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Conservation through Education
Home | The Animals | Bengal Tiger
of Tigers (Roaring Cats)
This WORLD is represented by the magnificent Bengal Tiger, the only one of the
six existing tiger subspecies that occurs in different color variations in the
Common Name: Bengal
Genus/Species: Panthera tigris
The Bengal Tiger is found in parts of India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and
Natural Habitat:
The habitat is varied: grasslands,
subtropical and tropical rainforests, scrub forests, wet and dry deciduous
forests and mangroves.
Physical Appearance:
Physical appearance may slightly vary depending on geographic area. The Bengal Tiger is the second largest of all living tiger subspecies. The male tigers can weigh from
450-550 lbs and the females can get up to 310 lbs. they have orange coats, a fair
(whitish) medial and ventral area and stripes that can vary in color from brown
to black. The form and density of
stripes differs between subspecies, but most tigers have in excess of 100
stripes. Each striping pattern is
unique to each animal, acting the same way as fingerprints do for humans.
Male and female tigers breed often and noisily.
The female is only receptive for a couple of days so frequent mating is
preferred (every 15-20 minutes for 5-6 days).
A female estrus lasts 5-7 days and occurs approximately every 30 days. Gestation period is approximately 103
days and litters of 2 to 4 are common.
Cubs are approximately 2 lbs when they are born. The cubs become independent around 18
months of age and leave their mother between 2 to 2-1/2 years of age. Female tigers become sexually mature
at around 3 years of age whereas male are not sexually mature until they are 4-5
years of age.
STATUS in Natural Habitat:
Critically Endangered. Almost
certain to become extinct within 10 years due to over poaching and habitat
destruction if conservation methods are not successful.
Cool Fact:
Tigers are excellent and strong swimmers. They enjoy lying in rivers, lakes and
ponds and have been known to hunt and kill in the water.
Click Here For Daily Activities Schedule

subset: commoncrawl


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Please have by 8:00 Pm west coast time California time. Plagrism free, original work, and refs. APA format. Please do not disappoint. Please talk about all points. If you have a questions please ask early.
Write a 750 word personal reflection paper in which you address the following:
- What is your personal stance on the privatization of prisons versus traditional government-run facilities?
- Is it ethical for prisons to focus on profit? Why or why not?
- Do you support the phasing out of corporate-run prisons by the Justice Department? Why or why not?
- Do you think community corrections programs have placed too much burden and risk on communities and citizens? Are some programs better for community placement than others? Explain your answer.
- What consequences should be faced by correctional officers who violate ethical codes of conduct?
- If a correctional officer is arrested and incarcerated, should they be housed with the regular inmate population?
- Is there ever a circumstance in which you feel physical punishment is appropriate? Explain your response.
- Include a 1- to 2-paragraph summary of your thoughts on your collaborative group's discussion of the death penalty.
Format your paper in accordance with APA guidelines.


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Kareena tries pelvic thrust in 'Dabangg 2' item songNov 23, 2012 IANS
Mumbai, Nov 23 (IANS) Kareena Kapoor canned an item number for "Dabangg 2" and says it was great fun shooting for the song as she tried something new for it.
"It was great fun. I loved the song... for the first time I have done a pelvic thrust. I have never done that before and Farah Khan has shot it amazingly. I am looking forward to it because it's a fun song. I hope people love it," Kareena, who did item number "Halkat jawani" in her film "Heroine", told IANS.
Arbaaz Khan is making his directorial debut with "Dabangg 2", which stars his big brother Salman in the lead role.
Designer Manish Malhotra has styled Kareena's costumes for the item song and Farah has choreographed her moves.
There were reports that her sister Karisma was on the sets while she was giving shots for the song and Kareena said: "She came to meet Salman, Arbaaz, Malaika and all and that's it. She was not there to give any takes."
In "Dabangg", Malaika featured in the item song "Munni badnaam".
"Dabangg 2", also starring Sonakshi Sinha and Prakash Raj, is slated for release Dec 21.
Click the Movie button below for more info:
Dabangg 2
Kareena Kapoor Pictures
More News


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Junior Dominic Severino and freshman Matt Blandino were honored by the Northeast Conference for their performances over the weekend. Severino was named the league's Player of the Week while Blandino shared Pitcher of the Week honors.
Severino batted ..467 with six RBI in a 3-1 week for the Blue Devils that saw them clinch a spot in the NEC Tournament this season. Severino had seven hits in 15 at-bats, scored four runs and drove in six for the weekend. He began the weekend on the mound on Friday pitching eight innings while also going 2-for-4 at the plate with a run scored and an RBI in a 4-2 loss.
After going 1-for-3 with a run scored in a 6-0 win, Severino provided the only scoring needed in a 3-0 win in game three. A three-run first inning home run by Severino, his first of the season, capped a 1-for-3 performance with 3 RBI and a run scored in the 3-0 win. He followed that up by going 3-for-5 with a run scored, a double and two RBI in a 10-1 win in Sunday's finale. Severino's 11 total bases led the Blue Devils on the weekend.
Blandino was spectacular in the series finale for the Blue Devils on Sunday, helping Central claim a spot in the upcoming NEC Tournament. Blandino picked up his third win of the season with eight shutout innings in a 10-1 win. He allowed only three base runners in the game, including just two hits. Both hits came with no one on base and he also struck out four. He did not allow a runner to reach second base.
After retiring the first 10 batters of the game, he allowed a one out single in the fourth but immediately induced a double play to end the inning. He walked the leadoff man in the fifth but stranded him at first base. In the seventh he allowed a two out single but retired the final batter of the game. Blandino faced only 26 batters in his eight innings, and retired the side in order five times. He recorded 15 ground ball outs in the win.


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The MSP Program is a federal formula grant program that funds collaborative partnerships between science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) departments at institutions of higher education (IHEs), and high-need school districts. These partnerships provide intensive, content-rich professional development to teachers and other educators, with the goal of improving classroom instruction and, ultimately, student achievement in math and science. Currently, funds are distributed through a formula grant to states which then hold their own competitions to award project funding.
To learn more about the program, or for resources for your MSP project, explore the links above!


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Ex-high school athlete looks ahead after accident
THREE RIVERS, Mich. (AP) -- A 17-year-old southwestern Michigan boy was once a promising high school football player before his life was overturned by a paralyzing dive into a pool.
