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After 22 years at the helm of Stamford baseball, Head Coach Lannie Templeton is hanging up his cleats.
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Templeton was also quick to thank Stamford. They gave him his first Varsity head coaching job in 1992. Before that he was an assistant at Merkel.


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International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks
Volume 2013 (2013), Article ID 529489, 10 pages
ALRD: AoA Localization with RSSI Differences of Directional Antennas for Wireless Sensor Networks
Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Central University, Jhongli 32001, Taiwan
Received 30 September 2012; Revised 22 January 2013; Accepted 1 February 2013
Academic Editor: Chengdong Wu
Copyright © 2013 Jehn-Ruey Jiang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
In this paper, we fit RSSI values into a parabola function of the AoA between 0° and 90° by applying quadratic regression analysis. We also set up two-directional antennas with perpendicular orientations at the same position and fit the difference of the signal RSSI values of the two antennas into a linear function of the AoA between 0° and 90° by linear regression analysis. Based on the RSSI-fitting functions, we propose a novel localization scheme, called AoA Localization with RSSI Differences (ALRD), for a sensor node to quickly estimate its location with the help of two beacon nodes, each of which consists of two perpendicularly orientated directional antennas. We apply ALRD to a WSN in a m indoor area with two beacon nodes installed at two corners of the area. Our experiments demonstrate that the average localization error is 124 cm. We further propose two methods, named maximum-point minimum-diameter and maximum-point minimum-rectangle, to reduce localization errors by gathering more beacon signals within 1 s for finding the set of estimated locations of maximum density. Our results demonstrate that the two methods can reduce the average localization error by a factor of about 29%, to 89 cm.
1. Introduction
A wireless sensor network (WSN) consists of tiny sensor nodes equipped with computational, communication, and sensing capabilities, whereby each sensor node can collect data about the environment, such as temperature, vibration levels, light, electromagnetic strength, and humidity. The sensed data is then transmitted to the sink node through a chain of multiple intermediate nodes that help forward the data. Due to their capabilities and versatility, WSNs have been widely used in many areas, such as military affairs, healthcare, and environmental monitoring. In many applications, apart from sensed data, the location information of the deployed sensor node is also desirable as it can be used to improve routing efficiency. Hence, the discovery of the locations or positions of sensor nodes is one of the most critical issues for WSNs.
Localization is the process of determining the absolute or relative physical location of a specific node or the target node. Although a global positioning system (GPS) [1] can provide precise location information, the costly hardware and large size make it unsuitable for WSNs. Furthermore, a GPS can only be used outdoors since it depends on signals directly received from satellites for localization. Besides the GPS, numerous localization methods [2–27] have also been proposed. Most of these deploy some beacon (or anchor) nodes, which periodically broadcast beacon signals containing their own locations to help other sensor nodes with the localization.
Localization schemes can be classified as range based or range-free. In range-free schemes, the sensor node location is estimated solely on network connectivity. Such schemes need no extra hardware, but their accuracy is too low, and they usually rely on a large deployment of beacon nodes to improve the accuracy. Conversely, range-based schemes usually have better accuracy. They measure the time of arrival (ToA) [2, 3], time difference of arrival (TDoA) [4–6], angle of arrival (AoA) [2, 4, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 27], and received signal strength indicator (RSSI) [3, 7–14, 16, 20, 21] to estimate the distances or angles between pairs of nodes, which in turn are used to calculate the locations of nodes. Most kinds of measurement are taken with extra auxiliary hardware. For example, ToA and TDoA are very sensitive to timing errors, and, hence, their measurement relies on highly accurate synchronized timers. The AoA, which is defined as the angle between the propagation direction of an incident RF wave and a reference direction, can be measured by an array of antennas. Unlike the previously mentioned three kinds of measurement, RSSI can be outputted by most commercial off-the-shelf sensor nodes.
RSSI-based localization methods can be further classified into groups, such as propagation model [8, 9], proximity [10–12] or fingerprinting [13, 14, 28]. Propagation model localization methods analyze the relationship between RSSI values and distances to learn parameters such as the path loss exponent of the propagation path-loss model in the calibration phase. The calibrated propagation model is then applied to convert the signal strength to the estimated distance between transmitter and receiver in the localization phase. In proximity localization methods, an unknown node broadcasts a localization packet to initiate the localization process. Nearby location-known reference nodes then report the RSSI values measured from the packet to a nominated node. The order of reported RSSI values is then used to determine the location of the unknown node. Fingerprinting localization methods measure RSSI values from a set of static nodes during a calibration phase at several locations. The measured RSSI values at a particular location are then used to fingerprint the location. In the localization phase, a node measures RSSI values from the same static nodes and then estimates its location by finding the fingerprinting that is the closest match with the measured RSSI values.
In this paper, based on the concept of integrating AoA Localization and fingerprinting localization for reducing errors, we propose a novel localization scheme, called AoA Localization with RSSI Differences (ALRD). It estimates the AoA for localization in 0.1 s by comparing the RSSI values of beacon signals received from two perpendicularly oriented directional antennas installed at the same place. In the proposed ALRD, we fit RSSI values received from a directional antenna into a parabola function of an AoA between 0° and 90°. We also set up a beacon node with two perpendicularly oriented directional antennas and fit the difference of the signal RSSI values of the two antennas into a linear function of the absolute value of one AoA between 0° and 90°. With the parabola and linear functions, a sensor node can then self-localize itself quickly (within 0.1 s) by observing RSSI values of the beacon signals emitted by the two beacon nodes. The fitting functions can easily be stored in a WSN node, despite their limited storage space, and their inverse functions can be used to speed up the localization process. Hence, ALRD is suitable for mobile sensing and actuating applications in an open and stable environment since it allows a sensor node to fast localize itself with small localization errors. Our experiments demonstrate that the average localization error is 124 cm when deployed in a 10 × 10 m indoor area.
We further propose two methods, namely maximum-point minimum-diameter and maximum-point minimum-rectangle, to reduce ALRD localization errors by gathering more beacon signals within 1 s for finding the set of estimated locations of maximum density. Such estimated locations are then averaged to obtain the final location estimation. Experimental results obtained demonstrate that the two methods can reduce the average localization error by a factor of about 29%, to 89 cm. Hence, ALRD is suitable for mobile sensing and actuating applications, as it allows a sensor node to quickly localize itself with lower localization errors.
The rest of this paper is organized as follows. We review some AoA determination schemes in Section 2. In Section 3, we describe the proposed localization scheme, ALRD, in detail. Section 4 shows our experimental results. Then, we describe improvements to ALRD and compare it with other schemes in Section 5. Finally, we conclude the paper in Section 6.
2. Related Works
In this section, we review some research that determines AoAs for localization. Amundson et al. developed the RIMA system that uses radio interferometry measurements to estimate the AoA [15]. RIMA estimates the AoA by measuring the TDoA of an interference signal generated by a antenna array. The system consists of a beacon node and a target node. The beacon node is formed by grouping three sensor nodes to form an antenna array. The three sensor nodes are arranged in a manner such that their antennas are mutually orthogonal. Two of the sensor nodes transmit a pure sinusoidal signal at slightly different frequencies to create a low-frequency interference signal. The other sensor node and the target node both measure the phase of the low-frequency signal. The difference in the phase readings measured by these two nodes is then used to estimate the AoA from the beacon node to the target node. Although RIMA can accurately measure the AoA within 1 s, it requires very accurate time synchronization between the beacon node and the target node, which is very difficult to achieve.
Two methods, Estimating Direction-of-Arrival (EDoA) [5] and Rotatable Antenna Localization (RAL) [16], utilize the property of directional antennas to estimate the AoA of a signal. EDoA estimates the AoA of an incoming signal by using a mechanically actuated parabolic reflector. The receiver, which is fixed to a parabolic reflector rotated by a step motor, is used to observe the RSSI values of signals emitted from a transmitter. When the orientation of the reflector is aligned with the direction from the receiver to the transmitter, the receiver will observe the highest RSSI value. Hence, the AoA can be obtained by searching for the reflector orientation in which the highest RSSI value is observed. Their experimental results show that the error in measuring the AoA has a mean of about 4° and a standard deviation of about 8° in both indoor and outdoor environments. However, EDoA needs to take a long time to rotate the reflector for searching the highest RSSI value. In RAL, a beacon node is equipped with a rotatable directional antenna. It regularly rotates its antenna to emit beacon signals in different directions. A sensor node determines the angle from the beacon node to itself by observing the RSSI values of the received beacon signals, which contain the location of the beacon node and the current orientation of its antenna. Similar to EDoA, RAL can determine the AoA by determining the strongest signal. By using the estimated AoAs and locations of two distinct beacon nodes, a sensor node can then calculate its own location with a localization error of 76 cm within a 10 × 10-meter indoor area. Two enhanced methods were further proposed to reduce the localization error by a factor of 10% [16]. EDoA and RAL both need a long time to rotate the antenna or the reflector for observing the variation of the RSSI values while estimating the AoA. Therefore, EDoA and RAL are only suitable for localizing static sensor nodes.
