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International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks
Volume 2011 (2011), Article ID 329524, 12 pages
A Game Theoretic Approach for Interuser Interference Reduction in Body Sensor Networks
School of Software, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116620, China
Received 27 March 2011; Accepted 30 June 2011
Copyright © 2011 Guowei Wu 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.
As a kind of small-scale cyber-physical systems (CPSs), body sensor networks (BSNs) can provide the pervasive, long-term, and real-time health monitoring. A high degree of quality-of-service (QoS) for BSN is extremely required to meet some critical services. Interuser interference between different BSNs can cause unreliable critical data transmission and high bite error rate. In this paper, a game theoretic decentralized interuser interference reduction scheme for BSN is proposed. The selection of the channel and transmission power is modeled as a noncooperative game between different BSNs congregating in the same area. Each BSN measures the interference from other BSNs and then can adaptively select the suitable channel and transmission power by utilizing no-regret learning algorithm. The correctness and effectiveness of our proposed scheme are theoretically proved, and the extensive experimental results demonstrate that the effect of inter-user interference can be reduced effectively with low power consumption.
1. Introduction
The recent significant advances in wireless biomedical sensors, ubiquitous computing, and wireless communication offer great potential for the body sensor networks (BSNs) that are small-scale cyber-physical systems (CPSs). BSNs are becoming increasingly common in enabling many of the pervasive computing technologies that are becoming available today such as smart-homes and pervasive health monitoring systems [1–5]. By using various wireless wearable or implanted sensors which are capable of sensing, processing, and communicating one or more vital signs, BSNs can continuously monitor physiological vital signs (such as EEG, ECG, EMG, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation), physical activities (such as posture and gait) and environmental parameters (such as ambient temperature, humidity, and presence of allergens) and transmit them in real time to a centralized location for remote diagnosis. BSNs bring a significant impact to the scope of medical services in areas such as rehabilitation, geriatric care, sports medicine, fall detection, and gait analysis.
The challenges faced by BSNs are in many ways similar to general wireless sensor networks (WSNs), but there are intrinsic differences between the two which require special attention. Reliability is one of the crucial elements of BSN, as sensitive health information is being transmitted through the wireless [6]. However, compared with the conventional WSN, the architecture for BSN is highly dynamic, placing more rigorous constraints on power supply, communication bandwidth, storage, and computational resources. Different from the general WSN, as a human-centered sensor network, BSNs are usually deployed in open environments and the mobility of BSN users implies that individuals carrying BSN may meet other BSN users, and thus radio transmissions on different BSN users will interfere with each other when BSN users gather in the same place and their sensors transmit data simultaneously. Furthermore, such interuser interference will be increased in some architecture which predisposes some of the sensor nodes to transmit with high power. In addition, some extraneous interference in the same band (e.g., WiFi and bluetooth) can also increase the interuser interference [7]. Interuser interference causes unreliable critical data transmission and high bite error rate; hence, the critical data cannot be sent to control nodes in time and the quality of health monitoring is affected directly. Consequently, the doctor may give the wrong diagnosis and the patient may be delayed to cure and even die. Moreover, the packet loss caused by the interuser interference results in data retransmission. Due to the characteristics of energy sensitiveness and resource limitedness, numerous data retransmissions consume much energy and thus may impel the node to fail. Thus, the interuser interference in BSN should be overcome before successful deployment. In the literature, several mechanisms (outlined in Section 2) have been proposed to mitigate the problems of interference in wireless sensor networks. However, there is almost no underlying interuser interference reduction infrastructure particularly for BSNs. To this end, our work aims to design an interuser interference reduction scheme for BSN.
In this paper, we propose a game theoretic decentralized interuser interference reduction scheme, namely DISG, to enhance the reliability in BSN. In our previous work [8], we briefly discussed the advantages of the proposed scheme. In this paper, we give more comprehensive analysis and extensive simulations. The key contribution of our work is summarized as follows. Firstly, game theory is used as a mathematical basis for the analysis of the interactive decision making process between the rational BSN users. The selection of the channel and transmission power is modeled as a noncooperative game between different BSN users congregating in the same area to reduce the effect of interuser interference. Thus, DISG is distributed, noncooperative, and self-organizing. In the scheme, each BSN just needs to measure the interference from other BSNs and then adaptively select the suitable channel and transmission power by utilizing no-regret learning algorithm without intercommunication. Secondly, different from the relative researches, the deployment of the fixed WSN infrastructure is not required in DISG. Therefore, the system with DISG is more flexible and suitable for outdoor environments. Finally, DISG does not only focus on the reliability but trades off the signal to interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) and the energy cost as well. Moreover, the weighting factors can be configured dynamically based on the remaining battery capacity to adapt to different situations. For that reason, this scheme can reduce the effect of interuser interference with low power consumption. In addition, the feasibility proof and performance analysis of the DISG are presented. Note that our scheme could be applied in a variety of scenarios, for example, hospitals, geriatric care, sports, rehabilitation, and battlefield. However, for simplicity we use the terminology patient, physician, and medical service in this paper.
The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, we summarize the related work and describe the key limitations of them. Subsequently, the system architecture and the definitions used in the DISG scheme are given in Section 3. Section 4 presents the detailed description of the proposed game theoretic framework in the DISG scheme. In Section 5, the simulation and performance evaluation are presented. Finally, we conclude the paper in Section 6.
2. Related Works
Extensive research has been focusing on the interference analysis and reduction for the conventional wireless networks. Reference [9] relaxes the assumption that the interference range is equal to the reception range and develops closed-form expressions for the frequency of interference occurrence. Reference [10] studies the convergence of the average consensus algorithm in wireless networks in the presence of interference and characterizes the convergence properties of an optimal Time Division Multiple Access protocol that maximises the speed of convergence on these networks. Reference [11] addresses the problem of interference modeling for wireless networks and analyzes standard interference functions and general interference functions. Reference [12] studies the minimum-latency broadcast scheduling problem in the probabilistic model and establishes an explicit relationship between the tolerated transmission-failure probability and the latency of the corresponding broadcast schedule. Reference [13] investigates the impact of time diversity and space-time diversity schemes on the traffic capacity of large-scale wireless networks with low-cost radios and analyzes the tradeoff between relaying gain and increased interference due to additional traffic. Reference [14] establishes a fundamental lower bound on the performance of a wireless system with single-hop traffic and general interference constraints. Reference [15] proposes a novel consensus algorithm based on the simple self-synchronization mechanism in Reference [16], which is effective in suppressing both noise and interference for arbitrary network topology. In [17], the authors propose a cluster-based MAC protocol combining TDMA, FDMA with CSMA/CA, which adopts TDMA mechanism in the clusters and FDMA mechanism among different clusters to reduce the interference. Reference [18] presents a self-reorganizing slot allocation (SRSA) mechanism for TDMA-based medium access control (MAC) in multicluster sensor networks to reduce inter-cluster TDMA interference without having to use spectrum expensive and complex wideband mechanisms. Reference [19] proposes an algorithm named "Minimizing Interference in Sensor Network (MI-S)" to minimize the maximum interference for set of nodes in polynomial time maintaining the connectivity of the graph. Reference [20] presents a new greedy heuristic channel assignment algorithm (termed CLICA) for finding connected, low interference topologies. References [21, 22] treat the problem of assigning power level to a set of nodes in the plane as the problem of yielding a connected geometric graph and study the performance of a number of heuristics through simulation to minimize interference in wireless sensor networks. However, there is a significant gap between the conventional wireless sensor network systems due to the characteristics of BSN, especially, the mobility of BSN, and thus none of these interference reduction mechanisms in WSN can be directly applied in BSN.