Now, he's back at Three Rivers High School after 116 days at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and planning for college and beyond.
Chandler McBride tells the Detroit Free Press () he's thankful for the support he's received for the rescuer who saved him from drowning after the accident, the hundreds of people who helped make his house handicap accessible and the Mott doctors and nurses who treated him for 3 1/2 months.
McBride was injured at a friend's pool party June 16. He's paralyzed from the chest down, with some movement in his arms but not his fingers.
He returned to high school Nov. 5.


text: Apitope Announces Successful Completion of Second Phase I Trial of ATX-MS-1467, an Immune Therapy Whose Early Development was Supported by the National MS Society September 10, 2013 Apitope Technology Ltd. announced that in a phase I study in 42 people with relapsing MS, the experimental treatment ATX-MS-1467 reduced disease activity on MRI scans when given intradermally (within the skin). (Apitope press release, September 3, 2013). Details about its safety and tolerability were not announced. Apitope was the first in a series of partnerships between the National MS Society's drug development arm, Fast Forward, and early stage biotechnology companies. The company successfully leveraged this support by entering into a research, development and license agreement with Merck Serono for development and commercialization ATX-MS-1467. Background: Multiple sclerosis involves immune attacks launched on the brain and spinal cord. Apitope has developed a proprietary approach to identify pieces of proteins, called "peptides" derived from human antigenic proteins that might be able to reinstate "immune tolerance" – in effect, train immune cells to ignore target tissues – to suppress such an attack. ATX-MS-1467 is a mixture of four such peptides. An earlier clinical trial in 6 people with secondary-progressive MS indicated that the drug was well tolerated with early evidence of potential efficacy. The Study: The current study recruited 42 people with relapsing MS (relapsing-remitting, and secondary-progressive with relapses). Participants were randomly assigned to receive ATX-MS-1467 delivered via injection into layers of skin (intradermally) or subcutaneously (under the skin), every two weeks, for a total of nine doses. Participants were then followed for 22 weeks. (For further details, see the study's listing on clinicaltrials.gov. The press release reports a significant decrease in disease activity seen on MRI scans in the group treated by intradermal injection, but not in those treated with subcutaneous (under the skin) injection. Comment: The complete results of this study and further, phase II and phase III studies will help to determine whether ATX-MS-1467 has potential to be developed into a safe and effective treatment for people with MS. These results are an example of how, by connecting people, ideas, and resources, the Society is helping promising treatments to break through barriers, move through the pipeline, and enter clinical trials -- faster. Read more about Society-supported research.


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We found 1 episode of Opposable Thumbs with the tag "shelving".
Episode 44: Making Things Flat
November 7th, 2018 | 1 hr 1 min
anvil, art, bend, boys, challenge, chicago, creativity, flat bush zombies, flat earth, forge, forged by steel, frohawk two feathers, hairpin, legs, lesson plan, los angeles, making, organization, painting, poetry, rats, shelving, steel, students, teaching, zuhitsu
F. Douglas Brown is our guest this episode! Los Angeles in tha house!
"Making Things Flat" is our challenge this episode! Thanks to Mathew Lippincott for the challenge!
Rob makes things flat and makes things rat!
Doug took the flatness and folded it up into an complex sphere of ideation speaking and listening.
Taylor heats it up and makes it round so he can make it flat!
We also talk about evil chaos, ekphrasis poetry, Frederick Douglass and re-dad-ing. And we have to give a shout out the Mr. Brown's 7th Period Poetry Class!
You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com
Props to Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs


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Consider helping out in updating the wiki for 3.12.0 - see Path of Exile Wiki:To-do list/3.12.0.
Game data exports will becoming later as the technical changes in addition to regular changes take some more time.
Revision history of "Arcane Victorious Wings"
Diff selection: Mark the radio boxes of the revisions to compare and hit enter or the button at the bottom.
Legend: (cur) = difference with latest revision, (prev) = difference with preceding revision, m = minor edit.


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Three weeks after Apple was declared responsible for leading a conspiracy to raise e-book prices, the Department of Justice (DOJ) today submitted a proposed remedy to prevent the company from fixing prices and discriminating against competitors such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Apple should not be able to "discriminate against rival e-books apps and may not agree with any other e-book retailer to fix retail e-book prices," the proposal (PDF) says. The specific remedies would, among other things, make it easier for iPhone and iPad users to buy books for use on Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook apps.
Those apps don't include a way for users to purchase books today, largely because if they did, Apple would demand a 30 percent cut on sales. Amazon and Barnes & Noble apps aren't even allowed to provide links to purchase pages unless they also make the books available as in-app purchases, with Apple getting that 30 percent cut.
Users of the Kindle and Nook iOS apps can exit the app, open the device's Web browser, navigate to Amazon's or Barnes & Noble's website, purchase books, and then go back into the Kindle or Nook app and download them. But a direct connection between the apps and purchasing mechanisms does not exist today.
That would change under the proposal from the DOJ and 33 state attorneys general:
[The proposal] requires Apple, for two years, to permit any e-book retailer to include in its e-book app a hyperlink to its own e-bookstore, without paying any fee or commission to Apple. This section thus requires Apple, for a relatively brief period of time, to return to its own pre-iBookstore policy of allowing Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other e-book app providers to offer a simple, costless means for readers to purchase e-books directly from the third party.
This provision is intended to reset competition among trade e-book retailers and deny Apple the benefits of its conspiracy. In 2011, shortly after adding Random House's titles to the iBookstore, Apple forced its retailer rivals to remove the hyperlinks from their e-book apps (in order to avoid paying Apple a 30 percent commission on their sales). By doing so, Apple made it more difficult for consumers using Apple devices to compare e-book prices among different retailers, and for consumers to purchase e-books from other retailers on Apple's devices. At the time, as a result of Apple's collusive agreements, prices for the most popular e-books tended to be the same across retailers, and many consumers likely determined that shopping around for a better e-book price was a waste of time.
The DOJ proposal would also bar Apple "from entering into contracts that would, in any way, fix the price that any of its competitors charge for content." Apple would not be able to share information with publishers in attempts to take "collective action" that raises prices across the board. The proposed judgment would remain in effect for 10 years, but certain requirements will not last that long.