3. The Proposed Scheme
Existing localization schemes using AoAs may take a long time to finish the localization or need very accurate time synchronization. In this section, we propose ALRD that finish localization quickly by learning how the RSSI values vary with the AoA in advance without the need of time synchronization between the anchor node and the target node.
3.1. Preliminary
As shown in Figure 1, we define the AoA as the angle from the propagation direction of an incident RF wave to the orientation of the directional antenna emitting the RF wave. The AoA is positive if it is counterclockwise and negative otherwise. Figure 2 shows a plot of RSSI values over AoA; we observe that if the distance between the sensor node and the directional antenna is fixed, the RSSI varies like a parabolic function of AoA, referenced to the orientation of the directional antenna, between −90° and 90° with a an axis of symmetry at AoA = 0°. Furthermore, we set up two perpendicularly oriented directional antennas installed at the same location (seen in Figure 3). From the results obtained (as shown in Figure 4), we also observe that the difference of the signal RSSI values received by a sensor node, localizing between the orientations of two-directional antennas, varies like a linear function of the absolute value of the AoA between 0° and 90°. It can be noted that absolute values of AoAs are used and that when one absolute AoA value is , the other absolute AoA value is . We then take only one absolute AoA value as the representative without ambiguity.
3.2. RSSI Gathering and Analyzing
Before deployment, ALRD needs to gather and analyze RSSI values of the signals that a sensor node receives from a directional antenna at different distances and angles. The measured RSSI values are then analyzed to generate the fitting functions. These fitting functions are then stored into the storage of each sensor node for localization. For better accuracy, the RSSI gathering and analyzing tasks are needed to execute at each new system deployment location, since the environment changes may make the measured RSSI values have some differences. The tasks are described as follows.(1)Gathering RSSI values: as shown in Figure 5, we set up a directional antenna that can be rotated by an angle from the -axis (or the east direction) (0°) to the -axis (or the north direction) (90°) and transmits beacon signals containing the rotating angle for every degree. A sensor is placed at the -axis at a distance of meters for receiving signals emitted from the antenna for several times (e.g., 100), where and are specified values (e.g., ). The received signal RSSI values are averaged and stored. The gathered RSSI average values are denoted by , where , and .(2)Performing quadratic regression: for each distance , the gathered RSSI values are fitted approximately into a quadratic function of the rotating angle , by quadratic regression analysis. (3)Calculating RSSI differences: for each distance , the RSSI difference at angle is obtained by calculating . In practice, is approximately the difference of RSSI values between two signals that a sensor node receives from two perpendicularly oriented directional antennas installed at the same location.(4)Performing linear regression: for each distance , the RSSI difference at angle is approximately fitted into a linear function by linear regression analysis.(5)Storing functions: the quadratic and linear approximation functions are loaded into the storage of the sensor nodes before they are deployed.
3.3. ALRD Setup
Figure 6 shows the setup for ALRD. We assume that all sensor nodes are randomly deployed in a planar square area of interest. Two beacon nodes, and , are deployed in the lower left and lower right corners of the area, respectively. Each beacon node is equipped with two-directional antennas with perpendicular orientations. The antennas of the beacon node in the lower left (or right) corner have either an upright or a horizontal to the right (or left) orientation. The antenna with the upright orientation is called the vertical antenna, whereas, the antenna with the left or right orientation is called the horizontal antenna. Each beacon node is assumed to know its location and orientations of the two antennas. The beacon nodes transmit beacon signals via the two-directional antennas regularly and alternately. The beacon signal contains the orientation of the antenna and the location of the beacon node, which are expected to reach the whole area of interest.
Note that the setup in Figure 5 can be the basic building block for deploying ALRD in a large indoor localization environment. Figure 7 shows a deployment instance of beacon nodes in a large area. The beacon nodes consist of 1, 2, or 4 pairs of perpendicularly oriented directional antennas. Any two adjacent beacon nodes are D units away from each other in the horizontal direction and 2D units away from each other in the vertical direction. Based on the setup of Figure 6, we can see that any two adjacent beacon nodes in the horizontal direction can properly localize target nodes within an area of D by D units. For example, in Figure 7, the beacon nodes X and Y can properly localize target nodes within the shaded area. Hence, ALRD can help localize sensor nodes in a large area by installing a lot of beacon nodes.
3.4. Localization Procedure
In ALRD, a sensor node executes the following steps to estimate its location.(1)Receiving beacon signals: in order to localize itself, the sensor node needs to collect the signal RSSI values and of the horizontal and vertical antennas of beacon node . It also needs to collect the signal RSSI values and of the horizontal and vertical antennas of beacon node .(2)Estimating distance: for each distance , for , two absolute values of AoAs, and , corresponding to the horizontal and vertical antennas of the beacon node are obtained by calculating and , for and . Here, is an inverse function of the quadratic function obtained in RSSI gathering and analysis. As shown in Figure 6, should ideally be . Therefore, the sensor node can obtain a rough estimate of the distance from itself to the beacon node , by finding for , such that is closest to . Let the discovered be denoted by . Similarly, by and , the sensor node can find such that is closest to , where and are two absolute values of AoAs (where and ) corresponding to the horizontal and vertical antennas of the beacon node and and . Let the discovered be denoted by . (3)Estimating AoA: the distance estimate obtained in Step 2 is used to choose a proper linear approximation function for estimating the AoA of the sensor node corresponding to the beacon node . The AoA corresponding to the horizontal antenna of is calculated as , where is the inverse function of the linear function obtained in the RSSI gathering and analysis stage. Similarly, by and (), the AoA corresponding to the horizontal antenna of the beacon node can be calculated as .(4)Calculating location: after obtaining the AoAs (or for short) and (or for short) corresponding to the horizontal antennas of the two beacon nodes and , the sensor node can determine its location by calculating where is the known distance of and . Note that we can also calculate this by using only and . However, our experiments show that using and results in locations that are more accurate. This explains why ALRD uses , , , and to calculate and , uses and to calculate and , and then uses and to calculate the location.
4. Experiment Results
In this section, we describe the implementation of ALRD and the results of the experiments using the implementation.
4.1. Implementation
The sensor nodes and the beacon nodes of the proposed ALRD scheme are implemented in nesC with TinyOS support on the Moteiv BAT mote sensor. The BAT mote sensor has a Texas Instruments MSP430 F1611 microcontroller running at 8 MHz with 10 kB RAM and 48 kB flash memory. It is equipped with the Chipcon CC2420 IEEE 802.15.4 compliant wireless transceiver using the 2.4 GHz band with a 250 kbps data rate. With an integrated onboard omnidirectional antenna, the BAT mote sensor has a maximum transmission range of 50 m (indoor) or 125 m (outdoor).
The beacon node used for RSSI gathering and analysis is also attached with a Maxim AP-12 panel antenna, which is rotated by a Fastech Ezi-Servo 28 L step motor, as shown in Figure 8(a). The beacon node used in localization is attached with two AP-12 panel antennas with perpendicular antennas, as shown in Figure 8(b). Its horizontal and vertical beamwidths are and , respectively.
4.2. Experimental Setup
We installed the ALRD setup in a m region of an indoor basketball court for conducting experiments as shown in Figures 9 and 10. Two beacon nodes were set up at two ends of the edge of the experiment area, and the localization accuracy was tested at 81 grid points (as arranged in Figure 10). Since the largest distance between a measurement point and a beacon node is about 12.73 m, we gathered and analyze the RSSI values of signals emitted at distances of m for every degree from to . The RSSI value for each distance and each degree was obtained by averaging 100 measurements.
The gathered RSSI values are shown in Figure 11. The interval for gathering the RSSI values is set as 1 m because the RSSI values will be indistinguishable if the interval is too small. To reduce the gathering time and space used for storing the approximation functions, we only measured RSSI values for one of the four antennas of the same type of the two beacon nodes in our experiments. The coefficients of determination, , of all the approximation functions are shown in Figure 12. We note that the coefficients of determination are high and all exceed 0.96. Therefore, the approximation functions are very suitable for expressing the measured RSSI values and RSSI differences.
4.3. Localization Errors
The localization accuracy is tested at the 81 grid points shown in Figure 10. The beacon nodes transmit beacon signals via each of their antennas 10 times per second. Therefore, a sensor node can localize itself 10 times per second. We take the average of 10 localization results and plot the cumulative distribution in Figure 13. The average localization error of the localization experiment is 124 cm. In Figure 14, we use different colors to represent the localization errors of the test points. The brighter color indicates the smaller localization error. As Figure 13 shows, the test points that lie in the middle of the region have smaller localization errors. This can be explained by Figure 4, in which the curves almost look like straight lines in the middle.
5. Improvement
