text:
We offer:
- a salary structure that is linked to the market place
- Civil Service Pension arrangements, which are recognised as some of the best in the pensions world
- discretionary bonus arrangements
- generous annual leave
- flexible working arrangements
- development opportunities
- enhanced parental leave arrangements
- payment of certain professional subscriptions
- a free employee assistance programme – available to all staff using a freephone number to discuss a range of issues, not just work-related
- excellent office location.
See related content
Current vacancies
Find a list of our current vacancies.
Our values and competencies
Whilst your objectives and role accountabilities focus on what you do, the competencies focus on how you do it.
Eligibility and checks
You must be eligible to work in the UK and be aware that we will make background checks if you apply to work for us.


text:
The charity is set to promote the education of the less and under privileged children of Sub Sahara by providing healthy diet and antiretroviral drugs, scholarships, clothing, conducting workshops and seminars in raising awareness of HIV and AIDS, social education of the communities through KIDS clubs and empowerment of the community through self reliant and help projects within their communities.
To empower the youths and communities so that they become self-sufficient and develop.
The prevention or relief of poverty and financial hardship in Sub-Saharan countries by providing or assisting in the provision of education, training, healthcare projects and all the necessary support designed to enable individuals to live and generate a sustainable income and be self-sufficient.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Hi there are there any people here from Lynchburg, Va.?
Printable View
Hi there are there any people here from Lynchburg, Va.?
Hey It's me Ms. Shawn, Madison Heights VA about 15 min. from lynchburg!!!!! :mrgreen: :thumbup:Quote:
Originally Posted by QuiltingWithMissy
Does it count that my daughter and son both live in
Buena Vista, Virginia? I've been there many times. Virginia is such a beautiful state.
Ms. Shawn, my daughters husband was raised Madison Heights. His mother still lives there. I'm amazed I know where all these places are.
Charlottesville Va. for 4 years........Michele
Ms. Shawn I saw where you are making a quilt for you in-laws. It needed to be done by the end of this month. How are you doing on it?
Buena Vista is a very pretty and peaceful place.Quote:
Originally Posted by dellareya
I live in Powhatan, Va about 2 hrs from Lynchburg.
Hi...does it count that my oldest grandson is a senior at Liberty Univ. in Lynchburg???????????? I understand it is just BEAUTIFUL.
Hi Missy,
I live in Lovingston which is 30 miles north of Lynchburg but I shop in Lynchburg a lot.
It is good to know that you come to Lynchburg. We will have to have lunch some time when you are here.Quote:
Originally Posted by Grammiesews


text:
News: Whooping cough precautions: get pertussis vaccination
In response to McHenry County's recent increase in pertussis cases, Centegra Health System reminds adults and children about the necessity of vaccinations to avoid serious illnesses or death. Pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, is a contagious bacterial infection that is spread through coughing and sneezing. It can be fatal, especially in babies less than a year of age."Pertussis may seem like the common cold at first, but with a week or two the cough begins to sound more violent," said Dr. Laura Bianconi, a pediatrician with Centegra Physician Care. "It causes uncontrollable coughing and when a person takes deep breaths it often makes a whooping sound. The best way to avoid getting it is to be immunized."
Bianconi said adolescents and adults should also receive a pertussis booster shot, especially if they are around babies, people who are immune suppressed or the elderly. Boosters are typically given to children, and after age 11 Bianconi recommends people receive the vaccine every 10 years. "It is extremely important to vaccinate against this illness to stop it from spreading to people who can become seriously ill," Bianconi said. "Talk to your doctor about whether you should be vaccinated or receive a booster shot."
Pertussis is treated with antibiotics, and those closest to the infected person are often treated to prevent its spread, as well. People who have been immunized can still get pertussis, however its symptoms are less likely to be severe. Those who have pertussis should stay home from work and school until they have been evaluated by a physician. To avoid spreading the illness it is important to wash hands regularly and to cover the mouth when coughing.
To find a physician who will discuss your risks for the illness and ways to prevent it, call 877-CENTEGRA.


text:
Contact us 24/7: +1 877 678 9627
View product details
Zoom In
- - US sizing
Send your style status skyrocketing with Yves Saint Laurent's instantly recognizable 'Arty' ring. Crafted from gold-plated tin with a marbled cream glass stone, this stunning piece is a can't-do-without cocktail accessory.
Shown here with: Outfit 1: Jonathan Saunders sweater and skirt, Dolce & Gabbana shoes, Jimmy Choo clutch.
Outfit 2: Chan Luu scarf, bracelet and bracelet, Isabel Marant jacket and boots, T by Alexander Wang top, Citizens of Humanity jeans, Jérôme Dreyfuss bag.
- - Gold-plated tin
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Product Code: 321293
Shop more:
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Product Code: 321293


text:
ED Magedson – Founder
Ripoff Report
firstclasswhiteningInternet USA
firstclasswhitening First Class Whitening is a scam Internet
Does your business have a bad reputation?
Fix it the right way.
Corporate Advocacy Program™
First class whitening advertised free samples, but when I confronted them via telephone they called it a trial. It is true, they don't advertise it on their site, but they did have internet ads offering free samples. That's how I found them.
The ad said I would get a whitening sample with trays to apply it, so I did it. Here's how they hook you, shipping. You have to pay for shipping and they rely on you not reading the fine print, because the "catch" is not in the main portion of the order information (it is not obvious).
I received the "sample" with no trays, so I couldn't apply it. I figured, no problem, I was only out the shipping. The next month I received another shipment (still no trays), that's when I started to invesitigate. I finally found that they were charging my card for what they call "retail" price becasue the "trial period" was up. They did not use there name on the charge. There was a WT and some numbers, but there was a phone number and I called it.
Turns out, they claim that they offer no free samples, and she went into their trail offer. I'm sure they've done this multiple times. I did ask for a refund (I couldn't use the product), they told me I could not get a refund. I asked them to at least send me the trays, and they said I didn't need the trays, they sent me a whitening pen (that was the trial), and claimed they didn't offer free samples.
The term "buyer beware" should be flashing on their web site. There is no excuse. They advertise in bold letters, but they refuse to put the most obvious information every consumer needs to know. I accept some blame because I should've known better. This is the downside to the internet. If this was a brick and motar store, they would not be so covert.
My recommendation to everyone that shops on the internet, stay with the proven sellers, like Amazon, even ebay, if you use PayPal (insures your purchase) and ebay screens it's sellers much more closely than it used to.
www.firstclasswhitening.com could choose to be upfront with customers; they could choose to offer refunds for unopened,unused product, but they would rather rip you off. Obviously they don't care a wit about their customers or potential customers.
Caveat emptor for all who decide to deal with first clase whitening.
This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 07/01/2014 07:53 AM and is a permanent record located here: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/firstclasswhitening/internet/firstclasswhitening-first-class-whitening-is-a-scam-internet-1158704. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year.
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tag:Community Blogs:blogCommunity Blogshttp://www.destructoid.com/ul/user/1/13748-1d101-50.jpgCutie Honeyhttps:://www.destructoid.com/blogs/Cutie Honey2012-08-23T22:11:06ZCommunity Blogs:260856Project Diva F - Video Review - Cutie HoneyCutie Honey2013-08-27T13:09:50Z2013-08-27T13:09:50ZConsidering picking up Project DIVA F today on PSN? I have a video review here for it that might sway your opinion (or otherwise).

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Tried putting a little more meta humor in here along with some more personality. There's a couple extra notes I couldn't cover in the review without breaking up the flow:
 When I mention swipes don't clash with buttons, there is one exception with a DLC song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-OhfekEsQ4), which clashes quite a bit.
 A few extra accessories and achievements are tied to the Miku Room/Petting minigame, but they aren't necessary to "complete" the game.
 Earlier Project DIVA games had segments in the final part of a song where 80% of your score is determined at that bonus points, that system has been removed for smaller segments that just dock some of your percentage if missed.
 The game actually has a Data Install feature and with a digital version anyway, the load times for the PS3 version are going to be minimal. What a perfect game!

The game drops later today on the PS3. The European release has been delayed to September 4th.Community Blogs:253651Sanctum 2 Video Impressions (& looking for feedback on my Web Series) - Cutie HoneyCutie Honey2013-05-13T19:52:35Z2013-05-13T19:52:35ZIf you can't wait 24 hours, here's a very detailed critique and early look at Sanctum 2 for the PC with my classy video series, Tonight we Try.
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It's also the latest in a series of video reviews I've been doing if you're not already familiar with my other video content.

In my video reviews, I attempt to have real honest and deep critique of the products I'm examining, as I've kind of grown tired of "mainstream" video reviews where it's 90% skits and comedy, or unrelated video clips played over someone briefly describing the product for me. Not that's there's anything wrong with gaming videos that try to pander far more than inform, but there's quite a lot of it now and more often than not, the "ran-dumb" sketches aren't funny and pad out what could've been said in a few minutes. I try to level out entertainment with education, but I guess it's all a balancing act on how true I want to be to myself, and how I appear to others.

A lot of reviews also just briefly address things as "fun" or "tedious" without describing examples or going into detail, so I try to use the medium of video to convey what can't be done in simple text. As well as putting some presentation into it so it doesn't look like an assortment of random video clips and can even be listened to without visuals. But in that same regard, I'm also worried about going on too long with video or spending too much time driving a point home.