The reliability research of BSN mainly focuses on the reliability of intra-BSN communications. In [23, 24], a novel QoS cross-layer scheduling mechanism based on fuzzy-logic rules is proposed. An energy-saving distributed queuing MAC protocol is adopted. It can guarantee all packets are served with a specific bit-error-rate (BER) and within the particular latency limit while keeping low power consumption. In [25, 26], an active replication algorithm for the reliability of communication in multihop BSN is proposed, which can guarantee k-connectivity between nodes. In [27], the challenges brought by BSN applications are presented and a statistical bandwidth strategy, namely BodyQoS, is proposed to guarantee reliable data communication. Reference [28] presents an adaptive and flexible fault-tolerant communication scheme for BSNs to fulfill the reliability requirements of critical sensors by a channel bandwidth reservation strategy based on the fault-tolerant priority and queue. In [29], an interference-aware topology control algorithm is proposed for wireless personal area network (WPAN) to minimize the interference effects by adjusting the transmission power dynamically based on the interference effect and maintaining the local topology of each sensor node adaptively. A new quality of service (QoS) routing protocol that relies on traffic diversity of these applications and ensures a differentiation routing using QoS metrics is proposed in [30]. Reference [31] presents a data-centric multiobjective QoS-aware routing protocol that facilitates the system to achieve customized QoS services for each traffic category differentiated according to the generated data types. Nonetheless, all of them neglect the problem of interuser interference. Reference [7] highlights the existence of the interuser interference effect in BSN from the perspective of network architectures and describes the interuser interference as the interference due to the communications of wireless BSNs operating in proximity of one another, but the issue of interuser interference is not investigated. In [32], the authors conduct a preliminary investigation of the impact and significance of interuser interference and investigate its behavior with respect to parameters. It gives three techniques that can be used to mitigate interference and implements an instance with a fixed WSN infrastructure to identify when BSNs are interfering with each other and make the BSNs communicate on different frequency channels to reduce interference between them. However, that paper does not conduct a comprehensive study of interuser interference and mainly intends to provide an indication of the impact of the interuser interference effect. In addition, the fixed WSN infrastructure is only suitable for indoor environments and thus limits the application of BSN. In [8] the decentralized interuser interference suppression approach with noncooperative game is briefly discussed and evaluated. As an extension of [8], in this paper we give the architecture sketch of the interference reduction system implemented on the control node of BSN and propose a weighing factor configuration algorithm to configure the weighting factors dynamically to adapt to different situations. In addition, the concepts of DISG are investigated more thoroughly, and the simulations are more elaborated.
3. System Architecture and Definitions
In this section, we present the system architecture and the definitions used in the DISG scheme. Figure 1 shows a generalized overview of the system architecture that encompasses a set of intelligent physiological sensors, control nodes (Internet-enabled PDA or cell phone), and base stations and a network of remote health care servers and related services (such as caregiver, physician). In general, the biosensor is a wireless wearable or implanted vital sign sensor (such as sweat, EKG, and temperature) that consists of a processor, memory, transceiver, sensors, and a power unit. Each biosensor node is responsible for sensing one or more physiological signals, processing these signals (coding, filtering, aggregation, feature extraction, feature recognition, etc.), storing the processed data, and forwarding the data to the control node. Due to the size and energy consumption restrictions, the biosensor has limited memory and power and cannot afford heavy computation and communication. Compared to the biosensor, the control node that is a PDA or a 3G cell phone has relatively high energy and computing capability. In other words, BSN is a typical asymmetric structure. The control node provides the human-computer interface and communicates with the remote medical server(s) through the base station to result in patient-specific recommendations [33]. It is worth mentioning that the above system architecture is not only suitable for medical healthcare applications but also for sports and battlefield.
As illustrated in Figure 1, the transmissions of sensors in different users will interfere with each other, when they operate in the same vicinity and communicate concurrently. In order to reduce the effect of interuser interference in the network, the DISG scheme is proposed to guarantee reliability performance by modeling the problem as a noncooperative game to decentralize the interuser interference reduction. We first give some definitions in the DISG scheme, as listed in Table 1.
Definition 1. Interuser interference: interuser interference is the interference in desired communication when several BSNs operate in the same vicinity.
Definition 2. Noncooperative interuser interference reduction game: the noncooperative game is made up of three basic components, a set of players, a set of actions, and a set of costs, and represented by the tuple .
Definition 3. Players in the system: in this game, each BSN user is a player as the decision maker in the modelled scenario, and denotes the set of players in the system and is the number of users.
Definition 4. Available nonoverlapping frequency channels: the set of all available nonoverlapping frequency channels for BSN users is represented by , where is the number of the available nonoverlapping channels.
Definition 5. The action space of the system: represents the action space of the system. The strategy space of user is defined as , where we define the mixed strategy as , , and indicates that selects the channel , which means, in this distribution, that only the pure strategy is assumed to be selected with a probability of 1. represents the transmission power of on the channel and , where and are the minimum transmitted power and the maximum transmitted power, respectively, due to the characteristic of the specific physiological sensors.
Definition 6. The cost set of the system: the cost set of the system is denoted by . The cost of user is denoted as , which is a function of all users' actions. Each user selects its own action to minimize the cost function. is the action taken by users except .
4. Interuser Interference Reduction Game Theoretic Framework
Figure 2 illustrates the architecture sketch of the proposed framework that is implemented on the control node of BSN. This framework consists of four components: interference detector, strategy analyzer, strategy selector, and strategy actuator. The interference detector monitors interference plus noise and produces periodic reports. The strategy analyzer examines the report derived from the interference detector and the available channel as well as transmission power level. Then the strategy selector uses the noncooperative game model between different BSNs (users) defined in the scheme to choose the suitable strategy. In the game model, each BSN user is selfish and tends to close to the ideal SINR to ensure specific QoS requirement without regard to the QoS of other BSN users. In the strategy selector component, the status of the current strategy is read in and checked against the QoS requirement. If the requirement is satisfied, no change is necessary and the strategy selector terminates. Otherwise, the rules defined in the game model are followed to determine the appropriate channel and transmission power level by utilizing no-regret learning algorithm, and the strategy decision is made accordingly. It is worth mentioning that any environment change such as user movement or noise variation might trigger a strategy adjustment. Finally, the strategy actuator will send the new strategy decision to sensor nodes deployed in the same BSN users to reconfigure RF to switch to the newly selected channel and uses the appropriate transmission power level. In the scheme, the interuser interference reduction game model is the key to making strategy decisions and will be discussed in detail in the following section.
4.1. Cost Function
In the purpose of reducing the effect of interuser interference in the network, the selection of the channel and transmission power is modeled as a noncooperative game between different BSNs (users). In this game, each user is a rational player. They observe local conditions and neighbors' actions and independently adapt their strategy using no-regret learning algorithm to minimize the interuser interference. Obviously, this framework of the noncooperative game is propitious to solving the problem of the interuser interference in BSN. In the noncooperative game, the cost function normally represents the hate of a selfish user, who wants to minimize its own loss. Similarly, a player in our game may somehow modify its channel and transmission power in such a way that can not only decrease its own loss but also increase interferences to others. Due to the energy limitedness of the control node, the desired cost function should take account of the SINR and power utilization. Thus, similar to [34, 35], the cost function of each user that considers the tradeoff between attaining high SINR and maintaining lower power utilization is expressed as where and are two nonnegative weighting factors. Different levels of emphasis on SINR and power utilization are obtained by adjusting the weighting factors. Choosing places more emphasis on the SINR, whereas puts more emphasis on the power usage. In the subsequent section, a weighing factor configuration algorithm will be presented to configure them dynamically to adapt to different situations. is the ideal signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) threshold to which selfish user wants to close to ensure specific QoS requirement, but whether other users meet their QoS requirements is irrelevant. is the SINR of on the channel , and, based on [36], it is calculated as follows: where is the transmission power of on the channel , is the distance between different users and , and is the background noise power. expresses the received power of user , and is the link gain of and can be calculated as follows: where is the attenuation coefficient, is the maximum distance between the sensor node and the control node in the user , and is a constant parameter modeling the shadowing effect.
Formally, based on (1) and (2), the cost function is defined as follows:
In the game, the goal of user is to attain high SINR and minimize power utilization over the channel that it chooses. It is worthwhile to note that there is not message exchange in the game. The cost distribution of other users is not available for user ; however, can get the aggregate response that is, the interference from other users plus noise. To perform (5), needs to observe the local information . Based on the information, the following best response is adopted by every user in the system: where represents the strategy for the selection of channel and transmission power. The solution to the problem in (5) will lead to a Nash Equilibrium (NE).
4.2. Nash Equilibrium in the Game
In order to analyze the outcome of the game, we will give how the game will be played by rational players using the concept of Nash Equilibrium (NE), which states that at equilibrium every player selects a cost-minimizing strategy given the strategies of other players.
The Nash Equilibrium , in the game is mathematically defined as that is, given that other players' strategies remain unchanged, no player would be tempted to deviate from its current strategy to reduce its cost alone.
Theorem 1. For a specific channel , with all other users' transmission powers fixed on this channel, user can get the best transmission power on the channel , which is in the condition of and .
Proof. Let , so (4) can be written as
Taking the derivative of (7) with respect to and equating it to zero for gives the following condition: that is, Thus, we can get Due to , we can get that is,
For given values of , , , , and , the quadratic (10) in has a real solution if and only if that is, Because the transmission power is , based on inequality (14), must satisfy
According to [36], in order to make the game converge to a unique fixed point, a fixed point from (10) should satisfy the following properties: (1) positivity; (2) monotonicity; (3) scalability. Therefore, based on [34], we can get
