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Tokyo, Japan, Veldhoven, the Nederlands and Oberkochen, Germany, 29.09.2004. Nikon Corporation (Nikon), ASML Holding N.V. (ASML) and Carl Zeiss SMT AG (SMT) have agreed to a comprehensive settlement of legal proceedings and cross-license of patents related to lithography equipment used to manufacture semiconductor devices.
The Memorandum of Understanding is a binding agreement that continues the previously announced stays on all patent disputes pending between Nikon, ASML and SMT in Asia and the United States. The three companies expect to execute definitive settlement and cross-license agreements and dismiss all legal proceedings between the parties in November 2004.
The terms of the Memorandum include payments to Nikon by ASML and SMT. ASML will pay a total of US$ 87 million (approximately EUR 71 million). An initial payment of US$ 60 million (approximately EUR 47 million) will be made in 2004, with the remaining equal installments due in 2005, 2006 and 2007. SMT will pay a total of US$ 58 million (approximately EUR 48 million). An initial payment of US$ 40 million (approximately EUR 32 million) will be made in 2004, with the remaining equal installments due in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
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Saturn's Toxicroak (anime)
this wiki
Toxicroak first appeared in Veilstone City when Team Galactic attempted to steal a bunch of meteorites. Toxicroak instantly formed a fierce rivalry with Brock's Croagunk. The two of them were at each others throats from the moment they saw each other and their rivalry seemed to go beyond the fact that they were on opposite sides. Croagunk even went so far as to ignore Brock's advances on women whenever it sensed that Toxicroak was around and their rivalry intensified when Toxicroak almost killed Croagunk by smashing him through a skylight and then stabbing him in the stomach with Poison Jab.
Toxicroak was often seen by Saturn's side and was present in almost all of his appearances, showing great loyalty to its master despite Saturn's evil intentions. It was able to defeat Gary's Umbreon and Electivire at the same time, an incredible feat considering that Gary used to be one of the most powerful trainers of his generation and Umbreon and Electivire were two of his strongest Pokemon. During its final confrontation with Croagunk, its pre-evolution finally managed to defeat Toxicroak with a devastating Brick Break, ending their rivalry. It is unknown what happened to Toxicroak after Team Galactic was defeated.
Known moves
|Sludge Bomb +
|Enter Galactic!
|Dark Pulse +
|Enter Galactic!
|Poison Jab +
|Losing Its Lustrous
|Rock Smash
|Gateway to Ruin!
|X-Scissor +
|The Needs of the Three!
|+ indicates this Pokémon used this move recently.*
- indicates this Pokémon normally can't use this move.
- Some Pokemon fans have wondered if Saturn's Toxicroak might be a Shiny Pokemon since it is a slightly different colour from ordinary Toxicroak in the games. However no mention has been made of Toxicroak's colour and it is generally considered to not be a Shiny Pokemon although a Shiny Toxicroak in the games is a lighter shade of blue, much like Saturn's Toxicroak.


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Ridiculously long essay on the medium.
Note to the reader: the prevailing attitude of this essay changes drastically about half way through. It is necessary to bring this to your attention to prevent you from putting it down in disgust some of the way through, and leaving with a false idea of my view. I also feel I need to note that while I consider this work to be of some value, it was inevitable that I would now feel some contempt towards it; this is because it doesnt deal enough with specifics. But it had to be written to form the basic picture of the medium with which I can now (hopefully) use to delve into more detail both in writing about particular games, and on more specific workings of the medium (and eventually to create my own games). Once again, I am writing this out of the insecurity that my current position might be miss-presented.
An essay in dialogue form: what is the videogame medium?
Z A one who inquires into the art of videogames
X A one who points out all of the holes in Zs analysis but to whom understanding of Zs ideas does not necessarily come easily.
X and Z are enjoying a competitive multiplayer game of Halo combat evolved, on the traditional blood gulch map.
X Well this is very fun indeed, the sci-fi graphics are very cool, and the guns are richly diverse but all very satisfying to use. I also appreciate the different options and game types available; we could play on a different map, with different vehicles, weapons or power-ups enabled, we could play capture the flag, oddball, race...
Z Well this is all very true, but you fail to get to the essence of what makes this such a compelling experience. You see, every time we encounter each other and fight, and indeed during the whole time of play (but most pronounced during these encounters), we are faced with a goal and a set of rules with which we must engage in order to achieve this goal. I propose that it is in thinking about these rules, making decisions and observing the outcomes; that we derive the pleasure that we now experience.
X But are we to ignore or downsize the importance of the graphics, guns and vehicles and such?
Z I should hope not, for I to delight in the simplistic visual style and alien architecture, weapons and vehicles. And the formal voice which announces slayer at the beginning of the match, the crickets and sound of footsteps which create such a wonderfully calming atmosphere, giving the combat both space and character. Then theres the individual sounds of all of the weapons and vehicles, all of which so recognizable in relation to their respective objects. Of course none of this would count for much were they not attached to the rules which govern them in the game, but this is not a fundamental property of videogames as a medium at large. Rather it is down both to the focus of this game on communication through rules, and in fact the lack of interesting context , that is the sounds and visuals that we just described, along with any symbolism and narrative, which are of little interest relative to, say, a good film such as Star Wars for instance, in which the subject matter consists entirely of these contextual elements.
X So your saying that film consists only of contextual elements while videogames consist of rules with more or less interesting contextual elements to back up the rules?
Z Well not exactly, a videogame could very conceivably consist of a landscape, city or the like, in which, unlike with a painting or film, you could move around and view from different angles. There would be rules, such as, certain objects are solid, so you cannot move through them, perhaps the position and direction of your view could represent a person and would thus obey the laws of gravity, or perhaps you would just control a floating camera-like object which could move to any position. But either way, the rules would not be very interesting or entertaining in themselves; and so the artistic value of the work would live and die with the visual context (though the use of the word context does not seem so appropriate here, since it is the main subject matter as opposed to the context for the rules).
X But this isnt much of a game, it just a 3d graphic design. A videogame must have a purpose, a goal.
Z Quite right, it does not seem like much of a game. We need to define what properties contribute to make a videogame as opposed to a work of any other medium. Perhaps a game must reach a certain threshold of interest through rules, though I think it is dangerous to say that a game must have a goal. A game could conceivably consist of a set of rules which are interesting simply to play around with, with no aim in mind. Perhaps The Sims is a good example of this; some may indeed play with the object of getting rich or making a nice looking home, or perhaps a more subtle aim to create aggression between two housemates or something, but one might also enjoy simply observing the outcomes of certain actions which are modeled on those that might occur in real life. Of course even in a game like halo which appears to have a clear aim, to kill your opponent 25 times before he does so to you, the enjoyment comes (hopefully) not from winning as much as from observing the rules and trying things out. In this way, the aim of winning could be seen more as a form used by a lot of games, which forces the player to engage with the rules in a certain way.
X But when I play halo, I play to win. I enjoy winning in Halo, or perhaps more accurately, I enjoy all of the achievements I make, such as getting one of those 25 kills, or maybe even just the satisfaction of a particularly skilful grenade throw. I dont see how I could enjoy the rules just by virtue of their existence.
Z - To re assert/elaborate then, because it is a crucial point, a game consists of events and actions; that is rules which determine the outcomes (actions), of certain events. The developer (hopefully) chooses interesting or entertaining rules and presents them in an illuminating order in space and time. Rules may involve actions which change the outcomes of future events, or they may simply trigger a non impactful contextual action or both. A rule in a hypothetical game about the shenanigans in a family home may state, when the player makes the child not brush his teeth before bed, the mothers love for the child will decrease by one gradation (where the mothers love determines how likely she is to cook dinner for the child), to state a silly, melodramatic example, which fits nicely into the first rule type. Another rule may state that when you water the plants, they grow, which has no effect on the rest of the game. Now in chess, there is a rule that says, when a players king is taken, the game ends and the opposing player wins, the game ending, naturally has an effect on the rest of the game at large, while the opposing player winning has no effect on future rules, it is simply a stand-alone action which expresses the game makers idea of the world, or rather whatever he wanted to express at that point in time; in this case, something along the lines of, when someone eliminates another persons important component, they win. Or, when one civilization defeats anothers king, they win. Or, perhaps most accurately, when one person displays the skills required to take the opponents king piece in chess, they win (where in all cases winning is a rather peculiar human concept which means what it means to each individual player). One type of rule is not necessarily better then the other (that is those which effect the actions of future events and those that dont); the point Im trying to make is that both are simply messages communicated by the game maker. Hopefully they are interesting messages, but they are essentially there to be appreciated. Winning is simply a rule like any other; an event and action if you will, when this happens, this happens, just like, if you water the plant, it grows, in the case of this rule, the game designer communicates something of his idea about winning in real life, arguably a slightly dated or generally boring one. Except in the case of winning chess, the conditions are more complex and if viewed as an aim, may require a great deal of skill to achieve them. But you shouldnt necessarily try to achieve the conditions for this action and more then another.
