For any non-first year students who got on-campus housing, have you received any email confirmation after selecting your room? I selected my bed during my assigned window (a 5-person apartment in UPN) but haven’t heard anything since. And I don’t have contact info for my new roommates.

TLDR; can trapped sweat under wound vac dressing cause infection?
hey guys, i’m 6 days post op and was sent home with a prevena plus 125 wound vac. it’s pretty hot in the midwest so i’ve been sweating a ton, even with the AC kicked down and additional fans placed around me. i’ve tried ice packs too to curb the sweating, but i keep getting almost hot flashes. i’m 2 years on T, so i definitely sweat more than i used to, but this feels excessive. I’m guessing it’s related to my body trying to heal.
My question is, do I need to worry about the sweat contaminating the incisions under the woundvac? I don’t know how to change the dressing so I haven’t yet. My 1 week follow up is tomorrow. I’m hoping I can wait it out and everything will be fine, but I am pretty worried about increased bacteria because although I feel a lot better physically, i’m still getting a lot of sharp or aching pain around my incisions and drain inserts. I have no way of checking for any signs of infection without removing the dressing, and i really don’t want to mess anything up because i was paranoid about an infection.

I was just listening to the album again (it's a really great album) and it suddenly hit me that this album is like an anti-fanservice album lmao. What do I mean by that? As an ex-One Direction fan, I am more than familiar with the concept of "fanservice" songs where the entire purpose is that you are supposed to imagine yourself being the amazing, beautiful person the artist is singing about falling in love with and y'all frolic off together into the sunset with your perfect relationship.
This album? Hell nah, I can't imagine anyone wanting to self-insert themselves into this album. Some of the things Monsta X sing about this person are not only expose them for being a less than stellar person, but the relationship as a whole being sung about is hella toxic and unhealthy on both sides. That's honestly what I love about this album tbh.
Like let me just go through Y/N's apparent crimes mentioned on each song. Just look at the lyrics :
ONE DAY

On to the next, that's what my mother said
All of my friends they never liked you

Crime Counter : 1 Y/N is disliked by all of their partner's friends and even their partner's mother
YOU PROBLEM

Tell me what do I do?
When you call me on a Friday night but never come through

Crime Counter : 2 Y/N is flaky and doesn't follow through with plans despite making them

All these chills, all these thrills
Burn my million dollar bills
Got us naked on the floor

Crime Counter : 3 Y/N is possibly a gold-diggespend-drift or at the very least is very not financially responsible lmao
WHISPERS IN THE DARK

Special, you had me thinking I was special
Been Kool Aid drinking with the devil
Should've known you'd never settle
You broke me
Don't trust nobody when they're lonely
I swear your kiss is laced with Codeine
I should've listened when they told me
Lying through your teeth
While you're lying next to me

Crime Counter : 4 Y/N only sleeps with people to fill their loneliness, not cause they actually care about them

Swear you're having the time of your life
You're an actress, a beautiful lie
But I hear whispers in the dark
Tragic, the way you're headed to the blacklist
Selling your soul in empty mansions

Crime Counter : 5 Y/N is apparently blatantly fake enough that everyone can tell and is talking about it (and holy shit if an ex told me I was selling my soul and headed to the blacklist I'd literally d i e )
Okay so I went through all the reasons I would NOT want to be the Y/N being sung about on this album, but don't get me wrong Y/N ain't the only problem here. Monsta X (as in, in the context of the album, not the actual group) do NOT make themselves out to be a great person to be in a relationship with either AT ALL.
Here's some more lyrics :
TIED TO YOUR BODY

Everyday I'm a little more obsessed
I'm a little more attached
You know that you got me
Just a little more tied to your body
Everyday I send a message, wondering if you're awake
Then send a few more

Hoooly crap, me personally - I could never be down for that degree of clinginess and obsession in a relationship, no siree.
SECRETS

Don't tell me your secrets, I don't wanna know
It's hard to imagine you before
Don't tell me your secrets, just leave them behind
Cause' I can't imagine what you'll think of mine

Pretty much self-admitting that they both suck, also hiding stuff from each other is just the perfectly healthy foundation for a great relationship amirite?
ABOUT LAST NIGHT

Woke up, couldn't feel my face
Help my brain's in outer space
Looking for a heart to break
I know I should probably stay home

This entire song is pretty much them trying to numb the pain via drinking, partying and in their own words - breaking hearts. Very healthy, totally-doesn't-need-therapy behaviour.
BETTER

It's hard to change, I'm trying babe
It hurts 'cause I know I will never get any better
Don't make me beg, don't walk away

It's giving Wattpad bad boy love interest who promises they're gonna get better but never do.
So not only do I not want to be the Y/N but I also don't want to be in any relationship similar to the one being sung about. It sounds exhausting as all hell.
I know it sounds like I'm criticizing the album but I'm really not, I love how bitter, toxic, hurtful and horny (but that's to be expected with Monsta X lmfao) the entire album is, especially in contrast to how upbeat some of the songs sound! 10/10 recommend everyone listen to this album if you do NOT want some perfect Y/N fantasy and instead want to be a fly on the wall to a messy ass melodramatic relationship.
Also it's one of the BEST English K-pop albums (I mean again, it's to be expected with Monsta X) ever so totally check it out if you haven't!

