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John Carmack, Tim Sweeney and Johan Andersson Talk NVIDIA G-Sync, AMD Mantle and Graphics Trends
Subject: Graphics Cards | October 18, 2013 - 11:55 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: video, tim sweeney, nvidia, Mantle, john carmack, johan andersson, g-sync, amd
If you weren't on our live stream from the NVIDIA "The Way It's Meant to be Played" tech day this afternoon, you missed a hell of an event. After the announcement of NVIDIA G-Sync variable refresh rate monitor technology, NVIDIA's Tony Tomasi brough one of the most intriguing panels of developers on stage to talk.
John Carmack, Tim Sweeney and Johan Andersson talk for over an hour, taking questions from the audience and even getting into debates amongst themselves in some instances. Topics included NVIDIA G-Sync of course, AMD's Mantle low-level API, the hurdles facing PC gaming and what direction each luminary is currently on for future development.
If you are a PC enthusiast or gamer you are definitely going to want to listen and watch the video below!
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti Released Mid-November
Subject: General Tech, Graphics Cards | October 18, 2013 - 05:21 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: nvidia, GeForce GTX 780 Ti
So the really interesting news today was G-Sync but that did not stop NVIDIA from sneaking in a new high-end graphics card. The GeForce GTX 780 Ti follows the company's old method of releasing successful products:
- Attach a seemingly arbitrary suffix to a number
- ???
- Profit!
In all seriousness, we know basically nothing about this card. It is entirely possible that its architecture might not even be based on GK110. We do know it will be faster than a GeForce 780 but we have no frame of reference in regards to the GeForce Titan. The two cards were already so close in performance that Ryan struggled to validate the 780's existence. Imagine how difficult it would be for NVIDIA to wedge yet another product in that gap.
And if it does outperform the Titan, what is its purpose? Sure, Titan is a GPGPU powerhouse if you want double-precision performance without purchasing a Tesla or a Quadro, but that is not really relevant for gamers yet.
We shall see, soon, when we get review samples in. You, on the other hand, will likely see more when the card launches mid-November. No word on pricing.
Our Legacys Influence
We are often creatures of habit. Change is hard. And often times legacy systems that have been in place for a very long time can shift and determine the angle at which we attack new problems. This happens in the world of computer technology but also outside the walls of silicon and the results can be dangerous inefficiencies that threaten to limit our advancement in those areas. Often our need to adapt new technologies to existing infrastructure can be blamed for stagnant development.
Take the development of the phone as an example. The pulse based phone system and the rotary dial slowed the implementation of touch dial phones and forced manufacturers to include switches to select between pulse and tone based dialing options on phones for decades.
Perhaps a more substantial example is that of the railroad system that has based the track gauge (width between the rails) on the transportation methods that existed before the birth of Christ. Horse drawn carriages pulled by two horses had an axle gap of 4 feet 8 inches in the 1800s and thus the first railroads in the US were built with a track gauge of 4 feet 8 inches. Today, the standard rail track gauge remains 4 feet 8 inches despite the fact that a wider gauge would allow for more stability of larger cargo loads and allow for higher speed vehicles. But the cost of updating the existing infrastructure around the world would be so cost prohibitive that it is likely we will remain with that outdated standard.
What does this have to do with PC hardware and why am I giving you an abbreviated history lesson? There are clearly some examples of legacy infrastructure limiting our advancement in hardware development. Solid state drives are held back by the current SATA based storage interface though we are seeing movements to faster interconnects like PCI Express to alleviate this. Some compute tasks are limited by the "infrastructure" of standard x86 processor cores and the move to GPU compute has changed the direction of these workloads dramatically.
There is another area of technology that could be improved if we could just move past an existing way of doing things. Displays.
Continue reading our story on NVIDIA G-Sync Variable Refresh Rate Technology!!
NVIDIA Announces G-Sync, Variable Refresh Rate Monitor Technology
Subject: Graphics Cards | October 18, 2013 - 02:52 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: variable refresh rate, refresh rate, nvidia, gsync, geforce, g-sync
UPDATE: I have posted a more in-depth analysis of the new NVIDIA G-Sync technology: NVIDIA G-Sync: Death of the Refres Rate. Thanks for reading!!
UPDATE 2: ASUS has announced the G-Sync enabled version of the VG248QE will be priced at $399.
During a gaming event being held in Montreal, NVIDIA unveield a new technology for GeForce gamers that the company is hoping will revolutionize the PC and displays. Called NVIDIA G-Sync, this new feature will combine changes to the graphics driver as well as change to the monitor to alter the way refresh rates and Vsync have worked for decades.
With standard LCD monitors gamers are forced to choose between a tear-free experience by enabling Vsync or playing a game with the substantial visual anomolies in order to get the best and most efficient frame rates. G-Sync changes that by allowing a monitor to display refresh rates other than 60 Hz, 120 Hz or 144 Hz, etc. without the horizontal tearing normally associated with turning off Vsync. Essentially, G-Sync allows a properly equiped monitor to run at a variable refresh rate which will improve the experience of gaming in interesting ways.
This technology will be available soon on Kepler-based GeForce graphics cards but will require a monitor with support for G-Sync; not just any display will work. The first launch monitor is a variation on the very popular 144 Hz ASUS VG248QE 1920x1080 display and as we saw with 3D Vision, supporting G-Sync will require licensing and hardware changes. In fact, NVIDIA claims that the new logic inside the panels controller is NVIDIA's own design - so you can obviously expect this to only function with NVIDIA GPUs.
DisplayPort is the only input option currently supported.
It turns out NVIDIA will actually be offering retrofitting kits for current users of the VG248QE at some yet to be disclosed cost. The first retail sales of G-Sync will ship as a monitor + retrofit kit as production was just a bit behind.
Using a monitor with a variable refresh rates allows the game to display 55 FPS on the panel at 55 Hz without any horizontal tearing. It can also display 133 FPS at 133 Hz without tearing. Anything below the 144 Hz maximum refresh rate of this monitor will be running at full speed without the tearing associated with the lack of vertical sync.
The technology that NVIDIA is showing here is impressive when seen in person; and that is really the only way to understand the difference. High speed cameras and captures will help but much like 3D Vision was, this is a feature that needs to be seen to be appreciated. How users will react to that road block will have to be seen.
Features like G-Sync show the gaming world that without the restrictions of console there is quite a bit of revolutionary steps that can be made to maintain the PC gaming advantage well into the future. 4K displays were a recent example and now NVIDIA G-Sync adds to the list.
Be sure to stop back at PC Perspective on Monday, November 21st at 2pm ET / 11am PT as we will be joined in-studio by NVIDIA's Tom Petersen to discuss G-Sync, how it was developed and the various ramifications the technology will have in PC gaming. You'll find it all on our PC Perspective Live! page on Monday but you can sign up for our "live stream mailing list" as well to get notified in advance!
NVIDIA G-Sync Live Stream
11am PT / 2pm ET - October 21st
PC Perspective Live! Page
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 OEMs Silently Announced?
Subject: General Tech, Graphics Cards | October 17, 2013 - 10:56 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: nvidia, GTX 760 OEM
A pair of new graphics cards have been announced during the first day of "The Way It's Meant To Be Played Montreal 2013" both of which intended for system builders to integrate into their products. Both cards fall under the GeForce GTX 760 branding with the names: "GeForce GTX 760 Ti (OEM)" and "GeForce GTX 760 192-bit (OEM)".
I will place the main specifications of both cards side-by-side-side with the default GeForce 760 for a little bit of reference. Be sure to check out its benchmark.
|GTX 760 192-bit (OEM)
|GTX 760 Ti (OEM)
|Shader Cores
|Base Clock
|980 MHz
|823 MHz
|915 MHz
|Boost Clock
|1033 MHz
|888 MHz
|980 MHz
|Memory Interface
|Memory Bandwidth
|6.0 GT/s
|5.8 GT/s
|6.0 GT/s
|vRAM (capacity)
|1.5 or 3 GB
The GeForce 760 is no slouch and, especially the GTX 760 Ti, seems to be pretty close in performance to the retail product. I could see this being a respectible addition to a Steam Machine. I still cannot understand why, like the gaming bundle, these cards were not announced during the keynote speech.
Or, for that matter, why no-one seems to be reporting on them.
NVIDIA Holiday Gaming Bundle: Free Games and More!
Subject: General Tech, Graphics Cards | October 17, 2013 - 09:36 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: shield, nvidia, bundle
The live stream from NVIDIA, this morning, was full of technologies focused around the PC gaming ecosystem including mobile (but still PC-like) platforms. Today they also announced a holiday gaming bundle for their GeForce cards although that missed the stream for some reason.
The bundle is separated into two tiers depending on your class of video card.
If you purchase a GeForce GTX 770, 780, or Titan from a participating retailer (including online), you will receive Splinter Cell: Black List, Batman: Arkham Origins, and Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag along with a $100-off coupon for an NVIDIA SHIELD.
If, on the other hand, you purchase a GTX 760, 680, 670, 660 Ti, or 660 from a participating retailer (again, including online), you will receive Splinter Cell: Black List and Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag along with a $50-off coupon for the NVIDIA SHIELD.
The current price at Newegg for an NVIDIA SHIELD is $299 USD. With a $100 discount, this pushes the price point to $199. The $200 price point is a barrier, for videogame systems, under which customers tend to jump at. Reaching the sub-$200 price point could be a big deal even for customers not on the fence especially when you consider PC streaming. Could be.
Assume you were already planning on upgrading your GPU. Would you be interested in adding in an NVIDIA SHIELD for an extra $199?
NVIDIA "The Way It's Meant to be Played" 2013 Press Event Live Blog
Subject: General Tech, Graphics Cards | October 17, 2013 - 05:45 AM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: video, nvidia, live blog, live
Last month it was AMD hosting the media out in sunny Hawaii for a #GPU14 press event. This week NVIDIA is hosting a group of media in Montreal for a two-day event built around "The Way It's Meant to be Played".
NVIDIA promises some very impressive software and technology demonstrations on hand and you can take it all in with our live blog and (hopefully) live stream on our PC Perspective Live! page!
It starts at 10am ET / 7am PT so join us bright and early!! And don't forget to stop by tomorrow for an even more exciting Day 2!!
Valve Confirms Steam Machines are not NVIDIA Exclusive
Subject: General Tech, Graphics Cards, Systems | October 10, 2013 - 10:59 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: amd, nvidia, Intel, Steam Machine
This should be little-to-no surprise for the viewers of our podcast, as this story was discussed there, but Valve has confirmed AMD and Intel graphics are compatible with Steam Machines. Doug Lombardi of Valve commented by email to, apparently, multiple sources including Forbes and Maximum PC.
Last week, we posted some technical specs of our first wave of Steam Machine prototypes. Although the graphics hardware that we've selected for the first wave of prototypes is a variety of NVIDIA cards, that is not an indication that Steam Machines are NVIDIA-only. In 2014, there will be Steam Machines commercially available with graphics hardware made by AMD, NVIDIA, and Intel. Valve has worked closely together with all three of these companies on optimizing their hardware for SteamOS, and will continue to do so into the foreseeable future.