As the results show, ALRD can let sensor nodes localize themselves by measuring RSSI values of signals from two beacon nodes in a short time (0.1 s). However, the measured RSSI values may be influenced by environmental interferences so the estimated location may deviate from the real location and has a localization error. Thus, if a node spends more time measuring more RSSI values, then more location estimations can be made, which in turn can reduce the deviations. Based on the concepts introduced in [28], we propose two methods, namely, maximum-point minimum-diameter (MPMD) and maximum-point minimum-rectangle (MPMR), to remove some estimated location from a set of estimated locations for the purposes of reducing the localization error.
Assuming that is the set of estimated locations, MPMD and MPMR remove some locations by finding a subset with the largest density. The density of a set of estimated locations is defined as follows: where is the cardinality of the set, Dia is the diameter of the locations in the set, and Area is the area of the smallest axis-parallel rectangle containing all locations in the set. The diameter Dia of a set of locations can be obtained by finding a pair of locations with the longest distance between them. The Area of a set of locations can be obtained by finding the four extremes (i.e., the leftmost, rightmost, highest, and lowest extremes) and calculating the area of the rectangle bounded by them.
The following steps are executed by a sensor node to apply MPMD or MPMR to obtain a subset of a set of locations such that has the largest density.
Step 1. If , then return .
Step 2. Derive subset of by removing the location with the maximum summation of the distances from itself to other locations in , and calculate the density of .
Step 3. If , then return ; otherwise, set and go to Step 1.
By using the set of estimated locations with the maximum density returned by MPMD and MPMR, we can then calculate the average of all locations to derive a new estimated location with a small localization error. Table 1 shows the average of the localization errors after applying MPMD and MPMR to 10 localization results collected by a sensor node within 1 second. Figure 15 shows the cumulative distributions of the ALRD localization errors and those improved by MPMD and MPMR. As shown, MPMD is more suitable than MPMR for sensor nodes because it makes similar improvements as MPMR but has less computational overheads.
Table 2 compares ALRD with other three localization schemes, namely, EDoA [4], RAL [13], and RIMA [15]. As we have mentioned previously, EDoA and RAL take a long time to localize sensor nodes because they have to rotate the antennas or the reflector. RIMA is able to accurately localize a target node in a short time, but it requires time synchronization between the beacon node and the target node. By contrast, ALRD can localize sensor nodes in a short time and provides relatively low localization errors without the need for time synchronization.
6. Conclusion
In this paper, we proposed AoA Localization with RSSI Differences (ALRD) to estimate angle of arrival (AoA) by comparing the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) values of beacon signals received from two perpendicularly oriented directional antennas installed at the same place. We have implemented and installed ALRD in a m indoor environment. Our experimental results showed that a sensor node can estimate its location by using only four beacon signals within 0.1 s with an average localization error of 124 cm. Hence, ALRD conserves the time and energy spent on localization. Furthermore, we proposed two methods, namely, maximum-point minimum-diameter (MPMD) and maximum-point minimum-rectangle (MPMR), to reduce ALRD localization errors by gathering more beacon signals within 1 s to find the set of estimated locations of maximum density. The results demonstrated that MPMD and MPMR can reduce the localization error by a factor of about 29% to 89 cm. Thus, as ALRD allows a sensor node to quickly localize itself with lower errors; it is suitable for mobile sensing and actuating applications.
As our experiments show, it is sufficient to gather RSSI values for only one of four antennas of the same type to achieve sufficient localization accuracy. By equipping antennas of the same type to all beacon nodes, the sensor nodes merely need to store the quadratic and linear approximation functions of one antenna. In the future, we will focus on applying ALRD to realize a large-area localization system. Moreover, we will also try to apply different types of directional antennas and their combinations to ALRD in the hope of further reducing localization error.
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Don't ask for no diamond rings.Read More
Hey guys, I spent the last month or so buried in work..and finally finished the reel for my little collective's latest project. Check it out and hopefully ya'll enjoy.
If you're so inclined, the website for our collective is: www.redpaperheart.comRead More
Landscapes: Volume Two from Dustin Farrell on Vimeo.
You absolutely MUST watch this full screen with sound ON! Enjoy.Read More
If you've visited Wikipedia today (or the Google homepage, or xkcd, or Wired, or WordPress) you'll notice that they're censoring their own sites to raise awareness for the SOPA and PIPA legislation. From Wikipedia:
Wikipedia is protesting against SOPA and PIPA by blacking out the English Wikipedia for 24 hours, beginning at midnight January 18, Eastern Time. Readers who come to English Wikipedia during the blackout will not be able to read the encyclopedia. Instead, you will see messages intended to raise awareness about SOPA and PIPA, encouraging you to share your views with your representatives, and with each other on social media.
(Wikipedia has made available a page detailing why PIPA and SOPA are bad news).
xkcd.com also has a list of resources for some good (and easily digestible) information.
These are important pieces of legislation, and definitely merit contacting your representatives. However (after you've educated yourself and done your part), if you're in a pinch today and you absolutely need to read a Wikipedia article to understand Batesian mimicry or the etymology of goulash, there is a very easy workaround. When you go to the article you want, you'll notice it appear in your browser before Wikipedia's SOPA/PIPA awareness page pops up. Simply click the "stop" button in your browser after the article loads but before the awareness page pops up. That's it.
Read More
I mostly can't believe how much tin foil they have.Read More
The guy on the right is my favorite.Read More
One of the things that really gets under my skin is the popularity of Ron Paul. He seems to be well on his way to being a serious candidate this Spring, he finished a close 3rd in Iowa, and seems to have won over many center-right folks tired of that state of the Republican party, including Andrew Sullivan.
Why would this irk me so much? Because Ron Paul as president could be one of the worst things to happen to America in a long time.
Make no mistake; Ron Paul is an extremist (just like his son).
This is straight from his Wikipedia page:
Paul is a proponent of Austrian School economics; he has authored six books on the subject, and displays pictures of Austrian School economists Friedrich Hayek, Murray Rothbard, and Ludwig von Mises (as well as of Grover Cleveland)[85] on his office wall. He regularly votes against almost all proposals for new government spending, initiatives, or taxes;[66] he cast two thirds of all the lone negative votes in the House during a 1995–1997 period.[19] He has pledged never to raise taxes[203] and states he has never voted to approve a budget deficit. Paul believes that the country could abolish the individual income tax by scaling back federal spending to its fiscal year 2000 levels;[90][204]financing government operations would be primarily by excise taxes and non-protectionist tariffs. He endorses eliminating most federal government agencies, terming them unnecessary bureaucracies. Paul has a consistent record as an inflation hawk[dead link], having warned of the threat of hyperinflation as far back as 1981.[205] While Paul believes the longterm decrease of the U.S. dollar's purchasing power by inflation is attributable to its lack of any commodity backing, he does not endorse a "return" to a gold standard – as the U.S. government has established during the past – but instead prefers to eliminate legal tender laws and to remove the sales tax on gold and silver, so that the market may freely decide what type of monetary standard(s) there shall be.[206] He also advocates gradual elimination of the Federal Reserve System.[207]
And Andrew Sullivan even goes to great lengths to qualify his endorsement, by basically disavowing Paul's entire platform:
Let me immediately say I do not support many of his nuttier policy proposals. I am not a doctrinaire libertarian. Paul's campaign for greater oversight of the Fed is great, but abolition of it is utopian and dangerous. A veto of anything but an immediately balanced budget would tip the US and the world into a serious downturn (a process to get there in one or two terms makes much more sense). Cutting taxes as he wants to is also fiscally irresponsible without spending cuts first. He adds deductions to the tax code rather than abolish them. His energy policy would intensify our reliance on carbon, not decrease it. He has no policy for the uninsured. There are times when he is rightly described as a crank. He has had associations in the past that are creepy when not downright ugly.
So why is this guy so popular? Well, first of all, the rest of the GOP field is really that bad. You have the politi-whore that is Mitt Romney, the buffoon Rick Perry, the sluttier politi-whore Newt Gingrich, and several flavors of fire-and-brimstone types, of which Rick Santorum is now the flavor of the month.
Next, you have this emotional response to Paul's "intellectualism" and "incorruptibility" which is actually pretty silly when you think about it. His "intellectualism" stems from his staunch beliefs in very discredited theories about economics and property rights, as well as his ultra-strict contructionist views of the Constitution that would make even Clarence Thomas blush. And after you understand that his entire political philosophy is predicated on a series of very simple black-and-white rules, it's not hard to realize that he's been "incorruptible." That's like saying that a robot is incorruptible.
Finally, his foreign policy and stances on Bill of Rights-style issues are refreshing to a lot of conservatives after the wrong turn the GOP made during the Bush years. But make no mistake, this is merely an extension of his extreme views on the Constitution, and no more.
Ron Paul as President would be a disaster. His nickname of "Dr. No" would very quickly be morphed into "Dr. Veto" and the government would effectively shutdown. You thought we had standoffs in 2011? Imagine what 2013 would look like with a Paul Administration.
Scared yet?Read More