Based on (12), (15), and (16), we can get that the noncooperative game has a unique NE for the transmission power on the channel in the condition of (15) and (16).
In order to configure the weighting factors and dynamically to adapt to different situations, we propose a weighing factor configuration algorithm based on Theorem 1 as shown in Algorithm 1. In the scheme, the control node collects the minimum remaining battery capacity of sensor nodes deployed in the same BSN and observes the local information . Then, the relation between and can be determined based on according to the relation between the minimum remaining battery capacity and the maximum battery capacity . It is worth noting that the maximum battery capacity of each sensor deployed in the same BSN is assumed to be the same. In the algorithm, and are two negative constant parameters. We can find that the greater the minimum remaining battery capacity is, the greater the value of is.
A probability distribution is a correlated equilibrium (CE) over the set of user strategies if and only if the following inequality is satisfied: for all , and and , and a CE is an NE if and only if it is a product measure.
Theorem 2. Each user converges to an NE to attain the best channel (i.e., with the no-regret learning approach.
Proof. Based on (17), we can find that the set of correlated equilibrium is nonempty, convex, and closed in the finite game. Thus, according to [37], when players select their strategy randomly, there exists a no-regret strategy such that, if every player follows such a strategy, then the empirical frequencies of play converge to the set of correlated equilibrium. In addition, this correlated equilibrium is NE, because the correlated equilibrium corresponds to the special case in which is a product of each player's probability for different actions, that is, the play of the different players is independent. Thus, based on the NE converged, each user can attain the best channel through no-regret learning approach repeatedly.
Theorem 3. Nash Equilibrium exists in the noncooperative interuser interference reduction game.
Proof. For each user , it can attain the best channel (i.e., ) with the no-regret learning approach based on Theorem 2 and select the best transmission power on the channel according to Theorem 1 to minimize cost. Therefore, there exists an NE in the game.
4.3. No-Regret Learning Algorithm for the Game
In order to analyze the behaviour of the selfish users in the noncooperative interuser interference reduction game, we resort to the regret minimization learning algorithms [38]. No-regret learning algorithms are probabilistic learning strategies that specify that players explore the space of actions by playing all actions with some nonzero probability and exploit successful strategies by increasing their selection probability. In the game, each user can determine the probability distribution of strategy based on the average regret at the iteration period , and thus it can select its action based on the history of actions of every user. The regret is defined as the difference between the costs caused by distinct strategies, and thus, for every two distinct strategy profiles and , user uses the strategy profile to replace the strategy profile and the user feels a regret:
The resulting historical cumulative regret of user from to up to iteration is
Based on (19), the probability assigned to the action of user at iteration is calculated by
The above learning algorithm can converge to Nash equilibrium in the game, and thus each user repeats calculations based on (19) and (20), and then it can determine its strategy at time step as
By following the no-regret learning adaptation process, the user can learn how to choose the channel and transmission power to minimize the cost through repeated play of the game. Algorithm 2 presents the pseudocode of the iterative no-regret learning algorithm used in the interuser interference reduction game. At the initial step, each user randomly selects its channel with equal probability as the initial action. The optimal transmission power and cost on the channel will be calculated based on the interference plus noise measured. Based on and , the probability of for the current strategy is updated accordingly. If there exists a channel that has not been selected randomly with equal probability, then user repeats the step of random channel selection with equal probability. When the maximum in the probability distribution has exceeded the threshold , user will get the solution , otherwise it will select a channel based on the probability distribution randomly and repeat its learning process in a round-robin manner to favour the strategy with minimum interference plus noise.
It is worth mentioning that the no-regret learning algorithm is a distributed iterative best-response scheme. In the noncooperative game, based on the information available locally, each player determines its own strategy (i.e., the channel and transmission power) to ensure that the solution converges. The convergence of the solution indicates that every user achieves its desirable operating point, where no user intends to change its strategy.
5. Simulation and Performance Analysis
5.1. Simulation Model and Method
The performance of the proposed interuser interference reduction scheme is evaluated by extending the Castalia simulator [39] to support the simulation of interuser interference in BSN. Castalia is an open source, discrete event-driven simulator designed specifically for WSN, BAN, and generally networks of low-power embedded devices based on OMNeT++ [40].
For simulation purposes, five BSNs are distributed over a 10 m × 10 m square area, and each BSN simulates a typical on-body sensor network, in which sensors measure a person's physiological parameters. Each BSN has a control node and three biosensors (i.e., ECG sensor, SpO2 sensor, and temperature sensor). All sensor nodes adopt Castalia standard CC2420 IEEE802.15.4 radios. The number of available nonoverlapping frequency channels for each BSN is five in the experiment. The detailed configuration of simulation parameters is shown in Table 2. Note here that the configuration of parameters may vary depending upon the kind of sensors. In order to evaluate the performance of the scheme to copy with interuser interference for the different user densities and system typologies generated by the mobility of BSN users, we set up four representative system topologies to perform the simulation. Figure 3 presents the BSN user distributions of four representative system topologies during the simulation, where the dotted line represents the interuser interference between two users. In the initial state, all BSN users use the same channel and select a random transmission power level as the initial strategy. In our experiment, we compare the performance of the system in the initial state and the final state after convergence to demonstrate the performance of the DISG scheme.
5.2. Simulation Results
We repeated the simulations several times and got similar results in each trial. In the following, we present a representative result from one trial and analyze it in detail.
The convergence property of the proposed no-regret learning algorithm for the interuser interference reduction game is evaluated first to demonstrate the correctness and effectiveness of the scheme. From Figure 4 that shows the user distribution on different channels over time during the simulation of the proposed no-regret learning algorithm for the topology 4, we can find that, at the beginning of the experiment, all BSN users select their channels randomly with equal probability, and, at last, the learning solution converges to a stable and desirable state (i.e., the equilibrium state) after a few iterations where all BSN users select different frequency channels to minimize interference.
As performance measures for the proposed interuser interference reduction scheme, we consider the average SINR of the system (Figure 5), the packet delivery rate (PDR) (Figure 6), and the energy consumption of per delivered date byte (Figure 7) in the simulation.
As can be seen from Figure 5, in all system topologies, the average SINR of the system after convergence is obviously higher than that of the initial state owing to the adaptive selection of strategies. In addition, the higher the user density is, the more obvious the effect of our scheme is. In all topologies, the average SINR of the system in the final state is almost 90 dB.
In Figure 6 we compare the obtained average PDR of the system after equilibrium using our scheme against the initial average PDR in different typologies. The result shows that the system after convergence achieves higher average PDR than the system without operating our scheme in all system topologies.
As illustrated in Figure 7, the average energy consumption per delivered data byte of the system in the final state is lower than that of the system that has not performed our scheme. The reason is that the retransmission overhead in the system is reduced by ensuring the QoS of the system after performing our scheme. Moreover, trade-off between obtaining high SINR and maintaining low power utilization also can reduce power dissipation.
5.3. Discussions
From the above described simulation results, we can conclude that, in the system with DISG, an equilibrium state is reached after a few iterations of no-regret learning, where each BSN user selects the suitable strategy to reduce the effect of interuser interference. The system with DISG can provide the appropriate SINR by minimizing the interuser interference, and thus the average PDR is enhanced compared with the system without DISG. The average energy consumption of the system with DISG is reduced owning to the reduction of retransmission overhead as well as the trade-off between SINR and power utilization. In addition, DISG can be applied to different topologies generated by the mobility of BSN users. Therefore, DISG can reduce the effect of interuser interference effectively to ensure specific QoS requirement and save transmission energy at the same time to prolong the lifetime of network.
6. Conclusions and Future Work
We have presented a decentralized interuser interference reduction scheme with noncooperative game for BSN (termed DISG). A no-regret learning algorithm for reducing the effect of the interuser interference with low power consumption has been proposed, and the correctness and effectiveness of DISG have been proved theoretically. The performance of the proposed interuser interference reduction scheme has been evaluated by some experiments performed on the Castalia simulator. Experimental results show that the proposed interuser interference reduction scheme can reduce the effect of the interuser interference effectively by the adaptive selection of strategies to ensure specific QoS requirement, while saving transmission energy and thus prolonging the lifetime of network.
In terms of future work, we would like to implement our scheme on real-life BSNs to further evaluate the performance of the DISG scheme based on more metrics and revise it.
This work was partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants no. 61173179 and no. 60903153, the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, and the SRF for ROCS, SEM.
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text: Our latest short film will be released tomorrow, but you can get a sneak peek at it today on the video editing app Cameo! In addition, we're excited to work with cameo to bring user-generated Love Stories from all around the world straight to our readers. Watch the video below and read on for more (…) Read more