X So winning this game of halo is just a couple of actions, that of the game ending, and that of the screen saying, player 2 wins, which are triggered by the events of me shooting you x number of times, and these actions are comparable to (arguably) less important ones, such as the one governing the mothers love for the child, both are modeled on the game creators ideas of the real world, and should be interesting in their very existence, but the actions should not necessarily be strived for.
Well thats all fine, but the point is that there are some rules, such the one about winning in Halo, which we do try to make happen, and thats why Im playing; because I want to make certain things happen, because I enjoy it when they do. I dont want to just mill about appreciating what the game designer said would happen if x happens, besides, if I dont have an aim, how will I know what to try out and appreciate the outcome of?
Z Right. Now as far as having an aim in general is concerned, be it winning, or decreasing the mothers love for you, this neednt be a fundamental to any game; the game simply presents a load of rules to you which are either interesting and entertaining or not, and with which you can do as you please. Sure a game may require you to kill x many enemies before you can progress to the next level, but this is just another rule, one must kill 20 aliens before the allied spaceship coincidentally turns up to find you, of course this is a positively ludicrous rule, but a rule nonetheless which should express an idea of the creator.
X But youre just repeating yourself. The fact is that most games arent like that, they actually tell you that you DO have an aim or at least heavily imply it, as is the case with the rule you just mentioned.
Z Indeed, and as I said (and was just getting to again, if you would stop interrupting), this can be used to force the player to engage with certain other rules and in a certain way (the way which you are enjoying now as we play Halo with the aim of winning), but it is certainly clear now that such aims are not fundamental to the medium at large.
X No it isnt, maybe I only play Halo because there is an aim, and maybe I wouldnt play your hypothetical family home game because there is no aim (and for other reasons mind you!).
Z Well this brings up the important issue of how the player is expected to engage with the system. There are rules which we are persuaded to use, or rather actions that we are meant to trigger, which are common to most games of a certain genre, or even to all games of a larger category type. The aim of winning, which is usually triggered by eliminating the enemy, or a crucial part of the enemy, is used in so many different sorts of games that it may be seen not so much as an interesting rule, as it may as a form, similar to a musical form which provides a sort of structure in which subject matter can be presented, many games use this method to help shape the manner in which the rules are presented to the player and the way in which the player will approach them. Perhaps you think that it is indeed this type of interaction with a set of rules (requiring the players skill in order to trigger a certain action which is seen as the aim), which defines a videogame. This would mean that my theoretical family home game would in fact not be a game by your definition unless the player decided they would make it their aim to trigger a certain action, in which case, this action should require a degree of skill in order it be a good game.
X Right
Z So case closed
X Erm
Z Until next time, when we will further our discussion on the matter of, what is the videogame medium
X Right. Good. Well Ill see you then then.
Z beat X on that particular game of halo by 25 kills to 17.
Z - Needless to say, I would like to incorporate my family home game into the videogame medium. It is of course necessary to look up game in the oxford dictionary of modern English at this point, since; the definition will decide whether or not we can even think about arguing the inclusion of my game under the term.
Z leaves the room to look at the dictionary before returning 3 minutes later
Z Ok well that does it, every definition which relates to the area to which we refer, implies aim, achievement and competition. And so my family home thingy bob certainly is not a videogame, and neither, perhaps is The Sims, that is unless we give the vote to popularly held opinion. I imagine that most people would at first define a videogame along the lines of aims, competition and achievement, but they would not likely refuse The Sims or my game the title. That is, they wouldnt instinctively, but naturally, on closer inspection, they would have no choice but to refuse them the title.
I am not happy however with the distinction between a videogame like Halo and a thingy bob like my family home game. As I mentioned earlier, a thingy bob like The Sims could easily be turned into a videogame simply by making up an aim. And similarly, Halo
X No, no, no. Halo would not be fun without the aim. Are you telling me that you would enjoy going, hmm, I wonder what would happen if I shot the other player x many times low and behold, he dies, how very interesting., no, its not interesting. You might reply to that by saying, Right, so its not a very interesting game, but it is, we both enjoy playing it. It becomes interesting when you play with an aim. The rules are boring, but when you pit your ability to use them against someone elses then a certain outside element has entered. This is what makes a game.
Z Hmm, well I have to admit that my confidence is rather wavering, but I shall attempt to salvage my point nonetheless. I think we need to take our study of the interest of a game or thingybobs rules to another level. While some events and actions may be interesting in themselves (this is often the case with rules governing social dynamics and also with rules governing physics, the later you are probably familiar with), rules like, if you get shot x many times, you die, are not interesting, they are just obvious. But as you said, treated in a certain way, these boring rules can become interesting. So perhaps we can look at what the rules imply, where this can be the subject of interest.
X Im listening
Z - Perhaps rules plus goals can imply methods of approach. They can imply ways of life and bla bla. The argument has not fallen flat. It is not that the aim is now the sole purpose of the game. As I said before, enjoyment of halo comes not from winning but from experimenting with rules with an aim in mind.
X Yea, but then again, as you said before, a game can be fun without any goal at all. The Sims may be interesting just seeing how the creator presents rules. Of course in this case, perhaps the rules might just as well be written down on a piece of paper.
Z Well I see what you mean (naturally; since I am you), but this is sort of made redundant when you look at specifics. Sure this would be so if there where just a few simple rules like, when you dont take out the rubbish; flies start flying around it, then they would be of no more interest than they are as written here. But the point is that the rules are far more complex than that; they are ordered in such a way in space and time; that the most economical way for them to be presented is in a program with a sensual interface. Actually I suppose its not so much that they are ordered in space and time, as space and time are fundamental components of the rules with which the player is presented. Its not that they are absolutely essential, a written list of rules would still belong to the thingybob medium, after all it would simply involve a different choice of which rules are presented from the creators experience. But Ill bet that any object which you would normally call a videogame has space and time, certainly at least one of them.
X Yes, and I see that a picture of the medium is starting to emerge . But you still have not explained the crucial problem concerning the players interaction with the game, and in what way the rules can be interesting in a game like halo.
Z Ok. So maybe a goal is actually a crucial part of a games communication. After all, in real life and when humans are involved, which most games attempt to represent in more or less abstract ways, there are always goals hovering about in the air. If someone wants to use the rule medium (thought Id just slip in the new term there) to express an idea about human activity; be it war or casual socializing, the aims of the humans in question is likely to be an integral part of the creators idea. In this way the setting of the goal is sort of a part of the medium; one of the mediums for expression which contributes to make the whole videogame medium. Or rather it is one of the potential ones. Naturally we would not refuse a film without sound the title film just as we should not, and in most cases would not, refuse a videogame without a goal the title videogame. A videogame might well not have a set goal, as is the case with The Sims. A set goal will inevitably shape the players relationship with the rules as he strives to bring into being the conditions (event) for a certain action to occur. The creator may equally think it more appropriate to simply present the player with a set of rules and let them come up with their own goal as the human being they are. Or not; perhaps the rules are best experienced without a goal.
Obviously these are quite different uses of the medium, but they both use rules as their primary means of expression. For this reason, and the fact that chess is not called a videogame, I would like to propose a new title: the rule medium. This encompasses all art which communicates through rules, whether or not it also communicates through goals and whatever senses the interface relates to. After all one would hardly like to differentiate chess from Halo on such a fundamental level. Also, it is assumed at this point that you understand that we cannot call it the game medium because a game is in fact a subcategory of the rule medium which encompasses those with goals.
As you may be aware, most of what I have considered progress in this discussion has involved the reduction of components of videogames which were previously considered fundamental and unquestionable, to mere variables which a game creator may or may not consider appropriate for the expression of his ideas. But now what of this subcategory I have identified? For starters I think we may have to further sub-categorize, because while games like chess and halo
X Ok let me stop you right there! Here is the definitive problem with your idea: you are trying to explain how games can communicate by presenting rules (i.e. if this happens then this happens), and just now you identified another means of expression by setting goals, but I dont see anything exclusive to the videogame medium about these means. If we consider a play, say, by Shakespeare, he will present the same sorts of rules and goals that you have discussed. Shakespeare will have a character say something or perform an action which affects another character, and the reaction of the other character will be interesting. The whole play is made up of events and actions which are determined by Shakespeares ideas of the rules which govern these areas of life. Similarly in an action movie, events and actions based on human actions and physics etc will be presented, again shaped by the directors ideas about the rules which operate in this sphere of reality. The games you have discussed, you have described as a bundle of rules and possibly goals, which are either presented immediately to the player, such as, if you are an object in this area you will obey the laws of gravity, and those whose actions must be triggered by the player. You have implied that the players interaction with these games will involve him doing something and observing the result. Hopefully, you say, the rules in themselves are interesting, so we play for the sake of observing them as opposed to playing for the sake of winning, and, goals such as winning, or less major ones like decreasing your mothers love for you, both express the creators ideas about goals, and control the manner in which rules are presented to the player. As is quite clear now I would imagine, such a game amounts to something comparable to one of those childrens toys where you press a button with a picture on it of, say, a saw cutting a log of wood (event), and you get to hear the sound (action). Obviously it might be a pretty complex one of these things, with different and more interesting events and actions. Perhaps the actions of some events will alter the actions of other events (or more accurately they will change the events themselves if you know what I mean. And it doesnt really matter if you dont), but you can see its the same type of thing. It could be quite interesting indeed, maybe you would take all the events and actions that exist in a play by Shakespeare, and let the player press all of the buttons at his own leisurely pace and observe the outcomes. This is your description of the videogame medium so far, and it is not the correct one.
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Re: Ridiculously long essay on the medium.
Z Many thanks for clearing that up. Indeed it is quite a relief to finally have the problem which was bugging me finally out in the open. Now perhaps we can start to think about what this experience of interactivity is all about.
Let us not imagine, though, that all of the previous analysis is completely worthless however. For a start it has been useful enough for us to realize where it is flawed. But besides that I am sure there is a lot of truth in the content.
So lets take the example of Go, a board game considered by many to be the greatest game in existence. Its main rules are as follows:
- The game is played on a 19 x 19 grid.
- The 2 players take turns placing one of their pieces (which do not vary) on any unoccupied intersection on the grid.
- The aim is to finish the game with your pieces surrounding more empty grid intersections than your opponent.
- Opponents pieces can be taken mid-game by surrounding them such that they are linked to any empty intersections.(Taken pieces are removed from the board)
- A player is not allowed to place a piece such as to leave any of his pieces completely surrounded by the opponents, thus committing suicide.
- If you make manage to enclose some empty grid space within your opponents enclosure, those points will be yours at the end of the game, not the opponents.
- The game ends when neither player wishes to make another move. This will happen when every possible move would serve to either: 1. fill up space within their own enclosures, thus decreasing their score. 2. Place pieces in enemy enclosures which have no hope of forming an enclosure themselves. Or 3. Commit suicide, which is illegal.
- When both players have passed simultaneously for the above reasons, the space within each players enclosures is counted up. Any pieces within enemy enclosures which do not form enclosures in themselves, are considered prisoners and are deducted from that players score.
So, these rules and aim, by my previous train of thought would constitute the entire subjects of interest in Go, but it is clear to see that, on their own, they do not serve to conjure any more then a small spark of excitement in the reader to play the game. They certainly dont evoke such feelings as to prompt naming it the best game known to mankind.
So what is the game then? What is the thing from which people have derived such joy (or other feelings)? For starters, it is of note that the rules, in combination with the goal, serve to imply certain strategies which the player must use. These strategies cannot necessarily be envisaged just by looking at the rule sheet. Whilst playing with the stated goal in mind, you quickly realize that you cannot afford to be greedy in trying to keep all of the space in a given area of the board to yourself, because, if your playing against a player of any skill whatsoever, you will find that in such greed you are essentially digging your own grave on most occasions. This has to do with the fact that often, in aggressively placing down pieces near enemy pieces, youre actually simply making them easier for your opponent to enclose and take, or leave redundant as prisoners to be taken from your score at the end of the game.
X The thing here is that youre still dealing with expressions which are essentially presented by default by the very existence of the rules and goals. In this case, perhaps a player must actually play for a while before they become clear (unless they are a genius who can see such scenarios from the start), and indeed if we consider these expressions to be more analogue as opposed to discrete, with all sorts of variances to the ways in which the concepts of greed and what have you, are expressed, then perhaps play really is, as you said earlier (I dare say for different reasons), the most efficient means of being recipient to the artists communication. While a painting must be viewed through ones eyes, and music must be listened to using ones ears; one experiences games by attempting to fulfill the goal whilst obeying the rules. You dont try to win because you want to win, but simply because you know that trying as hard as possible to win is the best way of interfacing with games the communication. In many ways this correlates with tendencies we can observe But at the same time it doesnt quite ring true. For starters, much culture around games is centered on the winning as opposed to the communication. People are often seen as virtuous in one way or another if they win at a game. Further more, almost all videogames themselves glamorize winning. Also, if you look at almost any game, the actual process you go through, both in terms of its sensual/symbolic representation, and the rule-representation, it is, I think, almost always essentially a virtuous one. Games present goals, challenges, and a player must demonstrate his skill (virtue), in order to complete it. In this way, the game is not so much about the messages the game delivers, aiming to complete the goal simply in order to receive the message, as it is about mastering the challenge for your own personal glory.
Z Hmm, I feel in a strange state at this point, because as far as I can see just yet, my original idea about what a game is has been all but shattered. I wanted it to sit beside the other art mediums, communicating whatever it wished in its own unique way; through rules. But now it seems that all a game can be is an abstraction of a challenge which we can revel in mastering just as we do other challenges in real life. Funnily enough though, upon stating this seeming truth, the direction our definition has been headed in the latter part of this discussion doesnt seem so bad.
Art presents abstractions of real world phenomena. Art strips life down, cutting out what isnt necessary; sometimes placing previously unrelated things side by side, to show us the world more clearly. In the same way, a game is an abstraction of a real world challenge. Perhaps a game might take the reality of a real person during a certain time period of their life, and present one of the many challenges that they are consciously or unconsciously trying to complete, along with all the rules which operate, leaving out everything else which makes it harder to clearly observe the challenge and learn better to deal with it.
X Im not convinced by this. To me, it seems that games do not so much present abstractions of real world challenges, as much as they are abstractions of real world challenges. Thus the games are not there to be experienced as much as they are there to be conquered.
Z- Perhaps the deciding factor between these two different modes is the approach taken by the player, or recipient. Naturally, there is nothing more the game itself can do but present the challenge, since this is what it is representing, thus; whether the creator wishes to create a challenge for people to become virtuous within, or whether they wish to present a challenge in order to illuminate this part of life for the recipient, the game might, in theory, be exactly the same. Indeed if we look at football for example, we can observe, often in a single person, both of the two reactions. Sometime we might see the game as a challenge, and enjoy mastery in an egoic way, or even just enjoy taking part in the challenge, as one might a real world challenge. At other times we might appreciate the chance to observe an abstraction of a challenge which exists in real life, and learn more about it, while it lies in its exposed form. With the later approach we might gain insight into very mechanical things involving momentum, projectile behavior, along with more human bound things like stamina pacing, working as a team against another team, dealing with pressure, exerting pressure, justices and injustice, and, of course, victory and defeat.
X Actually, both approaches can result in the player, or recipient, learning these lessons.
Z Yes, so maybe the difference is a more subtle one. With the later approach, the recipient will be able to identify the roots of the game in his or her own reality, and perhaps find greater peace simply in the unveiling. Indeed, many of lifes problems become less taxing not when they go away, but when we see them. Just to see them as opposed to ignorantly experiencing them.
However, now that you have pointed out that both approaches can result in the player learning how to accomplish these goals, a more clear impression of the medium has materialized once more. I feel we can now go back, this time with some conviction, to the understanding of games communicating all sorts of things, but requiring the player to try to win in order to receive the message in the process, just as music requires people to listen. In identifying the messages simply as the ways we need to play in order to win, I feel more comfortable in talking of them as separate entities, precisely because they are clearly bound with the whole; that of an abstract challenge. Now a game like football, will teach the player how to use simple things like physical trickery, graceful movement and team work to accomplish certain goals. These goals of course probably have their real life roots in challenges such as hunting and fighting, both of which no longer play much of a part in modern life, but nonetheless we still have the drives within us, and enjoy vast numbers of games which teach us how to do them, and essentially let us actually do them; sometimes in very representational ways, such as in boxing and hunting no less, and others, such as football do so in more subtle and abstract ways.
But now if we take the example of the ancient Chinese/Japanese game Go, we are presented with a different sort of challenge, in which, when trying to succeed, we quickly realize that we have to play in a rather democratic way. Out-right aggression and domination most often backfire. Surely we could go on to make games about all sorts of other sorts of challenges: how about one about love (to state an annoyingly obvious example), which could teach the player how to succeed, or otherwise at least illuminate the problems which operate.
X Ok so if we take your definition of art as presentation of reality in a more condensed form, in order to shed light where there is usually too much clutter, then games are without a doubt 100% art, although they are so in a way we certainly didnt anticipate at the beginning of our discussion. But while most art is simply there to be received, it seems that many people enjoy witnessing others receive games. People watching a football match or a game of Go, are not playing themselves, but are watching others play. Why do games have this unique property against all other arts?
Z Well first of all I think that the watchers in these cases actually are receiving the message, since by observing the problems the players get into and how they get themselves out of them, they too learn with the players. In fact this could even be seen as a more effective way of learning, since they see the solutions that particularly talented individuals come up with; which the observer may not themselves have been able to work out. There are other elements to the reasons people might observe games being played though; which have more to do with seeing them as real life activities in themselves as opposed to representations. People might like to watch talented players at work out of sheer awe, perhaps not necessarily even caring about the particular things they do during play. Others might see the outcome of the game as being relevant to their life, and thus watch with the hope of the occurrence of a certain result. This often occurs in football and other sports when people start to see the players as an extension of their own egos, and their success in the game a matter of serious importance.
X That was my first question, my next is, what about ICO? That game challenged you to solve puzzles, and taught you not to leave unprotected for too long, the one who you needed to help you escape. But at the same time, it actually evoked emotions in the player. The tension involved in trying not to stray too far from your companion, the fear that came with doing so, and the wretched sense of loss when she was captured. This potential aspect of games we have not touched upon since our recent breakthrough.
Z Well since these games by nature are not so much a set of expressions, as they are a world in themselves, a simplified world, with only a few areas of challenge, emotions will arise naturally by taking part in the challenge. To continue on that thread, this must also apply to the lessons. All the creator does is set the rules and the goal, but these rules and goals are organic entities in themselves; they are not made by the creator, but are plucked out of the real world. For this reason they continue to act as they do in the real world, and, when presented in conjunction with other rules and goals, there will, naturally, be effective ways of completing the challenge which will become clear as the player plays but which were not necessarily clear to the game creator. Similarly, emotions will naturally arise, as they would if the player was confronted with a similar scenario in real life.
X So what role does the game creator have? Do they think of a load of lessons and emotions which they want the player to experience, and then create a set of rules and goals in which these lessons and emotions will naturally arise? Or will they simply put forward what seem to be, for what ever reason, an interesting set of rules and goals, and see what we can learn as we engage with them? I suppose both methods are probably used and both are valid.
Z Yes! I now feel like there is nothing fundamental left in the dark as far as the nature of the game/videogame medium is concerned. However there are a few details that I feel we should look over. The first is the relationship between a games core rules and goals, its interface which makes it understandable and allows us to interact with it, and its arguably unessential contextual elements as I call them, that is, those sensual or symbolic elements which decorate the interface.
X I think a more pressing matter, and one which follows more directly the current direction of the thread, is that which addresses the issues about games without challenges that we discussed earlier on. Is a challenge a fundamental part of a game? After all it seems that two things can be very similar but one with and one without a challenge, and so it doesnt seem right to consider them fundamentally different.
Z Ok lets knock that one down quickly. Instead of thinking of a game as a challenge, how about we think of it as a world, from a humans perspective. The world is a one like the real world, but highly simplified and pulled around with. Often in the real world, our experience is shaped largely by challenges which we are constantly trying to solve either consciously or not. Thus, one of these abstract worlds might involve a challenge since thats one of the things it chooses to represent from the real world (in a simplified form). But, one might argue that as humans, our existence in reality is not constantly shaped by challenges, sometimes we exist for other reasons. So a broader term for the medium we are describing could refer to a direct creation of an abstract world. The use of the word direct, is very important here, because movies create worlds, as do paintings and other mediums, but, the world created in a game, is more worthy of the title world, because while a movie simply presents a world, and decides what happens in it, a game world actually is a representation of the real world which looses no fundamental properties of the real thing. A game world invites us to actually be a human being (because we can only be that) within it. So, even a game like Go, or perhaps especially a game like Go, is an alternate reality. We are thrown in, as ourselves, but with a different, or simplified meaning of life, and we are confronted with a different, or simplified, set of emotions and lessons about how it works, and thus how the real world works. Of course we do not believe we are actually there, but in engaging with the rules and trying to complete the challenge, there is a certain part of our brain which is invested in it, and can therefore be recipient to its messages, and perhaps identify the worlds roots in the real world. Anyway, now we have established that we are dealing with a medium which creates alternative realities; the reality it creates does not necessarily have do be one which is defined first and foremost by a goal. While goals are very fundamental parts of real life (as we strive to satisfy our drives, we strive for understanding, happiness, compassion, enlightenment), I think there must be plenty of time where our experience is not shaped by a goal. A work within the medium, which we are yet to give a name, could make a world with this sort of meaning of life, or lack thereof, if you will. Of course, the problem with such a game is that the player might start defining there own meaning of life as they try to make certain things happen.
X Yes, yes, and your repeating yourself inexplicably at this point, but Im sure we can forgive you since your ideas are so spontaneously coming into existence. An interesting point, is that while you say that the player is invited to live in this world for some time, as a human, while in the real world, you might say that we choose our own meaning of life based on what we personally desire, in your model for a game (or what ever its called), the meaning of life is simply defined for you.
Z Well this is not my model; this is simply the case with most games currently in existence. Perhaps a game could present a world with rules and restrictions, along with things that players might strive for by their own choice; I suppose that would be a world even more like the real one. But maybe a creator defined goal isnt so far removed from reality. For starters, as humans, perhaps we dont have much choice about what we want, and perhaps we dont even truly want the things we want, we just want them out of habit or instinct. Nevertheless, if our alternate world is convincing enough, then, continuing down the line of emotions and lessons arising naturally out of the organic rules, we might be able to make the player strive for things naturally, without telling them to do so. If we made a game which was modeled on a city, with people living in it, and there was money, and when the player got money, things would change accordingly, as they do in real life; they would be able to buy more things, do more things, influence people, etc. Then the player who is partially invested in this alternate reality will strive by their own accord for this money without having to be prompted. Or maybe they wont, if they are not so driven by money. There are already games which do this, funnily enough; the game that comes to mind for me is Pro Evolution Soccer. In the Master League mode, the player can earn money by winning matches, but for me, it gets to the stage where I am no longer winning matches because that is the implied goal of the game, but because I want money. And I want money not because earning money is the implied goal of the game, but because the money has a value within the game that I actually care about by my own accord; it can buy new players for the team. Needless to say, I want these players for their own sake, because they are fun to play around with, not just as a means of meeting the implied goal of winning the season. This example shows how a game can make you want things without being told you want them, or not because you are told you want them, without being a totally convincing city sim or something. Id imagine that similar effects could be achieved in more highly abstract games as well. However, this does not downgrade the worth of a game which tells you what your goal is whether you really want it or not. I suppose that often just by defining a goal, it becomes something that people want for its own sake, because they want to be the master of this world, just as, in real life, they might want to master something, or get something, simply because it is seen as an important thing by others. This could be seen to be the case in Go. A player would not, naturally, want to start surrounding territory, in the precise way that one is supposed to in the game, where they not told to do so. But when the goal is defined, we have a challenge which requires great skill in order to achieve, thus the player may actually want it for its own sake.
X Yeah, so what about Halo? If you were not told what to do, there would be plenty of people who would try to kill things anyway, because thats what their natural desire in this world is (not least because those things try to kill you), or if it was a multiplayer game with no goal, someone might, naturally, strive to kill the opponent, because this has the effect of eliminating him for a few seconds and thus annoying him and giving the killer a sense of power. Equally though, someones natural reaction to the world of Halo might be a more peaceful one, they might be inclined to explore. Halo, however, is not designed for natural goals to occur (although it is more then most, with fun things that can be done with its physics). Whether or not people would naturally want to kill each other, the goal is set in stone, we all know that this is what is expected of us in such a game, and the creator is simply left to set the amount of kills required to win.
Z Hmm, well I am a tincy bit confused about these different ways a game can be constructed. In Halo, the player is told what they want, and so people can just see that as a given, and start receiving the messages of the game, learning how best to kill someone for example. But at the same time, people might be playing because they actually want to kill each other within the game world. Well maybe this is just a bonus for the game.
Perhaps a game must make the player naturally want certain conditions to occur and others to not, if it wants to manipulate the players feelings. If a player is to feel scared in a survival horror game, they must actually care if their avatar dies; not just because their goal says so, but because their real life brains/bodies say so. But the game could still teach the player techniques which might be useful in a comparable real life scenario if the player was not emotionally invested. Funily enough, as a side not, most survival horror games get the player invested in a pretty dodgy way: the player is anxious not to be killed because he is naturally motivated to avoid having to go through the tiresome task of replaying an entire section of the game upon being killed.
As a more general point, applicable to all art, maybe it is incorrect to draw a distinction between the mode of learning through illumination and, in a game, trying things out; and the mode of having your emotions react to being immersed in the fake reality. Perhaps the later mode can be equally educational in treating their emotions as the materials for art works themselves.
Z Yes, yes, steady on there. Art is about presenting things that exist in reality, but more clearly so that they can be better understood. Now if a game world, or a music, film or visual world is one which is more focused then the real one; and if the recipients emotions are affected by being immersed in it, then these emotions may also be more focused then they are often likely to be in the real world. The recipient is thus given an opportunity to more easily experience and deal with these emotions, which may give insights into their beings at large
X Well that certainly seems like a valid point as long as we accept your model of art.
Z Yes, and now I feel like there really is nothing fundamental left to incorporate into our model of the medium. But with this grounding, I must later go on to explore more of the specifics of the medium at large and of examples of works that have been made using it.
X Well Ill see you next time, when we will continue our discussion on, what is the videogame medium.
Z In need of a new title I think.
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text:
The Marquis of Chase is not a reputable man.
He is notorious for his wretched morals and is never received in respectable houses. The ladies of the ton would never allow him in their drawing rooms . . . though they were more than willing to welcome him into their bedchambers. Ejected from his father's house at the age of sixteen, he now lives a life of wanton pleasure. So what could the Marquis of Chase possibly want with Juliana Merton, a lovely, perfectly upstanding shopkeeper with a mysterious past?
A moment's indiscretion?
A night's passion?
Or a lifetime of love?
Even the wildest rakes have their weaknesses . . .
About the Author
Miranda Neville grew up in England before moving to New York City to work in Sotheby's rare books department. After many years as a journalist and editor, she decided writing fiction was more fun. She lives in Vermont.


text: Home Revision as of 01:11, January 5, 2013 by Paul Hedrick (Talk | contribs) (diff) ← Older revision | view current revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) 1,798pages on this wiki View source History Talk70 Welcome to the Solar Cookers World NetworkSponsored by Solar Cookers International112 Countries · 500 NGOs · 537 Individuals · 173 Manufacturers · 344 Designs · 66 Plans Deutsch, Español, Français, Hausa, Igbo, Indonesian, Italiano, Kiswahili, Kreyòl, Malagasy, Melayu, Português, Русский, Soomaaliga, Tagalog, Việt, Türkçe, Yorùbá, Ελληνικά, தமிழ், नेपाली, 中文, اردو, 한국어, 日本語, العربية, فارسی, עִברִית, हिन्दी, ไทย, বাংলা, తెలుగు, ગુજરાતી, ລາວ, ਪੰਜਾਬੀ, සිංහල, پښتو The Solar Cookers World Network is an alliance of nearly 500 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), manufacturers, and individuals actively promoting solar cooking in over 100 countries. This wiki-based site allows Network participants to share information and collaborate on projects and research. Solar cooking is an important part of Integrated Cooking, which includes the use of fuel-efficient woodstoves and heat-retention cookers. If you are a solar cooking promoter, designer, or manufacturer, and you would like to be included in the Network, fill out this online form. This site provides an introduction to solar cooking along with dozens of simple construction plans. Information is also provided about where to buy a solar cooker in your area. NGOs or individuals wanting to promote solar cooking will find information and resources to help with their projects. Visit individual country pages to explore solar cooking activities and connect with others working on solar cooking projects there. Check the Calendar of events for activities in your area. Solar cooking news from around the world January 2013 EVENT: March 18-22, 2013: (Phnom Penh, Cambodia) The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is sponsoring the Clean Cooking Forum 2013, to be held in Cambodia next spring. As with the five Biennial Partnership for Clean Indoor Air Forums, this will be an excellent opportunity for the household energy community to come together and share what is working around the world, what is causing it to work, and what we can do more of, better, or differently. This will an important event for solar cooking promoters to attend, share information, and show unity in a common mission. Registration information... December 2012 Recent Solar Health and Education Project workshop. Solar cooking has created a business opportunity for a group of women in Zambia - The Solar Health and Education Project (SHEP) has initiated a project at a community-based nursery school in Livingstone, Zambia for unschooled mothers. Previously, their only source of income had been illegally making charcoal. During the course of the program, they learned how to make and use the CooKit solar cooker as an income generating activity. Thier next step was to create a registered group called Solar Ventures (SV). They have been holding SHEP-funded workshops at clinics, schools, agricultural shows (where they won 1st place for the most interesting booth in 2011), and government-sponsored functions on energy and conservation. The group was also invited to Lusaka to run a three-day workshop for a UK based nonprofit organization. Without question, their lives are different now since their introduction to solar cooking. Annual deaths from indoor air pollution by region New study estimates four million deaths globally from household cooking smoke occur each year - The recently released "Global Burden of Disease 2010", funded by the Gates Foundation and just published in The Lancet, comes to this conclusion, and is double the previous accepted estimate. The study isolated the effects of cooking smoke only. There appears to be a shift from communicable children's diseases to non-communicable disease in adult populations as the major health threat affecting developing countries. The cooking problem is compounded by the fact that achieving a fifty percent reduction in cooking smoke does not correlate to a fifty percent reduction in respiratory disease. Substantial smoke reduction is required to see significant improvement. Read more about the cooking related air quality findings from the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves press release. A successful Integrated Cooking project cooking in Ségou, Mali - In 2009, KoZon, a Dutch NGO promoting solar cooking in the Sahel, and AFIMA, a Malian NGO promoting the development of rural women, began a joint project in Ségou, a region of Mali where solar cookers had not been introduced. In five villages (Dioro, Babougou, Koila Bamanan, Kominé, Soké), they trained four groups of 25 women (selected by the village chiefs) in the practice of Integrated Cooking. They received kits containing: two CooKits, to cook meals when the sun shines; a fuel-efficient woodstove, for use when there's no sun; and a heat-retention cooker to allow even more food to be cooked in the first two. In addition to a short hands-on training workshop, the project ensured that all participants were visited several times after the course to solve problems, and provide extra tips, and encouragement. In the final evaluation, in May 2012, external experts established that more than 80% of the participants--in some villages nearly 100%--used these technologies daily. As intended, they are now saving some 1,800 tons of fuel wood per year. The evaluators also found that many women appreciate having more free time each day, since they do not have to tend a fire when solar cooking or using the heat-retention cooker. They use their time for other activities including running small businesses. Buying less firewood also saves them a lot of money. It's no surprise that the evaluators spoke of integrated cooking as a great means of relieving poverty! The SolSource S1 One Earth Designs introduces their new parabolic solar cooker - Working with rural communities in western China, One Earth Designs (OED), a Beijing/Hong Kong-based company, founded by Americans Catlin Powers and Scot Frank, has developed the SolSource S1, a portable parabolic solar cooker designed for use by nomadic communities. The S1 can boil a liter of water in ten minutes. Durable and weather resistant materials ensure a longer lifespan. It has a total weight of 18 kilos including a sturdy base design capable of withstanding the high winds typically encountered in the Himalayas. OED's other solar cooker design, the SolSource S2 will be the world's first temperature adjustable solar cooker with six discrete settings up to 1,000 degrees Celsius. It will provide users with the capacity to generate electricity, heat their homes, purify their water and cook with stored solar energy at night or on cloudy days. Started twelve years ago, this Chilean solar restaurant has become a desired tourist destination - The Delicias del Sol restaurant, known for serving excellent food, has become a tourist destination for the village of Villaseca, Chile. Begun in 2000 with an initial seating capacity of sixteen, the solar restaurant now seats 120. The dry central valley area receives over 300 days of sunshine a year, and like similar areas, traditional fuel sources are becoming ever more scarce and expensive. The tourists enjoy viewing the solar kitchen at work. Find out about many other solar restaurants and bakeries here. 03:13 Restaurant's Ovens Powered by the Sun The Delicias del Sol restaurant has become a tourist destination for the village of Villaseca, Chile in 2012. Alternative energy funding groups offer options for technology promoters - The International Renewable Energy Agency(IRENA) is welcoming online applications with project summaries for concessional loans worth USD 50 million from the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) to facilitate renewable energy projects in developing countries, in the first of seven funding cycles totalling USD 350 million. Renewable energy projects must be government-led or government-guaranteed. Online applications close on 12 January 2013, 17:00 (Abu Dhabi local time). More information... The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is also offering funding possibilities for new businesses. The Alliance's Spark Fund (Fund) launches its first round of funding with this Request for Proposal (RFP) as part of the strategy to strengthen supply and enhance demand in the cookstove and fuels sector through innovation and tailored entrepreneurial capacity development. Unfortunately the final submission date is January 10, 2013. More information... Jewish World Watch, originator of the Solar Cooker Project for Sudanese refugees, reviews their current programs at several of the refugee camps in Chad – As a result of a joint security force between Chad and Sudan, violence against women has declined some since the project began seven years ago. Cord, their partner at the Farchana refugee camp, sees solar cooking as a way to keep girls in school, and not spending hours finding fuelwood for cooking. For others, the project has meant help for the environment and the air quality conditions for women previously using open fires. When the Jewish World Watch contingent first visited the camps many years ago, the refugees had just arrived and the encampment was meant to be temporary. The hope and expectation was that within a few months or a couple of years at most; they would return to their homes. But now, seven years later, it is clear that returning to Darfur is not a reality and the camps are turning into permanent settlements. As a result, the programs for the refugees must begin to move away from survival resources and begin to address ways of achieving self-sufficiency and permanence. In other words, helping to create a life, not an existence. Future larger scale solutions will be needed to address and benefit the surrounding communities, as well as the refugee camps, to help with the integration of the Sudanese residents. Read more... War weary citizens in Iraq to receive solar cookers - During a recent visit to villages in the Najaf-Karbala region of Iraq, a trustee of the Lady Fatemah Trust (LFT) found that villagers were using two methods for cooking: The majority of families, living in abject poverty, use open fuelwood fires for cooking, heating and lighting, while a slightly more affluent minority uses appliances fueled by kerosene. In the first phase of this project, LFT intends to provide solar cookers to families living in the villages surrounding Karbala Barakat al-Zahra district, Al-Mahdiyeh Village One and Two, the al-Nedhal and al-Wala' neighborhoods, as well as to families living on isolated desert farms. About 7000 solar panel cookers will be needed to provide every family in the region with a cooker. The cookers to be used are an improved version of the Cookit solar cooker made from plastic fluteboard and manufactured by Matthew Rollins. Total project cost will amount to £105,000.00. More information... November 2012 Regional Solar Food Processing Network to be established in India - Rolf Behringer reports that the German NGO WISIONS has agreed to support the establishment in India of the first regional Solar Food Processing Network. A workshop to inaugurate this effort will take place in early 2013 (date and location to be announced). The aim of the Solar Food Processing Network (SFPN) is to establish a global network of interested parties (NGOs, governments, farmers, and manufacturers) to develop and promote efficient methods of solar food processing and conservation. These are intended to help reduce poverty, improve local economic opportunities and health, and decrease environmental damage. In countries with high solar insolation, effective solar thermal production technologies will contribute to the sustainable development of small rural communities. SFPN is managed by the German NGO Solare Zukunft (Solar Future). It is financially supported by WISIONS, an initiative of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy to foster practical sustainable energy projects. Louise Meyer, of Solar Household Energy, demonstrates solar cooking to the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjaminto. Global advocate for solar cooking increases awareness - Solar Household Energy (SHE) has again had a busy summer and fall. Louise Meyer provided solar cooking demonstrations, including to the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjaminto, and assisted the Nature Conservancy in Haiti to teach the Integrated Cooking Method as part of its larger reforestation program in the region. It is exciting and encouraging to see organizations such as SHE taking the promotion of solar cooking the next step, to increased global awareness. Read more about their efforts... The latest issue of Solar Cooker Review is now available online Read the latest issue TanzSolar wins the Green Africa Award for Business - In June of this year the annual Green Africa Award for Business was awarded to TanzSolar for championing environmental change in Africa. TanzSolar received the Award for bringing clean, renewable solar energy and electric lighting to villagers in Tanzania. TanzSolar received the Green Business & Environmental Management Award, one of ten categories. "We are thrilled and this is an enormous honor to receive such an award. It's nice to be recognized for our hard work in solar energy in Africa," said Marianne Walpert, Founder and Director of TanzSolar. South Dakota foundation makes plans to have more solar cookers available in Haiti - Haiti Solar Oven Project board members and partners met the last weekend in October to set goals for 2013. In the next fiscal year, Haiti Solar Oven Partners will provide 2,280 units to families in Haiti participating in training and ownership of a solar oven. 58:01 EmeraldPlanet - Paving the Way to 2050 (Future Earth 4) Technologies; Services; & Products Former SCI board member Pat McArdle is interviewed on Emerald Planet - During the interview Pat McArdle discusses the history and mission of Solar Cookers International, the importance of increasing access to solar cooking technology, Bob Metcalf's Portable Microbiology Laboratory for testing water in remote locations, the work of Jewish World Watch in Chad, and more. October 2012 02:45 Solar Cooked Snowbank Chicken Soup-0 Recent natural disasters show need for emergency cooking and water pasteurization - Bangladesh floods and landslides, June 2012; India floods July, 2012; Haiti floods and mudslides August, 2012; More India floods September, 2012; Vietnam, Philippines, Southern China typhoon, October 2012; Eastern United States hurricane October, 2012. All of these natural events disrupted people's lives, even changing them forever. In the recovery stages after natural disasters, people's basic needs don't change: they still need clean water, food, safety, and shelter. In the bleakest situations, solar thermal power can begin to meet two important needs: a solar oven can pasteurize water and cook food. If you are an experienced solar cook, please contact people in your circle of influence in these affected areas. Share your knowledge of solar cooker construction and use with people who need it most. This YouTube video shows solar cooking done in the snow after power was lost in northern Virginia in a February 2010 storm. Parabolic solar cookers delivered to Afghanistan's remote Wakhan Corridor - The Kirghiz tribe live at the end of this slender finger of land in northeastern Afghanistan. Their primary fuel source for cooking has been dried yak dung, creating smoky conditions in their yurts. The buffalo-like yaks are used for most of their transportation needs. In June, Jeff Waalkes in Kirghizstan and Grace Magney with the Global Hope Network in Kabul were able to deliver ten parabolic solar cookers to the tribe. Grace organized the procurement and had the cookers loaded onto a truck. Jeff's responsibility was to get the truck into the Wakhan Corridor, and where the road petered out, strap everything including the solar cookers to the backs of yaks to deliver them to the Kirghiz. Initially hesitant, members of the tribe were soon cooking food and boiling water. See more of Jeff's photos of the delivery. Global conservation organization adopts solar cooking resolution sponsored by Solar Household Energy - The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has embraced a strong resolution sponsored by Solar Household Energy calling for increased support for solar cooking efforts worldwide. The measure was adopted in September at IUCN's quadrennial World Conservation Congress in Jeju, South Korea. The organization recognized the health hazards of cooking over biomass fires, and the availability of current solar cooking technologies. Efforts continue to develop solar cookers that offer increased efficiency, are cost-effective to produce and distribute, and are sturdy enough to withstand extended use. Read more... Students set a world record baking cookies with solar ovens to raise funds for solar cooking efforts in Haiti. Sign up for the Traveling Solar Oven. Students set a world record and bring awareness to the benefits of solar cooking - Students, parents, faculty, staff and friends gathered at Miami Country Day School located in Miami, Florida, USA on Friday, April 20, 2012 and set the Guinness Book of World Records™ for "The Most Cookies Baked in One Hour Using Solar Ovens". Trays of unbaked cookies were placed in 40 smaller solar ovens, as well as, two Villager solar ovens. After the cookies were baked and 1225 counted....a World Record was set! The event raised over $18,000 USD, which was used to send the 40 solar ovens and a Villager oven to Haiti. The cookies baked in the event were donated to Feeding South Florida. The event was lead by Matthew Cohen, a high school junior who has been actively involved in the solar oven movement for the past nine years. Cohen launched the website Power from the Sun to educate people worldwide on the benefits of solar cooking and help raise money to send solar ovens to needy families in Haiti. Cohen's latest project is aptly named "The Life Of The Traveling Solar Oven" and encourages students, parents, teachers, and local businesses to sponsor a solar oven. Participants are asked to use the solar oven, document their experience with video or photos and share it on their facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/PowerFromTheSun. The event will conclude on Earth Day 2013. September 2012 Solvatten water pasteurization system Swedish and Lutheran organizations sponsor water pasteurization efforts in Kenya - The Swedish Church and the aid agency Lutheran World Federation (LWF) are launching Solvatten in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. The goal of the project is to reduce environmental degradation by enabling people to use alternative sources of energy in the camp and in the host community that surrounds it. Supply of fire wood has been a problem in Kakuma region since the camp was set up in 1992 but it has escalated in the past two years, despite that the refugees are not allowed to harvest firewood directly from the bushes. This is attributed to the continuous massive influx of people into the camp leading to the environmental degradation through the harvesting of sticks from the available vegetation for firewood. Firewood has become very expensive and the UNHCR struggles to purchase and supply fuel to the growing population of refugees in the camp. The Solvatten is a solar water pasteurization device. August 2012 Refugee volunteers build solar cookers as part of the CORD project at the Farchana Refugee Camp. Solar cooker project in Chad is in full swing - In the Farchana Refugee Camp, a team of ten volunteers, refugees themselves, are putting together 2350 cookers! The cookers help prevent conflict between the Sudanese population in the camps and the local Chadian community, who are both competing for scarce firewood. Women, who traditionally collect wood to cook with, face violence outside the camps. The solar cookers need only the sun to cook food, one thing Chad has in abundance! Read more... 09:26 GUST Project - Solar Serve - Danang (Vietnam) New video shows Vietnam Solar Serve's extensive solar cooking projects - A team of three French students came to visit Vietnam Solar Serve's center. They had organized Global Universities Social Trip (GUST), a project that aims to raise students' awareness of social entrepreneurship in Asia. For six months they met many social entrepreneurs throughout Asia who worked on problems such as energy, communication, waste, water, and housing. They created videos that presented the entrepreneurs' projects, the social issues they wanted to solve, and the challenges they had to overcome. Click the image on the right to see a video that they made on their visit to our Solar Serve Center in Danang. For more information on the Gust Project, visit the: http://www.gustproject.com or visit their Vimeo Channel. Dissertation posted: Identifying the barriers to the deployment of solar cookers in the energy-poor households of sub-Saharan Africa - Sarah Cochetel New video from Cord showing their solar cooking project in refugee camps in Chad 03:37 Cooking up peace July 2012 Dr. Robert Metcalf discusses solar cooking on the Afternoon Edition (Saskatchewan, Canada) - listen to the recording. Dr. Metcalf is a founding member of Solar Cookers International. June 2012 Solar cooking heads to The Discovery Center - Central Valley Solar Cookers, founded by Carl Peters, is one of the most successful solar cooking clubs in the USA. Located in Fresno, California, the group now has 111 members. They recently had their First Annual Solar Cooking Festival, which was a huge success. They now have enough money to buy materials to build a solar cooker for use at The Discovery Center, a free non-profit science education facility. The park is fully self-funded and situated on six acres. Carl thinks a panel type cooker would be the safest type. It would be a nice addition to ultimately see solar cookers in our parks instead of only charcoal and wood burning BBQs. New video: The need for a more durable solar cooker for desert refugee camps 17:48 A more Durable Solar Cooker for Desert Refugee Camps.m4v Solar Cookers World Network Facebook group reaches 600 members - Join the discussion. Solar Cooking Hits the Mainstream - StarTides (Read more...) For older news, please see Solar cooking news archive. Contact For questions and comments about the Solar Cookers World Network or its website (this wiki), contact email@example.com. Solar Cooking Basics Intro to solar cooking Build a solar cooker Buy a solar cooker Frequently-asked questions History of solar cooking Health and safety Tips and tricks Books Recipes Calendar of events See all... Countries Non-governmental organizations Individuals Manufacturers and vendors Designs Plans Categories Supplies Events Solar Cooking in Depth Solar cooker designs Pots, reflectors, etc. What you can do Testing solar cookers Tracking the sun Health and safety Patents Research topics Teaching and Promotion Promoting solar cooking Integrated Cooking Method Refugee camps Income generation by sales Income generation by grants Project evaluations High-resolution photographs Interviews with promoters Classroom resources Related Technologies Non-cooking uses Heat-retention cooking Water pasteurization Solar food processing Solar food drying Autoclave Canning Rocket Stoves Foreign-language versions Réseau Mondial de Cuisson Solaire Red Global Sobre la Cocina Solar Questions and comments: email@example.com. Retrieved from "http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Solar_Cookers_International_Network_(Home)?oldid=56835" Categories: Main Page Languages: Español Français


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Currently level 45, and i had to go through some dungeons to get 44-45 for new quests. And it was just amazing since it wasn't questing for exp but killing mobs the old way. I have no other games to play now and Aura Kingdom is very relaxing. Overall, i really like fast lvling, no mana skills and the huge number of people playing.
Wonder what awaits me at 55+


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MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) " The Latest developments from the 2016 presidential campaign, with the focus Tuesday on the New Hampshire primary (all times local):
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) " Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Bernie Sanders swept to victory in Tuesday's New Hampshire primaries, adding crucial credibility to their upstart candidacies and underscoring voters' insistence on shaking up American...
MEXICO CITY (AP) " An Indian-American actor and designer who wasn't allowed to board a Mexico City-to-New York flight after refusing to remove his turban said Tuesday that he is satisfied with an apology from the airline.
While we anxiously await his next album, which he has promised will be both a gospel effort and the greatest of all time,
WASHINGTON (AP) " The Latest on the worldwide threat assessment from U.S. intelligence agencies (all times local):
LANSING, Mich. (AP) " Flint's water crisis, after a switch in the source allowed dangerous levels of lead and potentially caused deadly cases of Legionnaires' disease, could result in criminal charges as serious as involuntary manslaughter, a top...
WASHINGTON (AP) " President Barack Obama said Tuesday he is asking Congress for $3.1 billion to update the government's archaic computer systems to protect them from cyberattacks as part of a new, centralized effort to boost cybersecurity.
Amazon's Mozart in the Jungle can continue a stellar 2016 with the news it's been renewed for...
HAVANA (AP) " Otto Macias was 19 when he left Cuba in the throes of a socialist revolution, enlisted in the U.S. Army and went to fight communists as a machine-gunner in Vietnam.
PARIS (AP) " Two agencies contend Facebook is breaching privacy laws in France by tracking and using the personal data of more than 30 million users, as well as non-users who are browsing the Internet.
VATICAN CITY (AP) " A specially-recruited group of priests received last-minute instructions from Pope Francis Tuesday before fanning out through the world to show a more merciful face of the Catholic Church to sinners.
North Siskiyou County Directory
Business Name
Location, ST | website.com


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Webapps/Submitting tests
Webapps' tests are primarily written as testharness.js tests. You can find the repository on GitHub, and our public mirror on w3c-test.org.
Test Licensing
All of the tests in WebApps' test suites are intended to be released under both the W3C Test Suite license and the 3-clause BSD license.
If a Contributor is a member of WebApps, there is no need to complete any license forms. However, if a Contributor is not a member of WebApps, the Contributor must grant permission to distribute their contribution under these two licenses, and this requires completing the W3C's license grant form.
Test Repository Structure
The WG uses the W3C's web-platform-tests repository on GitHub for its tests.
- The repository:
- Mirror Root:
The structure of the repository, is:
specificationis a short name of a specification e.g. XMLHttpRequest, WebWorkers
sectionis up to three level deep sections of the spec where the test belongs. This is not used in some specifications.
If the test folder for the specification you're writing a test for uses the sections, you should too.
All tests that exist in the test repository are considered approved and reviewed. You can find current submissions by looking at the open pull requests of the repository.
Test Case Requirements
The group has agreed that all tests need to be written in the following manner:
- Tests should use the JavaScript harness described in testharness.js
- If a test is a visual test (not API specific) a Reference Test (aka RefTest) must be created. Note that -ref must be added to the testcase name to identify the reference page. For some information on RefTests, see:
- RefTests by the CSS WG
- Creating reftest-based unit tests by Mozilla
- The final option is a self-describing test and should be used only when a JavaScript or a RefTest is not appropriate.
The tests should preferably include the metadata:
<link rel="author" title="Name of Author" href="mailto: or http://"/> <link rel="help" href="http://example.com/relevant-spec#section"/> <meta name="assert" content="The lines of what the test asserts"/>
How to Submit a New Test - The Short Version
The way to contribute is just the usual GitHub way:
- Fork the GitHub repository (and make sure you're still relatively in sync with it if you forked a while ago)
- Create a branch for your changes,
git checkout -b submission/your-name
- Make your changes
- Push that to your GitHub repository
- Send in a pull request based on the above
You might get asked about completing W3C's license grant form if your employer is not already a member and you have not done so before. Someone will review your test and you might have to do some changes based on that review.
When the pull request is accepted the test(s) are approved and will be merged into the repository.
You are also welcome to ping the public-webapps-testsuite mailing list for any reason. Such as explicitly asking for review, discuss or announce your submission.
How to Submit New Tests - The Long Version
GitHub itself has a nice long help document explaining how to contribute to projects.
If you are brand new to Git and GitHub, you should probably read the getting started guide from the start. It's nice and friendly. The GitHub help pages has lots of other great information and guides. And for everything else you are welcome to send an email to the WG's
public-webapps-testsuite e-mail list (archive).


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$110B plan avoids automatic spending cuts, budget deficits
WASHINGTON Senate Democrats proposed a $110 billion plan Thursday to cut projected budget deficits and replace automatic spending cuts scheduled to take effect March 1.
The Democrats called for a combination of tax increases and cuts in projected spending, echoing President Barack Obama's demand that any alternative include tax increases and all but dooming it among Republicans. In fact, it may have worsened the prospects for avoiding the looming spending cuts.
Democrats have a majority in the Senate and hope to vote on their package the week of Feb. 25. Their proposal would allow the government to avoid the $85 billion in across-the-board fiscal 2013 cuts, known as the sequester.
Instead, it would replace 10 months of sequestration with new taxes and different spending reductions spread out over 10 years.
The plan includes $55 billion in new tax revenue from a minimum 30 percent tax on most millionaires and ending some oil industry tax breaks and a benefit that encourages companies to ship jobs overseas. Another $55 billion would be saved by cutting $27.5 billion from defense — exactly what isn't specified — and saving $27.5 billion by ending direct payments to farmers. All savings are calculated over a 10-year period.
The White House praised the plan. "Senate Democrats offered a balanced plan to avoid across-the-board budget cuts that will hurt kids, seniors and our men and women in uniform. The plan includes spending cuts that won't harm middle-class families while closing tax loopholes that benefit the wealthiest," said press secretary Jay Carney.
The automatic cuts also would, during the next seven months, impose a 5 percent cut on domestic agencies. Medicare provider payments would be cut by 2 percent. The Pentagon, for instance, would have to furlough civilian employees for up to 22 working days over six months, while 15,000 air traffic controllers would be laid off for more than two weeks. There would be the equivalent of 5,000 fewer border patrol agents and 1,000 fewer FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives agents and U.S. Marshals.
However, the Democrat package faces at least two huge obstacles.
It probably would need 60 votes to clear procedural hurdles in the Senate. Democrats control 55 seats, and Republicans have made it clear they're in no mood for more taxes.