Apple would have to terminate the agency agreements with publishers that were crucial in the conspiracy. "Apple also is barred, for five years, from either enforcing its retail price MFNs [most favored nation contracts] against publishers or accepting limitations on its own ability to price-compete with respect to e-books," the DOJ's proposal states.
Finally, Apple would have to hire a full-time, internal antitrust compliance officer to make sure the company plays by the rules. "The PFJ [proposed final judgement] also calls for an External Compliance Monitor, appointed by this Court, with the authority to oversee Apple's compliance with the PFJ, and to oversee Apple's internal antitrust compliance provisions," the DOJ wrote. "Apple also will be required to provide to the United States and the Representative Plaintiff States reasonable access to Apple's documents, information, and personnel."
No financial penalties against Apple are being proposed, but the DOJ said these remedies combined with requirements for publishers will be enough.
"Price competition has returned to the marketplace" because of previous settlements with the publishers accused of conspiring with Apple, the DOJ filing states. Penguin, HarperCollins, Hachette, Simon & Schuster, and Macmillan have agreed to repay $164 million to consumers who were overcharged. The publishers also were "required to terminate agreements that prevented e-book retailers from lowering the prices at which they sell e-books to consumers and to allow for retail price competition in renegotiated e-book distribution agreements," a DOJ announcement said.
Apple has not responded to a request for comment.
For a full description of how the e-book price fixing worked, see our previous story on the issue, "How Apple led an e-book price conspiracy—in the judge's words."
UPDATE: Apple has filed a response in court, saying the "overreaching proposal would establish a vague new compliance regime—applicable only to Apple—with intrusive oversight lasting for ten years, going far beyond the legal issues in this case, injuring competition and consumers, and violating basic principles of fairness and due process."
The harms from the conspiracy were "already remedied by the publishers' consent decrees," Apple wrote. The restrictions placed on Apple's treatment of e-book apps is also unwarranted because "there was no evidence admitted at trial, or finding by the Court, that the conspiracy involved the App Store," Apple wrote.
Further, Apple contended that the DOJ proposal unfairly targets more than just books.
"Plaintiffs would prohibit Apple from entering into or maintaining 'any agreement with any E-book Publisher or supplier of any other form of content (e.g., music, other audio, movies, television shows, or apps) where such agreement likely will increase, fix, or set the price at which other E-book Retailers or retailers of other forms of content can acquire or sell E-books or other forms of content' for the entire ten-year period of the judgment," Apple wrote. "This absurdly broad proposal is not only disconnected from any evidence adduced at trial or findings made by this Court, but would open Apple up to liability in virtually every content market for the actions of content producers, over which it has no control."


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Log in or Sign up for the Executive Club
Use this form to log in to your account or to create an account for the British Airways executive club
Flights that you book using Avios are called reward flights. You can take reward flights with British Airways, Iberia and our oneworld and other partner airlines, wherever there's availability. You pay Avios plus a cash amount to cover the taxes, fees and carrier charges.
Reward Flight Savers are our best value reward flights. You pay the Avios and a flat fee in cash while we pay the taxes, fees and carrier charges for you. It's available on return flights in Europe and southern Africa wherever you see this symbol.
We'll always show you the Reward Flight Saver fare when it's available - just make sure you have collected at least one Avios in the past 12 months.
If you're not eligible for Reward Flight Saver we'll show you the standard reward flight price instead.
Need some inspiration?
Explore where your Avios can take you using our interactive Flight Finder tool.
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Search for availability and book your reward flights now.
A reward flight consists of:
The price you pay for your reward flight depends on the date, destination and your class of travel.
Peak and off-peak dates
For reward flights with British Airways, you will pay either a peak or off-peak Avios amount, depending on the date of your flight. Two thirds of the year is off-peak. When booking reward flights, you can choose all peak dates, all off-peak dates, or a mixture of the two. The taxes, fees and carrier charges you pay are the same for both peak and off-peak dates.
Taxes, fees and carrier charges
The taxes, fees and carrier charges vary according to travel date, carrier and route flown and are calculated when you book your flights.
The highest taxes, fees and carrier charges amount charged across all routes to date is £584.41/$910.35 in economy (World Traveller). The actual taxes, fees and carrier charges amount for your journey in economy will be displayed when you make a booking and should be equal to or less than this figure.
Taxes, fees and carrier charges will be charged in the local currency equivalent of the value shown and will be higher for premium economy (World Traveller Plus), business (Club World) and First.
Reward Flight Saver fees
With Reward Flight Saver, you pay Avios plus a low flat fee instead of the taxes, fees and carrier charges.
Our current Reward Flight Saver fees are:
Routes include
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You'll be presented with a range of these Avios & Money payment options at the checkout, where available. In addition to the Avios & Money prices you will also need to pay the taxes, fees and carrier charges unless you are purchasing a Reward Flight Saver.
If you are purchasing a Reward Flight Saver with Avios & Money, the flat fee will be included in money amount. You will not see the flat fee as a separate amount in the final price quote.
Should you need to change an Avios & Money booking from a peak date to an off-peak date, we will be unable to refund any difference in the money portion of the price, however, you are able to cancel the original flights for a full refund and make a new booking.
Purchasing, transferring and sharing Avios
There are even more ways to top up your Avios to reach your next reward:
We have partnerships with a number of other airlines, including our partners in the oneworld alliance, so that we can offer you a greater choice of destinations for your reward flights.
When you search for reward flights we'll show you availability on British Airways first. We'll then show you availability with partners for this flight and where we don't operate to a destination or we don't have availability, as long as you choose to include partners in your selection.
For assistance booking with a specific partner, please call your local Service Centre.
Working out the cost
The number of Avios required for partner flights may vary from British Airways, depending on the route and distance travelled.
As with British Airways, Avios prices for reward flights with Iberia vary according to peak and off-peak dates. Iberia's peak and off-peak calendar dates differ from British Airways, except for Iberia flights from London to Madrid*, which are priced as per the British Airways calendar and Avios rates.
*For flights up to 24 October 2018
For flights with two or more oneworld partners, or British Airways plus two or more oneworld partners, use our table to find out what you need to pay.