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The Heroine in Red
Wen Yimin, Shanghai, silent, 1929
One of the oldest martial arts films, with rudimentary special effects. Chinese and English title boards show Shanghai cinema was already international. A peasant girl is kidnapped and threatened with rape by troops commanded by a local (...)
This article is 1372 words.


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Add to Virtual Brochure |
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Cross Park Holiday Centre
BroadmoorKilgettyTenbyPembrokeshireSA68 0RS
01834 811244
01834 814300
To visit the park's website please click here
Holiday: Delightful park close to golden sandy beaches offering terrific family holidays. Excellent on site facilities including heated indoor swimming pool.
1 mile west of Kilgetty on A477, turn right at Cross Inn pub, park 200 yards on left.
For full price information, please contact the park operator direct.
01 March to 30 November
You can send a message directly to this park using the fields below:
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website & SEO managed by Pure Systems


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It was poet Michael Whalen that immortalized the legend of the Dungarvon Whooper. Many though don't feel this is just a legend, a Roman Catholic priest named Rev. Edward Murdock had even performed an exorcism to end the strange whooping sounds that haunted travelers. This whole story takes place along the Dungarvon River, a river that is located in New Brunswick, Canada.
The story itself is about an Irish cook named Ryan, he cooked in a Lumber Camp. Well the boss of the camp murdered Ryan, and one legend states that the boss buried him, after he stole his money. Well the boss lied to the other lumberjacks, he told them that Ryan got sick and died suddenly. He buried him in the woods, and the rest is history. Creepy history that is, since he died there have been creepy noises, a whooping noise that is. Many people really do believe that they can still hear Ryan and his moaning.
It was in an episode of a ghost documentary called, "Hauntings and Horrors" that shared this story, but add a little twist to it. While they still used that he was murdered by the boss, they said that Ryan was not only murdered, but he was eaten by them. The other lumberjacks didn't know that the boss cooked him up and served him. It's a more gruesome story than what other legends state about poor Ryan's fate.
There is a chainsaw carving of Ryan at the Municipal Park, in Blackville, New Brunswick. That just shows how the legend of Ryan is still a popular subject. Michael Walden in 1912 was the one that published the song about the Dungarvon Whooper in the local newspaper.
Here's an excerpt:
In a lumber camp one day,
While the crew were faraway,
And no one there but cook and boss alone,
A sad tragedy took place,
And death won another race,
For the young cook swiftly passed to the unknown;
From the day of long ago,
Comes this weary tale of woe,
The sad and solemn subject of my song,
When this young man drooped and died,
In his youth and manhood's pride,
Where the dark and deep Dungarvon sweeps along. (Source: Wiki: Dungarvon Whooper)
So Ryan or the Dungarvon Whooper is like the legend of Banshee in Ireland for New Brunswick residents. Go to the Dungarvon River and see if you can hear him wailing out because of the injustice that happened to him.


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Real Estate Chart Wrap-Up
Real-estate news this week through WSJ charts:
Monday: Renting, it seems, may be the new American housing dream. Thanks to that, reports this week may show some signs of life in the real estate market—in the apartment sector, at least. Full story.
Tuesday: The number of homes listed for sale in June eased slightly from May and was down by nearly 16% from one year earlier. Full story.
Wednesday: Borders Group Inc.'s decision to liquidate promises to be a headache for landlords throughout the country, but some will be worse off than others. Full story.
Friday: The Obama administration is examining ways to pull foreclosed properties off the market and rent them to help stabilize the housing market, according to people familiar with the matter. Full story.


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*all* :)if test IO succeeds, exec the multipath config tool for this path, which will reset all paths for the multipath to their active state.
Will this reactivate *all* paths, or just the path that's known to have recovered?
That's smart, thanks
Investigating this, I come across an interesting problem : how, in our modern Linux world, do we resolve major,minor (as given by DM_DEVICE_STATUS) to node name (as needed for submiting test IO) ?
#include <sys/types.h> dev_t devt = makedev(major, minor); mknod("/some/path/name", S_IFBLK | S_IRUSR | S_IWUSR, devt);
Then use "/some/path/name" for testing the path.
On another note I report some strange behaviours with 2.6.3-udm3 : * dmsetup wait blocks until the first event (right), but relunching the same cmd returns immediatly. This would put thread 1 in tight loop after the first event.
You need to specify an event number when waiting on the device. Each time an event occurs, you need to increment your event number. Also, keep in mind that multiple events could occur before you're able to begin the next wait command. If so, you'll see the above behavior, where DM will simply return an error until you wait on a valid event number.
suspend for example
* the multipath config tool and dmsetup in config modes block when exec'ed on a multipath with not active path. This would annoy
thread 2.
What command are you issuing to dmsetup that blocks?
regards, cvaroqui


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In Local Government Today You Can't Win – Mayor's Blog
In today's world with a stressed electorate and tight local budgets creates a difficult environment to improve the quality of life in Yakima. The last 8 years I've been on the city council we have been struggling with the challenge of fixing our streets while combating the gang and crime issue in Yakima.
We had a number of ideas to pay for a major grind and overlay of our most heavily traveled streets. Typically voters have approved a street bond to repair our roads, but


text:
Postgame Quotes: UMass 8, Maryland 5
May 27, 2006
Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery
Massachusetts Press Conference
Head Coach Greg Cannella
"Tremendous effort today by both teams, it was probably warmer than both of us have played in in a while but both teams kept fighting.
"Our goalie (Doc Schneider) played well and the defense played well, where guys like Jack Reid and Dan Whipple really played a strong game. Jason Miller, our assistant coach, deserves a lot of credit for putting together a great game plan."
"We played a lot of defense, especially in the second and fourth quarter. I thought the plan on defense was great and we did a great job on some talented players."
"I'm not sure if there was any particular turning point, I think it was just the beginning of the game when our guys came out and played a heck of a game."
"We were on the big stage for the first time, and we knew we needed to be composed and our young guys knew we had to come out with the right mindset."
Senior Defenseman Jack Reid
On not being able to attend graduation tomorrow in Amherst: "We've all put so much into this through our four years that it will be more fitting to be in the Linc than walking across the stage in Amherst for our diploma."
"Maryland put together a bunch of good plays, but we didn't hit the panic button and we weren't going to change our approach. Once the offense put one back in the net, it kept the cushion and our confidence was high."
Freshman Goaltender Doc Schneider
"Coach said midway through the season to be mature and to become a leader, and I had great people to look up to and it just went from there."
Senior attack Sean Morris
On final goal: "We really needed it for momentum at that point. It killed what they had going and got us going back on defense."
Senior Defensive Midfielder Jake Deane
On his goal: "I play defense, but coach always tells us to follow our shot, so I stuck in and just followed my shot and it paid off."
Maryland Press Conference
Head Coach Dave Cottle:
"I'd like to give congratulations to Massachusetts, they played a clean, hard and tough game. They came out and played outstanding."
"We scored five goals in the semifinal game, and you're not going to win scoring five goals in the semifinals."
"We just didn't get it done on the offensive side of the field, and that stopped us from ever getting settled as a team."
"We hit some pipes and we were unlucky some, but we just needed someone to step up and help us finish the plays.
"Quite honestly I thought they (UMass D) were getting tired, but we just never made a play on the offensive end when we needed to get close and we couldn't put enough pressure on them for that to matter."
"In the first half, we had 18 shots and only seven on goal. Where we shot from wasn't a problem, but the ball didn't seem to go where we wanted it to go."
Junior Goaltender Harry Alford
"I felt bad for our seniors, they got us to this point by working their butts off for four years and that's what makes it hard on all of us."
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|RPG, Simulation, Strategy and Others Public discussion forum for Strategy and Other games.
|Thread Tools
|8th June 2011, 06:23 PM
|#1 (permalink)
Dungeon Siege III demo
Hey guys
Downloaded this over Steam for the PC to give it a go (since I've pre-ordered the game )
Before I start, let me say that if you are expecting DS I or II with upgraded graphics then you are going to be dissapointed. DS III is basically a seperate game with seemingly little to do with previous versions of the game.
The controls are not that great. It's pretty clear the game is written primarily for console and it shows. For a keyboard/mouse user I found the direction/camera controls confusing. The UI is also very much in the console space with each inventory, skills, etc page taking up the entire screen. While I did find swicthing between them easy enough, the fact that you couldn't have them all open at once is pure console.
For the most part, this is the only real complaint I have about the demo. Everything else went pretty smoothly. The graphics are good as is the game play. While the automatic targetting can be a little frustrating at times, it's also workable. Once I got used to how the game functioned the game was fun to play and will be quite fast paced.
Overall I like what I've seen and I'll be keeping my pre-order The game is scheduled to be released on the 18th June (according to Steam).
"So Shines a Good Deed in a Weary World" - Willy Wonka
|8th June 2011, 07:20 PM
|#2 (permalink)
I played through with K&M with the dude last night and just went through using a controller with the chick. WOW! It plays so much better with the controller ...
I would suggest using the hold right-click method of movement not 'W' to move forward.
Agree with your assessment of the interface, It's clunky and certainly designed with controllers in mind. Tip: If you get into the UI by pressing 'C' or the equip screen with 'F', press them same key again to go straight back into the game rather than pressing 'Esc' multiple times.
It does feel very corridor-y but thinking back DS1 and 2 sort of were too, just the map didn't accentuate the fact by only showing the corridor on the map, similar to Dragon Age 2.
Overall I think there is potentially a good game underneath.
|9th June 2011, 03:50 AM
|#7 (permalink)
I am also seriously considering getting this game. I am a huge fan of Diablo/TitanQuest/DS games.
I was pretty unimpressed by the demo for the same reasons that have been mentioned above. But to be fair, I would have to play for a few hours and get accustomed to the UI/Controls/feel of the game before judging it.
The skill system was pretty interesting actually. It looked very blase and bland, until I realized how many different ways you can adjust/spec your skills. Talents, skills, proficiencies, etc.
I am still interested, but will probably wait a few weeks after release and get feedback from all of you before purchasing.
|11th June 2011, 07:41 PM
|#9 (permalink)
I didn't get much further than Purg myself.
Spent most of my time walking though linear corridors with barrels full of gold to collect, might be fun for some but not me.
The world and mechanics just felt really stale. Dodgy UI, flat story and flatter characters. Dragon Age was better tho I got bored of that one pretty quickly too - DA had a great start with the blight and the war against evil, then it wanted me to forget most of that and play as a boring politician and fetch chickens or some crap - all the extra stuff they try to cram into games of late often seems to really water down the experience and make me give up on it.
Need more Mass Effect type games were most of that crap is left out and you just get into the meat of it. Funny how Mass Effect and Dragon Age are both bioware games yet I really didn't like DA, must be a fantasy thing with me or perhaps fantasy brings out too many chicle's that just bored me to tears. I still enjoy the elderscrolls games... I dunno, something DSIII and DA that strikes me as being similarly dull.
Last edited by Drac; 12th June 2011 at 06:30 AM.
|12th June 2011, 12:03 AM
|#10 (permalink)
Just finished playing as Lucas (fighter). I'm gonna play again as fire chic to see the difference.
I found it to be made especially for console. Going from one screen to the next, not being able to go to your inventory straight from the front screen, no make-up doll to try out gear on.
I found I would wait to get some items then scroll into gear, pick what I wanted then Esc Esc Esc out. So it took two clicks to get into gear and three to get out.
Controls were funny too. From memory DS1 & 2 were left click = move, right click = attack.
Now for DS3 left click = attack, right click = move with added WASD movement as well. WASD control was ok after getting used to. W & S for moving, A & D for rotating camera.
I only had companion for one fight and not sure if they could be controlled too.
Anyway, looks to be a very different game from DS1 & 2. Think I might try with purchasing from Ozgameshop.com for this game.
"Adeo Vita. Adeo Starjack."
|Thread Tools