So rant aside, if you would like to check out any of my other reviews or give feedback, I'd much appreciate it. More like the one below can be found at my Youtube channel:

<object width="630" height="457"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1EBJ3Vk87n8?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1EBJ3Vk87n8?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="630" height="457" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>Community Blogs:252142The New Adv. of Podtoid Episode 2: Delay and HELP US OUT W/ FAKE GAMES! (NSFW) - Cutie HoneyCutie Honey2013-04-20T23:51:39Z2013-04-20T23:51:39ZTo keep it brief, weve run into a few hang-ups with development of Podtoid Episode 2. I originally wanted to release it on 4/20, but were simply not moving fast enough on it. And theres some small errors that need refining in order to make this a great video. Its probably going to be pushed more toward May at this point. Like Jim, I dont really start kicking projects into high gear until its dangerously close to the due date and I feel the walls caving in on me, so maybe I should start announcing all my projects a week in the past.

One may notice Im using the word We. Thats because I have Podtoid fan, Frank Margarella, helping out with the animation this time around, along with a possible third person later this month. Id like to emphasize that Margarella is a full time worker/student, and considering how much hes done on it already for free, he shouldnt shoulder blame for this.

Heres the segment list for the second episode in the order it will play in, we were considering some external help with the Willem Dafoe pitch, but we might just wait to include it in a future episode or turn it into its own thing so it take off in its own way without taking up episode time for other Podtoid segments. Theres still a good 8 minutes of animation there so the episode length wont be handicapped too much compared to the first one:

 Michael Phelps: Swimmer
 The Make a Wish Foundation and Popcap
 Commercial Break: Bad Dragon Ad
 <s>Willem Dafoe Pitch: The Breast Man</s> (Postponed for now)
 Twitter Questions: Final Fantasy: All the Bravest

As of now, only 2 are almost done, and the Make a Wish one is the longest. So we basically have to step-up our game. After all, the only time delays that should ever be accepted are for large scale KickStarter projects with thousands of backers. </sarcasm>

But one bit of good news, I decided what kind of community contest will take place for the second episode:

PODTOID COMMUNITY CAMPAIGN 2: FAKE GAMER <s>GIRLZ</s> GRAPHICS

UPDATE: ENTERING THIS IS NOW CLOSED

Like the Spider campaign in the first episode, were going to push your artistic skills to the test.
Since a large part of the second episode takes place in Popcaps Offices. You can have a chance to design Fake Game Covers that appear in the episode. These fictional game covers will either highlight the office walls of Popcap or be game cases resting on desks. Basically, Im looking for humorous stuff like parodies and absurdities. The best examples are the kind of stuff Max Scoville does on (precious) company time at Revision3:
(Special thanks to Vid Cirman for the suggestion of examples.)

So the steps are simple:

1. Make a DVD Case/Poster sized game cover in whatever file format you would prefer
2. Post a link to it here in the comments, or on the Podtoid Facebook page, by May 5th. Thats Cinco de Mayo!
3. If you don't want to be credited by your Destructoid name, leave your real name or alias in the same post as the image.
You dont have to make the back cover, and it can be done by whatever method you would like.

There are three requirements to keep in mind though:

 Safe for Work. I cant emphasize this enough.
 Avoid personal images taken without permission. So no images of family members, friends, or people you dont like or standalone art assets without proper context for what youre parodying. Nothing that can cause litigation or even a simple angry letter that will get the whole video taken off. A safer alternative is to simply draw your own artwork for the cover or learn to shamelessly trace.
 Self Insert / Personal Fanwankery. I do have to admit to a pet peeve against self-insert works appearing in this campaign. So while they still may get in if done tastefully, Ill advise against making some dream-game cover where your self-insert character is making out with a flawless anime girlfriend. Just use good judgment. And if you dont know what kind of stuff Im referring to, its either for the best you dont know OR YOURE ALREADY DOING IT AND DONT KNOW ABOUT IT. So spooky~.

In apology for all the delays in the first place, heres a character designed for appear just in the next episode. Animating him for just eight seconds took at least two hours. Its the Varka: the black dragon of Scotland, known for his thick sausagey cock. Cum tube (and tribute) not included.

Thanks for your patience (or understandable lack thereof), and good luck making art about video games.

 Community Blogs:245029The New Adventures of Podtoid Episode 2: Development Blog Valentines Day Edition - Cutie HoneyCutie Honey2013-02-14T22:04:28Z2013-02-14T22:04:28ZSo TWO months after I wanted to make this post Im finally starting production on the next episode of The New Adventures of Podtoid. My only excuse was being completely busy, but as one can see

 Movie Defense Force
 Corgi Video Game Heroes
 Eight Emotions Elicited in 2012
 Final Fantasy: ATB Review

It all went towards a <s>good</s> Destructoid cause. But now, the only three things Im keeping on my Plate are this, my game reviews, and my convention footage. So Ill be going eating, drinking, and shitting out Podtoid from today onward, and speaking of Valentines Day:

Each of these cute cards is a hint to a segment on the second episode I wonder what they are. Theres also a bigger priority on getting Max and Tara into clips this time around. The running length of the audio alone is going to be 9 minutes, 41 seconds, but with some external help (more on that below) I think its very doable.

Seeing as I can casually get about a minute of Podtoid quality animation done over a weekend (alone), I hope to get 10 minutes of animation completed every three months, and if its done a little faster than that, more downtime for me.

If people want to know what is considered high priority, its these bits in no real order:

I went through my whole database of this generation of Podtoid and there were plenty of difficult choices, but these ten in each category stand out to me for different reasons. These are what I want to get done with more than anything else.

I intentionally didnt pick choices like Jonathan talks to Psychic Hamburgers or Doctor Crack Cocaine since those were already animated by other people and the last thing I want to do with conflict with some cool stuff other people have already made. Maybe Ill do them at some point, but for now, Im grateful someone else shares my sense of humor:

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So heres the release plan: (Barring delays)
2nd Episode: April
3rd Episode: July
4th Episode Preview: PAX Prime (Basically a big circlejerk for me)
4th Episode: November 12th, 2013 (Because 11/12/13 is awesome)
And so forth

So per many requests and recommendations, Im recruiting some extra help for this. I have to note that since this is a labor of love (at the moment) for all parties involved, these are unpaid roles.
If you can:

 Animate in Flash
 Illustrate Characters
 Build Character Rigs and Libraries
 Illustrate Backgrounds
 Compose covers/parodies of licensed music

Let me know. While I want to give amateurs a chance at working on some really cool stuff, theres a certain level of quality I need. Its not a high bar, but MSPaint artists and those who will need instructions on the difference between modern tweens and classic tweens need not apply.

Email me at: email@example.com and Ill set up a Google Mailing Group for anyone interested in a week or two. Also, please be professional with your grammar in the email and link your portfolio or examples of your work. With the number of past projects Ive organized, while first impressions from someones lazy emails dont always mean the person is unqualified, they often are telling of a persons work ethic.

If you have already attempted to contact me in the past, Ill automatically add you to the Email group and email you <s>soon</s> when I get everything sorted out. Cleaning up my untitled character libraries and creating storyboards that exist somewhere other than my head is going to take some time, so please be patient for that to be addressed.

Schedules will be somewhat lax as I have enough of my own stuff going on, but I want to avoid situations where someone just stops communicating a week before the episode goes live, so if youre busy or your schedule is erratic, then this wont be a good fit.

Well assign people short segments to animate or give them some time to design characters/backgrounds that match the style I set up for Podtoid.

Thanks and stay tuned for more.

P.S. here's something for BrownEyeWinkin to get excited for:

 Community Blogs:244573Review - Corpse Party: Book of Shadows - Cutie HoneyCutie Honey2013-02-10T18:17:56Z2013-02-10T18:17:56ZCorpse Party: Blood Covered was a (twice remade) PSP horror title that was touted as a hybrid RPG/Adventure game. Although very light on the actual gameplay, the storytelling and presentation left quite the impression on many a gamer. Now a sequel is among us in the form of Corpse Party: Book of Shadows, a visual novel-type experience that is intentionally less interactive, but more narrative. But do the changes make for a fun shindig, or a complete massacre?

This review can also be found on my enthusiast press blog at: BowtieCat.com

Corpse Party: Book of Shadows
Platform: PSP (Digital)
Release Date: January 15th, 2013
Genre: Visual Novel
MSRB: $19.99

Rarely do I add a disclaimer to a review, but this game makes quite an exception for two reasons. First, Book of Shadows is read as a visual novel, which WILL be a major turn off for those looking for a more hands-on experience. While there will be limited exploring with some risk/reward for digging too deep, its primarily a very text-heavy venture whose quick-time events are as simple as choosing between two text options. Second, the game will be very impenetrable without playing through the first game, Blood Covered. While the plot is briefly addressed again (and again, and again), its delivered with the assumption that readers have knowledge of the lore in Corpse Party. Its pretty much required as well since some additional gallery features are also unlocked with save data from the first game.

Don't you believe in fairies?

