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Codebreaker - Most Commented
The rise of the @ symbol
This is a story about the little symbol that could. Many, many years ago, as Smithsonian Magazine tells us, the @ symbol wasn't very popular. It was the ugly duckling of symbols.
The first typewriters, built in the mid-1800s, didn't include @. Likewise, @ was not among the symbolic array of the earliest punch-card tabulating systems (first used in collecting and processing the 1890 U.S. census), which were precursors to computer programming.
In those distant days, the @ symbol still had a role to play--merchants used it for bookkeeping--but it was a small role. But the @ symbol didn't give up. It worked hard. It dreamed big. Years passed. And then a computer scientist named Ray Tomlinson came along. "Ray Tomlinson was facing a vexing problem: how to connect people who programmed computers with one another." He needed a symbol.
Tomlinson's eyes fell on @, poised above "P" on his Model 33 teletype. "I was mostly looking for a symbol that wasn't used much," he told Smithsonian. "And there weren't a lot of options—an exclamation point or a comma. I could have used an equal sign, but that wouldn't have made much sense." Tomlinson chose @—"probably saving it from going the way of the 'cent' sign on computer keyboards," he says. Using his naming system, he sent himself an e-mail, which traveled from one teletype in his room, through Arpanet, and back to a different teletype in his room.
And like that, the @ symbol chugged up the mountain of relevance and turned into a swan.
Ad it up
Social networking sites are still trying to figure out exactly how to make money from us. How to get ads in front of us that we'll actually click. How to share our data with marketers without winding up in trouble. So far, we've all been way more excited to comment on our friend's vacation pictures than clicking an ad for mirror-ball-pants. All Things D reports Facebook and Twitter are trying to change that.
In Facebook's case:
It will start letting marketers find prospects on the social network by using personal information like phone numbers and email addresses.
The catch: In order for a company to track a Facebook user using any of that data, the Facebook user has to have already given the company that data on their own.
Or to put it another way: Facebook is letting marketers hunt down existing customers on the site.
Twitter is remaking its ad strategy. A few changes:
*Twitter is effectively providing advertisers access to all of its 140 million users, via targeted "Promoted Tweet" ads.
*Twitter is also making it cheaper, at least potentially, to reach those 140 million users.
And, they are adding "Enhanced interest targeting":
This is what's going to allow advertisers to hawk their stuff more broadly on Twitter, and it's what Twitter was referring to earlier this summer, when we got our hands on their ad pitch deck. The gist: Now advertisers can try targeting some 350 "interest categories," as well as users who share "similar interests" with a specific Twitter account.
I wonder how many ads a single human brain can process in a day before exploding (or learning to ignore all of them)? At what point in our already ad-saturated lives does the next ad simply stop mattering?
Wolfram Facebook
The statistics-leaning, charts and graphs-heavy, "computational knowledge engine" Wolfram Alpha has added a new tool for you to parse out information about your Facebook page into different analyses that tell you about y-o-u. Find out which of your posts is most liked or most commented on. Check in which months your friends are most likely to have a birthday. Or, for something completely random, the app will spit out the most common names of your friends (eight Jessicas and seven Michaels top my list). The Verge reports:
You might think of it as a data-lover's version of Facebook's own Timeline, broken down into as many as 60 different reports. It is a stunning reminder of just how much Facebook knows about you and your network, and also gives you a chance to dig into your personal analytics almost as much as Stephen Wolfram has dug into his.
To run the report, go to Wolfram Alpha and type "Facebook report." You'll be prompted to give the site access to your Facebook account (how else did you think it was going to analyze you?), then the app goes to work. My report came back in less than a minute, granted I'm not that heavy of a Facebooker.
One tool that wasn't immediately clear, at least to me, is that you can dig deep on information about your friends too. Click on a name in your report and Wolfram drills down into any of your friend's data that is publicly available. One more reason to quadruple check your Facebook security settings. You never know when someone's going to Wolfram you.
Recharging through thin air
First there was one-click buying. Next up, we could have one-plug charging. Intel's just-announced solution to the "oops, I forgot my phone charger" problem is to pass a charge through an Ultrabook outfitted with an Integrated Device Technology chip - over the air. No strings, or wires, attached. CNET reports:
The creatively dubbed Wireless Charging Technology by Intel (WCT) is pretty simple. Just put your juice-impaired gadget within about an inch or so of a WCT-enabled Ultrabook with WCT detection software running. The laptop will couple with the mobile device and begin transferring energy wirelessly, as if conducted by the ghostly hand of Nikola Tesla himself.
Intel hopes to have Ultrabooks with IDC on the shelves in early 2013. It says that after an hour of charging, a your once-useless phone should be able to carry you through an afternoon. Not exactly quick, but at least you can use the thing.
Gloves! They're hottt, especially a really cold ones
Seems like we've been talking a lot about gloves lately. Let's see, there was the award-winning glove that translated sign language to speech. Then there was the rehabilitating glove that taught you how to play piano. And now... gloves that can make you stronger. About a decade ago, Stanford biologists H. Craig Heller and Dennis Grahn were researching how the body disperses heat. But, the Stanford news blog tells, a happy accident occurred:
by taking advantage of specialized heat-transfer veins in the palms of hands, [the gloves] can rapidly cool athletes' core temperatures – and dramatically improve exercise recovery and performance.
The team is getting ready to bring their discovery to the market. Simply called "the glove," they describe its potential as "equal to or substantially better than steroids." They originally developed and tested the gloves on patients whose bodies had chilled after having anesthetics administered for an operation. The gloves helped them recover in record time. Then one of their lab buddies, who had a penchant for working out and doing pull-ups, tried it.
The glove seemed to nearly erase his muscle fatigue; after multiple rounds, cooling allowed him to do just as many pull-ups as he did the first time around. So the researchers started cooling him after every other set of pull-ups.
"Then in the next six weeks he went from doing 180 pull-ups total to over 620," said Heller. "That was a rate of physical performance improvement that was just unprecedented."
The researchers applied the cooling method to other types of exercise – bench press, running, cycling. In every case, rates of gain in recovery were dramatic, without any evidence of the body being damaged by overwork...
Freebie movies
Oh, I mean free B-movies.
Troma Entertainment, the company responsible for classics like "Zombie Werewolves Attack!" and the less familiar, "Rock n' Roll Space Patrol" has just uploaded 150 of its b-movies to YouTube. Break out the hot-buttered popcorn, it's going to be a long weekend. The website Tech Dirt was tipped off to this treasure trove of schmaltz by Lloyd Kaufman, the company's founder and film director.
Kaufman has shown himself to be a filmmaker who truly understands how the internet can help him, rather than be something worth fearing, so it's great to see him fully embrace a platform like YouTube to distribute his flicks, and to not freak out about the fact that people can watch stuff for free (actually, to encourage people to watch stuff for free).
If you're going to complain Troma's, arguably, most popular title, "The Toxic Avenger" didn't make the list, save your breath and watch THE 150 FREE MOVIES it already made available to you.
Pretty sure Mother will enjoy this...
Snail-shaped phones? It could happen thanks to biomimicry.
The San Diego Zoo just cut the ribbon on the Global Center for Bioinspiration, which will specialize in figuring out ways to bring nature-created ideas into our everyday lives. The concept of biomimicry has been around since the days of Da Vinci, who took a keen interest in birds because he wanted develop a flying machine. The BBC adds:
[Da Vinci's] device never took off, but the Wright brothers did manage to build the first aeroplane in 1903 - after years of observing pigeons.
Probably one of the most notable nature-inspired technologies is the well-known hook-and-loop fastener, Velcro, which copies the tiny hooks on the surface of burrs.
Public radio station KPBS spoke with the center's managing director Larry Stambaugh, who shares:
One example of biomimicry comes from the morpho butterfly, whose brilliant blue wings are due to a structural pattern that reflects blue light. Stambaugh said Qualcomm has used that pattern to create more vivid colors on its cell phone screens.
Friends of Nemo cheer fishing net lights
The UK's James Dyson Award winner for design this year goes to Scottish art school student Dan Watson, who wants to bring light to fishing nets. His idea looks something like a hockey puck ringed with three small LED lights. The lights keep their charge by harnessing energy from the motion of commercial fishing nets, and they fit nicely in a net's webbing. Watson spoke to the BBC about his design:
"The rings fit into the 'cod-end' of the net - the part where all the fish are kept - and they basically exploit fish behaviour and their physical size to guide some to safety while keeping the other ones in. They act as kind of emergency escape sign."
Smaller fish, the kind that get "thrown out" because they are unusable, naturally want to swim toward the light and can wiggle their way out of the webbing to safety.
Watson's design now goes on to compete with 17 others in a world design competition.
23 years and not a note of music. A new hearing aid - BLAMO!
If you don't end up at least dabbing the corner of your eye after reading this story, you deserve to be placed in our next robot round-up, because you're definitely not human. The Atlantic profiles Austin Chapman, a 23-year-old born "profoundly deaf," who recently received a new high-tech hearing aid. Chapman said that watching people be moved by music was one of the most puzzling things he experienced as a deaf person.
The first noise he heard post-hearing aid was his shoe scraping across the carpet. Mundane for you and me, and totally startling for Chapman. Shortly after being fitted with the hearing device, Chapman's friends introduced music.
That night, a group of close friends jump-started my musical education by playing Mozart, Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Sigur Ros, Radiohead, Elvis, and several other popular legends of music.
Being able to hear the music for the first time ever was unreal.
When Mozart's Lacrimosa came on, I was blown away by the beauty of it. At one point of the song, it sounded like angels singing and I suddenly realized that this was the first time I was able to appreciate music. Tears rolled down my face and I tried to hide it. But when I looked over I saw that there wasn't a dry eye in the car.
And now he has 23 years of music to catch up on. A Reddit thread about him has garnered over 14,000 suggestions. Spotify has given him a 6-month subscription to kickstart the affair, which is nice and all, but shouldn't they have given him a 23-year subscription? As of now, this is his top five list:
1. Mozart's Lacrimsoa... I know it's a depressing song but to me it represents the first time I could appreciate and experience music.
2. The soundtrack to Eleven Eleven... I can see how this comes off as narcissistic, it being my own film and all but it's such a personal work that when I listened to it for the first time I broke down. I felt like I was truly seeing the film for the first time ever. I'm grateful that Cazz was able to capture the tone perfectly. We discussed the film and specific scenes with essay-sized reasoning/deliberations on what should be conveyed. The critical response to the film surprised me and I still didn't quite get it until seeing the visual images coupled with the soundtrack.
3. Sigur Ros's Staralfur... The first song I had to listen to again, over and over.
Out of nowhere Windows phone
Samsung unveiled the first phone running Windows 8 yesterday, and my guess is that there are some pretty ticked off Finns this morning. It's been widely rumored that Finnish phone maker Nokia would unveil its Windows 8 phone next week. There was probably a big bru-ha-ha planned for the phone too... a ticker tape, maybe a balloon drop, and all the cold, smoked fish you could eat. And now it's all going to have to be for the second Windows 8 phone. From Reuters:
The brief announcement on Wednesday at a Berlin electronics show comes amid expectations that smartphone makers may turn increasingly to Windows devices after a U.S. jury decided many of Samsung's Google Android-based phones infringed Apple Inc patents.
"It looks like a good phone, and seems like a pre-emptive announcement ahead of Nokia," said Sid Parakh, an analyst at investment firm McAdams Wright Ragen, of the Samsung phone.
Samsung's offering is called the ATIV S. CNET has the specs:
The Ativ S (Ativ is "Vita" spelled backward) features a slim design, a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display, and a 1.5GHz dual-core processor. There's also compatibility for HSPA+42. In addition, the Ativ S packs in a rear-facing 8-megapixel camera with autofocus and an LED flash, and a 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera.
Taking full advantage of new software capabilities announced for Windows Phone 8 in June, there's a microSD card and support for NFC (think file-sharing and, soon, payment).
If you're still hungry for more Windows 8 phone, and presumably fish, make your way to New York on September 5th for Nokia's