Even if the proposal were approved, it would need to be passed by the Republican-led House of Representatives, which would barely have time to consider or change the measure.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray, D-Wash., insisted that once lawmakers hear from constituents, and the impact of the sequester becomes clearer, Republicans will soften their position.
"We have a week and a half to get public support with us," she said.
Republicans weren't buying that.
"This is not a solution. Even they know it can't pass, that's the idea," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. "It's a political stunt designed to mask the fact that they've offered no solutions and don't plan to offer any. And it's a total waste of time."
In the House, Speaker John Boehner told reporters: "When the Senate passes a plan, we'll be happy to look at it. Until they pass a plan, there's no reason for me to comment on what they could do."
He reiterated his opposition to higher taxes. "The sequester will be in effect until there are cuts and reforms that will put us on the path to balance the budget in the next 10 years, period," the Ohio Republican said.
The partisan sniping reinforced a growing sense on Capitol Hill that the sequester is going to take effect, cuts the White House maintains would have a severe impact on the military and domestic programs. Asked if he had talked to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Boehner said, "I told Sen. Reid this morning the same I've told you, pure and simple."


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Why Contribute to the Gender Thematic Trust Fund (GTTF)?
The GTTF is an easy funding instrument with standardized trust fund procedures, providing for both earmarked and non-earmarked financial contributions that address gender equality gaps. Funding requests, channelled through UNDP country offices, are received as short-format proposals and acted upon on a fast-track basis.
The GTTF has become one of the main vehicles within UNDP for financing innovative gender equality initiatives. The fund leverages UNDP's work on gender equality and women's empowerment across 166 countries, particularly at the policy level, bringing dedicated resources and services to address gender dimensions in each of the focus areas.
As the manager of the Resident Coordinator system, reputation among governments as a "reliable partner" and within civil society as a "honest broker," UNDP is uniquely positioned to address a wide range of critical issues of concern to women through strategic partnerships - at local, national, regional or global levels.
GTTF Reports
UNDP has taken significant steps towards championing gender equality thanks to the Gender Thematic Trust Fund, which received a contribution of $5.5 million from the Government of the Netherlands.
The 2007–2008 GTTF funded initiatives in 31 UNDP programme countries. This report consolidates achievements, challenges and lessons learned related to these initiatives, demonstrating how GTTF has enabled programme countries to act faster and be more flexible and innovative in delivering tangible results towards promoting gender equality and women's empowerment.


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If you'd like to learn more about how you could benefit from simplifying, automating, and securing your file transfers, join us on Thursday, June 14 from 12:00-1:00 pm CDT for a free webinar that will outline the dangers of traditional FTP, and then focus on alternatives that not only keep your sensitive data more secure, but give you more control and better tracking of the entire file transfer process.
Beyond FTP: Automating and Securing File Transfers
Thursday, June 14, 2012
For more information or to register for this event,
please visit our webinar registration page.
For a real life example of the benefits of managed file transfer, check out this System i manager's story.
Ernie Iannucci from AF&L Insurance Company describes how much time and headache his IT team saved when they transitioned from doing each transfer manually to implementing a managed file transfer solution.


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When you think about pumpkins, you probably think Halloween jack-o'-lanterns and pumpkin pie. But there are other ways to use pumpkins. They can grace doorsteps or be part of a centerpiece on your Thanksgiving table.
Pumpkins are so much more than decorations, though. They're packed with antioxidants and nutrients. The pulp is an abundant source of vitamin A and the seeds full of zinc.
You can eat any pumpkin, but the smaller pumpkins — often referred to as pie or sugar pumpkins — are sweeter. Wash and then cut pumpkin in half. Remove and reserve the seeds. At this point, you can microwave or bake the pumpkin halves to make it easier to remove the skin and cut up the flesh. Then try these creative ways to enjoy pumpkin:
Where will your pumpkin be this autumn? On the table as a centerpiece or taking center stage on your dinner menu? Please share your best pumpkin recipes to inspire others.
To your health,
Jennifer K. Nelson, R.D., L.D.
Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.
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Jack o'lantern, yes, a regular old carving pumpkin, sauteed with onions in olive oil. I add salt while I'm cooking it. I cook it down until the chunks have cooked out most of their water then I brown it just a little. While it's still hot in the pan I add more salt as needed, pepper it generously and melt a little butter into it. It blew my mind the first time I tasted it. It's so delicious. I've used pumpkins I've had a candle in, rinsed of course, and didn't have a flavor problem. I've switched to flickering LEDs in case there's any other problem with that. One large pumpkin can keep me satisfied the whole year since no one else in this house is open to different and amazing foods.
I first tried it breaded and deep fried. Kind of a bust because it was so watery and bland. Not that it didn't cook well. Just the texture was just a little too much to try to gulp down. But by sauteeing it and getting a lot of the water out, you're getting down to more of the pumpkiny, squashy, nutty flavor and a more palatable texture.
I half it and cut it into 1 to 2 inch strips and put them into ziplock freezer bags. I keep them in the deep freeze and they cook up just fine for up to a year. Good timing. That's all the prep needed for freezing.
Roasted Pumpkin Soup:
Peel and cut pumpkin into equal pieces, coat with olive oil and sprinkle with fresh ground black pepper and nutmeg. Place on cookie sheet and roast in pre-heated 400F oven until the pieces are beginning to soften.
Chop onion, celery and garlic and add to heat pot with a tablespoon of olive oil. Cook until softened. Add either chicken stock or vegetable stock, the roasted pumpkin, and some pieces of fresh sage and rosemary. Bring to a summer and cook until the pumpkin is soft. Using a hand blender, blend until either smooth or, some bits and pieces of pumpkin are still in the soup. You can now add some hot sauce if you like and adjust the seasoning and simmer for a few minutes.
Serve with a tablespoon of plain quark in the middle.
I like to roast and mash pumpkin using a little almond milk. I like to add this to my oatmeal with a few almonds - try dark chocolate.
Hi. I just purchased a white pumpkin but not sure what to do with it now. Looking for some good recipes. Can the white be used in the same manner as the traditional orange pumpkins?ie cake breads etc.
flowers, new leaves and stems are eatable also
Forever Butternut Squash soup 1/2 butternut squash, vegetables of your choice, - I use for example 2 carrots and 1 potato grated, - 1 celery stick grated, one large onion chopped, basil, salt, 2 spoons of oil. Boil in water - I cook it in a slow cooker- until the carrot gratings are of the consistency you like, - carrots will take the longest to boil.
Mix it with a blender.
You can use frozen veggies of any kind you like since there is
no fixed choice except for the onion.
You could even add a grated apple.
Eat warm, -- plain or with a dash of milk, yogurt, or cream.
Filo Pastry Pumpkin pie 1 butternut Squash Peel the squash and cut it in even slices -- of about 3 inches. Place in a frying pan with a cup of water and set heat to medium. Cover with a lid. Let it soften for about 10 minutes. If the temperature is too high and you see it will caramelize the pumpkin, turn the heat down -- one or two levels.
Blend it with the blender. Place the filo pastries one by one, grease them well. Fill with the puree you prepared from the squash sugar to taste (maybe 1/2 cup) a spoonful of flour and vanilla.
Place in an oven preheated at 350 at degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for 20 minutes.
with a strainer cover evenly with sifted sugar. Serve either warm or cold with whipped cream.
Makes a great breakfast.
I froze two huge pumpkins this fall. I have made soup and am trying to make a gluten, egg,dairy free pumpkin muffin. If anyone has recipes that actually work please post. Thanks.
Butternut Squash Soup
1 butternut squash,
1 red pepper,
1 large onion,
1 chicken bouillon cube,
Cut butternut squash in half, take out seeds and strings in centre. Cut in cubes (do not have to remove skin). Cut red pepper in half, take out seeds, then cut pepper into pieces. Roughly cut up onion. Put all into large pot with bouillon cube. Add just enough water to cover. Cover, bring to a boil then let simmer 10 to 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
Using hand blender, puree vegetables to make a smooth soup.
Serve with cream and grated cheese, salt & pepper to taste.
Delicious and warms you from the inside out!
For a delicious, healthy, guilt-free desert I add about 1/4 cup of canned pumpkin to a sugar-free vanilla pudding cup (I use Jello brand) and stir in pumpkin pie spice to taste. To make it a little more special, you can sprinkle a few graham cracker or vanilla wafer crumbs on top.
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South Dakota State University wide receiver Brandon Hubert has been named a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy. The award goes annually to the top scholar-athlete in college football by the National Football Foundation.
A senior from Gretna, Neb., Hubert has started games each of the last four seasons and is nearing the SDSU career top 10 for both receptions (112) and receiving yards (1,466). One of four team captains this season, Hubert also has excelled in the classroom, compiling a 3.70 grade-point average while majoring in pharmacy.
From the list of 170 semifinalists, up to 16 players will be selected as finalists for the Campbell Trophy on Oct. 31. All finalists will comprise the 2013 National Scholar-Athlete Class and will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship. Finalists also will be invited to attend the 56th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 10 in New York City.