Hello.
I don’t want to make this post too long but I was hoping for some advice on calf problems. Back story is, I used to be a pharmacy technician, so I was on my feet a lot. Approximately 2016-2017ish. I didn’t work there extremely long, maybe just a year. Anyways, one day I was reaching up to grab a bottle of pills from the shelf and had to stand up on my toes. I would say I did this a lot as I am a short female (27 now). I noticed not long after that that I had a pain in my right calf. I assumed I pulled it and waited for the pain to go away. The pain never went away. I stopped working at that job, had a sit-down job not too long after for about two years. I’m not active whatsoever so no running or extreme sports for me. I am what you would consider over weight but I was at least 30 pounds lighter when this started. I did see several different docs before I saw a podiatrist who told me immediately it was Achilles tendinitis. I did physical therapy for some time after and did stretches and massages at home. The pain persisted. Eventually I was so fed up with the pain and nothing that the doctors said to do helped so I just stopped caring. Eventually I noticed the same pain in my left calf. It’s not AS bad as the right leg, but it’s definitely there.
The pain is not there if I am laying down or sitting but if I get up and walk around or stand, even for like a normal grocery store trip, it will hurt AFTER I have sat down. Sometimes the pain is like sharp shooting pains that come and go. They are sharp enough to stop me from whatever I am doing to just hold my calf in pain and then it will stop until the next sharp pain comes. (Cramps?) Other times it will remain sore and achy. I don’t have any pain in my heel or feet. It’s literally just from the back of my calf that hurts and I feel the pain does radiate down the ankle.
When massaged it hurts a lot. Doctors and friends who have felt my calves have agreed that my tendon is VERY tight. I don’t have much flexibility to my foot when it comes to pulling your toes toward you.
It doesn’t happen every time I am active but enough to certainly make an impact. I’m not looking for medical advice. I am hoping for possible suggestions on stretches or even relatable experiences. So far, upon googling, I am only finding people who are super active and get injuries from running long distances. I am neither of those things.
Any insight would be helpful!

<< Previous Index Next >> (ToC at Chapter 1)
(Original, Contemporary MC in supernatural setting, Magic, Afterlives, Souls)
Schedule: New chapters every Monday and Thursday.

Chapter 10

It took Kenny several minutes to regain his strength, and he wasn't exactly fresh afterward.
"It's not just exhaustion," he said. "It was so hard to concentrate, and I was seeing black spots for a while."
"I'm going to heal you back," I said. "Don't worry, you'll feel like new."
"No, No," he waved me down. "We have to be efficient about this. We have to plan it out."
"You're right," I said. "We need to know if we can heal only the body or even a single wound."
"Not only that," he replied. "We made a lot of assumptions here. We need to get rid of all the unnecessary stuff," he pointed at the ground. "The first thing that needs to go is the temple. We didn't even use the right one, and it will be a whole different game if we can Heal outside."
We made our plans and went outside. I wasn't a stranger to the scientific method. I went to school like every else, but planning experiments for something explicitly supernatural felt out of place. If it can be repeated at will, we'll be able to depend on it. Hell, if it was impossible to sleep, we would have to rely on something like this.
We slowly walked out of the plaza, noting the bustling activity near the growing ramp, and turned a corner behind one of the closest unattended buildings. When we ensured there were no people or ghouls in sight. We continued to experiment.
It didn't take us long, ten minutes at most. And yet, while I still felt reinvigorated physically, the clarity and freshness left me by this point. Whatever Kenny did, it was not the substitution to sleep the witch made it out to be.
First, we had to try it without all the most likely noise. We were outside the temple and decided to try to recover only Kenny's life force.
It took him several tries to manage a nick on his skin, and I was quick to draw the Ankh on his hand. We already knew the placement of the symbol was insignificant since he used the one we drew on my hand to Heal everything.
"Do you accept this blessing to recover your life force?" I asked him.
"Yes," he accepted.
"This Ankh was drawn with your blood and my saliva. It represents life," I said, touching the symbol.
"I use some of my life to bless you," I proclaimed. "Be restored."
I finished with a prolonged measured blow on his symbol. It was a hard feeling to describe, a mentally draining exercise that made me feel lessened for it.
I stopped blowing when Kenny lifted a hand.
"Did it work?" I asked. I felt the drain, but it did not guarantee success.
"Yeah, It felt like getting slapped awake or chugging coffee," he answered. "Could be addictive. We should be careful with this."
This was a huge win. We now gained the ability to Heal outside of the temple.
I was in awe. Not only miracles or magic were possible. I had this miraculous ability—me. It was unbelievable, and there was much more to come.

***

We continued our work, resting between each try, and still, we were both spent by the end.
Kenny managed to Heal himself. Then I succeeded in treating separate wounds.
The Ankh could be drawn using anything. We didn't have to use bodily fluids for it. The symbol was not strictly necessary but made the spell easier. We could use a stone with the sign to Heal without drawing it on the body.
The patient's permission was only needed when casting on each other; without it, the effect was severely weakened. Same with touch.
The most selective of all was the ending. The command to be healed could be whispered, which didn't change the result. Willing the effect silently was strenuous and barely worked, but it was possible.
After that, only the trigger remained. Blowing on the symbol or whispering to it worked like pouring water. It was seamless and gradual. However, using the command itself as a trigger, a snap of the fingers, or a clap, was worse. The effect was more abrupt, harder on the caster, and felt more wasteful.
We were absolutely exhausted, but we had the framework for future spells.
Consent from the target, a symbol of the effect, the intent to use life force, the command, touch, and the trigger.
Out of all of them, only the use of life was missing on our very first try, we were so close, but it took us so much time to get to it. It was also the only thing essential for the spell. All of the others only made the magic more manageable and potent.
"We must thank Victor," Kenny remarked. "His description was so good, we actually managed to repeat it."
"I still can't believe I can use magic," I said. "He only missed the life-force aspect, and he couldn't have known it either way. And oh, how I wish we knew the spit wasn't necessary. I feel so stupid for trying with it so many times," I chuckled.
"I still don't understand the Ankh," Kenny complained. "It represents life, so do we use it for any spell that uses our life? Or maybe only the spells that affect life?" he continued to ramble. "What even gives it the meaning of life? How many people need to recognize the symbol to give it meaning?"
"Whoa, hold your horses there," I said. "I wouldn't risk casting anymore without rest. You need to find a way to write down all your ideas, or your head will explode," I joked.
I was very thankful to Kenny, but he needed to be more careful. It took some persuading to make him stop earlier. We didn't know what would happen if we used too much of our life. We could die for all I knew.
"I have just the idea for next time," Kenny said. "You'll only have to heal a small cut up to three times at worst, and we will have another piece of the puzzle."
"What piece exactly?" I asked.
"I can tell you only after you do it. That's part of it," he said.
His enthusiasm was infectious, which made me curious, but I was serious when I decided to stop. So It'll have to wait.
We were walking beside the colonnade when I noticed his silver tray.
"Didn't you try to sell it?" I asked.
"Nobody wanted it," he shrugged. "I just left it here when I saw you talk to Victor."
I got an idea.
"Let's go talk to the witch," I proposed.
He looked at me questioningly.
"We won't tell her we figured out her trick," I warned him. "But we need to get as much as we can from her. Anything she lets slip, we may be able to use."
I picked up the tray. "This will be our gift to her. Who doesn't like silver?"
"We need to ask her about the Goddess," Kenny suggested. "And how she knows when it's dawn."
"We'll ask her to teach us to heal," I said.
"Why?" He asked. "We already know that."
"Just to see what the price she puts on that information is," I said. "We'll know her better for it."
Kenny hummed thoughtfully.
"Chin up. We're going to make a new friend," I joked.