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Shell repair in Cerion
Can all terrestrial snails repair their shells? The ability to repair a damaged shell is such a vital requirement that it would be expected to have evolved in all land snails. Since marine snails are known to be able to repair their shells and terrestrial snails have descended from marine ancestors, it is perhaps more accurate to say that none of the terrestrial snail lineages would be expected to have lost their ancestors' ability to repair damaged shells.
Nevertheless, building and repairing a shell is costly and time consuming. Thus, some snail species may have traded off the shell repair ability with rapid growth and abundant egg production.
There are 2 ways to determine if a given snail species can repair damaged shells. First, one may examine shells for scars of repaired damages. I have presented examples of repaired shells here and here. Also check out this paper of mine to see how I used this method to establish that Pomatias elegans can repair its shell. Of course, the lack of scars in a particular collection of shells doesn't necessarily mean that the snails can't repair their shells.
Second, if live snails are available and can be kept in captivity in good health, one may remove sections of their shells and then monitor the snails to see if they will repair the breaks. However, the interpretation of the results from such an experiment is not straightforward. A snail that can repair its shell in captivity may not be able to do so in the wild, or vice versa.
I have been cataloging all major scars I come across on land snail shells. My purpose is to determine if there are indeed any species or higher groups that have lost the ability to repair their shells. Here is a picture of a Cerion shell with a scar that is about half a whorl long (arrows).


text:
Chimdi Chekwa (twitter: @ChimChek)
Position: DB
Height: 5-11 Weight: 190 lbs.
Born: September 7, 1988 in Clermont, FL
High School: East Ridge
College: Ohio St. (school history) (Chekwa college stats)
Drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the 4th round (113th overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft.
Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 2 (11632nd overall since 1950)
Other SR Links: College Football at Sports-Reference.com


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I am using Zbar SDK to scan barcode. But sometimes it will not return the result because of Blurry image, I know the same question has been posted several times before, but didn't get any solution.
So is there any way to sort out this issue or any another alternate & better library than Zbar SDK.
Please help me to sort out this issue.


text:
The Cherry Orchard
by Anton Chekhov
Analysis: What's Up With the Ending?
The Cherry Orchard ends with the 87-year-old servant Fiers shuffling out to find that the family has departed without him. He tries the door; it's locked. He lies down on the couch, mumbles, "Life's gone on as if I'd never lived," and grows still (4.134). Then the "breaking string" sound is heard, along with the thudding of an axe.
What to make of it? In leaving the orchard, the family finally cuts ties with the past. It will disappear from their memories, just as they've forgotten Fiers in their preparations to leave. We can't help but think, as well, that there's a last comment here on the damaging selfishness of aristocrats like Lubov and Gaev. They've already failed to take action to save the estate, and in their nostalgic, wallowing good-bye to the house, they fail to secure a safe place for their most loyal servant.


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Elaeocarpus bojeri
Elaeocarpus bojeri is a species of flowering plant in the Elaeocarpaceae family. It is found only in Mauritius. It is listed in The World's 100 Most Threatened Species as having less then 10 individuals left.
- Page, W. 1998. Elaeocarpus bojeri. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 19 July 2007.
|This Oxalidales article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.


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Anderson Mill Real Estate & Homes for Sale in Texas
Anderson Mill is an established and growing community in Northwest Austin, Texas, in Williamson County. Anderson Mill is actually considered a census designated place that is surrounded by the larger communities of Austin, Round Rock, Cedar Park and Lake Travis to the west. Approximately 9,000 people reside here where residents enjoy the wide variety of community activities, broad range of business, commercial and residential opportunities. The community is conveniently located alongside highway 183 and 620 providing access to endless amenities such as shopping centers, Lakeline Mall, restaurants, business areas and various recreational attractions.
School-aged children living in Anderson Mill are served by the educational facilities of the Round Rock Independent School District. Once students have graduated and are ready to move on to a collegiate environment, local universities and colleges including Austin Community College and the University of Texas at Austin are ready to help them achieve their higher learning endeavors. Residents of the area usually make the short commute into the city of Austin for work, where such companies as Dell, Whole Foods and Google provide residents with ample employment opportunities. And once the work week is over, residents find that there's plenty to do in Anderson Mill with local parks, golf courses, and even Austin's many cultural and recreational playgrounds providing them with plenty of activities throughout the year.
| Anderson Mill City Guide |
Real Estate Market Summary: Prices of Anderson Mill Homes for Sale
Anderson Mill is a large residential development with a variety of homes that range in price, style, and age. Many homes were built between the 1970s and 1980s with most modern homes being built in the last 10 to 15 years. These homes reflect the growing character of Anderson Mill. Prices for single-family residences in Anderson Mill begin in the $120,000 range for a quaint, starter home and can run as high as $1.7 million for a custom built, sprawling estate home. Prospective buyers looking to invest in a smaller property may want to look into purchasing a townhome or condo. Prices generally range between $105,000 and $575,000.
Anderson Mill Real Estate Stats and Trends for the week of June 27th, 2016: homes priced around $444,680 compared to $433,295 the previous week, showing a increase of more than +3%. For Wednesday, June 29th, the current national mortgage rate for a 30 year fixed mortgage is 3.73%; the 15 year fixed rate is at 2.70%. For a loan larger than conventional conforming loans, or 'jumbo' loan, the 30 year rate is 4.22%, while the 15 year jumbo rate currently is at 3.94%. You can calculate your mortgage rate with our mortgage calculators. Get local info and homes for sale in Anderson Mill TX. View active real estate listings for different types of properties including new homes, houses for sale, foreclosures, short sales, and price reduced listings. Find information and property resources including prices of recently sold homes, neighborhood information, crime stats, home values, and schools in Anderson Mill to help you find the best home!


text:
I mean, couldn't they have allowed Hillary:The Movie to be shown and advertised without all the rest of the secret funding and other democracy-killing baggage?
Why did 'Citizens United' pass as it is?
re: Why did 'Citizens United' pass as it is?
by chilidog
Jul. 1, 2012 10:16 am
That's what the plaintiff originally sought. But then Roberts closed the debate and told the parties to come back later and they would argue whether any of these regulations on political speech are constitutional.
Judicial activism par excellence.


