text:
So glad we decided last minute to stopover at Rangitikei Farmstay! What a unique experience for our family! This ended up being a highlight of our 2 week travels through NZ! Was a wonderful experience to meet such a nice NZ family!
- Official Description (provided by the hotel):
- Rangitikei Farmstay is located in a picturesque farming area halfway between Taupo and Wellington, in the lower half of New Zealand's stunning North Island. Situated on a quiet rural road, RF provides the ideal location for a heartland experience that will appeal to many. RF has a range of different accommodation options to suit every taste; the RF Homestead, Eastern and Western Chalets and RF Bunkhouse. The Farm Museum also showcases agricultural history from the Stewart family's 100 years on the property. Visitors are sure to leave with fond memories and fantastic photos of their experience on a working hill country station. Guests are welcome to experience life on the farm, interaction with all the animals and activities to suit individual tastes. With knowledge of the local area gained from being the fourth generation on the property, RF can provide a wide range of activities both on and off the farm. Activities include but are not limited to: Corporate functions, horseback and pony riding, mountain biking, ATV rides, farm walks, 4WD tours, clay bird shooting, golf driving, beach trips, bush walks, guided Sambar deer hunting, possum and target shooting and a glow-worm grotto. ... more less


text:
Height: | 6-5 |
Weight: | 205 |
Year: | Fr. |
Hometown: | Dallas, TX |
High School: | Winchendon |
Position: | G |
Major: | Undeclared |
Residential College: | Ezra Stiles |
Before Yale: Spent one year at the Winchendon School and earned NEPSAC honorable mention recognition… 2010 District most valuable player at Lovejoy High School… Two-time first team all-district selection… Named all-region as a junior… Averaged 16.7 points, eight rebounds and 4.5 assists… Became the first 1,000-point scorer in school history… Helped lead Lovejoy to a pair of district championships and the regional semifinals in 2010… Played with Minnesota's Charles Buggs, Penn State's Akosa Maduegbunam and Sacred Heart's Tevin Falzon… Played for Dallas Triumph AAU team.
Personal: Grandfather, Tom Peterson, played fullback at Michigan, won three Rose Bowls and a national championship in 1948.
Why Yale? "I chose Yale because of the fit on the court and with the coaches, along with the outstanding opportunities the university offers. Success is available to me during the season as well as after my four-year commitment in the classroom."
Coach Jones says: Nick has a great understanding of the game and always seems to make the right play. He always looks to try and make his teammates better before looking for his own offense."

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Candy brothers have designs on the Moon
Ambitious or what? The summer issue of the Candy & Candy magazine contains articles on developments at One Hyde Park, Manhattan, China ... and the Moon. Launching the edition last night at 9 Grosvenor Place was Nick Candy, along with Emma McQuiston, the 26-year-old former model who is marrying the Marquess of Bath's son Ceawlin this summer.


text:
The Father Peyton Center, 518 Washington St, N. Easton, MA welcomes visitors to our center for private and communal prayer, visits to Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary and St. Joseph chapels where Mass is celebrated at noon Monday through Friday, the Fr. Feeley/Fr. Murphy Rosary Walk and the Holy Cross Cemetery where Servant of God Fr. Patrick Peyton, CSC is buried. Other sites of interest include Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto which is 300 feet on the left beyond the cemetery and the Stonehill campus with its 550 acres of beautiful lawns, lake and tree-lined walks and the Chapel of Mary at the center of the campus.
We invite you to visit the Fr. Feeley/Fr. Murphy Rosary Walk that runs between Holy Cross Family Ministries (HCFM) and My Brother's Keeper (MBK). The path has five granite columns, each with four images from the twenty mysteries of the Rosary. The Joyful and Sorrowful Mysteries begin at HCFM and end at MBK, and the Glorious and Luminous Mysteries begin at MBK and end at HCFM. In addition to the columns there are two granite benches at each set of mysteries.
After praying the Rosary you are invited to spend time in prayer in Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Chapel in the center, view displays about the life and works of Servant of God Fr. Patrick Peyton, CSC and visit the bookstore/gift shop where all the DVD's produced by Family Theater are available for purchase along with a selection of religious books for children and adults, medals, crosses and gifts for special occasions.
Visitors at the Center can walk to the Holy Cross Community Cemetery in ten minutes by taking a right onto Route 138 and visit the grave of Servant of God Fr. Patrick Peyton, CSC, whose grave stone is draped with rosaries left by other visitors. The cemetery is immediately on the left of the Route 138 (Washington Street) entrance to the campus and the Grotto to Our Lady of Lourdes is further up to the left about 300 feet.
Products to strengthen the spiritual well-being of the family! DVDs, CDs, Books & more!
You are not alone. Many people from around the world visit us and pray with us on Facebook. And you're invited too!
Visit Family Rosary >>


text:
Alpha Aggressive 800G Non Metallic Safety Toe Work Boots
Free Shipping
Receive free Standard shipping on every order placed within the continental US. In stock items generally arrive within 5 to 7 business days. Free shipping not available to Alaska and Hawaii.
See details and other available shipping methods
Free Returns
Receive free return shipping on every order. When you place an order, you will receive a pre-paid return shipping label. If you are not satisfied with your purchase for any reason, simply use the pre-paid label to send them back to us free of charge.
The Alpha Aggressive™ features an extremely durable Vibram® outsole for superior traction for any outdoor conditions. Long-wearing, comfortable, lightweight and 100% waterproof, the boots are made with Alpha construction, which consists of ozone-resistant rubber over 3.5mm naturally-insulating neoprene to keep feet dry and comfortable. The non metallic safety toe meets or exceeds ASTM standard F2413-11 M I/75 C/75 EH and the rubber upper offers chemical resistance against 25 industry chemicals tested to ASTM F903 Procedure A.
- LaCrosse® innovated Alpha technology combines high quality, hand-crafted rubber with naturally insulating neoprene resulting in an extremely durable, lightweight, comfortable and scent free boot
- Engineered rubber upper offers chemical resistance against 25 industry chemicals tested to ASTM F903 Procedure A
- 800 grams of Thinsulate™ Ultra Insulation lines the inside of the boot to help keep you warm on the coldest days on the job
- Rubber cup outsole with built-in floatable non-exposed rubber midsole add comfort and durable performance
- Removable EVA footbed adds cushioning for all day comfort
- Back gusset and strap supplies a customized fit and is easily adjustable to accommodate clothing
- Mud Lite outsole provides superior traction with a low profile 90º heel, unique multi-directional lug pattern, and an oil and slip resistant rubber compound
- Fiberglass shank
- 16" height
- 5.1 lbs per pair
- Engineered rubber upper offers chemical resistance against 25 industry chemicals tested to ASTM F903 Procedure A
- Non-metallic toe is lighter than steel and meets or exceeds ASTM F2413-11 M I/75 C/75 EH standards. Electrical hazard (EH) footwear is manufactured with non-conductive electrical shock resistant soles and heels.
Chemical Testing
Test Performed: Chemical PenetrationTest Method Used: ASTM F 903
Chemicals Tested: ACETONE, AMMONIUM HYDROXIDE (30%), AMMONIUM SULFATE (30%), ANILINE, BENZENE, BROMINE, BUTYL ALCOHOL, CARBON DISULFIDE, CHLOROX, DIESEL FUEL, ETHYLENE GLYCOL, FORMIC ACID, GAS (unleaded), HYDROCHLORIC ACID (30%) HYDROFLUORIC ACID (50%), HYDROGEN PEROXODE (50%), METHYL ETHYL KETONE, NAPHTA, NITRIC ACID (70%), OLEIC ACID "Animal Fats", PHOSPHORIC ACID, SODIUM HYDROXIDE (50%), SULFURIC ACID (30%), TOLUNE, XYLOL FIDE


text: From the Corolle Mon Premier collection, this doll bed carrier makes it possible for little mommies to take their most precious baby doll along with them wherever they go. Children love tucking their babies in each night with this bed sized just right for their Corolle dolls. The Carry Bed has handles and a cover that ties on to secure the baby doll inside. It comes with a fluffy pillow. Doll bed and carrier Features a charming bunny print Comes with matching pillow Fits up to a 12" baby doll Perfect for dolls on the go For ages 18 months and up.Size4"H x 13"W x 7"D


text:
Recent Entries
Best Entries
Best Blogs
Blog List
Search Blogs
Tag Search
Advanced Search
The PokéCommunity Forums
Mr. Whiscash
Conversation Between Mr. Whiscash and Lopnis
User Name
Remember Me?
Register New Account
Mark Forums Read
PokéCommunity Chat
Open Chat
Open Chat in External Client
Channel statistics
Chat Help
Chatroom Information and Help
PokéCommunity Get-Together 2013: Event Suggestions and Volunteering!
We've decided on our dates, now it's your turn to truly shine by suggesting events and volunteering as hosts!
Conversation Between Mr. Whiscash and Lopnis
Showing Visitor Messages 1 to
February 25th, 2013
Mr. Whiscash
I guess I'd focus on the Females, who tend to have the smaller fangs and horns and stuff. The details on the males can be fixed later. Worry mostly about the ones with significant differences.
Actually I'll add this to the thread too.
February 25th, 2013
Pretty much all of them, because in the index they are 2 seperate sprites front and back which means if someone only did the male or female version than the one they don't edit wouldn't have a opposite gender counterpart so if you planned on putting them in a hack you'd either have to get rid of the gender differences or leave the one not sprited as is which would look odd if you were changing it's type
February 25th, 2013
Mr. Whiscash
Who were you looking at where Gender Differences would be a concern?
All times are UTC. The time now is
-- Modular [Prerelease]
---- Black 2
-- [ WIP ] Mobile Skin
-- vBulletin Default
-- Legacy: Altomare's Light
-- PokeGeneric [DEPRECATED]
-- PokéLink
-- PokéLink 2.0
---- no I don't want your number
-- Poké Link 3
---- Poké Link 3 Grape Juice Blend
---- Poké Link 3 Red Cocktail
-- Plusle's Play Date
-- Midnight Misty Revived
-- Green's Ivy 2008
---- Red's Flame 2008
-- Ledian's Knockout!
-- Yellow and the Pichu Bros.
-- Team Magma's Passion
-- PokéSpecial Adventures
-- Trick or Treat
-- Ash's Big Test
-- A Special Christmas
-- Quilava's Glaciation
-- PokeRangers
-- Entering of the Rangers
-- PokéRevolution
---- PokéRevolution 2.0
-- Autumn Always
-- Winter Friends
-- Dialga VS Palkia
-- 10th Anniversary Pocket Monsters
-- PokéCommunity Pro
---- PC Pro - Blue Edition
---- PC Pro - Green Edition
---- PC Pro - Special Purple Edition
-- Azure Fantasy
-- Blossom Shower
-- Squareline
-- Unseen Forces
-- Darkness Prevails Once More
-- Caramel Sentret
-- Forever Standing
-- PokeGeneric2
-- Let's Get This Party Startered
-- Seeds of Platinum
-- Bewitched
-- Ampharos' Starry Night
-- PCWii
-- Poké Link 4 Pink
---- Poké Link 4 Blue
-- Delibird's Delivery
-- Pawlicious
-- Infernal Smash
---- Infernal Smash (fixed width)
-- Conway
-- Final Resistance
-- The Golden Girl
-- Sinnoh Springs
---- Sinnoh Springs Reduced
-- Pichu²
-- The Plaza
-- The Pokéthletes
---- Inverted
-- Route 167
---- Route 167+
-- Sweet Kisses
-- Time and Space
-- Dimensional Rift
-- The Johto Elite
-- slooooowpooooke
-- Unova's Violet Masquerade
-- Generation InVerse
-- Flames of Simplicity
-- PokeCommunity Black Version
---- PokeCommunity White Version
-- The Stand Nexus
-- Snivy's Holiday
-- The Top Dog
-- New Directions
-- Stunfisk'd
-- Nimbasa's Shining Beauty
-- Atop Mount Coronet
-- Kanto Dream Party
-- PokéBok
-- Dawn of Champions
-- Chromatic
---- Chromatic 2.0
-- Forest Savage
-- Hypno's Lullaby
-- Let's Fly Together
-- The Y-Axis
-- Modern
Contact Us
Privacy Statement
Terms of Service
Style by
Perdition Haze
, artwork by
© 2002 - 2013 The PokéCommunity™, pokecommunity.com.
Pokémon characters and images belong to Pokémon USA, Inc. and Nintendo. This website is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Nintendo, Creatures, GAMEFREAK, The Pokémon Company, Pokémon USA, Inc., The Pokémon Company International, or Wizards of the Coast. We just love Pokémon.
All forum styles, their images (unless noted otherwise) and site designs are © 2002 - 2013 The PokéCommunity / PokéCommunity.com.
PokéCommunity™ is a trademark of The PokéCommunity. All rights reserved. Sponsor advertisements do not imply our endorsement of that product or service. User posts belong to the user.


text:
Hi there - am directing this to Megli but if anyone else has info please feel free to join in!
Megli - have you ever come across Old/Middle Irish names for the equinoxes and solstices? [Cónocht and Grianstad in mod Irish respectively}. I was wondering if in any saga or hagiography you've read, if you ever came across a local name for these timepoints of the year?
eg. I've come across Brón Trógan in the Ulster cycle in translation but the name was kept as the Irish above. I think it refers to Lughnasadh feast day/time as "the labour of the earth", but I have not yet encountered the old names for the equinox/solstice points, which must have been named due to alignment of monuments with them.
Given the time of the year that's in it, it would be good to know!
many thanks


text:
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software provided under terms that guarantee the freedoms of its users (individually and in groups) to run it, adapt it to their needs, and redistribute it with or without changes. These freedoms are protected by granting broad permission to make use of the source code, either alone or in cooperation with other people of the user's choice.[1][2][3][4] Users of free software are free in these activities, because they do not need to ask for any permission; and they are are not restricted in activities through restrictive proprietary licenses (e.g. copy-restriction), or requirements of having to agree to restrictive terms of others (e.g. non-disclosure agreements), and they are not already restricted from the outset (e.g. through deliberate non-availability of source code).
The goals of Free Software (control in one's own computing and free cooperation) are reached by granting the following freedom-rights: users are free to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software;[2][3] these freedoms are explicitly granted and not suppressed (as is the case with proprietary software). Thus, free software is a matter of liberty, not price (users are free – which includes the freedom to redistribute the software, which can be done gratis or for a fee[5]). Free software guarantees user's freedoms: to study and modify software, by the availability of the source code; as well as freedom to copy, and distribute.[repetition]
The term "free software" and its exact definition,[3] as well as the freedom philosophy behind it, were coined and have developed since the beginning of the GNU project (to create a freedom-respecting operating system) and the founding of the Free Software Foundation (FSF) in 1985 by Richard Stallman.
Free software differs from proprietary software, which to various degree does not give the user freedoms to study, modify and share the software. Proprietary software is usually sold as a binary executable program without the source code and may have non-disclosure agreements and restrictive licenses which can make the user dependent on proprietary software that is produced only by the same provider (vendor lock-in) if the provider is the only producer of software interoperable with the one possessed by user. It is also distinct from freeware, which by definition does not require payment for use. The authors or copyright holders of freeware may retain all rights to the software; it is not necessarily permissible to reverse engineer, modify, or redistribute freeware.[6][7]
The free software movement was conceived in 1983 by Richard Stallman to satisfy the need for and to give the benefit of software freedom to computer users.[8] Stallman founded the Free Software Foundation in 1985 to provide the organizational structure to advance his free software ideas.
From 1998 onward, alternative terms for free software came into use. The most common are software libre, free and open source software (FOSS) and free, libre and open source software (FLOSS). The Software Freedom Law Center was founded in 2005 to protect and advance FLOSS.[9] Commercial software may sometimes offer freedoms that are typical of free and open source software.
Contents |
From the 1950's up until the early 1970s, it was normal for computer users to have the software freedoms associated with free software. Software was commonly shared by individuals who used computers and by hardware manufacturers who welcomed the fact that people were making software that made their hardware useful. Organizations of users and suppliers, for example, SHARE, were formed to facilitate exchange of software. By the early 1970s, the picture changed: software costs were dramatically increasing, a growing software industry was competing with the hardware manufacturer's bundled software products (free in that the cost was included in the hardware cost), leased machines required software support while providing no revenue for software, and some customers able to better meet their own needs did not want the costs of "free" software bundled with hardware product costs. In United States vs. IBM, filed January 17, 1969, the government charged that bundled software was anticompetitive.[10] While some software might always be free, there would be a growing amount of software that was for sale only. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the software industry began using technical measures (such as only distributing binary copies of computer programs) to prevent computer users from being able to study and modify software. In 1980 copyright law was extended to computer programs.
In 1983, Richard Stallman, longtime member of the hacker community at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, announced the GNU project, saying that he had become frustrated with the effects of the change in culture of the computer industry and its users. Software development for the GNU operating system began in January 1984, and the Free Software Foundation (FSF) was founded in October 1985. He developed a free software definition and the concept of "copyleft", designed to ensure software freedom for all.
Some non-software industries are beginning to use techniques similar to those used in free software development for their research and development process; scientists, for example, are looking towards more open development processes, and hardware such as microchips are beginning to be developed with specifications released under copyleft licenses (see the OpenCores project, for instance). Creative Commons and the free culture movement have also been largely influenced by the free software movement.
The FSF recommends using the term "free software" rather than "open source software" because, as they state in a paper on Free Software philosophy, the latter term and the associated marketing campaign focuses on the technical issues of software development, avoiding the issue of user freedoms. The FSF also notes that "Open Source" has exactly one specific meaning in common English, namely that "you can look at the source code." Stallman states that while the term "Free Software" can lead to two different interpretations, one of them is consistent with FSF definition of Free Software so there is at least some chance that it could be understood properly, unlike the term "Open Source".[11] "Libre" is often used to avoid the ambiguity of the word "free" in English language; see Gratis versus libre.
The first formal definition of free software was published by FSF in February 1986.[12] That definition, written by Richard Stallman, is still maintained today and states that software is free software if people who receive a copy of the software have the following four freedoms.[13] (The numbering begins with zero since many computer systems use zero-based numbering.)
- Freedom 0: The freedom to run the program for any purpose.
- Freedom 1: The freedom to study how the program works, and change it to make it do what you wish.
- Freedom 2: The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor.
- Freedom 3: The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements (and modified versions in general) to the public, so that the whole community benefits.
Freedoms 1 and 3 require source code to be available because studying and modifying software without its source code can range from highly impractical to nearly impossible.
Thus, free software means that computer users have the freedom to cooperate with whom they choose, and to control the software they use. To summarize this into a remark distinguishing libre (freedom) software from gratis (zero price) software, the Free Software Foundation says: "Free software is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of 'free' as in 'free speech', not as in 'free beer'".[13] See Gratis versus libre.
In the late 1990s, other groups published their own definitions that describe an almost identical set of software. The most notable are Debian Free Software Guidelines published in 1997,[14] and the Open Source Definition, published in 1998.
The BSD-based operating systems, such as FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD, do not have their own formal definitions of free software. Users of these systems generally find the same set of software to be acceptable, but sometimes see copyleft as restrictive. They generally advocate permissive free software licenses, which allow others to use the software as they wish, without being legally forced to provide the source code. Their view is that this permissive approach is more free. The Kerberos, X11, and Apache software licenses are substantially similar in intent and implementation.
The Free Software Directory maintains a large database of free software packages. Some of the best-known examples include the Linux Kernel, the BSD and GNU/Linux operating systems, the GNU Compiler Collection and C library; the MySQL relational database; the Apache web server; and the Sendmail mail transport agent. Other influential examples include the emacs text editor; the GIMP raster drawing and image editor; the X Window System graphical-display system; the LibreOffice office suite; and the TeX and LaTeX typesetting systems.
All free software licenses must grant users all the freedoms discussed above. However, unless the applications' licenses are compatible, combining programs by mixing source code or directly linking binaries is problematic, because of license technicalities. Programs indirectly connected together may avoid this problem.
The majority of free software falls under a small set of licenses. The most popular of these licenses are:
- the GNU General Public License
- the GNU Lesser General Public License
- the BSD License
- the Mozilla Public License
- the MIT License
- the Apache License
The Free Software Foundation and the Open Source Initiative both publish lists of licenses that they find to comply with their own definitions of free software and open-source software respectively:
The FSF list is not prescriptive: free licenses can exist that the FSF has not heard about, or considered important enough to write about. So it's possible for a license to be free and not in the FSF list. The OSI list only lists licenses that have been submitted, considered and approved. All Open Source licenses must meet the Open Source Definition in order to be officially recognized as open source software. Free software on the other hand is a more informal classification that does not rely on official recognition. Nevertheless, software licensed under licenses that do not meet the Free Software Definition cannot rightly be considered free software.
Apart from these two organizations, the Debian project is seen by some to provide useful advice on whether particular licenses comply with their Debian Free Software Guidelines. Debian doesn't publish a list of approved licenses, so its judgments have to be tracked by checking what software they have allowed into their software archives. That is summarized at the Debian web site.[15]
It is rare that a license announced as being in-compliance with the FSF guidelines does not also meet the Open Source Definition, although the reverse is not necessarily true (for example, the NASA Open Source Agreement is an OSI-approved license, but non-free according to FSF).
There are different categories of free software.
- Public domain software: the copyright has expired, the work was not copyrighted, or the author has released the software onto the public domain (in countries where this is possible). Since public-domain software lacks copyright protection, it may be freely incorporated into any work, whether proprietary or free.
- Permissive licenses, also called BSD-style because they are applied to much of the software distributed with the BSD operating systems: these licenses are also known as copyfree as they have no restrictions on distribution.[16] The author retains copyright solely to disclaim warranty and require proper attribution of modified works, and permits redistribution and any modification, even closed source ones.
- Copyleft licenses, with the GNU General Public License being the most prominent: the author retains copyright and permits redistribution under the restriction that all such redistribution is licensed under the same license. Additions and modifications by others must also be licensed under the same "copyleft" license whenever they are distributed with part of the original licensed product. This is also known as a Viral license. Due to the restriction on distribution not everyone considers this type of license to be free.[17][18]
Security and reliability[edit]
There is debate over the security of free software in comparison to proprietary software, with a major issue being security through obscurity. A popular quantitative test in computer security is to use relative counting of known unpatched security flaws. Generally, users of this method advise avoiding products that lack fixes for known security flaws, at least until a fix is available.
Free software advocates say that this method is biased by counting more vulnerabilities for the free software, since its source code is accessible and its community is more forthcoming about what problems exist,[19] (This is called "Security Through Disclosure"[20]) and proprietary software can have undisclosed flaws discoverable by or known to malicious users. As users can analyse and trace the source code, many more people with no commercial constraints can inspect the code and find bugs and loopholes than a corporation would find practicable. According to Richard Stallman, user access to the source code makes deploying free software with undesirable hidden spyware functionality far more difficult than for proprietary software.[21] As examples, he named two aspects of Windows XP that reveal information to Microsoft, which were discovered in spite of the estimated 50 million or more lines of Windows code having not been available to individual users for personal auditing.
Some quantitative studies have been done on the subject.[22][23][24][25]
Business model[edit]
Since free software may be freely redistributed, it is generally available at little or no fee. Free software business models are usually based on adding value such as applications, support, training, customization, integration, or certification. At the same time, some business models that work with proprietary software are not compatible with free software, such as those that depend on the user to pay for a license in order to lawfully use the software product.
Fees are usually charged for distribution on compact discs and bootable USB drives, or for services of installing or maintaining the operation of free software. Development of large, commercially used free software is often funded by a combination of user donations, corporate contributions, and tax money. The SELinux project at the United States National Security Agency is an example of a federally funded free software project.
In practice, for software to be distributed as free software, the source code, a human-readable form of the program from which an executable form is produced, must be accessible to the recipient along with a document granting the same rights to free software under which it was published. Such a document is either a free software license or the release of the source code into the public domain.
Selling software under the BSD license is permissible and commercial use of the project is part of the intent of the license.[26][27]
The Free Software Foundation encourages selling free software. As the Foundation has written, "Distributing free software is an opportunity to raise funds for development. Don't waste it!".[28] For example the GNU GPL that is the Free Software Foundation's license states that "[the user] may charge any price or no price for each copy that you convey, and you may offer support or warranty protection for a fee."[29]
It is a common misbelief however that consumers shouldn't or aren't allowed to redistribute software under the GPL for profit,[citation needed] and some opposing parties state such notions. For example Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer stated in 2001 that "Open source is not available to commercial companies. The way the license is written, if you use any open-source software, you have to make the rest of your software open source."[30] This misunderstanding is based on a requirement of copyleft licenses (like the GPL) that if you distribute modified versions of software, you must release the source and use the same license. This requirement does not extend to other software from the same developer. The claim of incompatibility between commercial companies and Free Software is also a misunderstanding. There are several large companies, e.g. Red Hat and IBM, that do substantial commercial business in the development of Free Software.
Economical aspects and adoption[edit]
Free software played a significant part in the development of the Internet, the World Wide Web and the infrastructure of dot-com companies.[31][32] Free software allows users to cooperate in enhancing and refining the programs they use; free software is a pure public good rather than a private good. Companies that contribute to free software can increase commercial innovation amidst the void of patent cross licensing lawsuits.[citation needed] (See mpeg2 patent holders.)
The economic viability of free software has been recognized by large corporations such as IBM, Red Hat, and Sun Microsystems.[33][34][35][36][37] Many companies whose core business is not in the IT sector choose free software for their Internet information and sales sites, due to the lower initial capital investment and ability to freely customize the application packages.
Under the free software business model[further explanation needed], free software vendors may charge a fee for distribution and offer pay support and software customization services. Proprietary software uses a different business model, where a customer of the proprietary software pays a fee for a license to use the software. This license may grant the customer the ability to configure some or no parts of the software themselves. Often some level of support is included in the purchase of proprietary software, but additional support services (especially for enterprise applications) are usually available for an additional fee. Some proprietary software vendors will also customize software for a fee.[38]
Free software is generally available at no cost and can result in permanently lower TCO costs compared to proprietary software.[39] With free software, businesses can fit software to their specific needs by changing the software themselves or by hiring programmers to modify it for them. Free software often has no warranty, and more importantly, generally does not assign legal liability to anyone. However, warranties are permitted between any two parties upon the condition of the software and its usage. Such an agreement is made separately from the free software license.
A report by Standish Group estimates that adoption of free software has caused a drop in revenue to the proprietary software industry by about $60 billion per year.[40]
Criticism and controversies[edit]
This article's Criticism or Controversy section may compromise the article's neutral point of view of the subject. (January 2013) |
Binary blobs[edit]
In 2006, OpenBSD started the first campaign against the use of binary blobs, in kernels. Blobs are usually freely distributable device drivers for hardware from vendors that do not reveal driver source code to users or developers. This restricts the users' freedom effectively to modify the software and distribute modified versions. Also, since the blobs are undocumented and may have bugs, they pose a security risk to any operating system whose kernel includes them. The proclaimed aim of the campaign against blobs is to collect hardware documentation that allows developers to write free software drivers for that hardware, ultimately enabling all free operating systems to become or remain blob-free.
The issue of binary blobs in the Linux kernel and other device drivers motivated some developers in Ireland to launch gNewSense, a Linux based distribution with all the binary blobs removed. The project received support from the Free Software Foundation and stimulated the creation, headed by the Free Software Foundation Latin America, of the Linux-libre kernel.[41] As of October 2012, Trisquel is the most popular FSF endorsed GNU/Linux distribution ranked by Distrowatch (over 12 months).[42]
Larry McVoy invited high-profile free software projects to use his proprietary distributed version control system, BitKeeper, free of charge, in order to attract paying users. In 2002, Linux coordinator Linus Torvalds decided to use BitKeeper to develop the Linux kernel, a free software project, claiming no free software alternative met his needs. This controversial decision drew criticism from several sources, including the Free Software Foundation's founder Richard Stallman.[43]
Following the apparent reverse engineering of BitKeeper's protocols, McVoy withdrew permission for gratis use by free software projects. Linus Torvalds quickly developed a free software replacement called Git, while fellow Linux kernel contributor Matt Mackall developed another free software replacement called Mercurial. The Linux kernel community eventually settled on Git for its own development process, while some other free software projects have chosen Mercurial.
Patent deals[edit]
In November 2006, the Microsoft and Novell software corporations announced a controversial partnership involving, among other things, patent protection for some customers of Novell under certain conditions.[44] FSF included as a result of this deal conditions in the GPL to prevent deals like it in the future.[45]
Corporate use[edit]
Eric S. Raymond argues that the term free software is too ambiguous and intimidating for the business community. Raymond promotes the term open source software as a more friendly alternative for the business and corporate world.[46]
See also[edit]
- Definition of Free Cultural Works
- Free content
- Libre knowledge
- Open format
- Open standard
- Outline of free software
- Category:Free software lists and comparisons
- List of formerly proprietary software
- List of free software project directories
- List of free software for Web 2.0 Services
- ^ Free Software Movement (gnu.org)
- ^ a b Philosophy of the GNU Project (gnu.org)
- ^ a b c What is free software (fsf.org)
- ^ Free Software Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman, 2nd Edition
- ^ Selling Free Software (gnu.org)
- ^ Dixon, Rod (2004). Open Source Software Law. Artech House. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-58053-719-3. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
- ^ Graham, Lawrence D. (1999). Legal battles that shaped the computer industry. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 175. ISBN 978-1-56720-178-9. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
- ^ "GNU project Initial Announcement".
- ^ "Software Freedom Law Center".
- ^ Fisher, Franklin M.; McKie, James W.; Mancke, Richard B. (1983). IBM and the U.S. Data Processing Industry: An Economic History. Praeger. ISBN 0-03-063059-2.
- ^ "Why "Open Source" misses the point of Free Software".
- ^ "GNU's Bulletin, Volume 1 Number 1, page 8".
- ^ a b Free Software Foundation. "What is free software?". Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- ^ Perens, Bruce. "Debian's "Social Contract" with the Free Software Community". debian-announce mailing list.
- ^ "Debian -- License information". Retrieved 2008-01-08.
- ^ Copyfree: Unfetter your ideas
- ^ Charvolant.org
- ^ Blog.sunsetbrew.com
- ^ "Firefox more secure than MSIE after all". News.com.
- ^ The Benefits of Open Source
- ^ "Transcript where Stallman explains about spyware".
- ^ David A. Wheeler: Why Open Source Software / Free Software (OSS/FS, FLOSS, or FOSS)? Look at the Numbers! 2007
- ^ Michelle Delio: Linux: Fewer Bugs Than Rivals Wired.com 2004
- ^ Barton P. Miller, David Koski, Cjin Pheow Lee, Vivekananda Maganty, Ravi Murthy, Ajitkumar Natarajan, Jeff Steidl (October 1995). Fuzz Revisited: A Re-examination of the Reliability of UNIX Utilities and Services (pdf) (in English). Madison, WI 53706-1685 USA: University of Wisconsin: Computer Sciences Department. Archived from the original on 21 June 2010. Retrieved 1 May 2013. "...The reliability of the basic utilities from GNU and Linux were noticeably better than those of the commercial systems [sic]"
- ^ Barton P. Miller, Gregory Cooksey, Fredrick Moore (20 July 2006). An Empirical Study of the Robustness of MacOS Applications Using Random Testing (pdf) (in English). Madison, WI 53706-1685 USA: University of Wisconsin: Computer Sciences Department. pp. 1, 2. Archived from the original on 21 June 2010. Retrieved 1 May 2013. "We are back again, this time testing... Apple's Mac OS X. [...] While the results were reasonable, we were disappointed to find that the reliability was no better than that of the Linux/GNU tools tested in 1995. We were less sure what to expect when testing the GUI- based applications; the results turned out worse than we expected."
- ^ Linfo.org
- ^ Freebsd.org
- ^ Selling Free Software gnu.org
- ^ GNU General Public License, section 4. gnu.org
- ^ Ballmer calling open source a 'cancer', saying it's "not available to commercial companies" Chicago Sun-Times, 2001
- ^ Netcraft. "Web Server Usage Survey".
- ^ The Apache Software Foundation. "Apache Strategy in the New Economy".
- ^ "IBM launches biggest Linux lineup ever". IBM. 1999-03-02. Archived from the original on 1999-11-10.
- ^ Hamid, Farrah (2006-05-24). "IBM invests in Brazil Linux Tech Center". LWN.net.
- ^ "Interview: The Eclipse code donation". IBM. 2001-11-01. Archived from the original on 2009-12-18.
- ^ "Sun begins releasing Java under the GPL". Free Software Foundation. November 15, 2006. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
- ^ Rishab Aiyer Ghosh (November 20, 2006). "Study on the: Economic impact of open source software on innovation and the competitiveness of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector in the EU" (PDF). European Union. p. 51. Retrieved 2007-01-25.
- ^ Andy Dornan. "The Five Open Source Business Models".[dead link]
- ^ Total cost of ownership of open source software: a report for the UK Cabinet Office supported by OpenForum Europe
- ^ "Open Source". Standish Newsroom. Standishgroup.com. 2008-04-16. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
- ^ Linux distributions we know of which consist entirely of free software, and whose main distribution sites distribute only free software.
- ^ "DistroWatch Page Hit Ranking". DistroWatch. 30 October 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
- ^ "Richard Stallman thanking Larry McVoy for ending the gratis licenses for BitKeeper". NewsForge. Archived from the original on 2007-12-15.
- ^ "Ars Technica article on the Microsoft-Novell patent deal".
- ^ GPLv3 FAQ, accessed May 11, 2011.
- ^ Eric S. Raymond. "Eric S. Raymond's initial call to start using the term open source software, instead of free software".
Further reading[edit]
- Puckette, Miller. "Who Owns our Software?: A first-person case study." eContact (September 2009). Montréal: CEC
- Hancock, Terry. "The Jargon of Freedom: 60 Words and Phrases with Context". Free Software Magazine. 2010-20-24
- Stallman, Richard M. (2002, 2010). Free Software Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman, 2nd Edition. GNU Press. ISBN 978-0-9831592-0-9.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Free software |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Free software |
Wikinews has news related to: |
- Definition and philosophy
- Free Software Movement; Philosophy and Intro; The Free Software Definition (gnu.org)
- What is free software? (fsf.org)
- Categories of free and nonfree software (gnu.org)
- Freedom for Users, Not for Software (Benjamin Mako Hill)
- What Does Free Mean? or What do you mean by Free Software? (debian.org)
- Presentations
- Video and audio presentations on Free Software (top link)
- Free as in Freedom (originally the oggcast of the Software Freedom Law Center, it includes a focus on law issues, and other topics)
- Software
- Free Software from the GNU Project
- Free Software Directory (catalog of useful free software)


text:
LBL Lighting HS241RD Red Contemporary / Modern Single Light Tear-Shaped Mini Pendant for Single-Canopy Mounting or Track Lighting Systems
Compare Our Prices
Technical Specs
Installation Guide | |
Specification Sheet | |
Bulb Base | Bi Pin, GY6.35 |
Bulb Type | Xenon / Krypton |
Configuration | Pendant |
Energy Star | No |
Height | 7.25 |
Light Direction | Down Lighting |
Number of Bulbs | 1 |
Suggested Room Fit | Kitchen, Office |
Theme | Modern |
Wattage | 35 |
Watts Per Bulb | 35 |
Width | 3.5 |
Configure your Contemporary / Modern Single Light Tear-Shaped Mini Pendant for Single-Canopy Mounting or Track Lighting Systems
System Selection more info ▼
Please select the type of system you are using this system for. For more information on our track types, see our Track Lighting Guide.
Finish configuring above to see price
Please finish configuring above
Single Light Tear-Shaped Mini Pendant
Opal-cased glass enclosed in mouth-blown transparent teardrop-shaped Murano glass. Includes specified low-voltage lamp and 8' of field-cuttable suspension cable. For use with 24 volt transformer, add suffix "-24" to item number.
Mounting options:Fusion Jack, Monopoint, Monorail, Two-Circuit Rail
Color options:Amber, Blue, Clear, Red
Finish options:Polished Chrome, Satin Nickel
Glass Size:W 3.5", H 7.25"
Bulb Information:Requires 1 35w GY6.35 base Xenon bulb (included)
24 Volt Transformer:
- Custom order, please call customer service
Additional LBL Lighting Links
- View Manufacturer Warranty
- Shop All LBL Lighting Products
Our SKU: Tear-SI Coax
This product is listed under the following manufacturer number(s):
Amber - HS241BU
Blue - HS241CR
Clear - HS241RD
*Denotes a finish or option that has been discontinued
Warranty Info
Encompass Lighting Group warrants all products manufactured by Encompass Lighting Group, to be free from defects in material and workmanship under normal use for a period of one year after the date of original purchase. Upon confirmation of a defect or failure, at our discretion we will repair or replace the item or will refund your purchase price if repair or replacement is not possible or practical. Our warranty covers only the product itself; we will assume no liability for labor costs, installation costs, or other losses. Your warranty rights will be honored only when the product has been installed and used properly. Encompass Lighting Group will not repair or replace products damaged by improper use or faulty installation.


text:
Loan Against Shares and Securities
Loan Against Securities (LAS) is getting instant liquidity from your investment without selling them. All you have to do is pledge your securities in favour of Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited (MOFSL). This enables you to enjoy all corporate benefits accrued on your securities and still avail loan against them. No EMI or prepayment charges applicable. Interest will be charged only on the actual amount and that too for the time it is utilised. Statutory Information:
Fair Practices Code Interest Rate Policy Compliant Redressal
Motilal Oswal Securities Ltd. (MOSL) Member of NSE, BSE and MCX-SX Reg. Office: Palm Spring Centre, 2nd Floor, Palm Court Complex, New Link Road, Malad (West), Mumbai 400 064. Tel: 022 3080 1000 Customer having any query / feedback / clarification may write to email@example.com In case of grievances for Securities Broking write to email@example.com, for DP to firstname.lastname@example.com, for Commodity Broking to email@example.com and for NBFC to email@example.com Registration Nos.: NSE (Cash) : INB231041238 ; NSE (F&O) : INF231041238 ; NSE (CD) INE231041238 , BSE (Cash) : INB011041257 ; BSE(F&O) : INF011041257 ; MCX-SX (Cash) INB261041231;MCX-SX (F&O) INF261041231; MCX-SX (CD) INE261041231 ;CDSL : IN-DP-CDSL-09-99 ; NSDL : IN-DP-NSDL-152-2000 ; AMFI :ARN 17397 *PMS : INP000000670; *PMS & Mutual funds are offered through Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company (MOAMC) which is group company of MOFSL. PMS Regn No. INP000004409 is offered through Motilal Oswal Wealth Management Pvt. Ltd (MOWMPL) which is group company of MOFSL *Motilal Oswal Commodities Broker Pvt Ltd (MOCBPL) member of MCX, NCDEX and NSEL. MCX Member ID 29500, NCDEX – NCDEX-CO-04-00114, NCDEX Spot Exchange Limited 10014 & National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL): 13730. FMC Unique membership code: MCX: MCX/TCM/CORP/0725, NCDEX: NCDEX/TCM/CORP/0033,. Commodity Services are offered through MOCBPL which is a group company of MOFSL. Motilal Oswal Securities Ltd is a Distributor of Mutual Fund, IPOs and Insurance Product. *Investment in securities is subject to market risk. Copyright © 2013 MOSL. All Rights Reserved. Market Data provided by C-MOTS Infotech (ISO 9001:2008 Certified) Site best viewed in IE 7.0+, Mozila Firefox 3.0+ and Google Chrome at 1024 x 768 pixels resolution


text: Main Content House Bill 5214 (1999) rss friendly link printer friendly Sponsor Michael Switalski Categories Income tax, forms; Campaign finance, contributions and expenditures Income tax; forms; political contribution designation on income tax form; eliminate on 1040PC annual return form. Amends sec. 61 of 1976 PA 388 (MCL 169.261) & repeals (See bill). Bill Document Formatting Information [x] The following bill formatting applies to the 1999-2000 session:- New language in an amendatory bill will be shown in UPPERCASE.- Language to be removed will be stricken.- Amendments made by the House will be blue with square brackets, such as: [House amended text].- Amendments made by the Senate will be red with double greater/lesser than symbols, such as: <<Senate amended text>>. (gray icons indicate that the action did not occur or that the document is not available) Documents House Introduced Bill Introduced bills appear as they were introduced and reflect no subsequent amendments or changes. As Passed by the House As Passed by the House is the bill, as introduced, that includes any adopted House amendments. As Passed by the Senate As Passed by the Senate is the bill, as received from the House, that includes any adopted Senate amendments. House Enrolled Bill Enrolled bill is the version passed in identical form by both houses of the Legislature. House Fiscal Agency Analysis Summary (8-30-00)This document analyzes: hb5214 History(House actions in lowercase, Senate actions in UPPERCASE) Date JournalAction 12/10/1999HJ 87 Pg. 2582referred to Committee on Constitutional Law and Ethics


text:
All Entries Tagged With: "avoid heavy foundation"
When It's Time To Change, Then It's Time To Change And Not Go Back!
By: Lorelei Erisis*/TRT Columnist– Dear Miss Erisis, I am stuck between two conflicting approaches, schools of thought, with regard to the idea of "passing." I know that I am currently not happy with the way I am perceived based on the way I look. Even more basically, I am unhappy just looking at my Homer [...]
TRT Editor | May 03, 2012 | Comments 1


text:
July 4, 2012 | Tweet |
Written by Dobber | |||||||||||||||||||
Tuesday, 03 July 2012 22:42 | |||||||||||||||||||
BREAKING: It's a 13-year deal for Zach Parise to the Minnesota Wild per Russo. It's done folks. Now the real Free Agent Frenzy begins! Full analysis on the two signings coming up... BREAKING: Michael Russo reports that the Wild have come to terms with Ryan Suter. And indications are that Zach Parise will soon follow. Full analysis on this shortly - I'll wait to do them together. Happy 4th of July to my American readers Further to my Minnesota post below, Jonas Brodin will be in training camp this year and hopes to make the team. I think he has the skill set to make this team right away, and I think his offensive talent is underrated. A dark horse for the Calder Trophy and a future star. You can read Brodin's profile here on DobberProspects. You can get an even more in-depth profile on him in the Fantasy Prospects Report. Thanks to Sentium for the links. Some tough news from out of Owen Sound. Phoenix prospect Brett MacLean suffered a cardiac emergency while playing hockey. He received CPR and was rushed to hospital. Later he was transported via air ambulance to a hospital in London. Our thoughts are with Brett and his family. The thinking is that the UFA market is frozen in until Zach Parise or Ryan Suter sign. When teams miss out on those guys, then they will turn to the likes of Alexander Semin, Kristian Huselius, Matt Carle, Pavel Kubina, Andrei Kostitsyn, Eric Fehr, Ruslan Fedotenko, Kyle Wellwood, etc. Signings of lesser players I would like to see, and if I was their agent I would try to make this happen and offer a rock-bottom price to get it done. I call this feature the "Best Fits for the Misfits": Peter Mueller to Pittsburgh Al Montoya to Tampa Bay Wojtek Wolski to the Islanders Eric Fehr to Toronto Cal O'Reilly to Columbus MA Gragnani to Florida What do you think? I still think Parise goes to Minnesota. I don't like the rumors that Ryan Suter will join him there… just doesn't feel right. But it could happen – and the Wild will be a strong team if it does. Think about it – they add Parise, Suter and Granlund this year. They add Larsson, Coyle and Brodin next year. Interesting – the Sabres have eight NHL defensemen who shoot left, not counting Brennan) and just one who shoots right – Tyler Myers. Again I have to wonder why they signed Christian Ehrhoff. Of all the teams who needed him last year, Buffalo ranked 30th in my books. There is a logjam on the point there and a move has to be made. They just signed Sulzer and Brayden McNabb is too new. Robyn Regehr is a key cog and they seem to really like Jordan Leopold. So that leaves Andrej Sekera, Mike Weber and Adam Pardy – and I don't think teams would have any interest in the latter two. Andrew Raycroft has signed to play in Italy next season, with a team that may join the KHL in the fall. Detroit has signed prospect Marek Tvrdon to an ELC. Tvrdon is ranked 178 on the Fantasy Prospects List and you can read up on him here (via DobberProspects.com) Look for Jiri Hudler to spend some time on Roman Cervenka's wing. The two are apparently good friends. An interesting time lapse photography video on the Pittsburgh Civic Arena getting torn down:
Peter Mueller highlights (ignore the dumb music):
Why do dummies add stupid songs to good footage? Write comment
Comments (7)
bullwinkle said:
sentium said:
sentium said:
malkin Ha8er said:
You must be logged in to post a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.
Last Updated on Wednesday, 04 July 2012 11:23 |


text:
- Trending:
- mobile
- office space
- Archuleta
- furloughs
- sequestration
News from WTOP
Mike Causey
Shows & Panels
Shows & Panels
Shows & Panels
- Accelerate and Streamline for Better Customer Service
- Ask the CIO
- The Big Data Dilemma
- Carrying On with Continuity of Operations
- Client Virtualization Solutions
- Data Protection in a Virtual World
- Expert Voices
- Federal Executive Forum
- Federal IT Challenge
- Federal Tech Talk
- Feds in the Cloud
- Health IT: A Policy Change Agent
- Improving Healthcare Outcomes through IT Policy
- IT Innovation in the New Era of Government
- Making Dollars And Sense Out of Data Center Consolidation
- Navigating the Private Cloud
- One Step to the Cloud, Two Steps Toward Innovation
- Path to FDCCI Compliance
- Take Command of Your Mobility Initiative
Shows & Panels
Back to Agency officials tout progress on security clearances
Federalnewsradio.com - Purpose of Comments statement
Hubbard Radio, LLC encourages site users to express their opinions by posting comments. Our goal is to maintain a civil dialogue in which readers feel comfortable. At times, the comment boards following articles, blog posts and other content can descend to personal attacks. Please do not engage in such behavior here. We encourage your thoughtful comments which:
- Have a positive and constructive tone
- Are on topic, clear and to-the-point
- Are respectful toward others and their opinions
Hubbard Radio, LLC reserves the right to remove comments which do not conform to these criteria.
00Interesting but wrong answerdeployed decoyThe bigger issue is why a DoD Top Secret SCI access clearance, is not good enough to work in the official mail room of any Home Land Security office. The reason, HLS does not recognize DoD clearances and it is legal to send US Secret material via US Post Office Registered Mail. This may help explain why the Secretary of Defense is not briefed fully and openly by such agencies as the FBI, because by HLS definition, the SECDEF is a security risk to the country. I guess another question is who does the clearance documentation on the Senate Intelligence Committee.31633{ "Agree":"1","Funny":"1","Insightful":"1","Disagree":"-1","Offensive":"-1","Troll":"-1" }0
Copyright © 2013 by Federal News Radio. All rights reserved.


text:
Halo 3 Xbox 360
Xbox 360
Av. User Rating
- 1-4
- 1-16
The epic saga continues with Halo 3, the hugely anticipated sequel to the highly successful and critically acclaimed Halo franchise. I… See more
Av. User Rating
- 1-4
- 1-16
Released on 26/09/2007
The epic saga continues with Halo 3, the hugely anticipated sequel to the highly successful and critically acclaimed Halo franchise. In this third chapter of the Halo trilogy, Master Chief returns to finish the fight, bringing the epic conflict between the Covenant, the Flood, and the entire human race to a dramatic, pulse-pounding climax.
Halo 3 represents the third chapter in the Halo trilogy—an international award-winning action series that grew into a global entertainment phenomenon, selling more than 14.5 million units worldwide, logging more than 650 million hours of multiplayer action on Xbox Live, and spawning action figures, books, a graphic novel, apparel, an upcoming film adaptation, and more.
- Next-gen advantage: Taking full advantage of the power of Xbox 360, Halo 3 expands on everything that has made the Halo franchise great, adding a wealth of technical and gameplay advancements.
- Evolution of design: Next-generation high-definition visuals, enhanced A.I., an advanced real-time lighting engine, and new weapons, characters, and challenges are just a few examples of Halo 3's evolution of design and technology.
- Unparalleled experience: Ultimately, these improvements provide gamers with an unparalleled experience and, in the end, tell an even more compelling and engrossing story.
- Online multiplayer: Working in concert with Xbox Live on Xbox 360, Halo 3 builds upon the unique social multiplayer experience and innovative, evolving online gameplay of Halo 2.
Mark puts Bungie's Halo 3 Beta through its paces...
Having been playing the Halo 3 Beta for a week now, my initial impressions have been confirmed. Halo 3 is, in fact, a lot like Halo 2, offering subtle new additions which add to the experience without intangibly corrupting the Halo formula.
Somewhat disappointing, however, are the visuals in the Beta, which wear Halo 2's heritage a little too starkly. The art style is familiar, architecture and Master Chief character models instantly recognisable, and it all appears to be a shinier, HD form of its forebear.
However, when you get up close you begin to smile at the details; weaponry floats downstream on immaculately rendered shimmering water, freshly fragged foes ragdoll violently in front of you, and Bubble Shields deploy in all their light-refracting glory.
Forever blowing up bubbles
Indeed, the Bubble Shield represents Halo 3's single most iconic change. A giant ammo-absorbing transparent dome, firepower can neither pass into or out of it, meaning you can drop it when you're taking a pounding and take cover inside – unless of course your foe decides to mosey on in for a bit of up-close melee action.
It's not just the Bubble Shield either; there's a shield-lowering Energy Drainer, Tripmine and a rather nifty Portable Grav Lift too, all useable with the X button. Indeed, the latter two both work as effective offensive weapons when placed in front of an oncoming enemy Warthog – or the vehicle's new smaller variant, the two-man quadbike-esque Mongoose.
My first hour saw plenty of attempted reloads turning into hilarious tripmine-induced suicide-betrayal moments.
With X now taken up by the new functionality, picking up and reloading weapons has shifted to the bumper buttons. It's an intuitive change which allows for independent reloading of dual-wielded weapons, but it does take some getting used to, and in my first hour saw plenty of attempted reloads turning into hilarious tripmine-induced suicide-betrayal moments.
Speaking of explosives, grenades have not escaped Bungie's painstaking refinement process. A new Spike Grenade falls somewhere between the human Frag and the sticky Covenant Plasma; able to wedge in flat surfaces and, indeed, attach to players themselves for instant kills. Frags and Plasmas too have been overhauled, boasting new texture-sensitive properties, so they now bounce differently depending on the surface you use them on.
Contrasts in the killing fields
Which probably had a hand in Bungie's decision to go with three such contrasting maps for the Beta. High Ground, a sandy, crumbling hill-topped Planet Earth fort, owes a lot to Halo 2's Zanzibar, and feels incredibly different to Snowbound; a fittingly white landscape on a seemingly alien world boasting a perimeter of Covenant gun turrets, and a series of energy shielded underground rooms which necessitate far closer combat than the ostensibly open surface.
Lastly, Valhalla is an eye-watering ground-up re-edit of the classic Blood Gulch and Coagulation. Set in a now forest-green canyon, its wide-open expanses, rocky outcrops, dual base Man-Cannoning goodness and vehicle quota offer by far the best example of Halo 3's new gameplay components coming together.
An increasingly deep paper-scissors-stone that the best players and biggest Halo fans will happily lose hours of their life to.
Which brings us to Matchmaking. Largely, it's the same as Halo 2, with ranked and unranked options for solo and team play, but with the option to Veto (that is, vote against) Matchmade selections. Got a level and gametype combo you don't like? Simply press X, and if a majority (5 or more – the Beta is limited to 8 players per game) agree, the game will select a new match. Be warned though, you're stuck with whatever comes up next, so use those Vetoes wisely people!
So much said and yet little mention of weapons. The Assault Rifle returns from Halo 1 as your standard artillery piece, while much of the Halo 2 arsenal (Energy Sword aside) makes an appearance in the Beta, largely the same though slightly rebalanced for power.
Brute Spiker beats paper
New additions include the Brute Spiker, a Covenant variation on the SMG, and the much talked-about Spartan Laser, which takes a few seconds to charge, but then instant kills any player it touches. In all, the Beta boasts yet another brilliantly weighted ballistic feast, but with the Bubble Shield thrown into the mix, makes for an increasingly deep paper-scissors-stone that the best players and biggest Halo fans will happily lose hours of their life to.
Or, more precisely, the next three weeks. Even with Bungie recently extending it by four days, the Halo 3 Beta will still be over all too soon for the Halo series' legion of adoring followers. The great news though is that we won't have long to wait when it does; with Halo 3 recently confirmed for September 26th, we'll all be experiencing the Master Chief's third outing far sooner than predicted. Summer can't come and go fast enough.
Preview by: Mark Scott
Preview Published: 18.05.07Published: 18/05/2007
You're once, twice, three times a hero...
There's established rules with BIG sci-fi trilogies.
The first instalment is a self-enclosed story, setting the standard to universal acclaim. The sequel ups the ante to become a series; conveying deeper history, increasing iconography, and plotting a wider narrative that makes the epic original feel unambitious. A satisfying conclusion, however, is left for the third – which, while familiar, distils the essence, refines it, and wraps it up in style.
In film, Star Wars, The Matrix and Terminator all adhere to this template with varying success. Metal Gear Solid, meanwhile, has been about our best interactive example. Until now.
In Halo, gaming has its Star Wars trilogy. The Master Chief its iconic Darth Vader-like figure. The Assault Rifle its Lightsaber. And in Halo 3, Xbox 360 boasts Halo's triumphant Return of the Jedi.
Superlative soup
What Halo does well, Halo 3 does very well indeed. No shooter boasts Halo's superlative soup of balanced gunplay, artificial intelligence, sci-fi space opera, set pieces, vehicle combat, roving exploration, claustrophobic alien corridors and grandiose interstellar scale. Halo 3 elevates it all with the Xbox 360's next-gen technology, and the results are spectacular.
It doesn't boast Gears of War's dystopian destroyed beauty, but Halo 3 is colourful, coherent and full of life, and the attention to detail shines. The sombre shadows, evocative faint glows and radiant pulses of Halo 3's High Dynamic Range lighting are staggering, and compliment Halo 3's shimmering water, fluid animation and cinematic direction, plus the inspiring orchestral score and snappy dialogue, perfectly; making Halo 3's isolated battles feel part of a much larger galactic fray.
The sombre shadows, evocative faint glows and radiant pulses of Halo 3's High Dynamic Range lighting are staggering.
Halo 3's weapons also enrapture. Old firearms return, bringing Halo 3 away from dual wielding and back to Bungie's balance of firearm, melee and grenades. With the Assault Rifle again the best all-rounder, new turret weapons offering a cumbersome-but-powerful third-person option, and fresh Covenant arms (the Brute Hammer makes us smile every time), Halo 3 features the most diverse, fun FPS weapon set ever.
The same could be said for Halo 3's vehicles, with familiar faves meeting new additions like the Brute Chopper and Mongoose – and offsetting both is Equipment, pioneered in May's Halo 3 Beta; another masterful addition to the Master Chief's arsenal.
And to the Arbiter's. Though his story presence in Halo 3 is smaller, he follows you around the campaign, with a second player in co-op actually playing him. Moreover, in online co-op, players three and four control two additional Elites – all battling Halo 3's main foe, the Brutes.
Short but sweet
Halo 3's armoured Brutes are more imposing than past Halo Elites, though their lack of recharging energy shields makes them less sophisticated combatants. Yet, offsetting this, the Flood are improved in Halo 3 – while Halo 3's environments, flying sections, and set pieces are bigger and better than ever. Halo 3, then, is the most epic, engaging and well-balanced in the series.
It's just sad that it's so short. Halo 3 took us 12 hours on singleplayer Heroic, and even less in co-op – though Legendary is still a monumental challenge (we'd recommend Heroic in singleplayer, and Legendary in co-op). Despite the brevity, however, Halo 3's campaign is never less than stellar throughout, and finishes in the most satisfying way possible – while Achievements and hidden skulls assure replayability.
The moment you drop a tank on someone's poor unsuspecting head, you'll grin like a loon.
As with its forebears, however, Campaign is really only half the story. Halo 3's online matchmaking multiplayer is something we've already detailed in our Preview, so we won't dwell, except to say that it's twelve – mostly new – maps retain the balance and style we've come to expect. Guardian, fans will be delighted to hear, looks destined to become the new Lockout.
It is Forge and Theatre, however, which make Halo 3 such a well-rounded package. The former an eight-player interactive level editor, it lets you disperse any number of insanities onto the fray; adding new weapons, vehicles and things like grav lifts as players battle around you. The moment you drop a tank on somone's poor unsuspecting head, you'll grin like a loon.
Ahead of the pack
But Halo 3's Theatre is going to make the real Halo fans positively beam from ear to ear. Letting you replay, speed up, slow down, screenshot and record snippets of your best Halo 3 moments, it's a montage-makers dream and will help more serious gamers improve by studying their mistakes. Sadly, campaign videos can't be fast-forwarded or recorded, but you can share your campaign and editable multiplayer files with others, and access it all from Bungie.net – which just shows how far ahead of the pack Halo 3 really is.
In all, Halo 3 is a shining example of how to complete a trilogy, of a first-person shooter and, indeed, of a videogame. It's not flawless, and at times feels like an homage to past Halos, but is more polished than its older brothers, and delivers some of the most memorable moments in videogame history.
GAME's Verdict
- The most polished of all three Halos, with genre-defining first-person gunplay and standard-setting four-player co-op
- Immense Xbox Live multiplayer
- Forge and Theatre represent two of the most incredible added-value modes in a game.
- It may be the most polished, but Halo 3 is also the shortest in the Halo series.
- Brutes simply aren't as sophisticated to fight against as past Halo's Elites.
- It's a real shame that Theatre mode doesn't quite offer full movie-manipulating freedom across multiplayer AND campaign clips.
Review by: Mark Scott
Review Published: 03.10.07Published: 03/10/2007
Halo: The Complete Saga
Halo: Reach may not be the final Halo title, but it's the last game from Bungie Studios, the visionary developers who created the series. And what better way to celebrate Bungie's big goodbye than by playing the entire saga in story order?
We've searched our stock high and low to ensure you can do just that - starting with Reach, and continuing in every other Halo game ever made.
Suit up, soldier, it's gonna be one hell of a ride...
Halo Reach
Format: Xbox 360 (2010)
Genre: First-Person ShooterAugust 2552: Deep into a third decade of brutal interplanetary war against an unrelenting alien collective known as the Covenant. After decades of genocide, they have found humanity's military capital; the planet Reach - Earth's last defence against an all-out assault.
But Reach is the home of the Spartans - Mjolnir-armoured super soldiers who will do everything in their power to beat back the invading hordes and protect the secrets of the United Nations Space Command.
You are the sixth and newest member of Reach's finest Spartan unit; classified as 'Hyper Lethal' and armed with cutting edge equipment, the fall of Reach will be your final mission - and the very foundation of our greatest victory.
Welcome to Noble Team, Spartan. Give 'em hell.
Halo: Combat Evolved
Format: Xbox (2001) (Playable on Xbox 360), PC (2003)
Genre: First-Person ShooterSeptember 2552: Escaping Reach before the planet's obliteration, UNSC cruiser The Pillar of Autumn FTL jumps into the unknown, and emerges at a ring-shaped planet built by a long-dead race called the Forerunners: Halo.
Aboard the Autumn is Spartan 117 - codenamed Master Chief - and humanity's most advanced Artificial Intelligence, designated Cortana. Together, the pair will infiltrate Halo, wage a guerrilla war against the Covenant across its surface, and uncover a secret which could turn the tide of war in our favour - or wipe the galaxy of all sentient life.
Get ready to experience combat: evolved.
Halo 2
Format: Xbox (2004) (Playable on Xbox 360), PC
Genre: First-Person ShooterOctober 2552: Reeling from the destruction of Halo, one of the Covenant's three leaders takes a small force and, pursuing intelligence that will lead him to a new Halo ring, unwittingly stumbles upon Earth itself.
Fresh from his last-gasp victory on Halo, It falls to the Master Chief to lead the defence of humanity's homeworld, before following the Prophet of Regret's cruiser through a slipspace portal opened in-atmosphere over New Mombasa.
Backed by Cortana and a small UNSC fleet, the Chief will pursue Regret across the new ring world, battle another equally perilous threat and, aided by an unlikely ally, will discover the endgame behind the Covenant's genocidal crusade...
Halo 3: ODST
Format: Xbox 360 (2009)
Genre: First-Person ShooterOctober 2552: Regret's unexpected incursions into New Mombasa left not only untold devastation across the African mega-city, but also a small army of Covenant troops behind on its surface, frantically searching for clues to another, greater forerunner artefact.
Dropped deep into Covenant-occupied territory, a group of the UNSC's second most elite fighting unit, the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, will undertake a mission of the utmost importance.
Separated from his squad, the Helljumper's newest recruit will dart between alien patrols under cover of darkness to locate his compatriots and safeguard a piece of intelligence which will prove vital to the war effort.
Prepare to drop, Rookie...
Halo 3
Format: Xbox 360 (2007)
Genre: First-Person ShooterNovember 2552: The Forerunner's Halo network is primed for firing; the Covenant have redeployed to Earth in search of Halo's control centre; and alien parasite The Flood has imprisoned Cortana, commandeered the Covenant's floating holy city, and found its way to Earth. This will be the final battle - and for the faltering USNC, things have never looked bleaker.
But where the Master Chief lives, hope remains. Joined by the former vanguard of the Covenant forces, the Elites, Spartan 117 will carry the hope of humanity into battle in New Mombasa and, subsequently, across the galaxy to the very source of the Halo Rings - where a fateful climax will ensure the sacrifices made by Noble Team were not in vain.
It's time to finish the fight.
Halo Wars
Format: Xbox 360 (2009)
Genre: Real-Time Strategy2531: Decades before the fall of Reach and just six years into the Human-Covenant War, UNSC warship The Spirit of Fire engages alien forces above the surface of planet Harvest.
Lead by Vice Admiral Preston Cole, the Spirit's marine forces will make a shocking discovery: Harvest conceals a significant Forerunner artefact which had gone undetected during humanity's colonisation of the previously peaceful planet.
Finding that this relic points the way towards a galactic location of potentially war-ending significance, the Spirit of Fire mobilises its forces in the hope that it isn't already too late...
What is HALO?
You're kidding, right? Halo is the brainchild of Bungie Studios. It's one of the biggest videogame series in the world, and arguably the best exclusive on the Xbox. That means you won't find a Halo game on any other home console - it's basically a reason to buy a 360. On top of that, Halo is also a huge multimedia phenomenon that's grown to include comics, figurines and novels - and maybe even a movie in the not-so-far-future.
The games themselves mostly take the form of First-Person shooters, pitting you as a rock-hard armoured space marine fighting against a fanatical alien race called The Covenant. We say mostly, because occasionally you get to play as a Covenant soldier, instead - while one of the Halo games, Halo Wars, isn't actually a shooter at all; it's a Real-Time Strategy game based on the back-story of Bungie's acclaimed sci-fi universe.
Before there was HALO...
...There was Marathon. No, not the old name for Snickers, but actually the series that Bungie made for the Macintosh prior to Halo.
Marathon was a critically-acclaimed first-person shooter which the Halo games openly reference with injokes, iconography and sci-fi subject matter - although Bungie insist that the two game universes are separate. First released in 1994, with sequels Marathon 2: Durandal and Marathon Infinity arriving in '95 and '96 respectively, the Marathon trilogy was one of the era's most advanced FPSs, but being a Mac-only release flew under the radar next to ID's all-conquering DOOM for PC.
If you want to try Marathon and witness Halo's spiritual heritage, you can download it here.
HALO 3 - Xbox 360 (2007)
The first Halo had been one of the greatest singleplayer shooters ever, while Halo 2 set a new benchmark for online FPS play, all in the space of one console generation. Bungie's Xbox 360 debut had a lot to live up to, and it also had the twin towers of Gears of War and Call of Duty to contend with. No pressure...
Story: The biggest letdown in Halo 2 had been the nature of its ending; To recap, Halo 2 finished with the Covenant in a state of civil war, the Halo ring network primed for firing, Cortana stranded on the Covenant's floating holy city High Charity, which had been taken over by a Flood called the Gravemind, and the Master Chief hitching a ride on a Covenant ship back to Earth to finish the fight. Anti climax doesn't even come close.
Halo 3's plot centred on the Covenant's plot to locate The Ark, an ancient Forerunner control station. The means to finding this was located on, of all places, Earth - which in itself revealed the Forunners to be humanity's ancestors. Battling their way through to the invaded New Mombasa jungle, the Chief and Arbiter eventually found themselves transported to The Ark; at the centre of which was another Halo. Here, they killed the Covenant's leader, defeated the Gravemind, sent Halo into self destruct, and escaped the crumbling planet ring on a frigate.
Only half of their ship made it through the portal back to Earth, however. And so, while the Arbiter attended the Chief's funeral on Earth, Spartan 117 entered cryogenic sleep adrift in space, telling Cortana to "Wake me when you need me" as the pair unwittingly drifted towards another Forerunner planet...
Gameplay: A Halo Greatest Hits would be the apt description; Halo 3's campaign was neither as fresh as the first game, nor as flawed as the second, but brought the gameplay full circle back to openly roving levels and bombastic set pieces - like fighting an enormous armoured Scarab, or racing across Halo in a Warthog at the grand finale. It was the shortest of the three Halos, but Halo 3 was also the most well-rounded, proving a fitting finale to the acclaimed FPS trilogy.
Online, Forge and Theatre modes went above and beyond anything Halo 2 fans had envisaged, letting them make their own maps and record and share footage of their best Halo 3 games with friends. Added to the refined matchmaking mode, all-new maps and ever-growing popularity of Xbox Live, Halo 3 remains one of the leading lights of online console gaming, battling it out with Call of Duty at the top of the most-played charts.
Bungie has been discussing the creation of its iconic Halo star Master Chief over at Industry Gamers - thanks for the story, Eurogamer - and the developer has explained why the big green giant tends to keep his thoughts to himself.
"We left out details to increase immersion; the less players knew about the Chief, we believed, the more they would feel like the Chief," explained Bungie lead writer Joseph Staten. "Immersion was the main goal here. Also keeping the Chief a man of few words reinforced what we wanted to be a tough-as-nails soldierly persona."
Staten adds that to give the game a bit of oomph, Bungie wanted players to understand the Chief predicament. "In the first Halo game we absolutely designed experiences around themes of loneliness and abandonment," Staten revealed. "Halo didn't dwell on the loss of the other Spartans (the closest we came was some of the 'combat dialog' from friendly A.I. For example, 'Look, a Spartan! I thought they all died on Reach...'), but we did absolutely want players sometimes to feel the weight of the Chief's heavy responsibilities. Take, for example, the mission where the Chief leaves Cortana to search for his commanding officer, Captain Keyes, only to end up witnessing the recorded deaths of other soldiers who might have lived had the Chief been with them."Master Chief was last seen in Halo 3, of course, but if you want to catch up with his Spartan buddies in something a bit newer, check out last year Xbox 360 exclusive, Halo Reach.
Ready to feel old? Microsoft best-selling Halo series is 10 years old this year. A decade of Master Chief! To celebrate, the Xbox giant has announced Halo Fest, a three day event celebrating all things Spartan, which will take place during the Penny Arcade Expo, due to hit Seattle this August.
The event should be a blast, and will see Microsoft swamping attendees with tournaments, panels and all sorts of prizes. The reason why wee excited, though, is that, even if wel be stuck in rainy old England for the event itself, several websites looking at you, Eurogamer - are speculating that Microsoft might use the occasion to announce a new Halo game.
With Bungie leaving the series it created with last year Halo: Reach, it over to the franchise new custodian 343 Industries. The team has been hiring game developers left, right and centre for quite a while, and Eurogamer seems to think that a tenth birthday party would be the perfect time to reveal what 343 been up to.
If you're not in Seattle this August, don't worry too much. We'll have all the news for you right here.
Halo 4 beta invites are a hoax, warns 343 Industries
David Ellis of 343 Industries, the studio which inherited the Halo series from Bungie, has taken to Twitter to warn fans that offers to take part in a beta trial for the upcoming Halo 4 are not to be trusted.
If you see a page claiming to allow you to sign up for a Halo 4 beta be advised, IT'S A FAKE, he posted, which is pretty conclusive. It seems fans had been lured in by unscrupulous phishing sites which requested personal account details in return for access to the hotly anticipated FPS sequel.
Halo 4 sees the return of Master Chief, having sat out both Halo ODST and Halo: Reach, and marks the start of a new trilogy for the award-winning series. The game is expected later this year, exclusively for Xbox 360 of course, but Microsoft has yet to announce any further details.
2012 sees the return of four iconic heroes to our screens - Master Chief in Halo 4, Lara Croft in Tomb Raider, Agent 47 in Hitman: Absolution, and Max Payne in, er, Max Payne 3. But why is this exciting? Read on...
Max Payne
In a nutshell: Vengeful cop turned vengeful vigilante.
Last seen in: Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (2003)
Returns in: Max Payne 3 (May 18th 2012) on Xbox 360, PS3 and PCWhy this excites us: The man who really puts the "Homicide" into "Homicide Detective", Max has been missing in action for nearly a decade (unless you count the Mark Wahlberg movie. We don't). The series was famed for its film noir elements and its use of bullet time action, and for Max's own increasing inner darkness.
When he returns in Max Payne 3 he's still just as miserable; the years have not been good to Max, who's now working private security for a less than scrutable employer in South America. Needless to say, a certain substance soon hits the fan and Max finds himself smack in the middle of criminal wars, teaching them all a lesson in his own brand of angry justice. And we couldn't be happier.
Agent 47
In a nutshell: Bald-and-barcoded clone built for assassination
Last seen in: Hitman: Blood Money (2006)
Returns in: Hitman: Absolution (TBC 2012) on Xbox 360, PS3 and PCWhy this excites us: Gaming's best-dressed killer has always been cool, calm and genetically superior, and this year he's back to remind everyone just how this assassin thing is done. He's famed for his increasingly ingenious methods of eliminating his targets, from poisoning punch, to pushing off balconies, to sneaking about in disguise, to plain old shooting, with a real emphasis on tactics, planning and skill.
Betrayed by the agency who built him, and those he's gone on to trust, Hitman: Absolution sees 47 on the run once more and at the heart of a dark conspiracy, and on a journey that's more personal than professional. The developers are promising big technological advancements to enhance your instincts and abilities - and those around you, too. Just remember, it's not just about killing, but killing outside the box!
Master Chief
In a nutshell: Silent Spartan super-soldier. John-117 to his mates.
Last seen in: Halo 3 (2007)
Returns in: Halo 4 (6th November 2012) on Xbox 360Why this excites us: The UNSC may not like him, but we sure do. It didn't matter that he didn't really get a personality until Halo 3, this intergalactic badass has been doing his job and saving the Earth from alien conquests (with no showboating or stopping for, ahem, conquests of his own) since the launch of the Xbox. The responses to Halo: ODST and Halo: Reach showed that it was really the Chief that we wanted to see, and Cortana's cry of "I need you! Wake up John! Chief!" in the Halo 4 trailer echoed the sentiment of Halo gamers the world over.
Halo 4 promises to delve further into who Chief is and what makes him tick, as well as his relationship with Cortana. Getting to know the Chief a little better can only further our relationship with him, especially as his new armour seems to only further his relationship with badassery. November can't come soon enough.
Lara Croft
In a nutshell: Posh British adventuress with enormous... skills
Last seen in: Tomb Raider: Underworld (2008)
Returns in: Tomb Raider (TBC 2012) on Xbox 360, PS3 and PCWhy this excites us: Lara Croft is one of THE icons of modern gaming. She arrived in time to launch the original PlayStation and drew mainstream press to gaming like none before her. Since 1996 she's raided many a tomb, fought tigers, sharks and dinosaurs, and survived more than one reboot - as well as more than one subpar movie. But now she's back, younger than ever in a Batman Begins-style reboot (minus, we hope, the gravelly voice).
In this year's new Tomb Raider Lara is 21, fresh out of "the academy" and shipwrecked on an island. This game promises not only a back-to-basics setting but more challenging gameplay than recent outings, with the stress on exploration to survive over exploration for kicks. A reboot like this is a little risky - and we'll miss Keeley Hawes' voice acting - but Lara has certainly proved she can endure pretty much anything.
The Forge, the suite of map-making, game-tweaking multiplayer features that debuted in Halo 3, will return in Halo 4 with a host of new toys to play with.
While development of Halo 4 has passed to 343 Industries, The Forge will now be handled by Certain Affinity, a US studio with a prestigious history with the Halo series, as well as multiplayer FPS games in general. Founded by ex-Bungie staff, Certain Affinity worked on multiplayer maps for the series as far back as Halo 2, and has also contributed to such online classics as Call of Duty and Left 4 Dead.
Tweets from the company this week confirmed their involvement, while gaming site Polygon reported from the Rooster Teeth online gaming expo where a Forge presentation took place. New features include the Player Trait Zone, which allows the community to tinker with the running speed, jump height and damage thresholds for players.
Gravity can also be altered in specific points on the maps, while a general overhaul to the editing functions means you'll be able to combine, duplicate and move objects far more easily. It's all great news for those who take their Halo matches super-seriously, and should keep the hardcore playing for months.
Halo 4 charges into battle on November 6th. It's an Xbox 360 exclusive, of course.
Halo 3 Preview (18/05/2007)
Mark puts Bungie's Halo 3 Beta through its paces...
Having been playing the Halo 3 Beta for a week now, my initial…
See more about 'Halo 3 Preview'
Halo 3 Review (03/10/2007)You're once, twice, three times a hero...
There's established rules with BIG sci-fi trilogies.
The first instalment is a self-enclosed story, settin…
See more about 'Halo 3 Review'
Halo: Reach may not be the final Halo title, but it's the last game from Bungie Studios, the visionary developers who created the series.…
What is HALO?…
The first Halo had been one of the greatest singleplayer shooters ever, while Halo 2 set a new benchmark for online FPS play, all in the space of one console generation.…
Halo developer Bungie has explained why Master Chief tends to keep his thoughts to himself.…
Ready to feel old? Microsoft best-selling Halo series is 10 years old this year. A decade of Master Chief! To celebrate, the Xbox giant has announced Halo Fest, a three day event celebrating all thing…
David Ellis of 343 Industries, the studio which inherited the Halo series from Bungie, has taken to Twitter to warn fans that offers to take part in a beta trial for the upcoming Halo 4 are not to be …
2012 sees the return of four iconic heroes to our screens - Master Chief in Halo 4, Lara Croft in Tomb Raider, Agent 47 in Hitman: Absolution, and Max Payne in, er, Max Payne 3. But why is this exciti…
The Forge, the suite of map-making, game-tweaking multiplayer features that debuted in Halo 3, will return in Halo 4 with a host of new toys to play with.…
Halo 3 User Reviews2 weeks agowickedI love the way you can do the story mode in co-op3 months agoHALO 3 IS EPICWow best campaign I have EVER played for such a bargain to!! Must buy game :)1 year agogood gamegood game and got for a bargin, campain is great, bit tuff on the hardest level tho but is still worth the money tho :)1 year agoThe Best Halo CampaignFantastic story, seamless co-op and for a price like this, it's a MUST HAVE!1 year agoWow... Just wow!....Well, where can I start? The Campaign was out of this world, and the Multi-Player fun - Well, let's just say I can't get enough of it! For just £3 pre-owned and something you can keep playing for life, you NEED this game! :DConfiguring your price alertAs a valued customer we now offer you the facility to sign up to email price alerts. Please enter the price you want to be, or below, and if drops to that level we will let you know...
Out of stock - Only £13.99
Free UK Delivery
In stock - Only £2.00
Free UK Delivery
Earn 112 reward points
Please note: prices in GAME Stores may differ.
Add to WishListYou have chosen to add this product to your Wish List, but which version would you prefer to add?


text:
Natuzzi EditionsNatuzzi Editions combines detail in design and Italian flair for everyday living. This line of Natuzzi offers styles for every taste and every situation: from classic to modern, motion to casual, and day to night. The luxury upholstered furniture comes in an array of covers including leather, microfiber and superb fabrics. When you desire nothing but the best, choose Natuzzi Editions. Have confidence in knowing you made the best furniture buying decision.
Related Products
Product Inquiry


text:
What's your health worth to you?
Join Jenny for a price that
Trial Program
$30/mo for this
3-month trial.†
It's the perfect 90-day plan to kick-start you toward a healthier lifestyle.
that's only
$7.50 average weekly membership cost†Premium Success
for this
1-year program.*†
This is just for you if you have more to lose and require extra motivation and reward along the way.
that's only
$6.90 average weekly membership cost*†Metabolic Max
for this
1-year program.*†
Kick it into gear and stay motivated by tracking calories in and out with your BodyMedia FIT™ Armband.
that's only
$9.38 average weekly membership cost*†* 1-year commitment. Program pricing includes 10% pay-up-front discount for payment in full at time of enrollment.
† Plus the cost of food and shipping, if applicable. Prices may vary. Available at participating centres only.
- Learn what to expect from a Jenny program
- Support makes all the difference
- Compare all Jenny programs
With Jenny, you'll learn a balanced approach to living through healthy eating, portion control and increased activity.
Jenny's programs include:
- Access to a full menu of healthy, delicious and convenient meals and snacks
- Personal accountability through weekly meetings with your trained Jenny consultant
- Personal and private support, motivation and insights to weight loss
- Realistic, individual weight loss and activity goals
- Personal weekly meal and activity plans
- Free online tracking tools and program support materials
- Access to a rich online community of real people who celebrate achievements, and offer support and guidance
Support makes all the difference
There are many things that make Jenny Craig unique—starting with weekly personalized one-on-one consultations. Your Jenny Craig Consultant will be your partner in lifestyle change—understanding you and your personal viewpoint and offering you skills, strategies and information to overcome challenges and enhance your success.
Personalized attention to your needs
When you start a Jenny Craig program, your consultant will design a plan to meet your specific lifestyle and needs. Every week, you'll:
- Assess your past week's results, including both your successes and challenges
- Create an activity plan to build on your active lifestyle
- Discuss strategies to plan for upcoming events such as dining out or traveling
- Choose the next week's menu and order your food
You can meet with your consultant in person in your local centre, or enjoy the convenience and privacy of home delivery and phone consultations with our At Home plan. Either way, you'll get the personal attention and support you need to be successful in your weight loss goals!
Compare the Jenny programs
Trial program |
Premium Success | Metabolic Max | |
Your own personal Jenny consultant | |||
One-on-one consultations | |||
YourStyle® personalized profile | |||
Personalized menu and activity planning | |||
24/7 online tools and support | |||
Weight loss and maintenance tools | |||
Trial Program | |||
Cash incentives for reaching milestones | |||
10% off non-food purchases | |||
A full year of consultations and support | |||
Track physical activity any time of the day | |||
The BodyMedia FIT™ Armband | |||
BodyMedia FIT™ Activity Manager |
The Jenny Craig Metabolic Max Program includes the BodyMedia FIT™ Armband and BodyMedia FIT™ Activity Manager. Body Media,
the "Four Circle" logo, BodyMedia FIT and the BodyMedia FIT logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of BodyMedia, Inc.
The BodyMedia FIT™ Activity Manager is included for 12 months.


text:
Situated on the banks of River Godavari, Nashik is a third most developed city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune. Nasik is fast growing into an industrial city and is famous for its grapes and wine. Known as the "Wine Capital" of India and home to the famous Sula Winery, Nashik also has many religious tourist spots within the city. Those travelling to Nashik usually prefer booking a cab or hiring taxis from the many car rental services available from nearby cities like Mumbai and Pune. Nashik is an appealing holiday destination with something on offer for everyone from the pious spartan to the gaudy wine buffs.
Famous places to visit: Phalke Smarak, Someshwar, Godapark, Pandav caves, Jain Mandir, Sula Winery
Shivapur, a small village, is 24 kilometres from Pune set in the backdrop of low purple hills. Shivapur is famous for the shrine of Qamar Ali Darvesh. The shirine is beautifully decorated with garlands of flowers. The soothing aroma of incense mingles with the chants of the worshippers, thus, calming the mind. Usually people travel to Shivapur for short trips for which Taxicabs and car hire services are very popular as they offer attractive packages. Private taxis, car rental services and cab hires from Mumbai are also very popular among the people. Many book cabs online well in advance so that there is no disruption in their journey.
Famous places to visit: Kamar Ali Darvesh Dargah


text:
Because you enjoy discovering new worlds, because you enjoy even more to spoil all your senses and because you enjoy most of all to enjoy just when you feel like it. There are countless reasons for a "Romantic Weekend" in the SEEDAMM PLAZA and in "PUR". The most important one is you yourself and we do everything in order to make you feel sensationally comfortable.
Prosecco to greet you
A four course candlelight "dîner surprise" in the restaurant "PUR"
An overnight stay in a spacious "Plaza Plus" double room with a surprise
Our sumptuous breakfast buffet
Free access to the wellness club
Free parking
Single room supplement: CHF 50.-
Plaza double room
Restaurant PUR
Wellness Club
Book now or simply call us:+41 55 417 17 17
©2007 Seminarhotel SEEDAMM PLAZA, Seedammstrasse 3, 8808 Pfäffikon SZ, Tel. +41 55 417 17 17,
at the very beginning of Lake Zurich. For
- with


text:
Lasso bold southwestern flavor for this pasta dish with preseasoned frozen chicken strips, canned green chiles, and taco-flavored cheese.
©2013 General Mills, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This information will only be used to send an email to your friend(s) and l not be saved. Please read our Privacy Policy.
5 Stars
4 Stars
3 Stars
2 Stars
1 Stars
Look for southwest-seasoned mayonnaise or salsa ranch salad dressing to add extra "kick" to this pasta dish.
Reduce the fat in this recipe by using reduced-fat mayonnaise instead of regular mayonnaise. You'll save yourself about 19 grams of fat per serving.
If you enjoy your food really hot and spicy, add 1 chopped fresh jalapeño chile.
© 2013 ®/TM General Mills All Rights Reserved


text:
By Us
5 of 13
Lucite Clutch, $62, available at Tinseltown.
Find us on Facebook
Find us on Pinterest
A flood of visual inspiration -- straight from our feed to yours.
Follow our profile: pinterest.com/refinery29
Find us on Twitter
Follow our profile: twitter.com/refinery29
Find us on Instagram
Follow our profile: instagram.com/refinery29


text:
APD Extra Money
By: Brittany Pelletz
Updated: July 10, 2009
"We didn't spend as much money as we expected, as much as we budgeted this year because fuel expenses did go down.
The city administration will obviously look at that and see where that money can be used for other projects," Assistant Chief, Stan Standridge, with the Abilene Police Department says.
Patrol units are constantly having to fill up their gas tanks. Skip Liones, a City Service Station Tech says, "day and night, they're at the pumps." I
In 2008, over 140,000 gallons of gas was used by patrol cars alone.
Standridge adds,"Every day the officers drive on average 80 to 110 miles per day."
Last year's spike in gas prices forced the Abilene Police Department to make some policy adjustments.
Standridge says, "For the first time, we doubled units. There are many calls that are going to occur throughout the day that necessitate two officers responding. What we did was put two-man units on both sides of the town."
This allowed them to cut the gas costs of an entire vehicle.
Standridge says,"Another cost saving measure we did was we started turning cars off whenever they were idle and not occupied."
But now with dropping gas prices, the Police Department is no longer forced to double up or to constantly turn their vehicles on and off.
Standridge says,"We all know the economic impact of high gas prices. This year, obviously that economic impact isn't as high. However, we as a police department are called to be good stewards with your money so we are going to still continue with cost-saving measures as it relates to gas."