Ryan and the rest of the podcast crew found the whole situation, "Odd". They could not understand why AMD referred the press to Doug Lombardi rather than circulate a canned statement from him. It was also weird why NVIDIA had an exclusive on the beta program with AMD being commercially available in 2014.
As I have said in the initial post: for what seems to be deliberate non-committal to a specific hardware spec, why limit to a single graphics provider?
Win a copy of Batman: Arkham Origins courtesy of NVIDIA
Subject: Editorial, General Tech, Graphics Cards | October 10, 2013 - 07:28 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: podcast, nvidia, contest, batman arkham origins
UPDATE: We picked our winner for week 1 but now you can enter for week 2!!! See the new podcast episode listed below!!
Back in August NVIDIA announced that they would be teaming up with Warner Bros. Interactive to include copies of the upcoming Batman: Arkham Origins game with select NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards. While that's great and all, wouldn't you rather get one for free next week from PC Perspective?
Great, you're in luck! We have a handful of keys to give out to listeners and viewers of the PC Perspective Podcast. Here's how you enter:
- Listen to or watch episode #272 of the PC Perspective Podcast and listen for the "secret phrase" as mentioned in the show!
- Subscribe to our RSS feed for the podcast or subscribe to our YouTube channel.
- Fill out the form at the bottom of this podcast page with the "secret phrase" and you're entered!
I'll draw a winner before the next podcast and announce it on the show! We'll giveaway one copy each of the next two weeks! Our thanks goes to NVIDIA for supplying the Batman: Arkham Origins keys for this contest!!
No restrictions on winning, so good luck!!
New improved pricing from NVIDIA, plus a mysterious new GTX 760
Subject: General Tech | October 9, 2013 - 05:05 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: amd, nvidia, price cuts, gtx 760
DigiTimes has broken the news that NVIDIA will be cutting prices on many of their cards in reaction to AMD's new GPU family. Currently the lowest priced GTX660 is $150 after MIR and a GTX650Ti Boost can be had for $110. We don't have any information as to how they will be updating the GTX 760, likely faster clocks but we can hope for something a little more adventurous. The GTX 760 can be had for $250 right now but you should hold off to see what the new model has and what it does to the price of the current model.
"Nvidia has offered price cuts for several of its graphics cards including the GTX 660 and GTX 650Ti Boost and will soon release an upgraded GTX 760, targeting AMD's Radeon R9 280X, according to sources from graphics card makers."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Selling phones? Nonsense, BlackBerry is all about THE CLOUD @ The Register
- Pokewithastick, an Arduino programmable web-logger/server @ Hack a Day
- Android adware that MUST NOT BE NAMED threatens MILLIONS @ The Register
- Dangerous VBulletin Exploit In the Wild @ Slashdot
- Mad Catz is taking pre-orders for the Mojo games console @ The Inquirer
- Sony Alpha NEX-5T Review @ TechReviewSource
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Last night's episode of Glee entitled "Naked" had only one job to do: focus on the plot of the episode (a gay boy/straight girl's dream of seeing nearly every guy on the show without a shirt) and present a juxtaposing subplot. However, Glee keeps tripping over itself in that, in its unwillingness to let past favorite characters go, it focuses on nearly every nuance of every character on the show. Instead of following two cohesive story-lines à la Friends or Seinfeld, Glee presents their more recent episodes with the fast-forward pace of their own recaps.
Case in point: each situation is afforded about two lines of dialogue to get us caught up. Because there are over ten different situations going on at any given time, this is enough to make you dizzy. The episode starts out by poking fun at itself in that The Warblers are found guilty of taking steroids, and one of the first questions a journalist asks the guilty Warbler is if he realizes that he looks way too old to be in high school. This is immediately followed up with a news anchor losing her head over the fact that this is what is considered "news" nowadays.
The downfall of the Warblers allows the New Directions a second shot at competing at Regionals. It's probably safe to say that the Warblers won't be at Regionals now, so who will be McKinley's fierce competition? Will it be Vocal Adrenaline again? The Warblers can often make any tune sound good, so their dismissal from the competition is a sad one indeed, especially when we recollect that New Directions countered their "Whistle" with "Gangnam Style."
Anyway, Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) comes up with the idea of having the guys do a sexy calendar to raise money for the trip. Plus, she can use this opportunity to get Blaine (Darren Criss) her new crush, to pose topless. This and one subplot would have been sufficient enough to carry the episode. Optimally, we could have focused on the blossoming of Jake (Jacob Artist) and Marley's (Melissa Benoist) relationship, a coupling that deserves more time but is just as rushed as the rest. However, this is where we derail.
We foreshadow the end of the upcoming school year with the lovably dull Brittany (Heather Morris) getting a nearly perfect score on her SAT and rattling off a list of the entertaining school names that she believes she can now attend, while pretty-boy Sam (Chord Overstreet) gets the score we'd expect from Brittany. He decides to go to school topless the next day to show off his assets. Because it's television, and we have barely any time as it is for the material we need to cover, no authoritative figures scold him for this act.
Sam feels unnecessarily that he has to work too hard to maintain his good looks. He even spreads this thinking to the other dudes in the locker room when he convinces them to "manscape" and do "Broga" in an effort to get fit for the calendar. Blaine gives his new crush the best advice of the episode in that it's okay to skip a work-out every once in a while or splurge on a cheeseburger, as long as it doesn't become a habit, which is infinitely healthier than being obsessed with perfection.
Later, Blaine shows Sam an online video in which their peers contribute sweet nothings about Sam, helping to validate him as a good person. The writers jump at this opportunity for a Mercedes (Amber Riley) cameo, which could have just as easily included Puck (Mark Salling), but he was the only recurring character who was missing from this week's episode. Could this be a reason?
Sam is moved to tears when Finn (Cory Monteith) reminds him of the good he has done for his family, particularly last year when they were homeless. Hopefully, Blaine will still be around when Sam hits his 50s to remind him that while looks fade, a good personality will serve him well. You can't strip forever.
On the completely opposite end of that spectrum, the "men can have a poor body image, too" theme is addressed when Artie (Kevin McHale) vehemently opposes posing for the calendar. Artie's initial worry is that he can't and doesn't want to show off his body because it is "broken." Finn counters this by offering Artie the option to pose seductively with pillows, but Artie is offended as this is "emasculating." Finn praises Artie for sticking to his guns and tells him he doesn't want to make Artie do anything he doesn't want to do.
Except, Artie does it anyway. Male viewers with these issues who felt empowered by Artie's stance were quickly disheartened, as Artie ends up posing simply because Sam asks him to and informs him that everyone else will wear clothes. Except, they don't. Most of the men on the calendar are in the same topless poses they were going to print anyway. While it was nice to see Artie's "I fit in" smile in his photos, Glee shot themselves in the foot on their own after-school special.
Rachel (Lea Michele) is, according to Kurt (Chris Colfer), becoming a "slutty Barbie". She agrees to go topless for a stinker of a student film, and she allows her hot boyfriend, Brody (Dean Geyer), to walk around the house stark naked in front of her gay roommate, which is simply unfair to Kurt (though his reaction to the situation was nothing short of hysterical). Rachel's inner battle of whether or not she should do a nude scene consists of her singing Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn" with her high school self and while she may feel "torn", the song is wholly inappropriate, save for the fact that it mentions the word "naked" in an episode entitled "Naked." If anything, this gives us insight as to how some musicians sound better in the studio than on the stage by dubbing their own voice and singing along.
Did this dual-Rachel scenario strike anyone else as narcissism? Although, those in the know must have smirked when comparing Rachel's dilemma to that of the backlash Michele received over her G.Q. ads, despite being topless every night during her run on Broadway's "Spring Awakening." Quinn (Dianna Agron) and Santana (Naya Rivera) then show up in New York for an intervention when Kurt's advice doesn't work, but at least Glee pokes fun at this.
Sorry, Rachel, but as much as we love you here in the real world, it would be inconceivable to drop everything in the middle of the school year to convince you not to do a nude scene that you may or may not regret. Doesn't anyone on Glee own an iPhone? And where do these girls get all this money for airfare?
The "two/two/two rule" is good advice and, inevitably, they convince Rachel to stick to her values. This calls for a song, so Rachel joins up with Quinn and Santana after walking off the movie set to sing "Love Song" (Sara Bareilles), which has nothing to do with Rachel's experience, but it sounds pretty. Rachel's subplot was stretched so thin in an effort to use those particular songs that it was practically transparent, though Santana's presence is better explained when she makes the not so subtle remark that New York is a better fit for her than Kentucky.
Back to Jake and Marley. We check in on their relationship to find that they are having difficulty saying the "L" word. They, in true Glee fashion, express it with song. Marley lives vicariously through Christina Perri's "A Thousand Years", while Jake channels Kermit the Frog on Ne-Yo's "Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself)". Despite Jake's never actually saying the words, he writes them on the calendar that he signs for Marley. She vocalizes her sentiment, which lets Jake off easy.
There's yet another subplot in which Sue (Jane Lynch) believes that the calendar shoot is "too sexy" and tries to stop it. Finn, however, heads her up at the pass by bluffing with a copy of her own Penthouse magazine, which turns out to be a copy of Highlights, though he gets her to admit everything on tape. She declares Finn a worthy adversary, which serves as the final piece in the "Finn as a replacement for Mr. Schu (Matthew Morrison)" puzzle.
The episode ends with Ian Axel's "This is the New Year" which does not add anything to the episode whatsoever and feels like it was a last minute decision to tack on at the end. It makes for a cute music video, but it has no poignancy. This is disappointing when you consider how well the ensemble songs have worked in the past ("Sing", "Dog Days are Over", "The Scientist").
Best Song of the Episode: Christina Perri's "A Thousand Years"
Two words: Jake and Marley. These two make simple, amazing music together. Their relationship is pure bubblegum, and they have such great chemistry on screen that one wonders if they may go the real-life-relationship way of Monteith and Michele. Imagine if these two did "Falling Slowly" (Once)? Swoon-fest!
Worst Song of the Episode: "Centerfold/Hot in Herre"
If you recognized the first few notes of Nelly's "Hot in Herre" and chuckled, you were probably pleased to see that while it is dated, it worked and was a delightful kind of cheese. This cover would have stood well alone. However, pairing it up with J. Geils Band's "Centerfold" for a mash-up made it a crap-fest. Who would have ever thought to put these two songs together, and why? Though, Jake's humorous reaction to spray-tanning made sitting through it a touch more bearable.
Best Quotes of the Episode
Sam: "I'm going to have to sell more semen."
Kitty: "Twilight is poop on paper."


text:
January 11, 2008 It seems we mistakenly thought that convergence meant we were supposed to be carrying less gadgets rather than more gadgets, but Taser launched a new range of stun guns in a range of female-focussed colors at the Consumer Electronics Show this week, adding yet another must-have for those who wish to ensure their personal safety – the Taser MPH (Music Player Holster), which is a combination 1GB MP3 player and Taser C2 holster. In addition to the leopard print, other new Taser C2 colors include red-hot red and fashion pink.Read More
January 10, 2008 Portable solar charger specialist Solio has announced a new, ruggedized Magnesium Edition which builds on the features of the original (now branded Solio Classic) with greater output (8W), expanded compatability, a higher-capacity lithium ion battery (3.7v, 1800mAh compared with 3.6v, 1600mAh) and a stronger magnesium alloy shell to cope with the rigors of the road. Retaining the same footprint and fan blade design as the original, the Magnesium Edition is compatible with the universal iGo Tip System and includes a female USB cable for iPod, digital cameras and other compatible gadgetry. It can be charged in around 8-10 hours of direct sunlight or in approximately four hours via a wall outlet and can store energy for up to one year.Read More
January 10, 2008 A full headset designed to deliver high-end sound quality to audiophiles listening to music via their mobile phone, Philips new SHB9000 Bluetooth headset allows users to seamlessly move between music and incoming calls and uses digital signal processing to filter out background noise and echo and automatically adjust volume in response to outside noise.Read More
December 19, 2007 Denon has announced the release of the S-52 wireless network CD music system which features the ability to stream audio either via Ethernet or wireless from Internet radio sources, together with other network attached storage devices including computers on the network. Read More
December 10, 2007 As portable devices such as mobile phones, MP3 players, digital cameras and handheld gaming devices proliferate in the home, so too do the number re-chargers and cables adding clutter to our benchtops. The latest solution to cross the Gizmag desk is the IDAPT "innovative adapter", a convenient multi-purpose charger with interchangeable connections that enables simultaneous charging of a wide range of mobile devices.Read More
November 15, 2007 Mobile phones and personal media players are all about entertainment, communications and increasingly, fashion – and any good fashion statement needs fashionable accessories. Designed with assistance from Apple, V-MODA's noise isolating Vibe Duo headset takes this approach seriously with high-definition sound and a discrete microphone rolled into a slick all-metal design.Read More
November 14, 2007 Cable connections are dying a slow death at the hands of convenient, wireless Bluetooth devices like this one. The Venturi Mini is a wireless music streaming and hands-free telephone gadget that works with most phones – but it's the combination of new-world Bluetooth with the old-school technology of short-range FM radio transmission that makes this handy toy work with almost all car stereo. Read More
September 26, 2007 The TAPE2PC USB Cassette Archiver from ION Audio is designed as a solution for those of us with a massive tape collection of eighties classics sitting in the garage gathering dust. The dual cassette deck system includes recording software that takes your music collection and converts it via your PC into MP3, WAV or WMA digital files or simply copies it to CD.Read More
September 14, 2007 For those not content with the dreary white, black, chrome and pastel color choices of most MP3 players, this new potable music unit come hip-hop jewelery from MediaREADY could be the answer. Created in response to the popular (but apparently dull) iPod, the 2 GB BLINGPlayer is further evidence of the very blurry line that now separates personal electronic devices and fashion accessories.Read More
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Andis at Home Cordless Personal Trimmer
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The Andis at home cordless personal trimmer is for nasal hair, eyebrows, and ear hair.
Model#: NT-1 /
Guaranteed AuthenticGuaranteed Authentic
Folica is an authorized distributer of this product and guarantees its authenticity.Close
- Cordless, battery operated trimmer
- Rustproof surgical stainless steel blades rinse clean easily
- Recessed cutting blades trim hair close and are safer than shears
- Protective cap keeps blades safe for travel and storage
- trims nose and ear hair quickly and easily
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Excellent TrimmerI REALLY LIKED THE TRIMMER IT WAS VERY EASY TO USE. I WAS A BIT NERVOUS STICKING UP MY NOSTRILS AT FIRST BUT AFTER A FEW SECONDS I FELT COMFORTABLE! CONSIDERING THIS WAS MY FIRST TRIMMER IT EXCEEDED MY EXPECTATIONS. I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!!Feb 1, 2012Roxanne C. / ARLINGTON TEXAS
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Be Very CarefulDropped it on the cutting end. Soft steel bent and blades don't turn.Oct 27, 2010Gary
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Quite GoodFor the price this is a good product. It does the job but would have been nicer if it could have a cleaning brush and come with better instructions. The build looks a bit cheap so I am not sure how long it will last.Jul 16, 2008Dylan
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Lightweight And DurableMy previous trimmer was heavy and fragile, and the first AA battery it had in it lasted longer than the trimmer itself. This one is lightweight and rugged. Ive only been using it for a month so I dont have an opinion yet on how long it will last.I also like how easy it is to detach (and re-attach) the trim head for rinsing without having to worry that Im getting water into the main unit.Im glad I bought it.Aug 29, 2007Matthew / Brooklyn, NY
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Fire Sunday morning destroys mobile home in Silver Valley
Published: Monday, August 19, 2013 at 5:02 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, August 19, 2013 at 5:02 p.m.
A singlewide mobile home is a total loss after an early Sunday morning fire on Gobel Road in the Silver Valley community, said Danny Ward, deputy fire marshal for Davidson County.
Firefighters with the Silver Valley Volunteer Fire Department were dispatched to the fire at 1:41 a.m. and cleared the scene at 5:10 a.m. The mobile home is in the 400 block of Gobel Road.
Ward said the home was occupied at the time of the fire but no one was injured. The cause of the fire remained under investigation late Monday afternoon.
Silver Valley firefighters were assisted on the scene by the Fair Grove and Linwood volunteer fire departments, and the fire was investigated by Maj. Alton Hanes, emergency management coordinator for Davidson County. A spokesman with the Silver Valley VFD was not immediately available.
Hanes said there were three occupants inside the residence who were alerted to the fire when they woke up and smelled smoke. The major explained none of the occupants were related and they are all adults. Their names were not being released Monday evening. Hanes said all three occupants were relocated by the Greater High Point-Davidson Chapter of the American Red Cross.
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.


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Lester Young: Just You, Just Me
Just You, Just Me
Lester Young (tenor sax)
The Essential Keynote Collection 1: The Complete Lester Young (Mercury 830 920-2)
Lester Young (tenor sax), Johnny Guarnieri (piano), Slam Stewart (bass), Sid Catlett (drums).
Composed by Jesse Greer & Raymond Klages.
Recorded: New York, December 28, 1943
Rating: 94/100 (learn more)
Lester Young
Photo by Herb Snitzer
This track includes Slam Stewart's usual shtickŚsinging wordlessly in unison an octave above his bowed bass soloŚwhich has the cartoonish appeal of Popeye serenading Olive Oyl during Symphony in Spinach (1948) by literally sawing on a bass fiddle. Everyone must hear Stewart's shtick at most once. The main attraction here, however, is Lester Young playing the tenor sax with his customary sublime nonchalance. On the cusp of 1944, Guarnieri's Teddy Wilson-style piano sounds dated, especially when he resorts to steady left-hand comping. And Catlett's drumming is likewise mired in the Swing Era. But Pres, angelically unconcerned, glides above it all.
Reviewer: Alan Kurtz
Tags: 1940s jazz · just you just me · tenor sax
Comments are closed.


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Make Your Climate Message Stick
ClimateBites offers metaphors, soundbites, quotes, humor, cartoons, stories and graphics for everybody who talks about climate change and wants their message to stick.
Tag Archives: warming
This stunning expose of "cherry-picking"—the "skeptic's" favorite logical fallacy—takes climate charts to a new level.
Posted in Climate 'Skeptic' Rebuttals, Climate Change Graphics & Video Tagged cherry picking, cooling, skeptics, warming 1 Comment


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I have a set of data points. I extracted the Standard Deviation for the whole set, and also extracted STDs for a partition of the points where each element of the partition has at least two points. I averaged the subsets' STDs.
Of-course one can easily find examples where the averaged STDs are lower, equal, or greater than the 'full' STD. (for example, STD(1,1,11,11) is greater than average(STD(1,1), STD(11,11), and lower than average(STD(1,11), STD(1,11))).
However, I am interested in the relation between these two numbers. Is their expected value equal for random data? is there an equilibrium point? when does / doesn't averaging STDs 'make sense'?


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Tag: city of Seattle
Mayor announces $500k investment in arts education
Good news! Today Mayor Mike McGinn announced that the city of Seattle will deepen their partnership with Seattle Public Schools (SPS) to invest in arts education. Investment dollars will ensure that every student in the Central Pathway of Seattle Public Schools receives a minimum of two hours per week of arts education programming, as well […][More]
Posted: May 14th, 2013 under Art Beat, Arts Education.
Tags: Arts Education, Arts Education Partnership, city of Seattle, K-12 arts plan, Seattle Public Schools, The Creative Advantage
Seeking waterfront art program manager
The Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs and Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) are seeking a senior project manager to coordinate arts activities and implement public art projects for the Central Waterfront. This position is currently funded at half-time and is a term-limited position (two years) with benefits. At the end of two years, the […][More]
Posted: December 12th, 2012 under Art Beat, News.
Tags: art program manager, central waterfront, city of Seattle, employment, job, Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, Seattle Department of Transportation
City, county present ceramic works from their public art collections
The Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs and 4Culture present ceramic artworks from their public art collections in the exhibition "Enduring Clay: Four Decades of Collecting Ceramics by the City of Seattle and King County." The show is on view at the Washington State Convention Center through April 9, and is in conjunction with […][More]
Posted: January 31st, 2012 under Art Beat, Gallery, Public Art.
Tags: 4Culture, ceramics, city of Seattle, clay, exhibitions, National Council for the Education for the Ceramic Arts, NCECA, Washington State Convention Center


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Former Panthers coach DeBoer named Devils coach today
It didn't take long for former Panthers coach Pete DeBoer to land on his feet – or ice as he was hired today to be the New Jersey Devils coach.
DeB0er, 43, still had another year on his Panthers' contract, but he has said all along that he wanted to get right back into the fray.
"Peter DeBoer is an individual who I have watched coach over the past two decades at the junior, international, and professional levels. His teams have always been well-prepared and disciplined, while maximizing their effort each and every night." said CEO/GM Lou Lamoriello in a statement. "I am looking forward to working with him."
DeBoer spent the past three seasons as head coach with Florida after being named to the position June 13, 2008. He compiled a 103-107-36 mark, and led the team to its second-best ever finish at 41-30-11=93pts in 2008-09. However, they lost a playoff tiebreaker for the eighth spot to the Canadiens.
The Panthers will certainly see their old coach at least four times this season, including the first time on Nov. 21 at home.
DeBoer had the Panthers in contention for a playoff spot all three seasons, including this year until the trade deadline purge, that left him with mostly an AHL roster. Some of his veterans bristled at his punitive coaching style, including former goalie Tomas Vokoun.
Panthers General Manager Dale Tallon praised DeBoer when he fired him a day after the regular season ended, but said he wanted a coach that possessed more of his personality, someone who could establish an identity of being tough to play against while having fun. Tallon eventually hired Kevin Dineen, who unlike DeBoer, had been a player and professional coach in the AHL. DeBoer never made it to the NHL and had been a successful junior coach at Kitchener (OHL) before taking the huge leap to the NHL.
DeBoer talking to local New Jersey media


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Aeronautica Militare » Italian Air Force Museum » Collection » Hangar Badoni » SIAI SM.82 PW "Marsupiale"
The SIAI Marchetti SM.82 "Marsupial" was one of the most widely used aircraft in the Italian Air Force. Developed in two versions, a bomber and a transport aircraft, it made its first flights between the end of 1939 and the first part of 1940, showing from the start its excellent qualities; the two versions differed mainly with the retractable sighting gondola in the bomber version located under the nose section, and the different weapon location. During WW-II, 875 S. 82 were built, and at the time of the Armistice there were still 250 in operation. The losses of this aircraft, used on all fronts were high. Noteworthy were the missions accomplished by the Transport Wings between the Fatherland and East Africa, carrying everything from personnel, goods and equipment to war materiel and fighter airplanes. As a bomber, the SM. 82 carried out the first long range missions against the Rock of Gibraltar and the Manama oil refinery in the Persian Gulf, while there were also systematic incursions in Egypt over Alexandria by the Transport Group operating in Libya. After the Armistice of September 8, 1943, some SM. 82 continued to be operational with the Night Wing in Southern Italy, but the majority remained in the air bases of Northern Italy. The Luftwaffe acquired more than 200 and used them successfully in the Eastern front together with those of the Transport Groups of the Republican Air Force based in Northern Italy. At the end of the conflict the remaining SM.82 were gathered together at Guidonia to form the 36th Transport Wing. These airplanes continued in service until 1960, mounting new Pratt&Withney engines. The SM.82 exhibited wears the markings of the Sovereign Order of Malta for good reasons; at war's end it was only by ceding the surviving SM.82 to the Order, that it was possible to avoid their total destruction, as required under the terms of the Armistice treaty.


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Warren County will see a hundred new jobs by next year. This after the Kentucky Trimodal Transpark announces its second new project in a month.
Cannon Automotive Solutions will build its new facility on 14 acres of the Transpark.
The $13 million investment will employ close to 100 people with hourly wages of just under $18.
Mary Cohron, chairperson of the Bowling Green-Warren County Chamber of Commerce said the economic impact will be in excess of $5 million over the next five years.
"It's a great day - one we've waited for, for a long time. To have two announcements in as many weeks is a very fine thing for the state," Cohron said.
The new facility will build materials to be used on the 2009 Ford F-150.
Cannon Automotive Solutions is scheduled to be completed by October of this year.
Just two weeks ago Howa USA announced its plans to build at the Transpark.


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Last Updated on Wednesday, 14 November 2012 23:54
Mission Statement
The mission of the SAISD Plant Operations Department is to effectively and efficiently manage the custodial support, grounds maintenance support and pest control support of all schools and support facilities to ensure a functional and safe environment for all constituents in support of the Districts mission of becoming exemplary.
Vision Statement
Plant Operations will continue to work to improve its services at a continuous and measurable level until recognized by its customers as the service provider of choice. We will do this by
- delivering excellent services
- partnering with our customers in addressing their needs
- fulfilling our mission
Realizing that our employees are the most important part of the operation, we are committed to ensuring that our employees have the equipment, resources, and opportunities to contribute, learn, grow, and perform.
- Maintain our service oriented customer support and continually find ways to better meet our customers' needs
- Actively seek funding for technological upgrades on equipment
- Solicit and obtain timely customer feedback
Contact Information
For your Plant Operations questions and concerns call our office at 210-227-0175. (Voice mail activates after normal duty hours).


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You have to give writer-director Drew Goddard full marks for effort for The Cabin in the Woods. With tongue wedged firmly in cheek, he lampoons hoary cliches and attempts to reinvigorate the horror genre with this slick tale of college kids in peril that is three parts bonkers to one part twisted genius. Not since poor Drew Barrymore answered a crank call in Scream has a film exploited stereotypes with such glee, and subverted our expectations at every blood-spattered turn.
Joss Whedon, creator of the Buffy The Vampire Slayer television series, co-wrote the script and his droll humour permeates throughout, inviting us to become whooping, cheering voyeurs as characters meet a grisly demise. For the opening five minutes, making sense of the madness in Goddard and Whedon's hare-brained method takes up most of our attention, which is no bad thing given how thinly characters are sketched.
Plot twists are the key selling point of the film and the big reveal in the closing minutes is a humdinger, including a cameo from a big name Hollywood star, who clearly relishes the five minutes in the spotlight. Yet for all of its audacity and off-kilter humour, the various elements don't gel seamlessly and once the writers' grand plan is laid out before us, we feel slightly underwhelmed.
Bookish college student Dana (Kristen Connolly) is looking forward to a jaunt into the great outdoors with blonde friend Jules (Anna Hutchison) and her jock boyfriend Curt (Chris Hemsworth), and bong-smoking slacker Marty (Fran Kranz).
Curt invites along his shy and sensitive buddy Holden (Jesse Williams), principally as a date for Dana, and the five thrill-seekers head into the mountains to a remote log cabin. Meanwhile, deep within an underground bunker, scientist Richard Sitterson (Richard Jenkins) and Steve Hadley (Bradley Whitford) stare at CCTV screens, which seem to be following the progress of the students towards the cabin.
They invite the rest of the team to bet on the quintet's chances of survival but new guy Truman (Brian White) resists. "How can you wager on this when you control the outcome?" he asks. "They don't transgress, they don't get punished," smirks Sitterson.
The Cabin in the Woods has some big laughs and lashings of gore, including a possessed zombie appendage that lends a hand at a crucial juncture.
The young cast embrace their genre archetypes, screaming or disrobing on cue, while Kranz plays his stoner with aplomb, speaking sense through a mist of inhaled drugs when he gibbers: "I've seen what you don't want to see: puppeteers!"
At certain points, Goddard probably gives us too much information — a throwaway shot of an eagle tracking the students' van along a winding road should have been cut to make one character's death more startling — but the crescendo certainly doesn't skimp on the digital effects or blood letting. Goddard knows how to end with an almighty bang.
Inspired by the classic Hasbro children's game of the same name, Battleship is a big-budget battle for planet Earth directed by Peter Berg (The Kingdom, Hancock). Naval officer Lieutenant Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch) is stationed on the Hawaiian islands with his older brother Stone Hopper (Alexander Skarsgard), who captains the USS Sampson.
Alex is assigned to the USS John Paul Jones, captained by the universally feared Captain Shane (Liam Neeson), who just happens to be the deeply disapproving father of his beautiful fiancée, physical therapist Samantha Shane (Brooklyn Decker).
When an extra-terrestrial race lands out at sea, the USS John Paul Jones and USS Sampson are scrambled into action. Petty Officer Cora Raikes (Rihanna), who is a weapons specialist with a sharp eye, joins Alex aboard his ship and together they take on the aliens, all guns blazing.


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|Hayley Flynn
2006-07: Recorded an all time best of 10:39 in the 3,000m run at the Sykes-Sabock Cup... Career best and top ten finish of 9:13 in 5000m run at Virginia Tech Invitational
2005-06: Had her career best second place finish in the 3000m Steeplechase at Murray Neely Invitational (12:13)...Finished strong in the 5000m run at C-USA Championships (19:42)...Competed in all six cross country meets...Had her best finish at ECU's Pirate Invitational at Lake Kristi in Greenville, placing 10th overall (19:14)...Flynn placed in the top 20 three of six events.
2004-05: Competed in four cross country events as a freshman...Best time and finish of the season come at Wake Forest's 5k Invitational with a time of 20:30...Competed in the indoor track season grabbing an 800m time of 2:24 at Clemson and a 1000m time of 3:18 at Virginia Tech...Placed top 20 in the mile run turning in a top personal time of 5:18...Captured the 1500m title at the Neely Relays in Greensboro (5:02)...Registered a personal record of 4:59 at the UNC Fast Times meet.
High School: Four-year letter winner in both cross-country and swimming...Won the individual cross country championship as a senior...Received athlete-of-the-year and all conference accolades as a senior.
Personal: Double majoring in special education and elementary education...Member of Chancellor's List and Honor Roll...Recipient of the "ECU Outstanding Newcomer Award" in 2004...Daughter of William an Colleen Flynn...Has two sisters, Kelly and Erin.


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This page contains Dragon Age: Origins - Warden's Keep Video Walkthroughs for Xbox 360 called "Walkthrough DLC: Castle Second Floor" and has been posted or updated on Jun 8, 2011 by MahaloVideoGames.
- Developer: Bioware
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Genre: Role-Playing
- Release: Nov 3, 2009
- ESRB: Not Set
Walkthrough DLC: Castle Second Floor
Watch this step-by-step Video Walkthrough, which may help and guide you through each and every level part of this game.
Please Submit a Problem for any incomplete, non-working or fake cheat listed above.
If you know other secrets, hints, glitches or level guides, then please Submit your Cheats and share your insights with other gamers.
Stuck in this game? Set a specific, clearly defined question and let other gamers answer your question or view answers to previously asked questions. If you think you are an expert then please try to help others with their questions.
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The Liberal volleyball team's season took a turn for the worse Tuesday afternoon and evening in Dodge City. After winning 14 matches in a row, Liberal lost to a pair of WAC foes and finished 1-2. Liberal beat Wichita Word of Life (25-3, 25-8) but lost to Garden City (15-25, 17-25) and Dodge City (26-28, 24-26). Megan Besecker had 15 kills and 16 aces while Katie Garcia added 18 aces. Liberal is 19-6 and plays Hays, Colby, and Phillipsburg in Hays Monday.
©2016 Seward County Broadcasting Company, Inc.
1410 N. Western Ave. Liberal, KS 67901


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Xerox has announced it aims to increase earnings this year by more than 9 percent following solid growth in its services business in the fourth-quarter.
However, the European slowdown widened the gap between Xerox's growing business services operations and its traditional technology operations based on office copiers and printers. Service revenue for the quarter was up 6 percent and now accounts for 48 percent of Xerox's sales, compared with 45 percent from technology.
This year will see Xerox increasingly become a services-centric company. Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri said services will probably grow by several percentage points in 2012 while economic issues will keep technology sales flat to slightly decreased.
Back previous page


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What are some good modules or systems that for caching that I can use for decreasing my load on Apache on an EC2 server running PHP, and why would you choose them?
Here are some popular, industry standard techniques to increase your speed. You can try them out depending on your exact configuration:
Memcached is a general-purpose distributed memory caching system that is often used to speed up dynamic database-driven websites by caching data and objects in RAM to reduce the number of times an external data source (such as a database or API) must be read.
Varnish Cache
Varnish is an HTTP accelerator designed for content-heavy dynamic web sites. In contrast to other HTTP accelerators, such as Squid, which began life as a client-side cache, or Apache, which is primarily an origin server, Varnish was designed from the ground up as an HTTP accelerator.
Page Speed is a tool and library that identifies improvements that can be made to web-sites to improve their latency. mod_pagespeed automates the application of those rules in an Apache server. HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and images are changed dynamically during the web serving process, so that the best practices recommended by Page Speed can be used without having to change the way the web site is maintained.
HBase is an open source, non-relational, distributed database modeled after Google's BigTable and is written in Java. It is developed as part of Apache Software Foundation's Hadoop project and runs on top of HDFS (Hadoop Distributed Filesystem), providing BigTable-like capabilities for Hadoop. That is, it provides a fault-tolerant way of storing large quantities of sparse data.
Cheat on Slow-Start
Slow-start is part of the congestion control strategy used by TCP, the data transmission protocol used by many Internet applications. Slow-start is used in conjunction with other algorithms to avoid sending more data than the network is capable of transmitting, that is, to avoid causing network congestion.
cwd's answer is excellent, just add a PHP opcode cacher (APC, eaccelerator, xcache) if the processing is PHP-heavy.
+1 to cwd for the
If your goal is to reduce the load on Apache, and assuming Apache is the front-line daemon receiving HTTP requests (i.e. there's no cache between the user and Apache) you should be giving a lot of attention to client-side optimization, specifically reducing page weight and reducing the number of requests needed to load a page.
It's going to maximize client-side caching using expiration headers etc. without you needing to tune the Apache configuration in detail, which is a win. It might be good to do some of the other optimizations (combining or bundling CSS and Javascript files to reduce the number of each needed to build the page, CSS image spriting to reduce the number of images loaded per page) on your own to reduce the load on
You can look at Google's Page Speed tool (linked from the


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A graphic design monograph
Michael Windsor-Ungureanu
A selection of graphic design projects, both realised and hypothetical, from my design practice so far.
After graduating from Central St Martins, I have worked as a graphic designer in the arts sector in London for a number of years. I am currently the graphic designer for the Tate galleries in London.
Comentario publicado.
Inicia sesión
o crea una cuenta para publicar un comentario.
Sitios de Blurb


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Dec 29, 2012 8:26 AM
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
Do you know how loved you are?
To the moon and back again,
I will love you past The End.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
Now go to sleep, our fashion czar.
Maxomorra Stars White Pants ($16)
If you've got a product or service that you'd like to promote on Outblush, click here to find out about our advertising opportunities.
Outblush is a blog for girls who love to shop. Our staff digs up the best clothes, home stuff, beauty items, and more. New items are posted every day — bookmark us and check out:


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STILBON was the god of the wandering star (aster planetos) Hermaon, the planet Mercury. His name was derived from the Greek verb stilbô meaning "to gleam" or "glitter." Out of all the five planets, he was the least personified. The star belonged to Hermes, the herald of the gods.
Hesiod, Theogony 378 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or C7th B.C.) :
"And Eos (Dawn) bare to Astraios (the Starry) the strong-hearted Anemoi (Winds) . . . a goddess mating in love with a god. And after these Erigenia [Eos] bare the star Eosphorus (Dawn-bringer), and the gleaming Astra (Stars) with which heaven is crowned."
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 8 - 9 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"The Titanes had children . . . Eos and Astraios were parents of Anemoi (Winds) and Astra (Stars)."
Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2. 42 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Planets. It remains for us to speak of the five stars which many have called wandering, and which the Greeks call Planeta . . .
This fifth star is Mercurius' [Hermes], named Stilbon. It is small and bright. It is attributed to Mercurius because he first established the months and perceived the courses of the constellations. Euhemerus [Greek writer C4th-3rd B.C.] says that Venus [Aphrodite] first established the constellations and taught Mercurius [Hermes]."
Cicero, De Natura Deorum 2. 20 (trans. Rackham) (Roman rhetorician C1st B.C.) :
"Most marvellous [of all the stars of heaven] are the motions of the five Stellae, falsely called planets or Stellae Errantes (Wandering Stars) . . .
Below this [the orbits of Saturn, Jupiter and Mars] in turn is the Stella of Mercurius, called by the Greeks Stilbon (the gleaming), which completes the circuit of the zodiac in about the period of a year, and is never distant from the sun more than the space of a single sign, though it sometimes precedes the sun and sometimes follows it . . .
This regularity therefore in the Stellae, this exact punctuality throughout all eternity notwithstanding the great variety of their courses, is to me incomprehensible without rational intelligence and purpose. And if we observe these attributes in the Stellae, we cannot fail to enrol even them among the number of the gods."
Nonnus, Dionysiaca 5. 67 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) :
"He [Kadmos founder of Thebes] dedicated the seven gates [of the new-founded city] to the seven planets . . . The second gate he gave in honour to Hermaon [the planet Mercury], the shining neighbour of Mene (the Moon)."


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We reported about Project Loon yesterday, part of Google's Project X's plan to provide Internet access through floating balloons in the sky. The first trials are happening right now in New Zealand, but these balloons could be floating above Australian skies by as early as next year.
Google have discovered that the best place to test this is in favorable weather conditions, which his 40th parallel south. This covers New Zealand, and Tasmania - which is south of Australia. Google are reporting going to have this technology floating above Australian skies in the second half of 2014.


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Rated 3 out of 5 by 1 reviewer.
Rated 3 out of 5 by Jo62 not traditional Pad Thai I don't think this should be called Pad Thai. A more appropriate name would be Spicy Peanut Noodles. It wasn't bad, just not what I expected. Different from Pad Thai because of having the skinny wheat noodles instead of the traditional flat rice noodles, and it was missing the subtle sour tang of tamarind. April 10, 2013
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This year's Marion Legislative Delegation meeting had several presenters articulate positions on progressive issues, something Marion's legislators are not used to hearing, much less considering. This should be recognized as the seeds of something that will grow.
Each year, the delegation of state representatives and state senators gathers in the respective counties to hear concerns from constituents prior to the start of the annual two month legislative session. In Marion County, there are three state senators and four representatives, all Republicans except for Rep. Clovis Watson.
The progressive coalition, Awake Marion, had several of its participants make presentations. [Disclaimer: the writer is Awake Marion's coordinator.] Combined with several human services agencies, legislators heard about a number of areas of concern where state funding for key community-building programs and services was the primary focus, contrasting against the skewed priorities of legislators who can always find money for a corporate tax credit, can always ignore tax loopholes, and can always award lucrative, unaccountable contracts to privateers.
Despite the absence of anyone (anyone!) from the public schools, Nancy Noonan, president of Marions United for Public Education, an advocacy group that shares in the Awake Marion coalition, was present so that someone spoke up for public education. Noonan highlighted the unfunded mandates like teacher merit pay and the requirement for digital textbook technology that the legislature should correct with an allocation of proper funds. She said that money should stop being thrown at unproven, largely ineffective, and often unaccountable "reform" schemes that divert funding from public schools. Finally, she reminded legislators that there was an ongoing need to add revenue, readily available by ending corporate tax and sales tax exemptions, credits, and loopholes.
As if deaf to what Noonan had just said, State Senator Alan Hays (R-Umatilla) then called attention to the pension case awaiting a court decision which could overturn the 3% pension contribution that the Tea Party/GOP legislature had enacted for state employees. If decided against the state, it could result in a $1.3 billion bill for the state. Hays said that would change everything. Had he so quickly forgotten Noonan's call to raise revenue by addressing the hodgepodge of wasteful tax breaks that litter the state tax code? Or did Hays never hear her words in the first place?
Whitfield Jenkins, representing Marion County NAACP, another Awake Marion coalition participant, urged legislators to pay attention to "underserved communities" which most often meant minority communities. While he cited progress locally in multi-level government partnerships to spur economic investment and development, he urged sustained vigilance and commitment to forging a new direction in such communities.
Pat Hawk of Water Well Justice, an Awake Marion coalition participant, reviewed the history of wells going dry in the area, including her own not long ago. She called attention to the disturbingly low water levels in Lake Weir and Orange Lake as well as the historically low flow rate at Silver Springs, acknowledging that there are mostly unknowns when it comes to what is happening in the Floridan Aquifer. Noting how drilling a new well was a major cost for families and seniors, Hawk sought special state funding for citizens forced to drill new wells since there is no apparent intention by the legislature to protect citizens and their water by limiting new water withdrawal permits.
Guy Marwick, noted longtime Marion environmentalist, admonished the state for its Band Aid approaches to water and conservation policy. He expressed his deep concern about water quality, citing nitrate contamination, permits for large withdrawals, and the spreading threat of saltwater intrusion and contamination of the aquifer and wells due to excessive withdrawals. Comprehensive solutions are needed, and are long overdue, he emphasized.
Michael Davis, an activist leader in Awake Marion's Juvenile Justice Project, called for repeal of SB 2112, a law which allowed county governments to assume control of local juvenile justice detention services. Previously, Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) handled all juvenile justice detention since it was uniquely capable of dealing with youth with issues. Duh. But for financial reasons, counties were given the option of taking them over from DJJ and saving large sums. It was such a really bad idea that only 3 of 67 Florida counties have begun handling juvenile detention; Marion, Seminole, and Polk. As Davis stated, Marion's is considered a model operation, Seminole's program is passable, and Polk's is a disaster that has resulted in dangerous and abusive situations for youth among untrained correction officers, plunging Polk into a lawsuit for its gross mismanagement. The best idea, said Davis, would be to repeal SB 2112 and let DJJ return to doing what it knows how to do and is supposed to do.
Delphine Herbert who, active with other community organizations, is leader of Marions for Peace, another Awake Marion participant, insisted that the state needed leadership to address the culture of violence, particularly in the wake of the Newtown, CT school shootings. Citing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., she suggested that more guns did not equal more protection: "Where do we go from here? Chaos or community? … Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. "
It was over four hours of public comment, so there is another post or two to come. But the sound of progressive voices increased noticeably this year, signs of new community advocacy in Marion. Of course, getting the legislative delegation's ears to listen is also a work in progress.


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Nov 25, 2013 8:25 AM
Christmas: it's when everybody gets down with someone else's religious holiday. After all, who doesn't love an excuse to eat cookies and take a few extra days off of work? We're pretty sure the Buddha would have given that a double thumbs-up, so why not... [More]
Nov 23, 2013 8:10 AM
Wonder how Elvis would have celebrated the holidays on the road? We're guessing he would have packed this Slim Tinsel Tree in Champagne ($50). It's more kitschy than a sequin-studded jumpsuit, and with its slender profile, could be set up in even the most overcrowded... [More]
Nov 22, 2013 11:02 AM
We'd expect this Diamond Piñata ($150) to be packed full of some seriously high-quality sweets, skipping the Hershey and going straight for Godiva. But sadly, this party piece doesn't even come with candy. Bashing it to pieces will instead unleash a cascade of confetti. But... [More]
Nov 21, 2013 9:10 AM
Use the Chimney Christmas Bauble Ornament ($30) from Reiko Kaneko to remind Santa to get his butt in gear. You're anxiously hoping a new Coach wristlet will be lining your stocking on Christmas morn. Only, it's probably better to not specifically tell him to "get... [More]
Nov 20, 2013 8:40 AM
Party piñatas: awesome in theory, but difficult to execute in cold weather. You can put up a piñata indoors if you're not fearful for your windows, and your lamps, and your mirrors, or you can just let party attendees take home a few of these... [More]
If you've got a product or service that you'd like to promote on Outblush, click here to find out about our advertising opportunities.
Nov 18, 2013 10:15 AM
Oh, crap. Turkey Day is staring us down and we're at a loss for how to start our meal planning. Maybe we can manage to throw together a T-day dinner from the recipes in Thanksgiving 101: Celebrate America's Favorite Holiday with America's Thanksgiving Expert ($7)... [More]
Nov 15, 2013 9:05 AM
Okay, we concede that it may be a leetle too early to put Christmas carols on repeat, but if you want to get a head start on the holidays, Kelly Clarkson's much-anticipated Christmas album, Wrapped in Red ($10) is now out. We don't know about... [More]
Nov 14, 2013 8:15 AM
The jingle of a sleigh bell is the audio equivalent of seeing a Christmas tree! Create a feast for your ears as well as your eyes by hanging the Ding Ornament ($10) on your tree - this hand-painted wooden shell houses a jinglebell inside!... [More]
Oct 30, 2013 10:25 AM
You always intend to start brainstorming Halloween costume ideas early, and then the last week of October hits and you find yourself still racking your brain while time runs out. We've been there, too. Skip difficult-to-execute-in-a-crunch costumes and find your favorite LBD to wear with... [More]
Oct 29, 2013 9:17 AM
Save the Milk Duds and the Nerds candies for trick-or-treaters and give your favorite kiddos something with a little more pizzazz. We recommend Divvies Bag O' Bats ($5). The artisan chocolates are crafted from allergen-free ingredients and packaged as duos in cellophane bags. Make sure... [More]
Oct 24, 2013 8:30 AM
If you're going to gorge yourself on fun-sized candy bars before, while, and after trick-or-treaters stop by, try not to fill up before you've eaten a Chocolate Ghost Pop ($3 each, $33 per dozen) from Tumbador Chocolates. Blissfully simple, the pops deliver a delish dose... [More]
Oct 21, 2013 10:50 AM
We couldn't think of a cuter "spooky" snack if we tried. These chocolates shaped into ghosts ($18 for a pack of five) are nothing short of perfection. They start out as little balls of rich hazelnut and dark chocolate ganache and then get shaped and... [More]
Oct 21, 2013 10:05 AM
You probably know someone who will be cool with getting their holiday gift a little early, especially if it's the 2013 Whisky Advent Calendar ($240). This badass calendar starts on December 1st and delivers a dram of whisky each day until Christmas. The recipient will... [More]
Oct 21, 2013 8:20 AM
The fake arrow-through-the-head has been done to death, but the Cleaver Ring ($190), handmade with sterling silver and recycled wood, is a Halloween accessory you can wear all year! Fake blood not included (but highly recommended).... [More]
Oct 19, 2013 8:37 AM
Just because you finished your ice cream doesn't mean the fun has to stop! 'Tis the season for candy canes (you know, after Halloween season, Thanksgiving season, and shopping season), and what better way to enjoy this holiday treat than after eating another holiday treat!?... [More]
Oct 18, 2013 8:30 AM
The dead...they're aliiiivvve! Actually, they're steel stakes cut to real human appendage proportions in order to creep out the neighborhood kids. No one's stealing your pumpkins this year, thankyouverymuch! Zombie Garden Stakes ($36) from Dark Horse Garage... [More]
Oct 18, 2013 8:10 AM
What do you want to be for Halloween? Why would you want to be anything but yourself? The Custom Wearable Mask ($299) can turn your uniquely individual facial features into a costume novelty! A 3-D preview is sent for your approval before the printing begins,... [More]
Oct 17, 2013 9:00 AM
Your spooky Halloween ambience shouldn't end with your decor. Toss the Haunting Sounds CD ($3, on sale) into your laptop or CD player and crank it up loud enough for trick-or-treaters to hear as they head up your walk. It'll deliver a full hour of... [More]
Oct 15, 2013 8:20 AM
Wow, they can make a sexy costume out of anything these days - even one of the gloomiest characters in cinema history! With the leather, the buckles, and of course the slashes, this Miss Scissorhands Halloween Costume ($48 - $50) is more fashionable than we'd... [More]
Oct 11, 2013 11:00 AM
We've found the perfect birthday gift wrap - classy, gender-neutral, and constantly seasonally appropriate. Stock up on this Constellation Wrapping Paper ($9) so that your present will always be the star of the party.... [More]
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Billing Models for MMO's
Why Does it Have to be One Way?
Another Eye-Bleeding Post by Ryahl
In a previous post, I examined the western subscription model for MMO's and discovered that the model peaked in 2004. There is unquestionably an upswell in favor of Free to Play (F2P) and a number of titles have gone Free to Play in recent years. Industry leaders are on the record stating that F2P is the future of MMO's and at least one planned AAA MMO intended to launch F2P. However, the F2P model itself is greeted with some trepidation from fans of the subscription model who view it as either a money grab or a form of buy to win, neither of which is deemed palatable.
In this post, I want to review various billing options available to MMO's and offer an assessment of strengths and weaknesses of each. From that, I will pull together something I refer to as the "box plus" model, which synthesizes the various billing options into a multifaceted subscriber model. In a future post I will use an existing MMO as an example in a hypothetical conversion to the Box+ model.
The Many Ways to Take My Money
There are a number of potential revenue models for game companies. However, no specific model is perfect, each comes with its own problems. Additionally, each model appeals to some gamers and turns off others. Not all of these revenue options have been tried by MMO's and I won't review all possible options (for instance, billing by the minute has been dead for over a decade and there is probably no reason to bring that one back).
- The Monthly Subscription – this is the tried and true model for the western MMO market. Developers like it for reasons I addressed in the last post. The downsides are that it appeals to a very small number of consumers. It does not appeal to eastern and younger players. Additionally, the very switching cost that used to be a strength of this model seems to work against initial buy-in. However, it appeals to some consumers and remains the staple premium buy in western model.
- Buy the box – this is the classic PC game model. You buy the box, you get the game. It is the approach used by Arena Net for Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2. It is also the approach used by Blizzard for Diablo 3 (not exactly an MMO) and by most cooperative and single player PC games. While these are not MMO titles, they increasingly offer persistent online multi-player options, they are converging into the MMO market. It appeals to a broader audience than the subscription model. Additionally, it remains the premier way in western markets to reach customers. Retailers, and increasingly digital outlets (like Steam or Amazon) provide ideal channels to reach new customers, assuming you keep a new box available. The downside is that the developer only sees a fraction of the revenue from box sales, box sales produce spikey revenue streams and demand for box sales tends to be measured in weeks (although Steam is improving this).
- Micro-Transactions – This is the model used in many eastern games and is increasingly a part of the western MMO market. It carries a natural appeal of a la carte transactions, you buy what you want and no more. It offers developers the ability to smooth out their revenue streams more than the box model, but is spikier than the subscription model. Western customers tend to be very antagonistic to models which appear to promote a "buy to win" model, leading to a western implementation primarily geared at cosmetic purchases. Additionally, this model tends to promote free riding, in which a handful of players subsidize the plurality of players. Further, these free riding accounts are disproportionately the province of gold farmers, botters and other parties generally disdained by both subscribers and developers. Finally, the lack of a purchase may lend itself to a player base that has little compulsion to "play nice."
- Advertising – This is not heavily used in MMO's. Funcom attempted to use this model with Anarchy Online, but that was an earlier era of online advertising. This model is heavily used by apps and is generally associated with free to play game models outside the MMO.
- Taxation of Real Money Transactions – This has rarely appeared in MMO's, but has some history. Sony attempted to use this model as a supplemental revenue (on limited servers) with EQ2 and Blizzard is taking advantage of this model in Diablo 3. CCP has a form of this in place with EVE as well.
The reality is that these are not independent choices and developers mix and match some of these options already. Funcom was one of the first to pursue a form of Free to Play with their Froob model. This model is essentially a trial of the original box version of the game and was tied in with AO's early experimentation with in-game advertising. Funcom has also turned their Age of Conan game into a F2P offering. Turbine largely reversed their fortunes, experiencing revenue upswings and revitalization with their F2P moves for Lord of the Rings and Dungeons and Dragons online games. Sony Online Entertainment has progressively migrated their MMO portfolio under the "free to play your way" tag line. Similar transitions have occurred with City of Heroes and Star Trek Online.
When Star Wars; the Old Republic completes their F2P transition later this year, it appears that only RIFT, the Secret World and industry behemoth World of Warcraft will be the only remaining purely subscription based game. While all three feature a form of free trial, none offer as of this posting a F2P hybrid plan and they have not indicated any intention of moving to one in the near term. Further, while they also all offer some form of micro-transaction, this is merely for cosmetic purposes and does not (as yet) provide access to the game itself.
No one wants to be the redheaded step customer
Only Turbine stands out as treating micro-transactions and subscriptions as equal customers. However, Turbine's model has only been deployed in MMO titles that no longer generate new box sales in retail channels. In the Turbine model, the free to play customer can unlock virtually every feature that a subscriber gets. The F2P simply micro-transactions their way, gradually unlocking bag-space, bank-space, skirmishes, zones, mission packs. etc. In the Turbine model, the F2P player is only limited by their purchase commitment.
Sadly, this has not been the case in every other F2P transition. Funcom treats F2P with AOC as a somewhat advanced Froob model. You have some micro-transaction unlocks, but generally F2P is a trial model, not a revenue model. The SOE "free to play your way" is only your way if you desire reduced gear, ability and advancement options. For example, while Vanguard: Saga of Heroes has some positive vibes around their dungeon design, a free to play player would be unable to equip dungeon gear dropped in said dungeons (or possibly progress through them lacking gear to complete them).
Other MMO developers follow similar patterns to SOE. City of Heroes restricts their Incarnate system to subscribers. Star Trek Online places caps on the maximum unlocks in their a la carte model, the full feature product is only available via subscription.
If your free to play option does not allow for full product access (via a la carte transactions), you don't have a free to play option. You have a subscription teaser.
Effectively, F2P isn't, of course. Obviously it's not free, but it also doesn't offer much "to play." The F2P customer is a lesser customer in virtually every MMO system and the only way for them to become a full customer is to subscribe (thus losing nearly everything they sunk into micro-transactions). If F2P is to truly be the future of the MMO, then a fully vested F2P customer should have just as much product as a subscriber. The path to access should differ, the destination should not.
Introducing Box+, a Better Alternative to F2P
The idea developed in this section, Box +, cribs largely from the best elements of the different revenue models out there to date. Additionally, this approach seeks to maintain a reason to offer subscriptions and a reason for people to consider subscriptions. However, the under-pinning of this system is a fundamental change in the way the MMO is packaged. Ultimately it breaks down to distinguishing the product from the service (a difficult task at best for a product you ultimately rent). There are several assumptions that drive my thinking with Box+.
- Developers need to make money and they need to be profitable. Going broke is a good recipe for all of us to lose our favorite hobbies. If you like a game, you should plop down some dollars, euros or what have you.
- There is a convergence between traditional non-MMO games (which increasingly offer constant online match-making and game-play services at no or reduced costs), eastern MMO's (which usually begin as F2P and become subscription imports when they arrive in the west), online social games (the myriad Facebook games and the like) and the classic subscription MMO.
- The sale of boxes (real or virtual) is a critical element in reaching new customers (at least in the west). In particular, the rise of STEAM makes it such that keeping a box presence should be a must in any MMO marketing plan. Additionally, buying the box SHOULD mean something to the customer.
- Western players eschew buy to win. However, western players are increasingly comfortable with downloadable content at a price. DLC need not be merely cosmetic, but anything with oomph needs to be balanced in its access.
- Truly free players may be good for generating word of mouth, but they also bring about a number of problems. Additionally, it behooves developers to find a way to make some money off of those who won't pay (see point #1).
The staple of the Box+ model is the sale of the box. The box should be bundled with an amount of game play equitable to RPG's. Additionally, the box should include free access to most of the game elements that players associate as free to play with comparable match-making services. The remainder of the game product should be bundled into micro-transactions. The micro-transaction package for the box should equate to roughly what a subscriber pays if they buy the box and subscribe for 6-8 months. A la carte players (the box only model) need to purchase mid-cycle content updates which should be priced as if they were DLC in a comparative format ($5 for minor DLC packs $15 or more for larger packs).
The Box+ model should feel familiar to traditional non-subscription based customers, subscription based customers and F2P consumers.
The subscriber gets everything with the box+ subscription. Additionally, as a subscriber, they receive the mid-cycle content updates as a part of their subscription. Finally, to sweeten the deal, developers should cater to subscribers by offering services for free, while charging box customers for the same service. As an example: faster queue times for server access, faster queue times for dungeon/raid finders, faster queuing for PVP match-making services, priority customer service (perhaps dedicated customer service reps), free access to a tablet app, free server transfers, free name changes, etc. These same services should be charged, a la carte, for non-subscribers.
The a la carte player might even be denied access to some of the services tied to the subscriber bundle, but both types of players should have equivalent potential access to the product. Additionally, in this system, the price of the subscription may need to rewind. It's possible that the $10 or $12.50 point was an important psychological point for subscriptions, Note the market hasn't grown (WoW has) since the industry settled on $15 for a sub.
Free to play should be an option. F2P players should have very limited access to core content. F2P players should be stored on separate instances from your box and subscription customers (without rare encounters and without rare itemization). Box and subscribers who have F2p friends should be able to send messages to F2P and F2P should be able to send messages to box and subscriber friends. Otherwise F2P should only communicate with F2P. F2P customers can ascend to box customers with a three or four gate purchase. At the completion of that set of purchases, the F2P player should have "bought the box" (in chunks) and thus become a Box a la carte customer.
As an example, the F2P player might receive the outdoor zones, basic classes and side quests as a free option. They could buy added classes (or a full skill set), adventuring zone quests and the primary story-line quests (with dungeons perhaps) as a three step gated purchase. Upon completion of these three purchases, the F2P transitions to a box-owner and relocates to the dimension/instances of your purchasing customers. They also now have all of the product features that come with the basic box (the third gated purchase should finish off all box features). From this point on, they can purchase a la carte upgrades exactly the same as someone who bought the box at a retail channel.
Developers should look at embedded advertising to F2P players. Loading screens, UI elements and the like should be considered. Google Ad Sense and a host of existing advertising packages are out there and they should be leveraged rather than trying to build your own advertising solutions. F2P players are increasingly familiar with this through tablet apps, embedded ads in their F2P MMO's shouldn't be a major obstacle. However, developers should clearly divide ad revenue F2P from box and subscription customers. I suspect the backlash would greatly exceed the revenue potential.
The In-Game Store
Developers should include an in-game store for cosmetic items. Apparel, hairstyles, body types, face changes, etc. This is an area that can be thoroughly developed. Once the game has been out nine or more months, developers should consider adding XP-potions to the mix. At this point in the game, the XP-potion is less "buy to win" than it is "buy to catch up."
The in-game store should be available to all types of customers. For F2P customers, in-game purchases should be a separate aside to the gated box purchase described above. Additionally, subscribers should get a small monthly stipend to the in-game store. Rather than an open-ended wallet, consider capping the in-game credit to $5 (or equivalent). Any amount spent by a subscriber comes from their stipend first before tapping their real purchases. At the end of the month, the stipend resets to its base value of $5. The point here isn't to convince susbcribers to make purchases with real dollars, the point is to (a) reward them for subscribing and (b) become walking billboards for whatever is new in the in-game store. Since the stipend resets each month, the onus for the subscriber will be to spend all or most of their credit each month.
Think in terms of Cycles
To make this work, developers need to find a way to sell a new box roughly every year. That's your expansion path. Box players should buy the expansion, which should be assembled using the same logic as the initial box (the purchase gets you X, micro transactions or subscription get you Y). Subscribers also buy the box, but then get everything in the expansion box as an element of their expansion.
The update of the game each year becomes the major cyclical element refreshing your title in retail channels. Additionally, the box presence in retail channels can be stimulated mid-cycle using promotional pricing (something STEAM has turned into an art).
Developers should plan for mid-cycle updates (DLC). SOE attempted something like this with Adventure Packs in EQ2 offering Bloodline Chronicles, Splitpaw Saga and the Fallen Dynasty. These were $15 or so DLC packs with new content. The Adventure Pack idea failed at the time because subscribers were accustomed to receiving mid-cycle updates as a part of their expansion. To keep things palatable, SOE had to make Adventure Packs not "too powerful" to prevent them from seeming like something that had to be bought. Doing so made them undesirable for the most part and the idea was cancelled several years back.
Adventure Packs need to come back into the mix, the Box+ model is the perfect approach for this. They should range in size and desirability based on the designers goals, which should not be a problem in the Box+ model. Subscribers get Adventure Packs free, as they are accustomed. Box players buy them as DLC. Developers can bundle content updates into quarterly or monthly packages based on their budgets. Consumers benefit from getting bigger, more robust mid-cycle additions to their gaming. Subscribers get an added incentive to retain a sub (benefiting the developer in the process). Win, win is good business.


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AC - Free Ways To Stay Cool This Summer
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Poul Mark founded Transcend Coffee in 2006 with a passion for great coffee and building community. By his own admission, his entry into the specialty coffee industry was one largely built on naivety. However, his passion led to a growing determination to bring better understanding and appreciation of coffee to the Edmonton area.
In the past nine years, Poul has built a thriving and multi-faceted business and has established himself as an world expert in coffee. He has been invited to judge several international coffee competitions, including the Best of Panama, the 2009 El Salvador Cup of Excellence, the 2010 Honduras Cup of Excellence, and most recently Taza Dorada 2011 in Ecuador. Poul was one of the first Canadians to be qualified as a certified Q-graders—an international professional accreditation for evaluating both green and roasted coffee. Poul invested a significant amount of time to travel to origin, making several trips a year to meet coffee farmers face to face, developing relationships with producers and constantly learning more about the unique challenges of each coffee growing region. Poul was part of a three person panel invited to speak on the topic of micro lots and direct trade at the 2011 Ramacafe conference in Nicaragua. Poul also writes on various coffee topics for trade magazines, and works as lead consultant on cafe design projects and equipment procurement.
One of Poul's most meaningful experiences in coffee was traveling to Burundi in the Summer of 2011 to serve as a consultant to a couple of small coffee associations in the Kayanza region. In conjunction with Food for the Hungry Burundi, he worked with producers to identify strategies to improve quality and production yields.
Poul often hosts our popular coffee tastings, the Transcend Coffee podcast, and has been invited to speak to various groups on the subjects of coffee, roasting, and the art and science of taste. Poul also holds a Level 3 Advanced Certificate in wine tasting issued by WSET. If you would like to have Poul speak at your conference or private event, please contact him.


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Shapeways: Bring your creativity to life in 3D http://www.shapeways.com/forum/index.php Shapeways: Bring your creativity to life in 3D Rose Holiday Ornament http://www.shapeways.com/forum/index.php?t=rview&goto=59288&th=12170#msg_59288 <![CDATA[I did an ornament for my mother, my father, and my lover...

 A rose for my mother, a deer for my father, and the NY Giants logo for my girlfriend, cause she is a fan of the team, feel really bad for her this year with them not making it into playoffs. Anyways the last one hasn't arrived, the photos for my dad's are in my model gallery, but didn't turn out as sharp cause camera wouldn't focus on it.

 I did want to show you the rose one as I believe it turned out really well, both in person and in photograph. Would love to hear any feedback, good or bad. cheers! Holiday Rose Ornament

 ]]> Cody_Rauh 2012-12-28T07:01:25-00:00 Re: Rose Holiday Ornament http://www.shapeways.com/forum/index.php?t=rview&goto=59291&th=12170#msg_59291 <![CDATA[The circle is really choppy, could have used some more polygons for smoothness

 Cool gifts though!]]> nazul 2012-12-28T09:01:10-00:00


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I have readed "Spring 3 MVC Validation Example" http://www.roseindia.net/tutorial/spring/spring3/web/spring-3-mvc-validation-example.html.
In the validation form example, I have populated age's imput with a string "hello". After send the form, I receive a type conversion error:
Failed to convert property value of type java.lang.String to required type java.lang.Integer for property age; nested exception is org.springframework.core.convert.ConversionFailedException: Unable to convert value "hello" from type java.lang.String to type java.lang.Integer; nested exception is java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Unable to parse hello
Is it possible to customize this error message? I'd like to say something user-friendly.
Thanks in advance,
Please visit the following link:
According to http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4082924/jsr-303-type-checking-before-binding/4083198#4083198 I have modified message properties in order to add the follows:
typeMismatch=A numeric value was expected!