Corpse Party's plot involve a group of students who get trapped in a hellish school where the rules of physics, time, and space don't apply. There are horrifying traps lying around and if the spirits don't kill you, the psychopaths will. Our main protagonists will discover not only other students to briefly interact with, but a series of ghosts that thwart them at every turn as they try and escape. While the first game has a complete beginning and end, Book of Shadows acts as supplemental material to the established plot. It's broken up into several chapters and a bonus prologue (which is easier to unlock by migrating that aforementioned Save Data). The chapters are directed by a few different scenario writers who have plenty of stories to tell about supporting cast from the first game. These side characters do get some much desired backstory that only adds to the bitterness of their tales in Blood Covered. Its somewhat awkward when most of the true endings are on par with the bad endings in terms of the grisly destinies of the characters involved; but it works somewhat as a message about unavoidable fates, a common trend in each chapter.

"Tasukete!"

Aside from being Japanese fare, the dialogue itself never becomes subpar, only dropping to a lowbrow level when some generic fanservice tropes arise. Otherwise, every act of torture and decomposing body will be disgustingly delivered in gritty text and sound. Questionable terms like jelly (in the sense of jealous) and dat ass (in the sense of butts) popped up unexpectedly as well, but the dialogue for the most part is on key with the original script. While text drags on in the more peaceful scenes, youll wish the descriptions of murder, torture, and other nasties ended sooner for entirely different reasons. Its overall not the pinnacle of visual novel writing, but the presentation and delivery has been managed very well. Visuals, while limiting in this genre, are uncensored and visceral (in more ways than one), as youll see plenty of titular corpses and the aftermath of several dismemberments.

What's more disgusted is what you can't hear.

Its best to treat the whole package as a horror story anthology, not alike the way many Japanese films are presented. While the different writers open up some varying levels of delivery, it becomes noticeable when Chapter 3 is a purely text experience with a few timed dialogue trees and Chapters 2 and 5 feature full-on exploration and puzzles. Each chapter will take more than an hour a piece, but with eight in total, youll have no shortage of gore and misery ahead. While the game may not be terribly scary, it is constantly unnerving and even addresses some horrible human taboos in ways (localized) games rarely do as a medium... and I'm not talking about just implied child torture.

I could've picked worse images.

Addressing the actual gameplay of this title, there are some things that make it slightly more interactive than a choose-your-own-adventure-book (-of-shadows). When you do control your characters, they venture from room to room with point-and-click-controls, looking at interior shots of many dilapidated hallways and classrooms. The actual act of pixel hunting wasnt an issue since your cursor lights up when an interactive object is found. Otherwise, its a fair side-grade to the tile hunting and backtracking that plagued some players of the first game.

Gentlemen... tiles!

To heighten the tension, our protagonists also have Darkening meters, which track sanity and stability (ala Eternal Darkness). As you come across ghastly and gory sights in the game, your meter will rise as your characters falls into paranoia and despair. This alters your vision and the sound/visuals in some rooms might change. I felt it wasnt utilized nearly as much as I wouldve like in the end, only cropping up a handful of noticeable times. It even caused some frustration early on in the game as I needed my meter to reach a certain point before a story related event could occur so I was stuck for a little while until I realized I was supposed to increase the stat Im inclined to keep low. Luckily, this backwards gaming logic only occurred once for me in the gameplay.

This room didn't look like this 10 seconds ago...

On that matter, puzzles in the game are simple, usually revolving around visiting new sections of the map, and either finding usable items or triggering events. There were a few occasions where I had to backtrack around for about three minutes trying to figure out what to do next, but I only had to refer to <s>baby casual</s> external help just once for a poorly planned puzzle in the 5th chapter. Nothing is worse than getting lost and bored in a game that intends to be scary, so in some ways, the hand-leading was more preferred.

Dialogue from the dead often continues as you're searching through rooms.

The cries of criticism did not fall on deaf ears, the team behind Book of Shadows resolves two issues with the previous game. Players are allowed to save at any time, even during dialogue options. Text/travel can now be fast forwarded with the R button, avoiding much of the annoying repetition from Blood Covered when a player gets a Game Over and has to repeat known events. As the designers knew what to keep from the first game, Book of Shadows has a large amount of collectables, including: name tags of dead students, CG images, songs, and short interviews with the voice cast.

Gotta unlock 'em all.

I have to earnestly advise that Book of Shadows be played with headphones. The game liberally uses surround sound, as the pitter patter of ghost feet and voices come at you from every audible direction. The game doesnt rely on visual jumpscares, instead it relies on jolting stingers and intimately close line delivery. A few times, I was unsure if a sound effect I heard came from the game or what was currently happening in my busy abode. The music doesnt slouch either, expressing some of the most fitting and well delivered tunes found in these types of games. The voice acting sells the whole product as many Japanese veterans of game and anime lend their chords to the drama. Its interesting to see many voice actors Im familiar with, deliver emotions I honestly didnt know they were capable of. On a side note, its very interesting to see actresses: Rina Saito and Satomi Arai reprise their characters relationship and voices from the franchise: A Certain Magical Index (albeit to a more ghastly conclusion).

It was in your throat.

$20 is a very reasonable price for a visual novel, and youll be definitely getting your moneys worth with the amount of written and voiced content in this game. The whole experience ended up taking a little more than eight hours to reach the Final conclusion, but upwards of twelve or more could be spent achieving all the wrong endings, and collecting every asset for your collection. Book of Shadows isnt without some lack of satisfaction though. From a narrative standpoint, the game feels more like an expansion than the sequel moniker some people give it. The chapters dont change anything about the core game and if anything, add some confusion and theories to what is really transpiring. Since there are broken up into non-sequential chapters, with some of them being what-if stories, it makes the whole thing a little disjointed as well. At the risk of spoiling an aspect of this game, it ends in a rather ginormous cliffhanger that promises to lead to a future title. But like Spec Ops: The Line and Journey, the immediate after-hype does inspire one to go online and look up discussion topics on the game. So mission accomplished in that respect.

Dig in.

While some series try to open up the appeal of their titles to a broader audience, Book of Shadows limits itself to a niche market, but succeeds in delivering a solid experience to those who want to get invested in it. I have a bunch of friends that I cannot respectfully recommend this game to; but theres also a handful, who like visual novels and/or Corpse Party, that will eat this title up.

Corpse Party: Book of Shadows gets a:
4 out of 5.

This version of the game was played on a PS Vita and was provided as a review copy by XSEED. All chapters and several bad endings were achieved within eight hours. Additional images in this review were provided by XSEED's site for the game.

 Community Blogs:241571My Eight 2012 New Year's Resolutions (And what they have to do with Gaming) - Cutie HoneyCutie Honey2012-12-31T22:57:56Z2012-12-31T22:57:56ZNew Years Resolutions!? One will wonder what why Id bother posting this on Destructoid. Well, just about all of mine have something to do with video games, and may ring closer to home then you will realize. Some people think New Year Resolutions are just self restricted goals placed on an arbitrary date. Well one way to put it (if youre a loon like me), is that theyre practically achievement points.

NYRs are useless and imaginary objectives that have no reward, but ones own self satisfaction. (Unless youre trying to cut down on fatty foods to kill your diabetes, then that might actually save your leg.) As someone who only wants to better himself, Ive thought by making several resolutions for myself to uphold. Like a game, it would be enjoyable and rewarding to my own persona. So ranking each of them on a scale from -3 Hamzas to +3 Hamzas (because what's a better measurement of loathing), heres all of resolutions Ive made last year. With 365 days in the making, how did I end up doing?

Write More. At least 12 Reviews and Many Articles.

I strove this year to write more content for my own newssite BowtieCat.com, and a few for Destructoid. If not to built my portfolio of publications, but to scratch that bug I have for writing. In this case though, and despite writing several lengthy articles and reviews; I did not meet my quota for 12 reviews, which wouldve be comfortably spaced at one a month. I felt short at 10. However, instead of giving up, this failure will only strengthen my resolve to meet this goal next year, or possibly write even more. Ive been obviously getting some good reinforcement for it by the fact that Activision, Konami, and Disney have graciously sent me review copies this year so my word is worth something at the least. And Ive even got one feature published on Dtoids front page.

Watch Your Language

Freedom of speech is something important to me and, fucking hell, I like to swear. However, theres a time and place for everything and even the most inept of individuals will know to mind their syllables around toddlers or not use racial slurs in public unless theyre expecting some hostilities.

So online, whether it be in gaming or chat, I strove not to use these words: Nigger, Faggot, Rape, and Autistic. Ironically, Ive only played Mass Effect 3 extensively with online players this year and Black Ops 2 on the Wii U (for a review, don't hurt me) was a quiet experience.

These words mean nothing to me, but they still affect other people, and regard of my intent, they always come off as hostile to people I dont know. If my intent is to mess with someone (which I rarely do), a persons race or sexual preference should NOT be regarded as a negative. Sure, putting words on a Do-Not-Touch pedestal gives them some power, but respect towards other people is a two way street. Just because Im fine with someone calling me a chink or a queer, doesnt mean it justifies using other words against people who could be offended.

And regardless of usage, it actually turned out for the best, at least in terms of the word: Rape, a four letter symphony of controversy that has had quite the encore in terms of exposure this year. Of course, I could write a whole concerto about the many movements that shook up the industry this year, so we wont be making a cadenza about it here.

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And the last thing I need is someone thinking Im 12, or pewdiepie. I cant tell what is worse.

The only reason this isnt a +3 is because I still use the word Autistic as an adjective rarely to describe some peoples behavior, when what I really need to do is: Expand my own vocabulary to explain peculiar habits in people, instead of lumping everyone into a category thats turned into a derogatory term.