text:
Steve Grant
Steve Grant begins his second season as Texas Tech's team chaplain through Fellowship of Christian Athletes in 2010.
Grant traveled and spoke his testimony the previous 11 years with Sports World Ministries. He shared his testimony with hundreds of thousands of individuals in schools, prisons and churches.
Grant spent six years in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts (1992-97) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1997) as a linebacker. He played in 83 games - 47 starts - where he collected 233 tackles, 3.0 sacks, one interception and recovered six fumbles. Grant officially retired from the NFL in 1999.
During his time in Indianapolis Grant was active with the local church, various youth football camps, FCA, Subway's Sac Hunger Program, Mental Health Awareness Program, Pro Athlete's Outreach and Pro-Life Athletes.
Grant began his professional career after being selected in the 10th round of the 1992 NFL Draft by the Colts. He worked his way into the starting lineup after just two seasons and in 1995 started every game for the Colts. In 1994, Grant was the Colts' Hard Nose Player of the Year.
Grant's collegiate career was highlighted with an All-America selection in 1991 following his junior season. He is considered one of the greatest linebackers in school history. He totaled 445 tackles in his career, which ranks fourth all-time at West Virginia.
He was West Virginia's team captain for two years (1991-92) and was named team MVP during his final two seasons. He was a two-time All-Big East selection and he helped lead the Mountaineers to the 1989 Fiesta Bowl where West Virginia lost to Notre Dame, 34-21, in the National Championship game.
Steve resides in Lubbock with his wife, Leslie, three sons, Michael, Daniel and Nasir, and mother, Ella Grant.


text:
Olympic figure skating was a tough competition on Thursday and Team USA didn't medal. It was Gracie Gold who came in fourth and she was the closest of the three American athletes in Sochi to reach the podium. In what was an intense competition where younger, immature skaters crumbled to pressure, even Gracie Gold stumbled. About midway during her performance she fell and landed hard on the ice. According to Chicago Magazine on Thursday, that jump was the only thing that wasn't flawless about her routine and it hurt her score.
According to the Sochi Olympics official scoreboard Gracie Gold received a score of 136.90 for the free skate and had a combined two-day total of 205.53. While the score was solid, it was almost ten points behind the bronze medal winner from Italy.
Gracie Gold showcased her amazing talent and outstanding grace on the Olympic ice, but she still seemed to lack confidence. Once she stumbled and fell on the ice, the athlete appeared shaken up and the rest of her routine seemed out of focus.
Team USA is composed of a young group of women who didn't seem to match up to other international figure skaters. Comparing Gracie Gold's confidence to Yuna Kim would be the difference between night and day. However, this experience is going to lead up to a strong 2018 Olympics and at the point expect to see some hardware for USA.


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Ya tu sabes! Latin music's biggest artists were honored at the 16th annual Billboard Latin Music Awards at the BankUnited Center in Miami on April 24.
The televised event was hosted by Roselyn Sanchez, star of Lifetime's Devious Maids, Mexican actress Laura Flores and Raul Gonzalez, former anchor of Univision's Despierta America, who joined their rival network, Telemundo months after.
The night began with a performance by reggaeton star, Wisin and Sean Paul, followed by Colombian rocker Juanes.
Marc Anthony took home 10 awards, including Artist of the Year, Hot Latin Song and others for his album "3.0" and hit single "Vivir Mi Vida." The Voice Kid's judge, Prince Royce, won a modest four awards and performed with Brazilian superstar, Michel Telo.
Enrique Iglesias won Hot Latin Song of the Year and made the crowd dance with his flamenco - reggaeton rendition of, "Bailando" featuring Cuban reggaeton group, Gente de Zona.
The late "Diva de la Banda," Jenni Rivera, Wisin y Yandel, Chino y Nacho, and Banda Arrolladora were also winners in their categories.
A tribute to the late Cheo Feliciano was led by Gilberto Santa Rosa to commemorate the salsa great, after he died in a car crash in Puerto Rico last Thursday. "I want to give thanks to the man who taught me how to live," said Anthony of his idol Feliciano.
Carlos Vives was honored with the Billboard Spirit of Hope Award for his humanitarian endeavors as an ambassador for UNICEF. "I propose this award to serve justice in the culture that has enriched our music," said Vives.
Andrea Bocelli received the Billboard Lifetime Achievement Award and also gave a chilling duet performance with Laura Pausini, while Franco de Vita was given the Billboard Hall of Fame Award for his impeccable 30-year trajectory.
Ricky Martin made the crowd sweat with a steamy performance of "Vida," this years FIFA Cup song. Cheyenne, one of the most anticipated acts of the night gave an emotional performance, days after his mother's death, and received a standing ovation from his friends in support.
After gracing the Billboard stage several times, Anthony stood in awe before his colleagues and said that he was at a loss for words.
Anthony closed the show with a powerful performance of "Vivir Mi Vida" that made the audience sway their hips side to side, even a fan climbed onstage to keep up with Anthony's smooth dance moves.
In case you missed the Billboard Latin Music Awards, tune into Telemundo's special, Billboard Extra, tonight at 8 p.m., with a recap of the show, backstage access and interviews or visit Telemundo.com/PremiosBillboard.


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Crabmeat Delight
Yield: 6 servings.
Can also be served as a spread.
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- 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
- 3 tablespoons cold water
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 6 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 cup finely chopped celery
- 1 small onion, minced
- 1 cup crabmeat, cooked
Instructions:Sprinkle gelatin over cold water to soften for about 5 minutes. Heat the soup to the boiling point and stir in the gelatin until dissolved. Cool.
Add the softened cream cheese, blending until smooth. Stir in the mayonnaise, celery and onion, mixing well. Fold in the crabmeat, which has been cut into bite-size pieces.
Pour into a ring mold and chill for 4 or 5 hours. Turn into a serving plate. Fill the center with ripe olives and garnish with watercress or chicory.
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Interested in a career in music? Learn everything you need to know about working with digital audio, including the digital signal path, compression, DAWs, MIDI, and mixing.
All Courses
- Audio + Music (8)
- Audio Foundations
- Music Production (7)
- Mixing (5)
- Audio Effects (3)
- Acoustics (2)
- Audio Engineering (2)
- DAWs (2)
- Microphones (2)
- Studio Setup (2)
- Audio Plug-Ins (1)
- Mastering (1)
- Post Production (1)
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- Beginner
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The fundamentals of delay and modulation effects and how to apply these effects, technically and creatively, to improve the sound of a mix.
Explains one of the most essential ingredients in audio mixing, reverb—the time it takes for sound to bounce, echo, and decay during a live performance or recording.
Shows how to properly apply equalization (EQ) to improve the sound of a mix.
Shows how to improve the sound of a mix using compressors, limiters, gates, de-essers, and other dynamic processors.
Learn about the jobs, equipment, DAWs, and training you need to get started down an audio learning path.
Discover the industry secrets to recording crisp, rich vocals and instruments tracks, as renowned audio engineer Bobby Owsinski walks through the process of miking and tracking a complete song by Underground Sun recording artist Iyeoka and A-list session musicians in a top-of-the-line studio in a way that is applicable to any recording space and musical genre.
Tips for making music, podcasts, and sound effects, including production techniques, hardware, software, and sound theory.
"I don't know how many times I've come back to review a topic or to watch a video as supplementary training to a class I'm taking, but you guys have helped me stay ahead of the curve." —Derek M.
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Lage Raho Munnabhai
22 Lage Raho Munnabhai Articles
Gandhi Jayanti Special: 5 things Sanjay Dutt's Lage Raho Munnabhai taught us!9 months ago 0
Read why Gandhigiri is special and relevant in today's day and age... When director Raj Kumar Hirani came up with Lage Raho Munnabhai in 2008, it… Read Article ▶
The only film which can be the next Baahubali is Chiranjeevi's 150th film, says Ram Gopal Varma!12 months ago 1
RGV seems pretty excited about the Megastar's comeback film.... SS Rajamouli's Baahubali has moved on to become one of the highest grossing films of… Read Article ▶
Arshad Warsi confirms waiting for Sanjay Dutt to come out of jail to start Munnabhai 3 shoot!1 year ago 1
The Rajkumar Hirani directed series has been a very successful movie franchise... Actor Arshad Warsi has confirmed that the third part of Munna Bhai… Read Article ▶
Rajkumar Hirani: Sanju was the first actor I worked with, his life is a big story!1 year ago 2
The PK director is now focusing on his next directorial venture which Sanjay Dutt's biopic. Read on to know what the talented filmmaker has to say… Read Article ▶
Vidya Balan: I don't want to be a part of any reality or fictional TV show!1 year ago 0
The Bobby Jasoos actor is rejecting TV shows outright. We wonder why... Powerhouse actress Vidya Balan who shot to fame with the popular television… Read Article ▶
Vinod Chopra's Hollywood film Broken Horses to release on April 102 years ago 0
Here's the latest goss from the PK producer's H-Town venture.... Vidhu Vinod Chopra's much anticipated Hollywood venture - Broken Horses is all set… Read Article ▶
Revealed: Sanjay Dutt to start working on Munnabhai 3 after coming out of the jail!2 years ago 3
It's time for all Munnabhai fans to rejoice. Read on to know more on this... Be it Munnabhai MBBS or Lage Rahe Munnabhai, whenever Sanjay Dutt and… Read Article ▶
3 reasons why Bollywood is shying away from making a biopic on Mahatma Gandhi!2 years ago 2
On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, Bollywoodlife digs down deep into the mentality of B-town filmmakers to find out why there are no films on… Read Article ▶
Gandhi Jayanti special: Bollywood portrayals of Mahatma Gandhi!2 years ago 0
There has been some very good character artists who have portrayed Gandhi in films. Here we talk about some of them... Mahatma Gandhi is undoubtedly… Read Article ▶
After Jolly LLB and Guddu Rangeela, Arshad Warsi to work with Subhash Kapoor again!2 years ago 0
The filmmaker has developed a solid bond with the Dhamaal actor While Bollywood has already celebrated many hit actor-director pairs, like Shah Rukh… Read Article ▶
Yogen Shah
Rajkumar Hirani opens up about Aamir Khan's PK poster – Watch video!2 years ago 1
Will the filmmaker tell us the real reason behind the nude Aamir Khan poster? Read and watch video to find out... Rajkumar Hirani has given three… Read Article ▶
Shantanu Moitra in Brazil for FIFA World Cup 20142 years ago 0
Bollywood celebs have shown their support for the mega football event, but the ace music composer has taken his fanaticism a notch higher Finally… Read Article ▶
Boman Irani to renew his passion for photography2 years ago 0
The Bhoothnath Returns actor wants to host a photography exhibition Boman Irani started his career as a professional photographer, but joining… Read Article ▶
Yogen Shah
After playing a politician, find out what is Boman Irani's next avatar?2 years ago 1
The talented actor never stops experimenting with his characters onscreen Though Boman Irani stepped into Bollywood pretty late (at the age of 41)… Read Article ▶
Rajkumar Hirani, Boman Irani feel Indian writers have not yet got due respect for their work2 years ago 0
Director Rajkumar Hirani feels that the film industry has often short-changed writers and it's high time they get due respect and value for their… Read Article ▶


