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The Hardest Part: David Drake on Night & DemonsPosted: 26 September, 2012 Filed under: The Hardest Part 1 Comment
Pittsboro author David Drake has had a long and prolific writing career, and when I saw his recent newsletter mention the word count of new introductions for his new collection Night & Demons (Baen, October 2), I thought I knew what I would get when I asked him what the hardest part of putting together the new collection was: "The story introductions total around 12,000 words and are as much autobiography as you're likely to get from me." However, it turns out it wasn't the words themselves or their number, it was the trip there and back again to get them that made for the toughest sledding.
"A Hard Look Back" by David Drake
ON A PANEL AT The Escapist Expo in September, my friend Mark asked for a show of hands from people who hadn't been born in 1966 when I sold my first story. He got at least half the room. Folks there and generally nowadays see me as a successful writer who is respected by his colleagues and whose books have been selling well for over 30 years.The stories in Night & Demons weren't written by that person. Here are a few examples of the things that were happening to the person who wrote Night & Demons:
1) My first sale in 1966 brought such a brutal acceptance letter with the $35 payment that I didn't look at the story again for decades. During that period I repeatedly described it as a bad story.
When I finally reread the story (because I was booked for a reading at a World Fantasy Con), I realized it was quite good of its sort; 'the sort' being a filler for Weird Tales in 1938. I had modeled it on the filler stories which the editor had been writing for Weird Tales in 1938.
2) When I was typing up my third story at Blackhorse Base Camp in Di An, Republic of Viet Nam, the ammo dump blew up behind me. This was by no means the worst thing that happened to me while I was In Country.
Nowadays I realize that immersion in really bad parts of reality in 1970 gave my fiction an edge which I couldn't have gotten any other way. The ability to transfer savage reality to the page sets my work apart from that of most people writing on similar subjects.
3) In 1974 my agent, Kirby, edited an original horror anthology titled Frights. He offered me 2-cents/word for a story. I met Kirby for the first time in at the Worldcon that year, where he was trying to convince Joe Haldeman to accept payment of only 4-cents/word for his story in Frights.
I turned my story in. Kirby thought I'd overestimated the wordage (I hadn't; I counted every word and sent him the page by page totals). Kirby also thought that the ending (a climax/conclusion) was too abrupt.
More recently, Kirby has told me that on rereading, he saw that my ending was exactly right for the story. At the time, he wasn't used to anything so harsh.
4) Kirby then edited another original horror anthology, Dark Forces. It was to be the no-holds-barred equivalent of what Harlan Ellison's Dangerous Visions was for SF.
Kirby didn't ask me for a story this time, because I'd recently written a horror story for a British anthology. My story had really disturbed Kirby, and it was at least partially responsible for getting the anthology seized by the police.
When a twenty-fifth anniversary edition of Dark Forces came out, Kirby phoned me to apologize for not asking me for a story–or simply taking the one which had been banned in Britain (since the whole edition of the British anthology had been pulped).
Those four examples (the stories are included here) show you the stature in the field of the person who wrote Night & Demons. The follow-ups to these anecdotes happened to the present me, the successful writer whom people think they meet at conventions.
But writing these intros and proofreading the stories rubbed my nose in the person I was in the '70s. I wasn't an innovative writer who was laying the groundwork for what has been for more than 30 years a successful career: I was a failure, a traumatized Nam vet whose friends and agent were part of the chorus telling him he was doing the wrong thing.
And in my head when I look back, as I had to look back to prepare Night & Demons, I'm still that person.
Dave Drake
The Negative Zone #002: The Drowned Cities by Paolo BacigalupiPosted: 21 September, 2012 Filed under: columns, the negative zone 2 Comments
THE NEGATIVE ZONE #002: THE DROWNED CITIES by PAOLO BACIGALUPI
by Andrew Neal
When I was younger, I never would have thought I'd get tired of post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction, but the rest of the world caught up with my tastes and now it's all over the place. Turn over a rock and out comes a zombie. Roll over a log and discover a plucky, heroic young girl surviving the harsh future against all odds. Dredge the flooded streets of an ancient ruined American city and find an almost indestructible man-animal hybrid named Tool.
Actually, wait. That last one sounds pretty cool. Count me back in on the post-apocalyptic thing.
Tool is one of the characters in Paolo Bacigalupi's latest book, The Drowned Cities. He's a half-man, or a dog-face, depending on which character is talking about him. Tool is one of several important characters in this book. Some of the others include Mahlia, a not-really-very-plucky, heroic young girl surviving the harsh future against all odds, Mouse, Mahlia's dear friend who is in fact rather plucky, and Ocho, a sergeant in a squad of warboys who serve a warlord based in the ruins of Washington DC. None of the characters struck me as unique on their own, but by weaving the characters' story threads together and apart, Bacigalupi created tension, character growth, and an exciting story.
This book is aimed at young adult readers, but it had a good amount in common with Bacigalupi's adult novel, The Windup Girl. Both are set in a world (possibly the same world) in which the planet's oil is used up, both feature genetically modified plant and animal hybrids, and both deal with the concept of beings created by man who struggle against genetically-induced loyalty to their masters.
Most of the differences between the novels are matters of degrees: for example, both books include instances of violent, dehumanizing sex. In The Windup Girl, it's explicit. In The Drowned Cities, the reader sees the before and after, but not the act itself. Bacigalupi doesn't shy away from the atrocities of war in his book for young readers, but he doesn't go into all the details. I appreciate this. I think it's important for an author not to lie when he's writing. This is Bacigalupi's book, and he could have written it any way he chose, but he embedded the elements of war so strongly in his fantastic setting that it added a level of truthfulness that may otherwise have been missing. He convinced me.
I don't mean that he made me believe that dog-men are real or that Washington DC had been flooded; I mean he convinced me that the world he created was consistent and real, and that the characters within acted and reacted in as truthful a manner as possible considering their fictional surroundings. This is the highest praise I can give to a book. I highly recommend The Drowned Cities.
And hey: I haven't even mentioned yet that The Drowned Cities is described on the dust jacket as a companion piece to Bacigalupi's previous young adult novel, Ship Breaker. I haven't read Ship Breaker yet; I decided to read The Drowned Cities first so that I could find out if it works on its own. This is something I am obsessed with in genre literature: the tendency toward publishing "books" that are actually just really long chapters. If you've read the previous six paragraphs you know I think The Drowned Cities is a fantastic book, and not just a chapter or addendum. I intend to read Ship Breaker very soon; hopefully I'll get to recommend it just as highly as The Drowned Cities.
Andrew Neal sells comics. He also writes and draws.
The Negative Zone #003 (Friday October 5) will be about the comic series Prophet by Brandon Graham, Simon Roy, Farel Dalrymple, and Giannis Milonnogiannis.
The Hardest Part: Nick Mamatas on BullettimePosted: 19 September, 2012 Filed under: The Hardest Part | Tags: bullettime, chizine, nick mamatas 2 Comments
[Editor's note: this debuts a new weekly Wednesday feature, "The Hardest Part", where creators talk about the hardest part of putting together their most recent book or other work.]
Nick Mamatas is the Hugo-nominated editor of Haikasoru, an imprint of VIZ Media which brings Japanese science fiction and fantasy to "America and beyond". He's also the co-editor with Masumi Washington of the May-released anthology The Future is Japanese, the co-editor with Ellen Datlow of the 2010-released, Bram Stoker Award winning anthology Haunted Legends, and co-edited Clarkesworld Magazine from 2006-2008. He's also a prolific writer of short fiction, including "O, Harvard Square!" in Bull Spec #4, non-fiction, including several reviews now for Bull Spec and his 2011 book Starve Better: Surviving the Endless Horror of the Writing Life, and novel-length fiction, with four published novels since his well-received debut Move Under Ground in 2004 including Sensation (2011) and The Damned Highway: Fear and Loathing in Arkham (2011, co-written with Brian Keene). He writes with apparent disregard for genre categorization or market, and here talks about the hardest part of writing Bullettime, his August-released novel from ChiZine Publications.
THE HARDEST PART OF writing Bullettime was finishing it. That doesn't mean that I struggled with the ending, or was experiencing writer's block or anything like that; I was simply doing other things. For six years. Also, rampage killings.
After a writer publishes a novel, like say my 2004 debut Move Under Ground, there's no real need to finish subsequent novels before selling them. That's why we have agents, and write synopses, and when someone asks, "So, what are you working on now?" you often find yourself shrugging and stammering, and finally answer, "Uhm…things? Short stories. I dunno…" But there's a problem with selling a novel based on a partial manuscript when the novel is about a touchy subject—say, school shootings—and has an unusual structure—for example, a first-person narrative from three alternative perspectives of the same character, one of which is trapped in the Ylem, a realm beyond space/time, from which he can observe all his possible existences. And maybe there's also a third-person present-tense narrative threaded through the material, following the same character. Just like Bullettime. So it takes a while, and your agent can't get any traction. And you move across the country, and start striking up conversations with independent publishers on your own. And one editor, from an outfit called M Press, is interested.
And then perhaps there are some school shootings, like the Amish school shooting in 2006. And then you don't hear from M Press anymore, which is just as well as it folds soon after.
So you work on another book, instead. A simpler one, about a family that builds a nuclear device–the first chapter features step-by-step instructions using household items, and some mail-order uranium. And the structure is simpler too: just a memoir of the son, who also happens to be a powerful telepath who can read minds regardless of their distance from him. Call it first-person omniscient point of view. And this book sells! And is released! And ruined by a botched production job because the publisher has no money and has an underfed, overbearded intern lay out the book! Because its distributor goes bankrupt a few days before its release! That's my book, Under My Roof, which at least found audiences in its German and Italian translations. Now we're in 2007. And you decide to go back to school, so you can teach creative writing instead of just doing it. And you have to write a book to graduate.