Be Less Like Jim y Jon [Argue Less]

Jim Sterling and Jonathan Holmes like to argue, sometimes to the annoyance of both sides. This has caused quite a ruckus to Jims public perception in the past, and some people are still hung up on it. Granted, Jim has changed his tune so much in the last few years alone that hes now even been called a overbearing feminist.

Just another excuse to use this image

So the way this tied into my own self improvement is this rule I made for myself:

For 2012, Limit myself to five arguments on the internet with people I dont know.

Simply, if its not a close friend or family member, I can only get myself involved in arguments FIVE TIMES on 4chan, reddit, twitter, etc. for the entire year. And trust me, it's harder than it looks. So many potential shitstorms just ended in me attempting to be the bigger man and just ignoring the other side. Arguments on the internet often result in both sides never reaching a mutual conclusion, sometimes even when objective facts are presented. Rarely does an opposing side in an argument reach an epiphany that they were wrong, lest they are forced to admit it. Well its still not useless to have debates and reach a certain level of understanding with people, 140 character spurts or an anonymous board is not the place to do so.

Whats keeping me from +3 Hamzas is that Ive instigated two of the five arguments Ive had, bringing myself in unnecessary spats with people who I knew wouldnt agree with me in the end regardless. And I still got embroiled in useless arguments with people I DID know on limited outlets such as twitter.

So what now? Well, self-betterment shouldnt be limited to one year. Im hoping in 2013 that I have even less bitching, for my sake.

Be More Like Jim y Jon [Be more out there]

A hump I needed to get over was my own embarrassment with gaming and anime culture. In other words, I was tsundere. I couldnt embrace it in the same way as some of my friends and peers could. This probably stemmed from High School in which nerd culture was still highly gay and retarded, and my college days were made up of: "You weren't a real artist if you like Anime or were in a Game Design Program." This stigma was a barrier I was able to overcome this year after seeing folks like Jim y Jon not only find enjoyment in the projects theyve done, but get some major, positive reception from people who care. Theres a lot of good people out there who share your interests and as long as no one is getting hurt, whats the harm.

These are beautiful people. Except for the one in yellow, I heard hes a prick.

Some of the biggest inspiration came from this video. One could look at it from a negative perspective of the state of GAMEZ JURNULIZM, but I saw a free spirit who just wanted to have fun and share it with the world.

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Video Games are serious business.

So fuck the haters, I told myself, and I soon became a magical girl on a quest to just be as ballin as possible. In the long run, all those that looked down on me in High School were so far removed from my life, it didnt really matter anymore anyway.

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Everyday I'm suffering.

A year ago, I wouldnt have made this video. I would have backed down in cowardice and been afraid of the results. But even Reddit, out of all places, just said, YOU GO GURL! Ive stopped self loathing the things I want to like, and come out of the closet on my own nerdom. Seriously, thank God (in the phrase sense) for Jim Sterling and Jonathan Holmes. Without them, life would be a lot less liberating and exciting.

Buy Less Games (You have too many you idiot)

I Totally fucked this one up royally. Not only did I extend my backlog by several months worth of gametime, Ive purchased a 3DS, a Vita, an iPhone, AND a Wii U in one year alone. And Ive already got several preorders for 2013 awaiting release. Its going to be a great (busy) year for gaming. While I did beat a lot of titles, Im looking at the harsh reality that a lot of games Ive paid full price for will sit there with less than acceptable of investment and thats a black hole people should not get sucked into.

Yeah, I bet you didnt even know the Vita had this many games. Well, that would make you uninformed, and that would make me:

A Dick. Be Less of it.

Im often terrible critical of people, Ill step on toes and voice my opinion regardless of whether a person is ready to hear it. Even though I tried really not to be rude and crass, I still came off that way when I didnt need to be. And for that, I failed.
Early on in the year, it hit home when Victor Lucas, from the Electric Playground, voiced his advice to his (then) unborn daughter:

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S'pect, Mr. Lucas. No, not that Mr. Lucas.

My generation has grown up with a very overloaded sense of sarcasm and ironic self-awareness, and if theres something for us to be remembered by, it certainly shouldnt be that. Im striving to be remembered as a badass, not an asshole.

Further proof that I still have great strides to make in Un-dicking is that fact that Im basing the entire scoring system around my friend Hamza Aziz, who probably doesnt deserve it. (The keyword being probably.) So hopefully next year, I can work towards either staying silent unless absolutely necessary or being a charismatic, kind, and persuasive individual like Commander Shepard Actually, scratch that. Dont be like Commander Shepard.

Be More Social... Network

At the start of January, I had 10 followers on twitter and 25 friends on Facebook. Throughout the year, I boosted those numbers to 98 and 146. Its not much, but for someone who wrote ONE status update in 2010, its quite the turnaround. And its not just an attempt at friendwhoring; an overwhelming majority of them are people I really know and would like to remain in communication with, in one way or another. Because of my networking efforts on FB, Ive gotten to know really cool and talented people, and Ive gotten to work on a lot of cool projects through people Ive connected with. Its also a great place to build up traffic and hype for the things Ive been doing.

There was actually a big ironic twist when someone stole this from me, claimed it as their own, and I, of course, was butthurt.

A friend of mine was even in a bought of serious depression until a conversation with him, as he said, really livened his day. So when people say sites like FB are a waste of time and energy, my response is that its only fruitless when all you're doing posting memes and complaining about the world.

Get Shit Done

This was my biggest goal for the year and it ties in with the previous one. 2011 was spent getting a new job, a new house, and situating myself in my adult life style. But nothing remotely creative was done during that time, for an artist, it was completely soul draining. So in the middle of December, I started a new Youtube account, a new blog, and an effort to produce something artistically worthwhile every week, whether it be a video, a drawing, or even a shitty photoshop job. Within the year, Ive broke 600 subscribers, nearly three times the amount my old Youtube account achieved in FIVE years. This year alone, Ive animated more footage than Ive done in the previous 24 years of my life combined. Ive made several paintings, helped on two independent games, worked on a few song mashups, and have a shirt coming out early next year. While it has left me quite exhausted, Ive been accomplishing more things in those 12 months that entertain more people than what most of my peers will have done in their whole lives.

Why a +2 Hamza? Its the catch 22 of my life, I can never be satisfied with what Ive accomplished and Ill always wonder if I can do more.Sure, I met my objectives, but I should always take it one step further.

What if I took on different projects than the ones Ive been doing?
What about the projects I keep holding off?
Can I work any faster or with more efficiency?

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Like I said, the next one is coming soon... Valve Time

Getting to 600+ subscribers in a single year might be a good number in ones eye, but some success stories have exploded in less time and in much greater turnouts. If I cant more than double this number by next year, Ill be very disappointed in myself. While I have to be true to myself and not whore myself out to the lowest common denominator and add LIKE/SUBSCRIBE disclaimers to the end of anything I produce, it's no excuse not to aim a little higher... rather than be content in mediocrity. That's not the way Thomas Truong does things. I feel so strongly about that, I referred to myself in the third person.

So thats it, thats the most open and honest thoughts and dreams Ive been aiming for during the past twelve months. And Im only getting ready for 2013 with guns blazing. Sure, Ive failed in some areas, but admitting to that and feeling bad about it is only going to prove that I need to fix those issues. But enough about me, what are you going to do with your 2013?Community Blogs:238142The Max Scoville Mtn Dew Challenge - Turbo Accent Cross Plus 2012 Arcade Edition - Cutie HoneyCutie Honey2012-11-06T22:04:05Z2012-11-06T22:04:05Z<object width="630" height="457"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zJKLopM15SM?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zJKLopM15SM?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="630" height="457" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

In the spirit of N7, Chris Carter, and Brett, let the train of Max Scoville challenge videos continue.

And yes, it was pretty shit.

For those not in the know, my parody is a mutation of this meme by AAFinkle.
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Which has spawned a number of remixes such as:
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Dragon Ball Z
PONPONPON

Just to name a few.Community Blogs:238084ART GAMES AND ER-PEE-GEES!: An Argument with Jonathan Holmes - Cutie HoneyCutie Honey2012-11-06T00:34:58Z2012-11-06T00:34:58ZI usually dont condone warnings before big blocks of text. They usually are half-hearted apologies for poor writing, rude disclaimers, or show a lack of commitment to an article. However, I feel its my moral responsibility to inform all readers that the following is an editorial on:

I find Semantics to be one of the most pointless things to argue about. Because unless someone has a real tangible definition that can be extracted from Websters, the end result is always: I think my point of view is correct, and youre idiotic for thinking otherwise. This rings true on the internet which would translate the previous statement to: ur a faget. If you do have to time to read this, humor my need to explain my point of view in a fruitless argument about:

So I will attempt to make this whole piece a lot more entertaining as many bloggers throughout the years have written walls of text on this subject that are not fun to read and would rival a Wikipedia entry on Animals with Degrees in length, but without the self-aware vitriol and absurdity. Let it be known that being a conversation about semantics, I believe this whole thing is kind of pointless, but I feel I do have a point that I mean to get across... because this is the internet. There will be plenty of silly graphics, insults about different subcultures, bad puns, and numerous, and I MEAN NUMEROUS ad hominem attacks at Jonathan Holmes in this piece, hopefully enough to make my opinionated arguments appear stronger because: Lol, Im creative. So please enjoy.