Table: Avios costs for booking with two or more oneworld airlines
In most circumstances you will be able to cancel or change reward flights subject to availability and an associated service fee. See our booking and service fees for details.
Please note:
Many changes to simple reward flights can be made online in Manage My Booking but you will need to contact your local Service Centre in the following circumstances:
Search for availability and book now.Book a reward flight
Explore where your Avios can take you.Reward availability


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Remember the second most popular girl on Best Gore? Yeah, the proud owner of Blue Waffle vagina has nothing on Nikki Catsouras in terms of overall gore popularity, but she's about to get beat again. As much as her blue waffle vagina may seem unappealing at first, it instantly becomes less of an issue after seeing the picture of this vagina. I have no idea what kind of problem the owner of this vagina has, but severe overgrowth of nasty shit of such proportions over a pussy doesn't happen overnight.
I wonder what she did once there was no way she could hide her vaginal problem anymore and had to go to see a doctor. What did she tell him/her? "You know, Doc… I have something growing over my vag but it's nothing like you've ever seen. You ready for it?" The sad part is that aside from that nasty tumor-like shit over her vagina, she seems to have a pretty decent bod. She's probably a reasonably hot girl otherwise but had to vehemently break every man's heart who tried to get close to her cause letting them in her pants would end up in a disaster.
Anybody knows what the hell it is that grew over her vagina?


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NEH to administer grants for five of the 41 funded projects
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) will be administering five of the 41 "Save America's Treasures" grants announced Wednesday by the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) and the National Park Service (NPS). The Save America's Treasures program, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary, ensures our nation's cultural and historic legacy by funding the preservation and conservation of significant historic sites and collections. The program is administered by NPS in partnership with PCAH, the National Endowment for Arts, NEH, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. To date, more than 500 competitive grants have been awarded to recipients representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Midway Island.
The 41 Save America's Treasures grant awardees announced today will receive a total of $9.5 million in funding; the five grants administered by the Endowment will receive $291,104. Grants are awarded on a competitive basis and must be matched dollar-for-dollar with non-federal funds. Below is a list of the five projects supported by NEH. See the complete NPS/PCAH list of the 41 projects here.
Carrère and Hastings Architectural Collection, St. Augustine, Fla.
This Flagler College collection consists of the early architectural drawings and blueprints by John Carrère and Thomas Hastings, who are best known for their design of the New York Public Library. Among these fragile drawings are the blueprints for their first commission, the Hotel Ponce de Leon, which launched their careers. The funds will assist with the preservation of these recently rediscovered records and make them accessible to researchers. ($49,562)
Friendly Association Papers, Haverford, Pa.
The Papers of the Friendly Association for Regaining and Preserving Peace with the Indians by Pacific Measure (1745-1792) at Haverford College are a unique record of an experiment to build peaceful relations between colonists and native peoples at a time of horrific bloodshed on both sides. These documents offer insights into vanished cultures, as well as colonial America that have seen heavy use by scholars and historians and grant funds will assist in the stabilization and digitization of the collection to ensure their future. ($31,065)
Paley Center for Media, New York, N.Y.
This collection of 500 hours of post-World War II television documentaries produced from 1951 to the early 1980s offer unparalleled coverage of a pivotal era in American history, both sparking and focusing the national dialogue on epochal events from the Cold War to the women's movement. This grant will support the restoration and transfer of this material to digital media, ensuring that this collection is accessible to the public now and in the future. ($104,924)
Tufts University "This I Believe" Collection, Medford, Mass.
This Save America's Treasures grant will support the stabilization and preservation of 200 reel-to-reel audio tapes from the radio program "This I Believe," which was hosted by Edward R. Murrow from 1951 to 1955. Each week, he asked different people to convey the values by which they live; participants ranged from teachers and cab drivers to notable figures like Jackie Robinson and Eleanor Roosevelt. ($58,783)
William Still Collection of Papers, Photographs, and Abolitionist Pamphlets, Philadelphia, Pa.
William Still, one of the most successful black businessmen in Philadelphia's history, was a prominent and respected leader of Underground Railroad activities in the area and author of The Underground Railroad, the only first-person account of black participation in this freedom movement. His papers, at Temple University, are in a state of severe deterioration. Funds will assist in the conservation and digitization of 140 documents and 14 photographs. ($46,770)


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Microsoft Windows 95 README for Setup
August 1995
(c) Copyright Microsoft Corporation, 1995
This document provides complementary or late-breaking information to
supplement the Microsoft Windows 95 documentation.
How to Use This Document
To view Setup.txt on screen in Notepad, maximize the Notepad window.
To print Setup.txt, open it in Notepad or another word processor, and
then use the Print command on the File menu.
This file contains information about problems that may occur while
you are running Windows 95 Setup.
NOTE: It is recommended that you check your hard disk for viruses
before setting up Windows 95. If you have MS-DOS 6.x, you should
run MSAV before running Setup.
You should also turn off any screen savers you have running, and
disable any anti-virus software that is running before you start Setup.
Windows 95 Setup automatically runs ScanDisk to check for problems
on your hard disk(s). If there are problems, Setup cannot continue
until they are fixed.
NOTE: The MS-DOS-based version of ScanDisk that Setup runs may detect
long filename errors, but it cannot correct them. These errors will
not prevent Setup from proceeding, but once it completes, you should
run the new Windows version of ScanDisk from within Windows 95 to
correct these errors.
Fixing Hard-Disk Problems
If you see a message during Setup that says you must run ScanDisk to
fix problems on your hard disk, follow these steps to fix the problems.
If you are setting up Windows 95 over MS-DOS or a previous version of
Windows, such as Windows 3.1:
1. Quit Windows.
2. If you are setting up from floppy disks, insert Setup Disk 1 into
the drive, and then type the following at the command prompt:
a:scandisk.exe /all
where "a" is the drive that contains the Windows disk.
If you are setting up from a CD-ROM, insert the CD-ROM and then type
the following:
f:\win95\scandisk.exe /all
where "f" is the drive that contains the CD-ROM.
4. Follow the instructions on your screen and fix any problems that
ScanDisk finds.
5. Start Windows, and then run Setup again.
If you are setting up Windows 95 over a previous version of Windows 95:
1. Quit Setup.
2. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point
to System Tools, and then click ScanDisk.