And then perhaps there are some more school shootings, like say the horrifying Virginia Tech massacre, and the Bullettime partial is pulled from circulation entirely. So you don't finish that book, you write another one, and it's about the Internet, and anarchism, and told from the point of view of a collective of hyperintelligent spiders. Call that first-person plural omniscient point of view. And your agent is excited. And you are excited. And the book is called Sensation because that's what you hope it will be. And then capitalism collapses and everyone in publishing is fired, so your agent doesn't even get rejection letters, she gets "This editor is no longer employed here" letters (but he was fine yesterday!) and "This imprint no longer exists" letters.
So you move across the country again, back to California, and get a day job—a day job in publishing. You are the only person in the latter half of 2008 to actually get a decent job in publishing. And then, amazingly, there's another stroke of good luck! You can sell a book on a partial—though it takes nearly a year to hammer out the details. And it's a collaboration with Brian Keene, who is already famous, which certainly helps, and you only have to write half a book, and amusingly it sells to Dark Horse Books, the daughter program to the late M Press. And thanks to the blizzards of 2010 nobody can fly from California to the East Coast, least of all you, you get to sit home on the week between Christmas and New Years and finish the book. And it's The Damned Highway, and it features a Hunter S. Thompsonesque character dealing with Lovecraftian Old Ones during the 1972 Presidential election. And the advance pays off the debts accrued from running around the country for the prior five years.
And Bullettime is still there, on your hard drive, and you don't even look at it. Then the editors of a magazine in which you've had two stories appear start putting out books. And they're in Canada, where school shootings are rare, but sadly not unknown (e.g., École Polytechnique, 1989). And in 2009, they had opened to submissions, and so you sent in your fifty pages and promptly forgot about it. And so did they. Until late 2010, when at the World Fantasy Convention you meet them in person, and perform a feat of strength—lifting John Langan off the ground—for them and they are impressed. Then one of them remembers your submission, and reads it, and wants it, and in mid-2011 you finally sell the book.
Now you finally have to finish it. But day jobs are busy, as it turns out, and you were working on all those short stories … and stuff, but the deadline is far far away, it seems. And Sensation comes out via PM Press, an anarchist press that is oddly immune to the vagaries of capitalism it was born to critique, and the novel is pilloried in the trade journals as an instantly obsolete collection of in-jokes about Internet activism. And then Occupy happens, almost exactly as you describe your political movement in the book, and you get involved in that and it's like living in the book. And The Damned Highway comes out, and people like it, and its vision of the 1972 election seems eerily predictive of the current Presidential election cycle. And you have to run around promoting that too, on top of the day job in publishing, on top of the short stories and whatnot. But the news is finally on your side! And the Bullettime deadline, January 2012, just sneaks up on you. And so, you spend Christmas alone again, because it worked so well last year, and you finish the book. And then two weeks before Bullettime is due to come out, there's another mass shooting in Colorado, not far from the one that initially inspired the idea…
Bullettime was published August 14 in print and ebook by ChiZine Publications. An audiobook edition is forthcoming from Audible.
Sunday quick update: events today, Wednesday, Thursday, …Posted: 9 September, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment
Two events today (Sunday, September 9):
- 4 pm — Screening of the short local horror film "Foodie" as part of the Carrboro Arts Center's Second Sunday film series along with three other short films. Ticketed event: $5. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/247295845391580/
- 6:30 pm to 9 pm — NerdMusik! at Tir Na Nog with Greenville's Danny Birt among those performing. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/255087191277612/
And this kicks off in earnest a pretty crowded mid and late September (see the recent newsletter for all the goodies), with events Wednesday and Thursday, and The Escapist Expo on Friday through Sunday, leading into next week's craziness with both Neil Gaiman and Junot Diaz coming to the area on the same day. One update: online sails for The Unchained Tour (including Gaiman) show Chapel Hill's show as sold out; a limited amount of tickets may still be available at Flyleaf Books directly.
- September 12 (Wednesday) at 7:30 pm — Andy Duncan at North Carolina State University for a reading event at Thompson Hall. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/348951148523173/
- 13 (Thursday) at 7:30 pm — Local authors Clay and Susan Griffith at Quail Ridge Books on Thursday September 13 for the conclusion of their Vampire Empire trilogy, The Kingmakers. Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/421192207926333
- 13-16 (Thursday to Sunday) — SparkCon in Raleigh, with poetry, art, music, and other programming tracks "filling downtown Raleigh with a 4-day creative explosion". More info: http://www.sparkcon.com
- 14 (Friday) 9 pm — Amanda Palmer at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro. More info: http://www.amandapalmer.net/shows/
- 14-16 (Friday to Sunday) – The Escapist Magazine presents the first Escapist Expo at the newly renovated Durham Convention Center, with game designers, writers, comics, music, and more. Bull Spec will have a table, so stop buy and say hello, pick up a back issue you're missing, etc.! More info: http://www.escapistexpo.com/
- 15 (Saturday) 2 pm — James Maxey, John Hartness, and Stuart Jaffe will be signing books and giving some panel-type chats at Market City Comics in High Point on September 15th.
- 15-16 (Saturday and Sunday) — Durham's CenterFest Arts Festival in downtown Durham, with a large variety of local artists, photographers, makers, and performance art. More info: http://centerfest.durhamarts.org/
The Negative Zone #001: Sorry Please Thank You by Charles YuPosted: 7 September, 2012 Filed under: columns, the negative zone Leave a comment
THE NEGATIVE ZONE #001: SORRY PLEASE THANK YOU by CHARLES YU
Hey there. My name is Andrew. I sell comic books and graphic novels for a living. I also draw and write. The Negative Zone is my new review column for Bull Spec. My friend Carr D'Angelo suggested the title, and I thought it was funny. My qualifications for writing this column are that I read a lot, and I suffer the delusion that everyone is interested in my opinion. It's nice to meet you! Here's my first column:
Last year I read and enjoyed Charles Yu's How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe. It took a while to pull me in, but once it got me, I didn't stop reading until I finished the book. If you want to be really literal, I guess you could say it's a book about a time machine repairman, but I'd say it's a book about all the overwhelming emotions one faces in life. It's full of some of the most overt and literal metaphors I've ever encountered in science fiction, but that's very purposeful, and well done; it never struck me as either thoughtless or too cute. It's a lovely and funny book. You should read it.
I just read a new book of Yu's short stories, Sorry Please Thank You: Stories. The elements present in How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe which worked so well for me are here, too, but I didn't respond as positively this time around. There is a sameness to the stories which is apparent when you read them all at once. I suspect that if I had read them in bits and pieces, I'd have enjoyed them more.
My favorite story, "Standard Loneliness Package," involved a worker whose job was to experience other people's emotions for them, to make it easier for them to cope with tough situations. I enjoyed the basic concept, as well as the interplay between the character's own emotions and those he felt for others. Plus, it was the first story in the book, so I wasn't yet burned out on thoughtfully humorous self-aware metatextual-slash-metaphorical science fiction stories about emotion, love, and loss.
All the stories in the book were well written, but a few of them struck me as a little too cute. There's one which is basically a clever Star Trek deconstruction, and another narrated by a self-aware character in a computer game. They were both well executed, but the concepts overpowered the writing. I think a lot of folks will like them better than I did, though. If you're the type of person who would consider ordering one of the tons of Star Trek "redshirt" tees floating around out there, you'll love "Yeomans."
Yu is a good writer, it just seems like he's writing the same story over and over again. I recommend the stories in Sorry Please Thank You, but not necessarily as a book. Read a story, then put the book down for a while before you read another one. Make sure to leave a bookmark in there, because the stories are similar enough that when you revisit the book, you might think you're caught in a time loop. And make sure to leave a bookmark in there, because the stories are similar enough that when you revisit the book, you might think you're caught in a time loop.
Editor's note: The Negative Zone is set to appear every first and third Friday. Stay tuned for #002 and Andrew's review of The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi.
Breaking event news: Quail Ridge Books to host Brandon Sanderson for A Memory of LightPosted: 6 September, 2012 Filed under: events 3 Comments
UPDATE: This event has been re-scheduled to February, though the final date has not yet been determined.
The long-awaited conclusion to The Wheel of Time series, A Memory of Light, is set to be published in January 2013. And, as he did in September 2010, author Brandon Sanderson will be coming to Raleigh's Quail Ridge Books. The event will be Sunday, January 13, at 3 PM — note the afternoon start time!
Facebook event link to invite friends: https://www.facebook.com/events/117403835073651/
And one thing which immediately comes to mind is that this is the Sunday of illogiCon weekend; so after a Friday through Sunday of sf convention fun (with guest of honor Tim Powers and toastmaster Mark L. Van Name, among others) close out the weekend with Brandon Sanderson at Quail Ridge. Not too bad a start to 2013.


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|Mode of delivery and risk of stillbirth and infant mortality in triplet gestations: United States, 1995 through 1998.