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The Chelan City Council took a break from business at Tuesday's council meeting to present Chelan's Assistant City Planner, Agnes Kowatz with a plaque of appreciation.
Agnes will be leaving her position at the end of this month, and City Planner, Craig Gildroy took the opportunity Tuesday evening to thank Agnes for her time and dedication to the city.
In other business, the Chelan City Council approved an agreement with Andrew Kottkamp, which will extend the Hearing Examiner Services for two more years.
Tune into KOZI next week when we will look in depth into the Shoreline Master Program Agreement and what it could mean for the future of Lake Chelan."CLICK HERE" for Audio


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Endangered species, energy top House Resources Committee chairman's agenda
WASHINGTON (01/11/05) -- Congressman Richard W. Pombo (R-CA) outlined plans for his second term as chairman of the House Committee on Resources last week after he was reappointed chairman of the panel for the 109th Congress. Pombo said strengthening the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and increasing domestic energy supplies will be the committee's top priorities in his second term as chairman.
"We have ambitious goals at the Resources Committee, so we will get to work right away and build on our great record of accomplishment during the last Congress," Pombo said. "I want to change the debate on the challenges that lie ahead of us. The discussions on updating the ESA and producing energy in ANWR have been so mired in inane hyperbole that facts and true analysis have completely escaped the debate. This has done federal policy and the American public a real disservice."
Pombo said he would continue the committee's bipartisan efforts to strengthen and update the ESA, which has posted a less than 1% success rate for species recovery in the last thirty years. Last year the committee set a benchmark in its effort to achieve this goal and has already begun discussions with the Senate, the Bush Administration, and the Governors to shape legislation that will pass Congress in this session.
"Enacting a comprehensive energy plan that increases domestic production on public lands such as ANWR will top my agenda again," Pombo continued. "The House has passed comprehensive energy plans four times in the last four years, only to have its efforts strangled by obstructionists in the United States Senate. In that time, American consumers have endured huge increases in energy prices, suffered through electricty blackouts, and sent more than $600 billion overseas to import a product we can make more of here at home."
3450 Palmer Dr. #4-264