3. Check your your hard disk(s) and any host drives you have for errors,
and repair any problems found.
NOTE: If you are running Setup from MS-DOS, ScanDisk will run and you'll
be able to fix most problems from within Setup.
Problems Running ScanDisk
If you get a message during Setup saying that there is not enough memory
to run ScanDisk, free some conventional and/or upper memory, and then run
Setup again. If you have MS-DOS 6.x, try running MEMMAKER to free memory.
If you still don't have enough memory, or if you have other problems while
Setup is running ScanDisk, then you can bypass ScanDisk in Setup by running
Setup with the /IS option. To do this, type the following command:
setup /is
NOTE: Bypassing ScanDisk during Setup is not recommended. If you do,
there may be problems with your hard disk that could cause Windows 95
not to install or run correctly.
If you still have problems after running Setup with the /IS option, try
running Setup with the /IQ option. To do this, type the following command:
setup /is /iq
During Setup, you'll have the option of saving your system files so that
you can uninstall Windows 95 later. If you want to be able to uninstall
Windows 95 later, choose Yes. Setup will save your system files in a
hidden, compressed file. If you don't need to be able to uninstall
Windows 95 later, choose No.
You will not see this Setup option if:
- You are upgrading over an earlier version of Windows 95.
- You are installing to a new directory.
- You are running a version of MS-DOS earlier than 5.0.
NOTE: The uninstall files must be saved on a local hard drive. You
cannot save them to a network drive or a floppy disk. If you have
multiple local drives, you will be able to select the one you want to
save the uninstall information on.
NOTE: If you see a message during Setup about not being able to save
your system files, see the "Setup Error Messages" section later in this
To uninstall Windows 95 and completely restore your system to its
previous versions of MS-DOS and Windows 3.x:
1. Click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control
2. Double-click Add/Remove Programs.
3. On the Install/Uninstall tab, click Windows 95, and then click
Or, if you are having problems starting Windows 95, use your startup
disk to start your computer, and then run UNINSTAL from the startup
NOTE: The uninstall program needs to shut down Windows 95. If there is
a problem with this on your computer, restart your computer and press
F8 when you see the message "Starting Windows 95." Then choose
Command Prompt Only and run UNINSTAL from the command prompt.
If Setup did not complete successfully and you want to restore your
previous versions of MS-DOS and Windows, you can run UNINSTAL from the
\Windows\Command directory on your hard disk, or from your startup disk
if you created one.
If you saved your files on a drive other than C, you can use the /w
option to specify the drive where the files are located. For example:
uninstal /w e:
where e: is the drive containing your previous system files that were
If Windows 95 is running and you want to remove the uninstall files to
free up disk space (6 to 9MB), follow these steps:
1. Click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control
2. Double-click Add/Remove Programs.
3. On the Install/Uninstall tab, click Old Windows 3.x/MS-DOS System
Files, and then click Remove.
You will no longer be able to uninstall Windows 95.
If you have used compression software to compress your hard disk, you
may get a message saying that there is not enough space on the host
partition of the compressed drive. Setup may have to copy some files
to your startup drive, the host for your startup drive, or the host
for your Windows drive. If you get this message, you should free up
some space on the specified drive, and then run Setup again. Try one
of the following:
- If you are setting up Windows on a compressed drive, try setting it
up on an uncompressed drive if possible.
- Delete any unneeded files on your host partition.
- If you are running Windows 3.1 and have a permanent swap file, try
making it smaller. In Control Panel, double-click the 386 Enhanced
icon, and then click Virtual Memory. Then modify the size of your
swap file.
- Use your disk compression software to free up some space on the host
drive for the compressed drive. If you compressed your drive by using
DriveSpace or DoubleSpace, follow these steps:
1. Quit Windows.
2. Run Drvspace.exe or Dblspace.exe.
3. Select the compressed drive on whose host you want to free space.
4. On the Drive menu, click Change Size.
If you used other compression software, such as Stacker, consult the
documentation that came with it.
NOTE: If you notice a discrepancy in the amount of free space reported
by Setup and the amount of space you think is available on your host
drive, it may be because Windows uses some space for creating a swap
file. This may not appear to take up any space when Windows is not
NOTE: If you create a startup disk during Setup, make sure you do not
use a compressed disk for the startup disk.
If You Have SuperStor Compression
If you have compressed your hard disk by using SuperStor, Setup may not
be able to find your startup drive and install Windows 95. If you get a
message about this during Setup, uncompress your disk and remove
SuperStor, then run Setup again.
If You Have XtraDrive Compression
If you have compressed your hard disk by using XtraDrive and you are
upgrading a previous version of Windows, Setup will not be able to
install Windows 95 unless you turn off XtraDrive's write-cache. To
turn this off, carry out the following procedure:
1. Quit Windows.
2. Run Vmu.exe (XtraDrive's Volume Maintenance Utility).
3. Choose Advanced Options, and then press ENTER.
4. Set the EMS cache size to 0.
5. Set the Conventional cache size to 1 (the minimum).
6. Set Allow Write Caching to NO.
7. At the confirmation prompt, choose Yes. You will see a message
saying that you must restart your computer for the changes to take
8. Quit Volume Maintenance Utility, and then restart your computer.
9. Start Windows, and then run Setup again.
If you are multi-booting MS-DOS and Windows NT, boot to MS-DOS, and
then run Setup from either MS-DOS or Windows 3.x. You will not be able
to install Windows 95 to a directory with a shared Windows 3.x/Windows NT
configuration; you will need to install Windows 95 to a different
If you are not multi-booting MS-DOS and Windows NT, you should
configure your computer to multi-boot MS-DOS and Windows NT first, and
then follow the instructions above.
If you boot MS-DOS from a floppy disk and then run Setup, you will no
longer be able to boot Windows NT; however, you can restore Windows NT
by booting from the Windows NT boot/repair disk, and then selecting the
Repair option).
Setup will not run on OS/2. You need to boot to MS-DOS and run Setup
from the MS-DOS prompt.
NOTE: If you are upgrading over OS/2 on an HPFS partition, you will
need to have your OS/2 disk 1 available during Setup.
If you are using OS/2 Boot Manager to choose operating systems at
startup, Setup will disable Boot Manager to ensure that Windows 95 can
restart the computer and complete its installation. Boot Manager can be
reactivated by running the Fdisk utility that comes with Windows 95
(see the procedure at the end of this section).
If you are not using Boot Manager, configure your computer to use Boot
Manager, and then follow the instructions above.
If you boot MS-DOS from a floppy disk and then run Setup, you will no
longer be able to boot OS/2 after Windows 95 has been installed. You
will need to delete the Autoexec.bat and Config.sys files that OS/2
uses before running Windows 95 Setup.
If you want to remove OS/2 from your computer after you have installed
Windows 95, carry out the following procedure:
1. Back up the data files you want to keep onto a floppy disk or
network drive.
2. Delete the files in each of your OS/2 directories and subdirectories,
and then delete the OS/2 directories.
3. In the root directory, the following files are marked as hidden
system files and need to be deleted:
Ea data.sf
Wp data.sf
In My Computer or Windows Explorer, make sure hidden files are
visible. To do this, click the View menu, click Options, and then
click Show All Files. Then delete the OS/2 files listed above.
NOTE: If you have a version of OS/2 other than version 2.0, the
names of the OS/2 files on your hard disk may differ from those
listed above. Also, depending on which version of OS/2 you have,
in your root directory, you may see the following files, which you
can delete:
4. Remember to empty the Recycle Bin to permanently remove the files
from your computer.
If Boot Manager is installed and you want to remove it, restart your
computer, and then carry out the following procedure. (It is recommended
that you print this file before restarting your computer.)
1. When you see the Boot Manager menu, choose to boot to MS-DOS, and
then run FDisk.
2. Choose to make the MS-DOS partition (C) your active partition.
3. Quit FDisk, and then restart your computer.
If you want to reinstate Boot Manager after you install Windows 95,
carry out the following procedure:
1. On the Start menu, click Run, and then type FDISK.
2. Choose Option 2, Set Active Partition.
3. Enter the number of the Boot Manager Partition. This partition will
be the 1 MB non-MS-DOS partition usually placed at the top or bottom.
4. Quit FDisk, and then restart your computer as instructed.
You can now boot OS/2 at any time and change labels of partitions
in Boot Manager through the OS/2 FDisk program.
If you are running the LANtastic server, you must disable it before
setting up Windows 95. To disable the LANtastic server, either remove
the Server.exe file from your Autoexec.bat file, or type the following
server /remove
If you are running LANtastic and have either mapped or shared your
startup drive (usually drive C), Setup will not be able to determine
which drive is your startup drive and will not be able to continue.
Before running Setup, you must disable the mapping or stop sharing your
startup drive.
This section lists specific messages that you may encounter during Setup
and provides information about what to do next.
If you receive one of these messages during Setup, please see the
sections about OS/2 and Windows NT earlier in this document.
If your hard disk is password-protected, Setup will not be able to
complete successfully. You must first remove the password protection.
For more information, see the documentation that came with your computer.
To set up Windows 95, your startup drive must be an MS-DOS boot partition.
If your startup drive is an HPFS or Windows NT file system, you must create
an MS-DOS boot partition before running Setup. For more information, on
creating an MS-DOS boot partition, see the documentation that came with
your computer.
If you have LANtastic networking or SuperStor compression, see those
sections earlier in this document for more information.
If you have a directory named Desktop in your current Windows
directory, Setup will not be able to install Windows 95 into that
directory. Windows 95 creates a directory named Desktop and uses it
for system files. If you get this message during Setup, you should
rename or move your current Desktop directory. Then run Setup again.
Standard Mode Messages
If you get any of the following error messages, you should remove
any memory managers (such as EMM386.exe, QEMM, or 386Max) from your
Config.sys file, and then run Setup again.
Standard Mode: Invalid DPMI return.
Standard Mode: Fault in MS-DOS Extender.
Standard Mode: Bad Fault in MS-DOS Extender.
Standard Mode: Unknown stack in fault dispatcher.
Standard Mode: Stack Overflow.
NOTE: If you still have problems, try adding EMM386.EXE back into your
Config.sys file and exclude all ranges. For example,
device=c:\windows\emm386.exe x=A000-FFFF
If you encounter these messages or random hangs during Setup, you may
need to turn on double-buffering in SmartDrive. Several SCSI hard drives
and some ESDI drives require double-buffering.
To turn on double buffering, add the following line to the beginning of
your Config.sys file:
device=c:\windows\smartdrv.exe /double_buffer+
where "c:\windows" is the path to your Windows directory.
Cannot Read Setup (.cab) Files
If you have Multimedia Cloaking and are installing Windows 95 from
floppy disks, Setup may not run successfully. If you see messages about
Setup not being able to read .cab files, then you should follow these
1. Remove the line referencing Cacheclk.exe from your Config.sys and
Autoexec.bat files.
2. Restart your computer.
3. Run Setup again.
Setup Could Not Back Up Your System Files
If you see an error message while Setup is saving your system files,
there may not be enough disk space, particularly on compressed disks.
You should free up space on the drive you are saving your system files
on (the default drive is C) by removing unneeded files.
Cannot continue on this system configuration
If you get a message saying "Setup cannot continue on this system
configuration," you may have an older, incompatible disk partition.
Before running Setup, you will need to back up your data and then
repartition your disk.
This section includes notes on specific system configurations that may
prevent Setup from installing Windows 95 successfully.
Sager NP8200 or Wedge Technologies 466/DX2
WARNING: If you install Windows 95 on a Sager NP8200 or Wedge Technologies
466/DX2 laptop computer, you will not be able to use your computer, even
if you reinstall a previous version of Windows.
Plug and Play Network Cards and 16-Bit Real-Mode Drivers
When you need to run the 16-bit real-mode driver for your NIC (which is
common if you use DLC or another real-mode protocol), your Plug and Play
card may appear not to function because the 16-bit NIC drivers load before
Windows 95 has a chance to turn on Plug and Play cards. Also, some 16-bit
NIC drivers do not recognize Plug and Play cards (most NE2000 Plug and
Play clones fall into this category).
To use your Plug and Play card with a 16-bit NIC driver, carry out the
following procedure:
1. Run the Softset utility that comes with your Plug and Play card,
and set the card to non-Plug and Play mode.
2. Double-click the Network icon in Control Panel and then remove the net
3. Double-click the Add New Hardware icon in Control Panel and follow the
instructions on your screen. Windows 95 will detect your network card.
If you change to a 32-bit protected-mode NIC driver in the future, you
can rerun Softset to turn on Plug and Play mode for your card.
Intel EtherExpress 16 NICs and PCI Computers
You may experience system hangs or initialization problems if you are
using an Intel EtherExpress 16 NIC in a PCI computer with some Diamond
Speed Star PCI video cards. The following are excerpts from Intel's
Customer Support Database. These problems are not related to Windows 95,
and happen on a variety of operating system platforms. In general, if
you experience other problems with your EtherExpress 16 in a PCI computer,
please attempt to replace the card before reporting the problem to
If you have one of these video cards, contact your vendor about getting
a new video BIOS update.
- Diamond Speed Star PCI video card with BIOS version 1.01
- Diamond Viper PCI VGA Video Adapter
- Diamond Stealth video card, Bios v1.03
IBM Thinkpad Model 750x/755x/360x
If you have one of these models, (including submodels such as C, CE, CX,
CS, and CSE), check IBM's bulletin board or the THINKPAD forum on
CompuServe for an updated BIOS and/or Mwave drivers for your computer
before you install Windows 95.
If you don't upgrade your BIOS, you might have problems if you move the
mouse while your computer is turning suspend mode on or off.
If you have QEMM installed on your computer, we recommend removing it
from your Config.sys file before setting up Windows 95. You can add it
back after Windows 95 is installed.
The following memory managers are incompatible with or may cause
problems with Windows 95. It is recommended that you remove all
references to them from your Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files and use
Emm386.exe and Himem.sys, which are provided with Windows 95, to manage
memory instead.
Allemm4.sys - All Charge 386 Version 3.1
HPemm386.sys and HPemm486.sys
HPmm.sys - HP Memory Manager (must remove before Setup)
Iemm.sys Memory Manager
Intel(R) Expanded-Memory Emulator (Ilim386.sys)
Maximizer Memory Manager (Maximize.com)
NetRoom Memory Manager (RM386.sys)
QMAPS Memory Manager Version 5.16
UMB PRO Version 1.07
NOTE: The documentation for 386MAX recommends against setting the EXT
parameter below 64. If you set this parameter to 0, Setup will fail.
NOTE: If you remove the line containing Rm386.sys from your Config.sys
file, you may need to install Himem.sys, which comes with Windows or
MS-DOS. You can do this by adding the following line to your Config.sys
The <path> is the location of your Windows or MS-DOS files (for example,
Before you run Setup, it is recommended that you remove any third-
party disk-cache programs and replace them with Smartdrv.exe, which
is provided with Windows 95.
While running Windows 95, you do not need to use a disk-cache utility.
Setup will remove most disk-cache programs for you.
If you are running one of the following disk-cache utilities, you
should remove it. In some cases, Setup will remove it for you.
386MAX Disk-Cache Utility (Qcache.exe) (do not use with SmartDrive)
Cache.exe Disk-Cache Utility
Cache.sys Disk-Cache Utility
Flash Disk-Cache Utility (Flash.exe) (do not use with SmartDrive)
Hyperdisk Disk-Cache Utility (do not use with SmartDrive)
Icache.sys Disk-Cache Utility
IBMcache.sys Disk-Cache Utility
Mace Disk-Cache Utility (Mcache.sys)
Norton Speed Drive Disk Utility (SPEEDRV)
Norton Utilities Version 5.0 and 6.1 (DISKREET, NCACHE)
PC-Cache (PC Tools disk cache program) (must remove before Setup)
PC-Kwik Disk-Cache Utility (Pc-kwik.exe)
PC_Kwik Disk Accelerator
PC-Kwik Version 1.59 (Pck.exe, Pskscrn.exe, Pckey.com)
PC Tools(TM) Disk-Cache Utility (Pc-cache.com)
Secretdisk II Disk-Cache Utility (Fast512.sys) (do not use with SmartDrive)
Super PC-Kwik Disk-Cache Utility (Superpck.exe)
Some anti-virus programs can cause problems when you run Setup. Make
sure that no anti-virus programs are running while you are setting up
Windows 95. If the program is a terminate-and-stay-resident program,
remove any references to it in your Autoexec.bat, Config.sys, and Win.ini
If your BIOS has built-in virus protection, you should disable it before
running Setup. To disable it, you must use the CMOS setup program for
your BIOS. For more information, see the documentation that came with
your computer.
See the notes for specific anti-virus programs below.
Central Point Anti-Virus Version 1.1 (Vsafe.com/Vsafe.sys)
To remove VSAFE, remove any lines containing Vsafe.com or Vsafe.sys
from your Autoexec.bat file. Also, remove any references to Vsafe.com
or Vsafe.sys from the RUN= line in your Win.ini file.
If you are upgrading to Windows 95, you must also delete all the
Chklist.ms files that VSAFE has created before you run Setup. Because
Windows uses the disk for memory swapping, you should turn off the
Vsafe write-protection option when you run Windows 95.
If you don't remove VSAFE before you set up Windows, you will see
warnings about Command.com, Win.com, and Krnl.386 when Windows starts.
If you see these warnings, ignore them and choose the update option.
For more information, see the Central Point Anti-Virus documentation.
F-PROT Professional
Setup cannot run if F-PROT Professional is running. Remove this program
from your Autoexec.bat and Config.sys files, and then check your Win.ini
file for the following line:
If you see this line, remove it. When you have finished, restart your
computer, and then run Setup again.
Norton Anti-Virus(R)
If you are running any version of Norton Anti-Virus, you should remove it
before running Setup. After setup, it is recommended that you do not run
Norton Anti-Virus version 1.x, 2.x, or 3.x with Windows 95. You should
obtain Norton Anti-Virus for Windows 95.
To remove Norton Anti-Virus version 1.5:
1. In your Config.sys file, remove the following line:
2. In your Autoexec.bat file, remove C:\Nav from the PATH statement.
To remove the anti-virus features of Norton Desktop for Windows
version 3.0:
1. In your Config.sys file, remove the following line:
2. In your Autoexec.bat file, remove the following lines:
c:\ndw from the PATH statement
3. In your System.ini file, remove the following lines:
shell=c:\ndw\ndw.exe (in the [boot] section)
device=symevent (in the [386enh] section)
4. In your Win.ini file, remove the following line:
Do not use the APPEND utility with Windows 95. It prevents Windows
and Windows-based programs from creating valid Well-Formed-Path (WFP)
names for the files they are using. (A WFP is the complete name of a
file, including the drive letter and full path specification, starting
from the root directory.)