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Tips for unsigned musicians
One of the things which I remember most about college is that there was a great number of artists and a greater number of musicians emerging every day. Working at a coffee shop in a highly artistic and musically inclined section of the city did nothing but increase the amount of aspiring individuals that I met on a daily basis. Thinking back on these people, I have to wonder how many of these musicians reached his or her dream to be sign, and how many of these individuals fell by the wayside or are still struggling to reach that dream? I would sadly tend to believe that most of these have gone unnoticed. An unsigned musician would do well to maximize the potential for exposure and recognition. Here are a few tips to help.
Don't be a copycat
The reason why so many artists fail to be remembered is due to the ever growing trend of trying to sound like a popular artist. To a musician, this is shooting oneself in the foot. An artist that is already popular and has hit albums has already gotten the edge on that genre or style. Someone that is looking to sign an artist is not looking to find a carbon copy of an existing artist. Where it is true that there are some similarities between artists, all major signed artists have a style that is unique to that individual. Stay true to yourself and your music. One cannot expect to build a music career by piggybacking on the success of others.
Avoid the clichés and other sounds associated with other artists and tracks
Where there are great uses for sound loops and stock music, one should realize that there are certain sounds that are cliché. For example: Think on the boy band songs of the 90s. All of these tracks had that same shoo pop shoo pop sound in the background. Yes, there are a few boy bands that are still around, but one will find that for the most part these bands failed. Why? Because the sound became cliché, redundant, and dull. Another example would be what I refer to as the shoes in the dryer sound. Usually used by inexperienced individuals, this loop takes a base beat and repeats the sound over and over. The result is a base beat that is a replica of shoes in the dryer. Where the base beat desired may have required a loop, the result is annoyance.
Apart from cliché sounds, one should avoid using those things which remind the listener of another artist. If I were to put a "What?!" "OK" into my lyrics, one may accuse me of trying to copy Little John. If I were to do the power cord sequences of Metallica, one may label me as a wannabe. Neither of these are good labels for an aspiring musician. Therefore, one should be extremely careful in how he or she presents his or her music. Use loops sparingly, and avoid diverting one's attention from your track. The last thing an unsigned musician wants to hear is "Great track, that sounds just like…."
Get your music out there
It always comes as a great annoyance when I see unsigned musicians that refuse to do the footwork to get signed. Everything worth doing has work involved. One cannot simply make the music with the hopes that it will be picked up. If one is waiting for this to happen then one might as well quit now, it will not happen. Some ways in which to get your music out into the public include:
• Put a track on a royalty free site – Royalty free music sights are a great way to quickly get your music recognized. By offering one track at a low rate, the artist increases the probability that someone will search for other music offered or buy the whole cd. Remember, you are not mainstream as of yet. However, if the demand for your music increases then so will your chances to be signed. The stock music industry is booming, so now is the time to make money from your music in this growing marketplace.
• Send out Demo Tracks Like Halloween Candy - Of course by this it is not intended that you should wait till October to do so. The philosophy is that by offering demos to everyone you can whether they be producers or just an individual you meet at the grocery store, one is greatly increasing the recognition of YOUR name. This being stated, one should realize that out of the demo cds that are sent out 90% of these will not get any response. The market is too big and the majority of people willing to sign musicians only listen to the first minute to two minutes.
• Follow up on Demos given to potential signers – If sending your demo to a recording studio one needs to treat it as if it is a resume (for that is essentially what it is). Do a follow up and ensure that your name is kept in his or her mind. When the topic of who to sign as a new musician comes up it is easier to come up with a name from one's memory than to go through a stack of demo CDs.
• Contact the radio stations – many stations will play tracks from unsigned musicians so long as the track is worth playing. Send out a demo to all the stations that play your genre of music. Do callbacks and go to the station (in professional attire) to ensure it gets on the air.
In all one best maximizes the potential for being signed when he or she maximizes the exposure and potential to be remembered. Avoiding looking like a novice, but a professional musician is the key. Be diligent and unrelenting and success is sure to find you eventually.


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From the Navy News Service
1814 - Navy gunboats capture three British boats on Lake Ontario near Sandy Creek, N.Y.
Maritime Today
The Maritime Industry's original and most viewed E-News Service
The U.S. Navy Blue Angels will return to its 2016 demonstration schedule July 2-4 in Traverse City, Mich., Commander, Naval Air Forces announced.
The Blue Angels temporarily stood down,
Navy nuclear submarine HMS Ambush yesterday steamed to Gibraltar – in a massive show of force against Spain.
The Spanish – emboldened by Britain's Brexit vote
The Indonesian Government has banned vessels flying Indonesias flag from sailing to the Philippines following the latest hostage incident.
According to a report in AP,


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- Location:
- Boston, MA
- Party Albums:
- 13
40th Backyard Bash (13 photos)
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This 40th birthday was a surprise party for two great friends. It was held in a tent in the backyard of one of their homes (they were under the impression that a baby shower was going to be held there). When the boys showed up they were over the top surprised!
The party was a large but casual event with a country feel. Burlap and red herringbone fabric were used throughout the tent as decorations and table cloths. A large Beer Cake was created to be used as a focal point on one of the bars. BBQ diiner featuring ribs, pulled chicken, cornbread and coleslaw was served in metal pie tins with plent of wet naps to go around! Instead of a cake a make your own S'mores were offereed for dessert. The s'mores bar was a huge hit and added another element of fun to the tent. The gourment marshmallows, from Sweet Lydias, were just to die for!
This huge success not only in the actual surprise factor (which was great!) but was a fantastically fun party. There was no end to the dancing, games and general high spirits - it went on until late into the night.


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There's Nothing Special About Oct. 9, Even If It Seems That Way
Is the bull market about to end? Did it ever begin?
Our colleague Mark Hulbert over at MarketWatch notes that Oct. 9 seems to be an oddly common date for turning points in the stock market. Both the 2002-2007 bull market, and the 2007-2009 bear market started on, you guessed it, Oct. 9 (happy anniversary, by the way). So, does this mean another turning point's at hand? Today is, after all, Oct. 9.
Not necessarily. Hulbert writes:
You might think that there are almost impossibly low odds that two trend changes this momentous would occur on the very same day of the year.
But you'd be wrong. In fact, this is a great illustration of how our gut instincts are poor guides to statistical truths.
Several other dates have marked turning points as well, he notes, including Jan. 5, April 28, and Sept. 21. In fact, he says, the entire month of October is overblown as a big, trend-changing month. "Our minds love to find patterns, even when none exists. Be skeptical of any patterns that are urged upon you until and unless they can withstand statistical scrutiny."
Okay, so the bull market may not be about to end. But are we even in a bull market?
It may seem a silly question, with the major indexes up more than 10% this year, and nearly double from their 2009 lows. But the reality is markets tend to play out in long, long trends, and there's an entire school of thought that holds markets run in secular patterns that average 17 years.
"Secular bear and bull markets average 17 years in length," Cravens Brothers analyst Jason Leach wrote recently in his report "Sleepwalking Toward a Precipice." If that's so, then what we're currently calling a bull market is a bull market within a larger bear market. Which would most likely mean, uh, kids, that stocks will be going down again.
Going by this notion, if a bear market started in 2000, then it's got a few more years to run until a new long-term bull market starts. There's something to that, really, when you think about how much further the recovery has to go, when you consider that even the Fed doesn't see the nation returning to full employment for several more years, when you consider that Europe is a long way from any kind of real resolution.
What you get over the long term is something like this: 2000-2017 (?), bear market; 1982-2000, bull market; 1966-1982, etcetera, etcetera, more or less all the way back to 1929.
Just some food for thought, Mousketeers.