MedLine Citation:
|PMID: 15695988 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE
|OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to estimate the risks of stillbirth and neonatal and infant deaths in triplets, according to mode of delivery. STUDY DESIGN: We used the "matched multiple birth" data file that was comprised of triple births that were delivered in the United States in the years 1995 through 1998. Analyses were restricted to fetuses that were delivered at >/=24 weeks of gestation. Based on the order of the birth of the fetuses within the triplet set, the mode of delivery of triplets was assigned as cesarean-cesarean-cesarean (all cesarean), vaginal-vaginal-vaginal (all vaginal), and vaginal-cesarean-cesarean or vaginal-vaginal-cesarean (other). Associations between mode of delivery and stillbirth, neonatal deaths (within 28 days), and infant deaths (up to 1 year) were expressed as relative risks with 95% confidence intervals and population attributable risks, which were derived from multivariate logistic regression models that were based on the method of generalized estimated equations (with all cesarean deliveries serving as the reference). All analyses were adjusted for several confounding factors. RESULTS: Ninety-five percent of all triplets were delivered by cesarean delivery. Vaginal delivery (all vaginal) was associated with an increased risk for stillbirth (relative risk, 5.70; 95% CI, 3.83, 8.49) and neonatal (relative risk, 2.83; 95% CI, 1.91, 4.19) and infant (relative risk, 2.29; 95% CI, 1.61, 3.25) deaths. The population-attributable risks were 15.9% for neonatal and 12.4% for infant deaths, which implied that these proportions of deaths were potentially avoidable had these triplet fetuses all been delivered by cesarean delivery rather than all fetuses being delivered vaginally. CONCLUSION: Cesarean delivery of all 3 triplet fetuses is associated with the lowest neonatal and infant mortality rate. Vaginal delivery among triplet gestations should be avoided.
|Anthony M Vintzileos; Cande V Ananth; Eftichia Kontopoulos; John C Smulian
Related Documents :
|6133788 - Deliveries after cesarean birth in two asian university hospitals.
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Publication Detail:
|Type: Journal Article; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
Journal Detail:
|Title: American journal of obstetrics and gynecology Volume: 192 ISSN: 0002-9378 ISO Abbreviation: Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. Publication Date: 2005 Feb
Date Detail:
|Created Date: 2005-02-07 Completed Date: 2005-03-10 Revised Date: 2007-11-14
Medline Journal Info:
|Nlm Unique ID: 0370476 Medline TA: Am J Obstet Gynecol Country: United States
Other Details:
|Languages: eng Pagination: 464-9 Citation Subset: AIM; IM
|Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine,University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School/Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
Export Citation:
|APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex
|MeSH Terms
Cesarean Section
statistics & numerical data*
Fetal Death / epidemiology*, etiology
Infant Mortality*
Infant, Newborn
Time Factors
United States / epidemiology
|Grant Support
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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subset: commoncrawl


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The event, one of the most important technology forums in the Asia Pacific region, is being held January 30th - February 1st, at the COEX Center in Seoul, Korea. It will feature numerous conference programs, over 500 exhibiting companies from 20 countries, and more than 45,000 attendees.
Bill Bintz , executive vice president, product development, engineering and marketing, commented "We're excited to promote our newest products at SEMI Korea, which are setting a new standard for industry leading precision, purity and productivity. Korea continues to be one of the most important regions for device manufacturing, as a result of their significant investments in both research and development and manufacturing capabilities. As Korean chipmakers manage the technological and economic challenges of sub 2Xnm manufacturing and 450mm implementation, they can rely on Axcelis to deliver technology that provides compelling performance efficiencies and cost advantages, to drive customer value and bottom line results."
Axcelis experts will be on hand at the Axcelis Booth (#3506, in Hall D), to present the company's newest technology for next generation IC manufacturing. At the show, the Company will be promoting Axcelis' newest entrant to the implant market, the Purion M™ medium current implanter. The system is designed to deliver unmatched levels of productivity and energy purity across the broadest range of medium current implant applications. Its precision angle control, patented energy filter and constant focal length scanning minimize device performance variation, providing the highest yield possible.
In addition, Axcelis will be showcasing a wide array of performance upgrades designed to enhance process control and boost productivity. Axcelis offers customers over 1000 upgrades to extend their system lifecycle and maximize the return on their capital investments. This number is a testament to Axcelis' dedication to provide customers with a continuous, cost effective improvement path for all of our product lines. Upgrades being promoted at the show include the new Eterna™ ELS3 ion source, powerful new software control systems, high performance end station upgrades, and thin wafer handling system upgrades.
Source: http://www.axcelis.com
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Business success is achieved through business services and corporate responsibility. The Department of State and its U.S. embassies around the world provide effective support to American businesses overseas by identifying opportunities for American firms, advocating on their behalf, and encouraging corporate responsibility.
The State Department annually grants the Award for Corporate Excellence to a company that demonstrates exemplary business practices overseas. As the Under Secretary for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs said, "American corporations abroad ... export not only American products but also American values."-Advocacy Guidelines
-Business Overseas
[This is a mobile copy of Business Support]
Short URL: http://m.state.gov/mc596.htm
Short URL: http://m.state.gov/mc596.htm


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At first, I didn't think it would be possible for the Atlanta Falcons to move up high enough in the first round to land a big-play receiver.
But now I'm hearing that could happen.
The Falcons have their eye on A.J. Green of Georgia and Julio Jones of Alabama, and it looks like Jones is the one who could be in play.
The Cincinnati Bengals are considered the strong possibility to take Green in the No. 4 spot, which would leave Jones available. The Arizona Cardinals, picking fifth, would like Green but if he's gone they might be willing to move out.
The Falcons could then pair Jones with Roddy White to liven up an offense devoid of big plays last year.
The price will be steep -- probably next year's first-round pick in a package -- but when you are a team that is close , and remember the Falcons had the No. 1 seed in the NFC last season, it could be the move that puts them in the Super Bowl.
Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff has proven in the past that he's willing to make bold moves to help his football team. If he pulls this off, it could be another.
Matt Ryan sure would be happy.
Now if they would only eliminate his rollouts.


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BARNSTABLE — A Marstons Mills woman accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from a charity she founded went on trial Monday in Barnstable Superior Court.
Gina Clark, 42, and Touched by Angels Inc. are each charged with a multitude of embezzlement and fraud offenses that relate to a scheme in which Clark allegedly, over several years, stole donations intended for families dealing with tragedy or serious medical issues.
Clark founded Touched by Angels in 2007 and raised money through donations to help families with financial burdens such as medical bills and funeral costs. Prosecutors allege, however, that Clark often used the money for her own purposes, giving as little as $50 to $200 to the affected families.
She and the charity were indicted in March 2011 on a combined 26 counts of larceny of more than $250 by embezzlement, two counts of larceny of less than $250 by embezzlement, two counts of setting up and promoting an illegal lottery, 20 counts of failure to pay employees minimum wage, four counts of failure to pay employees overtime, two counts of failure to give employees a pay stub and two counts of independent contractor misclassification.
Clark sat stoically at the defense table Monday while the attorneys and judge questioned potential jurors one by one.
The process, called voir dire, is intended to identify any juror bias through individual questioning.
Members of Clark's family spent the morning in the courtroom, but filtered in and out as the selection process rolled on.
About 70 potential jurors were screened Monday, but only 12 were seated by the end of the day. A fresh jury pool has been summoned for today.
Once a jury of 16 is seated — 12 plus four alternates — the trial is expected to last three weeks to a month.
Jurors are expected to hear testimony from a host of local business owners and financial fraud investigators, according to a 150-member witness list read in court.
The trial will resume at 9 a.m. today.
Location, ST | website.com


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Nokia Dual sim mobile phones will be available in 2010 in two variants GSM+GSM and GSM+CDMA. Currently lots of chinese made dual sim mobiles are available in India at cheap prices but they are not reliable as Nokia phones.
** Updates Nokia announced two new Dual Sim Mobile phones @ very affordable price in India.
Nokia C1: Dual Sim, FM Radio, Torch Light
Nokia C2: Dual Sim (GSM+GSM), GPRS/WAP, FM Radio, MP3 Player, OVI Mail
Only Samsung and LG makes dual sim mobile phones but it has its own limitations.
Nokia Dual Sim Mobile Price in India: All Prices are in Indian Rupee
- Nokia C1 Price: Approx 2,000/-
- NOkia C2 Price: Approx 3,500/-


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USG Joins Alliance for Sustainable Built Environments
Based on what you have seen and read about this project, how would you grade it? Use the stars below to indicate your assessment, five stars being the highest rating.
Building materials giant USG Corporation has joined the Alliance for Sustainable Built Environments, a group launched in 2003 to educate the marketplace and top management on the benefits of reducing the impact of facilities on the environment and building occupants.
"By joining the Alliance, USG can work with like-minded companies to help other organizations understand and embrace the triple-bottom-line benefits of 'going green,'" says William Foote, USG chairman and CEO.
USG is online at www.usg.com. For more on the Alliance, visit www.greenerfacilities.org.
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Edibles A-Z
Fragrant Lavender Gifts
Lavandula Goodwin Creek Grey
Pairing superior silver-gray foliage with blue flowers, Lavender 'Goodwin Creek Grey' is easy to grow and blooms all summer long. 'Goodwin Creek Grey' tolerates heat and humidity better than other Lavenders. Its fresh rosemary-lavender scent is delightful and the dried flowers can be used in potpourri and sachets. This Lavender grows well in the garden or in containers and can be brought indoors at the end of the season. Click on Growing Guide for instructions on how to keep this beauty growing all year round.
Shipment begins in early April to the warmest zones
Quick Facts
Common Name: Lavender
Hardiness Zone:
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Height: 2-3'
Fragrance: Yes
Deer Resistant: Yes
Exposure: Full Sun
Blooms In: June-July
Spacing: 2-3'
Ships as:
1 pint – 28.86 cu in
Read our Growing Guide
White Flower Farm is a family-owned mail-order nursery located
in northwestern Connecticut. Since 1950 we have been providing a
wide range of Perennials, Bulbs, Annuals, Shrubs, Vines, Amaryllis, Gardening Tools, and Gifts For Gardeners as well as Gardening
Advice, to gardeners throughout the United States. We invite
you to browse our online catalogs and to register for
our weekly emails for useful gardening tips and product offers. Drop by our Facebook page for an inside look at our operation. White Flower Farm® is a registered trademark of White Flower Farm, Inc. This institution is an equal opportunity provider.