subset: commoncrawl


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(1834-37) $5 C. Bechtler Five Dollar, 20 Distant, RUTHERF -- Improperly Cleaned -- NGC Details. AU. K-19, High R.6....
2013 March 21 -22 & 24 US Coin Signature Auction - Dallas #1183
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|Printable auction results for all items in the 2013 March 21 -22 & 24 US Coin Signature Auction - Dallas.
Christopher Bechtler Five Dollar, K-19(1834-37) $5 C. Bechtler Five Dollar, 20 Distant, RUTHERF -- Improperly Cleaned -- NGC Details. AU. K-19, High R.6. The five dollar issues of Christopher Bechtler provide interesting variety study for the territorial specialist. Variants include RUTHERFORD COUNTY spelled out, AT RUTHERFORD, and RUTHERF. as seen here, and various GEORGIA GOLD varieties. Among the two RUTHERF. varieties, this one has 20 positioned further away from CARATS. This example displays brightness from an unfortunate cleaning. Otherwise, the surfaces are lightly marked except for a scratch HER in RUTHERF. and a couple of larger marks around the date. Light reddish patina surrounds the devices. Listed on page 374 of the 2013 Guide Book.
RUTHERF. Variant, 20 Distant, AU Details
RUTHERF. Variant, 20 Distant, AU Details
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MAC's done Mineralize Duos a plenty and now Sephora Baked Blush Duo copies the idea with these newly launched sparkling blushers.
Do we need them?
MAC's done Mineralize Duos a plenty and now Sephora Baked Blush Duo copies the idea with these newly launched sparkling blushers.
Do we need them?
Much of the Sephora Hot Hues Spring 2012 Collection is on sale at some KILLER deals. Wow, that was fast!
Have a look and steal some of these great picks!Read More...
My sister is a fair bit older than I am so I blame her for my taste in music a fair bit. As a fan of Journey of course she loved Asia and much of that love rubbed off on me…!
I dunno 'bout you but no one does Asia's In the Heat of the moment as good as Jensen does….and maybe Sephora too with their new In The Heat Moonshadow Baked Palette (add "in the moment" and you can have your own 80's fan girl moment there).
Take a sneak peek at this palette after the jump!Read More...
I waste too many hours playing Monopoly on my iPhone when I'm on the train, waiting in line at the post office, or stuck in traffic.
I just wish there was an app for Monopoly Sephora Edition, please Sephora, won't you create one?
It's a little hard trying to convince guys to play Monopoly Sephora Edition on game night but I wouldn't have to worry about that if you had an app for it!
Think about it, let me know, k?
I've made no secret that I adore the Sephora Moonshadow Baked Palette so I obviously, absolutely NEED the Sephora Moonshadow Baked Palette In The Heat one.
Yes, please!Read More...


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Video: Robot Flipping System for Turning
This video demonstrates how robot flipping station can serve the same purpose as a subspindle on a one-spindle multitasking center.>
Product Slideshow: Turning
Lathes and turning machines designed for flexibility are highlighted in this month's product spotlight.>
Marshall Manufacturing Wins Romi Lathe at IMTS
Yes, you'd think I would have reported this sooner being that IMTS took place last September. But, there's a reason why I didn't.>
Video: Tailstock Fundamentals
This video on tailstocks for lathes is equally valuable as an introduction for trainees or a refresher for existing operators.>
Two Heads Better Than One in New Hybrid Additive/Subtractive Machine
New Mazak Integrex capable of additive manufacturing includes heads for both high speed and high precision metal deposition. "Natural extension of multitasking," the company says.>
Tool Monitoring for Complex Machining
One of the biggest challenges to tool monitoring on a multitasking machine is coping with simultaneous cutting operations. Caron Engineering (Wells, Maine) designed a system to meet this challenge.>
Advanced Technology Drives 40 Years of Manufacturing
Mazak has been manufacturing machine tools in Florence, Kentucky, for 40 years. The growth and development of the production technology deployed in this plant reflect the most important advances in manufacturing during this span—from enhanced flexib...>
Emag Emphasizes Modular Gear Making
A recent open house event showcased an approach to tailoring a gear production system not through custom engineering, but by assembling the line from complementary standard machines.>
Job Shop in Sweden Installs Haas's 150,000th Machine
The milestone machine—a dual-spindle turning center with a Y axis—was installed in a job shop halfway between Stockholm and Gothenburg.>
Product Spotlight Slideshow: Turning
Integrated conveyor. Removable guide bushing. Simple cellular configuration. These are just a few of the turning center design elements highlighted in our April Modern Equipment Review Spotlight.>


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International eCommerce Regulations
This is an old revision of the document!
International eCommerce Regulations
This page is intended to outline the different laws and regulations concerning eCommerce per country or region. Please feel free to edit the page if your country is not represented or you'd like to add information.
North America
USA - No specific regulations are known.
The ability to apply two separate taxes to an order. There is a federal tax and a provincial tax for items shipped within the same province as the seller. These taxes can not be combined and must be shown separately.
European Union
For to check if an European VAT No. is valid or not: http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies/vieshome.do?selectedLanguage=EN
Finland France Germany Spain Sweden Poland UK
To sum up required features for different European regulations we need:
- ability to switch on/off displaying prices with tax (can be dependent on customer type?)
- ability to input tax and other numbers for a customer while creating account, changeable later
- ability to add additional info to products, shown on invoice
- custom rounding rules
- showing amount for each tax rate on invoice
Furthermore, certain items are not taxable in certain EU countries, such as books, so there should be an option to turn off taxation on such items.
South America
Central America
Middle East
- There are no Zip Codes, and postal codes are very rarely used; 9 out of 10 people know their postal codes. Addresses are only a matter of Street Address, Region, and City.
In Australia we do not have Counties. We are currently divided into eight "States".
These are:-
ACT (Australian Capital Territory) QLD (Queensland) NSW (New South Wales) VIC (Victoria) TAS (Tasmania) SA (South Australia) WA (Western Australia) NT (Northern Territory)
GST is levied Federally and is the same for each State. GST is payable on both goods and services. Basic foodstuffs are FRE (free of GST). Invoices are to be labeled "Tax Invoice" and must show the value of GST charged.
There are variations on this rate according to complex laws. In one case, we even have a tax on top of a tax WET (Wine Equisation Tax) is levied first on the last wholesale sale, and then GST is levied on the gross. Invoices are required to show both the WET and the GST separately. Where there are Cellar Door Sales (often FRE products as well as wines), it is desirable that the taxes be shown in separate columns on a line by line basis. It would not seem to matter which locale "State" was used to levy the taxes. Where goods are re-sold by a business registered for GST they can claim a credit on WET and GST already included in their purchase price.
External Sources
Distance Selling Regulations (UK) Selling online: an overview of the rules (UK) The UK's Distance Selling Regulations The UK's E-commerce Regulations Trusted Shops Certification requirements (DE and EU)


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Skin cancer cases in the UK are increasing faster than any other cancer cases and more people die from skin cancer in the UK than in Australia. Getting sunburn doubles your risk of getting the deadliest skin cancer, melanoma, but luckily sunburn is something you can easily prevent, just follow these top tips.
Deep down, we know that we should be safe in the sun. I certainly knew it, but my husband Graham thought he was 'indestructible' and so he didn't wear sun cream. It's only now, as a widow after Graham was cruelly snatched away by skin cancer when he was just 43 years old, that I can't believe I didn't act differently and make him protect himself.
For years I've been bogged down with the fact that I can't tan despite having dark hair and green eyes. It's not for lack of trying - quite the opposite actually - but I just don't. In fact, I'm one of those unfortunate people that finds their skin turning various shades of red, purple or white, but never, ever brown.
Unlike many types of cancer, skin cancer is greatly affecting our young population. It's now one of the most common types of cancer in people between the ages of 15 to 34. And young people's behaviour in the sun, such as that captured by the Teenager Cancer Trust research, has got a lot to do with this.