Hello good people. Here I am hoping to meet and vibe with someone. I know reddit isn’t the best of place’s, But hey who wouldn’t like some fairy tale in their life.
So to tell you about me, I'm a 24 year old who is very outgoing and loves to experience and do new stuff to keep me going. I'm very social and easy to make friends with. I'm articulate, mature and Refined.
I'm an avid football follower and I support the Red Devils-Manchester united. Well even though they haven’t won much since I started following them back in 2015 they’re very close to my heart. I guess one thing that you can take from this is my loyalty haha. So if you ever need a buddy to watch or discuss anything football, I'm your goto guy.
I try and game but suck real hard at it. It’s the perfect example of insanity. I try and try again to improve and funnily think raging in a mmorpg like League of legends with the most toxic players would help me relax after long day of work. So yeah if you ever need a noob to play with hit me up.Recently I have also been trying to cultivate the habit of reading some books so if you are someone who reads books and would like to help me out to do so your help is appreciated
I’m the kind of person who notices little things and would like to surprise you with them. A great listener who loves to talk about random things and knows how to keep the conversation going
I bet that I could beat you at binge watching a series any day. I’m a big weeb, We could watch or rewatch any series under the sun.
I get excited a lot even about small things and would probably discuss it with you. My political views lean to the left and would welcome any kind of respectful discussions. Not saying that this would be completely sfw. But if we reach a stage where both of us are comfortable discussing nsfw stuff and taking things physical I have my kinks and turn ons which we can discuss when we are comfortable around each other
I’m 5’7 with a normal bod. I talk a lot and sometimes not talk at all and just listen to you. I would want to be friends with your friends and get along with them just fine
I love and cherish all my friendships and relationships. The kind of person who you will come to talk if you’re feeling low or to share your success with
So if you have reached so far do not hesitate to drop in a text. I just need some new friends over here. I'm 420 friendly and we could also go for clubbing.
Tldr:- So long story short I'm looking for people to hangout with. Potentially a date if things go well

Hey guys, I’ve been on a weight loss journey since November, and it’s been going pretty decently (with only a few mini binges here and there on like, birthdays or holidays). I was honestly feeling great as last year I used to binge almost every single day and was incredibly unhealthy both mentally and physically. However, May has been absolutely awful and I began to have these extreme, uncontrollable binges 2-3 times a week. Every time I’d tell myself that this was the “last time” (yeah, right), and I’d go workout or try to go back to eating according to a reasonable deficit the next day. I’d start to feel good again just to accidentally go over, like, only 200 cals above my deficit. Instead of just shrugging it off (because really what does it matter, I’d still be under my maintenance) and walking a bit more or cutting by 50 cals the rest of the week, I’d get extremely angry at myself, say “fuck it” and then emotionally binge 5,000 cals while planning to fast for like the following 2-3 days to “cancel it out” (I was never able to make it past a day). It’s just been a cycle. I told myself that this month would go better but I already mega binged twice and I feel horrible, especially with it being summer. I feel as though I lost all of the hard work I put into losing weight. I feel like a loser and in about a month, I’m meeting up with some old friends and a guy I’m interested in that I haven’t seen since I was doing well and looking lean and I’m afraid of what they’ll say and that they’ll notice how much I’ve let myself go. I really really need some tips on how to get back on track. I don’t want to go back to how I used to be last year. I’m terrified. I just want to be strong like I was able to be a couple months ago but I’m so depressed about my current state.

If depression and suicidal ideation go around in packs, then I guess I’m a good example. I entered my freshman year of college in fall of 2019 hoping for a positive experience. Idk what I was expecting, but I thought that the Ivies would have an engaged and curious student body.
It’s been anything but. Everyone around me is a neurotic and suicidal wreck, and I think it got worse due to COVID. I’m supposed to be graduating this week and starting my “adult” life, but I still have two years left of school because I’m a loser and took multiple leaves of absence because I’m depressed and suicidal.
One of my professors freshman fall killed himself. I started having intense suicidal ideation during Spring of 2020 when my college sent everyone home during COVID, and the suicidal urges and depression haven’t stopped. My sophomore year, during fall of 2020, I signed up to be a “virtual orientation leader” (fake and gay, I know) at my school — not because I was particularly enthusiastic about my college, but because it was a simple and easy job that pays surprisingly well.
I never checked up on any of my freshmen after orientation because they were literally scattered around everywhere — some were on campus, some were back at home. One of the freshmen I had who was living on campus killed himself at the end of his freshman fall. I feel this deep, empty void in me that doesn’t even feel like guilt anymore, not when so many other people I know killed themselves.
A guy from my freshman floor who I really hated and thought was super annoying killed himself last year. An upperclassmen friend and a mentor I had died of cancer a few months ago. One of my closest friends from college, someone who actually *is* graduating this week and is literally a genius (like she’s graduating as one of the valedictorians of an Ivy and got into Stanford Law School as a Knight-Hennessy scholar) calls me every now and then talking about her suicidal ideation. My other close friend also took a leave of absence because she’s suicidal, and I’m really worried about her. Someone in our friend group committed suicide a few months ago and I don’t know, I don’t know what to do or how to feel anymore. I was always suicidal anyways. The girl in my friend group who killed herself was also a socially isolated and slightly autistic only child like me, I can’t imagine how her parents feel.
I transferred to another Ivy at the beginning of my junior year (fall of 2021), and it’s been more suicides, depression, and despair. A hot, rich, and talented girl in this quirky lil DIY music club I was in killed herself, and I was stunned that someone so ethereal wanted to die. I spiraled, and I spiraled hard every single day I was at school.
Why was everyone around me so neurotic and anxious? Is it because it’s an Ivy in a notoriously stressful city? Or is it just the post-COVID malaise of knowing that nothing is stable, nothing is forever, and nothing is enough…
I took a leave of absence from school for a year (basically all of 2022) because I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t handle being in an environment where everyone was anxious and people I know were killing themselves and I was scared, scared all the time. For all of last year, I worked a few jobs and internships and did a gay ass DBT therapy program to “not be depressed anymore.”
Well it turns out that therapy doesn’t help you stop being depressed or suicidal if there’s nothing really left in your life to live for. Being in therapy and all those stupid DBT therapy groups just highlighted how empty and meaningless my life is. It made me angrier and even more suicidal, and I genuinely think that CBT/DBT is like some sort of psychological gaslighting for some (not all, or even many) patients…
I got back to school in January of 2023. I was just instantly demoralized by being in my environment and frequently fantasized about killing myself. I drifted in and out of the psych ward near my college until I took another leave of absence after two months.
I went back home in March and felt like a failure. One massive failure. How could I fail to hack it at school even after a year-long leave of absence? Something is profoundly wrong with me. Being a full-time college student is super easy; why can’t I handle it? Something is really wrong with me.
I later learned that a guy who lived ten floors above me jumped off our dorm building and killed himself. It was really sad, he seemed like a nice guy whenever I talked to him in the elevator. He was a football player and was planning on going into finance and all that, I really thought those people were the ones who had it together.
I literally cannot relate to other people at ALL. My life has been so far from anything resembling a normal life that I don’t even know how to form human bonds anymore. I’m depressed and suicidal and so is everyone else in my life.
I just want to be in a warm, nurturing place where all my friends aren’t on the verge of killing themselves. Everyone around me is a neurotic, anxious striver on the brink of collapse — they’re (literally) willing to kill themselves for whatever lofty goal they have set up.
Should I try to leave my current school? Or am I one of those miserable fuckers who is probably destined to be a suicidal bitch wherever I end up? Just the idea of going back to my insanely pretentious and cutthroat school is making me ill, but maybe this sub needs to tell me that I’m a weak little bitch and just need to get over it.
I feel empty all the time. I’ve been depressed before college but the past three years have introduced an emptiness and a death drive that I didn’t even think I was capable of having. Has anyone else been in a suicide cluster?

i spend a lot of time daydreaming and consuming media.
i’m genuinely not sure if i love my family more than the celebrities and fictional characters i love. like of course i care about my family and don’t want anything bad to happen to them. but i kind of don’t enjoy being around them or anyone.
i can’t say “i love you” to people, including my family. i’ve realized lately that maybe my intrusive thoughts involving family members has made me more distant. with my intrusive thoughts, saying “i love you” or any touching feels perverted. but also i just hate being touched by anyone. in my daydreams sometimes i’ll hug/cuddle or touch someone if i view them romantically but i don’t know if i’d ever actually enjoy that irl which makes me sad.
in my daydreams i am around celebrities and fictional characters and enjoy that fake socialization but hate real socializing. i don’t have friends and don’t talk to people other than family. there are people online who have the same interests as me that i want to reach out to but never do. i have parasocial relationships in my head with some people i follow online (nothing inappropriate just imagining being their friend and talking openly with them.) i feel creepy about it but i prefer keeping this parasocial relationship to reaching out because any conversation i have dies down quickly i have nothing to say.
social situations are so draining. my body aches just from being around people. i’m only comfortable when i’m home alone. i really only leave my room to eat and use bathroom but i feel like i’m being watched anytime i’m around anyone. when i’m completely alone i can talk to myself freely, sing, clean, do whatever and feel ok about it. i don’t even have the urge to act the way i do when alone around others. i just completely shut down and become a different person.
i’m so moody but if anyone raises their voice at me slightly i’ll start crying when they leave the room. i’m not someone that hates people i just want them at a distance.
i have ocd, selective mutism, autism, depression and anxiety and i don’t know if this is related to those or i have some other problem. i almost never leave the house anymore. not self diagnosing but avoidant personality disorder does sound applicable to me from what i’ve read about it.
i’m in therapy and on meds. with selective mutism i can’t talk to my therapist i just nod and sometimes write but can’t write much. i think my meds have made me even more apathetic towards real people but i’ve been on so many different meds and i think something’s wrong everytime so it might just be me looking for something wrong. i’ve always been shy and kind of spacey but nowhere near as bad as i’ve been for the past few years.

I am representing myself in court for an order of protection that was filed against me. I don’t have court until July 27th. I submitted my evidence to the other parties lawyer and they never replied or sent me anything back. When we went to court back In may, the judge said to us “hopefully you guys can work this out amongst yourself before the trial” so I typed up a letter of apology and taking blame for any actions that I truly did and also stating I will respect the other party. Again, no reply. This was filed by my brothers girlfriend who I have not seen since September 18th. Her friend falsely accused me of saying something insulting, and I did not (I have witnesses). I reached out to my brothers gf on multiple attempts to try and resolve any issues because she’s 19 and I’m 30 and was told she’s believing her bff over me. I only reached out multiple times because she is the mother of my nephew and she eventually cut me off over this rumor. I haven’t seen my nephew since September 18th either. In my letter I admitted that I texted her too many times and bothered her. Never any physical threats or insults for that matter. Is her lawyer required to provide evidence to me? Does me reaching out per judges advice look better on my part?

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I (27f) am in a long term relationship(4 yrs) with my bf (27m). It seems like the further into our relationship we get the less he wants to have sex. When we do it’s usually when he’s intoxicated. It’s to the point where I really don’t initiate anymore because I don’t want to be rejected. When we talk about it he says he just has a low sex drive but it wasn’t always this way. I physically haven’t changed much since we first got together so I don’t really have that to blame.
The more I talk about it the more I’m hearing the a lot of women in long term relationships/marriages experience the same thing. We want to have sex but are regularly turned down. It’s only when our partner is intoxicated that it happens. And when there is sober sex it’s not intimate but more a means to an end for our partner. It’s frustrating and hurtful but I can’t push it because consent is super important. I’m just curious as to why this is such a common thing.
Men, do you have input? Is there a reason for this? What changes within the relationship/attraction that results in a low sex drive over time? What can help change it?

1. Digital Communication 14.1. Introduction to Digital Communication Digital communication is made from two words - digital and communication. Digital refers to the discrete time-varying signal. Communication refers to the exchange of information between two or more sources. Digital communication as a whole refers to the exchange of digital information between the sender and receiver using different devices and methods. The data transmission using analog methods for long-distance communication suffers from distortion, delays, interferences, and other losses. To overcome these problems, the digitization and sampling of signals using different techniques help in making the transmission process more efficient, clear, and accurate. Digital communication is a popular technology used today in electronics. It allows us to access video conferencing, digital meetings, online education, etc. The data can travel up to long distances within a second with the help of the internet and other modes of digital communication. It not only saves money but also saves time and effort. It has also raised the standard of an individual's social, political, and economic life. 14.2. Networks and Busses The wires between the tank and the monitoring location is called a bus or a network. The distinction between these two terms is more semantic than technical, and the two may be used interchangeably for all practical purposes. The term “bus” is usually used in reference to a set of wires connecting digital components within the enclosure of a computer device, and “network” is for something that is physically more widespread. There are many types of buses and networks. Each one has its own applications, advantages, and disadvantages. 12.2.1. Short-distance busses 12.2.1.1. PC/AT Bus used in early IBM-compatible computers to connect peripheral devices such as disk drive and sound cards to the motherboard of the computer.

12.2.1.2. PCI Another bus used in personal computers, but not limited to IBM-compatibles. Much faster than PC/AT. Typical data transfer rate of 100 Mbytes/second (32 bit) and 200 Mbytes/second (64 bit). 12.2.1.3. PCMCIA A bus designed to connect peripherals to laptop and notebook sized personal computers. Has a very small physical “footprint,” but is considerably slower than other popular PC buses. 12.2.1.4. VME A high-performance bus (co-designed by Motorola, and based on Motorola’s earlier Versa-Bus standard) for constructing versatile industrial and military computers, where multiple memory, peripheral, and even microprocessor cards could be plugged in to a passive “rack” or “card cage” to facilitate custom system designs. Typical data transfer rate of 50 Mbytes/second (64 bits wide). 12.2.1.5. VXI An expansion of the VME bus, VXI (VME eXtension for Instrumentation) includes the standard VME bus along with connectors for analog signals between cards in the rack. 12.2.1.6. S-100 Sometimes called the Altair bus, this bus standard was the product of a conference in 1976, intended to serve as an interface to the Intel 8080 microprocessor chip. Similar in philosophy to the VME, where multiple function cards could be plugged in to a passive “rack,” facilitating the construction of custom systems.
12.2.1.7. MC6800 The Motorola equivalent of the Intel-centric S-100 bus, designed to interface peripheral devices to the popular Motorola 6800 microprocessor chip. 12.2.1.8. STD Stands for Simple-To-Design and is yet another passive “rack” similar to the PC/AT bus, and lends itself well toward designs based on IBM-compatible hardware. Designed by Pro-Log, it is 8 bits wide (parallel), accommodating relatively small (4.5 inch by 6.5 inch) circuit cards. 12.2.1.9. Multibus I and II Another bus intended for the flexible design of custom computer systems, designed by Intel. 16 bits wide (parallel). 12.2.1.10. CompactPCI An industrial adaptation of the personal computer PCI standard, designed as a higher-performance alternative to the older VME bus. At a bus clock speed of 66 MHz, data transfer rates are 200 Mbytes/ second (32 bit) or 400 Mbytes/sec (64 bit). 12.2.1.11. Microchannel Yet another bus, this one designed by IBM for their ill-fated PS/2 series of computers, intended for the interfacing of PC motherboards to peripheral devices. 12.2.1.12. IDE A bus used primarily for connecting personal computer hard disk drives with the appropriate peripheral cards. Widely used in today’s personal computers for hard drive and CD-ROM drive interfacing.
12.2.1.13. SCSI An alternative (technically superior to IDE) bus used for personal computer disk drives. SCSI stands for Small Computer System Interface. Used in some IBM- compatible PC’s, as well as Macintosh (Apple), and many mini and mainframe business computers. Used to interface hard drives, CD-ROM drives, floppy disk drives, printers, scanners, modems, and a host of other peripheral devices. Speeds up to 1.5 Mbytes per second for the original standard. 12.2.1.14. GPIB (IEEE 488) General Purpose Interface Bus, also known as HPIB or IEEE 488, which was intended for the interfacing of electronic test equipment such as oscilloscopes and multimeters to personal computers. 8 bit wide address/data “path” with 8 additional lines for communications control. 12.2.1.15. Centronics parallel Widely used on personal computers for interfacing printer and plotter devices. Sometimes used to interface with other peripheral devices, such as external ZIP (100 Mbyte floppy) disk drives and tape drives. 12.2.1.16. USB Universal Serial Bus, which is intended to interconnect many external peripheral devices (such as keyboards, modems, mice, etc.) to personal computers. Long used on Macintosh PC’s, it is now being installed as new equipment on IBM-compatible machines. 12.2.1.17. FireWire (IEEE 1394) A high-speed serial network capable of operating at 100, 200, or 400 Mbps with versatile features such as “hot swapping” (adding or removing devices with the power on) and flexible topology. Designed for high-performance personal computer interfacing.
12.2.1.18. Bluetooth A radio-based communications network designed for office linking of computer devices. Provisions for data security designed into this network standard. 12.2.2. Extended-distance networks 12.2.2.1. 20 mA current loop Not to be confused with the common instrumentation 4-20 mA analog standard, this is a digital communications network based on interrupting a 20 mA (or sometimes 60 mA) current loop to represent binary data. Although the low impedance gives good noise immunity, it is susceptible to wiring faults (such as breaks) which would fail the entire network. 12.2.2.2. RS-232C The most common serial network used in computer systems, often used to link peripheral devices such as printers and mice to a personal computer. Limited in speed and distance (typically 45 feet and 20 kbps, although higher speeds can be run with shorter distances). I’ve been able to run RS-232 reliably at speeds more than 100 kbps, but this was using a cable only 6 feet long! RS- 232C is often referred to simply as RS-232 (no “C”). 12.2.2.3. RS-422A/RS-485 Two serial networks designed to overcome some of the distance and versatility limitations of RS-232C. Used widely in industry to link serial devices together in electrically “noisy” plant environments. Much greater distance and speed limitations than RS-232C, typically over half a mile and at speeds approaching 10 Mbps. 12.2.2.4. Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) A high-speed network which links computers and some types of peripheral devices together. “Normal” Ethernet runs at a speed of 10 million bits/second, and “Fast” Ethernet runs at 100 million bits/second. The slower (10 Mbps) Ethernet has been implemented in a variety of means on copper
wire (thick coax = “10BASE5”, thin coax = “10BASE2”, twisted-pair = “10BASE- T”), radio, and on optical fiber (“10BASE-F”). The Fast Ethernet has also been implemented on a few different means (twisted-pair, 2 pair = 100BASE-TX; twisted-pair, 4 pair = 100BASE-T4; optical fiber = 100BASE-FX). 12.2.2.5. Token ring Another high-speed network linking computer devices together, using a philosophy of communication that is much different from Ethernet, allowing for more precise response times from individual network devices, and greater immunity to network wiring damage. 12.2.2.6. FDDI A very high-speed network exclusively implemented on fiber-optic cabling. 12.2.2.7. Modbus/Modbus Plus Originally implemented by the Modicon corporation, a large maker of Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) for linking remote I/O (Input/Output) racks with a PLC processor. Still quite popular. 12.2.2.8. Profibus Originally implemented by the Siemens corporation, another large maker of PLC equipment. 12.2.2.9. Foundation Fieldbus A high-performance bus expressly designed to allow multiple process instruments (transmitters, controllers, valve positioners) to communicate with host computers and with each other. May ultimately displace the 4-20 mA analog signal as the standard means of interconnecting process control instrumentation in the future.
14.3. Data Flow Buses and networks are designed to allow communication to occur between individual devices that are interconnected. The flow of information, or data, between nodes, can take a variety of forms: With simplex communication, all data flow is unidirectional: from the designated transmitter to the designated receiver. BogusBus is an example of simplex communication, where the transmitter sent information to the remote monitoring location, but no information is ever sent back to the water tank. If all we want to do is send information one-way, then simplex is just fine. Most applications, however, demand more: With duplex communication, the flow of information is bi- directional for each device. Duplex can be further divided into two sub- categories:
The Half-Duplex works like a type of communication, that may be likened to two tin cans on the ends of a single taut string: Either can may be used to transmit or receive, but not at the same time. Full-duplex communication is more like a true telephone, where two people can talk at the same time and hear one another simultaneously, the mouthpiece of one phone transmitting the earpiece of the other, and vice versa. Full-duplex is often facilitated through the use of two separate channels or networks, with an individual set of wires for each direction of communication. It is sometimes accomplished by means of multiple-frequency carrier waves, especially in radio links, where one frequency is reserved for each direction of communication.
14.5. Optical Data Communication A modern alternative to sending (binary) digital information via electric voltage signals is to use optical (light) signals. Electrical signals from digital circuits (high/low voltages) may be converted into discrete optical signals (light or no light) with LEDs or solid-state lasers. Likewise, light signals can be translated back into electrical form by photodiodes or phototransistors for introduction into the inputs of gate circuits. Transmitting digital information in optical form may be done in open air, simply by aiming a laser at a photodetector at a remote distance, but interference with the beam in the form of temperature inversion layers, dust, rain, fog, and other obstructions can present significant engineering problems:
One way to avoid the problems of open-air optical data transmission is to send the light pulses down an ultra-pure glass fibre. Glass fibres will “conduct” a beam of light much as a copper wire will conduct electrons, with the advantage of completely avoiding all the associated problems of inductance, capacitance, and external interference plaguing electrical signals. Optical fibres keep the light beam contained within the fibre core by a phenomenon known as total internal reflectance. An optical fibre is composed of two layers of ultra- pure glass, each layer made of glass with a slightly different refractive index, or capacity to “bend” light. With one type of glass concentrically layered around a central glass core, light introduced into the central core cannot escape outside the fibre, but is confined to travel within the core: Optical fibres exceed the data-handling performance of copper wire in almost every regard. They are totally immune to electromagnetic interference and have very high bandwidths. However, they are not without certain weaknesses.
14.6. Network Topology 14.6.1. Point-to-Point Connecting two digital devices with a network, would have a kind of network known as “point-to-point:” The network wiring is symbolized as a single line between the two devices. It may be a twisted pair of wires, a coaxial cable, an optical fibre, or even a seven-conductor BogusBus. 14.6.2. Bus Topology A type of network which uses a common transmission medium where all nodes of network are connected to it.
14.6.3. Star Topology A type of network that uses a hub, switch, or computer to act as a central network and which all the nodes connect to it. The selected hub, switch or computer acts as a server. 14.6.4. Ring Topology This topology provides the best reliability with the least amount of wiring. Since each node has two connection points to the ring, a single break in any part of the ring doesn’t affect the integrity of the network.
14.7. Network Protocols The standardized method by which nodes are allowed to transmit to the bus or network wiring is called a protocol. There are many different protocols for arbitrating the use of a common network between multiple nodes, and I’ll cover just a few here. However, it is good to be aware of these few, and to understand why some work better for some purposes than others. Usually, a specific protocol is associated with a standardized type of network. This is merely another “layer” to the set of standards which are specified under the titles of various networks. The International Standards Organization (ISO) has specified a general architecture of network specifications in their DIS7498 model (applicable to most any digital network). Consisting of seven “layers,” this outline, named the Open Systems Interconnection Layer (OSI Layer) attempts to categorize all levels of abstraction necessary to communicate digital data. Level 1: Physical Specifies electrical and mechanical details of communication: wire type, connector design, signal types and levels. Level 2: Data link Defines formats of messages, how data is to be addressed, and error detection/correction techniques. Level 3: Network Establishes procedures for encapsulation of data into “packets” for transmission and reception. Level 4: Transport Among other things, the transport layer defines how complete data files are to be handled over a network. Level 5: Session Organizes data transfer in terms of beginning and end of a specific transmission. Analogous to job control on a multitasking computer operating system.
Level 6: Presentation Includes definitions for character sets, terminal control, and graphics commands so that abstract data can be readily encoded and decoded between communicating devices. Level 7: Application The end-user standards for generating and/or interpreting communicated data in its final form. In other words, the actual computer programs using the communicated data. 14.8. Practical considerations - Digital Communication A principal consideration for industrial control networks, where the monitoring and control of real-life processes must often occur quickly and at set times, is the guaranteed maximum communication time from one node to another. The ability for a network to guarantee data “throughput” is called determinism. A deterministic network has a guaranteed maximum time delay for data transfer from node to node, whereas a non-deterministic network does not. The preeminent example of a non-deterministic network is Ethernet, where the nodes rely on random time-delay circuits to reset and re-attempt transmission after a collision.

