text:
Ludum Dare 28
Ludum Dare 25
Ludum Dare 24
Ludum Dare 23
Ludum Dare 21
About Gjarble (twitter: @Gjarble)
Gjarble's Trophies
Gjarble's Archive
Fly On The Wall: A Postpartum
I've always thought the term "postmortem" to be an odd one. A game doesn't die when it's released; it's more like a birth! So, I'm calling this a "postpartum". Not that this is necessarily the best time to start using that term- my "finished" game isn't really a complete product, and I'm not too proud of its current state. But anyway…
Instead of trying to create the most polished game I could in 72 hours, I focused on using the jam as an excuse to force myself to learn something I'd otherwise put off- in this case, developing a mobile game (which I'd never done before). As it's an uncommon approach to a game jam, this postpartum is as much a referendum on that approach as it is on the game itself.
The Concept:
The Result:
What Went Right:
- I learned a new skill! As many drawbacks as my approach has, there's the one big benefit: I actually accomplished my goal. Before this Ludum Dare, it seemed like it would be a nightmare to start developing for mobile devices- learning all the considerations that don't apply to desktop and web development and getting all the necessary components to cooperate with each other. Now, making my first real Android game seems like it will be a lot simpler of a task, though much of that is thanks to…
- The tools. I've been wanting to use OpenFL (a library for developing multiplatform applications using just one codebase in Haxe) for quite some time, but I had problems setting it up before. Those problems have been mostly resolved, and it worked like a charm. Installing the Android tools took way longer than I anticipated, but thanks to OpenFL's capabilities, I was able to develop and test the game in Flash while I waited for the tools to download without having to change huge chunks of the codebase for the Android version. There seemed to be a few things that worked in one platform but not the other, but resolving those issues didn't take too much time. I also tried a new IDE, IntelliJ IDEA, because I was tired of Haxe code completion not working in Eclipse's Eclihx plugin. Code completion worked much better in IntelliJ, though it appears not to detect files in the same directory as the file in which you're working (importing classes from those files compiles fine).
- The control scheme. I've heard horror stories about virtual joysticks on mobile games being the Worst Interface Ever, but the constraints of my idea (a limited camera view that may not necessarily be looking at the player character) prevented me from having the player directly touch objects to move them. As such, I worked out a two-"joystick" setup that avoids the usual virtual-joystick problem: having to constantly make sure your finger is on the spot of the screen that represents the joystick. Instead of having a joystick at a fixed point on the screen, my game uses wherever your thumb lands as the center point (that's what the thumbprints represent in the concept screenshot above; the circles represent where the thumbs have been dragged to), re-centering it every time you touch your thumb to the screen anew. As a consequence, you don't have to look at the interface to re-center yourself. It also has the added benefit of allowing people with different hand shapes to play the game comfortably without having to adjust the UI.
What Went Wrong:
- The phone's accelerometer. See my previous post for details on my problems with that. It set me back about 24 hours, but I still had a whole compo's worth of time left to go.
- Distraction. I spent Saturday and Sunday working very efficiently and brimming with confidence. Come Monday, boom- my resolve suddenly disappeared as I debated whether or not I could finish something workbale in time, and figuring out how to implement some important bits. I ended up spending many hours just trying to de-stress myself by doing things unrelated to Ludum Dare.
- Collision detection. Ironically, the big time-sink that became the reason why my game has absolutely zero polish (and no levels of substance) was not one of the many technological experiments I underwent in the making of this game, but rather the inherent limitations of the one tool I was familiar with: the Flixel engine. I knew going in that I would have to implement circle-to-square and circle-to-circle collision because Flixel does not support those, and I didn't want to spend valuable time importing and figuring out a full-blown physics engine like Nape. I implemented those types of collision easily enough. The problem was that I assumed that circle-to-circular-sector collision, which I also needed, was just a subset of circle-to-circle collision and would also be easy to implement. I realized too late that the problem was not so trivial, and spent about half of my final day attempting (and failing) to work it out.
- The aftermath of the jam. This is the major problem with the approach I tried this LD:
I knew that I was probably going to turn in a less polished product than I usually do, because this time, I wasn't focused on making the best game possible so much as one that worked under the constraints I set for myself. As I said previously, I was willing to accept that risk this time around, because my goals were different from what they've normally been since I started LD two years ago. However, now that I have taken that risk, and I have put out an unpolished tech demo, I'm not so sure I want to do it again. While my idea worked in principle (using the time pressure of the jam as a tool to learn a skill), I made a mistake in choosing Ludum Dare as the venue to do it.
A major purpose of Ludum Dare is to make something you can share with others- both for the joy of being involved in a community, and so others can evaluate your work to help improve your skills. This game is not something I really feel is shareable- not in its current state, anyway (I felt a little dirty submitting it). I'm well aware of the maxim "it's never too early to playtest", but I feel there are limits to that idea. This game isn't just "I didn't get to include all the features I wanted" unfinished; it's "I haven't even completed the core mechanic" unfinished. Because of this, I actively didn't want to play and rate anyone else's games- not only because it would draw unwanted attention to my own game (through the Coolness system), but I feel like if this is what people see of my work, than I have no grounds on which to evaluate others' work (even though I'm a student of game design who's been doing game jams for years).
So, will I use this approach to LD again?
Probably not. I underestimated the level of gratification that comes with trying my best to make the most polished game I can, and I didn't realize that redefining "success" as something irrelevant to the final product (in this case, the learning experience) takes away all the joy of the 3 weeks after LD. That said, am I glad to have done it? Yeah, I can't really complain about having opened the door to mobile development for myself. My technique worked as intended, not for gaining a complete understanding of mobile development, but as a way to prove to myself that I can do it without agonizing over it forever. I'd just rather do this again in a context that has much less of a focus on other people evaluating my work. Maybe I'll do it again in a MiniLD- no ratings/rankings, no pressure.
See everyone next LD!
Mobile Games Are HARD!
So here's the deal.
During my brainstorming session for this theme, there was one idea I had that was far and away my favorite. The problem is that it would require me to make a mobile game- and I've never made one before. However, I knew Haxe, I knew Flixel, and I had attempted to set up OpenFL before the start of the compo, so I figured I might be able to set up HaxeFlixel and compile for Android. I knew from experience that, if I were experimenting with technology, it would probably take me half the competition just to make it work- and it did. However, I think I'm ready to accept that risk now. I've learned a lot of new things just from making this one game, and I have been enjoying myself.
So I successfully compiled- YAY! But the mechanic I needed mobile for hasn't been working out as planned. I wanted to implement the theme as "you only get one row of pixels to view the gamespace", so the players would have to see what's going on by using the phone as a POV display- that is, waving it like this:
But after a lot of research into apps that did this sort of thing and research into the way I was accessing the phone's accelerometer, I determined that it was impossible to do this with just one row of pixels in a way that the player can tell what's going on (the above image was accomplished with a long-exposure camera and the Light Writer app, which uses far more screen space than the one pixel-width line I needed to fit the theme).
So I decided to go a different route: instead, you can only view one tile's worth of gamespace at a time. I still wanted to control the camera movement here with the accelerometer, but after some testing and more research, it looks like I can't prevent the screen from rotating during gameplay when holding the phone in the orientation that I'd want the game to be played- at least not through OpenFL. They purposefully eliminated that feature because iOS apps that used it were failing App Store submissions because of it (sometime later, I might try to write a library that does it for Android games).
But dammit, I started an Android app, and I'm going to finish an Android app.
So, instead of the accelerometer, I've settled upon a different feature that only mobile devices have: multitouch. That one actually seems to work the way I want it to! Now, time to make the actual gameplay. I might take this into the Jam so I have more than 9 hours to do all that stuff; I still like my idea and I want to make a good game out of it!
I'm using a tech I've never used before (OpenFL), which I know better than to do after two years of LD.
I've got a crazy ambitious idea, which I also know better than to do after two years of LD.
I started 4 hours late due to a concert, which means that, aside from sleep, I've had almost two hours to work so far, which have mostly been spent on brainstorming and research to see if my idea was even possible.
It's going to be an interesting 2 days.
I'm In – A Day Late!
Hi everyone,
I was busy today, so I haven't started yet. I purposely didn't look at the theme until tonight so I wouldn't be distracted with ideas. Even so, I was pulling for this theme (admittedly an anti-underdog if there ever was one) because I got an awesome idea soon after I saw the theme's huge winning margin in round 1. I think I'll enter the Jam this time so I can still get close to the full 48-hour experience.
Looking at the current field, I already see a bunch of cool ideas that I'm excited to play. Plus, I confirmed that my idea's probably unique! I'm sure that with thousands of entries, my particular usage of the 10 titular seconds has occurred to at least a few other people, but I haven't seen one such interpretation yet. Also, it seems like my idea's low-scope enough to pull off in a reasonable timeframe. My biggest risk is AI- that's something I haven't attempted to do in LD before.
Good luck to everyone!
Interns From Mars! – Postmortem
It looks like my bolstered confidence from this jam was indeed justified. I have submitted to 4 LDs including this one, but for this LD, I set a new personal best in every single category in which I got a rating (except Coolness). Not all of those new records are by a significant amount, though; the reason I'm so happy is not because of the improvements in my strongest categories, but the improvements in my weakest categories- the quality of my work is more consistent across categories without having lost any of my strengths. I still have to refine my methods a good deal, but the changes in my work habits I resolved to make for this LD paid off. This is my first solid evidence that I'm actually getting better at this.
So, why'd I do how I did in each category, and how do I improve?
#76. Innovation – 3.67 (previous best: 3.64, LD21)
I usually do well here, but I was still surprised at my performance this time, because I deliberately constrained my brainstorming. As I mentioned in my "I'm In" post, I wrote "NO GAME GENRE REFERENCES ALLOWED" in large letters across the top of my brainstorming sheet. However, I also made sure not to accept an idea unless it was low-scope enough to actually pull off well (I was SERIOUSLY tempted to go with a cooler but much higher-scope idea). As a result, I adopted a rather generic arcade-style gameplay structure to maintain that low scope, but the primary gameplay mechanic isn't quite like any game I know of, since it wasn't designed with any existing game or genre in mind. While almost certainly something new, it's still nothing hugely out of the ordinary. If I want to improve, I'll have to find ideas in that small overlap between "low-scope" and "attention-grabbingly unique"- quite a difficult task.
#94. Theme – 3.83 (previous best: 3.80, LD21)
I'm also a bit surprised about how this was my highest-rated category. I thought it was a pretty standard implementation of the theme… perhaps people liked how I offered a sympathetic portrayal of the "villain", but that was just in text outside of the game proper. Improving here's not my highest priority, but as long as I don't keep my idea too much of stretch from the theme, hopefully it'll improve hand-in-hand with Innovation.
#174. Fun – 3.25 (previous best: 3.05, LD23)
This is always my highest priority, but also hard to complete satisfactorily within 48 hours. As per my game-design training, the gameplay has a solid "core" (the challenge of picking up humans without dropping them). However, I was aware going in that I would get a few marks down for some gameplay flaws that could easily be fixed given more time (i.e. humans staying out of reach, weird chain-of-humans physics). I intentionally saved these kinds of tweaks for later. In the past, I've fixed an emergent flaw as soon as I detected it, but this caused me to neglect other aspects of gameplay, as well as almost all of the graphics and audio, preventing me from working on a more "complete" experience.
#181. Overall – 3.33 (previous best: 3.00, LD23)
I like how this was my biggest non-audiovisual improvement. I think it reflects the fact that this is a more "complete" product than my past entries, as I mentioned previously. This was the first time I feel like I properly scoped for 48 hours. I do still need to improve on "completeness", though, and I think that's the primary way I'll be able to improve my Overall rating. The graphics and audio, while present to the degree they "need" to be, were still noticeably bare-minimum, and the gameplay still needs some more polish (see "Fun").
#206. Audio – 2.92 (previous best: 2.18, LD23)
My most-improved category for obvious reasons (for the first time, I have music). I suspect this was brought down by a noob mistake I made and didn't find out about until well into the rating period: after each round, the game started playing a new instance of the background music from the beginning, but kept playing the previous instance of the music at the same time. I'm going to be a bit more rigorous with my audio testing in the future to make sure nothing like this happens again.
#272. Graphics – 3.17 (previous best: 2.69, LD24)
I'm surprised that my programmer-art got me above the 3.00 threshold. I guess I just have to keep making sure that I don't include any assets well beyond my drawing capabilities- though I was kind of proud of the way I disguised the collision boxes with the design of the mothership. I think, if I am to improve here, I have to go for a consistent, stylized aesthetic (ideally minimalistic), and find the time to do non-essential things like illustrated instructions, non-default UI graphics, background imagery, and "juicy" visual effects.
#1048. Coolness – 22% (current best: 32%, LD23)
As usual, I struggled to find time to rate other participants' games, between holiday plans (including a trip to New York for New Year's Eve), commitments with friends (as students at different colleges, winter break is the only chance we really have to catch up with each other), and various obligations. I'm graduating in May- hopefully, come LD27, I'll have more free time.
Humor – N/A (current best: 3.25, LD21)
I included a little humorous story on the game's ratings page, but I didn't really intend the game to be all that humorous… just cute/lighthearted fun.
Mood – N/A (current best: 2.53, LD23)
I know I find mood hard to rate for most games (and usually abstain), and I'm betting most other voters do too. Like I said, I was going for a cute/lighthearted aesthetic, but I'm not sure it's really stylized enough to constitute a "mood"… I guess the voters agreed. Plus, I think some voters use the Mood category only for melancholy or artsy aesthetics… those are the only ones I find easy to rate myself.
Right On Schedule
Things have been going surprisingly well!
You can still tell I'm not an artist, but I've got the bare-minimum art done (I'd like some clouds, hills, or something else to fill that empty space in the background if there's time), and the humans behave much more (though still not entirely) according to the laws of physics. I'm satisfied with all the mechanics, so that just leaves sound/music (and writing instructions- I saved that for last in case there's any last-minute mechanical changes) and I'm home free! I might actually have time to add extra polish! Probably not goats, though, but that's okay. Maybe for a post-compo version.
I don't want to jinx anything, but I think this has been my best LD performance yet. This is already leagues better polish-wise than I managed with my LD 24 entry (which I took an extra 24 hours to do), I'm going to have art, sound, and MUSIC (a first for me), and I didn't overscope! I'm very happy with how this has been coming out.
To the finish line!
Progress Made…
I'm always so jealous of the people who know how to art.
Everyone else's games look so much prettier than mine right now, but then again, that's because I've spent my entire time so far working on mechanics- some of you all might have done art first or interspersed it with mechanics. I try to reassure myself that I've therefore spent more time on gameplay than most other people (and thus my game probably plays better), but is that true? My logs say I've done 5 hours, 17 minutes of actual work. While that's a little over half as long as I predicted I'd take to get to this point, the time doesn't add up. Almost 28 hours of LD have elapsed so far- subtract 4 for planning, 9 for sleeping, 2 for meals and the like- that's still about 7 hours, 43 minutes that have vanished into the mystery zone.
Where did all that time go? I know I get distracted a lot, but I've been fairly focused so far- I'd attribute no more than, say, 2 hours to distractions. Am I really underestimating by that much?
No matter. Time to get back to work. I've stopped a few mechanics early because, while I'd have a hell of a time trying to narratively justify the physics at this point, it's already fun/challenging. I figure polish first, make sense later. I'm going to do a bit of menus, then go straight to the art, then sound and music. After I've done all that, I'll come back and add in whatever I originally planned that I still have time for (like the people you abduct not being able to pass through the ground once they're attached to your ship).
Oh, and I think I figured out how to work goats in if I have time.
Hey everyone! I'm back for my 6th attempted (and hopefully 4th completed) Ludum Dare! Although I've completed a few games in the past, I still really have to work on my polish and work ethic- I haven't been too good at either of those things in past LDs, and it shows. After the disaster that was last time, I am now committed to learning from my mistakes and Doing Things Completely Differently. Here's how I'm changing up my process from last time:
- Having my tools set in stone before the compo. In the past, I've been tempted to use an engine I was less familiar with or write more code from scratch because it better suits the idea- this time, I established what I'm going to be using well in advance of the theme announcement – all tools that I'm familiar with and will allow me to prototype quickly. I'll be working in Flixel, with Photoshop CS3 for art, Bfxr and Audacity for sound, and GarageBand for music. These will restrict the kinds of games I can make, but the assurance that I won't overscope on the core mechanic alone is worth it.
- Focusing less on an innovative high concept and more on polish. Of course, I always want my gameplay to be innovative, but my ideas are usually a bit too "let's put a big ol' gigantic TWIST on the theme", forcing me into oddball gameplay structures that don't lend themselves well to the tools I use. This time, I'm focusing on wowing people less with the elevator pitch (I'm doing a game about alien abduction- not too unusual) and more with the actual experience.
- Not making a platformer. I tend to think too much within preexisting genre conventions. This time, I wrote at the top of my brainstorming sheet "NO GAME GENRE REFERENCES ALLOWED". I thought purely in terms of what kind of villain the player might play, and what primary "verb" the villain will be doing. I think that it's paid off – the idea I've settled on would probably be best described as an "action game", which is pretty damn nonspecific (at least compared to things like "shooter", "beat'em up", or "platformer"). This allows me to branch out a bit in terms of game design, and think less inside the box.
- Planning, planning, planning. I'll be writing out every little thing I plan to implement, how I plan on implementing it, and how long I plan on taking to implement it (within a fixed time budget of 13 "on-the-clock" hours, not counting meals, sleeping, and such), so I don't get carried away with designing while I code. It's a distraction, and keeping all the info I need in my head has severely slowed me down by forcing me to constantly remind myself what I'm doing. Of course, if playtesting reveals something interesting (or uninteresting), I'll change the design accordingly, but I'm not going to improvise while I'm typing out the code.
- Tossing away my nitpicks and worrying about them later. So the collision's a little off. So the spawn rate of enemy X is a little high. Who cares? I've got an entire game to finish! Instead of trying to fix these little things, I'll put them in a list to fix if I have more time, and move on to more important things, like interesting mechanics, art, and sound.
- Reserving time to make music. I don't care if all I've got in the game after Day 1 is Hello World, I will put some music in this game if it kills me. I have yet to have a game with polished gameplay, art, sound effects, AND music – something that really feels complete instead of just thrown together. I plan on changing that this weekend.
- Stretch goal – Progress shots! I have yet to supply in-progress shots of my game, because I'm too busy rushing to make something barely playable. I want to participate more in the community, and I want to feel less pressured about the amount of time I have.
Well, I've spent long enough writing this (that's another thing I need to learn not to be so perfectionistic about)- time to get to work!
Coming Into Focus – A Postmortem/Autopsy
Screenshot (no, really):
Bluh. I submitted my game to the Jam, but I'm not sure I can say I "finished" it. It's a very rudimentary packaging of what I was able to program within the time limit, but it's not really a coherent "game" without a lot of explanation. Also, I accomplished absolutely none of the goals I outlined in my "I'm in!" post; as usual, I simply didn't have time. This is my third completed and fifth attempted LD; I should be doing better than this by now!
So, what went wrong? I picked a terrible idea. I don't think it's a terrible idea for a game when actually executed to spec, but it IS a terrible idea for a Ludum Dare entry. The kicker is that the primary mistakes I made, I already knew were mistakes. I knew working with a language that was not my primary programming language would slow me down; I knew making a platforming engine from scratch would decimate my scope. The problem was that making an ASCII platformer was critical to my idea at the start – I wanted to impress people by having the link you click on transform into the game, using the Ludum Dare page itself as a play surface and playing off that fact as part of the story. That required me to jump through all these hoops that slowed me down, and I had rejected all my other ideas because they were either unoriginal or had a very low chance of being fun.
Thankfully, even though I was well aware of many of my mistakes, I did learn some new things from it that'll help me be more confident and, hopefully, get much more accomplished the next time around:
- Technological experimentation in a time-constrained game jam is not a good idea. I've read so many things about how the spirit of Ludum Dare is about going out of your comfort zone to create something unique; something you wouldn't have made or perhaps even thought of otherwise. That's all well and good, and I love that aspect of LD, but I feel like that statement has some serious caveats. Most of the experimentation I've done has involved structuring my games in uncommon ways that are not well-supported by existing engines. The less you can rely on existing infrastructures and codebases to form the backbone of your game, the less you can get accomplished in all the other areas of game design, and the more potential there is for things going very wrong. I spent about 50% of my time writing an ASCII platforming engine from scratch, and 50% of the remainder working on a Javascript exploit that was basically rejected by the submission form (in order for the game to be played on its own ratings page)- leaving very little time for art, level design, or anything approaching a coherent user experience. Even though programming was the first game-related discipline I learned and one of my strengths, I think next time, I'm going to scrap any idea where the primary "wow" factor is supposed to be a technological aspect, in favor of experimental gameplay or storytelling methods that are easy to program.
- Innovation doesn't have to be in how you interpret the theme. When brainstorming, I didn't even stop to consider any ideas where the player character or enemies were the ones doing the evolving, or where the evolution was literal/biological in any way. As per the aforementioned spirit of Ludum Dare, this was in order to ensure my game was unique- but I think it ended up working against me. A lot of other people try to think like that, and in the case of this theme (or any theme based on a verb), there's only so many other things that can evolve. Sure enough, one of the eariler games submitted to the Compo stated in its description that, like in my own idea, the graphics were the thing that evolved. In addition, I realized that I was sort of fighting against the theme rather than working with it. I was categorically rejecting all the ideas that would've come naturally because they came naturally. I still like that common "scrap your first idea because everyone's going to do that" piece of advice, but in trying to innovate upon what aspect of the game evolves or how it evolves, I lost sight of the fact that there are other ways to innovate. I have a feeling I would've done better had I just done a standard "characters get upgrades as you progress through the game" bit, but done so with unusual characters, in an unusual scenario or genre, or given it a unique stylization or sense of humor.
- I should be doing FAR more detailed planning on paper. I spent an embarassingly high amount of time looking at the top item on my to-do list (stuff as broad as, say, "enemies" or "collision detection"), wondering how to execute that particular aspect of the game, then getting distracted, forgetting the plan, and having to think it up all over again. Here's another thing I plan on doing next time: during the first 4 hours, I will do no programming, art, or anything else related to the production of the game. I will simply figure out what idea I'll be doing, then plan out the whole thing on paper, complete with time estimates and, where I'm not sure about execution, broad-level pseudocode. I will budget for 13 hours of pure work-time. In 48 hours, I usually sleep for 18, and since the planning would take 4, that's about 26 hours of free time. I cut those 26 hours in half because, having previous experience with self-estimates, I know that they tend to be pretty accurate (possibly even self-fulfilling, due to Parkinson's law), but that I spend about half my time doing things "off the clock"- that is, real-life stuff that gets in the way: eating, bathroom breaks, distractions/breaks from work, phone calls, other unavoidable social situations, etc. I say 4 hours for planning because settling on an idea usually takes me 1 hour (I was a bit intimidated when the keynote described it as "the first minute" of the LD experience- it took me a whole 3.5 hours to find an idea I liked this time, due to the flaw in my plan outlined by the previous bullet point), and the remaining 3 hours should be enough to make a very thorough plan that outlines the entire design (both on the user end and the programming end) in one fell swoop, so I can eliminate critical thinking almost entirely from the programming process (I work, like, 10x faster and more distraction-free when I don't have to think all that much about it).
- EDIT: I need to stop being such a perfectionist. Reading Sos's excellent post-mortem reminded me about this one. I caught myself several times hacking away at bits of code because they didn't work in some obscure edge case, or testing, altering the gravitational acceleration by miniscule amounts, and re-testing because the game might've been a bit too easy or a bit too hard without those adjustments. I know from experience that I have a very hard time letting go of little nitpicks like that, but I need to learn to move on and come back to it if I have time (even though, deep down, I know I won't). In my most recent (non-LD) project with a deadline, on my to-do list, I kept a list labeled "nitpicks" of all the things that bugged me about the game that I thought would harm the user experience. When I was done with the rest, I went back and fixed maybe two of them before I had to submit, but it was all the better because I didn't focus on those right away. I guess I should start doing that in LD too. After all, why spend half an hour on fixing minor bugs in the controls when you could do it implementing something more important, like sound?
I guess I'll end this very long-winded post by saying that, while this Ludum Dare was less pleasant to me than usual because of all my failures, I'm still glad to have done it because of how much it has galvanized me to do the next one so radically differently that I might actually accomplish some polish that time.
Congratulations to the Evolution theme, which has FINALLY been chosen! It's a bit tricky to find a non-obvious idea for this one, but at least it's not too similar to previous LDs! I've got a few ideas brewin', but naturally, I'm afraid a bunch of other people will have thought of the same things. I suppose with thousands of games out there, it's hard to have something COMPLETELY unique- execution is important, too! However, I am trying to shy away from what I bet is the most obvious idea: a game where the player character or enemies get upgrades or change form (à la Altered Beast) over time.
My tools:
- Haxe with Physaxe or AS3 with Flixel, depending on the idea
- DAME for tilemap editing, should I need it
- Photoshop CS3 for whatever I can pass off as art
- GarageBand (or Famitracker if I'm feeling generous with my time budget) for music
- bfxr for sound
Also, remember last Ludum Dare, when I was one of several people who did a postmortem survey and promised to release statistics with the results? Well, unfortunately, due to some stuff that happened to everyone in the class I was doing the survey for, I didn't get to do a real analysis of the results. When this compo's over, I'll take a crack at the analysis and post what I come up with!
I guess I should have goals, too, so here are some goals I'm coming up with off the top of my head:
- Spend less than half my time programming. That way, I can spend more time working on the ever-elusive polish: level design, art, music, sound effects, and so on.
- Actually have music. I have not yet released an LD game with music; I've always run out of time before I could compose some.
- Not get distracted so much. I am my own worst enemy in these sorts of things; my mind gets carried away all the time. Part of the reason I do Ludum Dare so much is to train myself to focus, and I plan on continuing that here.
- Oh, and KITTENS! I will work cats into this somehow if it kills me. There's too many kitten-haters out there.
Good luck to everyone, and remember to have fun!
Just when you thought the surveys were over…
Hi there!
- Did you participate in Ludum Dare 23?
- Do you want to help forward the cause of SCIENCE?
- Are you at least 18 years old?
If so, you may be interested in taking my survey!
I am an MIT undergrad interested in studying game jams for a course on video game research. I'm studying Ludum Dare to see the relationship between how people go about making their games during the Compo or Jam to how well they did (and how well they believe they did). The survey's not long at all; you should be able to complete it in less than 10 minutes. Any and all responses will be greatly appreciated!
Michael Ahearn
A post-… er… pre-mortem
That's it. I give up.
Since I had prior commitments on Saturday, I planned on making my entry for the Jam during the remaining 48 hours. The idea was to make a game that has NO graphics, forcing the user to navigate by sound alone. That was all going fine, and I was well on my way to a finished game, until 15 minutes before the deadline, I discovered a bug that renders the game unplayable. The way I tested it, I enabled one sound at a time and tested them individually. But, when it came time to put them all together, the way I coded it makes the whole shebang sound EXTREMELY choppy, making it impossible for the player to know what's going on. I think I know a fix, but it's gonna take more time than I have left. I guess I'll keep on plugging and put out a non-jam version when I can.


text:
Xbox Digs Into History of Atari, 'E.T. the Video Game' for New Docuseries
Xbox is digging deep into the video game industry's past as it prepares to launch its first slate of shows on its consoles in the very near future.
Filmmakers Simon Chinn ("Searching for Sugar Man" and "Man on Fire") and Jonathan Chinn ("30 Days" and "American High") will produce the yet-to-be titled documentary series through their multiplatform shingle Lightbox. Series explores the events and colorful characters that established the digital age, with each seg being helmed by a different director.
"X-Men 2"-scribe Zak Penn will direct the first installment that investigates Atari's now legendary burial of millions of unsold copies of "E.T. the Video Game" in a landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico, in the middle of the night in 1983. Lightbox will film the excavation of the landfill by Fuel Entertainment to determine whether the incident is an urban myth or a true tale that led to the demise of Atari.
"When Simon and Jonathan Chinn approached me about this story, I knew it would be something important and fascinating," Penn said. "I wasn't expecting to be handed the opportunity to uncover one of the most controversial mysteries of gaming lore."
Xbox Entertainment Studios said the series, which begins production in January, will debut exclusively on the Xbox One and Xbox 360 in 2014 worldwide through Xbox Live.
"Our goal is to produce a series of compelling and entertaining docs which will deploy all the narrative techniques of Simon's and my previous work," Jonathan Chinn said. "It's particularly exciting to be partnering with filmmakers like Zak Penn who come to this process from other filmmaking disciplines and who will bring their own distinctive creative vision to this."
Project is one of the first to get the greenlight from Nancy Tellem, president of Xbox Entertainment Studios, who also has moved forward with another documentary series, "Every Street United," that revolves around street soccer players around the world. A series based on Microsoft's "Halo" franchise is also being developed by Steven Spielberg.
At Variety's Dealmakers Breakfast at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles last week, Tellem said developing Xbox's first slate of original shows has taken longer than she expected, but it's now ready to launch its first shows in the new year.
SEE ALSO: Microsoft to Launch First Original Shows on Xbox in Early 2014
Tellem called the Chinn cousins "consummate story tellers" who will "expose how the digital revolution created a global democracy of information, entertainment and commerce, and how it impacts our lives every day." The series for Xbox is the first project to emerge from their recently-launched unscripted company, which has headquarters in both London and Los Angeles.
Lightbox is represented by CAA and Jeanne Newman at Hansen Jacobson.
Related storiesDealmakers: Disney's Alan Horn, Microsoft's Nancy Tellem Discuss Future of EntertainmentMicrosoft to Launch First Original Shows on Xbox in Early 2014Sony's PlayStation 4 Outsells Microsoft Xbox One in First Weeks Since Launch 2013 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLCCopyright © 2014, Chicago Tribune

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The Leading eBooks Store Online
for Kindle Fire, Apple, Android, Nook, Kobo, PC, Mac, BlackBerry...
New to eBooks.com?Learn more
- Bestsellers - This Week
- Foreign Language Study
- Pets
- Bestsellers - Last 6 months
- Games
- Philosophy
- Archaeology
- Gardening
- Photography
- Architecture
- Graphic Books
- Poetry
- Art
- Health & Fitness
- Political Science
- Biography & Autobiography
- History
- Psychology & Psychiatry
- Body Mind & Spirit
- House & Home
- Reference
- Business & Economics
- Humor
- Religion
- Children's & Young Adult Fiction
- Juvenile Nonfiction
- Romance
- Computers
- Language Arts & Disciplines
- Science
- Crafts & Hobbies
- Law
- Science Fiction
- Current Events
- Literary Collections
- Self-Help
- Drama
- Literary Criticism
- Sex
- Education
- Literary Fiction
- Social Science
- The Environment
- Mathematics
- Sports & Recreation
- Family & Relationships
- Media
- Study Aids
- Fantasy
- Medical
- Technology
- Fiction
- Music
- Transportation
- Folklore & Mythology
- Nature
- Travel
- Food and Wine
- Performing Arts
- True Crime
- Foreign Language Books
Handbook of Crystal GrowthElsevier Science 2014; US$ 455.00
Volume IA Handbook of Crystal Growth, 2nd Edition (Fundamentals: Thermodynamics and Kinetics) Volume IA addresses the present status of crystal growth science, and provides scientific tools for the following volumes: Volume II (Bulk Crystal Growth) and III (Thin Film Growth and Epitaxy). Volume IA highlights thermodynamics and kinetics. After historical... more...
The Liquid Crystal Display StorySpringer 2014; US$ 179.00
This book focuses on the development of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and liquid crystal materials (LCs) in Japan. The Committee of Organic Materials Research for Information Sciences of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) planned the book to document essential LCD innovations and developments since the beginnings of the field-effect... more...
Introduction to Crystal Growth and CharacterizationWiley 2014; US$ 86.50
This new textbook provides for the first time a comprehensive treatment of the basics of contemporary crystallography and crystal growth in a single volume. The reader will be familiarized with the concepts for the description of morphological and structural symmetry of crystals. The architecture of crystal structures of selected inorganic and molecular... more...
Crystal Symmetry, Lattice Vibrations, and Optical Spectroscopy of SolidsWorld Scientific Publishing Company 2014; US$ 127.00
This book provides a comprehensive treatment of the two fundamental aspects of a solid that determine its physical properties: lattice structure and atomic vibrations (phonons). The elements of group theory are extensively developed and used as a tool to show how the symmetry of a solid and the vibrations of the atoms in the solid lead to the physical... more...
GlassDe Gruyter 2014; US$ 168.00
This workdemonstrates how general features of glasses and glass transition are exemplified in different classes of glass-forming systems, such as silicate glasses, metallic glasses, and polymers. In addition, the wide field of phase formation processes and their effect on glasses and their propertiesis studied both from theoretical and experimental... more...
Modern X-Ray Analysis on Single CrystalsDe Gruyter 2014; US$ 168.00
This completely revised edition is a guide for practical work in X-ray analysis. Experimental developments e.g. brilliant X-ray sources, area detection, and developments in computer hardware and software have led to increasing applications in X-ray analysis. An introduction to basic crystallography moves quickly to a practical and experimental treatment... more...
Crystal Growth and Characterization of Advanced MaterialsWorld Scientific Publishing Company 2014; US$ 216.00
Contents: Fundamental Aspects of Crystal Growth from the Melt (C Paorici & L Zanotti); Phase Diagrams in Crystal Growth (A N Christensen); Growth Procedures and Perfection of Semiconductor Materials (A Lindegaard-Andersen); Atomistic Aspects of Crystal Growth and Epitaxy (I Markov); Fundamentals of Liquid Phase Epitaxial Growth (P Kordos); Determination... more...
Basic Concepts of X-Ray DiffractionWiley 2014; US$ 60.50
Authored by a university professor deeply involved in X-ray diffraction-related research, this textbook is based on his lectures given during more than 20 years for graduate students. It adopts a well-balanced approach, describing basic concepts and experimental techniques, which make X-ray diffraction an unsurpassed method for studying the structure... more...
Phasing in CrystallographyOxford University Press 2013; US$ 119.99
Modern crystallographic methods originate from the synergy of two main research streams, the small-molecule and the macro-molecular streams. The first stream was able to definitively solve the phase problem for molecules up to 200 atoms in the asymmetric unit. The achievements obtained by the macromolecular stream are also impressive. A huge number... more...
Topological InsulatorsElsevier Science 2013; US$ 205.00
Topological Insulators , volume six in the Contemporary Concepts of Condensed Matter Series , describes the recent revolution in condensed matter physics that occurred in our understanding of crystalline solids. The book chronicles the work done worldwide that led to these discoveries and provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of the... more...


text:
To guarantee this part fits your vehicle, click here. If it doesn't fit your vehicle, we'll recommend similar products.
Our Advantage
Need Help?
Compare Related Products
Maval W0133-1661425 Steering Rack
Our price: $290.95
Our price: $290.95
Motorcraft STG-34RM Steering Rack
Our price: $254.01
Our price: $254.01
Replacement REPA280202 Steering Rack
Our price: $221.97
Our price: $221.97
view image gallery
A1 Cardone26-2508 Steering Rack - Direct Fit
Part #: A1262508 | Mfr #: 26-2508
In Stock
Ships out in Same day - 1 business day
Ships out in Same day - 1 business day
- Low Price Guarantee
Be the first to write a review.
- Overview
- Manufacturer info
- Extended Warranty
- Related Products
- Related Products


text:
The Starters Awards 2014: In Memoriam
We lost a lot of good memes out there.
The Starters Awards 2014: Fan of the Year
This is the kind of award that needs to be seen to believed. Because while a Bongo Cam might sound like fun, it's even better once you've experienced one.
Enjoy it!
Mon. Apr. 7: The Starties!
Subscribe to The Starters on iTunes | Download the .mp3 directly
On today's special edition of The Starters, hosted by Kristen Ledlow, we hand out some major NBA awards in traditional categories, like this season's Most Valuable Player and Most Improved, while also deciding the winners in a few fun categories, like Fan and Wedgie of the Year.
In addition, we mourn those lost during the season via song, share the Whoa Boy and Tweet of the Year, raise a Worst of the Year winner/loser to the rafters, and drop our Top 10 Plays of the Year.
Enjoy the show!
Subscribe to The Starters on iTunes | Download the .mp3 directly


text:
Please upgrade your browser for the best Refinery29 experience. Read more.
For BellJar's fall '12 lookbook, owner Sasha Darling seems to have come down with a fever. A disco fever, that is.
The sultry photos were snapped in L.A. (Darling's new home), and are laden with moody textures and playful focuses that highlight folky getups. From a gilded, draped frock adorned in sequins to maxi peasant dresses in psychedelic wallpaper prints, these stylish looks are destined to be chic in any decade. "Lately, I have been taking a lot of inspiration from the mid-seventies," says Darling. "That kind of rock and roll, glamour gypsy." And we couldn't be more impressed with the groovy results.
Can we just talk beauty for a sec, too? The models looked ultra seductive in dramatic smokey eyes and deep rouge lips, while their messy curls are topped with turbans. We mean, really, this lookbook is pretty much swoon city! Flip through the slides after the jump for a modern take on this fashion flashback.


text:
Contact: Tien Nguyen
Princeton University
Caption: Princeton University researchers merged two powerful areas of research to enable an unprecedented chemical reaction that neither could broadly achieve on its own. The resulting bond formation could provide an excellent shortcut for chemists as they construct and test thousands of molecules to find new drugs. In the transformation, a carboxylic acid (left) reacts with an aryl halide (right) in the presence of tiny amounts of an iridium photocatalyst and a nickel catalyst to form a direct and unique bond between two highly prevalent classes of molecules.
Credit: (Image courtesy of Science/AAAS)
Usage Restrictions: None
Related news release: A collaboration of minds and metal


text:
Abita Andygator (In Store Only)
Back to Products
Select Quantities
Select Store for Price22oz Bottle
Item #810069
Size: 22oz
Type: Lager
Varietal: Doppelbock
Country: United States
Region: Louisiana
"....Interesting and successful take on the style that is very crisp, drinkable, and packs plenty of flavor...Lacks the malt flavor that other examples have, but the flavors that are present really shine....Well balanced and delicious...."
Reviewed by: Beeradvocate.com
Prices, promotions and availability may vary by store and online.
Customer Reviews
There are currently 0 reviews for this product.
Be a trailblazer and write the first one!
Be a trailblazer and write the first one!
No Reviews


text:
15 of 50 Items
Atlas of the city of New York, Manhattan Island. From actual surveys and official plans / by George W. and Walter S. Bro ....
Bromley, George Washington
Bromley, Walter Scott
Real property -- New York (State) -- New York -- Maps
Early Real Estate Atlases of New York
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building / The Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division
All Any
Image ID: 1516766
[Plate 10: Bounded by W. 14th Street, Sixth Avenue, Cornelia Street, Bleecker Street, Barrow Street, Bedford Street, Chr...
[Part of Section 2, New York City.]
Permalink (click to copy):
Embed this image (click code)


text:
Here he is! Finally! This cross doesn't come along veryoften but when it does it goes quickly! Dash is a from a stunning litter of 7,6 Boys and 1 Girl! He is commonly known as a Mini Bulldog, but more officially,he's a ¾ English Bulldog and ¼ Beagle, very hard cross to find! He's got tonsof wrinkles & extra skin. Enjoy the look of the English Bulldog but thebenefits of a hardy and healthy cross breed. He'll be ready for his new home anytime afterMarch 26th! Based on the parents' weights he is expected to weigh in the 30-45lb.weight range at full maturity. Mom is a 50/50 beabull & dad is a purebredEnglish Bulldog, pics are available. Ad posted on 03.18.10. DOB: 02.01.10. He isup to date on all vaccinations and dewormings, detailed records will beincluded with purchase.
Beautiful English Bulldogs
Scooter miniature bulldog for sale!
Registered Mini English Bulldog puppy Bantam bully
AKC puppy


text:
|Individual Counseling
Couples Counseling
Family Therapy
Adolescent Therapy
|Senior Adults
Are you feeling hopeless and suffering from depression?
Depression shows itself in many forms. 1 in 5 people have suffered from some form of depression at least once in their lifetime. Depression is a frequent reason for absenteeism at work because people who suffer from depression have more health issues than their non-depressed fellow workers; and while at work, their job performance is decreased by seven times their healthier co-workers.
Depression is a major cause of increased health-care spending for the unhealthy symptoms that are experienced as part of the condition. Depression is not discriminate by age. It can creep up on younger people as well. Teen and college-age depression can be a major cause of missed school days.
Families and couples are also affected by the illness, causing a real strain on maintaining healthy relationships. Friends and family can find it difficult to communicate with the depressed person. Anger, feeling helpless and feeling alone in the partnership are common feelings in a relationship with a person who is chronically depressed.
Symptoms of Depression
How do you know if you're depressed? Some people feel like they want to crawl up in a ball and go to sleep, and others think, "What's the point?" And some feel suicidal. Here are some symptoms of depression to look for if lasting for more than 2 weeks:
Dealing with the pain underlying your depression and the endless cycle of hopeless thoughts is not easy. Making the conscious decision to change your thought patterns and deal with your profound sadness is the first step to recovery. Your spirituality or faith can help get you through the dark days. Counseling is another extremely effective way to overcome your struggle with depression.
Montville Counseling Center is experienced in helping people suffering from depression. Call us today at (973)-331-0043 and feel move past hopelessness and be more in control of your life.
Most Insurances Accepted
Including Medicare.


text:
Opium magazine editor Todd Zuniga and Erin Hosier host the latest installment of the popular Literary Death Match, in which writers read their work before a panel of judges who then select two finalists to go head to head in a unique competition of Zuniga's choosing. Tonight's readers Alan Zweibel (one of SNLs original writers), Rivka Galchen (Atmospheric Disturbances), Josh Weil (The New Valley) and Michael Muhammad Knight (Soft Skull Press) will be judged by Ben Greenberg (Grand Central Publishing), Chris March (from Project Runway), and comedian Chelsea Peretti.
Wed., May 27, 8 p.m., 2009


text:
Student Life >> Browse Articles
Browse Health / Nutrition Articles
Five Health Mistakes College Students MakeDon't spend more time in the campus health clinic than in the classroom this school year. Avoid these common campus health mistakes. 1. Not washing your hands enough - With so many people living together, eating together, and studying together, germs spread quickly on college campuses. You can catch colds, the flu, sore throats and more by rubbing your nose or ...Published 6 months ago |
Top 10 New Year's Resolutions for 2011Fastweb isn't just counting down to the New Year--we're counting down the top 10 New Year's resolutions on college campuses for 2011. Did your resolution make the list? 10. Become Better Organized One way to get over the stress and mess of 2010 is to commit to better organization in 2011. Staying organized can lead to better grades, more sleep and ...Published about 4 years ago |
Sleep and the StudentYou need a 4.0 on your exam, which you have to stay up all night studying for, just in case you missed something in the review. That's understandable. Then, it's Amy's birthday so you have to go out– it'd be rude not to. Plus, you have a quiz, a paper due and that date you've been anxious about. No worries, you'll ...Published 8 months ago |
Depression Hits College Campuses HardRecently, the American College Health Association (ACHA) published the results of their National College Health Assessment. The report revealed that 91.7% of students felt their state of health was good, very good or excellent. However, when it came time to talk about depression, the numbers were quite startling. Approximately 30.7% of the students polled said that at one point in the ...Published almost 4 years ago |
10 Things You Should Do Over Holiday BreakWhile you're on break over the holidays, it's easy to get into a lazy mode where you sit around doing nothing with your days, letting them mesh into one long continual nap fest. While there is some value in getting shuteye, there's only so much rest necessary and, to be fair, you do have other, more important things to do. Like ...Published 9 days ago |
20 Study Tips for FinalsFinals week can be the most stressful time for a student, whether in high school, college or graduate school. Ensure you're prepared for your exams with these helpful finals study tips! Follow these tips as finals week approaches so you can ace your exams from start to finish: 1. Create a study guide. Outlining the important information you need to learn ...Published 8 months ago |
Basic Life Skills You Should KnowThere are some skills in life that everyone seems to just know. But, at what point did they learn how to do that? Trust us, you're not alone – obviously, people weren't born knowing how to take care of themselves. Some of these may seem silly or obvious, but you'd be surprised how many students need help with the most basic ...Published over 1 year ago |
Holidays and HeadachesBy this time in the semester, you have gotten used to being a (somewhat) responsible adult. Your independence away from home has toughened you up and made you sharper. From doing your own laundry to setting up your own appointments (without crying, of course), you are embracing your freedom and individuality. But there comes a time when you start to dream ...Published about 1 month ago |
The Forgotten College StudentThis year, when you're nestled all snug in your bed, with visions of sugar-plums dance in your head, take a moment to think about the forgotten college student. Not sure who we're talking about? Then keep reading. We've all encountered the homeless, whether it's through volunteering, in passing on the street or in the news. To many, it seems like a ...Published 12 months ago |
Your College Experiences ChecklistYou can easily make the most of college life – starting with the life experiences on this checklist. All of the list items will provide you with experiences that are unique to college life. Make sure you consider taking on these opportunities before you're cast out into the "real" world because you may never have the same options again. Living with ...Published 3 months ago |
GrubHub Ranks 2014 College Campuses' EatsSo much of American culture is based around eating. We get together to socialize over meals, we eat when we're bored and, obviously, we eat when we're hungry. A person's eating habits can speak volumes about their lifestyle and, sometimes, even their ideals. GrubHub Inc., the nation's leading online and mobile food ordering company, encompassing brands like GrubHub, Seamless, Menupages, and ...Published 10 days ago |
To-Do List: Starting a New SemesterWhen starting a new semester in college, there's so much going on that it's hard to keep track of all the tasks that you need to accomplish. Here's a list of things you should do sooner than later to ensure you'll stay ahead during the course of the semester: 1. Arrange your class schedule to ensure you get all the classes ...Published 5 months ago |
Comfort Canines on CampusDuring what may be the worst week of all the weeks – finals – high schools and colleges are finding new and exciting ways to help ease student stress. One such method? Pet therapy. Schools are working with organizations to allow therapy dogs to visit over-stressed, overwhelmed and overworked students (of which there are many). Students are calmed by the mere ...Published about 1 year ago |
What College Students Ate in 2014In college, it seems that eating habits usually fall into one of two categories: a priority or a chore. Some students love to eat while others simply eat to live between study sessions. Either way, most students don't like to waste time thinking about their next meal when they're hungry and, as a result, often resort to ordering takeout because, well, ...Published 10 days ago |
A New Semester's Game PlanStart the school year off on the right foot. How, you ask? There are plenty of ways to ensure you'll have the best chances of staying focused and on top of your academic game. You just need to implement them. Think of the following as a game plan for starting ahead: Get Acquainted Meet your TAs and professors as early as ...Published 5 months ago |
Helpful Student Health TipsAt Fastweb, we get it. Students are busy. Amongst a challenging curriculum, exciting social life and personal commitments, sometimes it can be difficult to remember to take care of yourself. But, without your health, none of your other activities are possible. That's why it's so important to develop great habits now that you can follow for a lifetime. Check out the ...Published 8 months ago |
The Study GameStudying is rough – especially when you have a huge final exam with an unbelievable amount of material to get through. Why not create a game so you can have a little fun in the meantime? It may seem silly, but we tend to respond to reward systems and try to avoid feeling any negative consequences. If your rewards and consequences ...Published about 1 year ago |
15 Easy Ways Students Can Go GreenYou know what it is to be green but, when you're in college with a busy schedule, sometimes it seems like a lot of time and effort that you don't have to devote to becoming Eco-friendly. However, there are small changes you can implement into your daily life that take little to no time or effort and can actually save you ...Published 8 months ago |
The Problem with Study DrugsIt's no secret that students are held to an almost-impossible standard of perfection. This comes from many areas: parents, teachers and, mostly society. The pressure to succeed can become unbearable because, after all, nobody's perfect. If you don't think it's a trend, you may want to open your eyes. Even in researching this article, it was amazing how many students commented ...Published over 1 year ago |
Timeless Advice for College SuccessWith college on the horizon, there's likely a whole lot of wisdom going around. Your friends, your family and, yes, the writers at Fastweb, all have a say on how to handle your freshman year. With all this advice flying around, we began to wonder: What would some of the greatest minds of all time say to an incoming college freshman? ...Published 8 months ago |


text:
All quotes tagged Imagine
(1871 quotes found)
"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge - myth is more potent than history - dreams are more powerful than facts - hope always triumphs over experience - laughter is the cure for grief - love is stronger than death"
"To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science."
"The unreal is more powerful than the real, because nothing is as perfect as you can imagine it. because its only intangible ideas, concepts, beliefs, fantasies that last. stone crumbles. wood rots. people, well, they die. but things as fragile as a thought, a dream, a legend, they can go on and on."


text:
You're a sports nut, and you've been counting down the days until Opening Ceremony this year. Or, you just want to know how that horse thingy works in the gymnastics competition. How to Watch the Olympics [2]by David Goldblatt and Johnny Acton is the book for you.
[1] http://hcpl.net/users/angel-hill
[2] http://catalog.hcpl.net/ipac20/ipac.jsp?menu=search&aspect=subtab13&term=how%20to%20watch%20olympics%20goldblatt&index=.GH#focus
[3] http://hcpl.net/taxonomy/term/34
[4] http://hcpl.net/category/tags/olympics
[5] http://hcpl.net/category/tags/sports


text:
Choose from more than 125,000 reading quizzes with ARTest this site now
Best Answer: try reading the books rather than cheating. You can't get the answers unless you are the one who bought the tests. As a teacher, I have tried ...Test this site now
... Page gives students who's schools uses the Accelerated Reader ... The teacher could see that we were taking a test ... Ok, first let me teach you the format the answers are ...Test this site now
Top questions and answers about AR Quiz Answers. Find 2355 questions and answers about AR Quiz Answers at Ask.com Read more.Test this site now
Accelerated Reader will shuffle the answers each time it presents the quiz to your students. When you finish entering the answers, click the [OK] button ...Test this site now
Here at AR-Answers we provide the answers to thousands of Accelerated Reader reading tests. ... week after I discovered it and passed the Gulliver's Travels Test ...Test this site now
Close to 150,000 book titles exist in the Accelerated Reader quiz database ... Occasionally websites have also been created to offer the answers to Accelerated Reader ...Test this site now
Best Answer: 2 books gone with the wind=71 points harry potter 5= 44 points ... It depends. What grade are you in? The points may vary from school to ...Test this site now
Find 9 questions and answers about AR-Book-Test-Answers at Ask. . HELP has 1 answers. . That would depend on what A. Different kinds of mathematic problems from lower ...Test this site now
Question:alright guys i need ar answers plz. This whole semester i was studying math and my science fair and i had no time what so ever. Plz dont post comments that i ...Test this site now
AR Questions amp; Answers ... bookstores be sure to ask for the College Place Middle School Accelerated Reader test ...Test this site now
Accelerated Reader Questions including quot;How many Accelerated Reader points is the Hobbit quot; and quot;Can you take a ar test at your house quot;Test this site now
Answers to ar quiz for holes. ... Answers to ar quiz for holes Related reading What Are The A.r Test Answers To The Book Hatchet?Test this site now
ar n. The letter r. [Middle English arre , from Late Latin er .] ... Post a question - any question - to the Wiki Answers community:Test this site now
ar Quizzes The following is a list of quizzes tagged ar at Quiz Maker Are you random? Category: Personality QuizzesTest this site now
Find Ar Test Questions Answers information on Bloglines. Your reference source for timely information.Test this site now
That would depend on what A.R. stands for. There are 12 pages of results: # http://www.acronymfinder.com/af-query.asp?Acronym=ar amp;Find=find amp;string=exactTest this site now
The Accelerated Reading Program is a technology-driven reading program that many schools use as a primary or supplemental reading resource. Kids read books that are ...Test this site now
AR Quiz Lists | Kidstop Newsletter | PTA Sign-Up Form | Parent Resource PageTest this site now
New Members: zhongliang joined 18 minutes ago. Vagatolacic joined 21 minutes ago. WouseWide joined 2 hours ago. projenspecal66 joined 4 hours ago.Test this site now
The quiz website is connected by software installed at the school. The main site for Renaissance Learning is at the related link.Test this site now
Welcome to the QuizMoz ar test answers to diary of a wimpy kid dog days. QuizMoz offers one of the Internet's largest collection of quizzes for you to tease your ...Test this site now
Quiz lists: AR Book/Quiz Finder: Quiz times and places ... grades 1-5 are using an updated version of Accelerated Reader ... Click Help to get answers to your questions ...Test this site now
May 20 AR TEST ANSWERS Leading motorsports cable dec game performance or Either way they are a editorial ar war ar test answers for to ...Test this site now
Ar Quiz Answers: Find out everything there is to know about Ar Quiz Answers on Daymix.com! Images, videos, blog posts, news, tweets and more!Test this site now
question: Ar test answers to eragon? Can you answer this question?. What are the AR test answers for the book Eragon? dude that book is so old now but it was a good ...Test this site now
Back to Questions : Quiz Answers ... AZ (Although Arkansas comes last alphabetically, its abbreviation is AR.)Test this site now
The Last Olympian Ar Test Answers Documents gt; Seapyramid.net www.glencoe.com Updated: 2012-06-05 0i-12 Walk Two Moons 825321... Answer Keyand Assessment Rubrics:detailed ...Test this site now
Welcome to the QuizMoz ar test answers to diary of a wimpy kid dog days Discussion Forum. QuizMoz offers one of the Internet's largest collection of Forum De ...Test this site now
* before a test indicates 4th grade level or above. These were originally intended as Accelerated Reader* tests, and that is how ... program and rearrange the answers. These ...Test this site now
Searching for Accelerated Reader books is fun and easy with this free online tool. Please tell us who you are: Student : Parent : Teacher : LibrarianTest this site now
harry potter and the goblet of fire 100% corret 1) The dream that awakened ... Harry potter and the deathly hallows ar test answersTest this site now
Give us your book recommendations for Accelerated Reader ... drive our selection of book titles for Accelerated Reader quizzes. ... name, series name and year by emailing answers ...Test this site now
Ar test answers to eragon. Accelerated reader answer key ... Accelerated reader answer key. Does any one have A.R. test answers? | AnswerbagTest this site now
Answers For Ar Tests - 14 results like Jenway Model DB-2 and DB-3, ANSWER Daily Ovulation Tracker for Any Cycle Length - 20 Test Strips and a Cup, Beistle Test Tube ...Test this site now
FunAdvice harry potter AR test help Not Answers. HELP has 1 answers. Ask any Art, Writing amp; Literature questions you have and get fast answers.Test this site now
Best Answer: Well the main characters are peeta, katniss, and gale. Peeta is a baker. And katniss and gale are hunters. Prim, katnisses little sister, gets ...Test this site now
AR Literacy Test List the Witch of Tony Johnston 5.2 0.5 10651EN Aliens Don't Wear Braces Lowry 6.8 4.0 936EN Anastasia has the Answers Lois Lowry 4.9 4.0 202EN ...Test this site now
Best Answer: The order of the questions and answers always change so it's a tough call. ... wat r the questions do you have a link or sumthing ... Could ...Test this site now
FunAdvice How to cheat accelerated reader tests? has 7 answers. Ask any Education amp; School questions you have and get fast answers.Test this site now
myers.salkeiz.k12.or.us Updated: 2012-06-16 AR 5th grade tests. 5th Grade AR Tests September 2007 Book Title Author AR Level Points Location in ... Inkspell Funke ...Test this site now


text:
Code: GOBBLE25 | Expires: 11/25/14
Applies to all domestic orders!
[read more]
This 2 tablespoon colorful wood scoop is perfect for measuring coffee. Each layer of wood is a different color of the rainbow.A great gift, this scoop will add color and fun to any morning.
Be the first to review this product.
Submit a Review
We're confirming your subscription now...


text:
Moving forward
How transportation networks and arteries are set up can have a big impact on development and the quality of life in an urban area.
An improbable opportunity
Is it any surprise that the federal deficit has largely disappeared as a political issue?
Shared defense
Congress needs to pass legislation that allows more information sharing while ensuring strong privacy safeguards are in place.
Why Nov. 4 matters
Make no mistake, how New Yorkers cast their ballots next week could shape politics and governance in Albany for at least the next several years.
The real risk? Worrying about the wrong things
Snap Poll: Most disapprove of immigration order
The majority of this week's RBJ Daily Report Snap Poll respondents-nearly 60 percent-disapprove of President Barack Obama taking executive action on immigration, though nearly 70 percent favor establishing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
Poll: Most do not seek repeal of Obamacare
While a plurality of RBJ Daily Report Snap Poll respondents—43 percent—say the Affordable Care Act should be repealed, more than half of the poll participants do not support that move. A year ago, a slight majority favored repeal.
Snap Poll: Majority confident about retirement
Recent stock market volatility has brought concerns about retirement savings and income into sharper focus, but the majority of RBJ Daily Report Snap Poll respondents are confident that in retirement they will be able to maintain their current standard of living.
Readers grade 43North competition
RBJ Daily Report Snap Poll readers are split on the 43North competition in Buffalo as an economic development idea. More than half rated it as excellent or good, compared with 18 percent who said fair and 30 percent who said poor.
Snap Poll: Astorino leads Cuomo for governor
If the election were today, the majority of respondents to the Daily Report Snap Poll—58 percent—would vote for Astorino. Cuomo garnered 31 percent, while 8 percent favor Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins. Libertarian candidate Michael McDermott received 3 percent of the support.
High home costs hurt U.S. economy
The effects of high home prices in desirable cities on the economy are insalubrious.
More transit investment needed
Improving city schools in Rochester: a steep hill to climb
We can agree that it is unfair to have good schools in prosperous neighborhoods and bad schools in poor ones.
A lowly legume, the peanut has remarkable appeal
That is the life lesson of the peanut. It is different. It may be just a lowly bean, but it has remarkable charisma.


text:
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeldis traveling.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz hosts an honor cordon to welcome Georgian Minister of Defense Gela Bezhuashvili to the Pentagon at 4 p.m. EST. The cordon will be held on the steps of the Pentagon River Entrance. Media must be at the Pentagon North Parking Entrance no later than 3:30 p.m. EST for escort to the cordon.
Under Secretary of Defense for Personneland ReadinessDavid S.C. Chutestifies on sexual assault in the DoD at a hearing of theSenate Armed Services Committeeat 9:30 a.m. EST in Room SH-216, Hart Senate Office Building.
Chu also conducts media availability to announce 2002 Sexual harassment Survey Results at 4 p.m. EST in the DoD Briefing Room, Pentagon 2E579.Media without a Pentagon building pass interested in covering this event must haveproof of press affiliation and two forms of photo identification and should be at the North Parking Entrance by3:30 p.m. Please call (703) 697-5131 for escort into the building.
Check Other Events
for additional listings, including air shows, band concerts, Congressional
hearings, reunions and much more.
Dempsey: Innovation Critical to Victory
℠2014 - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs GEN Martin...
General Dempsey Speaks On The Debate On Civil-Military Divide.
℠2014 – The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff...
New Laser Treatment Helps Troops in Italy
℠2014 – Service members affected by skin ailment are...
Department of Defense Changes Allotment Rules
℠2014 – Starting in 2015, allotments can no longer...
Contacts Additions and corrections for Today in the Department
of Defense are invited and should be directed to the press desk by calling
+1 (703) 697-5131 or +1 (703) 697-5132.
Media Questions News media representatives with questions for the
Department of Defense may reach our press desk by calling +1 (703) 697-5131. Media
representatives with questions after work hours should call +1 (703) 678-6162 for
Public Inquiries All others are invited to contact our public
inquiries section by phone or U.S. mail or through the web. See our comment
page for details.


text:
- Gadgets
- Accessories
- Jewelry
- Art
- Home
- Games
- Miniatures
Get the best of 3D Printing in your inbox, plus exclusive offers and recommendations from the Shapeways team.
Japanese fighter design that was to have entered production in 1946. Unlike most of the canard (tail first) experimental designs developed by other countries the Shinden was powered by a radial engine. Unfortunately the design exibited some control problems and there may not have been enough experienced pilots left to make the best use of its capabilities.
White nylon plastic with a matte finish and slight grainy feel.
More From NickHawkins


text: Rand Paul Demands America Help Christian Pastor Held by Iran Print article Send a Tip by Mary Chastain 12 Oct 2013 post a comment On Friday, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) told the audience at the Values Voter Summit he will do everything he can to free American pastor Saeed Abedini in Iran. "In Iran, American pastor Saeed Abedini is detained indefinitely, facing physical and psychological torture. They ask him to renounce his faith," said Paul. "I've introduced a resolution to the Senate that says and calls for and says we should do everything within our power, within our voice, from the White House, from the State Department, from our government to release Saeed Abedini." Abedini converted to Christianity from Islam in 2000. Iran does recognize Christianity, but if a Muslim converts they are treated as second-class citizens in the country. Abedini and his wife, Naghmeh, moved to America in 2005, where he became an ordained minister in 2008 and a citizen in 2010. He returned to Iran in 2012 to visit family and work on an orphanage in Rasht, but Iranian authorities took his passport and placed him under house arrest. Paul went on to talk about the persecution of Christians across Muslim countries. Last month, the radical Islamist terror group al-Shabaab attacked the Westgate mall in Nairobi, Kenya and specifically targeted non-Muslims. Two suicide bombers also attacked an Anglican church in Pakistan, killing over 85 civilians. And in Syria, rebels are invading Christian towns and forcing residents to convert to Islam or die. "Across the globe, Christians are under attack, almost as if we lived in the Middle Ages or if we lived under early Pagan Roman rule…It's almost as if that is happening again throughout the Middle East," said Paul. "This administration does nothing to stop it. And it can be argued that they're giving aid and comfort to those who tolerate these crimes." "We send billions of dollars to Egypt, to Pakistan. We've helped put new Islamic regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. President Obama now sends arms to Islamic rebels in Syria. In Egypt, the mob attacked our embassy, climbed on top of our embassy and burned our flag," said Paul. "I don't know about you, but I've had enough. I say not one penny more to any country that would burn the American flag. We must work to ensure that our country, our policies, our tax dollars are on the side of ending this violence rather than encouraging those who perpetrate it." On September 27, the one-year mark of Abedini's arrest, hundreds of people including Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), protested and prayed outside the White House. On Friday, the European Parliament passed a resolution demanding Iran release Abedini.


text:
Burnley have been handed a mouth-watering home clash against Jose Mourinho's Chelsea on the opening weekend of the Premier League.
Sean Dyche's men have been given a baptism of fire following their automatic promotion from the Championship last season as they welcome the Blues to Turf Moor on the weekend of August 16.The Clarets then travel to Swansea before another huge home clash against Louis Van Gaal's Manchester United on August 30 - a game they won 1-0 in 2009-10 thanks to a Robbie Blake strike.They host Liverpool on Boxing Day and visit reigning champions Manchester City on December 28.Dyche's men face a favourable run-in, though, as May consists of games away at West Ham and Hull followed by the visit of Stoke and a final day trip to Aston Villa.
Have you an opinion on this story? Put your money where your mouth is and claim a free £25 bet.


text:
Linguistic Mapping Reveals How Word Meanings Sometimes Change Overnight
Data mining the way we use words is revealing the linguistic earthquakes that constantly change our language.
Discover one of our 28 local entrepreneurial communities »
Be the first to know as we launch in new countries and markets around the globe.
Interested in bringing MIT Technology Review to your local market?
Data mining the way we use words is revealing the linguistic earthquakes that constantly change our language.
Twitter data mining reveals surprising detail about socioeconomic indicators but at a fraction of the cost of traditional data-gathering methods, say computational sociologists.
We're all influenced by the weather but psychologists have struggled to gather convincing data revealing the correlation. So researchers are turning to Twitter instead.
Sending entangled photons to opposite sides of the planet will require a small fleet of orbiting satellites, say physicists.
Social media is playing an increasingly important role in religious activity. Computer scientists ask: How is that reflected in the Twitter stream?
The first data mining study of romantic relationships on Twitter reveals that social networks undergo the equivalent of earthquakes after break ups.
If you pay a "like farm" to generate likes for your Facebook pages, what do you get?
A new approach to networking could make video delivery faster and more reliable.
Seriously: How much is it worth to you to never have to deal with Instagram's privacy-related crap ever again?
Progress is finally being made on the next version of the open programming standard that originally made the Web blossom.


text:
Qualified participants receive a rebate on rent or real estate taxes. Application deadlines apply.
Forms become available in February. Forms and preparation assistance are available from Pennsylvania State Legislators, many Senior Centers, and ElderNet.
Age 65 or older; Widow/widowers age 50 and older; Disabled age 18 or older. Medical verification required. Check Form PA-1000 for details on eligibility.
Bryn Mawr Community Building, 9 South Bryn Mawr Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010-3406 (610) 525-0706 | email@example.com
Privacy Policy | Home | About Us | Login | Register
copyright © 2010 by Eldernet


text:
4a Coulters Hill, BT22 1DS
offers around £239,950
added 3 weeks ago
Property For Sale > Northern Ireland > Co. Londonderry > Derry City > Cityside > Foyle Springs
Page 1 of 1
For Sale 3 Bedrooms Semi-detached
This three bedroom semi-detached house is located in a popular recent development in the Cityside. The property benefits from its quiet location, garden and proximity to the city centre. Accommodation...
For Sale 3 Bedrooms Semi-Detached
A charming three bedroom semi-detached family home on a large corner plot.This delightful semi detached property has been carefully maintained and is ready for immediate occupation.The dwelling is situated on...
Part of the Independent News and Media group


text:
1 Beady Belle: Closer and Cewbeagappic. Her voice is so warm and emotive.
2 John Mayer: Heavier Things. Love so many things about his artistry... He inspired me.
3 Gaelle: Transient. I love that ambient sound with classic song structure.
4 Anthony David: 3 Chords & the Truth. This is one of my best and oldest friends. I play this a lot to remind myself of where I came from.
Share this story:


text:
Subscribe to HELLO! and save up to 40%Subscribe
'We call him Prince Elvis' jokes Prince Frederik as he announces arrival of twins
The Danish royal household had reason to celebrate this weekend as Crown Princess Mary gave birth to healthy twins. Speaking to press outside the hospital, her husband Prince Frederik described...


text:
English Select a Language:
Visit: EU PlayStation.Blog
What happens when you combine mustaches with November? You get Movember, and we want you to join The Order team to help raise money for charity.
We are extremely honored to be part of Tokyo Game Show 2014. We've been humbled by the feedback we've received from all the Japanese fans and are excited to be here to reveal the next video in our Behind-the-Scenes series.
Ready At Dawn is excited to be at Gamescom 2014. This event has been an amazing place to reveal more of our game in the past and we are happy to do so once again this year.
It's been an amazing E3. From the PlayStation Press Conference to the days that followed, we had a series of reveals that shed more light onto The Order: 1886. We went into E3 with two demos that illustrated different aspects of the game: the battle in the streets of Whitechapel and the Lycan reveal in the London Hospital.
Exactly a year ago, we launched our new IP with a trailer that introduced The Order and its Knights. As we revealed more about the game in the months that followed, we left one questioned unanswered. Who is the enemy hidden in the fog?


text:
We look forward to welcoming the Class of 1984 back for Reunion.25th Reunion WebsiteJune 12-14, 2009Hope to see you then!
President Wendy Kertzman Klein
Vice President Ellen Scordato
TreasurerIphigenia Demetriade
Wellesley Fund RepLaura Wood Cantopher
For security purposes, we do not post contact information on this page. Please use the "Directory" in the online Community to look up your class officers' personal address, phone, or email information.


text:
A huge opportunity for the challenger … Read more.
A huge opportunity for the challenger … Read more.
Taped on June 22, 2013 at the "House Of Hardcore II" show in Philadelphia, Bill Apter catches up with one of the good-ole-ECW originals. DeVito also cuts an old school ECW promo… Read more.
CM Punk and Brock Lesnar … the war is finally here … Read more.
The big man talks to Apter about his past, present, and the future and cuts an "old school" ECW promo … Read more.
It was Beyond Perfection vs Awesome in this IC Title Bout Read more.
I think I have an interesting angle for this to happen … Read more.
CM Punk has returned home … Read more.
BIG RAY AND CO-HOST CHRIS PEREZ BREAK DOWN ALL THE ACTION AND GIVE THEIR OPINIONS ON THIS WWE PAY PER VIEW EVENT!!! Read more.
It was a very bad nigh for both competitors as they brutalized each other … Read more.
Jay Shannon makes his predictions for the next WWE Pay Per View. Read more.


text:
Search – northern michigan's news leader – 9&10 news homepage, 9&10 news northern michigan news leader michigan blood lost donations due to weather-related school closings …county says they lost 214 units of blood because.
Cdc – seasonal influenza (flu), Cdc centers for disease control and prevention influenza flu homepage – everything you need to know about the flu illness, including symptoms, treatment.
Lake michigan football report | your premier source for high, Your premier source for high school football recruiting coverage in northern & west michigan (by senior staff writer).
News | michigan radio, Your public radio source for npr and michigan news, events, politics, arts/culture, environment. serving ann arbor, detroit, flint, grand rapids, kalamazoo.
Cdc – seasonal influenza (flu) – weekly report: influenza summary, Seasonal influenza (flu) 2013-2014 flu season. what you should know; influenza – flu basics. key facts about seasonal flu; influenza viruses. types of influenza viruses.
Traverse city michigan, hotels, vacations, lodging – traverse city, Traverse city michigan information provided by the traverse city visitors bureau. located near the sleeping bear dunes, traverse city offers great lodging, things to.
Hotels, shopping, activities | mackinac island, One of the top ten islands in the world. the official website of mackinac island. discover luxury hotels like the grand hotel as well as affordable lodging..
Magic heat™ reclaimer for wood, oil or coal stove — 6 in, Installs into flue of your wood, oil or coal furnace or heater (except item# 172781 which is only for use with gas stoves). magic heat™ reclaimer consists of 10.
Stomach flu symptoms, Stomach flu symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting are caused by a viral infection..


text:
- 5-ヒドロキシトリプトファン
- 7-Keto(7-ケトデヒドロエピアンドロステロン)
- アサイベリージュース エキス
- アシドフィルス
- アミノ酸
- 酸化防止剤
- アスタキサンチン
- 骨フォーミュラ
- カルシウム
- グルコサミン
- ホメオパシー
- ヒアルロン酸
- クリル(オキアミ)オイル
- 食事代替サプリメント、シェイク
- マルチミネラル
- マルチビタミン
- きのこ、薬用
- プロバイオティクス アシドフィルス
- プロポリス
- ピクノジェノール
- 紅米麹(レッドイーストライス)
- 21st Century Health
- California Gold Nutrition
- Carlson Labs
- Country Life
- Doctor's Best
- Enzymatic Therapy
- Enzymedica
- Garden of Life
- Healthy Origins
- iHerb Brands
- Jarrow Formulas
- Life Extension
- Madre Labs
- California Extracts
- Doctor's Best
- Eclectic Institute
- Gaia Herbs
- Jarrow Formulas
- Life Extension
- Natural Factors
- Acure Organics
- Alba Botanica
- AnneMarie Borlind
- Aubrey Organics
- Avalon Organics
- Aveeno
- Derma E
- Desert Essence
- Acure Organics
- Alba Botanica
- Andalou Naturals
- AnneMarie Borlind
- Aubrey Organics
- Avalon Organics
- Bee Naturals
Customer Reviews
my cat does not like this
2 people found the following review helpful
Posted by Reviewer2873404 on Dec 21, 2009
Purchased at iHerb
I purchased this because the ingredients looked like they would help my cats sore joints. I have to try to disguise the taste. It became too much of a hassle to try to feed it to her. I think it is more for dogs. My cat is not a picky eater either.
Great company!!
1 person found the following review helpful
Posted by Reviewer2483394 on Aug 17, 2011
Purchased at iHerb
and no yeast!!!!!!! Have enjoyed many of this company's products for years on all of my dogs. Nancy
Ark Naturals Joint Rescue
Posted by Reviewer1151507 on Jul 24, 2008
Purchased at iHerb
I have been using this product for over a year now. My 14 year old collie mix cannot stand to be without it. I recently ran out and during the 4 days that we waited for delivery I watched as my dog got slower and stiffer by the day. As soon as the box arrived I opened it up and gave her a whole "pill". That evening I did the same. I doubled up the dose for a the next day or so. By the second day she was right as rain again! I recommend this product to folks all the time and have yet to have anyone say it did not work for their dog as well.
Posted by Reviewer1363474 on Oct 26, 2008
Purchased at iHerb
Have been using it for several years for my dogs. Seems to make them feel better.
Happy dog, happy wife, happy life
Posted by Reviewer2538127 on Feb 22, 2011
Purchased at iHerb
Changed brands. Think/feel this product is superior. Like the title of this review says, happy dog sans the limp. Easy to split in half even though the tablets are not scored.


text:
Traffic jams lessen as fuel rises and recession see drivers switch to cycling and walking
DfT data reveal that congestion down by almost a fifth on 100 key routes in UK
New figures from the Department for Transport (DfT) have revealed that traffic congestion has fallen by almost a fifth on major roads as a result of the recession and the rising price of fuel. A separate study has shown a drop of 50 per cent in traffic volumes on one stretch of motorway. The RAC believes that many drivers are taking measures including switching to cycling and walking to save money.
The DfT monitored 100 of Britain's major roads and found that from a height of 4 minutes 19 seconds per 10 miles driven in July 2007, congestion had fallen to 3 minutes 49 seconds by January 2011, reports the Daily Mail, which adds that this represents the first time that congestion has fallen since the international oil crisis in the late 1970s.
According to Roads Minister Mike Penning, "The falls in traffic volume over the last two years are likely to be linked to the wider economic situation but we recognise that it's a tough time for motorists as we tackle the country's record budget deficit."
A separate report by Trafficmaster, which provides data regarding traffic jams to satnav systems using speed sensors deployed on key routes, found that the number of delays in February 2011 was 52% down on a year earlier on a stretch of the M1 between Leicester and Sheffield.
Trafficmaster data manager Graham Smith commented: "The simple explanation is that there are now fewer vehicles on the roads. There is considerably less commercial traffic and in some cases people are finding other ways to get to work."
He continued: "People are also cutting down on leisure trips or driving to the shops. The cost of fuel is a major factor in people's decisions about making journeys these days."
The Daily Mail added that cities such as Leeds have seen a fall in the amount of traffic in the centre, and that there was a 500,000 drop in the number of drivers paying the Central London Congestion Charge between 2009 and 2010, despite the cost remaining unchanged.
With the average price of a litre of unleaded petrol hitting 133.17p earlier in March, sales of fuel are likely to continue to drop, despite the 1p cut in fuel duty announced in last week's budget.
In the three months to January 2011, petrol sales dropped by 4.1 per cent against the comparable period a year earlier, according to the Office for National Statistics. The three months to December 2010 saw a year-on-year fall of 9.5 per cent.
According to Adrian Tink, a motoring strategist at the RAC, people are switching to two wheels or two legs to help beat the impact of the rise in motoring costs.
"We are seeing record numbers of people walking and biking," he explained. "Evidence from the last couple of quarters is that the sale of petrol is dropping.
"A lot of people are combining journeys, making shorter ones and looking at alternatives like the train," he continued.
Mr Tink added that the impact of improved roads plus poor weather deterring people from driving had also been behind the reduction in traffic.
'cyling' is what Cylons do on a bike.
As anyone who followed the Battle Star Gallactica series remake knows, this means that they are amongst us and we can all look forward to be wiped out in a barrage of nuclear attacks.
Don't say you weren't warned.
The Mail must have been so conflicted.
Cyclists = bad
Motorists = good
More cyclists = good for motorists
Does not compute, does not compute... sparks, small explosion, smoke.
a.jumper - corrected now, thanks
alotoronic - I thought it was the lizard visitors in the remake of V that were going to do for us?
Maybe we should do a tinfoil hat review
The increasing scarcity of oil has been, until a couple of weeks ago, the only real cause contributing to this recession. Everything else was just the result of greed, stupidity and mismanagement, by bankers, governments and mortgage-borrowers. Of course, the developed world has now experienced real physical disaster, in the shape of the Japanese and New Zealand earthquakes, but whether that has as much effect worldwide as a few hundred bankers in New York and London in 2007 playing pass-the-parcel with bad debts, remains to be seen. At any rate, the money is still out there, somewhere. Perhaps when those that are currently holding on to it realise that things have got so bad that radically fewer people are driving to their offices and retail outlets, to give them their time and money, they will release some cash back in to the system. Either that or they'll hold on a bit longer, until the likes of Cameron give them, say, the roads instead of the forests, then they'll be able to rake even more money when the boom times do eventually return. Or they'll invest in China and leave the UK to rot. Anyway, much as I'd like to think it is the start of a cycling revolution, I doubt it. Small and/or local gains maybe, but on balance probably people staying home and sitting on their fat arses is more likely to be a bigger factor in reduced congestion.
Does not compute, does not compute... sparks, small explosion, smoke.
I thought that was TruthBot 2000.
Bear in mind that we had a tough winter and a lot of people didn't drive much, I know I didn't and the family car remained parked for even longer periods than usual. Road conditions have not improved, despite what the DfT claims, as the number of potholes has increased.
The increased cost of oil has rather a lot to do with what's happening across North Africa and the Middle East at present. Yes, the oil will run out but there is still quite a lot of it. But the easy to drill oil has mostly been tapped. The money the bankers were passing around was largely an illusion, that's why we had a banking collapse.
is the money out there though handlebarcam?
Lots of it has been pumped in to the system but as far as I can understand banks are being forced to hold on to it as security against the bad debts they may or may not hold and also because the ratio of assets to loans they are allowed to make has been dramatically reduced - so they can't rack up a load more bad debts cos it turns out that lots of banks aren't actually very good at performing the basic functions of being a bank loaning out depositor's money at reasonable rate of return because they are way to clever for anything so boring.
This financial system is broken and it isn't going to get mended any time soon by the looks of it.
Fuel is likely to remain expensive and the longer it does so the more changes in behaviour we are going to see when it comes to travel and the longer the situation persists the more change we will see and the more engrained those new behaviours will become.
But then maybe that's just me, when it comes to world financial meltdown I'm a glass half full kind of guy
"A lot of people are combining journeys, making shorter ones and looking at alternatives like the train,"
I don't see many multi-occupant cars around Shrewsbury yet, though queues do (subjectively) seem shorter than they were. Combining journeys? I thought only environmentally aware people did that. Everyone else jumps in the car without thinking... then moans about the cost. The cost of car use seems to be a total blind spot for most people.
However, until cycling becomes more attractive then most people won't bother. I think there are two big problems to overcome:
- many people see riding on the roads as dangerous. TBH I can't blame them, too many drivers are shockingly poor and dedicated facilities are pathetic. Using statistics will never overcome fear.
- cycling is still considered to be for those who can't afford a car. That's one reason why we get abuse etc - it's a status thing.
Train travel is too expensive to be an alternative. We considered going by train to see my parents in Bangor before Christmas. Driving 2 hours each way, costs <£25 in fuel. A return ticket for Mrs E, the 2 kids and me was £117. We'd have to get to/from the station at each end as well. Similarly, popping to Ludlow (40 mins by car) is £35 + a king's ransom to get into town on the bus. So we don't go anywhere on the train nowadays
Will it last? Or will the price come back down for a while, or people just grit their teeth and bear it?
Cycle commuting in London has doubled in the last ten years, mainly away from public transport, and while there has been some continuous stimulus, key events are a big factor - public transport strikes and 7/7. Each time, a lot of people have dragged an old bike from the back of the shed, just for a few days. Some of those have thought "hey, what have I been missing? Not sniffing the next strap-hanger's armpit, or having some perve try to look up my skirt?" They have stuck with it.
Perhaps some people will conclude that after all, you don't have to hop in the car to go down the 7-11 for pint of milk? Perhaps a many as a quarter of all car journeys are for reasons as trivial as that!
Quote:"A lot of people are combining journeys, making shorter ones and looking at alternatives like the train,"
I don't see many multi-occupant cars around Shrewsbury yet, though queues do (subjectively) seem shorter than they were. Combining journeys? I thought only environmentally aware people did that. Everyone else jumps in the car without thinking... then moans about the cost. The cost of car use seems to be a total blind spot for most people.
I've seen consumer research elsewhere that suggest that many people, instead of say taking the kids to weekend sports, going home, then going back out to do the weekly shop, are doing both on one trip instead of two.
There's plenty of stuff in the mainstream media about how the cost of running a car is hurting many motorists at the moment and how they are dealing with that.
What will be interesting is if interest rates start to go upwards, they can't be held at current levels forever. Once that happens, many households are going to have to make some very tough choices.
There's plenty of stuff in the mainstream media about how the cost of running a car is hurting many motorists at the moment and how they are dealing with that.
But is this a lazy journo 'interviewing' a couple of colleagues at the water-cooler or based on hard facts? And we all know that many print journalists easily confuse news with cut'n'paste from a Press Release.
Still, if it's genuinely true then there is some reason for hope... Perhaps rampant consumerism is on the wane and people will think harder about what they spend money on - quality, not quantity. I'd like to think we'd waste less on cheap crap and buy stuff that lasts, but I'm not holding my breath.
Perhaps rampant consumerism is on the wane and people will think harder about what they spend money on - quality, not quantity. I'd like to think we'd waste less on cheap crap and buy stuff that lasts, but I'm not holding my breath.
I think, even when/if the private motorcar becomes extinct, it will take a least another 50 years for the human race to reverse the effects that invention has had on its morals, ambitions, character and aesthetics over the last 100 years.