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PCR: The Basic TheoryTheory and explanation of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technique used in laboratories worldwide for research, detection, diagnosis, verification, forensic science,
The capacity of the technique called the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify many million-fold any known DNA fragment from a complex mixture in a short time has revolutionized all areas of the life sciences, making it one of the most widely used molecular techniques in use today. Quite simply, PCR is a laboratory technique used to makes a huge number of copies of a piece of DNA. In other words it is a way of amplifying DNA or increasing the amount of a specific piece of DNA. The core principle of PCR is the use of an enzyme called DNA polymerase to make a copy of a DNA strand. Normally DNA exists as a double strand, but the enzyme can only work on a single strand. Therefore it is first necessary to separate the strands of DNA. This is done by applying heat. Applying heat to DNA denatures the double strand to single strands. In the first PCR step the double strand melts to single stranded DNA, a step known as denaturation. The enzyme can work on the single strand to make a copy. However, the enzyme needs a small region of double strand to get started. So it is necessary to add a short piece of single strand DNA, called the primer , that binds specifically to a particular place on the single strand molecule. This binding, or annealing, is achieved by cooling the PCR mixture again. This step in the PCR process is called annealing. Then the DNA polymerase enzyme gets to work and copies the single strand molecule, starting at the bound primer region. This final step, extension, is so-called because the DNA extends the DNA from the annealed primer and makes a complementary copy of the single strand. In practice, two different primers are used. A forward primer that binds to one strand and a reverse primer that binds to the opposite strand. The choice of primers is important as each primer binds the DNA in a specific place. The only DNA that is copied is the region between the forward primer binding location and the reverse primer binding location. Both single strands of the original double-stranded DNA molecule are copied. Therefore the result is two double stranded molecules each identical to the original double-stranded DNA fragment. The three PCR steps are repeated for around 30 or 40 cycles. Each cycle doubles the number of double stranded DNA molecules. Normally PCR is performed on a machine called a PCR thermal cycler or PCR machine. The PCR thermal cycler rapidly heats and cools the PCR reaction mixture thus allowing the denaturation, annealing and extension to occur.
Edited by: Nick A. Saunders and Martin A. Lee
"an invaluable reference" (Doodys); "wide range of real time PCR technologies" (Food Sci Technol Abs); "I was impressed by this text" Aus J Med Sci
PCR ProblemsIn practise, the PCR technique is more complicated than outlined above and it is not always simple to achieve the desired result. For example, primers can bind non-specifically to multiple places on the DNA strand. This results in a mixture of amplified product. In addition, various factors such as impurities in the DNA mixture, can prevent the reaction occurring at all. For further information see our section on PCR Troubleshooting
Real-Time PCRConventional gel-based PCR, or legacy PCR, as described above, has several disadvantages: it is labour-intensive, not easily automated or adapted for high throughput applications, and quantification of nucleic acids is arduous. The introduction of novel reagents, chemistries and instrumentation platforms has modified legacy PCR to create a new technology, real-time, fluorescence-based quantitative PCR (qPCR also known as real-time PCR or qRT-PCR) that addresses these issues. The use of real-time PCR allows monitoring of the progress of a PCR reaction in real time using fluorescent reporter molecules included in the PCR mixture. For further information see our section on Real-Time PCR
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By Bobby Harrison
Daily Journal Jackson Bureau
JACKSON – Gov. Phil Bryant is proposing the state give Mississippi hospitals $4.4 million to offset the loss of federal funds due to the Affordable Care Act.
Under the federal health care law, commonly called Obamacare, over a period of years the federal reimbursement to hospitals for treating people with no health care coverage, called disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments, will be significantly reduced.
The intent of the Affordable Care Act is for the DSH cuts to hospitals to be offset by expanding the Medicaid program. Under the law, that expansion covers people earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level or about $15,000 annually for an individual or about $32,000 for a family of four.
But Bryant and the Republican majority in the Legislature have refused to expand Medicaid. Some hospitals and Democrats have complained that the refusal is putting a hardship on Mississippi's health care providers, particularly hospitals.
Bryant acknowledges that hardship in his budget released earlier this month for the Legislature to consider when it convenes in January.
In his budget narrative, Bryant said the $4.4 million would help hospitals "weather the Obamacare storm."
The governor said the $4.4 million for hospitals in addition to the $8 million he is proposing to enhance Community Health Centers, which receive government assistance and provide primary care to many low-income people, "should help relieve pressure on hospitals from patients seeking primary care in emergency rooms."
Studies show people with no insurance and limited ability to pay often seek emergency room treatment.
Some Democrats are continuing to criticize Bryant's stance on Medicaid expansion.
Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, said the governor is proposing to take state funds away from education and other needs "at the same time he is refusing to accept 100 times that amount of money. Medicaid expansion does not cost the state of Mississippi one red cent, and we have no long-term obligation to continue with the expansion.
"The governor is turning down something approaching one-half billion dollars in federal funds…that can treat sick people and put people to work. At the same time, he is turning down this money, he wants to take $4.4 million out of the state budget to go to the hospitals."
The $4.4 million would offset one category of federal cuts for the upcoming fiscal year, Bryant said, but he conceded that it would not offset all the federal cuts.
"We appreciate the governor's acknowledgment that hospitals are in need of financial help to recover from severe cuts to reimbursement on both federal and state levels," said Tim Moore, chief executive officer of the Mississippi Hospital Association.
Moore added, "Hospitals are finding it very difficult to adjust financially to the almost $3 billion of federal cuts to be experienced by Mississippi hospitals over the next 10 years. Any restoration in funding to our state's hospitals is truly appreciated. We look forward to working with the governor, his staff and the state Legislature in the months ahead to find creative ways to relieve the financial burdens that have been placed on providers across our great state."
At least two hospitals, including North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo, have announced recent layoffs. In those instances, federal cuts have been cited as one of the reasons for the workforce reductions.
It has been estimated that by expanding Medicaid to cover those earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, as is allowed by new federal law, that health care would be provided to about 300,000 primarily working Mississippians.
Democrats have pointed out that according to Bryant's Medicaid officials the expansion would cost the state $7 million the first year for $70 million in federal funds and over a seven-year period will cost the state a cumulative $450 million while receiving $8.6 billion in federal funds.
Bryant remains adamant that the state cannot afford the expansion.
"Expanding Medicaid…would ultimately require tax increases or cuts to other services the state provides," he said.
Medicaid currently covers about 645,000 Mississippians – the elderly, disabled, poor pregnant women and poor children.


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Provides depth in the backcourt ... walked on to the team prior to the 1998-99 season ... transferred to UMass from Sacred Heart College in Fairfield, Conn. in the spring of ?97 ... played a season at Sacred Heart and averaged nine points per game ... solid practice player who has strong fundamentals ... Darryl Ketona Denson ... born September 10, 1977 in Springfield, Mass. ... son of Constance and Henry Denson, Sr. ... member of the Army National Guard ... cousin, Autry, was a starting tailback for the University of Notre Dame ... enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences.
AS A SOPHOMORE IN 1998-99: Walk-on who played in two games on the season ... scored a career-high four points in two minutes of action against Boston College ... also saw playing time at Marshall.
HIGH SCHOOL: Played for coach Howie Burns at Springfield Central High School ... averaged 19.7 points, 4.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game during his senior season ... team captain in junior and senior years ... named first team All-Western Massachusetts at All-Star Game ... selected to the All-Tournament team at the Hall of Fame Coca-Cola Classic ... also played one season at the Milford Academy (Conn.).
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Seattle: Facials
2613 N.E. University Village St.
2613 N.E. University Village St.
We knew the camera added ten pounds—but ten years? Good God! Our treatment began with a photo-imaging complexion analysis that revealed UV damage. Kelley cleansed our skin, performed microdermabrasion and extractions, and then applied a stinging 20 percent lactic acid peel (to soften lines) followed by a hydrating mask. While the mask marinated, she gave us a hand-arm-and-shoulder massage and explained that the peel would make our skin flake for about three to four days. Once the sloughing subsided, we actually looked a few years younger.
Ayurvedic Facial, $45
10904 SE Patrovitsky Rd.
We always avoid student drivers on the road—so we weren't exactly thrilled with the idea of a student aesthetician going to town on our face. But after our friends raved about the treatments at this holistic beauty school, we booked an appointment. Our aesthetician instantly calmed us with a blissful face massage. She coaxed the grime from our pores and polished our skin with an organic scrub, then smoothed on a hydrating rose-and-honey mask before doing acupressure massage on our shoulders, arms, and hands. Our skin was soft, glowing, and vibrant—but the real joyride? No blemishes for weeks.
Shawna Akin
900 Madison St.
Akin's small treatment room in the Sorrento Hotel is a gadget lover's dream. She used an ultrasonic cleansing machine (it felt like a power wash), electrical stimulation wands to tighten (they were oddly relaxing), and a red LED light to help an anti-inflammatory face mask absorb. The battery of machines made our head spin, as did the fear of a mounting bill. However, she didn't charge extra for a single addition—and she made our skin feel significantly firmer.
High Maintenance Skincare Studio
Naomi Lewis
1706 Bellevue Ave.
We may live in one of the wettest cities in the country, but you'd never know it given the dryness of our skin. Lewis, the spa's owner, examined us closely and brought out a dizzying array of Yon-Ka products, including a glycolic cleanser, a pumpkin-enzyme peel, and a carob-flower exfoliant. Puffs of steam scented with rosemary, lavender, thyme, geranium, and cypress, as well as two hydrating masks, instantly turned our fragile skin pliable and soft. We emerged with skin more radiant and noticeably plumped up—regardless of the weather.
Honeysuckle Boutique Day Spa
Molly Griffith
5308 Ballard Ave., NW
The feel: Charming, with gold cast-iron antiques.
The treatment: We were 15 minutes late, but Griffith treated us to a rhythmic face massage instead of a guilt trip. When we confessed that we'd never had extractions, she made sure to take it easy.
Bottom line: Griffith won us over with her kindness—and the fact that our first extraction experience left us unscathed.
Jill Bucy Skincare
Jill Bucy
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2120 Second Ave.
Spa Nordstrom
Donna Newman
500 Pine St.
Stacya Silverman Art & Beauty
Stacya Silverman
614 W. McGraw St.
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"The Paladin Prophecy" by Mark Frost really delivers on the hype (Chris Columbus, director of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" called it "a remarkably suspenseful ride.") It is that and more.
Frost creates a protagonist named Will West who is not only believable, but very likable. He has abilities he is learning about -- but he remains modest and down-to-earth. Well, at least as down-to-earth as a sixteen-year-old who has found out that someone or many someones are trying to kill him.
Will is out for a routine run when strangers appear and his father tells him (via a text) to RUN. He does. And he quickly realizes that not only are these strangers in a black car trying to kill him, but he has an almost supernatural ability to run really really fast. He also can hear what the guys in the car are saying -- how is that even possible?
At school, Will meets representatives from an exclusive school who, because of his incredible test scores, invite him to attend their private school in the Midwest. Will lives in Ojai, California, which is a wonderful place to live. Unfortunately, Will's parents never seem to want to settle down, and the family has moved from place to place every fifteen months.
While Will loves his parents, they are secretive and strange, and Will's father has made him a list of rules to live by. It's that list of rules that saves Will's neck many times over in this first book of the series.
Will ends up at the private school, and he learns that his parents were killed in a private plane crash on their way to see him. Since they would not have had the money to hire a private plane, he suspects that they might still be alive, but he's too busy in this first installment trying to stay alive to do much about it.
Will and his roommates in the dorm all have unusual powers. Will discovers that he can run super-fast, "push" ideas into people's minds, and create a grid that tells him where the things around him are, including people. Ajay can see as well as a hawk, is a computer genius, and has a photographic memory. Nick is an athlete whose gymnastic combinations and permutations become important when the group is fighting bad guys. Elise, one of the two girls in their group housing, can talk to Will using thought, and she has vocal abilities that are way beyond anything imaginable. Brooke, the other girl, seems to be the only one with no special talent. Will has a crush on Brooke. But Elise seems to like him, also. What's a guy to do?
There are good guys (almost heavenly) and bad guys (dare I say demons?) and those who want to take over the world. There is an ancient Native American running coach, school bullies, and mysterious rich guys. Will isn't sure whom he can trust outside his roommates and Dave, a "dead" Vietnam vet who saves Will's life more than once.
The story races from scene to scene, and the book is difficult to put down. This reviewer was lucky and received the first two books together, thus able to seamlessly read the first two books in a row. However, now comes the difficult part -- waiting for the third book.
Fabulous for readers of any age, those who like action and/or mystery and/or fantasy will love this series. Please note: This review is based on the final paperback book provided by Random House for review purposes.
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Suggested Links
- 'The Fall of Five' by Pittacus Lore: 4th in the 'I Am Number Four' series
- Mysterious 'The Twin's Daughter' by Lauren Baratz-Logsted now out in paperback
- 'Champion' by Marie Lu: Final book in the 'Legend' trilogy
- 'Fugitive X' by Gregg Rosenblum: Second in the 'Revolution 19' series
- 'Vitro' by Jessica Khoury: Scifi thriller that will pull you in


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Jun 22, 2014 3:10 AM
It's love at first sight for us when it comes to the Victoria's Secret Very Sexy Crisscross Triangle Top ($19, on sale). This gorgeous mint bikini is accented with metallic gold trim tha makes it pop. Swim over to Victoria's Secret and for a limited time, you can save an extra 20% on select styles (code SWIMFAVES) during their Heat Up The Beach Swim Event. Shop soon as this offer ends Wednesday, June 25.
If you've got a product or service that you'd like to promote on Outblush, click here to find out about our advertising opportunities.
Outblush is a blog for girls who love to shop. Our staff digs up the best clothes, home stuff, beauty items, and more. New items are posted every day — bookmark us and check out:


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So how has the initial media blitz impacted MSN's share? We have some interesting numbers to share. It appears that the quantity of traffic has not increased markedly, but the quality has, and it may be Google's best shoppers who are checking out the competition.
You may have heard hyperventilation to wit: Bing overtakes Yahoo! That turns out to be a gross overstatement, and a marvelous example of why it's dangerous to extrapolate from small sample sets.
Here's what we've seen so far in terms of PPC ads, the financial engine that drives the engines.
Remembering that Bing went live at the very end of May, beginning of June there are a couple of really interesting trends that leap off the page.
- Totally unrelated to the Bing launch: Check out the weekend effect! Again, this is a percentage of totals, not a measure of absolute volume. It suggests that MSN gets a materially larger share of traffic during the work week than it does on the weekend. Does this mean people use MSN more frequently at work because it's the default search engine for IE? Left to their own devises on the weekends, they choose Google/Yahoo even more often? Fascinating!
- The Percentage of Total PPC Sales from the Big three coming through Bing increased substantially over MSN live, much more so than did costs, clicks or impressions. This could indicate better targeting logic, or that the folks giving Bing a test drive are decidedly higher quality prospects.
If we look more carefully into who's losing the share of sales that Bing appears to have gained the answer is clearly not Yahoo. In fact Yahoo and MSN both seem to have benefited from MSN's PR campaign. Not surprisingly the engine of choice for 'early adopters' -- Google -- is the one seeing its user base sniff out the competition.
With respect to Bing, the initial uptick in the quality of traffic is quite encouraging. Higher Sales per Click will lead to higher bids and more monetary share for MSN. The fact that despite the media blitz surrounding the launch, the impression share and click traffic share hardly moved is somewhat more concerning. If consumers are truly happier buying through Bing it could give MSN some momentum, but they can't just rely on the early adopters and search geeks. They need to pull in and keep the average Joe as well.
As Lance Loveday points out, Bing has a steep hill to climb and it's not clear that the media approach they've taken is going to do the job.
We'll keep an eye on the trends. MSN has finally given us something to write about!
A follow up post, eliminating trademark search and controlling for a couple other factors paints a very different picture.


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You have probably seen or heard of P90X or the Insanity workouts by now. The principle of these at home DVD's is "muscle confusion", or the basis of constantly changing up workouts to keep the body guessing. Also, inherently, there is a high degree of intensity in the workouts for maximum calorie burn.
What if you not the kind of person who does at home videos? This is where Crossfit comes in. What is Crossfit?
CrossFit is the main strength and conditioning program for many police, fire, military, champion martial artists, and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes across the globe.
Crossfit claims that its specialty is in not specializing. You become good at everything; strength, speed, agility, cardio fitness, and flexibility.The workouts are always changing and always intense.
A Crossfit gym is not like any other gyms you are used to seeing. Most of them are inside warehouses and use very little equipment. Body-weight exercises are common, and you'll never find yourself staring at a treadmill for hours. Crossfit workouts can be adapted to any fitness level. This is a great workout for those people who are competitive and like to push themselves to the limit.
Here is a list of some Crossfit gyms in Las Vegas. Please call ahead as some class times may change:
- Crossfit Las Vegas (near airport) -121 E. Sunset (702) 361-4428- Share the Pain, once a month. Take free classes with members.
- SinCity Crossfit (near automall)-7685 Commercial Way # A/B Henderson- (702) 564-2461
- Crossfit 702 (NorthWest/Mtn. View Hospital) -7310 Smoke Ranch Road, Suite N/O -(702) 462-6212
- PFC Crossfit (Spring Mtn./Decatur) Contact PFCrossFit at firstname.lastname@example.com for information regarding rates, times, location and a free first time "beginner's" session.
- Kaizen Crossfit (Southwest)- 4520 S. Hualapai Way Ste. 101 (702) 982-3333
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Please click on links for more information at each site


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Take control over a rotating planet and launch few photon torpedoes just to…
Flappy bird was easy. Beat this. In two player mode, and annoying sounds, d…
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Arcade defense game featuring original gameplay. Save sheep, cover the engi…
A never-ending Tower, lots of contraptions, and an arcade style fill this n…
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Use your mouse to guide a ball (which is attached to your mouse with an ela…
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Reed Branson is a 2nd grader at Samantha Smith Elementary School. He is an adventurer and a scholar who finds the world to be a vast and intriguing place, full of stones to be turned and questions to be answered. For him, the camera is an extension of this desire to explore, discover, and fill in the blanks. This book of photographs reveals Reed's keen eye of things ordinary and arcane.
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mimi TAkes neW yORk Published October 14, 2012
M A T R I M O N I O Published February 17, 2012
THEBALTICS Published December 10, 2009
B3: The Branson Boys Published December 09, 2008


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Quality Rating and Improvement Systems
Dr. Diana Schaack, researcher at CSCCE, with co-authors Drs. Kate Tarrant, Kim Boller, and Kathryn Tout wrote a chapter Quality Rating and Improvement Systems: Alternative Approaches to Understanding their Impact on the Early Learning System for the recently published, Early Childhood Systems: Transforming Early Learning, edited by Drs. S. Lynn Kagan and Kristie Kauerz. The chapter describes conceptual frameworks and benchmarks for evaluating the impact of QRIS in bringing alignment to state early learning systems. The book is available through Teacher's College Press.


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We asked CIOs attending the NASCIO Midyear Conference what they would change about the way government works. Their answers touched on everything from procurement to work force training and incentives. Here's what they had to say.
- Applications
- Computing Platforms
- Data
- Gear
- Network
- Security
- Social
- Web
- Budget and Finance
- Health and Human Services
- Justice and Public Safety
- Transportation
- Education


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|Coach - Other
|Other Position:
|Director of Operations / Video Coordinator
|(541) 346-5608
Returning for his seventh season with the Duck volleyball program in 2013, Joe Skinner oversees all of the team's video needs, and also assists in managing many of its information systems.
In his first season as a full-time member of the staff, he served as a full-time intern in 2011-12 and team manager for the four prior seasons. He has been been involved in all facets of the program, including key roles coordinating the team's summer camps and on-campus recruiting.
Away from the college scene, he also coaches the Oregon Volleyball Club U14 team, and the team tied for third in its division in the Columbia Empire Power League (CEVA) Regional in 2012.
He graduated from Oregon in 2011 with a bachelor of science degree in journalism with an emphasis in electronic media.
His professional resume also includes internships for KMTR-16, the local NBC-TV affiliate, and for Cumulus Radio Broadcasting and KWVA Sports. He has also shot video for and edited packages for various collegiate events such as Oregon baseball games, and the 2005 NCAA Track and Field Championships for the Sacramento Bee newspaper.As a prep, the the 2005 Granite Bay High School graduate was a two-year soccer starter, and an all-league first-team and team captain as a senior. That squad won the league with an undefeated record and ranked 17th nationally, while his club team finished second in the 2005 NOMADS College Showcase.
The versatile athlete also played prep volleyball two years and for the Sacramento Volleyball Club (2003-05), and lettered in basketball for GBHS.
As a freshman, he attended Jesuit High School and played basketball, soccer and volleyball.
- www.GoDucks.com -


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Oct 1, 2010 10:18 AM
If you're one of those wise people who heads for a warmer climate when the weather at home turns cooler, you might be in the market for a swim cover-up. We like this Oversized Safari Shirt ($58). It's great over your bathing suit, but style with skinny jeans and a tank underneath, you'd be ready for a casual night out. (BTW, have you ever seen a pose like this on a mannequin? We're cracking up.)
See more swimwear cover-ups.
Now I feel justified in looking at oversized shirts recently! If you say they're in, then I know they're defintely in!
If you've got a product or service that you'd like to promote on Outblush, click here to find out about our advertising opportunities.
Outblush is a blog for girls who love to shop. Our staff digs up the best clothes, home stuff, beauty items, and more. New items are posted every day — bookmark us and check out:


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|Pen and paper games Discuss ADND, Warhammer and other PnP games here!
|Thread Tools
|26th October 2010, 12:35 PM
|#41 (permalink)
Yeah, sure. Dropped in the middle of what remains of russia, perhaps hired by the same group responsible for the mysterious disappearance of the nuclear weapon mistakenly fired at the former soviet union during the longhorn(?) incident?
Yes, I've been reading the history in the core book.
Edit: But that would involve some custom adventure writing, and I'm not sure how far Chris wants to go down that particular rabbit hole.
Suffice to say, I'm pro-ex-military group.
Edit2: Sorry, I'm not pro-ex-military, as that implies a high level build from the start, what with all sorts of training and the guys in The Losers being special ops.
I think we need an idea from Chris about what sort of thing he has in store for us, and we can decide from there what kind of character we want to play, and what would motivate our character to take on this job and join the team.
...Are we gonna have a 'Face', or just one or two of us with negotiations skills?
Last edited by wizen; 26th October 2010 at 04:55 PM.
|26th October 2010, 08:16 PM
|#42 (permalink)
Ok here's my primary option. I tend to wax a little eloquent so I'll make a real effort to keep it brief. :P (Guess I made a bit of a mockery of the brevity...)
Bethany is a female troll who was a member of a happy and relatively well off corp family until the age of nine when she underwent genetic expression. Her family knew that a troll child was going to be unacceptable to their parent corp and chose to abandon the child. They still had loving happy memories of their daughter-that-was, so they talked to someone-who-knew-a-guy-who-could-talk-to-someone, and found a foster home for her in a part of town that looked upon trolls with a little more acceptance.
The foster family took the money that was offered for her care but didn't treat Beth very well at all. She was treated as a third class family member and forced to assist with the foster family's income by performing menial labour. She was regularly smacked about, told how worthless she was, had food withheld, was forced to sleep in the laundry or kitchen, and was pretty much treated as the house slave.
After about a year of this she came to the realisation that as a ten year old troll, female or not, she was actually physically stronger than anyone else in the family. Quickly following on from this realisation was one that she didn't have to put up with her beatings any more.
One night her drunken foster father, on returning home from the pub, suggested she cook him some eggs. She told him maybe he would like to cook his own eggs (or words to that effect), and the resulting altercation left him with a broken jaw and a few cracked ribs. It left Beth with a new-found respect for her own ability to look after herself, but unfortunately (or not), without a place to call home.
Life on the streets of the Seattle Barrens (or somewhere more appropriate to the campaign) was rough, but while the new Beth was pretty ugly, she was most certainly not stupid. She quickly learned the basics of life on the streets. How to spot a sympathetic mark, which gangs to steer clear of, who controlled what areas and how tetchy they were about trespassing trolls. She also developed a strong sense of sympathy for anyone in a hard spot, and as she got to know her community, she came to care and look after the people even less fortunate than her. She found a mentor in a local street doc who had a similar sentiment and provided care to the needy of the neighborhood. She would help him on his rounds and he taught her basic healthcare in return for her much appreciated assistance.
The doc also helped her through a rough patch when she started having particularly vivid dreams and sometimes even waking hallucinations. She was terrified she was losing her mind, but with a bit of patience and some clever testing, the doc had some more interesting news for her. Not only was she a troll, but she was also a recently awakened troll! Unfortunately it seemed that the development of magical awareness came with a price for Beth. She had almost overnight, developed a severe allergy to soy, which made for a pretty unpleasant complication in her diet. Luckily for her, a trollish constitution allowed for the consumption of many things that other people might not even be able to look at.
Beth was not particularly fussed about this new development. Her doc said she was a mage, but what good was that if she didn't know how to do anything with her new abilities? Doc was insistent that this would change Beth's life and could be exactly what she needed to pull her up out of the life of hardship that everyone else in her community was forced to live by circumstance. Beth wasn't so sure she wanted to be pulled up out of this life of hardship. She was getting by just fine and had found a place in the world where she was appreciated and wanted. Whatever the case, doc was able to pull some favours and Beth agreed to at least some very (very) basic training in the use of the mystical arts.
And a taste was all Beth needed to make her realise how much more she could do for her community with more knowledge of how to use her magic. She couldn't afford any tutoring, but she hungrily devoured any material she could get her hands on, and slowly but surely she was able to develop her skills.
Skip forward a bit and you'll find an older, more cynical Beth. She's 18 now, still living in the same community, helping doc with his rounds. Her magical skills have come a long way, but are far from fully realised. Her allergy has helped keep the rat population down. She's made lots of friends in the community, and lost many as well. She's seen a lot of the worst of what goes on in the sprawl. Pulled bullets out of friends, held their guts in while they have cried and died. Seen death by gunfire, disease, double-cross, starvation, exposure, you name it. She doesn't believe there is a lot of goodness left in the world these days, but she'll be damned if she doesn't do what she can to make life a little more bearable for her friends. And lately she has found another way to make a bit of extra nuyen. It seems that in the shadows, once word gets out that you're a mage, the work comes to you...
I can't upload the file here. Invalid file type. Without the sheet to tee up the skills with the background it's just a sad little story, but oh well. Hopefully it has a happy ending. I used the SR4CharGen prog that Mongrel linked to earlier. Chris if you give me an address or somewhere you'd like me to upload it I can do that. She's all legal SR4 standard rules. If we end up with more or less build points I can modify accordingly and if she just doesn't fit in, like I said I have plenty more options.
"Sticks and stones may break our bones, but words can start a war."
Last edited by Justin Kace; 26th October 2010 at 08:46 PM.
|26th October 2010, 08:39 PM
|#43 (permalink)
Allergy to Soy must have earned her a fair chunk of BP. Soy is in almost everything in SR
Nice back ground, I was especially moved by "Pulled bullets out of friends"; I will make sure my rigger gives her as much cover as he can!
I just hope she brushes her teeth before she smiles ... my Dwarf may toss his cookies if he sees a rat tail caught between her teeth!
On a side note, check here out: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=510879
There is some outstanding artwork that is SR related. Look through all the pages, the art gets uber on the last couple of pages.
Last edited by Pure Mongrel; 26th October 2010 at 08:44 PM.
|26th October 2010, 08:49 PM
|#44 (permalink)
Yep, that's a common/severe right there! Almost everything a low to middle income wage slave would buy off the shelf is probably loaded with soy, including drinks! Rat-kabob anyone?
Edit: Yeah crap... If only I kept drawing when I was a kid! That's a nice collection of piccies. I might scribble out something matching up with my look for Beth, but it's likely it'll embarrass me and I'll throw it out. :P
"Sticks and stones may break our bones, but words can start a war."
Last edited by Justin Kace; 26th October 2010 at 08:55 PM.
|26th October 2010, 09:40 PM
|#46 (permalink)
The more the merrier, except maybe the GM would disagree with that...
But yeah, you'd only be our fourth player I think? I'm with you in the never done any RP other than face to face over a tabletop too. I'm a little nervous of the almost definitely slow pace too, but I reckon it's worth a shot!
Edit: Ooops, you didn't say you hadn't done it, just it hadn't worked for you!
"Sticks and stones may break our bones, but words can start a war."
|26th October 2010, 10:58 PM
|#47 (permalink)
|27th October 2010, 12:37 AM
|#48 (permalink)
This is coming along great.
I want each of you to come up with the character and background you want to play, I will tailor the setting to that. I'm only going to enjoy this if you all are enjoying it also so I do not want to set hard limits.
So for right now work on the backgrounds for your individual characters first and be happy with that. Once that is all done we will work together on how every meets up and were we are.
If no one wants to play a face I have no problem making a Bosley like character and play him on your behalf but he'd only be around for contact and negotiation purposes.
And, bookbuster, of course there is room. Welcome to the team.
On the game forum can we get an out of character section under Shadowrun? I'd like to start moving discussions like this under there just so it is all under one roof when we start playing.
LoL - Waste | Rift (Tearfall) - Juxtapose | Steam - theantichris | PSN - theantichris42
|27th October 2010, 07:32 AM
|#50 (permalink)
Chris, I am happy to play the Face if you want. Although my idea for my character is different to wizen, our abilities come from the same place as it were, so he can cover (at least in part) what I had in mind if he had / wanted to.
That being said, there is no reason I can't play a Face that loves "his RC hobby".
Just as long as I am still a Dwarf I am happy. I will just have to make this Dwarf "for the ladies" and far less inclined to socialize with technology than with "Meat Bags".
The more I think about it, the more I am sure can make it work.
Ok ... so he is a negotiator and social adept, but that does not mean he can't have a drone watching his back or ready to step in if talks "go south". Add to this his need to keep those Nuyen making good looks free of scars and bruises, seems only smart to do his fighting by remote control .
Anyone who claims he operates the way he does because he is a egocentric narcissist who fears getting his hands (or heaven forbid his clothes) dirty ... may be right, but they will never get him to admit it, nor will they think it is a bad thing when he brokers a better deal or send in his "toys" to cover their backs.
Would this work for your game mate?
|Thread Tools


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A large number of folks only visit the Anza Borrego desert when the wildflowers bloom. But, if you are a photographer, or just interested in things old, I suggest you go to the southern end of the desert now while it's cool and not very crowded. (You can go, again, after the wildflowers bloom and fight the crowds.)
Near the intersection of I-8 and S-2 in Ocotillo, there are: 'Dos Cabasas' spring, where big horn sheep can be seen, and the railroad collected water for their steam engines; the 'Dos Cabasas' water tower and the remains of old buildings; the 'Piedras Grandes cultural resource', which features indian rock art; and, of course, the everlasting beauty of the desert landscape.
I would say there are lots of birds to watch or photograph, but I only saw one on my last trip. It's my guess that the proliferation of electricity producing wind turbines are killing the birds en mass. (I'd much rather have a power plant in the neighborhood than a forest of those monstrous machines!)
You will, of course, need to take your camera and all your lenses from macro, to telephoto, to wide-angle. But this is not an outing to be undertaken without significant preparation! Some of the roads require four-wheel drive and some sites require a hike to reach them, so do your homework. And, as in any desert trek, always let someone know where you are going and when you expect to be back... and take more water than you think you'll need... oh, and take more water! (If all you have is the old family sedan, you might try to arrange a ride-along with a four wheeling club.)


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