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|34 posts found
Current player count
General Discussion « StarQuest Online
The training ship which new players start in is unmanned as far as my latest excursions showed. I will certainly update this if some brave souls start crewing the training ship again, but as it stands, one should expect to be alone (and possibly trapped) on the training ship for days.
This is a serious blow, as crewing the training ship with experienced players is very important. Unfortunately, it's also a very draining job, as there is a lot of ground to cover with a new player before they generally have a clue. (A truly trained cadet can take 5-20 real-life hours, and a well rounded Ensign can take 30-50 hours of player-to-player training. )
The game isn't dead, but it will certainly feel much emptier now to newcomers.
General: Red 5 Studios Finally Reveals Its MMO
News & Features Discussion « General Discussion
I'm sure the Chinese studio buying them out had something to do with the microtransaction bent, as Asian games rarely adopt the subscription model anymore.
Making a PvP game fully cash shop based and still retaining the balance between the rich and poor is challenging to say the least, but it is doable.
Don't throw the baby out with the bath water just yet. If nothing else, they'll probably make a subscription based cash "item" that will even the balance.
Finally free to shape History in SQO?
General Discussion « StarQuest Online
The previous player position continuously required the majority vote from the main faction players, and the original player president would have lost the next election if the admins hadn't made the deal to make that person a permanent president. Why I'm being accused of embracing "dictactor-like" positions makes no sense when the whole reason for my making the post was to bring light to the current dictatorial setup while lamenting the past democratic setup that wasn't given much of a chance.
Originally posted by Morrok
Finally free to shape History in SQO?
General Discussion « StarQuest Online
A brief aside about the griefing talk earlier...
I'd like to point out that when we attacked the military ship as pirates, they did so badly in the fight that we took pity on them, revived quite a lot of their dead crew, repaired most of their ship for them, and I even created a new character, leveled it to perfect gunnery skills, and left it on their ship for them to use as crew, as their gunner had died in the fight. I know I wasn't being accused directly of griefing in this thread, but it would pain me to be put in that category in our attempt to make some interesting battles in an otherwise boring universe, where the military crew was talking of quitting the game out of boredom. (They ended up quitting later anyway)
After all that, we were still almost banned, and the military ship was completely restored by the admins a few hours later, even though the cost of them fixing the battle damage themselves was very little and would've given them something new to do.
Can you leave your ship?
General Discussion « Vendetta Online
No. You are your ship.
Current player count
General Discussion « StarQuest Online
Players you will actually see in the first day: 0 to 1
Players online in the game's main faction: 0 to 5
Total players online at any point during a day: 5 to 20
These numbers are based on my varied experiences over different times and days in July 2010. I was a new player trainer in this game for over 4 months. Space is huge, and spreading so few people over hundreds of light years can make it a very lonely place. Unfortunately, everyone wants to be their own captain, so don't expect to see a large player crew on any single ship. (Most crews are now made of computer players which respond to commands if you out-rank them)
Global chat was patched into the game a few months ago. (Yes, it took them years to put a chat window into the game) Left click the grey arrows on the middle left of the screen, type a message out, and press SHIFT+ENTER to send your message to global chat instead of your character's local surroundings. The game will feel a little less like a single player game if you do this sooner rather than later, as most of the old playerbase will pounce on any new player and welcome them with open arms.
Finally free to shape History in SQO?
General Discussion « StarQuest Online
I would like to call this thread vindicated before laying it to rest.
Some players found out about the permanent Presidency today, and there was quite a public outcry when people finally realized from the admins' attempted censorship that there actually is no democracy and that a player election was long overdue. The admins acted quickly and within hours made a different admin character President, saying she'd won the "election" when no election was actually held. Players who've been playing only a few months are feeling betrayed and cheated because they're finally realizing what should have been told to them plainly and honestly from the start....
The admins make the history. You are along for the ride. That is Starquest's true game description.
Finally free to shape History in SQO?
General Discussion « StarQuest Online
You're right that many people feel that losing a fight = grief in this game, and that's a grey area the admins aren't willing to compromise on, due to their fear of losing the small but loyal playerbase they have. (Aside from military players, the death penalty is the harshest imaginable, losing your ship and everything on it)
The issue I have is that the game is still advertised as being free-spirited, and the permanent change in the game was/has never been made explicit. New / prospective players are fooled into thinking the main faction is still a player-run, democratic one because any mention otherwise is heavily censored. If they were open about the game's changes instead of deleting posts about how players can no longer aspire to become leaders, it would've saved a lot of frustration of many players who thought they could make a difference in what was being done poorly.
For example, very recently our highest-ranking military player (who'd worked well over a year for his position) was stymied several times by the self-imposed military and political leaders in his attempt to make events happen. He had to resort to extreme measures to give the players anything to do that the admins wouldn't slap him for doing. He eventually quit the game partially because of how impossible it was for him to do anything without permission or reprisal, and I assure you several of our previous brass have quit, telling me they never would have played so much or worked so hard if they had known about this impending frustration up front.
Granted, openly stating that you don't trust your playerbase and will always rule with an iron fist isn't exactly good PR either, but advertising the exact opposite of what you practice doesn't settle well with me. If I'd known about this situation before I got started, it would've saved me countless months of effort against what was by definition an immovable object.
Finally free to shape History in SQO?
General Discussion « StarQuest Online
EDIT: This thread is probably obsolete now. The devs and admins have probably disappeared and no longer care, leaving the players FREE to play and shape history! Considering my bitter past, I consider this an opportunity instead of a bad thing. You only need good players and patience to generate content in this game. The publisher doesn't meddle with in-game affairs and has even lifted bans on old players, so as long as enough of us pay the monthly fee, the game can continue however we see fit.
From the game description: you and players like you will shape this world and its history into whatever you make of it. The designers of StarQuest Online have created the starting point, it is up to you to bring the world to life.
Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited: New DDO Offer Wall Sparks Fan Outrage
News & Features Discussion « General Discussion
Seriously: Take a chill pill.
This kind of monetization strategy has been around in many other F2P games for around a year now. Everyone I ever talked to in those games who took free marketing surveys for game cash were all well aware of the risks involved. HOWEVER, it allowed them to enjoy the game more without owning a credit card.
Because this kind of practice is completely transparent, I don't consider it as shady as you're making it sound. If I go to a website to get a free web coupon, I know what kind of waters I'm treading in. This is no different, and complaining will only result in the feature's removal.
Star Trek Online: Star Trek Online Review
News & Features Discussion « General Discussion
Originally posted by Jon Wood.
If you don't want to read my novel, just read the bold phrases to get the point.
Your review was great, except for the line above. Sheri Graner Ray, a game developer here in Austin, has been devoting a lot of her public face time to convincing the gaming industry that yes, tutorials do in fact matter. As a hardcore gamer and mediocre/amateur dev at times, I originally poo-pooed her message.
Then I played the STO tutorial in open-beta a month later. Knowing Sheri was 100% dead-on after suffering through it, I had my wife and non-gamer trekkie friends play the tutorial. The tutorial was so bad, they had no idea how to get through it without my help. None of them would ever play it solely based on their first 15 minutes of torture. (Mind you, these were computer-saavy, intelligent people who play Wii, and they got confused at every landmark in the tutorial. About 70% of the time, I simply could not blame them.)
It was amazing once my eyes were opened from the eyes of a true casual gamer (the kind that's only played Sims or Farmville): The tutorial innately assumed you were an avid MMO gamer who knew how to do everything and blithely tromped forward without so much as a pop-up-window explanation at crucial times.
Infuriated at how the developers had automatically filtered out everyone unfamiliar with MMOs, I wrote 3 separate posts in open-beta, detailing every last thing wrong with the tutorial, hoping desperately that at least some of it would be fixed before non-WASD trekkies were annihilated. ( I was hoping I could link to the posts, but all open-beta suggestion posts were deleted)
You can guess how this story ends....
Yup, that's right. EVERY LAST THING I asked to be fixed was completely ignored. The tutorial experience at launch was 100% identical to the horror they produced in beta. We're not talking about enormous dev time requirements either, like "make 10 new textures/instances" or "have William Shatner do a voice-over." No, it was along the lines of "your pop-up explanations say the wrong things" or "you didn't explain how to fire a weapon," and it still fell on deaf ears.
I would say that such an atrocity by itself should be grounds for dumping STO, but the sad truth is every MMO commits this heinous crime of assumption. An avid WoW gaming friend of mine told me that she never would've touched it if her brother hadn't spent days patiently helping her understand how to play it, as the tutorial consisted of exclamation marks which she didn't even see for a month of playing. She now plays WoW 50 hours a week and does quite well in PvP. The fact that our tutorials filter out people like this is shameful, and it needs to end now.
According to Sheri, this means you first have to stop having the junior intern do the tutorial and bump it up in priority beyond picking up the morning coffee.
Edit: To further emphasize my point, it's worth noting that after 6 pages of comments, no one else mentioned the tutorial except for the EMH's vocal emotional state. This illustrates how easy it is for us familiars to overlook and completely botch the most important part given to casual/non-gamers: the first 5 minutes where they don't even know how to move, shoot, or communicate.
General: Jennings: Why I'll Play Star Trek Online
News & Features Discussion « General Discussion
This article is EXACTLY how I feel. (Except the playing it anyway and spelling Klingon perfectly) Well done!
What existing Intellectual Property would you like to see made into an MMO?
The Pub at MMORPG.COM « General Discussion
I can not believe that no one has said this yet, as it is IP that practically begs to be an MMO with a fresh setting and a ripe space for innovative gameplay concepts. We've been begging for this on MMORPG (multiple times), have we not?
Edit: Keep in mind that while a lot of people hate WoW, it makes billions. Should you not make a blockbuster MMO simply because some people are vocal in their hatred of the IP? I know a lot of people who hate Star Wars....
Sheer Gameplay Depth of Starquest Online
General Discussion « StarQuest Online
I've noticed that most game explanations do not cover enough of a game's playability/possibilities to give a new player a decent idea of what to expect. At some point, most people say "the game is so big and deep that I can't possibly explain it all." Well, Starquest also falls victim to this kind of reviewing (see the IGN review here) and actually probably dwarfs the gameplay possibilities of almost any other game due to its unique code foundation laid by its developers.
I propose to solve this problem by telling you anything and everything that I have seen thus far as well as everything that can be done. Since this will be a relatively large post, I will probably come back and edit it from time to time.
With all of that prelude over with, let me tell you about Starquest Online. It will start with a paragraph about the universe, lapse into a massive number of bullets of what can be done in the game, and finally it will finish with my personal stories in the game. If you'd like, feel free to suggest additions or corrections to the bullets I have below, as the list will evolve over time until it encompasses enough of the game to give new players a relatively complete knowledge of what this game brings.
StarQuest Universe's Uniqueness
The StarQuest Online universe is seamless. This means that your character can exist at any point within a 1000x1000x1000 light year cube, and you'll never see an instance or loading screen. This continuity continues for ships and planets, as they are not separated from the rest of the universe. This means you can in theory jump into space from your ship and fall down onto a planet and then walk around, all the while someone else can watch this occur from anywhere, be it from the planet or a nearby station window. (You probably wouldn't actually ever do such a thing for the same reason you wouldn't in real life, because getting stuck in space is really bad, but the possibility remains) Unlike StarTrek Online, this means you are *not* your ship or any other vehicle. You are inside, and everyone else in the game can interact with you in ways that are much more realistic. I'll give some examples in order to start off my list of gameplay bullets:
Seamless Universe Examples
Discovering systems, planets, life
Building, Housing, and Colonies
Creating/Managing Stations/Ships
Creating/Managing your Character
Military Life
Stories of Gameplay
---A pirate player beamed onto another player's ship when his shields were down (the ship commander was slightly careless) and killed the crew. However, the last crewmember locked the bridge and raised shields, trapping the pirate onboard. The pirate continued throughout the rest of the ship and looted as much as he could. The remaining crew member sent out a distress message, which was intercepted by a military ship run by players. Two military ships eventually came, gathered together a boarding party, and beamed aboard the ship. The military players had a firefight with the pirate, stunned him, beamed him aboard their military ship only to have the pirate wake up and run away. The pirate eventually found a gun and killed a few sleeping crew members before he was stunned again and thrown into the brig. The judge of the government was about to begin trial of the pirate when the pirate convinced one of the military officers to let him go free. The renegade officer and pirate then beamed back onboard their pirate ship and started to hyper to safety. Another player military ship was alerted via distress signal, pursued, and (after a very long chase with hiding and getting close to enemy space) and eventually disabled the pirate ship.
---A ship was taking damage from an unknown source. It sent out a distress signal and eventually had another player ship arrive to assist. Eventually all of the players with repair skills beamed over to the damaged ship and repaired like crazy while the bridge crew tried to steer the damaged ship away from the unknown source of damage. That section of space is still being charted and examined via sensors to this day.
---We beamed onto a planet, looking for rocks to sample. My comrade eventually stunned a giant worm creeping its way towards us. When I beamed back to the ship, I was inadvertently standing near the worm and beamed it back with me. Not realizing the worm was merely unconscious, I went about my duties until we both stopped talking and saw the worm creeping towards us again. (It definitely reminded me of The Blob) My comrade started shrieking about the slime on his ship and eventually said "ewww, it's alive! kill it!" My gun was out of power, so I picked up a sword and whacked away at the worm. It finally died, and I dragged it back to the teleporter and beamed it right on top of another worm on the planet I found on sensors. (Live/dead worm sandwich...it amused me at least) I was then given the title "Ship's Janitor."
I've had two false starts with Starquest online (installing and quitting within minutes), as the initial player experience was/is quite horrible, as it lacks a decent presentation of how to play the game. This leads you to the mistaken conclusion that the game probably lacks substance. Fortunately for me, I was desperately looking for an open-ended gameplay MMO and kept bumping into Starquest everywhere I looked. Now that I've played it a third time and had a little patience, (a couple of hours) I finally managed to get the hang of things, got sucked into an amazing whirlpool of events and activities (all player driven), and I've never looked back after 3 weeks of playing.


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Tech: Old Reliable vs New Fangled
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Beastly Adventurer
Joined: Apr 2012
Location: Shippensburg, PA
Oddometer: 1,367
Originally Posted by
But to give a thumbrule of Reliability - The more stuff in the system, the less reliable the system. (You're gonna be doing more maintenance to keep it running 100%.)
This is only true
ceteris paribus
. In other words, the rule of thumb only applies if you are adding more stuff that has a similar failure rate to the original stuff.
Replacing a mechanical component with lots of electronic components which each have 5-9's reliability will actually increase the overall reliability of the system in most cases. Electronics have a different reliability hazard function than do mechanical components. Mechanical components tend to suffer significant infant mortality failures followed by a period of random failures, and then experience an end-of-life/wearout phase with ever increasing failure rates (mechanical wear in mechanical systems is a fact of physics). This is often called the "bathtub curve." Electronic components usually follow a decreasing failure rate curve with most failures being infant mortality failures. Wear out is by and large not an issue with electronics.
Counting the individual pixels on your display screen and transistors on your chips means there are literally millions of individual components in the device you are using to read this post. Add in all the electronic components in the internet between your device and the ADV servers and you get an inkling of just how reliable electronic components are. Electronics component reliability is orders of magnitude higher than mechanical component reliability. If it were not so, you would not be able to read this post.
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This lesson provides a way for students to determine the relationship between the distance from a light source and its brightness. Once students discover the relationship, they can begin to understand how astronomers use this knowledge to determine... (View More) the distances to stars and far away galaxies. (View Less)
Materials Cost: $10 - $20 per group of students
Students are introduced to the scientific tool of spectroscopy. They each build a simple spectroscope to examine the light from different light sources, particularly the Sun (Warning: Do not look directly at the Sun) and artificial lights (e.g.,... (View More) fluorescent or sodium lamps). Students compare the continuous spectrum of incandescent lights and the solar spectrum with the clear spectral lines of the fluorescent or sodium room lights and discharge lamps. They learn how the spectral "fingerprints" of each particular element help astronomers recognize the presence of specific elements in distant astronomical objects. Students are also introduced to the broader electromagnetic spectrum beyond what is visible with our eyes and how scientists observe distant objects using multiple wavelength bands. This activity is part of a series that has been designed specifically for use with Girl Scouts, but the activities can be used in other settings. Most of the materials are inexpensive. (View Less)
Materials Cost: $1 - $5 per group of students
In this investigation, students use "point-source" light, light meters, and graphing software to quantify the reduction in light over distance. Through careful measurement of light received at several distances, students discover the best fit of the... (View More) data is the inverse square rule. Using this rule, students then calculate the distance between the light source and the light meter at random placements. Finally, students extend this principle to model the manner in which distances to Cepheid variable stars are measured. The distance between the Cepheid (here the light source) and the Earth (the light meter) can be determined by comparing the output of the source to the amount of light received. An historic scientific breakthrough occurred when the period-luminosity relationship of Cepheids was quantified throughout the early 1900s. This breakthrough allowed astronomers to gain a more correct understanding of the dimensions of our galaxy and the universe beyond. This activity is part of the "Cosmic Times" teacher's guide and is intended to be used in conjunction with the 1929 Cosmic Times Poster. (View Less)
Materials Cost: Over $20 per group of students
In this lesson, students will be introduced to how the Doppler effect changes our perception of wavelengths of sound (pitch) and light (color). Students will model how astronomers use the line spectra of stars to identify elements in the stars and... (View More) the speeds of galaxies in the universe. Requires some special equipment for spectral analysis and a darkened room for viewing spectra. Suggestions are included for introducing the Doppler Effect for students unfamiliar with this concept. This activity is part of the Cosmic Times teachers guide and is intended to be used in conjunction with the 1929 Cosmic Times Poster. (View Less)
Materials Cost: Over $20 per group of students
In this lesson, students explore the cosmic microwave background to understand why it permeates the universe and why it peaks as microwave radiation. Students should be able to explain that the origin of the background radiation is the uniform... (View More) thermal radiation of the big bang and that the radiation produced was evenly distributed around the small early universe, causing it to permeate today's universe. This activity is part of the Cosmic Times teachers guide and is intended to be used in conjunction with the 1965 Cosmic Times Poster. (View Less)
Materials Cost: 1 cent - $1 per group of students
This series of curriculum support materials and classroom activities explores how our understanding of the nature of the universe has changed during the past 100 years. Students examine the process of science through the stories of the people and... (View More) the discoveries that caused our understanding to evolve from a static universe to a universe whose expansion is accelerating. The series illustrates the nature of science by tracing the process of discovery from the confirmation of Einstein's theory of gravity, to Hubble's evidence for the expanding universe, to the detection of the microwave background, and finally to the discovery of dark energy. The series includes six posters, each resembling the front page of a newspaper from a particular time in this history with articles describing the discoveries. Each poster is accompanied by an online teacher guide and 4-5 downloadable, inquiry-based lessons. Downloadable newsletter versions of the poster are available for individual student use, with three editions for different reading levels (Early Edition for 7-8 grade readers, Home Edition for 9-10 grade readers, and Late Edition for 11-12 grade readers). Lesson plans can be found by following the link from Teacher Resources to Curriculum Tools to Sortable Table of the Lessons. (View Less)
Materials Cost: Free
In this lesson, students simulate an experiment in which the discovery of dark energy can be made by plotting modern supernova distances on a Hubble Diagram. Data is provided in an Excel spreadsheet (see related resources). In order to complete this... (View More) activity, students should be familiar with Hubble's Law and the concepts of absolute luminosity, apparent luminosity, and Doppler shift (particularly redshift). This activity can be done using either a computer graphing program or manually with graph paper. This lesson is part of the "Cosmic Times" teacher's guide and is intended to be used in conjunction with the 2006 Cosmic Times Poster. (View Less)
Materials Cost: Free
In this lesson, students will investigate the Doppler Effect and discover how the same principle can be used to identify a possible tornado in storm clouds and investigate the rotation of distant galaxies. Students should be familiar with the... (View More) electromagnetic spectrum and the concept of Doppler Shift (links to background information are provided). Materials required for every group of 2-4 students include: a Slinky toy, safety glasses, meter stick, and colored pencils. This lesson is part of the Cosmic Times teachers guide and is intended to be used in conjunction with the 1965 Cosmic Times Poster. (View Less)
In this two-part investigation, students explore the concept of transits. In the first part, they discover that a transit is an event where one body crosses in front of another, like when a planet goes in front of a star. In the second part,... (View More) students investigate how a planet's size and orbit affect the transit and then learn how to interpret transit graphs. Extension activities, an explanation of the mathematics used in the activity, background information, real data from NASA missions, and an answer key are included. (View Less)
In this activity, students will use a simulator of an orbiting X-ray observatory to observe a supernova remnant, the expanding gas from an exploded star. They will take X-ray spectral data, analyze them, and answer questions based on that data. This... (View More) resource consists of a manual and software for the Introductory Astronomy Lab Exercise, from CLEA (Contemporary Laboratory Experiments in Astronomy). The manual includes introductory activities for students, background information, an instructor's guide, a student handout, an answer key, a software user's guide, and a glossary. The student section of the activity starts on page 13. See Related & Supplemental Resources for a link to download the software. Note: the software is only available for Windows. (View Less)
Materials Cost: Free


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"Great socks with plenty of support! Good stuff!" (E7560)
"Awesome youth fit!" (E23340)
"Not what I expected but actually better! Very satisfied with the shinguards. My daughter did not like the molding process much but does like to wear them now." (E669)
LAT Sportswear Adult Stars & Stripes T-Shirt [E29254]


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Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center: Garfield Theater
- 4126 Executive Dr.
- La Jolla, CA 92037
- (Garfield Theater)
- 858-457-3030
- Fax 858-450-6835
- View Map
- Visit Website
- E-mail this place
Business hours
|8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
|7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
|7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
|7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
|7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
|7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center provides a wide variety of outstanding social, cultural, recreational, and educational activities for people of all ages. Our programs and services celebrate family, foster health and well-being, embrace tradition, create friendships, and expand cultural horizons.
The JCC is a theatre, a preschool, a library, a fitness center, a community meeting place, and much more — our 97,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility provides a safe, positive, friendly and inviting environment for all who enter through our doors.
Mix and match cultural, recreational, and educational programs to enrich your life and the lives of your family. Be A Part Of It!
For additional membership information or to schedule a tour of the JCC, please contact the Membership Department, ext. 1115 or ext. 1116.


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Top Posts
Latest Posts
Finally a fix? Oilers get Talbot from Rangers
Jun 27, 2015, 11:10 AM EDT
Has only started 53 games in the NHL, but his numbers have been great.
Stars acquire rights to Niemi
Jun 27, 2015, 10:46 AM EDT
Dallas hopes to sign him before he becomes an unrestricted free agent next.
Ducks stay busy, send Etem to Rangers for Hagelin
Jun 27, 2015, 10:46 AM EDT
A speedy deal.
How much better will the Sabres be next season? Murray says: 'quite a bit'
Jun 27, 2015, 10:35 AM EDT
"In saying that, we've got a long way to go to improve to get to be competitive or a playoff team."
After acquiring Lack, 'Canes flip Khudobin to Ducks — more moves coming?
Jun 27, 2015, 10:09 AM EDT
Suddenly, Anaheim has a glut of goalies.
Julien 'pretty impressed' with Sweeney's moves
Jun 27, 2015, 10:06 AM EDT
Bruins fans may disagree.
UFA of the Day: Cody Franson
Jun 27, 2015, 9:46 AM EDT
He wasn't a good fit for Nashville, but there should be plenty of other teams out there that can use him.
Welcome to Day 2 of the NHL Draft
Jun 27, 2015, 9:44 AM EDT
Still plenty of questions to be answered…
Carolina gets Lack from Vancouver for third, seventh-round picks
Jun 27, 2015, 9:15 AM EDT
Canucks will put their faith in Jacob Markstrom and Ryan Miller.
Report: O'Reilly asked Avs for eight-year, $64 million
Jun 27, 2015, 8:14 AM EDT
That's the Phil Kessel contract.
Sharks re-sign Karlsson: two years, $3.25 million
Jun 27, 2015, 1:34 AM EDT
Undrafted Swede had a nice freshman campaign in San Jose.
Trade: Devils acquire Palmieri from Ducks
Jun 26, 2015, 10:29 PM EDT
Former first-round pick scored 14 goals for Anaheim this season.
Caps select Samsonov — a first-round goalie pick!
Jun 26, 2015, 9:44 PM EDT
First one since 2012.
With belief in building 'from the back end out,' Flyers take d-man Provorov
Jun 26, 2015, 9:31 PM EDT
"Ivan is going to be a big part of our defense moving forward."
Panthers select big Lawson Crouse, despite modest point totals
Jun 26, 2015, 8:58 PM EDT
They call him "The Sheriff."
Trade: Oilers send picks 16 and 33 to Islanders for Griffin Reinhart
Jun 26, 2015, 8:56 PM EDT
The Isles grabbed Mathew Barzal to start things off.
Boston becomes first team in 47 years to make three straight 1st-round picks
Jun 26, 2015, 8:55 PM EDT
Wild night for the B's.
PHT's 2015 NHL Draft Tracker
Jun 26, 2015, 8:29 PM EDT
Check back regularly for updates!
Boston University or Buffalo? Eichel's still playing coy (Video)
Jun 26, 2015, 8:15 PM EDT
"I guess we'll find out in a few days."
Hurricanes make Noah Hanifin the fifth pick
Jun 26, 2015, 7:49 PM EDT
Carolina could improve in multiple areas.
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- Bypassing a buyout? Kings terminate Richards' contract for 'material breach' (90)
- Trade: Flames land Dougie Hamilton for package of picks (75)
- M. Richards (2471)
- D. Hamilton (2443)
- C. Talbot (2020)
- S. Gagner (1955)
- R. O'Reilly (1930)
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- M. Lucic (1618)
- C. Pronger (1599)


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My tennis team stages a DRUG INTERVENTION
My team staged a drug intervention for me, last weekend. We participated in a tournament that, if we won it, gave us a wild-card seat at our Districts playoffs in August, without having to win our division. By Saturday at 7 p.m., I'd played three matches in less than 24 hours, and won all three. […]17 Comments • Continue Reading →


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Press release from Business Wire
BP Awards Emerson Multimillion-Dollar Contract To Provide Automation Technologies, Services For North Sea Oil Production

 Integrated control and safety systems will help BP manage operations of two new platforms for the Clair Ridge project

Wednesday, May 30, 2012
BP Awards Emerson Multimillion-Dollar Contract To Provide Automation Technologies, Services For North Sea Oil Production01:30 EDT Wednesday, May 30, 2012 AUSTIN, Texas (Business Wire) -- BP has awarded Emerson Process Management, a global business of Emerson (NYSE: EMR), a $23 million contract to supply control and safety systems for two new offshore oil platforms in the North Sea. The platforms are part of the Clair Ridge project being developed by BP and its co-venturers, ConocoPhillips, Chevron, and Shell, and will use the latest technologies to enhance oil recovery and avoid environmental impact in the area near the U.K.'s Shetland Islands. In addition to providing automation technologies, Emerson will serve as the project's main automation contractor under a global agreement with BP. In this role, Emerson will provide automation services that include system engineering, installation, configuration, testing, and ongoing support. The integrated Emerson solution will use Emerson's PlantWeb™ digital plant architecture, including its DeltaV™ digital automation system, DeltaV SIS™ process safety system, and AMS Suite predictive maintenance software. These digital automation technologies will support BP's Field of the Future® program for enhancing operating efficiency and oil recovery. The DeltaV digital automation system will control and monitor platform operations, while the DeltaV SIS system will manage process and emergency shutdown functions, if needed, plus fire and gas detection to enable secure control of oil production on the platform. The AMS Suite software will enable onshore technicians and managers to monitor the platforms' instruments, valves, and other automation equipment – including diagnosing problems and scheduling maintenance when it will be most cost-effective. Wellhead monitoring and control functions will take advantage of Emerson's Smart Wireless technologies, which help reduce engineering and cabling costs, as well as installed weight on the offshore platforms. "BP and Emerson share the same ideals of using the latest technologies to improve performance and enhance safety," said Steve Sonnenberg, president of Emerson Process Management. "We are delighted that BP recognizes the value that our automation technologies, our experience in managing offshore projects, and our local support capabilities can add to this project." BP has also awarded Emerson additional contracts to supply its Micro Motion® Coriolis mass flowmeters; Rosemount® pressure, temperature, level, and flow transmitters; Fisher® control valves and regulators; Rosemount Analytical gas chromatographs; and Roxar Watercut meters for the Clair Ridge platforms. This is one of several offshore projects where customers have turned to Emerson for its automation expertise, which can help producers operate responsibly, get to first production more quickly and easily, improve operating efficiency, and optimize production and yield. BP has described Clair Ridge as its most significant current project on the U.K. continental shelf. Production from the new platforms is expected to begin in 2016, with potential peak production up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day. About Emerson Process Management Emerson Process Management (www.EmersonProcess.com), an Emerson business, is a leader in helping businesses automate their production, processing, and distribution in the chemical, oil and gas, refining, pulp and paper, power, water and wastewater treatment, mining and metals, food and beverage, life sciences, and other industries. The company combines superior products and technology with industry-specific engineering, consulting, project management, and maintenance services. Its brands include PlantWeb™, Syncade™, DeltaV™, Fisher®, Micro Motion®, Rosemount®, Daniel™, Ovation™, and AMS Suite. About Emerson Emerson (NYSE: EMR), based in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), is a global leader in bringing technology and engineering together to provide innovative solutions for customers in industrial, commercial, and consumer markets around the world. The company is comprised of five business segments: Process Management, Industrial Automation, Network Power, Climate Technologies, and Commercial & Residential Solutions. Sales in fiscal 2011 were $24.2 billion. For more information, visit www.Emerson.com. Field of the Future is a mark of BP. DeltaV, DeltaV SIS, PlantWeb, Fisher, Syncade, Micro Motion, Rosemount, Daniel, and Ovation are marks of Emerson Process Management legal entities. All other marks are the property of their respective owners. For EmersonDenise Clarke, firstname.lastname@example.com


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Howard Alan Events to Produce the Crocker Park Fine Art Festival, 6/14
WHAT: 9th Annual Crocker Park Fine Art Festival
WHEN: June 14 - 15, Saturday, 10:00 am - 8:00 pm, & Sunday, 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
Crocker Park in Westlake
Navigational Address: 159 Crocker Park Boulevard, Westlake, OH 44145
WHY: To Support the Arts and the Local Community
ADMISSION: Free and open to the public
WEBSITE: www.artfestival.com
CONTACT INFORMATION: firstname.lastname@example.com or 561-746-6615
Festival promoter Howard Alan Events, producer of many award-winning juried art fairs throughout the country, has taken over the reigns as coordinator of the Crocker Park Fine Art Festival, slated for June 14 - 15, 2014.
Art enthusiasts will have the opportunity to engage the artists and crafters to gain a better understanding of their work and inspiration as they stroll through the vast array of quality original art and craft items on display and for sale. They will also be able to register to win the free art giveaway featuring the work of participating artist Maria Reyes Jones. The prize, an 18" x 24" reproduction of her original painting titled "Poppies in Spiral Vase", will be on display at her booth, where registration will also take place. No purchase will be necessary to participate and the winner will be announced during the final hour of the festival. To learn more about this talented artist and explore her work visit her website at www.mariareyesjones.com.
Festival patrons visiting the booth of show sponsor WindowPRO, will have the opportunity to win $10,000 in windows and doors. There is no fee required to register for this giveaway. In addition, those who sign up for a free in home consultation and estimate during the event, will receive a $200 discount off of every window and door. Additional details will be available at WindowPRO's booth.
Event sponsor, Renewal by Anderson, will continue their quarterly sweepstakes at this show encouraging homeowners to register to win $10,000 in windows and doors. There is no fee required to participate in the giveaway and the lucky winner will be selected on June 28th and notified via phone or email. Additional details will be available at the Renewal by Anderson booth.
About Author
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- Pilot Season Roundup: Colm Feore, Daniel Stern, Dave Annable to Star in New Shows
- James Franco to Star in New Fox Comedy, WHY HIM?
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- Grammy Winner Kelly Clarkson Exclusively Premieres New Music from New Album on MTV, VH1 & CMT First
- CONSTELLATIONS' Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson Set for THEATER TALK This Weekend


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Face Failure
"He who hopes to avoid all failure and misfortune is trying to live in a fairyland; the wise man realistically accepts failures as a part of life and builds a philosophy to meet them and make the most of them. He lives on the principle of 'nothing attempted, nothing gained' and is resolved that if he fails he is going to fail while trying to succeed." ~ Wilfred Peterson, The Art of Living
Failure is a part of the journey.
"If you want to play the game and win, you've got to play 'full out.' You've got to be willing to feel stupid, and you've got to be willing to try things that might not work – and if they don't work, be willing to change your approach. Otherwise, how could you innovate, how could you grow, how could you discovery who you really are?" ~ Anthony Robbins, Awaken the Giant Within
T'is So Much Joy
'T is so much joy! 'T is so much joy!
If I should fail, what poverty!
And yet, as poor as I
Have ventured all upon a throw;
Have gained! Yes! Hesitated so
This side the victory!
Life is but life, and death but death!
Bliss is but bliss, and breath but breath!
And if, indeed, I fail,
At least to know the worst is sweet.
Defeat means nothing but defeat,
No drearier can prevail!
And if I gain,—oh, gun at sea,
Oh, bells that in the steeples be,
At first repeat it slow!
For heaven is a different thing
Conjectured, and waked sudden in,
And might o'erwhelm me so!
~ Emily Dickinson
Change the way you look at 'failure.'
The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery
By Sarah Lewis
Post(s) Inspired by this Book: Quotes from Book /// Could a 'Near Win' be Better Than The Win? /// Julie Moss's Inspirational Near-Win in the 1982 Ironman
Book Overview: It is one of the enduring enigmas of the human experience: many of our most iconic, creative endeavors—from Nobel Prize–winning discoveries to entrepreneurial inventions and works in the arts—are not achievements but conversions, corrections after failed attempts.
The gift of failure is a riddle. Like the number zero, it will always be both a void and the start of infinite possibility. The Rise—a soulful celebration of the determination and courage of the human spirit—makes the case that many of our greatest triumphs come from understanding the importance of this mystery. Continue reading
"Pain is not a punishment. And pleasure is not a reward. You could argue that failure is not punishment and… Success is not reward. They're just failure and success. You can choose how you respond." ~ Sarah Lewis, The Rise
"…We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated. That sounds goody two-shoes, I know, but I believe that a diamond is the result of extreme pressure and time. Less time is crystal. Less than that is coal. Less than that is fossilized leaves. Less than that it's just plain dirt. In all my work, in the movies I write, the lyrics the poetry, the prose, the essays, I am saying that we may encounter many defeats – maybe it's imperative that we encounter the defeats – but we are much stronger than we appear to be and maybe much better than we allow ourselves to be." ~ Maya Angelou
"Failures are life's way of nudging you and letting you know you are off course. Trying new things and not being afraid to fail along the way are more important than what you learn in school." ~ Sara Blakely
"When I was a child, my father used to encourage my brother and me to fail. At the dinner table, instead of asking about the best part of our day, he would ask us what we failed at that week. If we didn't have something to tell him, he would be disappointed. When we shared whatever failure we'd endured, he'd high-five us and say, 'Way to go!' The gift my father gave us by doing this was redefining what failure truly meant." ~ Sara Blakely
"In our culture, we grow up thinking that failure is a terrible thing, that it's a setback, or worse, the end. Often it turns out to be the beginning of something better." ~ Katherine Schwarzenegger
So you think you're a failure, do you? Well, you probably are.
"The people who are good in the long run fail a lot, especially at the beginning. So, when you fail early, it might be worth realizing that this is part of the deal, the price you pay for being good in the long run. Every rejection is a gift. A chance to learn and to do it better next time. An opportunity to figure out how to bounce, not break. Don't waste them." ~ Seth Godin, Blog
"If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original." ~ Ken Robinson, The Element
"A man should conceive of a legitimate purpose in his heart, and set out to accomplish it. He should make this purpose the centralizing point of his thoughts. It may take the form of a spiritual ideal, or it may be a worldly object, according to his nature at the time being; but whichever it is, he should steadily focus his thought forces upon the object which he has set before him. He should make this purpose his supreme duty, and should devote himself to its attainment, not allowing his thoughts to wander away into ephemeral fancies, longings, and imaginings. This is the royal road to self-control and true concentration of thought. Even if he fails again and again to accomplish his purpose (as he necessarily must until weakness is overcome), the strength of character gained will be the measure of his true success, and this will form a new starting point for future power and triumph." ~ James Allen, As a Man Thinketh


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STAGE TUBE: Sneak Peek at Sarah Jessica Parker's Reality Show, CITY BALLET
Enter the graceful but competitive world of ballet through the eyes of executive producer, Sarah Jessica Parker. This behind-the-scenes docudrama reveals what it takes to perform on the ultimate stage, the New York City Ballet. Check out a sneak peek below!
Catch NYCB on stage at Lincoln Center. Go to nycballet.com for tickets.
About Author
- STAGE TUBE: Watch Blooper Real from Season 4 of HBO's GAME OF THRONES!
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- STAGE TUBE: John Legend, Common Perform 'Glory' from SELMA at Oscars
- STAGE TUBE: Jennifer Hudson Pays Tribute to Those Lost with Shaiman, Wittman Song
- STAGE TUBE: Rita Ora Performs 'Grateful' from BEYOND THE LIGHTS at Oscars
- STAGE TUBE: Neil Patrick Harris Strips Down in Ode to BIRDMAN, WHIPLASH
- STAGE TUBE: Tim McGraw Pays Tribute to Glen Campbell with 'I'm Not Gonna Miss You' at Oscars
- STAGE TUBE: The Lonely Island, Tegan and Sara Perform 'Everything Is Awesome' at Oscars
- STAGE TUBE: Adam Levine, Maroon 5 Sing Nominated Song 'Lost Stars' from BEGIN AGAIN
- STAGE TUBE: New Clip from Upcoming Season of Fox's HELL'S KITCHEN!


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Rugby Union
Select a team
Six Nations
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Aviva Premiership
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The Rugby Championship
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Guinness PRO12
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Top 14
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|Home team
|Away Team
|19 - 22
Match Links
- International Match
- 24th Nov 2012
- Ground: Stadio Flaminio, Rome
- Att: 32,500
Italy v Australia - Live
Italy were tenacious, dominating the second half and probably didn't deserve to lose this match. Apart from a bright 20 minutes, the Wallabies were largely awful and deserved nothing from this match. Thanks for joining us!
Full Time It's all over in Florence 19-22 the final score.
80 The Wallabies breath a sigh of relief and out of nowhere Ashley-Cooper is in some space but is brought down just before the line. The hooter goes for time and Barnes hacks it out.
79 Orquera goes for goal and will level matters with a successful kick, but pushes his effort wide. Heartbreak for Italy.
77 Ioane will spend the rest of the game in the bin after the infringement.
77 Australia seems to have weathered the storm somewhat and have won and attacking line-out just outside the Italy 22. They win the ball comfortably and keep it in the forwards, but Italy have won the turn-over! They go for the deep kick and receive it back with another kick. Italy win a penalty after Ioane takes down Favaro in the air with a dangerous tackle.
75 Italy make their final sub - Botes coming on in place of .Gori, while Cummins and Alexander is off for Australia. They are replaced by Digby Ioane and Sekope Kepu.
73 Italy secure the ball from the scrum, and doesnt make much headway at first but Venditti spots a gap but is brought down just short of the 22 again. Australia are blown up for a high tackle - Timani the culprit - and Italy go for the line-out. They lose it and Australia can clear once more.
70 It has been all Italy in the second half so far - can they secure a famous victory over the two-two-time World Cup champions? 10 Minutes to go...
69 Higginbotham coems off for Australia, with Dave Dennis coming on. Italy make another change too - Zanni coming off for Vosawa.
68 The secure the ball and keep it tight in the forwards again before Orquero makes some ground, bursting through a gap. They cant build on the momentum though and are forced back to the half-way line. Another Italy scrum on the half-way line after the Australians slow it down in the tackle.
66 The scrum collapses and Italy take it through the hands. Australia's defense holds though and the Azzuri go for a cheaky chip but Parisse cant quite gather and Australia clears downfield. Italy with the line-out just inside Aussie territory.
63 From the line-out they keep it with the forwards and are making some serious inroads here. Australia slow it down in the loose, but Italy has a scrum 5m out. Cittadini on for Castrogiovanni before the set-piece is taken.
61 Sloppy from Australia and Italy pounce on the loose ball, punting it deep into Wallaby territory once more. They run it forward but are blown up when Beale holds on in the tackle. Italy go for touch and will have an attacking line-out in the Wallaby half.
59 Italy boot it downfield where yet another handling mistake almost puts the Wallabies under pressure, but Barnes hoofs it long. Italy put it out and another line-out for the visitors on the opposing 10m line. Some reinforcements for Italy coming on - Ghiraldini and Geldenhuys off for Giazzon and Pavanello.
57 From the kick-off Italy punts it downfield but can;t quite find touch. Australia try to run it and makes some ground, lose the ball in the tackle. Italy can't capitalise, but win a scrum just inside their own half. After a reset, Italy win sloppy ball but tries to take it through the backs nonetheless. Drew Mitchell makes another excellent tackle. Italy goign backwards at the moment.
55 PENALTY, ITALY, ORQUERA, 19-22. From right in front, the fly-half makes no mistake. All the pressure on the Wallabies now.
Injury After a long delay, Bergamasco is stretchered off and play is about to continue.
55 Australia are blown up again for hands in the ruck, and Italy finds touch deep in Australia territory once more. They secure possession from the line-out and goes wide but Bergamasco can't quite dive over after a big tackle from Barnes. Australia blown up for off-side nonetheless. In fact, he is hurt in the tackle with what looks like a twisted ankle and Luke McLean comes on in his place.
52 From the kick-off Italy are forced back deep into their own territory and has to clear hurriedly. From the line-out just outside the 22 Australia secures the ball and take it through the backs again. Another fumble and a kickthrough from the home side gives them some breathing space.
50 PENALTY, ITALY, ORQUERA. 16-22. From just outside the 22 and slightly to the left, he makes no mistake. Game on!
48 Italy are strong in the scrum and Orquero goes for touch. His kick is long and another fumble by the Wallabies hands Italy a line-out 5m out. They work it through the forwards and Australia are blown up for off-side.
45 From the kickoff Italy work the ball towards the Wallaby 22, but the visitors clear their lines and forces the home side to go for touch, giving Australia another line-out. They make no mistake and work it through the backs. An handling error hands Italy a scrum just outside their 22.
42 CONVERSION, ITALY, ORQUERA. 13-22. Orquera makes now mistake with the kick to close the gape to nine points.
41 TRY, ITALY, BARBIERI. 11-22. And they've done just that! The Aussies drop a pass and Italy hacks it downfield where Barbieri dives over. It goes up stairs for the TMO to make a decision, but the grounding was fine and the Azzurri are right back in this.
Second Half The second half starts and Italy desperately needs to score first in the second half.
HALF TIME The hooter goes and Italy will need a drastic improvement in the second half if they are going to worry the Wallabies. While they are competitive all over the field, they will rue all the basic errors they've made which has led to the majority of Australia's scoring opportunities. Barnes and Beale have been lethal with the boot though it must be said. Whenever Italy have gone at pace with ball in hand, they have looked dangerous however. This match is far from over.
39 The Italians mess up another line-out and Sharpe dives on the ball, but Masi retains possession and goes on a Mazi run from the half-way line. He goes for the grubber but his kick has too much on it and runs over the dead-ball line. Keeping the ball would have given Italy another opportunity shortly before the hooter.
37 Another sub for the Wallabies - prop Benn Robinson makes way for James Slipper.
35 From the kick-off Italy punts it into touch for a line-out just in the Wallabies' half. Castrogiovanni takes it at the back to keep possession for the home side.
33 Italy also make a sub - prop Andrea Lo Cicero Vaina coming off for
Michele Rizzo.
33 PENALTY, ITALY, ORQUERA. 6-22. The Azzuri is looking to keep it in the forwards, but can't make much headway until the Wallabies are blown for offside. Orquera has another pop at goal at closes the gap somewhat.
31 Sheehan's gone down injured with what looks to be a knee injury. Nick Phipps coming on in his place.
29 PENALTY, AUSTRALIA, BEALE. 3-22. Italy go a man down after Barbieri is blown up for slapping the ball out of Sheehan's hands. Beale has another pop and is secure with his second kick.
27 PENALTY, AUSTRALIA, BEALE. 3-19. The side's trade kicks downfield, and Italy win the ball after an aimless kick from Barnes, but they counterruck and win another penalty after coming in from the side.. Beale this time has a go and makes no mistake.
24 PENALTY, AUSTRALIA, BARNES. 3-16. The Italians are blown for off-side at the ruck, and Barnes is going to have another shot at posts, from the halfway line. He absolutely nails it to extend their lead even further.
19 CONVERSION, AUSTRALIA, BARNES. 3-13. Barnes is accurate with the boot again and extends the visitors' lead to 10 points
18 TRY, AUSTRALIA, CUMMINS. 3-11. The Wallabies move it through the backs and Beale finds Cummins in some space and he dives over in the corner for the first try of the game.
Kick-off And here we go...
-5 The Wallabies are on a high after a fine all-round display in their 20-14 win over England last week, while Italy will look to improve further after their 42-10 loss to New Zealand in Rome.
Welcome Welcome to our live commentary for the International between Italy and Australia in Florence.
Sky Bet Odds:Click Here for Your Free Bet
|Aviva Premiership
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Rupert Cox's Off Load: Clermont, England Sevens and Jean Deysel come under scrutiny
Rupert Cox shares his highlights from the week's rugby action in his round-up blog.
Hits and tries
The biggest and toughest hits and tackles plus the best tries from the world of rugby union.
Rupert Cox's Off Load: Hurricanes, Toulouse and Nick Williams all come under scrutiny
Rupert Cox shares his highlights from the week's rugby action in his round-up blog.
Experts & Blogs
Phil Edwards
Read the thoughts and opinions of Phil Edwards with skysports.com


text:
So, What Is the Trooping the Colour Ceremony Anyway?
When Is the Second Royal Baby Due?
Look Back at the Year in British Royals
Will and Kate Bring George Along For a Big Royal Tradition
Kate Middleton Shows Off Her Baby Bump at a Superglam NYC Gala
Will and Kate Enjoy Some Scooby Snacks Before a Glam Night Out
Prince William and Obama Chat About the Gender of Royal Baby No. 2
Kate Middleton and Prince William Kick Off Their US Visit!
All the Details on Will and Kate's Upcoming Visit to NYC
18 Gifts For a Perfectly Royal Holiday
When Worlds Collide: Celebrities Mingle With Royals
Kate, Will, and Harry Pay Their Respects to Fallen Soldiers


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|295 posts found
Advanced Member
Joined: 5/19/04
Originally posted by stvnkrs10
I must have totally missed that when I was reading up on the features of SotA. I'll head over there shortly and see if I can find that and what ever else I must have overlooked.
Thanks for this information.
Login or Register to never see this panel
Originally posted by Shadowguy64
I could probably provide an accurate description, but it would certainly get me banned.
Apprentice Member
Joined: 6/11/08
I think with my heart and move with my head.-Kongos
Your view of history is decidedly skewed. UO's population jumped another 100k people after Trammel was released. The game may have "died" for the people who enjoyed the PvP ruleset, but for the other couple hundred thousand people it breathed new life into the game.
Here's a partial interview with Richard Garriott from 2008.
The player behaviors that showed up were not the behaviors that they expected, nor behaviors that they wanted. So they changed the rules to allow for both. They made more money than ever.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Hard Core Member
Joined: 12/25/06
It won't have player looting and stealing since there is an offline mode as well or single player online mode. There are options which only show pvp players to you. Go to the site and have a look.
This isn't a signature, you just think it is.
Apprentice Member
Joined: 2/15/09
Originally posted by lizardbones
Trammel didn't breathe new life into anything. Yes, it increased the subs for about a year and then the game entered a 6 year continuous drop that was only slowed down by AOS being released in 2003.
Trammel killed UO in the sense that they were having a problem with too many PKs and instead of dealing with it using more simulation and interesting game mechanics, they tried to fix it with Trammel, and it failed. It's kind of like going to the doctor with an infection and before the doctor can clean out the wound and put you on antibiotics, a witch doctor comes in and says he'd like to do an ancient healing dance and clean out the wound with his own urine or whatever. Maybe the healing dance didn't KILL the patient, but choosing the healing dance over traditional medicine did.
Novice Member
Joined: 1/15/11
Originally posted by Darth-Batman
Most mmo's do struggle and the reason they struggle is because the try to appeal to everyone and end up pleasing no one.
Originally posted by Holophonist
Ah, here comes holophonist and his fake numbers again. Any lie is good to support FFA PvP, right?
UO population peaked in 2003, three years after Trammel release. That's a fact, what you say is the same imaginary things you repeat over and over in each thread talking about UO to try to support FFA PvP.
No it didn't. It made people come back and new people play who would never have played otherwise. It stopped players hemoraging to EQ and to AC1, games which offered PvE servers. Without trammel, which is basically a PvE server, UO would have died with the influx of new games that offered options to their players instead of forcing them into a gank fest.
A really stupid analogy.
And it appears that Lord British learned from the past, since this game won't be FFA PvP but will offer play style choices. That's all what matters to me, it may actually become a good game, and not another failure like darkfall or mortal online.
Choice wins, forced play style loses, as it should be.
Playing now: WoW, Landmark, GW2, The Crew, SotA
Top 3 MMORPGs played: UO, AC1 and WoW
Honorable mentions: AO, LotRO, SW:TOR and GW2.
"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent" - Qui-gon Jinn. After many years of reading Internet forums, there's no doubt that neither does the ability to write.
Joined: 12/12/04
We live for The One, we die for The One.
i started to read the thread, then i got to OP stating
"Carebears don't count anyway."
that tells me everything i need to know, no reason to pay any attentions to OP's posts anymore. moving on. have a nice day.
Apprentice Member
Joined: 2/15/09
Originally posted by Jean-Luc_Picard
What's imaginary about what I said? Saying it peaked in 2003 is totally irrelevant. Yes, Trammel gave a boost to subs. That was like the first thing I said. But the overall trend from trammel was downward for 6 years except when they released AOS as yet another temporary shot in the arm. Again, what was fake about what I said?
So why are you ignoring other possibilities for dealing with PKs? You're basically saying they had a problem and Trammel was literally the only solution. NO, it was the one they tried. And it didn't work. It increased subs for a year and then it fell for 6 years except after AOS was released.
Why? Are we really going to get into another of these pointless debates where you just say things with nothing to back it up and when you're tired of me pointing out how ridiculous you sound you just ignore me until you pop up again in some other thread? WHY IS IT A STUPID ANALOGY? Goodness... grow up.
I don't know anything about Shroud of the Avatar so claiming what it will be or won't be means nothing to me. And I've pointed out the problems with Darkall and MO online. Saying other games have failed is basically just an infantile way of arguing.
Advanced Member
Joined: 3/05/08
Originally posted by flizzer
Hedonismbot: Your latest performance was as delectable as dipping my bottom over and over into a bath of the silkiest oils and creams.
Apprentice Member
Joined: 7/14/08
Can't agree with you here... The same thing you complain about makes the game fun for me. In Shadowbane, which was full loot and open world pvp, when you were killed, your stuff was gone. Not what was equipped, but your inventory. It was a little more difficult for players who came later, but they weren't "screwed". You needed to find a guild and get protection. Once you joined a guild, we would take players out and help them level and get runes they needed to progress their characters. It actually was a ton of fun providing protection as people f'd with lower characters all the time lol.
Originally posted by Darth-Batman
Or if they make it complex and fun to play (unlike darkfall), itll succeed, much like EVE. Theres plenty of carebear games to play, and very few good hardcore ones. So theres no need to try and cater to both. Theres a couple hundred thousand EVE players that are potential customers of another hardcore game.
Originally posted by Benedikt
Thanks for letting us know!
Originally posted by Mavek
Because 99.9% of games aren't hardcore. That means theres a bunch of customers who aren't being sold to. We have money, we have nothing to spend it on. If a game could get 5% of the market, it would be huge.
Apprentice Member
Joined: 5/02/10
And they aren't homelivers also. They are mostly 25+ employed professionals who enjoy an intellectual challenge and some of dat dere cortisol"
The strength of Eve is that, even with the extreme pvp focus it still has a good sized subscriber base. The game is so fascinating that even pve carebears like me continue to try it. Look at the stats provided by CCP - most players stay in high sec space.
Eve is a success but it could have 3 times the sub base if it had a pve sector/location/server. CCP is adamant that this will never happen. I respect that but it just means that game will never be a "overwhelming success". CCP is fine with their numbers and would rather stay true to their philosophy than go for WOW like numbers. You have to admire that.
Back to the topic. As has been mentioned by many posters - pure, open world, full loot pvp games are niche games. However, that is in the West. In Asia it is much different. Lineage, Lineage II, and a number of these games are very popular.
Originally posted by Holophonist
If you don't know why that analogy is stupid, explaining it to you wont help, as shown in previous "debates" you were part of. The analogy isn't even related to the discussion at hand, it makes absolutely no sense... how can you explain something that makes no sense?
It's quite funny, you are the one pretending to be "grown up" and you can't argue without insulting your opponent. The "grow up" argument is always funny when it comes from a guy who wasn't even old enough to pay for an Internet access when UO was first released, by the way, when I was there and witnessed the whole thing first hand playing the game since early beta.
And you are the one coming up with things with nothing to back them up (Trammel killed UO... waiting for proofs). Nice attempt to turn the situation in your favor (as usual), but any reader will see that it doesn't work, just as saying the white horse in the field is black won't convince any semi-intelligent human being who is not blind.
Case closed for me, I don't intend to go into another pointless debate with someone making things up to prove his "point", I just called out the misinformation you always use and that's it.
Playing now: WoW, Landmark, GW2, The Crew, SotA
Top 3 MMORPGs played: UO, AC1 and WoW
Honorable mentions: AO, LotRO, SW:TOR and GW2.
"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent" - Qui-gon Jinn. After many years of reading Internet forums, there's no doubt that neither does the ability to write.
Apprentice Member
Joined: 3/19/13
Originally posted by Komandor
They don't want the hardcore crowd and THAT is why it will do well.
He isn't trying to remake UO before it got trashed by Koster, nor is he trying to remake the trash Koster turned it into. SotA is going to be a completely different type of MMO.
Made History
Joined: 7/11/11
Pink, it's like red but not quite.
Games should be more than simple power fantasies.
Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.
Advanced Member
Joined: 3/30/07
Almost every MMO with PvP has the same issue that makes me hate the Call of Duty series: they reward the "winners" with more winning. Call of Duty adds devastating abilities like helicopters that kill other players for you after you have reached a certain number of kills. When I last played WoW and WAR (years ago), both of those games had a point system which led to better PvP gear which you could only obtain by killing other players in PvP.
These kinds of systems produce a very imbalanced power curve and only serve to make the "losers" want to stop playing. When that happens, nobody wins. You end up with something like Darkfall, where only the gankers get to play. In games like WoW, one guild (or a few) ends up with the best gear and everyone else is just there to be "farmed" for points.
Instead of creating an imbalanced power curve, I would like to see a game that keeps everyone within a statistical bell-curve. The rewards for winning should not be more winning. Instead, increasing the player-skill required as you win more would help keep the game fun, and increase the challenge for the truly skilled players. Creating such a system would be the hard part.
Originally posted by syntax42
It's not so much about the losers, but about new players. That's the main reason why PvP servers remain niches. A good example would be DAoC Mordred, which failed for that very reason... once a core became max level, it was basically impossible to level a new character on that server... and people stopped trying, and the server died. Other example is the already mentioned UO move to Trammel.
A game that permits a tiny minority of players to almost completely discourage new player influx will remain a niche game, if it even survives.
A MMORPG survives and thrives thanks to a constant renewal of its player base over the years. If new players can't play properly, they won't stay. That's of course even worse with things like full loot... new player logs in, goes in the forest get some crafting resources to get started, and gets ganked by some high level asshat he has no chance against when returning to town, and gets looted dry. Add some asshattery like corpse camping and repeated killing, and what the result of this scenario 99% of the times? Cancel account, bye bye, you won't get that person's money. There's a good reason why the Darkfall games never had a trial... the devs know most trials would never buy the game.
The one game which works is EvE... for a good reason. Security levels. And CCP's own data says that the vast majority of the players stay mostly in high-sec. If that isn't a clue... they permit playstyles that aren't restricted to PvP ganking, and they permit the new players to get used to the game without being killed and looted dry as soon as they try to do something.
Playing now: WoW, Landmark, GW2, The Crew, SotA
Top 3 MMORPGs played: UO, AC1 and WoW
Honorable mentions: AO, LotRO, SW:TOR and GW2.
"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent" - Qui-gon Jinn. After many years of reading Internet forums, there's no doubt that neither does the ability to write.


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Child safety in Paris
Hello there, We will traveling to Europe, specifically Paris for the first time next month with our three oldest children, ages 10, 8 and 5. I've read much on RS's various boards regarding safe travel tips in navigating the streets, money belts and being aware of pickpocketing, etc. What I'd like more information on however are tips specifically for families on being safe in crowded places, such as the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. I'm I just being paranoid?


text:
These stout wading shoes with removable studs are extremely durable, and provide stability in all wading conditions.
We promote fair labor practices, safe working conditions and environmental responsibility throughout the Patagonia supply chain.
Below are the suppliers that impact the Patagonia Rock Grip Wading Boots - Sticky/Studded
View our supply chain


text:
YIELD: Serves 8
Preheat oven to 350°F. Melt 1/2 cup butter in heavy small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add brown sugar and stir until smooth. Pour into 9-inch-diameter cake pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Arrange banana slices in concentric circles atop sugar mixture, submerging into sugar mixture and covering bottom of pan completely.
Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar and remaining 1/2 cup butter in large bowl to blend. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth. Sift 2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt into medium bowl. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Beat 2 minutes. Spoon batter over bananas.
Bake cake until puffed and golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean (cake will rise above rim of pan), about 1 hour. Transfer pan to rack and cool 5 minutes (cake will fall slightly). Place platter over cake. Turn cake pan and platter over, inverting cake onto platter. Let stand 15 minutes. Remove cake pan. Rearrange bananas if necessary. Serve warm.


text: no thanks, ill take the gold dildo Flag By: rusholmeruffian (More by author: Most viewed, Newest, Most Thumbs) previous next random - Fav + Fav Comment I was on a road trip over the weekend and passed through a hippie town. This summarizes my experience. Tags: Money | is | Evil | unless | im | getting | it tii intil," r. slit MY . ... Recommend tagsx +457 Views: 28803 Favorited: 13 Submitted: 07/11/2013 Share On Facebook Remove from favorites Add to favorites Unsubscribe from rusholmeruffian Subscribe to rusholmeruffian