ACT I: Holmes on the Range

Many victims (including myself) have been brought into a whirlwind discussion with Destructoid custodian, Jonathan Holmes about using words like Art Game and RPG. He dislikes terms like that with so much hatred, it can even engage the most stoic people who dont wish to discuss it. A long argument about the use of the word can be heard here with Holmes, Conrad Zimmerman, and eventually Jim Sterling all bickering. Its 16 minutes long so grab yourself a caffeinated beverage and some pain medication. To very, very briefly surmise Holmes creed (because I sure as hell cant summarize his Race), he believes in these three things:

Using words like Art Game and RPG to describe games is misleading because those words dont have fixed definitions and RPG has turned into a broad adjective.
Fair enough, and well address the lexicon later piece by piece.

He also states that people can be misled by use of the word. So if you were to use a single set of words to describe a game, it can deter parties that dont know much about the game away.
Thats also a fair yet juvenile and simplistic view well <s>kindly</s> break down a little later.

Last, he thinks its a big deal.
Spoilers: Its not.

Oh Jonhead Holmes, you are quite the character.

Holmes talks about the use of these words all the time. Youd think for someone who wants the terms to disappear, he shouldnt mention it every second, but hopefully we can put all of this to rest Until he brings it up again a month from now.

ACT II: Moronathan Holmes

So starting from the top, lets learn about words and their accepted definitions.
Some terms have no objective definition; welcome to reality my friend, where sometimes an assortment of letter can mean a variety of things. Yet, words can also be used to adequately describe something and fill the listeners mind with more concrete footing without overburdening their mind. If I use the word RPG, you at least know stats are involved, and many games that you would consider RPGs are now swimming in your head, perhaps to the point where youre drowning in them. But lets come up for air for a second and establish a few things. Yes, genres can carry different meanings to different individuals:
 Some will not regard Mass Effect as an RPG
 Some will not regard Resident Evil 4, 5, and 6 as Survival Horror
 Some will not regard The Walking Dead as a Point-and-Click Adventure game (and those people are idiots, but that too is subjective, <s>idiots</s>)

Footage of a typical internet discussion on what genre the Legend of Zelda is.

On the whole however, I use the word RPG, just as I could use the word Art Game, Puzzle Game, First Person Shooter, Dating Sim, Strategy Games, <s>Jonathan Holmes Ga-</s> Nintendo Game, Casual Game, Flash Game, etc. A few titles would come to mind for each of those.

So this is where I dive into the shark pit, when I told him: RPG is a harmless, convenient, and quick term to describe a game in a few letters, and if people are slightly piqued, they could learn more through an article or video. If I (ironically) had more characters to use in a tweet, I wouldve made a comparison to a library. The genre of the game works like a section, and if Im interested in the section, I start looking through all the different sub categories, or in this case, learn more about the game. The conversation would eventually turn into this:

But then thats where its up to the pitcher/marketer/ reviewer /gamer to appropriately and correctly describe the genre in a concise and alluring way. Calling Zelda 2 an Action RPG is not only accepted by most people, it wont be detrimental unless the person generally dislikes Action RPGs, but well talk more about how it could be derogatory in depth during the next section. Describing a game with Casual is a great starting point to describe a Facebook game, theres nothing wrong with using the word if I want to let someone over my shoulder know what Im messing with quickly, and if they want to learn more about it, then I shall inform. I cant speak for everybody like Holmes can, but if theres a game I dont know much about besides the fact that its a shooter Ill look it up, regardless of name or genre. As will many other people, its called research and its even easier nowadays when you can bring up a game trailer on your smartphone or get information from a friend.

Holmes will also claim that words like RPGs cant single out games to a few choices because they come in some many varieties. Hell say he could name 10 different Art Games, and theyll all play different, thus those words are useless. That theory would be sound if it magically applied to only games that market themselves as RPGs, but unfortunately for him we live in a scientific world. When you perform an experiment and notice a wide range of results with your subject, you dont just accept blindly that its diversity is caused by its input; youll have egg on your face if several other control groups end just as diverse. Where Im going with that middle school-level metaphor is that many games in the same genre play differently. Portal as a puzzle game is very different from a Layton or Bejewelled. Timesplitters isnt the same as Halo or FarCry. It may be a little foggier as well when it comes to RPGs, but it isnt limited to RPGs. I can name ten games of just about any genre and get very different results, and genres blend all the time now. @der_Grobi pretty much summarizes it right here.

Around this point, Holmes will start stating that all games can be classified as RPGs or urgh Art Games. In the Podtoid segment linked, Holmes boldly states that Gears of Wars is more of an Art Game than Thomas Was Alone with his logic. On twitter, he does the same thing when confronted with RPGs by saying all games like Halo have role playing elements. Well heres the special thing about words: They can change over time, or have different perceived meanings. Words can also help exclude things or be twisted and subverted to mean anything in general. The word fag has transformed at least twice throughout mankinds short history and so has the term RPG. <s>Why'd I type fag and RPG in the same breath like that.</s> Holmes is correct with the second sentence in this statement though:

RPGs arent just games that use elements from Dungeons and Dragons anymore. Blame genre diversity (which Holmes has stolen a lot of for his Race) and the blending of genres in general, but people do come to expect several stereotypical things from RPGs: Stats, leveling up, item grinding perhaps, usually a longer playtime, exploiting boss weakness, etc. It just comes in more flavors and ways to make numbers pop off enemy heads. And although many other games have these features, the word RPG can certainly narrow the gap on games that predominantly have those features, or exclude those without an emphasis on them. The Role-Playing part of the term RPG has become a redundant appendix on the human body that is nerdom (as we all know that George Lucas is the Male Nipple). So maybe he's right. RPGs of ye Holmes days are no more, but modern games with intentionally retro styles like Breath of Death VII and Dragon Quest IX are still being made. So we just can't call them RPGs anymore? We also live in a digital age where the amount of content out there just gets larger and larger. Even though classification can cruely simplify something, it does allow for easier access by the by.

One can start arguing stories play a lot of role in modern (or at least Japanese) game design as well, but when we get to Holmes rebuttal on the matter, we start learning a lot more about him:

Good thing youre only speaking for yourself Because otherwise I would be screaming: AHHH! GET OUT OF MY MOUTH! MOM HELP, THERES A GROWN MAN HANGING OFF MY TONSILS AND HE SPEAKS OF SHIT!

So its all based on his perceived definition of the word completely disappearing, he isnt objectively right or wrong (or Truong because thats what I am) on this facet. But as stated, one mans treasure is another mans butt. And in this case, it won't be liked by anyone but Sterling.

Illustration by BeatBeat

Getting back to the all generalizing games issue, Halo or Call of Duty are RPGs... yadda yadda; splitting hairs at this level would be pathetic if Holmes had any on his head left to split, but actually hes only proving my point. He had to come up with other games from other definied genres that no person would group with RPGs just to qualify them as Role Playing Games. He could tell the difference between them to use them as outrageous examples, and so can other people. We dont (normally) count the classic Mario games as RPGs, it doesnt speak RPG at us unless you start making statements akin to: Derr! Well, all movies are animation because they play out still images, just really fast. You know those individuals who say theres no originality in storytelling anymore because it can be broken down into the basic conflict plot archetypes? Thats the same negative Sherlock shlock Holmes is spewing out his orifice.

Kawaii as fuck.

For further introspection on this part of the subject, Sterling has a great and eloquent video on Holmes subversive qualities here, far better than I just described it. And believe me, youll hear the word subversive a lot, I highly recommend it.

Continuing on with another Holmes classic, we start breaking into a groundholmes day situation where we get strange false dichotomies and loaded questions thrown at us relentlessly:

Post Holmes ergo propter Holmes.

So the main issue here is someone who just keeps circling back to his personal definition as an example for his cause, and when evidence is presented that excludes his theory, he doubles back to the start again. Oh hey, I can think of another group of individuals that do the exact same thing:

Is there an equivalent for Godwins Law in which an argument just turns into villainizing Holmes as a Creationist? Or just a term for making fun of Holmes in general?

ACT III: We are Jononymous, We are Legion

Holmes has made this statement on Podtoid:
Art Game computes to people often (thinking): Oh not fun.

Yes, some people will simply be turned off by different genres, but this is bound to happen regardless of how the game is described. Some people just dont like certain genres, and even if you can succinctly describe Legend of Mana as an Action RPG let alone an RPG, some people still wont like the gameplay.

A pessimist (Holmes) could look at it as Im triaging away from potential players and Im the Mitt Romney of video games for ignoring them. But in that same vein, I wouldnt want to force a game down someone's throat who doesn't want to play it in the first place. I could spend all day convincing a friend that Army of Two is actually good, but they can probably hate it more out of spite and annoyance. And people who only play casual games or the latest Madden arent at fault and do not need to be to exposed to different franchises.

He eventually ended our discussion with this statement:

Nice strawman, well two can play at that game. Here's Holmes as a strawman:

Ill ignore the rude assertion that I dont care about people and think they are stupid, let alone the claim that I am lazy, (datte hontou wa Crazy). Ill also ignore the fact that he took my modified quote from an Ice-T song as a serious statement. Ill officially say here that I think most people on Destructoid (minus Stealth) are smart enough, and open enough, to trying new and different things. We all have own our initial biases and presumptions about games just off watching brief trailers and descriptions, but if theres a title out there that looks enjoyable, were going to try it.

Ill make an example, as well as a confession: I hate furries. Im absolutely digusted by them. Thats something Ive been personally working on to become less hateful and insensitive about.
But Im an open guy, I will try games like Solotarobo, Sine Mora, and Dust: An Elysian Tail, despite their antro-characters. Im not one to instantly turn away from the games in revulsion. And I can assume plenty of gamers are the same way. Someone who may not like RPGs in general may have something click with something like Lost Odyssey, and if they like it, its only proving the opposite. Its not because the word RPG scared them off of the game, its because of what the game contains that makes them enjoyed it and the word alone didnt scare them away like a FPS would to a wild Holmes.

When Holmes says people think Art Games is a derogatory term, what does that say about him? Is it really a word that he objectively thinks shouldnt be used because people will be turned off, or is it a word that he just doesnt like. Theres going to be a vocal group of people out there who hate Art Games on the word alone, but they are the few close minded people out there. If a game doesnt appeal to me, its going to be based on my interests and biases, not because its called an art game. And Ill argue that majority of people on Destructoid (minus Stealth), who are all smart and handsome, arent going to instantly lose interest in a game based on their genre.

If individuals like Holmes are so scared by the damage the terms can cause, as if it was fucking Voldemort, then hes letting the haters win out over a fucking word.

And if one is anal enough (hohoho) to look back into Holmes statements far enough, there is quite a bit of hypocrisy to uncover. Holmes is subject to immediately being turned off by words like Strategy game or Bethesda just by hearing them. Ive included the audio sample where as soon as he hears Dishonored is a Bethesda game, he becomes completely disinterested. As he stated on twitter:

Well fuck me over Jims shoulder, its too bad Holmes will miss out on good games like Skyrim and X-Com because the words pain his ass so much. Or is it because he just doesn't like the games and... it really has nothing to do with genres or companies? His complaints make so much sense to him because hes just as guilty of committing them himself. He also mentions in the audio clip that he wont pretend to like games he doesnt want to play, which is an admirable thing by itself. However, by that logic, you shouldnt force people out of their game comfort zone to play things that dont interest them either. This egocentric mindset for thinking everyone is instantly repulsed by single-word descriptors, while true for him, doesnt apply to everyone in the world. Its like he never heard ye olde saying: People in glass Holmes shouldnt throw stones.

Heres another similar example of Holmesocritical doublespeak from the hippo himself, Jonathan has simplified different types of apples to just two colors in the past. In this audio clip, you can hear how depressing he gets around 2:20. What would be quite a silly discussion allows us to dig deeper into his faulty reasoning as he calls people who identify different apple cultivars Elitist. He also backpeddles into saying animals could be simplified to be just dogs or cats. So defining video games into simple terms is evil and bad journalism, but making sure you make a pie with a Golden Delicious over a Red Delicious is too snobby? Well sign me up for MENSA, because I can taste the difference between a Fuji and a Braeburn. Now Im just waiting for the excuse hell make up when he declares: This was my plan the whole time to make simplifying jargon look bad. But the chances of that much foresight in Holmes reasoning is minimal at best because he didnt put too many stat points into Perception which is a thing you would do in an RPG. Its a good thing Podtoid is the be-all, end-all of video game discussion otherwise Id just be quoting contradictions people would generally make on a daily basis.

Holmesocrits are a species of Hippos and if you declare that it looks like a hippo with a photoshopped face, then you are a racist.

So yes, while some people will be repulsed by or misappropriate the term Art Game, Casual, Hardcore, or RPG, thats going to be on them that they are missing out, not the word.

ACT IV: Stockholmes Syndrome

Holmes has written several hundred 140 character statements on twitter, hes written a short dialogue opener on Destructoid, hes voiced his opinion several times on Podtoid, and hes bitter about it in general discussion. He talks about this issue as if its going to be what causes the end of the world in 2012. This is rubbish, and not just because we all already know Gangnam Style is actually a satanic dance ritual and will cause our eternal doom when it opens the four gates of Rlyeh, but because its really not a big deal.

You know what Im saying? Oppai chtenffagl vulgtm!

Art Games as a word has been successfully employed over the last decade and as stated earlier: When you use the word, people usually understand that the game in question may be unconventional or usually has some ulterior intent/message by the games creator, many of which even called their own products art games. Are we to disagree with developers on what they believe their own creations are? And dont even get me started on the developers out there who dont even think games are really art. The word RPG already makes several titles pop in my head: Phantasy Star, Earthbound, Final Fantasy VII to name a few; While these games have very different settings and themes, they are going to be RPGs to most people. And if you wanted to recommend a traditional RPG to somebody, then these games fit that moniker. And if games evolve and genres meld over time as they have, the lexicon changes as well. Castlevania games are now split into two main subgenres: Classic Castlevania and Metroidvania, and some people prefer one style over the other. If I had to recommend a game from that series, I would kindly state which of those two its closer to for clarification. And most people will know what I mean or will inquire more. Words like Rougelike arise from trend-setting games and evolve far past the original meaning of the word. And even then, unless its an age-old and widely accepted term by gamers, its not going to fly in the business world.

JUST FUCKING TELL ME IF GOT HIGHER THAN AN 8.0!

The reason why Rougelike as a term starts to work, is because most people are going to have a good idea of what it means by this this point and its generally accepted by gamers as a whole. Sure, theres going to be people with unintentionally skewed definitions of the word, and some with intentionally skewed definitions (Holmes), but on the whole, you come asking what On the Rainslick Precipice of Darkness is, and Im going to tell you its an RPG, and most others in this situation would do the same. It is even advantageous from Holmes theory that people are biased against words. Someone on a review team who has the free time and patience for a long RPG will know what they are getting into when a RPG game needs coverage; Just as much as Samit Sarkar will know hes going to be expecting when he needs to review a Sports game. For an Art Game, youre going to get a more invested opinion from someone who is fond of those types of game rather than someone who finds them boring.

GREAT SCOTT! BECAUSE OF JONATHAN, DALE IS CEASING TO EXIST! WE GOT TO BACK!

And heres my olive branch to Holmes, if Art Game and RPG are poison then whats the antidote, what words do you want to invent to memetically spread across gaming culture to work? What simple terms and easily conveyable terms would you replace RPG or Art Game with? In a perfect world, we can use words like Flim Flam and Gooblenerk to tell Bastion and Dear Esther apart. But most people would agree Action RPG and <s>waste of money</s> Art Game would be (some of a few) fine examples for those two to moniker. In that perfect world where all genres are easily distinguishable, I would be a magical girl fighting evil by moonlight and you would be pooping a magical Jim Sterling out your butt once a week too, but we can't ALL have everything we want.

FINAL ACT: Diablo was a Chick this time

Lets start bringing this all to a close with a real life example:
I used to be a parcel for a supermarket, working for minimum wage and pushing carts around all day. Because of my station, I was paranoid that people thought I was stupid or even mentally handicapped. Im sure some probably had that presumption that I could be touched in the head, but in reality, its a fucking grocery store. No one will remember me in five minutes and they could care less about anything other than getting their shopping list home in one piece. But I would stress out about it way too much. I would talk in a professional voice all the time, watch my clumsiness, and smile (in a non-creepy way) at every customer. I would overconcern myself about something that really didnt matter in the bigger picture.

And thats where Holmes is now: In this egocentric bubble, being concerned about a problem that matters to no one else but himself. I dont want to even regard it as a problem or a necessary evil because its just a word. And words can evolve, disappear, or be reinvented without some intentional driving force.

He can and should feel free to be dreading words that most anyone else in the games world uses and understands fine, but you know what?
It is going fill up our twitter feeds
And it is going to make us be a little more annoyed with him than normal
And hes going keep wondering why so many people argue with him on it...
And hes going to continue thinking its a big deal as the rest of the world sallies on regardless...

The ouroboros in this situation is one of his own creation. And when brings the fight to everyone else, trying to find the source. Hell be too blind to find out that Holmes is where the heart is.

If you made it here, youve made it to the end, congrats.

Some may have come out out this with nothing but a few chuckles at some funny pictures.
Some of you may change your opinion to either agree on the livelihood of the term RPG or even now disagree with me and want to abort this overgrown pair of words.
Some may find something thought provoking in this or be even more confused by the small ways I crack at my own credibility.
Some may want their achievement points for surviving the most long and pointless blog about Holmes ever.

Jokes on you, its an achievement that doesnt end in a 0 or 5.

But for the smart people out there thats right: you. You guessed it. This whole article was not to convince you that RPG and Art Game are valid jargon, nor a demonstration on how arguing about semantics is bullshit, nor was it because Holmes said some rude stuff about me on the internet and I was butthurt <s>(no seriously, fuck you Holmes you space bitch)</s>. This smear campaign was so well hidden, the lesser man would think I actually care about what words mean to people other than me.

Yes, this was all indeed a ploy to get you to not vote for Holmes / Creationism in this years Election I mean look at his campaign poster:

Disgusting. Is that, apple-racist-Skyrim-hating-multi-colored-poop-man-who-is-definently-a-pedophile-and-kills-dogs-for-fun, the guy you want running this country? I didnt think so. So if youre one of the 80% of America that hasnt voted yet dont vote Holmes, its going to be a painful four years.

And as a parting gift, heres an abridged version of this article that couldve saved you 40 minutes of reading by a wise sage:

Seriously, go fucking vote if you haven't already.Community Blogs:236301The New Adventures of Podtoid Episode 1 Coming Out This Week! - Cutie HoneyCutie Honey2012-10-08T15:28:06Z2012-10-08T15:28:06ZThis first animated endeavor is reaching the final stages of production as I just have to make some splash screen animations, lipsync about two minutes of footage, write up the credits, and edit in all the community contributed spiders.

I'm hoping to get this done on Thursday. That's 10.11.12! What a badass date, no?
It may be delayed until the end of the week depending on how much unexpected events and errors occur so no concrete promises, but we're (I'm) doing everything we (I) can do to deliver a quality piece of work.

The official title will be: Spiderman, Brawls, and Abortions and will be posted on Destructoid's youtube channel along with an announcement on the main page.

In this nine minute long NSFW animation that features abduction, torture, divorce, and fetus killing, you'll learn:
 What is stopping Jonathan Holmes from being Spiderman?
 How Super Smash Brothers Brawl was made
 Why Megaman Legends 3 is like an abortion
 Is Max Scoville a dick? (Spoilers: Yes)

Overall, this thing took two straight months of work with my weekends completely consumed by animation, and an additional month of pre-production where I had to create all the character libraries.

For now, enjoy these images:
(A Larger version can be found here)

 Community Blogs:234543Jim Sterling's Avatar Adoption at PAX - Cutie HoneyCutie Honey2012-09-06T23:09:51Z2012-09-06T23:09:51ZWhen Jim stated that he wouldn't be coming to Penny Arcade Expo, I and many others were outraged. How dare a corpulent man with a baby's voice take away more of his non-existent free time and not add a long plane flight into his schedule? Then a voice from the heavens told me I need to bring Jim to PAX no matter the cost.

So, like any other US citizen banned from buying chloroform and being near near an airport (unrelated), I created a false idol to share at the Expo, as if he was here with me in spirit (and in my pocket). Bringing him along for the parties, Jim was quite the hit.

So without consent (in more ways than one), here's a gallery of what everyone wanted to do to Jim's body.

Despite publicly admitting he isn't the biggest fan of Jim, Toneman was fine with sharing a drink.

Jim is apparently not fat enough for Gobun.

King3vbo wants even more calories.

Some Dtoiders decided please themselves, even after knowing where he's been.

Niero takes a peek when no one is looking

Max goes right to the punch, and Jordan just watches...

Hamza's mouth says no, but his eyes say yes.

Dale brings out a dancer in Jim.

Tiny Jim learns to Vandalize.

A final farewell from the Dtoiders who stayed past Sunday

So thanks for helping Tiny Jim, and hopefully your true corporeal form will make it out next year.
Community Blogs:234491[Video] A Magical Girl goes to PAX Prime 2012 in 4 minutes - Cutie HoneyCutie Honey2012-09-06T11:20:56Z2012-09-06T11:20:56ZAfter a couple nights of work, here's my comedic and wubwubby look at this year's PAX, featuring a few cameos from some fairly famous game-related people. Thanks to Dtoid members like Andy Dixon and Andrew Benton.

Share it around if you like it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnwR5-5dKA4Community Blogs:233694Polygon, the new gaming website is making an Anime! (Samit is in it) - Cutie HoneyCutie Honey2012-08-23T22:11:06Z2012-08-23T22:11:06Z

Besides a engrossing and intense documentary, did you know that the Verge is also creating an anime for its new website, Polygon? It looks pretty deep and kawaii.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM3IiVoKNJk

This is how I spend my lunch breaks at work.
If you're unfamiliar with the original video:
Official teaser for the documentary series (sponsored by Internet Explorer)

Also, look for Samit.


text: prof-x - Unregistered April 28, 2013 9:04 PM *past. and if you actually watch the race you could see Sam was much happier on the rear end of his bike, riding wider and looking for the more aggressive corner exits. Good for Sam, he made those tires last, thats probably the most remarkable feat of what he did. As for Kenan he probably left a little to early in an attempt to keep the mid pack from trying to swamp him like last race, hoping for better weather so Kenan can get his bike setup properly next race. 3 agree 0 disagree


text:
Compare Child Support attorneys near you. Read reviews, see Avvo Ratings, and contact them directly.
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text:
Free personalized radio that
plays the music you love
Yuki Kajiura
With a continued interest in music, after graduating from college and finding work as an engineering programmer, she joined the all-female pop group See-Saw as keyboardist with lead singer Chiaki Ishikawa and Yukiko Nishioka. They released the album I Have a Dream in 1993, then a self-titled LP without Nishioka before temporarily disbanding in 1995. Kajiura would go on to pursue a solo music career, write songs for other musicians, and write and produce music for television series, video games, anime, commercials, and films, with her first film score appearing in the 1995 drama Tokyo Kyodai.
The duo See-Saw reunited in 2001 and became involved with the anime television series Noir, with Kajiura composing an ambient score for the show. The group's music was used for the opening and ending themes of several anime series, including the first ending theme for 2002's Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, and appears on many anime music compilations. The band released its third album, Dream Field, in 2003, the same year Kajiura released a solo record titled Fiction, a combination of anime remixes and original songs. See-Saw called it quits in 2005 so Ishikawa could focus on a solo career.
Kajiura collaborated again with Noir director Koichi Mashimo on the 2007 series El Cazador de la Bruja, among other anime projects. That same year, she and Sony Music Japan formed the all-female band Kalafina, mainly to record Kajiura's songs for anime series. Members included Keiko Kubota, Hikaru Masai, Wakana Otaki, and Maya Toyoshima, with Toyoshima leaving the group after a year. In 2008, the composer scored the live-action film Achilles and the Tortoise and formed FictionJunction, a name under which different vocalists individually performed her songs. Participants included Kubota and Otaki from Kalafina, Yuriko Kaida, Asuka Kato, and Kaori Oda, all of whom were featured in anime series via the collaboration. Kalafina would release four studio albums: 2009's Seventh Heaven, 2010's Red Moon, 2011's After Eden, and 2013's Consolation.
Kajiura released a second solo album, Fiction II, in 2011 among continued anime, film, video game, and TV drama output, including scoring the 2014 television drama series Hanako to Anne. ~ Marcy Donelson
Selected Discography
Track List: Noir Original Soundtrack 1
Track List: .Hack Sign Ost1
Track List: Crossing Field (Anime Sword Art Online Opening Theme)
Similar Artists
Say ur crushes name
Pick a week day
Say ur name
Post this on 5 songs and ur crush will ask you out on that day!
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text:
Chao Chang, Junior public health major, Milwaukee, Wis.
Chao Chang has always valued higher education. In pursuit of better opportunities and lives for their children, Chao's parents immigrated to America from Thailand. Today Chao holds her education in high regard.
A public health major, she plans to go to graduate school for a master's degree in student personnel administration, then work in higher education, perhaps in a college admission office.
Chao chose to major in public health because health was a big concern in her family when she was growing up. Her parents do not speak English, so it was difficult for them to go to the doctor for illnesses. "I wanted to take charge of my family's health and my own," Chao said.
She chose the program at Carroll University primarily because of the size of the student population. "I wanted to be in a learning environment where I can have one-on-one meetings with professors and be able to engage in interactive courses," Chao said.
Since her high school days, Chao has been an avid volunteer mentoring other students. "I have always been very satisfied with helping others," she said. In high school, she participated in the Sponsor a Scholar program; at Carroll, she is a part of the Public Health Club, the Youth to Discover mentoring program, where she mentors at-risk students and encourages them to go to college, and the Asian American Student Association (AASA), which she started in 2011.
Her goal for AASA was to gather interested individuals of Asian and non-Asian heritage in an educational, cultural and social organization. The association seeks to cultivate awareness and promote the understanding of Asian and Asian-American affairs by sharing the many aspects of their experiences, as well as encouraging community at Carroll that is more unified and diverse.
Chao's success is due, in part, to the grants and scholarships she is honored to receive. She hopes someday to establish a scholarship for young Hmong women like herself who wish to pursue higher education.
Written by Rose Rementer '12
Archived Student Spotlights


text:
Andre Villas-Boas put Hugo Lloris' long-term health at risk with his "dangerous" and "irresponsible" decision to let the Tottenham goalkeeper play on at Everton after being knocked unconscious by Romelu Lukaku.
With 12 minutes of the 0-0 draw remaining, Lloris was accidentally caught on the head by the knee of Everton's Lukaku as he dived to collect a stray ball.
The Frenchman required lengthy treatment after the incident, and looked set to be replaced by Brad Friedel, but he insisted he was fit to continue and Villas-Boas decided against making a substitution.
The Tottenham manager's actions have been condemned by brain injury charity Headway.
"We are hugely concerned that a professional football club should take such an irresponsible and cavalier attitude to a player's health," said Luke Griggs, spokesperson for Headway.
"When a player - or any individual - suffers a blow to the head that is severe enough for them to lose consciousness, it is vital they urgently seek appropriate medical attention. A physio or doctor treating a player on pitch simply cannot accurately gauge the severity of the damage caused to the player's brain in such a setting as there may be delayed presentation of symptoms.
"By continuing to play, the player may have caused greater damage to his brain. He should have been removed from the game immediately and taken to hospital for thorough tests and observation."
Villas-Boas conceded after the game that Lloris could not remember a single thing about the incident.
But the Portuguese defended the decision to keep the player on the pitch, citing a good late save from Gerard Deulofeu as evidence that he was correct to do so.
The Tottenham manager praised the goalkeeper's "great character" for wanting to continue, but Headway believes Lloris should have been withdrawn immediately and rested for three weeks.
"Guidelines from both Headway and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) state people should not play any contact sport for at least three weeks after suffering a concussion," Griggs said.
"Sports science has evolved significantly over the past decade and yet we're still faced with the antiquated concept that a player should be brave and try to continue at all costs.
"Mr Villas-Boas' comment that his player's determination to play on was proof of his 'great character and personality' is simply wrong and dangerous.
"You are not a hero if you play on after suffering a concussion; all you are doing is risking your health. Football has to react to this and bring in stricter measures to ensure no similar risks are taken in the future."
Problems with concussion are not commonplace in football, but rugby players from both codes have to deal with significant blows to the head on a regular basis.
The problem became so worrying for Dr Barry O'Driscoll that he resigned from his role as medical advisor to the International Rugby Board.
O'Driscoll, uncle of Ireland player Brian O'Driscoll, resigned in protest at the decision to trial a new protocol for dealing with head injuries.
The Rugby Football Union is so concerned about concussion that it is holding a conference at Twickenham this week with players' unions on the matter.
In August Leicester fly-half Toby Flood had to be taken to hospital after being knocked unconscious in a game against Ulster. It was the second time in just over three months that he had been knocked out on the pitch.
Australia's National Rugby League recently adopted the NICE and Headway protocols on concussion, advising that players who suffer concussion be immediately withdrawn and be given adequate time to recover before playing again.
- More about:
- Andre Villas-Boas
- Tottenham Hotspur


text:
Nairobi (CNSNews.com) - After intense international pressure, especially from the United States and the United Nations, Zimbabwe has finally released two Cuban doctors arrested nearly two months ago after seeking political asylum in the southern African nation.
Leonel Cordova Rodriguez, 31, and Noris Pena Martinez, 25, were released from Zimbabwe police custody over the weekend and flown to the Swedish capital, Stockholm.
It was not clear why they did not go immediately to the U.S., which had offered them refugee visas soon after their plight made headlines.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees officials in Harare, who had been
negotiating with the Zimbabwean authorities over the doctors' fate, confirmed the two had left and that the UNHCR had witnessed their departure.
Swedish Embassy officials in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, confirmed that the two had been granted temporary visas but were free to apply for permanent asylum in Sweden.
An official at the American Embassy in Harare, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: "We are happy the matter is over. The doctors are now free to seek asylum anywhere and the U.S. offer still stands."
Dominik Bartsch of the UNHCR said the doctors were escorted to the Harare airport by Zimbabwean government officials, and were in good health and high spirits.
"They were obviously very relieved. As far as we're concerned, the matter is now closed,"' he said.
"[Rodriguez and Martinez] turned to the UNHCR in Zimbabwe for help and the UNHCR asked Sweden for assistance. They granted them temporary visiting visas for
humanitarian reasons," he added.
The doctors, part of a 152-member Cuban humanitarian mission to the troubled country, approached the Canadian Embassy in Harare on May 23, about a month after arriving in the country, to seek political asylum.
They were advised to contact the UNHCR, and arranged an appointment for the following day.
That night, however, they were reportedly abducted by Zimbabwean security agents - allegedly accompanied by Cuban officials - and put onto an Air France flight to Havana, via Johannesburg.
At the South African stopover, the aircrew refused to carry them any further after they managed to slip a note to the pilot saying they had been kidnapped after denouncing President Fidel Castro.
The South Africans sent them back to Harare, where they were detained without charge.
A senior Zimbabwean immigration official who last week said the matter was beyond his office said he was glad the saga was over.
"The case of the Cubans had been very embarrassing and it took a final decision from the president to free them," he said, seeking anonymity.
The Cuban government has condemned the doctors for their "shameful and immoral conduct" but said the matter would not be taken further if they chose to return home.
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, whose ruling ZANU-PF party nearly lost power to the opposition in an election last month, is a long-standing ally of
Castro and an avowed Marxist.
Also See:
Cuban Defectors Still Detained in Zimbabwe (7 July 2000)
Zimbabwe Blocks Cuban Defectors From Coming to US (14 June 2000)
Castro Calls Defection of Cuban Doctors 'Shameful' (12 June 2000)
Cuban Doctors Granted Refugee Status By US (9 June 2000)


text:
Approx. 9.5 hoursStart time
Start time: 0730h (07:30am)
Duration: Approx. 9.5 hours
Your hotel in Phuket or Phuket Airport.
(Please mention your hotel name and address or flight details at the time of booking. If you do not have this information now, please contact the local activity operator 24 hours prior to the start of the tour with these details)
Your hotel in Phuket or Phuket Airport
See nature from a 'higher' perspective! After the thrills on the river, explore the innards of the tropical rainforest by elephant trekking- essentially a ride on elephant back through the jungle. This excursion is offered all year round, but June to November is the best time.
Dodge the rapids and ride an elephant – Phang Nga has much to offer adventure enthusiasts!
You will be picked up from your hotel in a coach from Phuket/ the airport and taken to the Phang Nga town, north of Phuket for a day of adventure and fun.
The tour itinerary is as follows:
A stop at Phang-nga Wildlife Breeding Center: A scenic drive from Phang Nga will take you to this special breeding farm. Many nearly extinct breeds are found, most notably birds, including mynahs, parrots, hawks, peacocks and pheasants. Among other animals that have been rehabilitated here are mountain goats, gibbons, monkeys, langurs (long-tailed monkeys), bears, and ducks.
Arrive at the Tone Pariwat Wildlife Sanctuary Station: This is where you will begin your white water rafting adventure. Climb aboard the inflatable dinghy and start a whitewater rafting adventure on the Phang Nga River for the wildest and wettest ride. The mountain streams provide all of ingredients of an adventurous river trip. This action-packed run splashes through raft-jolting waves that will leave you wet and breathless.
Enjoy lunch at the local restaurant.
Elephant Trekking: After lunch, begin elephant trekking through the tropical rainforest, explore nature, the abundant vegetation of bamboo, tree, rattan overhangs, lianas, swaying palms and tropical flora.
Get on a 4WD drive for jungle walking and a refreshing breeze at the nearby waterfall. Soft drink, coffee or tea is served before leaving.
At the end of the day's adventure, you will be transferred back to your hotel in Phuket/ the airport at around 1700h (5:00pm).
Please call the tour operator at least 24 hours prior to start of the tour to reconfirm the departure details.
Pick up time is 30 – 45 minutes before the start time
Supplement charge THB200 net /person for JW Marriott, Cape Panwa, Surin, Kamala, Layan, Bang Tao and Tritrang Beach payable directly
Guide also available in other languages with supplement charge payable directly
Very well run. Quality transport, food, tour co-ordinator and assistance. Over all; a great day....
Eat up.
The post Around The World In 15 Breakfasts appeared first on The Guidebook - isango!.
Get your art on.
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It may be "built for kids", but trust us, it's great for adults too.
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text:
USB Disk - The File Manager
By Imesart S.a.r.l.
Open iTunes to buy and download apps.
USB Disk lets you store, view and manage documents on your iPhone or iPad. It has an amazing built in document viewer and is very easy to use, with a simple and intuitive interface, yet it contains many powerful features. Drag and drop files in iTunes to transfer them to your iPhone or iPad, then view them anywhere!
TUAW - "USB Disk is [...] a nicely designed one."
Lifehacker - "The Best. USB Disk for iOS gives you a fast and easy way to transfer documents and images to your device."
Apple - "New and Noteworthy"
• Access Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive and Box.
• Open and create zip files.
• Store and view files.
• Navigate using swipes (like Photos / iBooks app).
• Thumbnails let you preview your files.
• Copy, paste, cut, delete and create files.
• View and download email attachments.
• Restores last viewing position.
• Full screen file viewer.
• CBR and CBZ file viewer.
• USB file transfers.
• Background audio.
• Slideshow with adjustable delay.
• Fast scrolling, page up/down functionalities.
• Email your documents.
• Lock code.
• TV / VGA out.
• Connect to WebDAV servers.
• Edit small text files.
• Protect & encrypt files.
• PDF files.
• MS Office documents.
• iWork documents.
• Pictures (jpg, png, gif, ...).
• eBooks (pdf, html, txt, ...).
• Audio files (mp3, m4a, wav, ...).
• Video files (m4v, mov, avi, mkv, ...).
Buy now and get free updates.
What's New in Version 2.4.7
• Compatibility with next version of iOS.
• Tap to reveal file viewer UI works with more file type.
• Random slideshows.
- Category: Productivity
- Updated: 09 July 2016
- Version: 2.4.7
- Size: 125 MB
- Apple Watch: Yes
- Languages: English, French, German, Russian, Spanish
- Developer: Imesart S.a.r.l.
- © 2016 Imesart S.a.r.l
Compatibility: Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
Top In-App Purchases
- Zip files supportUSD 0.99
- File protectionUSD 1.99