Currently not allowed to bear weight on my legs and stand due to a surgery. But man. Lean over to reach for something? Dizzy. Turn around in bed? Dizzy. Nod my head yes or no? Wipe myself on the toilet? All dizzy. I wasn't even this dizzy when the relapse first happened in Oct 2021. Since then I've had recurrences of dizziness several times and it is mostly in the crap gap phase but it's never been this bad..
I keep wondering if it's progression? Or another pseudo relapse because I'm stressed out, recovering from surgery and doing excruciatingly painful daily physical therapy? Idk. I have to stand up in 2 weeks and I'm scared I'm gonna fall. Even when I'm not standing.
Any thoughts? Any similar situation/experiences?

1. Digital Storage (Memory) 12.1. Why digital? The advantages of the digital systems over the analog systems are the reproducibility of the results and accuracy; the ease of design (no special math skills needed to visualize the behavior of small digital logic circuits); the flexibility and functionality; the programmability; the speed (a digital logic element can produce an output in less than 10 nanoseconds) and the economy (due to the integration of millions of digital logic elements on a single miniature chip forming low cost integrated circuit (ICs). 12.2. Digital Memory Terms and Concepts data – stored information address – the location of the data

tracks and sectors – physical location of the data random access – to address quickly and precisely a specific data location within the device sequential access – the function of the random access is not possible here writing – storing a piece of data to a memory device reading – retrieving data from a memory device read-only memory (ROM) – pre-written memory device, that does not allow the writing of new data read-write memory – pre-written or blank memory device, that allows to be re- written volatile memory – an electric power is maintained to the circuit non-volatile memory – no source of power is needed to maintain data storage random access memory (RAM) – volatile electronic memory read-only memory (ROM) – non-volatile memory integrated circuit 12.3. Modern Nonmechanical Memory A very simple type of electronic memory is the bistable multivibrator. Capable of storing a single bit of data, it is volatile (requiring power to maintain its memory) and very fast. The D-latch is probably the simplest implementation of a bistable multivibrator for memory usage, the D input serving as the data “write” input, the Q output serving as the “read” output, and the enable input serving as the read/write control line:
If we desire more than one bit’s worth of storage, we’ll have to have many latches arranged in some kind of an array where we can selectively address which one (or which set) we’re reading from or writing to. Using a pair of tristate buffers, we can connect both the data write input and the data read output to a common data bus line, and enable those buffers to either connect the Q output to the data line (READ), connect the D input to the data line (WRITE), or keep both buffers in the High-Z state to disconnect D and Q from the data line (unaddressed mode). One memory “cell” would look like this, internally: When the address enable input is 0, both tristate buffers will be placed in high- Z mode, and the latch will be disconnected from the data input/output (bus) line. Only when the address enable input is active (1) will the latch be connected to the data bus. Every latch circuit, of course, will be enabled with a different “address enable” (AE) input line, which will come from a 1-of-n output decoder:
In the above circuit, 16 memory cells are individually addressed with a 4- bit binary code input into the decoder. If a cell is not addressed, it will be disconnected from the 1-bit data bus by its internal tristate buffers: consequently, data cannot be either written or read through the bus to or from that cell. Only the cell circuit that is addressed by the 4-bit decoder input will be accessible through the data bus. This simple memory circuit is random- access and volatile. Technically, it is known as static RAM. Its total memory capacity is 16 bits. Since it contains 16 addresses and has a data bus that is 1 bit wide, it would be designated as a 16 x 1 bit static RAM circuit. As you can see, it takes an incredible number of gates (and multiple transistors per gate) to construct a practical static RAM circuit. This makes the static RAM a relatively low-density device, with less capacity than most other types of RAM technology per unit IC chip space. Because each cell circuit consumes a certain amount of power, the overall power consumption for a large array of cells can be quite high. Early static RAM banks in personal computers consumed a fair amount of power and generated a lot of heat, too. CMOS IC technology has made it possible to lower the specific power consumption of static RAM circuits, but low storage density is still an issue. To address this, engineers
turned to the capacitor instead of the bistable multivibrator as a means of storing binary data. A tiny capacitor could serve as a memory cell, complete with a single MOSFET transistor for connecting it to the data bus for charging (writing a 1), discharging (writing a 0), or reading. Unfortunately, such tiny capacitors have very small capacitances, and their charge tends to “leak” away through any circuit impedances quite rapidly. To combat this tendency, engineers designed circuits internal to the RAM memory chip which would periodically read all cells and recharge (or “refresh”) the capacitors as needed. Although this added to the complexity of the circuit, it still required far less componentry than a RAM built of multivibrators. They called this type of memory circuit a dynamic RAM, because of its need of periodic refreshing. Recent advances in IC chip manufacturing have led to the introduction of flash memory, which works on a capacitive storage principle like the dynamic RAM but uses the insulated gate of a MOSFET as the capacitor itself. Before the advent of transistors (especially the MOSFET), engineers had to implement digital circuitry with gates constructed from vacuum tubes. The enormous comparative size and power consumption of a vacuum tube as compared to a transistor made memory circuits like static and dynamic RAM a practical impossibility. Other, rather ingenious, techniques to store digital data without the use of moving parts were developed. 12.4. Historical, Nonmechanical Memory Technologies Perhaps the most ingenious technique was that of the delay line. A delay line is any kind of device which delays the propagation of a pulse or wave signal. The delay line “stores” data on a very temporary basis if the signal is not strengthened periodically, but the very fact that it stores data at all is a phenomenon exploitable for memory technology. Early computer delay lines used long tubes filled with liquid mercury, which was used as the physical medium through which sound waves traveled along the length of the tube. An electrical/sound transducer was mounted at each end, one to create sound waves from electrical impulses, and the other to generate electrical impulses from sound waves. A stream of serial binary data was sent to the transmitting transducer as a voltage signal. The sequence of sound waves would travel from left to right through the mercury in the tube and be received by the transducer at the other end. The receiving transducer would receive the pulses in the same order as they were transmitted:
The next major advance in computer memory came when engineers turned to magnetic materials as a means of storing binary data. It was discovered that certain compounds of iron, namely “ferrite,” possessed hysteresis curves that were almost square: Shown on a graph with the strength of the applied magnetic field on the horizontal axis (field intensity), and the actual magnetization (orientation of electron spins in the ferrite material) on the vertical axis (flux density), ferrite won’t become magnetized one direction until the applied field exceeds a critical threshold value. Once that critical value is exceeded, the electrons in the ferrite “snap” into magnetic alignment and the ferrite becomes magnetized.
Jay Forrester of MIT applied this principle in inventing the magnetic “core” memory, which became the dominant computer memory technology during the 1970’s. A grid of wires, electrically insulated from one another, crossed through the center of many ferrite rings, each of which being called a “core.” As DC current moved through any wire from the power supply to ground, a circular magnetic field was generated around that energized wire. The resistor values were set so that the amount of current at the regulated power supply voltage would produce slightly more than 1/2 the critical magnetic field strength needed to magnetize any one of the ferrite rings. Therefore, if column #4 wire was energized, all the cores on that column would be subjected to the magnetic field from that one wire, but it would not be strong enough to change the magnetization of any of those cores. However, if column #4 wire and row #5 wire were both energized, the core at that intersection of column #4 and row #5 would be subjected to a sum of those two magnetic fields: a magnitude strong enough to “set” or “reset” the magnetization of that core. In other
words, each core was addressed by the intersection of row and column. The distinction between “set” and “reset” was the direction of the core’s magnetic polarity, and that bit value of data would be determined by the polarity of the voltages (with respect to ground) that the row and column wires would be energized with. The following photograph shows a core memory board from a Data General brand, “Nova” model computer, circa late 1960’s or early 1970’s. It had a total storage capacity of 4 kbytes. A ball-point pen is shown for size comparison: 12.5. Read-Only Memory (ROM) Read-only memory (ROM) is similar in design to static or dynamic RAM circuits, except that the “latching” mechanism is made for one-time (or limited) operation. The simplest type of ROM is that which uses tiny “fuses” which can be selectively blown or left alone to represent the two binary states. Obviously, once one of the little fuses is blown, it cannot be made whole again, so the writing of such ROM circuits is one-time only. Because it can be written (programmed) once, these circuits are sometimes referred to as PROMs (Programmable Read-Only Memory).
However, not all writing methods are as permanent as blown fuses. If a transistor latch can be made which is resettable only with significant effort, a memory device that’s something of a cross between a RAM and a ROM can be built. Such a device is given a rather oxymoronic name: the EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory). EPROMs come in two basic varieties: Electrically-erasable (EEPROM) and Ultraviolet-erasable (UV/EPROM). Both types of EPROMs use capacitive charge MOSFET devices to latch on or off. UV/EPROMs are “cleared” by long-term exposure to ultraviolet light. They are easy to identify: they have a transparent glass window which exposes the silicon chip material to light. Once programmed, you must cover that glass window with tape to prevent ambient light from degrading the data over time. EPROMs are often programmed using higher signal voltages than what is used during “read-only” mode. 12.6. Memory with moving parts: ‘’Drives’’ Modern disk drives use multiple platters made of hard material (hence the name, “hard drive”) with multiple read/write heads for every platter. The gap between the head and platter is much smaller than the diameter of a human hair. If the hermetically sealed environment inside a hard disk drive is contaminated with outside air, the hard drive will be rendered useless. Dust will lodge between the heads and the platters, causing damage to the surface of the media. Here is a hard drive with four platters, although the angle of the shot only allows viewing of the top platter. This unit is complete with drive motor, read/write heads, and associated electronics. It has a storage capacity of 340 Mbytes, and is about the same length as the ball-point pen shown in the previous photograph:
An incentive for digital data storage technology advancement was the advent of digitally encoded music. A joint venture between Sony and Phillips resulted in the release of the “compact audio disc” (CD) to the public in the late 1980’s. This technology is a read-only type, the media being a transparent plastic disc backed by a thin film of aluminum. Binary bits are encoded as pits in the plastic which vary the path length of a low-power laser beam. Data is read by the low-power laser (the beam of which can be focused more precisely than normal light) reflecting off the aluminum to a photocell receiver. The advantages of CDs over magnetic tape are legion. Being digital, the information is highly resistant to corruption. Being non-contact in operation, there is no wear incurred through playing. Being optical, they are immune to magnetic fields (which can easily corrupt data on magnetic tape or disks). It is possible to purchase CD “burner” drives which contain the high-power laser necessary to write to a blank disc. Following on the heels of the music industry, the video entertainment industry has leveraged the technology of optical storage with the introduction of the Digital Video Disc, or DVD. Using a similar-sized plastic disc as the music CD, a DVD employs closer spacing of pits to achieve much greater storage density. This increased density allows feature-length movies to be encoded on DVD media, complete with trivia information about the movie, director’s notes, and so on. Much effort is being directed toward the development of a practical read/write optical disc (CD-W). Success has been found in using chemical substances whose color may be changed through exposure to bright laser light, then “read” by lower-intensity light. These optical discs are immediately identified by their characteristically colored surfaces, as opposed to the silver-colored underside of a standard CD