopping small, and choosing us, you are allowing us to live out our dream, and for that, I cannot say thank you enough!


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It's the late 60s, and I'm in the backyard of our Pittsburgh home. My mother's brothers, James and John, and their brother-in-law Frank are back there too. We're busying ourselves with summer chores my mother has assigned. But Uncle John and Uncle Frank aren't having it. After all, none of this was their idea. One minute they were out carousing somewhere between Newark and the Bronx. The next thing they knew they were on the Pennsylvania Turnpike headed for Pittsburgh, my Uncle James behind the wheel.
I can still picture Uncle John and Frank, then well into their 40s, fathers with their own nearly grown children, whispering and giggling, sneaking over the backyard fence like two naughty boys. I would learn later that they had left in search of a local bar.
But what sticks in my memory most is Uncle James, the youngest of the three, quietly refusing to go along.
Uncle James liked having fun as much as the next guy, but he had made that midnight drive to Pittsburgh to help his recently widowed sister fix whatever was broken in her house. Once the chores were done, he went to join Uncle John and Uncle Frank, but he left through the front door.
Uncle James was a good brother. A loving husband. A supremely patient father and the best uncle in the world. After a stint in the Navy at the end of World War II, his day jobs were construction, truck driving and maintenance.
But on Friday nights you would find him with the North Jersey Philharmonic Glee Club, his weekend love.
In 1947, the same year he married his childhood sweetheart, my Aunt Evelyn, he joined the glee club, and would cherish both of them until he died in 2000. The Glee Club is an ensemble of African-American men of every religious affiliation, social station and neighborhood. The group was founded in 1939 and continues to this day.
Uncle James would have been 85 June 10. I've been playing an album the group recorded when he was a member. Here are a couple of songs featuring him as the soloist. I hope you enjoy them too.
Audio: "Water Boy,"_James Browne Solo, North Jersey Philharmonic Glee Club
Audio: "I'm Building Me A Home," James Browne Solo, North Jersey Philharmonic Glee Club


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Business update: Apple's next big thing
Business Insider
Apple is planning to release a new set-top television box, and it is working with Time Warner Cable and other companies for video content, Bloomberg reports.
The new Apple TV box could be introduced in April, but Bloomberg also says it's aiming to have the device out in time for the holidays. The new Apple TV will have a faster processor and a new interface.
This is the second report in the past few weeks about a new Apple TV. Previously, Mark Gurman at 9to5Mac said Apple was planning a new TV box. Gurman said Apple was planning an App Store for the TV box, and it would also do gaming.
Apple has been rumored to attack the TV market for years. It has famously called its current hockey-puck-shaped Apple TV a "hobby." CEO Tim Cook has also said, "Apple doesn't do hobbies as a general rule. We believe in focus. And only working on a few things."
That was in 2012. More recently in 2013, Cook said Apple has a "grand vision" for Apple TV.
And, then, most famously, Steve Jobs said before he died, "I'd like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use ... It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud ... It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it."
Since then, it's been fits and starts for Apple, with nothing to show for the effort.
Now, it looks like Apple is really ready to do something totally new.
The only weird thing about these reports is that Apple is only doing a set-top box. You'd think that Apple would want to make a full-blown television. But, there's talk that Apple is waiting for screen resolution on TVs to improve. This could just be laying the ground work for a television in a year or two.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-has-a-new-set-top-box-coming-bloomberg-2014-2#ixzz2t9evPZa8