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$7 Metro Redux Bundle, $8 Saints Row Ultimate Franchise Pack in Deep Silver Sale
Sure, I'll add more to my backlog
Oct 07
// Dealzon
This week, popular digital retailer Green Man Gaming launched a Deep Silver Sale. The sale was OK, but nothing exciting (else we'd have mentioned it earlier). Things changed today as most of the titles listed below ...
Lots of games are morally bankrupt, we get it
Mar 19
// Anthony Burch
Most games are horrifying celebrations of violence and empowerment that prioritize aggression over compassion, and competition over empathy. And that's completely fine. (So long as the game, and the audience, know that that's what is going on.) We all -- to some extent or another -- are aware that the art and media we engage with can often be full of shit. We often love our art for being full of shit! I love Doctor Who, and it's one of the most full-of-shit television shows of all time! It champions optimism and mercy without ever approaching anything even remotely similar to a real-life dilemma, and -- so long as you know that's what it's doing -- it's a perfectly fine bit of escapism. And so it is with violent videogames. Yes, it's really, really weird that you run around massacring orcs because They're The Bad Guys, and it's even weirder that we were more excited to massacre them in Shadow of Mordor specifically because they felt more human. They felt like people with lives and backstories and that made it way more satisfying to slice their heads off what the fuck. But! It's escapism. It's full of shit, but it's full of shit in a way that is decidedly fun and effective. Should we ask greater questions about why Shadow of Mordor is fun, and consider how its fun-ness might be inexorably linked to racism and classism? Absolutely. Should we stop playing Shadow of Mordor and paint everyone who enjoys it as an enormous pile of human waste? Of course not. Or, to quote Anita Sarkeesian: "It is both possible (and even necessary) to simultaneously enjoy media while also being critical of its more problematic or pernicious aspects." (A quote that, if more people actually listened to, might have resulted in a way goddamn calmer gamer culture over the past few years.) So, it's okay to enjoy sadistic, weird, violent bullshit, so long as all parties involved know that that's exactly what they're doing. The only real problem, to me, is when that bullshit starts pretending to be about something else. Going back to Shadow of Mordor -- which was unquestionably my favorite game of last year -- I loved the over-the-top violence and the multitude of horrific things that you could do to your enemies. I distinctly did not love the story that tried to morally justify those things. The story of Talion's vengeance, and how justified he was in killing all those orcs because they are inherently "vile, savage beasts" (again, you should really read Austin Walker's article), is kind of nonsensical. It gets the player from A to B, sure, but it never stopped feeling weird for the game to paint Talion as a hero with one brush, and then allow you to decapitate an orc who is defined by a very human, relatable fear of fire moments later. But we've heard this argument before, right? Ludonarrative dissonance, blah blah blah. We've heard this argument so much, in fact, that it spawned an entirely new genre of games: the Violent Games That Criticize Violence And People Who Enjoy Violence genre. Anyone who has played Hotline Miami will remember the constant, enigmatic questions posed to the player by its cast of animal-faced murderers. "Knowing oneself means acknowledging one's actions." "You like hurting people, don't you?" "You're not a nice person, are you?" "Do you like hurting other people?" On its surface, these questions -- questions that many games pose to their players -- are deep, interesting queries. Functionally, though, they do nothing but jab an accusatory finger at the player. You fucking caveman, they shout. What's wrong with you? Why do you like this horrible, violent pornography? The answer to these condescending questions is simple: because these games are fun, and you know they're fun, and you spent hours and hours and hours of development time making sure I'd find them fun. These games never broach the actual social or biological reasons we find violence entertaining. Evolutionarily, it's to our advantage to find violence more stimulating and interesting than other aspects of the human experience, because a failure to find violence noteworthy can result in our deaths. Culturally, there are reams and reams of academic papers on violence as a (chiefly male) expression of worth and power that can often poison the aggressor almost as much as their victim. These games don't address that. Far Cry 3 says you like violence because you're a racist, simple-minded tourist (or at least, you have no problem taking on the role of one because, as a player, you're so eager to get to the murdering that your avatar is meaningless). Hotline Miami says you like it because you're kind-of-sort-of-bad-person-I-guess-but-maybe-not-really-I-don't-know. Spec Ops: The Line suggests you've just never given any thought to what the hell you've done as a player of games. These games chastise the player for enjoying consequence-free violence, right before offering them a smorgasbord of beautifully rendered, lovingly visceral consequence-free violence (Spec Ops less so, as it actually gives a shit about the choices you made in the story. Additionally, it forbids the player from being as graphically sadistic toward his or her enemies as FC3 and Hotline Miami). This is kind of weird, right? This is a hypocritical way of having your cake and eating it too -- of pretending you're making a grand statement about violence, without actually saying anything of note beyond -- bizarrely -- blaming the player for buying your game. If a game truly cared about exploring violence and its consequences, wouldn't it bake that into its game systems? XCOM, to me, is a greater treatise on violence and death than any of the other games I've mentioned because its systems force the player to make real, consequential, dynamic choices about the value of life. Should I put my elite assault trooper into the path of a crysalid if it means that he'll be able to save two or three civilians? Is it worthwhile to use my rookie to draw a sectoid's fire, just so my sniper can get a shot off? How much do I care about "winning" versus being a good person? What is the actual, financial cost of a human being? XCOM, while seemingly just a silly game about marines fighting aliens, directly engages with these questions in a way that the Hotline Miamis and Far Crys of the world never do. (And what's more, they do it without relying on gore for spectacle's sake). The answer for that is, perhaps, obvious: because it's hard. Because to do so is expensive, and means you're making a mechanically complex game in a time where it's easier and cheaper and often more profitable to make simple games. But if you're going to make a simple game that casts the player in a simple, hyperviolent role, why pretend to be an exploration of violence when your game mechanics obviously aren't? Why not go the other direction? Why not celebrate the fact that you're, to be brutally cynical, kinda full of shit? That's what Borderlands 2 was about -- from my perspective, at least. (It should probably go without saying, but a TON of people worked on Borderlands 2, and though I wrote about 90% of the dialogue, that dialogue makes up a comparatively small percentage of the overall Borderlands 2 experience. I can only speak for myself, and my own frame of mind when I worked on the game.) Early on, after the player kills a few psycho bandits, I had Claptrap comment on the battle: "Minion! What did you DO?! Those people had LIVES, and FAMILIES, and -- nah, I'm totally kidding. SCREW those guys!" As a joke, this line of dialogue isn't great. It's too long, its punchline is obvious, and it's just plain not all that funny. But nonetheless, this was a line I found myself coming back to as a thematic touchstone for the series as a whole. Yes, you are a murderer. Yes, you only exist to kill people and rob their corpses so you can kill more powerful things and rob more shiny stuff from their corpses. But it's all bullshit, so don't sweat it. Don't forget that you're being kind of a murderous antihero, but have fun with it! It's entertaining to be a murderous antihero. Don't pretend you're something that you're not (a hero), but don't beat yourself up over your antiheroism -- revel in it. There was a bit of internal worry about casting the player as such an amoral mercenary, but by making the bad guy an even bigger asshole, and by surrounding the people with (hopefully) charming, equally amoral good guys, everything basically turned out okay. We didn't, to my recollection, get any letters about how horrific it was to play as an antihero -- if anything, people seemed to enjoy that Borderlands was so jovially honest with its players about what it was and what it asked them to do. Saints Row works for exactly the same reason. The first two Saints Row games can often veer toward the horrifying, as the player upholds "values" like loyalty (which manifests itself in the player brutally murdering Julius, the founder of the Saints who rats on them in an attempt to bring peace back to Stillwater) and justice (which sees the player kidnap an unarmed woman, lock her in the trunk of a destruction derby car, and trick her boyfriend into ramming her to death as a means of avenging one of their fallen comrades). But Saints Row 3 and 4? The games where the franchise fully accepted just how batshit insane its players, characters, and world are? God damn, those are some good fucking videogames. Yes, your only method of interaction with civilians sees you punching or bludgeoning or shooting them. "Fuck it," the game says -- "let's incentivize that kind of behavior by making civilians drop health when you kill them." The moment Saints Row stopped trying to make serious statements about anything was the moment it reached its full potential. It accepted its own ludicrousness, and in so doing became the most honest videogame ever made: you play like a psychopath in these games, so we'll cast you as a mass-murderer and have everyone talk about how hilariously fun it is to be a mass-murderer. Fuck it, we'll make you president because you were so good at being a mass-murderer. Sure, the Saints Row games aren't "deep" (except for the fact that they totally are, thanks to their treatment of sexuality), but they're honest. Their messages, such as they are, match up perfectly with their mechanics. In my dumb, ex-game-dev opinion, XCOM and Saints Row represent the two best ways of actually tackling violence in games. Either build your systems around violence and its consequences -- actually force your players to answer questions of morality and power for themselves -- or just throw up your hands and create a world where the player can have fun being a total piece of shit. Above all, just be honest in what you're doing -- don't pretend your game is about How Bad Violence Is when it's really about How Awesome Pixelated Blood Looks.
Now move on, already
With Hotline Miami 2 recently released, I realized I am really, really tired of games that belong in its genre. When I say "genre," I refer not to "action games" or "indie games" or even "violent games," but a subtler, more h...
Contest: Win a copy of Saints Row IV: Re-Elected & Gat Out Of Hell
Mar 16
// Mike Martin
Codes are valid for North American regions. To watch my brother and I create co-op chaos, check out the official Destructoid Twitch channel on Wednesdays @ 10pm PST and my own Twitch channel throughout the week. Cheers and good luck everyone! Contest ends March 23rd @ 11:59pm PST. Winners will be announced and notified by 3/27/15. And remember, our Huge Members get automatic entry into all contests (and double entries if you enter one manually), exclusive beta code giveaways for upcoming games, newsletters direct from the staff, ad-free browsing, and more! And most of all, your $3 a month helps directly support the site you love. Try us out!
Free stuff from our friends at Deep Silver!
CONTEST OVER AS OF MONDAY 3/23/15 Winners: Charlietime (XB1) and Dtoidgamer69 (PS4) Thanks to Ryan and Will from Deep Silver, we have two copies of the Saints Row IV: Re-Elected/Gat out of Hell bundle to give away to you folk...
Saints Row IV: Re-Elected is a prettier mash-up of aliens and sex toys
Feb 02
// Brittany Vincent
Saints Row IV: Re-Elected (PlayStation 4 [tested], Xbox One)Developer: Volition/High Voltage SoftwarePublisher: Deep SilverRelease: January 20, 2014MRSP: $49.99 The "Re-Elected" edition comes packaged with the updated PS4 edition of Saints Row IV, all the previously-released DLC, the expansion Gat Out of Hell (which I enjoyed thoroughly), and the Enter the Dominatrix feature – one of the best reasons to check out this re-release, especially since it features a host of deleted scenes from what would originally become Saints Row IV. It's basically a faux documentary told in an engaging fashion, and one of the best aspects of the entire package – save for the actual game, of course. If you already played through the game, you won't find anything changed here. The boss of the Saints has somehow managed to strong arm their way into becoming the President of the United States. In a sense, you may as well be a superhero – perhaps that's why you end up getting super powers later on in the game. The game is centered around making the player feel as awesome as humanly possible, which it does accomplish in several ways. Zinyak, the alien mastermind behind enslaving humanity and committing a hundred other heinous deeds, is a well-read megalomaniac who's content to toy with the Saints leader in any way he can, including depositing him or her into a virtual Steelport that's been conquered and is teeming with Zin soldiers. It's your job to take him down. [embed]287011:57124:0[/embed] You do just that while navigating a simulation of the Steelport you know and love from Saints Row: The Third, getting yourself into a bunch of situations such as the Saints boss being whisked away into a '50s-styled sitcom world where "golly gee" is about as rude as one can get, the hilariously awful dubstep gun, and the text-based adventure game snippets found nestled within the game. The introduction of superpowers to the mix is what ends up making Saints Row IV what it is, however. It's empowering to be able to leap up tall buildings, slam into enemies with a lethal ground pound, or sprint through Steelport faster than a speeding bullet. Ice, fire, and other elemental powers are instrumental in incapacitating Wardens, larger Zin soldiers that wreak havoc on you if you amass a full wanted rating, and jumping across the city can be pretty exciting. Unfortunately, super sprint renders vehicles virtually useless, so that's one less thing you've got to engage in, but the array of other powers makes up for it. The leader of the Saints is consistently witty and fun, whether you choose a male or female avatar, and one of the biggest attractions of the game. "Romance" options, some great retro gaming references, and an excellent soundtrack accompany your jaunts about town, and if you've ever wanted to smack someone in the head with a writhing tentacle sword, this is your chance, especially given the upscaled visuals, additional content, and the just-released Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell. There's plenty to do in Saints Row IV: Re-Elected, whether you're coming in as a new player or are here strictly for the additional content. As an aside, I want to mention that I'm pleased with where Saints Row has taken me before, but I'm ready for a new frontier. A new city. A new crew to run with. I had my fun with Steelport and the Saints, but perhaps it's time for a new story. We'll always have long car rides, er, sprints through the city...and this is the definitive way to experience Saints Row IV.
Good to go for a second term
Saints Row IV is absolutely crazy. It is, without a doubt, one of the most off-the-wall sandbox experiences you can have on a console or otherwise. It's an excellent cooperative adventure as well, and it delivers the franchis...
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Review: Saints Row IV: Gat out of Hell
Jan 19
// Brittany Vincent
Saints Row: Gat out of Hell (PC, PS4 [Reviewed], Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360) Developer: Volition/High Voltage Software Publisher: Deep Silver Released: January 20, 2015 MSRP: $19.99 The game opens on the gang aboard the Zin Ship during a celebration of Kinzie Kensington's birthday. During the festivities, Matt Miller produces a possessed Ouija board that was previously owned by Aleister Crowley, and it opens a portal to Hell. The Boss (your player character in the previous Saints Row games) is sucked through the portal and kidnapped by Satan. Johnny Gat and Kinzie follow through the portal to save their friend, and upon arriving in Hell go to the biggest building in sight. Ultor HQ. Dane Vogel, head of Ultor Corporation and previous adversary of the Saints, has started his business anew in Hell and lets the duo know that Satan has arranged a marriage between The Boss and his daughter. Vogel has big plans to corner the real estate market in Hell, and he needs Satan out of the way to do it. He presents Johnny Gat with Lucifer's Broken Halo, a powerful artifact that imbues the user with fiery wings and arcane power, to assist in the assassination of the Dark Lord. All of the previous statements contained a lot of names that you may or may not remember depending on which games, if any, you've played of the series. This is one of the biggest things that marks this as a standalone expansion. This game is very self-referential, and unlike the main entries in the series doesn't ease players into the world of Saints Row. It makes the assumption that you've at least played Saints Row IV, and spends little time on exposition or background other than some short illustrations and voiceover. [embed]285618:56942:0[/embed] This was a bit frustrating, because even though I've played through all the Saints Row titles, it's been a while. It would have made the game more inviting to have at least a short flashback when meeting a character from a previous title, and unfortunately many players might miss out on some of the enjoyment and nostalgia from not having just a bit more context. However, there are a few new characters, and they are a blast. Shakespeare, Vlad the Impaler, and Blackbeard all join the cast, and although this entry is a bit short, I hope that future iterations will introduce as interesting of a cast as this one did. The setting is where this game really shines though. Hell looks, well, hellish. Instead of another romp through Steelport, we spend our time in New Hades, which is dominated by the Ultor Tower. It's sometimes hard to notice flying and sprinting at high speeds, but different sections of Hell have different aesthetics, and the whole map, although smaller than Steelport, feels more alive and organic from all the unique buildings. Gone also are the nameless civilian fodder, replaced by "Husks," which are the souls of the damned who are made to feel pain for all eternity. The police are instead demons who drive monster trucks, and there are a host of flying, shielded, and gigantic enemies, all with their own styles and methods of attack. All in all they made a much more entertaining and interesting adversary than the Zin, and the whole world feels much more polished and finished than Saints Row IV's Steelport simulation. Much like the last game, you have access to a host of superhuman powers. With Lucifer's Broken Halo you can sprout wings to glide, sprint at high speed, stomp the ground with various elemental powers, call upon demons to fight for you, and turn enemies to stone with power blasts. Whether in a simulation or powered by a demonic artifact, the result is much the same: you're pretty much the most powerful being in Hell. I think powers are much more interesting in Gat out of Hell. Something about the last game's powers being due to computer hacking and being trapped in a simulation was insanely boring. These games are a zany good time, but when I play something like this I like to feel as though I'm actually affecting the world I'm playing in, and getting powers from the broken crown of the Morning Star himself is way cooler. I do have a bit of a qualm with the missing character customization element, though. I understand that the game centers around having to play as Kinzie or Johnny Gat; but it would have been nice to at least change their outfits or accessories. So everything seems pretty positive about this game, right? It's a high quality production, and totally awesome, so what could go wrong? Well, that cool setting, low price point, and interesting gameplay came at a cost, namely in the form of content. Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell is short. Really short. The first time I saved my game I had been playing for about an hour, and I was shocked when the screen said that the game was already 14% complete. I figured it was like Saints Row IV where that number didn't really mean a lot or indicate how much content was left other than at a superficial level. Well, I was wrong. Gat takes about 6-7 hours to complete the main plot, and it could probably be easily taken to 100% within 12-13 hours. Honestly, I've paid $20 for a lot less fun, and although the game is short, what is there is solid gold. Plus, if you've never played Saints Row IV, or just want it and all its DLC on latest gen consoles, you can get Saints Row IV: Re-Elected, which includes this expansion for about $50. Gat out of Hell was a great swan song for Saints Row IV, and it is now one of my favorite entries in the series. There are plenty of games out there about depression, sexuality, violence, politics, and so on, and sometimes it makes me tired. I love Saints Row because I never have to deal with any issues within. There's no agenda and no life lessons to learn. There's only pure escapism. which is what games are meant for in my view. If I wanted to worry about all that, I'd just go to a college campus and listen to people complain for a few hours. As it is though, I hope that more developers take a cue from Saints Row and realize that it's still okay to tell jokes and implement cartoony violence that's still ridiculous and fun. I know gaming as an industry is maturing and people want to present new ideas and make statements using the media, but luckily, whenever I feel like I need a break, I will have Saints Row proudly on my shelf. [This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]
Like a sinner before the gates of Heaven
There's something about a series that doesn't feel the need to make a ton of social commentary, or really feel grounded in reality. The Saints Row series is like if the worlds of The Naked Gun and Grand Theft Auto...
Free this weekend
Play Civilization: Beyond Earth, Saints Row IV for free on Steam
This weekend only
Jan 15
// Steven Hansen
Saint's Row IV and Civilization: Beyond Earth are both free to play on Steam this weekend. Both are good to go until Sunday, 1PM PST. Try 'em. If you like 'em, both are on sale over the weekend, too. $5 fo...
Saints Row
This is Saints Row: Gat out of Hell's musical number
When Clancy Brown tells you to do something, you listen
Dec 03
// Jordan Devore
"It's a whimsical, weird fucking game," former Volition creative director Steve Jaros said of Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell when I spoke with him about the Disney-inspired standalone expansion. It's true: there's a musical num...
Saints Row
Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell leaves no deadly sin unchecked
Needs more sloth, to be honest
Oct 15
// Brett Makedonski
Johnny Gat's not a good man. Powerful, but not good. That's why he uses each and every of the seven deadly sins to send all of those already dead to the after-afterlife. Most of them look like they deserve it, to be fair. Especially those nipple-rubbing demons.
Gat Out of Hell
Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell takes us on a fly-by tour of the underworld
And re-murders the post-alive
Sep 24
// Brett Makedonski
Sprout some wings and take an aerial tour of Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell and New Hades with Johnny Gat acting as a murderous guide. When he's not perusing the underworld via an overhead view, he's running down demons in his rambulance or firing swaths of rockets from his armchair. Our promised musical number hasn't shown up yet, but so far, everything is so wonderfully Saints Row.
Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell was inspired by Disney movies
Sep 02
// Jordan Devore
In Gat Out of Hell, your player character from Saints Row IV, the President, is pulled into hell to marry Satan's daughter Jezebel. The devil believes the Saints boss to be the most dangerous person alive -- a perfect general to lead his army against heaven -- but Jezebel isn't interested. Johnny Gat and Kinzie Kensington journey to hell to save their fearless leader and from there, it's up to you playing as either character (or both, in co-op) to wreak havoc however you see fit. Perhaps you'll use some of the ridiculous new weapons based on the seven deadly sins. My favorite one shoots locusts, which is almost as good as a gun that fires bees. Almost. You're meant to run around -- or fly; you have wings -- and fill up a piss-off-Satan meter at which point the story will unfold as various milestones are met. Gat Out of Hell features historical figures and even characters from past games, including Dane Vogel and Dex, plus "well over 30 instances of open-world things to do," according to Jaros. After reaching 100 percent completion on a given island of hell, you'll be rewarded with an epilogue relating to its central character -- like spymaster general William Shakespeare, for example. Completionists will also be able to unlock a "crazy epilogue" for the full story. Asked if Gat Out of Hell was considered canon or if it'd have an impact on the series' story going forward, Jaros just kept saying "I recommend that you play it" with a smile on his face. "It is not a Saints Row V. It is not a sequel," he said. "It's a fun thing for our fans. A new place to go and play around with super powers. Another city to go and terrorize. [A chance to] play as a character that people really seem to dig, and just have another excuse to have a lot of fun and do some shit that we're able to get away with." [embed]280509:55544:0[/embed] Okay, so about that Disney connection. "I'm pretty certain that we'll be the only open-world game that comes out with a full-blown musical number in the middle of the critical path," Jaros told Destructoid. "One of the things that we lean on [heavily] for inspiration for this is Disney movies. I'm a big Disney fan. For instance, if you remember stuff like in Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella, the beginning of the movies [have] the ornate story book that opens up. It's illuminated text and story-book pictures, and a narrator -- that's kind of our story structure. Jane Austen narrates you through this fairy tale; Jezebel is very much a sort of Disney princess." The creative director made it clear that "It's not a parody of Disney at all, but it echoes some of those themes." There aren't any talking animal buddies here, but Gat does have a talking gun who wants to help him become the ultimate killing machine. Basically, Gat Out of Hell is what a fairy tale would look like in the Saints Row universe. "It's a whimsical, weird fucking game."
There's a full musical number and everything
I've played and enjoyed all of the Saints Row games to date, but wonder how much longer this can last. How much more ridiculous can the series get, and even if there is room to up the insanity, do we even want that? Where Vol...
New Saints
Volition announces standalone Saints Row expansion Gat Out of Hell
Also, Saints Row IV for PS4 and Xbox One
Aug 29
// Steven Hansen
At its PAX panel, Volition announced a new Saints Row, a standalone expansion of Saints Row IV called Gat Out of Hell (PC, PS3, 360, PS4, Xbox One). It has you travelling to Hell, is half the size of Steelport, and feat...
29 pieces of goddamn DLC included
Saints Row IV National Treasure Edition collects all the DLC in one package
Jun 24
// Hamza CTZ Aziz
Well just like Saints Row: The Third, Deep Silver is re-releasing Saints Row IV and including all 29 downloadable content packs. Really? 29 goddamn pieces of DLC? Ugh. Gross, but now's as good as time as ever to buy Saints Ro...
Deep Silver kicks off two weeks of Humble Daily Bundles
Some old, some new
May 13
// Jordan Devore
Over the next two weeks, Humble Bundle will be running 24-hour deals and the promotion kicks off this morning with a repeat of the Humble Deep Silver Bundle. It was a pretty good compilation originally, and it's back with upd...
Games with Gold
Saints Row: The Third and Dust are next for Games with Gold
Free to download in May for subscribers
Apr 30
// Jordan Devore
May's free titles for Xbox Live Gold members are some of the best featured in Microsoft's Games with Gold promo so far, I'd say. We're getting the action-adventure RPG Dust: An Elysian Tail from May 1 - 15 and the ridiculous ...
Johnny Gat joins the roster of Divekick
Saints Row meets Divekick makes perfect sense to me
Apr 08
// Alasdair Duncan
When I first saw the trailer above, I thought "C'mon, Maurice Tan, former Destructoid writer/current Deep Silver PR dude, April Fools' Day was last week, you're a bit late with the jokes." But no, it's no joke; Saints Row ma...
Saints Row IV
Saints Row IV thinks highly of itself, releasing Game of the Century Edition
Also, a Dead Island double-pack
Apr 02
// Brett Makedonski
Ever since the third installment in the series, Saints Row has been a franchise that hasn't been afraid to toot its own horn. Not necessarily without cause, though -- after all, Saints Row IV was pretty darn good. B...
Free Steam Weekend
Play Company of Heroes 2, Saints Row IV for free on Steam
Free to play until Sunday afternoon
Jan 16
// Jordan Devore
This weekend on Steam, both Saints Row IV and Company of Heroes 2 will be playable for free. If you like what you find and want to continue after 1:00pm Pacific on Sunday, which is when this promo ends, the titles are on sale...
Saints Row
Voice actor says he's working on new Saints Row
Tell us more, Jay Mohr
Dec 19
// Jordan Devore
Actor and comedian Jay Mohr said on Twitter yesterday that he was contributing to a new Saints Row. Not that anyone was expecting Volition to stop making these games all of a sudden. "About to do my voice over work for new Sa...
How the Saints Save Christmas out today
Santa on a rampage
Dec 11
// Conrad Zimmerman
The previously announced holiday add-on content for Saints Row IV, How the Saints Save Christmas, has been released along with this delightful trailer which explains the premise. Simply put, Santa Claus is apparently some ki...
Saints Row IV
How the Saints Save Christmas is the next Saints Row DLC
Volition is holiding a Christmas carol contest
Nov 25
// Jordan Devore
Above all else, I dig the spot-on name for Saints Row IV's upcoming DLC. How the Saints Save Christmas promises to be "a holiday classic for the whole family" (riiight) when it arrives on December 11 for $6.99, or as a free d...
Deep Silver
Deep Silver is having a big discount sale on Steam
Saints Row and Dead Island are among the titles reduced this weekend
Oct 24
// Alasdair Duncan
Big publisher sales are always a great way of filling any big gaps in your Steam library, especially if there's some franchise bundles. Deep Silver is having a weekend sale on lots of PC titles, including bundle deals for Dea...
Get ready to spank: Saints Row IV: Enter The Dominatrix
Oct 23
// Dale North
We thought Saints Row: The Third expansion Enter the Dominatrix was some silly, horny internet thing. But it's real, and it's out today on the PSN, XBLA and Steam, priced at $6.99. If you've got a season pass, well, it'...
Saints Row
Saints Row IV's Enter the Dominatrix lives up to its name
First look at the DLC
Oct 10
// Jordan Devore
Enter the Dominatrix was originally going to be an expansion for Saints Row: The Third, but it's since been reworked as DLC for Saints Row IV. And, now, we have a release date: October 22, 2013. If you've got a season pass, i...
Shadow Warrior
Saints Row's dildo bat is a weapon in Shadow Warrior
Devolver Digital + Deep Silver = this
Sep 24
// Jordan Devore
For all of the time we've spent talking about it, Destructoid readers should be familiar with Saints Row: The Third's "The Penetrator," aka that dildo baseball bat. I'd say it's back, but it never truly left. The infamous mel...
Jimquisition: To Play The Villain
Sep 23
// Jim Sterling
Jimquisition happens every Monday!
Some gamers are skipping Grand Theft Auto V, unwilling to play the role of a thief, a gangbanger, or a psychopath. While others may shy away from being the villain, Jim Sterling actively revels in it. Indeed, to play the villain can not only be fun, it can be downright fascinating.
Saints Row IV free DLC
Saints Row IV's Gat V pack is free on Steam today
Imagine that! Dress like Johnny Gat
Sep 17
// Chris Carter
Saints Row IV came, saw, and conquered critics alike as well as the charts, and now you can pick up a free bit of content if you're rolling with the Steam version. For today only on the PC, you can pick up the Gat V Pack for...
Saints Row
Saints Row IV sells a million copies in first week
Someone's going to make this about GTA V, aren't they?
Aug 28
// Jordan Devore
In its first week of being available at retail, Saints Row IV has sold more than one million copies. Sold, not shipped. According to publisher Deep Silver, the PC version of the game tripled the first-week sales of its predec...
SRIV tentacle bat
Saints Row IV's tentacle bat got built in real life
Aug 26
// Steven Hansen
Sure, the Saints Row: The Third dildo bat was cool. However, today is the day of the tentacle. Saints Row IV, in its self-one-upmanship, needed to raise the ante and thus the tentacle bat was born. What's more, a team of spe...
Review: Saints Row IV
Aug 20
// Jim Sterling
Saints Row IV (PC [reviewed], PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)Developer: VolitionPublisher: Deep SilverReleased: August 20, 2013 (NA), August 23, 2013 (EU)MSRP: $59.99 I was laughing out loud with actual noises emanating from my mouth within the first ten minutes of Saints Row IV, and the laughter rarely eased up for the rest of the adventure. Comedy in videogames is a tough nut to crack, but the loving parody, hyper-violent slapstick, and sheer audacity of Volition's latest makes it look effortless. Not only that, it tells an engrossing and surprisingly coherent story on top of all the silliness. In a plot that proudly steals from The Matrix, They Live, and a bevy of other pop culture fixtures, Earth finds itself under attack by aliens, because of course it does. Though much has been made of The Saints taking the American Presidency, there's no actual time to enjoy running the country, as the Zin Empire kidnaps most of the cabinet and places our antihero -- the puckish rogue known predominantly as The Boss -- into a virtual reality designed and ruled by the deliciously affable Emperor Zinyak. [embed]259412:50006:0[/embed] The Boss must break free of the simulation, rescue his or her crew from their own virtual Hells, and eventually strike back at the Zin. Full of constant surprises, gameplay switches that subvert expectations, and some cracking one-liners, Saints Row IV brings back the kind of satisfyingly deranged narrative that made Saints Row II so wonderful. Unlike The Third, there's a sense of pacing, structure, and conclusion that offsets the overall wackiness. It is aberration tempered with intelligence, something the series needed to return to. Without that crucial sense of chaotic organization, the sheer level of ridiculousness in IV would risk running out of control. Placing players in a virtual Steelport has given Volition the excuse to truly push the boat out this time, leaning on the Matrix references to turn the Boss from hardy sociopath to full-on superhero. Enjoying a range of fresh powers drip-fed by story missions, the Boss gains access to super sprinting, super jumping, freeze blasts, fireballs, and more, with ideas liberally reaped from games such as Crackdown, inFAMOUS and Prototype. Rather than simply rip off other games, however, Volition has carefully cherry-picked and refined the very best ideas from the leading sandbox games on the market -- the criminal freedom of Grand Theft Auto, the wall-running and super speed of Prototype, the energetic powers of inFAMOUS, the explorative collection quests of Crackdown, and Saints Row's characteristic nonsense have been beautifully distilled and mixed to create the ultimate tribute to everything open world games have been this generation. Of course, Volition's not just lifted ideas from other games. A range of new abilities and weapons are on offer, from a ground stomp that shrinks surrounding people, to a gun that fires black holes, and the power to call down alien abduction beams from the sky, there's a ton of demented toys to play with. Telekinesis, mind control, a dubstep gun, giant mech suits, freeze blasts, electrified bullets, inflato-rays -- suffice it to say, there's a ton to use, and almost all of it can be upgraded and augmented. As well the main story missions, all of which are fantastically varied and regularly make affectionate fun of other videogames and genres, each member of the Saints has specialized Loyalty missions, there are loads of activities and collectibles to find, and a whole host of extra challenges. New activities include a riff on the old Fight Club challenges (this time using super powers), Genki Bowl (in which you throw people, cars, and Genki items through floating rings), and special races through the simulation's virtual systems. Of course, classics like Insurance Fraud and vehicle thefts have been retained. There are no rival gangs to fight with for control of the city, but the Zin influence over Virtual Steelport is there to be undermined by disrupting the system in various ways. Flashpoints can be cleared of alien guards, Zin towers can be climbed and conquered, Viruses can be injected by enduring wave-based enemy assaults, and stores can be hacked for access and extra money (drolly referred to as "Cache" in this particular game). Describing everything you can do in detail would take forever and more words than most of you are prepared to read, but suffice it to say that while The Third felt a little shortchanged, IV lavishes content upon the player with wanton abandon. More importantly, it provides this content in stages, with a fantastic sense of build that keeps the player consistently invested and eager to discover the next wonderful toy. It doesn't simply start at the extreme end of "balls out" with nowhere further to go. The game admittedly does begin with explosions and silliness, but by focusing on variety rather than simply scale, IV doesn't suffer from trying to continually top its own ludicrousness. The result is a game that's confident in itself, that doesn't seem like it's desperately trying to live up to its reputation as a "crazy" experience. It is a game that, despite being about aliens and superpowered virtual realities, sticks to a certain twisted sensibility, and ultimately is a better game for it. Many of the story missions take place outside of the Steelport simulation, allowing Volition to experiment with fresh types of gameplay and a linear structure that provides a better environment for storytelling and humor. You'll get to engage in a funny Metal Gear Solid pastiche, bring ruin to a 1950s paradise, and even get some beat 'em action going on. Saints Row IV plays many different tunes, and it plays them all with a shocking level of competence. Everything feels so much more dense this time around, and the cocktail of activities means things never feel too repetitive, even when performing the same activities. Rewards for completing sidequests and obtaining collectibles are generally excellent and worthy of the effort, meaning it can be hours of enthralling distraction before one even gets to the first main story mission. Saints Row IV addresses many of my gripes with The Third, but a few lingering niggles remain in the woodwork. I still miss the pure villainy of the Boss as found in Saints Row II, since players continue taking on the role of a less morally corrupt antihero. The old gang dynamic has been totally discarded, and while the Zin make for interesting opponents, they lack the variety seen with such enemies as The Brotherhood and Ronin. A new annoying enemy type also puts in an appearance -- shielded Wardens, which need to be blasted with a superpower before they take bullet damage, and they hop and jump everywhere for maximum irritation. These really are minor gripes in the face of all that IV gets right, however. While we'll never get the old Boss back, Emperor Zinyak is truly delightful as the Saints' new foil (just wait until he sings). Though the Zin are rather uniform in appearance, story missions often take players to entirely different worlds and even finds an excuse to resurrect some of the old Steelport and Stilwater gangs (albeit temporarily). While the Wardens are a pain in the ass, at least they don't appear frequently. Despite returning to a replica of Steelport, the new aesthetic makes it feel like a totally new environment. Walls shimmer and pedestrians glitch out, the sky is an oppressive red in Zinyak territory and a calming blue in a Saint-controlled hood. Signs urging citizens to OBEY are littered throughout the city in a nod to that oh-so classic Roddy Piper movie. Sometimes the shimmering feels a little too much, but overall the game does a damn fine job of making Steelport feel fresher than it is, especially now that you can leap and glide from its digital rooftops. The new weapons all look and sound wonderful when in use, with some lovely explosive effects. The game's soundtrack really hits the mark, though. Vehicles are practically useless this time around, so the radio can be played at all times, meaning Stan Bush's "The Touch" is liable to play wherever you go, making even the tiniest of actions feel like the most badass and celebratory of achievements. Some absolute belters are included on the radio stations this time around -- from Haddaway, to Thin Lizzy, to Aerosmith. Sometimes the game takes over the music for its own purposes, and does so to tremendous effect. Volition's exploitation of pop culture for cheap (but effective) laughs is bloody masterful. IV's voice talent is just as good, too. All the voice actors for the Boss put in a solid performance (especially the obligatory "cockney" one), while the likes of Matt Miller, Shaundi, Kinzie, Pierce, and Jonny Gat are as amusing and pleasant as ever. J.B Blanc, however, smoothly steals the show as the suave Zinyak -- both charming and completely deserving of a vicious comeuppance. Saints Row IV is, from start to finish, a pleasure. It's a pure pleasure to play. I was cynical, given my feeling let down by The Third, but Volition has worked hard to address almost everything wrong with its last outing, and provide something that delivers over and above expectations. What I love most about IV is how it puts the player first -- absolutely every new feature and ability gifted to the player seems designed purely to make the game more convenient to enjoy, and more fun to play. And this is why I felt sad when the final credits rolled ... Cause even when I dream of you,The sweetest dream will never do,I'd still miss you babe,And I don't want to miss a thing. Don't want to close my eyes,I don't want to fall asleep,And I don't want to miss a thing.
And I don't wanna miss a thing!
[Ed. note: Bumping our review from last week, as the game is available in stores today.] When I finished Saints Row: The Third in 2011, I left the experience feeling somewhat sad. It was a good game, but it felt shallow, held...
Very quick tips for Saints Row IV
Aug 20
// Chris Carter
Basic Tips: Level up jumping powers first. They pay dividends as you're more easily able to trounce around and unlock more cores. If you're frustrated by climbing up buildings, eventually you'll unlock the ability to wall-run, similar to Alex Mercer from Prototype -- just keep leveling up until you earn the right to purchase it. You can "pre-load" super-jumps in the air by holding down the jump button, then letting go once you hit the ground. Traversing across vertical terrain is easy if you have the glide ability. Hold down the glide button (LB or L1), then let go when you're near a building, pre-load a super-jump, and repeat. When you're fighting Wardens, patience is key. Switch to the fireball ability, and wait until the Warden is done jumping around before you blast his shield. Otherwise, he'll just jump around again and re-cast his shield before you can get a chance to do any real damage. If you're looking to make short work of them, save up ~30,000 cache (money) for the rocket launcher as soon as possible. When choosing what powers to wield, use fire on vehicles, and ice on units. Remember to double-tab the direction pad to switch. If you're in a jam, sprinting in circles and using the sprinting attack can make for a quick instant kill. You can use this multiple times in succession. Complete all of the crewmate activity missions (not the loyalty ones, but the ones where the game gives you mixed objectives). The rewards are fantastic. [Jim Sterling] If you find yourself in a troubling firefight, try and pick off enemies one by one behind cover. Super sprint into the health, rinse, and repeat. Of course, grabbing the "less damage while sprinting" and "vacuum up health" upgrades will help considerably. Don't forget that you can turn on the radio at any time, even if you're not in a vehicle. Press the B button (Circle) to bring up the menu, and change the radio station with LB and RB (L1 and R1). You may not even notice it, but when you're not using ammo, a tiny white circle appears on the screen. Use this to aim your projectile powers, and more importantly, aim your jumps when looking down at the ground. It's really easy to forget about your power dive ability that you'll earn a few hours into the campaign. Press the aim button (LT or L2) in the air to hover, aim the cursor, then press the attack button (RT or R2) to do a Superman-esque dive into a group of enemies. You can do this often -- all it costs is stamina. If you really want the Dubstep Gun, you'll earn it towards the end of the campaign anyways, at which point you can just equip it from your armory. Don't forget that you can access the "phone" menu by pressing the Back button (Select), and call your crew for help (it's the lower left option). I kept forgetting this because it's so hidden, but it's very useful. If you're having trouble during missions involving constantly spawning enemies via portals, the best course of action is to head to a nearby building, and shoot the portals from afar. Otherwise, you risk getting constantly hit, and by the time you get your bearings, more portals will spawn. Without spoiling anything, this works very well in the final fight.
Zap the Zin Empire
Saints Row IV is the wackiest game yet. Just when you thought hitting people with giant dildo bats was crazy, how about smacking aliens with giant dildo bats while running 100 miles per hour, leaping 100 feet in the air -- as...
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I finally backed Indivisible. After hearing about Red from Transistor, I played the demo again. That platforming is solid and I'm used to the combat now.
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Dum, dum, dum! Another blog bites the dust! And another done, and another done! Another blog bites the dust! #RIPtumblrbecausefuckit
Jed Whitaker
Ugh, I've been sick for what feels like 3 weeks. If I die I leave all my games to...my casket because they're mine. Stay away! *hiss, hiss*
Apparently the upcoming Tri-Force heroes update makes the local-play only items possible to get for everyone. That's pretty great!
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Last night, for one reason or another I watched the endings of bloodborne via vaatividya, and in so doing made myself sad that I will never get to play it. Still cool that they seem to have really nailed that lovecraftian exestential horror and despair.
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text:
Local café promotes Airdrie artists' work
Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 01:08 pm
Airdrie artist Veronica Funk will have two of her original paintings displayed at the Good Earth Café on Jan. 31.
The 17-year Airdrie resident and one of the founding members of Creative Airdrie says she is thrilled with not only how much the art community in the city has grown, but how the business community has embraced it.
Funk has had her work exhibited in galleries and public places, and said that she prefers a public forum.
"Art in a public place is just much more accessible to everyone," said Funk.
"Galleries might be intimidating for some or a little more difficult to get to, so the fact that the business community in Airdrie has been so welcoming to local artists is really nice."
The Airdrie Public Library (APL) is a leader in this trend, according to Funk, who works as the facility's art program coordinator.
"They (APL) were one of the first places to display local artists' work," said Funk.
"There is over 200 linear feet of space in the library for work to be displayed and there are anywhere from 400 to 1,000 people passing through on a daily basis so it's great exposure for these artists."
The library displays six different exhibits per year, for two month intervals and caters to both artist groups or individual artists.
An issue arises, however, with the combination of limited space at the library and high demand from the art community for places to display their work, according to Funk.
She said the library is currently booking wall space well into 2017 and the need for other venues to step up is high.
This is where local businesses like Good Earth Café and owner Becky Diebolt step in and fill that need.
"It's nice with a business like ours because we have some leeway as far as how we decorate the café," said Diebolt.
"We have the opportunity to promote and support the arts community and it's been going really well."
Diebolt and Good Earth Café Airdrie support more than just painters like Funk, but musicians as well as crafters and artisans.
"We have a lot of artists who walk through our doors and have meetings here," said Diebolt.
"I've been trying to encourage some of our artists to paint on site; there's also a local jewelry maker (Janie Fontaine) who makes necklaces and things from recycled materials and I always save our coffee lids for her to use when she's making her jewelry."
Funk appreciates the local support and has expressed gratitude to places like Smitty's Restaurant, Pureform Radiology, Sotheby's Realty, Simply for Life, Genesis Place and City Hall for opening up their doors and walls to local artists.
"The biggest thing for an artist is to have a means to share their work," said Funk.
"There's so much talent in Airdrie and to have the support of the business community to help build support for our local artists and help them get more exposure is really appreciated."
Any local artists who are interested in having their work exhibited at the Airdrie Public Library can contact Veronica Funk at email@example.com


text:
I just completed my first century last Saturday. My training was more than sufficient, but I'm still dialing in the nutrition. After reading the forums, I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to eat enough, so I made sure to fuel up before the ride.
My breakfast consisted entirely of foods that I've trained with repeatedly. I had:
-1 bowl of Wheaties with soymilk (90 min. before ride)
-1 large whole-grain muffin (60 min. before ride)
-1 homemade granola bar with dried cranberries (20 min. before ride)
It was full sun, mid-South humidity, and temperatures climbing up to mid-90's.
Climbing hill #1 (a pretty steep 300 ft. climb) at mile 12, at a reasonable pace, I felt much weaker than I should have.
Climbing hill #2 (similar specs) at mile 22,at a very slow pace, I started feeling very weak and suddenly projectile-vomited from the saddle near the summit (without slowing down at all). I was really considering abandoning the ride, but over the next few miles I started feeling much better.
After that, it was smooth sailing. I never felt hungry at rest stops, but I ate a little at each one and took in plenty of water. I felt strong on all of the later climbs. Weird, though, even after getting rid of most of my breakfast, I never felt that primal hunger at later rest stops like I usually do on rides >40 miles (at a really flat metric recently I ate Doritos and 2 hotdogs at a rest stop and a full spaghetti dinner with an ice cream sandwich at the finish an hour later).
Even at dinner after the ride, I had a moderate appetite. I ordered a normal amount of food and didn't finish it all. Two days later I still feel great. A tiny bit of stiffness, but nothing out of the ordinary.
My (hurling) theories:
-While all of my breakfast foods were familiar, I normally only eat one of the three. I simply ate too much before the ride.
-The heat and direct sun affected me more than I realized.
-It definitely WASN'T related to a fast pace or too much effort, I never even came close to hopping on the weekend-warrior-fat/old-guy-take-it-out-WAY-too-fast-only-to-pay-later train (and there were several passing through the station).
I'm still freaked out by how little I needed to eat (post-hurl) to feel OK without bonking. Even post-ride I never felt terribly hungry or got that sinking low-blood-sugar feeling. After nearly 8 hours in the saddle!
My theories on that:
-I consciously, compulsively, hydrated for two days before the ride. I'm normally not very good at keeping up the water intake. Is this enough to feel that much better/less desperately hungry??
-My training program was perfect and, after recent consecutive charity rides of 31, 50, and 62 miles, the century was actually anticlimactic.
Any thoughts from those more experienced than I???


text:
Mr. Sunshine: Season 1, Episode 9
Ben and Vivian (6 Apr. 2011)
TV Episode | | Comedy
Ratings: 7.9/10 from 86 users
Reviews: write review
Ben is in for a surprise when his one-night-stand turns out to be Crystal's new assistant, Vivian. When Ben and Vivian try to continue their "no strings attached" relationship, Ben ... See full summary »
Director:Bryan Gordon
Writers:Matthew Perry (creator), Alex Barnow (creator), 3 more credits »
Stars:Matthew Perry, Andrea Anders, James Lesure | See full cast and crew »


text:
Tekkeon ezSpeak Bluetooth speakerphone
updated 01:20 pm EST, Mon February 26, 2007
Bluetooth speakerphone
Tekkeon's newly-released ezSpeak lets owners completely detach from their cellphone. Inside is a Bluetooth 1.2 receiver, which handles both incoming and outgoing calls, as well as the display of caller ID, battery power and volume level. Perhaps most importantly, the ezSpeak can be used to redial recent numbers, or dial new numbers with voice. The device can sit on a seat or desk or clip to a car's sunvisor. A lithium-polymer battery provides up to 10 hours of talk time or 220 hours (nine days) of standby. Tekkeon is selling the ezSpeak today for $80, which includes the visor clip and a 12V car charger.


text:
I co-ordinate and teach on the Magazine Option of the Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism. It is my job to ensure that our team of tutors - all practising journalists - delivers the best possible package to students who want to learn the skills of the professional magazine journalist.
BA Module:
I also teach on the Masters in International Journalism.
The third Mapping the Magazine conference took place at Cardiff University in July.
Conference papers are available at the MTM 3 website or follow the conference blog at mappingthemagazine.blogspot.com


text:
Dennis Deems wrote:On line 21, you tell the loop to execute as long as it is true that runs is less than 100000 and flips is less than or equal to twenty.
Question: does anything ever happen in the code to make that condition false?
Nicole Doetsch wrote:
How would you go about making the condition false? (give me an example)
fred rosenberger wrote:well...
What are 'runs' and 'flips' supposed to represent?
for example...suppose I wanted to flash a light 10 times...I might write a loop like this:
int i = 0;
while (i < 10)
Each time i run through this loop, the flash() method is called, and the variable i is incremented. i is my counter of how many times i have run my loop. Eventually, 'i' will no longer be less than 10 (in fact, after exactly 10 executions of the loop), and the condition will be false.
You need to do something similar.
My guess is that you want to actually have two nested loops...one for runs, and one for flips. But to be honest, you need to back up before you do that. You're trying to do too much at once. You need to get your paper and pencil out and sketch out in ENGLISH what your program should do.
Nicole Doetsch wrote:
Thanks! I'll try our your suggestion with the nested loops and see how it goes!