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Six ways to cut your healthcare costs
Going to the hospital can be a frightening experience, getting your healthcare bill a few weeks after you've been discharged from the hospital can be another one. Yes, you may have healthcare insurance but between the co-pays, deductibles and everything that is not covered, the actual bill you have to pay may be much more than you anticipated. Fortunately, it does not have to be this way.… Read the rest


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The GOrun Ultra running shoe from Skechers is a good choice for hikers looking for a cushioned step. Athletic shoes seem to splitting down minimalist versus cushioned lines, with the minimalists going so far as to go barefoot and the cushionists stacking on the padding. The hiking world is no exception with debates raging on backpacker forums about the merits of trail runners contrasted with traditional beefy hiking boots. One hiker described following barefoot footsteps for many miles on the John Muir Trail so the extreme minimalists have penetrated the long distance hiking world, too. Skeptics doubt that trail runners can provide enough support but real world hikers are proving them wrong. In the end, it's another case of HYOH (hike your own hike)—what works for some might not work for others.
For those looking for a softer journey the Skechers GOrun Ultra is worth a trial, before one embarks on a long distance hike, of course. Unlike the GOrun (sans Ultra), which is a minimalist shoe that displays the profile of the trail (meaning that you feel the bumps on the path), the GOrun Ultra is enhanced with a thick layer of Resalyte, an injection molded compound that is yielding. This is paired with the more rigid Resagrip outsole for enhanced support. The traction control is impressive, with protuberant, knobby soles. The heel drop is 4mm without the insole; 8mm with the added optional insole. The side panels have 4-way stretch mesh with a mesh fabric upper so they are maximally breathable. They are lined with a soft fabric so sockless athletes will find them comfortable and they are treated with Agion for odor control. A women's size 7 is 7.5 oz; 8.7 oz for a men's size 9.
My husband, Steve, and I have each been testing the GOrun Ultra as we gradually ramp up our training in preparation for the >200 mile John Muir Trail backpacking trip we're doing later this year. We had been reading a lot of the discussion points about the benefits of trail runners and when we had the opportunity to test these we jumped at the chance. We've been taking them out on 5-15 mile hikes and so far we have positive, though differing, opinions about their utility on the trail. When picking them up out of the box there is no doubt that they feel feather light. At 8 ounces for one size 9 shoe it's almost half the weight of one of my hiking boots, which weighs in at 15.87 ounces. They are a good looking shoe too, if that's important to you.
When I put them on they felt very soft, comfortable and fit true to size. The mesh was supple while the sole felt extremely forgiving. The rocker design, with a thick midsole compared to the heel and toe felt a little unusual and I wondered if it would feel strange when walking--it didn't. I tried them on asphalt roads and uneven hiking trails littered with boulders and tree roots. I liked them a lot on roads and felt like the cushioning was beneficial in protecting my joints from the hard surfaces. But on rough trails I sometimes didn't feel like I got enough support as the mesh upper let my foot wobble around a bit. Fair enough—it's not designed as a hiking boot so I can't expect it to provide equivalent support. I liked the rugged sole that provided good traction on the trail.
But Steve, on the other hand (or foot, more precisely), took to them immediately, permanently abandoning his hiking boots. He loves everything about the GOrun Ultra, specifically the squishy soft sole that is so thick he can't feel rocks or sticks underneath, the incredibly light weight, the mesh upper that lets his foot breathe and isn't confining, the rocker design that propels him forward and the thick lugs on the bottom of the sole that grip the trail. He doesn't even wear his custom orthotics, which he's worn for decades, in his GOrun Ultras, because the shoe fits his foot so well. Overall, he feels that it is a very stable shoe and he's planning to use these, paired with lightweight, breathable, fast drying Tilley socks, on the John Muir Trail this summer.
Skechers, a billion dollar, international retailer, markets over 3,000 brands around the world. The GOrun Ultra is part of the Skechers Performance division; the other is the Lifestyle division. Headquartered in Manhattan Beach, CA they put a little California fun in every shoe. Olympic silver medalist and winner of the 2014 Boston Marathon, American Meb Keflezighi, is a brand ambassador for the Skechers GOrun line of shoes and worked with them on the design.
Bottom line: We agreed that the shoes are lightweight and comfortable. For my style of hiking I liked the GOrun Ultra on smooth paths but still prefer a hiking boot, which provides more lateral support, on rough trails, while Steve finds the support sufficient and has adopted the Skecher GOrun as his preferred hiking shoe in every kind of terrain, even bushwhacking.
The GOrun Ultra is a high performance shoe that easily wins in the running crowd. It can be cross purposed to hiking trails for the set of hikers looking for a lightweight but durable, breathable and very comfortable shoe.
GOrun Ultra from Skechers Performance Division
$90 from Skechers
Women's GOrun Ultra, charcoal/turquoise
Men's GOrun Ultra, red/lime
Disclosure of material connection: I received test samples from Skechers but the opinions expressed are solely my own.
Suggested Links
- Odor control with Agion Active performance fabrics: Gear review
- Light up your world with the Lighthouse 250 lantern and USB hub from Goal Zero
- Show off your good taste with a Sigg Thermo: Gear review
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- Carry your six pack and beach chairs with the Granite Rocx Tahoe: Gear Review


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2015 Outdoor: Panchol took five first places finishes over the course of the outdoor season… two first-place finishes came in the High Jump and three came in the Triple Jump… Panchol took seventh at the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the High Jump with a leap of 1.97m (6' 5.5") and thirteenth at the same meet in the Triple Jump with a mark of 13.44m (44' 1.25").
2015 Indoor: Panchol five times finished in the top-two over the course of the season with two first-place finishes overall… Panchol matched a career-best jump of 2.05m (6' 8.75") in the High Jump at the Ed Jacoby Invite and Multi 2015 finishing second place… Panchol also set a career-best in the Long Jump with a mark of 6.60m (21' 8") securing a fifth place finish… Panchol won the Triple Jump even twice on the season with marks of 14.61m (47' 11.25") at the Idaho Vandal Indoor Invitational and 14.67m (48' 1.75") at the 2015 UW Indoor Invitational, his best mark of the season
2014 Outdoor: Panchol was a member of the 2014 Western Athletic Conference Championship team…earned Second-Team All-WAC honors for his fourth-place finish in the triple jump (47-1.75,14.37m) and his fifth-place finish in the high jump (6-5, 1.96m)…won the high jump at the Vandal Jamboree with a height of 6-8.75 (2.05m) and also won the event at the Cougar Invitational (6-8.75 ,2.05m) and the Sam Adams Classic (6-6.75, 2.00m)…also won the triple jump at the OSU High Performance Meet with a leap of 47-5.25 (14.46m) and posted a career-best mark in the event at the Vandal Jamboree with a mark of 48-10.75 (14.90m).
2014 Indoor: Panchol earned Frist-Team All-WAC honors for his third-place finishes in the triple jump (48-4.75, 14.75m) and the high jump (6-8.75, 2.05m)…helped aid the men to a 2014 Indoor Western Athletic Conference Championship…won the triple jump at the UW Husky Classic with a career-best leap of 48-5.25 (14.76m) and won the event at the WSU Open with a jump of 46-0 (14.02m)…earned a Western Athletic Conference Men's Field Athlete of the Week award during the season.
At Ashford University
2011 Indoor: Record his longest jump of the season in the triple jump at 13.85 meters during the Knox Indoor Invitational where he took second place…finished with the third-longest triple jump at the MCC Indoor Track and Field Championships (12.88 meters)…won the triple jump event at the IC Snowbird Open (13.52 meters)…finished as runner-up at the Iowa State Holiday Preview in the triple jump with a distance of 13.13 meters…took third place in the long jump at the Knox Indoor meet.
High Schoo: Two-time All-Conference selection at Jefferson High School in Rockford, Ill…Qualified for the Illinois state meet during his senior season after winning the triple jump at the Huntley Sectional…Earned All-Conference accolades after winning the triple jump and high jump during his senior season…Coached by Greg Barker.
Personal: Born Emmanuel Panchol on April 23, 1992…Son of Marsa Biar Wal…Has one other sibling…Enjoys playing basketball and socce
Indoor Career Best:
Outdoor Career Best: