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Cutting device for skin obtaining small blood samples from human or animal tissue in an almost pain-free manner. A blade (13) is made to oscillate by an oscillator (14, 32) and is lowered into the tissue and again retracted at a relatively slow speed. In a first embodiment, the blade oscillates essentially parallel to the cutting edge of the blade and the tissue surface. In a second embodiment, the blade oscillates essentially perpendicular to the tissue surface. An advantage of the device of the reduced pain during pricking.
1. A device for obtaining small blood samples from humans or animals in an almost pain-free manner, the device comprising:
a blade having a cutting edge with a length of less than 10 mm; and
an oscillator means for making the blade oscillate at a frequency along an axis that is substantially parallel to the cutting edge.
2. The device according to claim 1 further comprising:
a housing in which the blade and the oscillator means are disposed; and
a contact surface for establishing contact with a skin surface, said contact surface having an opening which is large enough for the blade to extend therethrough while oscillating.
3. The device according to claim 2 wherein the skin contact surface includes an enlargement running around an edge of the opening which puts the skin surface under tension and fixes the skin surface in position.
4. The device according to claim 3 wherein the enlargement projects beyond the contact surface by 0.2 to 0.3 mm.
5. This device according to claim 2 wherein the blade is moveable generally perpendicualr to the cutting edge so that in a first position the cutting edge is disposed inside the housing and in a second position the cutting edge projects beyond the contact surface.
6. The device according to claim 2 wherein the blade is fixed to the housing in a position perpendicular to the skin surface and the skin contact surface is provided on a sleeve which is mounted on an adjustable spring stop such that a maximum penetration depth of the blade into the skin surface is set.
7. The device according to claim 2 further comprising setting means for setting a maximum length by which the blade can project past the contact surface during cutting wherein the maximum length set varies from a minimum limit of 200 μm up to a maximum limit of 2500 μm.
8. The device according to claim 1, wherein the oscillator means is coupled to the blade via a bar.
9. The device according to claim 8 wherein the oscillator is a piezo element integrated into the bar and changes in the length of the piezo element with respect to a longitudinal axis of the bar are created by an alternating voltage applied to the piezo element.
10. The device according to claim 8 wherein the bar and the blade form an exchangeable mechanical unit.
11. The device according to claim 10 wherein the bar and the blade are made from the same material and form a one piece unit.
12. The device according to claim 1 wherein the cutting edge of the blade has a length of 0.2 to 2.0 mm.
13. The device according to claim 1 wherein the frequency of the oscillation is above 500 Hz.
14. The device according to claim 1 wherein the amplitude of the oscillation is below 500 μm.
15. The device according to claim 1 wherein a propelling mechanism moves the blade perpendicularly to the cutting edge.
16. The device according to claim 15 wherein the propelling mechanism moves the blade perpendicularly to the cutting edge at a speed of less than 2 km/hr.
17. The device according to claim 1 wherein the blade is attached to a spring-loaded element and upon releasing a spring tension the blade is moved perpendicularly to the cutting edge.
18. The device according to claim 1 wherein the blade has a basic shape which is a trapezoid, circle, semi-circle, square, polygon, pointed tip or chopping knife shape.
19. The device according to claim 1 wherein the blade is circumferential ground, facet ground or ground on both sides.
20. The device according to claim 1 wherein the oscillator means further comprise a piezo crystal, an ultraceramics element, an electrodynamic transformer, or a mechanically excited element as an oscillating element and said oscillating element is activated via an electronic or mechanical oscillation generator.
21. The device according to claim 1 wherein the oscillator means is a mechanical oscillator.
22. The device according to claim 1 wherein the blade is made from a plastic which can be processed in an injection molding process.
23. The device according to claim 1 further comprising a friction reducing substance coating the blade to reduce friction between the blade and tissue.
24. A method of cutting skin tissue for obtaining blood samples of less than 50 μl from humans or animals in an almost pain-free manner, the method comprising the steps of:
providing a blade having a cutting edge of less than 10 mm in length and oscillating the blade at an oscillation frequency in at least one direction which is substantially parallel to the cutting edge;
moving the oscillating blade perpendicularly toward and into tissue to be cut open; and
thereafter retracting the blade from the tissue.
25. The method according to claim 24 wherein the oscillation movement comprises a component parallel to the cutting edge as well as a component perpendicular thereto.
26. The method according to claim 25 wherein the oscillating blade defines a segment of a circle during oscillation.
27. The method according to claim 26 wherein the oscillation frequency is above 500 Hz.
28. The method according to claim 24 wherein the perpendicular movement of the blade into the tissue and the retraction of the blade from the tissue are carried out manually.
29. The method according to claim 24 wherein the steps of moving and retracting the blade comprise moving the blade at a speed of less than 2 km/h.
30. The method according to claim 24 wherein the blade is retracted from the tissue along a path that runs in the cutting channel.
31. The method according to claim 24 wherein the step of moving the blade toward and into the tissue comprises guiding the blade to a depth of less than 2500 μm under the surface of the tissue.
The present invention addresses a device for cutting skin to obtain small blood samples from human or animal tissue in an almost pain-free manner. It comprises a blade with a cutting edge having a length of less than 10 mm and an oscillator to make the blade oscillate essentially parallel to the cutting edge.
To take small amounts of blood from the finger or the earlobe for diagnostic purposes, one uses lancets which are pricked into the corresponding body part either manually or with the aid of a simple apparatus by the doctor or lab personnel. It is a matter of fact that the lancet has to be sharp and sterile. Otherwise, there are no particularly high demands to be met by the doctors' offices as blood samples are collected from individual patients in greater time intervals and the procedure is carried out by specially trained staff.
The requirements are significantly higher when blood lancet devices are used which are to be operated by the patient. They are necessary to allow patient groups that are at a particular risk to regularly determine certain analytical blood values by home monitoring.
This applies in particular to diabetics who regularly and frequently have to monitor their blood glucose level to keep it within certain levels by adjusting the amount of insulin to be injected which depends on food intake, physical activity, and other factors. This is of utmost importance for the health of these patients to avoid delayed serious damage such as blindness and amputation of body parts.
For this reason, one has developed easy to handle and relatively inexpensive analytical systems which usually comprise blood test strips and a corresponding evaluation instrument. Although the possibility of performing an easy and relatively inexpensive analysis is available to every patient today, the self-monitoring of blood glucose levels has still not reached the desired general acceptance among diabetics. The main reason being the pain that accompanies the pricking procedure when taking the blood sample.
Prior art knows lancet devices where a spring-propelled lancet pricks the tissue at a very high speed. Blood emerges from the so-created wound which can then be used for diagnostic purposes. Devices of this kind are known, for example from U.S. patents U.S. Pat. No. 4,203,446 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,147. There is a great variety of such devices with differently ground lancets and different spring mechanisms available on the market. Experiments have shown, however, that the pain caused by this kind of device cannot be lowered under a limit which the user clearly identifies as being unpleasant. What makes it even more difficult in the case of diabetics is that the test must be carried out frequently; the affected skin parts such as the finger tips and earlobes develop cornifications which in turn require deeper penetration levels thus causing more pain during pricking.
Numerous different blood lancet devices have been developed that are suitable to generate the wound necessary to collect the blood specimen in a simple and relatively pain-free manner. Examples are described in patents U.S. Pat. No. 4,442,836, U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,110, U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,769, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,897. Blood sampling device for driving a lancet and lancets are made to match one another and are also referred to as blood collection systems. Despite some progress, the pain caused by the cutting procedure when using blood lancet device designed for patient use is still too great.
The pain sensed during cutting could be reduced in blood lancet devices where the needle is guided in a controlled manner (U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,879 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,584). The devices of this kind are known as controlled guidance systems, as opposed to ballistic systems where the lancet, propelled by a spring, contacts the skin surface in a relatively uncontrolled manner.
It was, hence, an object of the present invention to propose a device which causes less pain during blood sampling as is the case with prior arts systems. It was another object of the invention to provide a blood lancet where the penetration depth can be reproduced in a more precise and improved manner than is the case with known devices.
The object was accomplished in accordance with the invention in that the skin is penetrated in a manner where there is no pressure wave directed perpendicular to the skin and where a relatively small amount of pain receptors is activated due to precise guidance and a relatively small penetration depth of the lancet/blade. This can be achieved in that the skin is penetrated/opened in a procedure that is carried out essentially parallel to the skin surface. This cutting procedure causes significantly less pain than pricking.
In accordance with the invention, the pain sensed when obtaining small amounts of blood is reduced in that a rapid oscillating movement is superimposed on the movement (usually a linear movement) of the blade that is necessary to enter the tissue. The excursion of the blade generated by this oscillating movement can principally be transverse to the tissue or essentially perpendicular to the tissue. With respect to these two embodiments, two different blade types have proven to be expedient so that the embodiments are described separately hereinafter.
When coupling a slow pricking movement with an oscillating movement, it is advantageous that despite an extremely high relative movement of the blade with respect to the skin, a pressure wave affecting deeper layers of the blade is almost completely avoided since the excursion of the blade is very small despite the high speed (preferably ranging around 10-200 μm) and there is virtually no pressure component being generated perpendicular to the tissue surface. The blade "falls" into the skin. The penetration principle is, hence, based on a cutting procedure which can be carried out by an "oscillating" blade without a significant pressure component running perpendicular to the direction of movement. Owing to the small stroke of the blade, the cut is limited to very small dimensions and, hence, easy to control.
Coupling a slow blade movement with an oscillating movement leads to cutting procedures which cause less pain than do the methods for obtaining small blood samples known from prior art.
Time-consuming tests have shown that the disadvantages of the blood lancets known in prior art are likely due to the painfullness of the skin penetration process which is essentially caused by the activation of pain receptors and their afferent signals. When the lancet arrives on the tissue a pressure wave is generated that propagates predominantly in the direction of movement. This pressure wave precedes the moving blade and thus activates additional pain receptors which would not be activated during penetration and cutting if the lancet would execute a mere cutting and ripping process. Avoiding a pressure wave when the lancet hits the skin can, hence, significantly reduce the pain sensation. Moreover, the undefined penetration depth and the uncontrolled movements of the lancet are likely to be additional reasons for unnecessary high pain sensation when using known systems.
The device of the invention can be further improved when the skin opening is kept as small as possible, preferably smaller than 1.5 mm, more preferably smaller than 1 mm, and when the cutting movement is carried out in a controlled manner.
It is also important that the site opening be generated in a controlled movement and not in an uncontrolled "rip". Ripping the tissue would lead to a corresponding pressure wave and/or pulling of the tissue which then causes pain. Advantageous movements are those where the blade is guided such that forward and backward movements are uniform. It is also advantageous to control the movement such that the forward movement upon reaching a predefined dead point changes into a backward movement.
The following figures are given to describe the invention in greater detail.
FIG. 1: Principal interaction between penetration depth and cutting width when using pointed lancets
FIG. 2: Arrangement of blade and tissue with respect to one another
FIG. 3: Manually operated vampire blood lancet
FIG. 4: Blood lancet with spring as propelling mechanism
FIG. 5: Blood lancet with an eccentric disk as a propelling mechanism
FIG. 6: Blade types
FIG. 7: Cross sections of blades
FIG. 8: Principal representation of a Mucke-type blood lancet
FIG. 9: Manually operated blood lancet of the Mucke-type
FIG. 10: System of coordinates for defining directions of movement
FIG. 11: Representation of the interaction between projection depth (A), deformation (D) and penetration depth (E)
In order to define the directions of movement of the lancet, FIG. 10 shows a system of coordinates. The tissue surface is located in the XZ-plane. In order to penetrate the tissue, the lancet must carry out a movement with a Y-component, i.e. a movement having a component perpendicular to the tissue surface. In the case shown here, the cutting edge (2) is located on the Z-axis while the blade (1) is located within the XY-plane. The blade can now be guided perpendicularly, i.e. in direction of the negative Y-axis, into the tissue; or it can be moved in a plane E' which is tilted with respect to the XY-plane. The description "essentially perpendicular to the tissue surface" when used with respect to the direction of movement should also include movements which are tilted by, e.g. 30�, with respect to the XY-plane. In a first embodiment the blade is made to oscillate transversely to the direction of movement. In the system of coordinates of FIG. 10, this is an oscillating movement of the blade in direction Z.
The present invention is further directed to a process for obtaining small volumes of blood by a process where an oscillating blade is being moved in direction towards the tissue to be penetrated, is being lowered into the tissue in a direction primarily vertical to the skin surface and is being retracted out of the tissue. This can be accomplished by an active movement of the blade in direction towards the tissue as well as by an active movement of the tissue. Furthermore it is not necessary that the blade is already in oscillation while contacting the tissue surface. It is also possible to start oscillation of the blade after contact between blade and tissue has been established.
In almost all parts of its body, the human being possesses epithelial skin where blood sampling with lancets is not possible at all or very difficult as this type of skin, owing to its high retraction properties, will close immediately after pricking or cutting so that the blood emerging from the blood vessels cannot reach the surface of the skin or is released into subcutaneous tissue parts causing micro-hematomas. Skin parts that are suitable for obtaining blood samples include the tips of fingers and toes and the earlobes. On his finger and toe tips the human being possesses ridged skin. The top layer of this skin is the epidermis with a thickness of 0.1 to 0.5 mm. Below the epidermis is the corium consisting of the stratum papillare and the stratum reticulare. Below the corium is the subcutis. The upper part of the corium and the stratum papillare are of particular importance for obtaining small amounts of blood in almost pain-free manner. The stratum papillare features a finely woven net of blood vessels and pain receptors located closely together. In this part of the tissue the blood vessels can be divided into capillaries and microvessels. Capillaries are shaped like hair needles reflected in the papillae of the skin. Arterial blood rises from the inside of the tissue to the curvature in the hair needle to release oxygen to the surrounding tissue; it is then via the venous system conducted back into deeper layers of tissue in the form of venous blood. Within the present invention it has been found that due to anatomic properties, it suffices to penetrate the epidermis and cut open a few hair needle-like blood vessels of the papillary layer and/or cut open a few microvessels located in this region of the tissue to obtain an amount of blood that is sufficient to satisfy the diagnostic purpose (appr. 5 μl-30 μl).
Prior art lancets, however, penetrate the corium much deeper and in an uncontrolled manner, i.e. with heavy movements perpendicular to the propelling direction. The reason for this can be understood from FIG. 1. In order to generate a wound of width d on the surface of the corium, the tip of the lancet must enter the corium at a depth h. With the technology known from prior art, this depth h can only be reduced when a lancet with a flatter tip is selected, i.e. reducing the h/d-ratio. More blunt lancets, however, cause more pain during pricking as was shown in experiments.
The First Embodiment (Vampire)
In accordance with the invention, the pricking pain is reduced in that the blade is made to oscillate a high rate while the oscillating blade is lowered into the tissue are relatively slow speed, preferably slower than 2 km/h. In a first embodiment of the invention, the blade is oscillated essentially parallel to the cutting edge.
FIG. 2 shows the principal arrangement of blade and tissue. The blade (1) shown has a cutting edge (2) which executes an oscillating movement in direction toward the double arrow shown in the figure. When the blade, while oscillating, approaches the epidermis, it is capable of penetrating it without causing significant pain. Due to the oscillating movement, the epidermis is then cut open; as compared to currently available pricking lancets, it is now possible to lower the blade into epidermis and corium at a much slower speed. From FIG. 2 it can be seen that this embodiment uses a blade type where a sufficiently wide piece d of the tissue is cut open while the penetration depth of the corium remains very small. Owing to the arrangement of the hair-needle-like blood vessels and other microvessels found in this region within the corium, said vessels are effectively cut open by the oscillating movement of the blade. A cutting width d of 300 to 900 μm is already sufficient in order to obtain a sufficient amount of blood. For obtaining larger amounts of blood it is in accordance with the invention of course also possible to use correspondingly longer blades.
The Oscillator
In order to allow the blade to enter the tissue in an almost pain-free manner, experience has shown it to be important that the blade oscillate essentially parallel to the cutting edge at frequency above 500 Hz. The cutting device in accordance with the invention could further be significantly improved by raising the oscillation frequency to above 700 Hz. Particularly efficient cutting is achieved with frequencies in the kilo-Herz range or above 900 Hz. Pain sensation during cutting is significantly influenced by the oscillation amplitude. Experiments have shown that the amplitude should be below 500 μm. A preferred amplitude is one below 300 μm, particularly preferred below 250 μm. Oscillators to implement the described requirements include in particular piezo elements, ultrasonic ceramics, electrodynamical transformers as well as mechanical transformers. Piezo elements have proven particularly well as oscillators which execute changes in length upon application of an electrical voltage. As these changes usually amount to only one or a few μm, it is necessary to have a mechanical transformation to achieve larger amplitudes. This can be accomplished by a piezo element coupled to one end of a bar and a blade coupled to the other end. The bar should have a low weight in order to minimize a damping of the oscillation. The bar is preferably made of a ridgid material in order to achieve a proper energy transfer from the oscillator onto the blade. Bar and piezo element are properly coupled to a mass. It is, however, also possible to advantageously use a stack of piezo elements where the changes in length of the individual elements are added up.
Mechanical transformers which lead to an oscillation of the blade are so called spring-mass-oscillators, which can be accomplished with a tuning fork, for example, at the one arm of which there is attached the blade or a device to hold the blade. It has shown to be particularly useful to operate the oscillator at a resonance frequency since the amplitude of the blade is high under such conditions.
The Blade
Blades with a cutting edge of less than 10 mm have proven to be suitable for cutting devices designed to obtained small blood samples. Cutting edges with a length between 0.2 to 2 mm, preferably 0.4 to 1.5 mm have proven to be suitable for obtaining blood samples ranging around 100 μl. Cutting edges of 0.5 to 1.0 mm in length are particularly suitable.
Materials such as steel that are commonly used in prior art lancets haven proven well for the blades. Generally, it is also possible to use metals, glasses, ceramic materials and plastics. Particularly well suited are plastics which can be processed by injection molding and which are ridgid enough after cooling down. When using suitable injection molding forms a separate process step for sharpening the blade can be avoided. Experiments have shown it to be advantageous to coat the blades with substances which reduce friction between blade and tissue. By reducing the friction between blade and tissue, it is possible to avoid the transfer of mechanical energy into the tissue and, hence, pain caused by heat. In a particularly preferred embodiment bar and blade are a mechanical unit which can be exchanged. In the medical field it is desirable due to hygienic reasons to have a disposable unit which can be exchanged after each cutting process. Bar and blade can be made from different materials, however, it is preferred that both are made from the same material.
The Manually Operated Blood Lancet
FIG. 3 shows a blood lancet in accordance with the invention. Said lancet comprises a housing containing the blade and the oscillator. The housing has an outer cover (10) which serves to handle the device. Inside the cover there is a bar (12) to which the blade (13) is attached. A piezo crystal (14) connected to bar (12) is activated via an electronic oscillation generator (15) such that blade (13) executes oscillating movements essentially parallel to the cutting edge (13a). In the example shown here, another cover (11) is located inside the outer cover (10) where it can be moved such that the portion of the blade which projects out of the outer cover (10) can be adjusted. An axis (18) connects bar (12) with cover (11) such that this end of the bar is attached to a mass. At its bottom end, cover (10) is provided with a contact surface (16) which is manually placed onto the tissue. The portion by which the blade projects beyond the contact surface, hence, defines the depth of the cut in the tissue. The invention proposes that the cutting devices feature an adjusting unit to define the maximum and minimum distances by which the blade can project beyond the contact surface. The adjusting range of this interval is preferably selected such that its lower limit is longer than 200 μm while its upper limit is smaller than 2500 μm. This adjusting range is preferably set between 0.5 and 2.0 mm or, even more preferred, between 0.7 and 1.3 mm.
For proper performance of the device it is important that the bar (12) be made of a material that exhibits a sufficiently high modulus of elasticity to transfer the energy of the piezo oscillation to the blade (13). Suitable materials for the bar are, for example, glass, spring steel, plastics and ceramics. Moreover, it is also important that the weight of the oscillating components (bar and blade) is small in comparison to the weight on the opposite site of the piezo element. In FIG. 3 the piezo element is coupled via a connecting piece (11a) to the inner cover (11). It is particularly advantageous to operate the apparatus such that bar and blade oscillate at resonance frequency.
The Spring-Operated Blood Lancet
FIG. 4 shows examples of embodiments where the manual movement which is necessary with the apparatus shown in FIG. 3, is replaced by the effect of a spring element (20). Spring (20) is connected to guide rail (21) which has a recess for a lever (22) to engage. Lever (22) is provided with a push-button located outside the housing. When pressing the push-button, the lock is released and the inner cover (11) is moved relative to the outer cover. Blade (13) is thus moved outside the outer cover. By varying the distance X between the edge of the inner cover (11) and the inside of the contact surface (16) in the initial position, it is possible to adjust the cutting depth by which the blade penetrates the tissue. This can be accomplished, for example, by varying the length of the outer cover, e.g. with the aid of a screw. Additional options to vary the penetration depth are known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,147 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,584. The arrangement can also be selected such that the blade is fixed in its position while the skin contact surface is provided on the front side of a cover which is mounted to an adjustable abutment in a spring-supported manner.
The unit for adjusting the penetration depth is preferably configured such that it can be set at given levels. At least in the above given levels, the maximum distance between the individual levels is appr. 0.4 mm and the minimum distance is appr. 0.2 mm, preferably 0.3 mm. This range can, of course, also exceed the maximum values to allow deeper penetration, e.g. to account for the relatively small amount of subjects where the above mentioned small penetration depth does not provide a sufficient amount of blood (e.g. due to an excessively thick horn layer). For an exact adjustment of the penetration depth, it is also important to have such a precise positioning of the blade in its holder that it is possible to reproduce the position of the blade end in direction to the pricking movement relative to the blade holder when several blades are successively mounted to the blade holder.
Owing to the advantageous properties of the device in accordance with the invention of displacing/compressing the tissue only very little before penetration, it is possible to achieve a very good reproducibility of the cutting depth which is significantly improved (<+/-0.1 mm) over presently available systems. Due to these very good penetration properties of the device of the invention, individual variation with respect to the skin turgor and/or skin density are now only of secondary importance. This is accomplished in that the tissue opposite the blade is not compressed upon first contact with the forwardly propelled blade; instead, the penetration/cutting does not begin until the blade arrives on the skin.
FIG. 4a shows an embodiment where the inner cover (11) is shown together with a configuration of oscillator, bar and blade which is slightly modified with respect to FIG. 4. The piezo crystal (14) and the blade (13) are disposed on different sides with respect to axis (18). By this configuration an oscillation of the blade is being accomplished in the way of a chopping-blade. This type of movement has a comparent parallel to the cutting edge as well as a component vertical thereto. An oscillation of the bar around the axis creates a movement of the blade on a part of a circle.
FIG. 11 shows the interaction between the width at which the lancet projects from the cutting device and the penetration depth of the tissue. FIG. 11A shows the initial position of the system where the blade (1) is completely located inside the housing (51) and the housing is pressed onto a part of the skin (50). FIG. 11B shows a condition where the blade displaces the skin without cutting it. Deformation of the skin is identified as (D). FIG. 11C shows a condition where the blade has already cut open the skin. The depth (A) at which the blade projects out of the housing results in a deformation (D) and a penetration depth (E) in the tissue. Deformation (D) can be subject to great deviation within one individual and between different individuals so that the penetration depth can also greatly vary while the projection depth is constant; a fact which is not desired. In devices according to the present invention, the deformation (D) is very small due to the reasons listed above; the deviations of (D) are, hence, also very small. With a defined projection depth (A) the penetration depth (E) into the skin can, hence, be exactly predetermined.
Easy procedures allow the user to precisely set the desired penetration depth. The adjusting range preferably covers unusually deep penetration levels between 0.5 and 2.0 mm, with a range between 0.7 mm and 1.3 mm being of particular importance. The amount of blood necessary for an analysis usually ranges between 1 and 50 μl, more frequently between 5 and 30 μl; as the invention has shown, this amount can already be obtained for the majority of individuals at penetration levels where pain is significantly reduced, provided the penetration level can be easily reproduced at a certain, identical setting of the instrument. With an identical setting of the cutting device given, the depth of the cut generated in successive cutting procedures should deviate by less than 0.15 mm, preferably 0.1 mm and particularly preferred 0.05 mm.
The Eccentric Disc-Operated Blood Lancet
FIG. 5A shows a blood lancet where the bar (12) holding the blade (13) is mounted to a weight (41). The weight (41) is located inside an inner cover (23) which in turn is located moveably inside the outer cover (10). The bar (12) which is rigidly connected to the weight (41), e.g. in glued or screwed connection, runs across the weight (41). In the bar (12) there is integrated a piezo element (14) which causes the bar (12) and the blade (13) to oscillate. An enlargement (42) surrounding the opening where the blade emerges can be advantageously provided at the contact surface (16) of the device which is pressed onto the skin. Purpose of this enlargement is to put the part of the skin to be cut open under tension and fix it in position. It has proven to be advantageous if this enlargement (42) projects past the contact surface (16) by 0.2 to 0.3 mm.
FIG. 5A also shows an advantageous drive unit for moving the blade into the tissue. This drive unit features an eccentric disk (25) to which a lever (26) is mounted via an axis; another axis connects said lever in turn to the bar (12). FIG. 5B is a rear view of the eccentric disk. On this side said disk has a toothed wheel (27) which is driven via a toothed rod (28). It is an advantage of the device shown in FIG. 5 that when the user presses down the toothed rod (28) the blade is lowered into the tissue and again retracted. Since the user must execute only one single movement, the handling of the device is further facilitated. A spring element (29) can be provided to retract the toothed rod back into its original position. When the tooth rod is pressed down, the spring element is compressed to then move the toothed rod back into its original position. It can also be advantageous to provide some idle for the toothed wheel (27) so that the eccentric disk (25) does not rotate and the blade is not lowered again into the tissue when the toothed rod is retracted into its original position.
FIG. 5C shows the rod (12) with an integrated piezo element (14). The piezo element is configured such that when en electric alternating voltage is applied, it carries out changes in length along its longitudinal axis. These length changes then causes the lever to be bent as is known analogously from bimetallic strips. Mechanical oscillation of the bar (12) can be generated by applying electrical signals having a suitable frequency.
The Blade Types
FIG. 6 shows three embodiments of blades which are preferred in accordance with the invention. FIG. 6A shows a trapezoidal blade with a straight cutting edge. FIG. 6B shows a blade as used in chopping knifes while the blade shown in FIG. 6C has a pointed tip. Each of these 3 blade types can have different cross sections. FIG. 7 shows two possible cross sections A and B taken along section line aa' Each of the blades shown in FIGS. 6A through 6C could have one these cross sections. A section line is indicated in FIGS. 6A to 6C to further illustrate this.
The basic shapes of the blades include trapezoids, circles, semi-circles, squares, polygons, pointed tips or chopping blade-type blades. The following taper options are possible:
circumferential ground
facet ground and
ground on both sides
The Second Embodiment (Mucke)
The invention also encompasses an embodiment where the blade is made to oscillate perpendicularly to the tissue surface. In this embodiment, owing to the oscillating movement the microscopic movements of the blade and the movements for introducing the blade into the tissue run essentially parallel. In this embodiment it is also advantageous to employ pointed blades and blades with several edges. The latter type can also be achieved with facet grinding.
With this type of device there can be used pin pointed needles which preferably have a facet ground.
The "Mucke"-type device preferably uses a rigid coupling between oscillator and blade which avoids a lateral movement or oscillation of the blade and employs a vertical oscillation with respect to the tissue surface. The oscillation amplitude vertical to the skin surface is set to be smaller than 300 μm, preferably smaller than 100 μm and particularly preferred smaller as 50 μm. For example mechanical oscillators, electrodynamic transformers and piezo elements can be employed as oscillators.
Schematic Representation
FIG. 8 is a schematic representation showing the implementation of this second embodiment. Bar (30) is movable disposed on a sleeve (31). A piezo crystal (32) to transfer oscillations to blade (33) is disposed on bar (30). In this embodiment, the piezo crystal is arranged such that the oscillations generate a movement of the blade (33) in longitudinal direction of the bar in accordance with the double-arrow displayed above the bar. It is of importance that the weight of the oscillating pieces (bar and blade) is small compared to the mass disposed on the other side with respect to the oscillator (which means on side of the bar). In order to carry out a tissue section, the piezo crystal (32) is first made to oscillate; the blade is then lowered into the tissue by moving bar (30). After generating a sufficiently large cut, the bar (30) is moved in opposite direction and the blade (33) is pulled back out of the tissue. Pointed tips have proven well for this embodiment. Especially advantageous are flat blades with cross sections as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B. Experiments have also shown that the oscillation frequency of the blade transverse to the tissue surface should be above 100 Hz to minimize pain sensation during cutting. By increasing the frequency to above 500 Hz, pain sensation can be further reduced. The amplitude of the oscillating movement should for the same reason be below 100 μm, preferably below 50 μm.
The oscillation of blade (33) necessary for proper operation of the device is achieved with the aid of a suitable geometric arrangement of the masses which generates a so-called resonance step-up of the amplitude.
The schematic representation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 8 can be combined, for example, with the driving mechanisms for moving the blade transversely to the tissue surface as described in FIGS. 4 and 5.
The Manual Pricking Aid
FIG. 9 shows a particularly simple embodiment where a battery-operated electronic oscillation generator (15) is located within a housing (40). This oscillation generator (15) causes the piezo crystal (32) to oscillate. In this embodiment the blade is directly coupled to the piezo crystal. The user moves the blade (33) to the tissue to be cut open and carries out a cut at the desired depth.
List of Reference Numerals
(1) blade
(2) cutting edge
(10) outer cover
(11) inner cover
(11a) connecting piece
(12) bar
(13) blade
(14) piezo crystal
(15) electronic oscillation generator
(16) contact surface
(17) battery
(18) axis
(19) weight
(20) spring element
(21) guide with recess
(22) lever
(23) guide element
(24) rubber
(25) eccentric disk
(26) lever rod
(27) toothed wheel
(28) toothed rod
(29) spring element
(30) bar
(31) sleeve
(32) piezo crystal
(33) blade
(40) housing
(41) weight
(42) enlargement
Patent Citations
Referenced by
Legal Events
Original Image


text:
The following is an archive of a post made to our
'vox-tech mailing list'
by one of its subscribers.
On Thursday 17 March 2005 22:28, Mitch Patenaude wrote:
> On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 21:21:49 -0800, Richard Harke <firstname.lastname@example.com>
> > I have to do xhost + in order to run firefox. I found this after googling
> > because it wouldn't run at all. I am behind a NAT router but I would
> > rather not do this. On the other hand, I have been using firefox more and
> > more.
> Hmm... is Firefox running setuid? chroot'd? (If so, why?) If not..
> then then I can't think of a reason why firefox would be any different
> than any other X app. The xhost + may just be masking a more
> fundamental problem, and it's likely making you less secure in the
> process.
I just checked -- it is not setuid
/usr/bin/firefox is a link to /usr/lob/mozilla-firefox/firefox
This was installed by apt-get from Debian testing I just ran it again
and got an updated version but the problem remains. I did xhost - and
firefox refuses to run.
I just tried running from the command line to see the error message
and it loaded. So now it seems to load OK from the launcher so it
seems fixed but time will tell. It would occasionally work without
xhost + even before the update install.
vox-tech mailing list
Hosting provided by:
Sunset Systems
Sunset Systems offers preconfigured Linux
systems, remote system administration and
custom software development.
LUGOD: Linux Users' Group of Davis
PO Box 2082, Davis, CA 95617
Contact Us
LUGOD is a 501(c)7 non-profit organization
based in Davis, California
and serving the Sacramento area.
"Linux" is a trademark of Linus Torvalds.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The Grand Rounds weekly lecture series covers cutting-edge research and practical clinical applications, for hospital and community-based pediatricians and other practitioners who provide care for children of any age.
Grand Rounds lectures are presented on Thursdays, 8-9am, at Primary Children's Hospital third-floor auditorium. The lectures are also broadcast live to locations throughout Utah and the West.


text:
of the 2000s. The decision document (U.S. Census Bureau, 2003b:1) stated:
The Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation (A.C.E.) Revision II methodology represents a dramatic improvement from the previous March 2001 A.C.E. results. However, several technical errors remain, including uncertainty about the adjustment for correlation bias, errors from synthetic estimation, and inconsistencies between demographic analysis estimates and the A.C.E. Revision II estimates of the coverage of children. Given these technical concerns, the Census Bureau has concluded that the A.C.E. Revision II estimates should not be used to change the base for intercensal population estimates.
With the final decision not to adjust population estimates for measured net undercount in the 2000 census behind it, the Census Bureau announced its intention to focus exclusively on planning for the 2010 census. Plans for that census include work on possibly using computerized matching of the type conducted for the October 2001 and March 2003 adjustment decisions to eliminate duplicate enumerations as part of the census process itself. Bureau officials also expressed the view that coverage evaluation could not be completed and evaluated in a sufficiently timely fashion to permit adjustment of the data used for legislative redistricting (Kincannon, 2003).
In this chapter we assess the A.C.E. Revision II estimation methodology and the resulting estimates of population coverage in the 2000 census. We first review key aspects of the original A.C.E. Program (6-A) and then review the data sources, methods, and results of the A.C.E. Revision II effort (6-B). We discuss two kinds of enumerations that had more impact on coverage in 2000 than in 1990: (1) whole-person (including whole-household) imputations and (2) duplicate enumerations in the census and the A.C.E. (6-C). Section 6-D provides an overall summary of what we know and do not know about population coverage in 2000. Section 6-E provides our recommendations for coverage evaluation research and development for 2010.
An important part of evaluating the Revision II A.C.E. population estimates for 2000 is to consider how well the original A.C.E.


text:
Acer Ferrari One 200-314G50n
SpecificationsNotebook: Acer Ferrari One 200-314G50n (Ferrari One Series)
Processor: AMD Athlon X2 L310
Graphics Adapter: ATI Radeon HD 3200 Shared Memory MB
Display: 11.6 inch, 16:9, 1366x768 pixels, glossy: yes
Weight: 1.48kg
Price: 600 euro
Average of 4 scores (from 3 reviews)
Reviews for the Acer Ferrari One 200-314G50n
Nippy little car? Contrary to the nearly identically designed Aspire 1810TZ, the Acer Ferrari One 200 is not equipped with Intel hardware, but uses mainly components from the competitor, AMD/ATI. Continue reading our review to learn whether the flame red Ferrari One 200 is able to leave behind other subnotebooks in terms of performance and whether this is only possible at the expense of system noise, temperature, or battery life.
Source: Mobile News - 2/10
Single Review, , Length Unknown, Date: 04/01/2010
Rating: Total score: 90%
Source: Chip.de - 3/10
Single Review, , Very Short, Date: 03/01/2010
Rating: Total score: 70%
Source: Chip.de DE→EN
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 01/18/2010
Rating: Total score: 70% price: 40% performance: 76% features: 100% display: 92% mobility: 39% ergonomy: 71%
ATI Radeon HD 3200: Onboard (shared Memory) graphics chip (on RS780M chipset) based on the HD 2400 graphics core. It also features the UVD video engine to decode HD videos. Beware: Under Windows XP the HD 3200 may have no 2D accelleration because of a driver problem.
Only some 3D games with very low demands are playable with these cards.
» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.
Netbook CPU from AMD with two cores and a slightly better performance than the Intel Atom CPU. Supports 64 Bit and Virtualization.» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.
11.6": » To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.
1.48 kg: This sub-notebook weighs less than the average of all notebooks and represents a medium class of weight among the sub-notebooks. 11 inch displays are normal for this class of weight.
Acer: Acer Incorporated is a Taiwanese multinational electronics manufacturer. Its product lineup includes desktops and laptops, as well as personal digital assistants (PDAs), servers and storage, displays, peripherals, and e-business services for business, government, education, and home users. Acer is the third largest computer manufacturer in the world (by sales) after HP and Dell Inc (2007). The company owns the largest franchised computer retail chain in Taipei, Taiwan. Originally named Multitech, it was founded in 1976. Gateway and Packard Bell are economically connected with Acer. Market share regarding sales of personal computers in 2007 (market research IDC): HP 18.9 %, Dell 16.4 %, Acer 9.9 %, Lenovo 7.5 %, Apple 5.7 %
77%: This rating is not convincing. The laptop is evaluated below average, this is not really a recommendation for purchase.
» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.


text:
1.0-4363 / 2.4.21-rc1 / Athlon 900 / KT133 == no go
1 Attachment(s)
Ok, like I said before, the combination above is a no go. The X server is pegged at 100% CPU. XFree86.0.log file attached.
Does disabling AGP help?
That's a prerelease kernel - i'll check it out.
Uhm... yes, that's a prerelease kernel...
... which happens to be working ok on another 9 machines or so. Let me see if I can find something similar along that mix...
I have a machine with the same configuration, with a GeForce3 (bios 03.20.00.10.00 -- if that helps you) but an Athlon 1200 (no XP) instead of an Athlon 900. It's working with the NVIDIA AGP driver. The machine with the problem is working with the agpgart driver. Let me see if I can manage to stop the Xserver...
go make some coffee, this will take a while...
Nope... NvAGP set to 1 and it still doesn't work.
Out of curiosity, does the problem follow the CPU around? If you switch CPUs, does it happen on the box that you put the Athlon 900 into? Or does it still only happen in the first box?
I'd also be interested to know if your sbios revisions were the same.
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text:
By Kathryn G. Menu
Aviation consultants and attorneys for the East Hampton Town Board informed board members this week that going through what is known as a Part 161 study could enable the town board to place restrictions at the East Hampton Airport as a means of noise mitigation.
At the same meeting, Councilman Dominick Stanzione was criticized by Councilwoman Theresa Quigley and Supervisor Bill Wilkinson for agreeing to a route change for helicopters this past summer without discussing it with the town board.
On Tuesday, February 5, the town board was given an update by its aviation consultants, including aviation attorney Peter Kirsch and environmental consultant Ted Baldwin, who led much of the meeting, which was organized by Councilman Stanzione.
Kirsch walked the board through some of its successes related to the airport — first and foremost the implementation of a seasonal air traffic control tower this past summer and data collection on flight paths, noise and weather.
He also reminded the board about voluntary routes pilots have agreed to fly into the airport, namely a North Shore route from Manhattan with a connected route over Jessup's Neck and into the East Hampton Airport.
A second route, over Northwest Creek, was abandoned this summer once the seasonal control tower was in place — a source of debate later in the meeting.
Kirsch said a southern route, from the Atlantic to Georgica and over the sand pit in Wainscott into the airport has not been implemented yet. He said there is resistance to that route by both the Federal Aviation Administration and pilots, who Kirsch said were concerned because the route would increase the time these trips would take to and from the city by 25-percent.
"It doesn't exist yet as a formal route and I would be irrationally optimistic if I told you it was going to happen any time soon, but we will keep working on it and we do need help," he said.
Baldwin, with the firm Harris, Miller, Miller & Hansen — which specializes in environmental noise, primarily related to airports — said if the town is looking to restrict aircraft in any way a Part 161 will help them get there.
Baldwin estimated it would take about 18 months and somewhere between $1.5 million and $2 million to complete the process of a Part 161, which Kirsch later noted can be used to implement restrictions directly or as a tool to get pilots to the table to agree to certain restrictions.
Supervisor Wilkinson wondered what it was that set East Hampton apart as an airport affected by noise.
"It's not an issue for many communities … We're probably the poster child for that," said airport manager Jim Brundige of the town's issue with helicopter noise.
Brundige said the proximity to New York and the number of affluent homeowners and visitors who use the airport certainly has an impact.
Kirsch added because the airport is close to New York people avoid using fixed wing aircraft to get to East Hampton, opting for helicopters instead.
"You have a community that is unusually sensitive to noise," he added. "Why? Because you have people who come out here to relax. The same helicopters flying over Queens are not going to have the same disruption in terms of noise."
Kirsch added of the 20,000 airports nationally, just 5,000 are for public use and only 500 take commercial service. Most of those airports are not smack in the middle of rural, residential neighborhoods, but closer to urban centers.
Baldwin said that since last year the town has earnestly been collecting airport data, on traffic, routes, complaints and weather — data he said could be used in a Part 161 analysis to discover solutions that can be proposed to reduce noise impacts.
"The reason we are coming to you today is we are at a fork in the road," said Kirsch, asking the board whether or not they should move forward with this study.
Specificity, he added, will be crucial to being able to get restrictions implemented. Banning helicopter traffic, for example, would not likely be viable but another solution, like limitations during specific hours could be.
Baldwin estimated it would cost $500,000 to get him to the point to be able to make a recommendation.
Brundige said that was not available in the airport budget.
"Unless we find that extra $500,000, the last nine years have been for naught," said Quigley.
Quigley added she would like to explore this path as a means of noise mitigation before she would consider abandoning the taking of grant money from the FAA — another method of wresting control over the airport.
Brundige also spoke about how the use of the singular, power line route into the airport from the North Shore was a decision he made, with a representative from the FAA, the Eastern Region Helicopter Council and Councilman Stanzione.
"The result was hundreds of homes impacted by the northwest route, including North Haven and Shelter Island," said Brundige of what he called the "failed experiment" to use the Northwest Creek route as a second path into and out of the airport.
Councilman Stanzione, he said, deferred to Brundige's opinion on the matter.
"It's nice of you to fall on the sword and say you made that decision," said Wilkinson. "I am not sure that is adequate because the board should have been involved in that."
"We have gotten roasted by anyone who lives west of our town borders or north of our town borders," he said of the change.
"I think in hindsight, I should have brought that to the board and I did not," said Councilman Stanzione.
Ultimately, said Kirsch, the town board has no true authority over helicopter routes — it can only make recommendations and the fact the town board does not mandate routes protects it from liability.
What is a liability, said Kirsch, is the lack of a real deer fence around the airport. The town has applied for an $80,000 grant for the design of the fence from the FAA, but Kirsch said the FAA would like a second resolution from the town showing it will build the fence at an estimated cost of $575,000 if they do provide that funding.
"The fence is critical in our view," he said.


text:
African countries are creating more reliable and accurate climate information, and building more durable, climate-resilient infrastructure across the sectors as part of strategies to cushion the impact of climate change.
A statement issued by the United Nations backed Climate Investment Fund (CIF) said that the African strategy was supported by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the CIF with the intention of responding to complex problems that climate change was creating on their combined sectors of water, food and energy.
Claiming that "by 2020 up to 250 million people in Africa are projected to be exposed to increased water stress with disastrous effects on Africa's most vulnerable," the statement cited examples of countries which are set to apply innovative integrated approaches to strengthening their water, agricultural and energy sectors.
"With AfDB and CIF support, Niger plans to improve its climate observatory system, research and optimize climate modeling, strengthen its early warning system, and expand communication on climate information to end-users. After seven episodes of disastrous drought, the country expects with these investment to boost food production and control the flow of fresh water to fields and pastures. Mozambique, on the other hand, plans to reinforce rural roads and rehabilitate irrigation and drainage systems to withstand weather extremes and sea water intrusions.


text:
|City Times Home > CITY TIMES
|Print this story
Im an entertainer: Aamir
(IANS) / 6 May 2012
Aamir Khan says he is looking forward to working with Katrina Kaif in Dhoom 3.
The 47-year-old actor said he was trying to alter his look for the film.
"I am looking forward to working with Katrina. This is the first time I will be working with her. My look in the film is under progress," he said.
Khan also refuted rumours that his yet to be released Talaash was similar to Vidya Balan starrer Kahani.
The actor who is making his debut in television by hosting Satyamev Jayate, said due to the show, the release of Talaash got delayed.
"This show has enveloped my life completely. I am not known to multitask. The film is very special to me. it is coming after two years. So we selected a new date," he said.
But despite his increasingly social appearances, the actor said he is not interested in politics.
I am an entertainer. I make people laugh, cry and do different things," Aamir said.
|Print this story
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text:
My Immortal guitar pro by Evanescence, added: April 25th, 2013
Profile History
WARNING: You are trying to view content from Ultimate-Guitar.com in an unauthorized application, which is prohibited. Please use an official Ultimate Guitar Tabs application for iPhone, iPad or Android to access legitimate chords, guitar, bass, and drum tabs from Ultimate-Guitar.com database. Type "ultimate guitar tabs" in Apple App Store's or Android Market's search to find the application.
Get unlimited online access to 200,000+ tabs with HQ playback
and tempo control by starting your free 3-day trial!
I saw on youtube the acoustic version and I did the tab of album version + this acoustic guitar track more. So it is a little bit an arrangement. You're right acoustic should be slowly BUT I have to use the album tempo ;)
-> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1Y9ccRg7gw


text:
I'm Andrew Melim, and this is my website. I'm a bit of a renissance geek with interests in robotics, sciences, and video games. I obtained my B.S. in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology with specializations in Computational Theory and Artificial intelligence.
I am currently persuing a Ph.D in Robotics at Georgia Tech. My main areas of focus are Perception, AI, and Control Theory. Currently, my research focuses on 3D reconstruction and robot navigation using monocular vision fused with common robot sensors such as IMU and GPS sensors.
If you'd like to know more about my professional life, here is my current CV : Curriculum Vitae
Lots of my open-source code gets thrown on Github when I get the chance : https://github.com/amelim[x]
Autonomous Soaring : This research project is funded by the Georgia Tech Robotics and Intelligent Machines (RIM) seed grant I was awarded in 2012. The goal is to develop highly accurate state estimation for UAVs and infer external wind fields such as thermals for autonomous soaring. Just like birds of prey! This project also drives my development of a monocular slam pipeline with IMU and GPS sensors integrated into a single optimization problem.
GTSAM : I'm currently a developer of GTSAM, a BSD-licensed C++ (w/ MATLAB wrapper) library with specific applications towards 3D reconstruction problems such as SLAM and structure from motion.
Multi-Agent Path Planning : A planner that is able to replan multiple agents in real time to avoid collisions. Utilizes RRTs and performs replanning in a "lifted representation" that replans two robots simultaneously using the same RRT. This was the final project for Mike Stilman's Robot Planning course.
World-Gen: A simple procedural island generator.
Drake: A work in progress roguelike (when I can find the time in between research!)
LovelySquares: A small game written in Lua using the Love2d framework.
Indelman V, Melim A, Dellaert F. "Incremental Light Bundle Adjustment for Robotics Navigation"
IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems 2013
Presented in Japan by Andrew Melim
Melim A, West M. "Towards autonomous navigation with the Yellowfin AUV"
Presented in Hawaii by Andrew Melim
West, Michael E., Michael Novitzky, Jesse P. Varnell, Andrew Melim, Evan Sequin,
Tedd C. Toler, Tomas R. Collins, and John R. Bogle. "Design and Development of
the Yellowfin UUV for Homogenous Collaborative Missions."
AUVSI's Unmanned Systems North America 2010 2010
Here are some things I do in my free time, what little I can find these days :)
Kendo: The art of Japanese fencing. I'm currently ranked at 5-Kyu
A little bit of learning how to digital paint. This is my attempt at an orange.[x]
You can reach me at Andrew dot Melim-at-gatech dot edu[x]


text:
Photo by Sian Kennedy
YIELD: Makes 36
For crust:
Spray three 12-cup mini muffin pans with nonstick spray. Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine masa, flour, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in processor; using on/off turns, process to blend. Add butter. Add shortening by rounded teaspoonfuls. Using on/off turns, process until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 1/4 cup warm water and process just until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dry.
Transfer dough to work surface; form into ball. Roll scant tablespoonful dough between palms into 1-inch round. Flatten into disk, then press onto bottom and up sides of 1 muffin cup, keeping top edge of dough inside cup (do not form any overhang). Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake crusts until dry to touch and easy to remove from cups, about 35 minutes. Cool on rack. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Store at room temperature in airtight container.
For filling and garnish:
Heat oil in heavy medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Add chorizo and cook until browned and crumbly, breaking up sausage with wooden spoon or fork, about 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup water and tomato paste. Stir until thickened, about 2 minutes. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Rewarm filling before continuing.
Divide filling among crusts (about 1 teaspoon each). Spoon 1/2 teaspoon tomato salsa atop half of chalupas and 1/2 teaspoon salsa verde atop remaining chalupas. Garnish with avocado and cilantro leaves.
* Also known as masa harina; available at many supermarkets and at Latin markets.


text: Speyside by Craigellachie Camping and Caravanning Club Site (88 reviews) from £5.60 to £9.50 Per person/night Contact Us Book It Images Map Select Section Overview You will find a real taste of the Scottish Highlands in this area of castles, distilleries and beautiful scenery. Walks, wildlife and whisky are all in abundance in the area surrounding our beautiful Speyside Club campsite. The campsite enjoys a rural position between the fabulous Moray coast and the Cairngorms Mountain range. Set on a gentle south-facing slope and surrounded by trees, Speyside campsite will appeal to those looking for a peaceful and relaxing base for their exploration of the area. Views extend over the surrounding countryside and trees and hedges dot the site giving some areas a more secluded feel. Facilities include a laundry, children's play area and a dog walk. If you enjoy a wee dram of Scotland's famous tipple, you're in luck. The area surrounding the campsite boasts some 50 whisky distilleries, including the world-famous Macallan Distillery. Most offer tours and there are whisky festivals in May and September. For walkers, the 84-mile Speyside Way connects the moray coast with the Grampian mountains and passes close to the campsite. As well as being handy for the coast of Moray Firth, Elgin, Buckie, Forres, Nairn, Fochabers and Spey bay are all within easy reach. At Spey Bay you'll find the Scottish Dolphin Centre where you can enjoy dolphin spotting or take a walk along the mouth of the River Spey. Eat Local There are good local butchers shops in both Rothes and Aberlour and many restaurants which support local producers, including Fresh at Aberlour, The Bistro in Archiestown Hotel. Simpsons Bakery and Coffee Shop in Rothes. Facilities Speyside by Craigellachie has the following facilities on or around the site. Members' and non-members' caravans welcome Members' and non-members' trailer tents welcome Hardstanding with electric hook-up Seasonal Pitches Grass only pitch (no electric) Showers Electric shaver sockets Chemical toilet disposal point Motorhome stop-off Dishwashing facilities Childrens play area Payphone Designated dog walk Grass only pitch for larger tents Grass pitch with electric hook-up for larger tents Members' and non-members' motorhomes welcome Members' and non-members' tents welcome Grass pitch with electric hook-up Storage facilities Flushing toilet Washbasins Dedicated accessible facilities Drinking water taps Washing Machines Ice pack freezing Gas cylinders Pets welcome Electric hook-up Battery charging facilities Reviews Review 1 |2 |22 |Next » Expand review Recommended: yes 4.3 We found the site within easy driving distance of the Moray coast and it was only a 12 mile... Ian Henderson (Club Member) stayed Jul 2015 This review is for Speyside by Craigellachie We found the site within easy driving distance of the Moray coast and it was only a 12 mile drive to Elgin where there were 2 large supermarkets for all essentials including diesel at a very reasonable price. We visited Cullen bay which has miles of sandy beaches which our Yorky enjoyed. There is famous ice cream shop here too not far from the beach which is worth a visit. Banff harbour is also worth a visit, the area has been renovated and it is a great place to have a break /picnic. Towing: Easy Location: Secluded Suitable For: Older couples,Peaceful break Friendliness: 5 Cleanliness: 5 Facilities: 3 Expand review Recommended: no 4.7 We have been coming to this site for many years because of the beautiful surrounding scenery,... babsclark (Club Member) stayed Jun 2015 This review is for Speyside by Craigellachie We have been coming to this site for many years because of the beautiful surrounding scenery, the site always adequate for our needs, facilities spotless, a supply of groceries in the small shop, and, most of the times, staff very friendly and helpful. This time, we were immediately struck by the upgrade of the site, the hard standing pitches looking so much better with their hard edges and covering of gravel.For all the bad weather, the grass was looking well maintained. The club bench looked well with the bird feeders and some of the many hanging baskets around the site placed by it. Most of all though, we must praise Andy, the site manager for, not only being friendly all the time, but, so kind and cheerful when helping us in the rain with our broken jockey wheel problem. Towing: Easy Location: Country,Secluded Suitable For: Older couples,Groups,Active break,Peaceful break Friendliness: 5 Cleanliness: 5 Facilities: 4 Expand review Recommended: yes 5 This was my first time at this site and I would have no problem going back, we got a very nice... Mr Paul (Club Member) stayed Jun 2015 This review is for Speyside by Craigellachie This was my first time at this site and I would have no problem going back, we got a very nice welcome from Kenny and if you had any problems he would try to help if he could. There is a nice dog walk area that takes you into Aberlour, this is about a 40min walk if you are up to it. You are 12 miles from Elgin which is a very nice place to visit. Towing: Easy Location: Country Suitable For: Older couples,Peaceful break Friendliness: 5 Cleanliness: 5 Facilities: 5 Expand review Recommended: yes 4.3 Good central point for exploring the surrounding area. Local shops a little distant. Rev. Tony (Club Member) stayed Jun 2015 This review is for Speyside by Craigellachie Good central point for exploring the surrounding area. Local shops a little distant. Enjoyed the visit very much. Towing: Easy Location: Coastal Suitable For: Families,Older couples,Active break,Peaceful break Friendliness: 5 Cleanliness: 5 Facilities: 3 1 |2 |22 |Next » Travel Local Travel Nearest bus stop: From site entrance - hail & ride Nearest train station: Elgin – 15 miles Get Directions to Speyside by Craigellachie Staying here? Public transport near the site Bike ride? Find cycle routes nearby Sat Nav Download our POI file Safe Directions Print Friendly PDF Standard Fees For more information take a look at Pricing explained. Minimum booking periods do apply. Age concession available at this site - More details including more restrictions


text:
Home Future StudentsCurrent StudentsFaculty & StaffPatientsAlumni
Download EBHC_regform.docx
Tuition includes EBHC 2012 Workshop registration, course materials, and meal, break and reception functions associated with the workshop. Food and beverage functions may or may not include alcohol as a part of the event. All prices given in US Dollars.
Individual Tuition
Received by May 31, 2012
On or after June 1, 2012
Group Discount: applies to 3 or more participants from one organization. Each registrant must complete a registration form.
Government/Resident/Fellow Discount: applies to individuals with primary appointments at VA Medical Centers, Federal Government agencies (NIH, AHRQ, USPHS, etc.) or military service
Scholarships: we do not have scholarships available through the workshop, however please let EBHC staff know how we can assist participants with their application for funding to attend EBHC.
Cancellation and Substitution Policy
Substitutions may be made at any time without penalty. Please contact EBHC staff to update registration information. Cancellation follows the schedule below:
On or before May 31, 2012
Full refund, less a $400 administrative fee
June 1 to June 30, 2012
Full refund, less a $750 administrative fee
July 1, 2012 or after
No refund – substitution only
13001 E. 17th Place | Campus Box B119 | Aurora, CO 80045303-724-4585 | firstname.lastname@example.com
© The Regents of the University of Colorado, a body corporate. All rights reserved.
All trademarks are registered property of the University. Used by permission only.


text:
What's so good?
By Sean O | Feb 13, 2013 | Total plays: 4,337
The last time Johnny Astro went in over a big name singer, the result was "Goodnight, America," which features my favorite Adele sample ever. "Athena," like so many of Astro's tracks, is incredibly sincere, which is great because I can't stand behind phony-ass rappers. When I listen to "Athena," I know the endgame of Astro's hustle is more than a big booty hoe.
Maybe it's because I'm a hopeless romantic, but "Athena" just hits all my sweet spots. The production is enchanting, as is Astro's ability to mix in those smooth R&B flourishes. Plus, I can't front on his flow, and the way that chorus punches me right in the feels.
There's just something in the way Astro's music moves.


text:
Product Specs
Product Description
Beautifully decorated edible treats are among the most popular party favors, enjoyed by guests of all ages. This heart shaped monogram cookie is not only a fabulous addition to the tables, it is also a personalized favor to celebrate your wedding day.
A monogram is symbolic of the union between two people and is traditionally three letters—a last initial in the middle, joined on either side by a couple's first initials—but is beautiful as one or two letters as well.
This cookie can be customized to match the colors of your wedding, anniversary party or bridal shower. Simply enter the color of the cookie as well as the color of the monogram and dot accent and we will create it just for your event.
Each cookie is individually wrapped in a cello bag and decorated with a matching satin ribbon. Measures 4.5" x 4". Cookies are kosher and parve and have a shelf life of 3 months.


text:
press release
The MDC Youth Assembly chairperson, Solomon Madzore was on Monday served with a letter telling him that he could no longer continue with his studies at the University of Zimbabwe.
Madzore was a student at the UZ studying for a degree in social work.
However, on Monday, he received a letter from the deputy registrar Anne Takawira informing him that the university had deregistered him. No reasons were cited. Sources at the UZ informed Madzore who was set to finish his final semester, that the decision to expel him was because he has a pending murder case at the High Court. Madzore is one of the 31 MDC members who are facing false charges of murdering a police officer in Glen View, Harare in 2011.
Madzore has since engaged his lawyers to deal with the expulsion. He said he was shocked by the move by the UZ authorities to expel him as even convicted prisoners were undertaking further studies and this confirmed persecution at government institutions that are supposed to be instruments of democracy.
Meanwhile, the Zanu PF MP for Masvingo South, Walter Mzembi has ordered all workers at Renco Mine in the district to join Zanu PF or risk intimidation, political persecution and dismissal from work.
The MDC provincial spokesperson Hon. Harrison Mudzuri today said Mzembi and a few of his supporters were causing untold mayhem at the giant mine. He said reports showed that Mzembi and his supporters had told workers to denounce the MDC or risk being fired from the mine.
"We received detailed reports that Mzembi and his supporters were at Renco Mine last week where they castigated company management and ordered all workers to join Zanu PF," said Hon. Mudzuri.
"Mzembi also told the workers that all MDC supporters will be thrown out of the company since he wielded powers to do so. He has been wreaking havoc at the mine since last year.
We believe that everyone including mine workers has the right to vote for a party of his or her own choice. It is quite displeasing to note that a government minister and legislator could sink so low as to participate in cheap political activities," said Hon. Mudzuri.
Muzembi's actions are characteristic of the hooliganism that is associated with Zanu PF and should not be condoned. The bullying of hapless mine workers because of their political preferences is not only primitive but retrogressive in modern politics. Such behaviour will not distract the people's march to a democratic dispensation.
The Last Mile: Towards Real Transformation!!!


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Stream Music Wirelessly To Your Stereo With An iPhone And Blue Ant's Ribbon [Review]
If you've ever wished you could stream audio wirelessly to your car or home stereo, Blue Ant's Ribbon ($69) might be just the gadget for you. Ribbon, tiny as it is, adds Bluetooth streaming to any set of headphones or any device with an auxiliary input. But, as you might've surmised from its unique shape, its abilities don't stop there.


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A few months ago, I blogged about helpful linkbuilding tools. I'd like to do a quick synopsis of another set of tools, called 'Link Research Tools'. First I'll do a quick run down on the top tools and then offer a little background on Link Research Tools metrics and what sets them apart from similar tools. As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to use the comments section as a discussion forum or to recommend other SEO tools.
Popular Link Research Tools
The Common Back Links Tool: This back links tool finds links that are linking to at least two domains, or specific pages, that you choose to compare. One good reason to use this tool: if you compare two competitor sites, you will likely find links that you may have an opportunity to gain.
The SERP Research Tool This tool is one of my favorites. It allows you to search for potential places to post your link, using your keywords to make sure the pages are relevant. It also checks to make sure you haven't already posted a link in that location, because if you post several links a. you're annoying and b. it looks spammy. (Your common (SEO) sense comes in to play here – this is a great way to find links to post on but if you aren't posting something useful, you are going to look spammy even if you only post once.)
The Competitive Landscape Analyzer This tool basically compares you with your competitors, head to head, across several SEO metrics. It can help you determine a strategy by pointing out your strengths and weaknesses.
The Backlink Profiler This tool looks up all of the backlinks for a domain and brings you back loads of information about each one. With this tool, you can see the anchor text, the type of link (follow, no-follow), and what type of site is linking to you (blog, forum, directory, etc.). Beyond the ability to find additional links, if you check out a competitor's backlinks, you can also use this tool to organize and categorize your current links.
What Sets Link Research Tools Apart?
In talking to a Link Research Tools representative, my first question was to ask them how they differed from other SEO tools. According to the representative, one of their major pulls stems from the fact that many other SEO tools (including SEOmoz) have their own pre-crawled and pre-analyzed data, which allows them to do analysis based on a limited number of metrics (mozRank, Page & Domain Authority, etc.) very, very quickly. Also, for link data, although it the data is pulled quickly, it is very often outdated because they don't know when a link goes down until they re-crawl the page on which the link should be.
Link Research Tools use not one but more than 20 different data sources and support approximately 50 different metrics – including all the SEOmoz metrics, but also many, many more. Additionally, Link Research Tools crawl all the data live, which means that the data in a report is never outdated. With Link Research Tools, you can be 100% sure that every single link you see in a Backlink Profiler report that is marked as "Follow" is actually still follow. Dropped links are marked as "[LinkNotFound]" (or ignored, if you have the Superhero package and choose to ignore dropped links from your report).
Also, according to the representative, Link Research Tools actually have a number of metrics that *no* other SEO tool, as far as he knows. (I don't know of any other tools that have these metrics either, so if you've heard of similar tools, I'd love to hear about them!) Link Research Tools exclusive metrics include the "Theme", which shows you the topic a site has and is great for the analysis of the thematical relevance of the backlinks for a site. They also have the "SiteType", which shows the type of software that's behind the site, like Blog, Forum or CMS. Link Research Tools also support social metrics like Facebook Likes, Retweets, etc. I could glady talk all day about the (increasing) importance of social media in your SEO efforts but that's another blog post.
If you look at the Case Studies at http://www.linkresearchtools.com/case-studies/ you'll find that these metrics, exclusive to Link Research Tools, can actually matter quite a bit.
The downfall to Link Research Tools, is that it takes some time. In order to aggregate loads of new data, you have to wait anywhere from a few minutes to an hour. The length of time a report takes is proportional to the size of report and the number of metrics selected, so it's not entirely out of your control if you need to run a few reports ASAP. All in all, that's a small price to pay for good data (and lots of it!), there are some tools that we use here at Hanapin that require us to run reports over night because they take so long. Like I said, for good data, it's worth it.
I'd love to hear a rebuttle from other representatives, namely an SEOmoz representative, since SEOmoz is widely known and was used as a benchmark in several comparisons. Both Link Research Tools and the SEOmoz tools are very helpful in analyzing SEO efforts, especially linkbuilding. There are pros and cons of all tools but the larger your toobox is, the more opportunities you have to build a strong search engine marketing strategy for your site.
Amy is an Account Executive at Hanapin Marketing, a search engine marketing firm focused on generating results through PPC and SEO.


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that works, just a mess to do. You'd think there'd be simpler ways to do this. :(
I have all the morph loaded and have save the figure for later use in a different folder or a different name, that way I just open the figure. No re-adding morphs injections.


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personal healing and healing for the earth
Counselling and Psychotherapy OutdoorsCAPO Counselling and psychotherapy outdoors
CAPO Counselling and psychotherapy outdoors
Capo is a professional members organisation whose aim is to support counsellors and psychotherapists in taking their therapy practice outdoors. We also promote, develop, research the practice of counselling and psychotherapy in the outdoors.
Criteria for membership:
Open to qualified counsellors and psychotherapists (Arts therapists Chartered Counselling/Clinical Psychologists,) who are accredited members of, or are working towards accreditation with the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), The United Kingdom Counsel of Psychotherapy (UKCP), Health Professions Council (HPC) and The British Psychological Society (BPS).
The group is also open to student counsellors and therapists on courses validated by the above organisations.
Research members: While CAPO is primarily a practitioners organisation, we recognise the important role played by research in the development of this field. With this in mind membership applications from researchers in this field will be considered on a case by case basis.
Aims of the group:
• To promote the field of counselling and psychotherapy in the outdoors
• To develop the field of counselling and psychotherapy in the outdoors
• To research the field of counselling and psychotherapy outdoors
• To further knowledge and practice in counselling and psychotherapy in the outdoors
• To develop ethical frameworks for practice, incorporating and adapting existing codes of ethics where necessary
• To explore areas of knowledge and practice where the existing outdoor education and experiential learning processes interface
•To provide an interface for dialogue with existing counselling and psychotherapy organisations
see website for details:
New Book on Ecotherapy
Nature and Therapy: Understanding Counselling and Psychotherapy in Outdoor Spaces.
Training courses 2015
(I also offer 1-1 support/supervision for therapists and others interested in developing their outdoor practice, this can be done over Skype and online)
Taking Therapy Outside - Understanding Therapeutic Practice in Outdoor Natural Spaces Continuing Professional Development for therapists (CPD certificates are available for attendance at this weekend)
10th – 13th September 2015
Powder Mill Woods, Battle, East Sussex
This weekend will be suitable for therapy professionals such as counsellors, psychotherapists, arts therapists, psychologists who want to explore the potential for their work in moving into an outdoor, natural space.
On this course we will focus on exploring your personal relationship with the natural world as a foundation for developing an underpinning therapeutic rationale. Participants will gain insight into the needs of clients in moving into working in natural settings.
We will also begin to explore the challenge of holding a therapeutic frame in an outdoor natural space as well as the therapeutic processes that come into play. This will include working with metaphor, embodiment, and the four directions of self in nature, and aesthetic connections. This learning will be applied through skills work to further your understanding of working with clients in a natural setting.
The course will involve a mixture of experiential work, attending to group process, skills work, teaching input and group discussion.
We have a beautiful woodland venue at Powdermill woods near Battle in East Sussex. This venue is accessible by public transport. The weekend will be camping (bring your own camping equipment) and self-catering with shared meals where possible.
You are free to stay off site in local B and B's. However, this may detract from the complete experience and personal learning that can be gained from an extended period in an outdoor setting as part of a group.
For 4 day course - Ł350
Deposit - Ł150 is payable on booking, other payments can be made in installments
Places are limited to 12, and subject to short telephone or Skype interview to discuss your interests and training background.
Course Leaders:
The course will be facilitated by Martin Jordan, CPsychol, UKCP registered psychotherapist and counselling psychologist, and course leader for the PG Dip in Psychodynamic Counselling at Brighton University;
Hayley Marshall BA Hons MSc CTA PTSTA UKCP registered psychotherapist and trainer at the South Manchester Centre for Psychotherapy.
For enquiries about all aspects of the course and booking please Email: email@example.com or call on 07876 716700


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Michael Gertinisan is the President of Daily Living Inc. .
Daily Living Inc. filed as a Domestic for Profit Corporation in the State of Florida filed on Friday, February 17, 2006. This corporation is approximately nine years old according to documents filed with Florida Department of State.
Key roles for Michael Gertinisan
Daily Living Inc.
President, Treasurer, Director, Secretary


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When major political parties hold conventions, they usually try to craft their messages to reach the broadest possible audience. The parties make the case that they stand for true American values and represent the best hope for freedom and liberty – within their definition of the priorities involved. But even with the acknowledgment that those meanings can shift depending on the issues, the Democratic Party and their convention got off to a very strange and very revealing start this week in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The host committee started off the festivities with avideo presentation that defended the use of government as a medium to address social ills and as a unifying presence in American lives. That's not exactly a novel argument coming from Democrats and progressives. However, this statement was: "Government's the only thing we all belong to," the narrator intoned. "We have different churches, different clubs, but we're together as a part of our city, or our county, or our state – and our nation."
We all belong to the government? That's not how most Americans think of themselves. As Mitt Romney tweeted almost immediately afterward, Americans usually labor under the concept that government belongs to the people, and not the other way around. Abraham Lincoln famously referred to American government as "government of the people, by the people, for the people" in the Gettysburg address. He didn't refer to America as a people of, by, and for the government.
The American Revolution occurred in no small part over the rejection of ownership by the government. For more than a century, the colonists had enjoyed a large measure of autonomy while still retaining the status of subjects to the Crown. When the British had to fight wars on behalf of the colonists, they put that ownership paradigm to greater use by imposing taxes without consent and restricting trade in order to recoup those costs. The presumption of the time that people belonged to the Crown and its government made those kinds of policies rational and even understandable – but the American experience had produced a populace that finally demanded a government owned by the people instead of the other way around.
One could shrug this off as a badly-formed argument for American unity, but that explanation doesn't meet the smell test, either. Government is the one area where our system was specifically designed for disunity – on all levels. Even within the structure of government at nearly every level, checks and balances were created to keep one small group from seizing power. The founders did not create co-equal branches of government as a means to promote unity, but to preserve effective dissent and limit the reach of each branch. Those structures exist in every state government and in most municipal governments as well.
The Bill of Rights extended that effort to the nation as a whole. The First Amendment protected the right to free speech not so that Americans could unify in government, but specifically so that government could not demand and enforce unity. The Ninth and Tenth Amendments specifically limited the powers of the federal government and protected the ability of the states to operate independently, and the people to retain their own choices. If the founders intended for government to produce unity, they would have never have provided these restrictions.
Americans don't look to government for unity, and certainly don't see government as something to which we belong. However, that concept is consistent with the Obama administration's policies and arguments for a second term, which is another reason to see this as a revelation rather than an aberration.


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Forest Lawn Glendale
Travel To Los Angeles On A Budget
Think you can't afford a trip to LA? Think again.
Fans Remember Michael Jackson With Twitter Tributes, Thousands Of Roses
Fans are marking the third anniversary of the King Of Pop's death Monday with a flood of online tributes and thousands of roses sent to his grave.


text: Publications Search Results Users may wish to consult What's Included in the Bibliography. Results 1 - 1 Results per page: 25 50 100 Sort by: Pub Date (newest) Title Recent Additions Author Clear All Pub. Year Citation 2001 Mares-Perlman, J.A., Fisher, A.I., Klein, R., Palta, M., Block, G., Millen, A.E., Wright, J.D. . Lutein and zeaxanthin in the diet and serum and their relation to age-related maculopathy in the third national health and nutrition examination survey. American Journal of Epidemiology. 153, (5), 424-432. Full Text Options: DOI Worldcat Google Scholar Export Options: RIS EndNote XML [1]


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- The Adventures of SEO Boy® - http://www.seoboy.com -
The Force is Strong With This One! Happy Anniversary to Star Wars!
Posted By Joe On May 25, 2009 @ 1:00 am In SEO Boy | No Comments
Today marks the anniversary of the release of Stars Wars: A New Hope [1] and the SEO Boy team is celebrating in fine fashion! We will be watching all 6 films in a row without taking a break! That's only about 16 hours of seriously awesome science fiction spectacle! Okay, maybe I'm the only one who will celebrate in this way… who's joining me?! And we're also doing some celebrating over at PPC Hero [2] too!
Below, our fearless SEO Skywalker battles the evil Darth Schwarzerhut!
Article printed from The Adventures of SEO Boy®: http://www.seoboy.com
URL to article: http://www.seoboy.com/the-force-is-strong-with-this-one/
URLs in this post:
[1] Stars Wars: A New Hope: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076759/
[2] PPC Hero: http://www.ppchero.com/may-the-force-be-with-you
Click here to print.
Copyright © 2008 The Adventures of SEO Boy. All rights reserved.


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Mfg.: Bar Maid
Model: Bar Maid GWM-300
Bar Maid is one of the leading names in bar glass washers, blenders, and other accessories essential to starting and maintaining a bar. They offer replacement brushes for all their glass washers, as well as attachments for coffee pots and urns, and more.
Standard Features:
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Winter!: Prepare for holiday gaming!
What is the proper etiquette?
I'm about to go to my first DnD session where I know noone. I was invited through meetup and am excited about having a session within 3 hours (yeah my normal session is from DC to philly away) but I was wondering what the social etiquette is.
Thanks for the help everyone!
Hmm, seems a like a lot of unneeded worry.
Here's my suggestions (if not too late
Get in contact with the DM by phone prior to heading out, and say "Hey, need me to bring anything? Food? Extra dice? etc?"
If they have smoke breaks, go out with them. I quit smoking years ago but still I'm addicted to taking breathers and stretching legs between encounters.
If ya need to take the OGL printouts, so be it. It's just a game, not a job, if it looks "unprofessional" then they're missing the point of the get together anyway right?
Really, a lot of things you mentioned there are no "written rules" or proper etiquette for gaming aside: How the heck would you act amongst friends? If ya gotta piss, say "BRB BIO" in real words. We're all human, and considering the amount of Mountain Dew guzzled at the gaming table.....taking a whizz happens. Just don't do it in their potted plant in the corner in an attempt to keep describing your combat actions
Again, just call your DM ahead of time and ask what extra stuff could benefit everyone.
I've never gotten into D&D, something I hope to remedy soon, but I do have one bit of etiquette that I picked up from years of going to cons:
Please shower (or bath, your choice) and use deodorant. Just because you're roleplaying that you're adventuring in a deep, dank dungeon, doesn't mean that you should smell like one.
If you are joining a game-in-progress, new players get whatever is needed or availible.
Just ask.
That's up to you. If everybody goes out, then you might want to as well. If nothing else, it will give everybody a chance to talk about what's going on in the game. Or, perhaps you will have a chance to get to know your fellow players a little better. Either way, unless it is really cold out, there is not really much of a reason to stay inside by yourself. Unless you are using the bathroom, of course...
I would however get familiar with the world you playing in though, its a failing in players who don't research them. Had a few Dragonlance games where I wished one or two people would have read up a little on the world in general. I played a Theiwar (Evil-Dwarf) Mage, with three personalities and a mad, convoluted and twisted plan that had been upset by the appearance of the Dragon Armies. I was an evil character, fighting evil characters, for evil purposes. I was running with a party of Order and Neutral characters, using them as my Cannon-Fodder. Was a great character, I would be arguing with a paladin, only to end up addig one of my personalities to the conversation at random intervals to confuse, annoy and derail conversatins, especially when I ended up arguing with myself.
Good times.
If you think you can pull off such a character, and your party and gm agree's, I whole heartedly recommend it.
Just remember one rule: The DM is god. If you don't; they may make you write it down a thousand times before your next turn.
btw, this is a real story. Not to me, but a friend who was a DM and someone ticked her off.
Thanks Everyone for the advice. I brought a case of Mtn dew as a peace offering and my PG came in just in time so I didn't have to worry about the OGL stuff. Noone smoked so that went well. I brought the mini's but the DM had a weird setup going so they weren't needed.
So how do you tell your DM to stop being a player killer and to fix his broken world?
The first session went okay. I'm dissapointed in the DM and a few of the other PC's. The dm wrote his own delve (or campaign) and the world can be walked around in about a month (for my half-orc). There is strangely only one alchemist in the world form what we were able to gather. I found way too many loopholes in the story. If we are play testing the campaign a little warning would have been nice so i could have created a character a druid or palidan to compliment the one healer we have. Oh yeah and umm what's the policy on the DM using a calculator program to calculate hits and damage. I guess it's legal but it seems lame to us.
The DM sent literally a dozen and a half zombies at us in the first town. The other fighter and I started scoping out house by house. The second house had a zombie in it that did 7 points of damage and nearly killed the fighter. He killed it and i decapitated it for fun. During that process the rogue and cleric mved up the wizard and archer kinda moved up. Then the dm lays out 18more zombies. What upset me wasn't that he did that. It was that the wizard and archer ran away. The wizard withdrew off the map. The archer took some shots and then hid in the brush. The cleric stood outside and got walloped. Failed two turn undead instead of healing the fighter and I and got knocked out. The fighter got knocked out. The rogue would have got wrecked so he threw stones to distract the zombies from me for a bit. I broke free of the 8 zombies around my L1 character and ran into the brush. Then lit it on fire while the zombies burned to their death.
18 friggen zombies. I was worried about ettiquette and instead we have a DM trying to kill the L1 characters. We had to roll listen for a 30 foot yell. Unfortunately the roll failed so noone heard me yell get in the house. We could have bottlenecked them.
And the DM's apartment is the basement of a row house. I volunteered my apartment for the next session because i have room to sit at a table. (we litterally sat in a section of the room that was 5 feet wide.
We are going to have our gripe session over email for a bit I guess, maybe bring people together as a team more so the fighter and I aren't left in the dust. I escaped with 3hp. We almsot leveled in that one encounter though haha.
Or you could possibly offer to run a game yourself in the hopes of maybe having the other players go "Wow, I like his playstyle a lot better."
But hey, it was first session, and i have no clue the DM'ing experience of the guy.....it may pan out. Best of luck over the E-Mail bitch and moan and maybe things will go smoother.
You could request to be the DM next time and do it better. Good luck with the current broken world and DM who wants to kill LV1s. That just takes the fun out of the game.
If I were in your situation, I'd have a calm talk with the GM about his style. It seems he's more into the hack'n'slash roll-playing instead of roleplaying a story with the players.
Find out if he ran it this way on purpose, and if he'll continue the storyline this way. If yes, find a different group. If he says no, try another session and see if it gets better.
If it doesn't, I'd just say the GM style doesn't suit your playing style, and that you wouldn't continue with them, and thank them for their time.
I wouldn't join a new group, tell the GM his style is bad and offer to GM myself. If I was a player or GM in an established group, and something like this happened, I'd just tell off the newbie. After all, it could be an established style for the group, and they might enjoy it.
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