Autocon Version 2.0e, Bootcon Version 1.60, and Boot.sys
These programs enable you to select from different configurations when
you start your computer. Windows 95 Setup modifies only the first
section in your Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files, so you may have to
modify these files manually after Setup if you want to use these
programs. For more information, see the documentation that came with
your program.
Cubit Version 3.01
When you are using Cubit with Windows 95, do not compress the Windows
System directory or any file that is loaded from your Config.sys file.
Before you upgrade to Windows 95, make sure that the earlier version of
Windows is uncompressed on your hard disk. You may recompress the files
after you have successfully set up Windows 95.
Doubledisk Version 2.5
Windows 95 may try to access "phantom" disk drives if you use it with
Doubledisk. Phantom drives occur when you use Doubledisk to create a
compressed drive. For example, if you have drives A, B, and C on your
computer and you use Doubledisk to create drive F, Windows 95 and
MS-DOS recognize drives D and E as valid drives, even though they do
not actually exist. You can use the DRVOFF utility to prevent Windows
from recognizing phantom drives. To order a copy of
the DRVOFF utility, contact Vertisoft.
Infinite Disk Version 2.1
Infinite Disk version 2.1 does not work properly with Windows 95.
Either remove Infinite Disk software from your computer before you run
Setup, or contact your software dealer for a version of Infinite Disk
software that is compatible with Windows 95.
To remove Infinite Disk from your computer:
1. Restore any compressed files back to their original state.
2. Remove the following lines from your Config.sys and Autoexec.bat
protect /c
3. Restart your computer, and then run Setup again.
NetWare(R) NetBIOS
The NetWare NetBIOS TSR is incompatible with Windows 95 in many
configurations. In most cases, Setup will detect NetWare NetBIOS and
remove the startup command from your computer. However, if you have
NetWare NetBIOS set up to start from a location other than your
Autoexec.bat file (for example, from a batch file), Setup cannot
detect it. In this case, you need to remove NetWare NetBIOS manually.
Windows 95 includes an IPX/SPX-compatible protocol that you can use
instead of NetBIOS. For information about configuring Windows 95 to
work with it, see NETWORKS.TXT.
Newspace Version 1.07
This disk-compression utility is incompatible with Windows 95.
Norton Desktop for Windows (Ep.exe)
If the data-recovery program Erase Protect (Ep.exe) is loaded from
your Autoexec.bat file, you need to disable it when you are setting up
Windows, especially if you are upgrading over a previous version of
Windows. Erase Protect tries to save copies of all deleted files, which
can cause you to run out of disk space while running Setup.
It is recommended that you run Erase Protect with a permanent swap file.
If you are using a temporary swap file, you need to exclude files that
have a .tmp or .swp extension from erase protection.
Norton Disklock Versions 3.01 and 3.5
Norton Disklock versions 3.01 and 3.5 do not work properly with
Windows 95. Either remove this software from your computer before you
run Setup, or contact Symantec product support for a version of
Disklock that is compatible with Windows 95.
For information about how to remove Disklock from your computer, see
the documentation that came with Norton Disklock.
PC Tools Deluxe(TM) Version 7.1 (DATAMON)
If you load PC Tools DATAMON using the \SENTRY+ option, Setup may fail
if you are low on disk space. Do not use the \SENTRY+ option when loading
Do not load DATAMON after loading SmartDrive. If DATAMON is loaded after
SmartDrive, your computer may fail. See the PC Tools documentation for
information about how to unload DATAMON.
PC Tools Deluxe Version 6.0 (DESKTOP)
If you try to start PC Tools from an MS-DOS Prompt within Windows,
your computer may fail or restart itself. These problems also occur if
you use MS-DOS commands from an MS-DOS Prompt within Windows.
Version 7.0 of PC Tools may correct these problems. However, do not load
DESKTOP from an MS-DOS Prompt if it was loaded before starting Windows.
If you do, your computer may fail when you quit Windows. It is recommended
that you run DESKTOP from its PIF, provided with Windows 95.
You may encounter problems with SUBST during Setup, but you can safely
add it back after Windows 95 has been installed.
If you are running UNDELETE with the SENTRY option, Setup may have
problems, and there may be cases when you run out of disk space during
Setup. It is recommended that you remove UNDELETE from your Config.sys
and Autoexec.bat files before running Setup.
NOTE: The SENTRY option creates a hidden directory named Sentry. When
you delete a file, UNDELETE moves the file from its current location to
the Sentry directory. Before removing UNDELETE from your Config.sys or
Autoexec.bat file, you should free up disk space by using the
UNDELETE /PURGE command on all drives.)
If you do not remove it, Setup will disable this command for you.
Installing Windows 95 on a 4 MB or 386 computer from floppy disks may
be very slow. To speed things up:
- Run Setup from inside Windows 3.x or Windows for Workgroups. Avoid
running Setup from MS-DOS.
- If you are running a disk-compression program, such as DriveSpace or
DoubleSpace, Setup may be very slow. Consider copying the files on
the floppy disks to a temporary directory on your hard disk, and then
running Setup from your hard disk. To copy files from Disks 2 through
12, you will need to use the EXTRACT command on Disk 1 to copy the
Win95_xx.cab files to your hard disk, since they are in the new
Microsoft Distribution Media Format (DMF). Normal MS-DOS commands like
COPY and XCOPY won't work on these floppy disks.
To copy a .cab file from a floppy disk to your hard disk, use the
following command:
extract /c a:win95_xx.cab c:\<TempDir>
where <TempDir> is the location of a temporary directory on your
hard disk.
- During Setup, if you notice that the light for an empty floppy disk
drive is flashing for a long time and Setup is slow, try inserting a
formatted floppy disk into the empty drive.
- If you encounter problems during Setup, such as Setup closing
unexpectedly or error messages that do not apply, try increasing the
size of your permanent swap file. In general, the size of your
permanent swap file plus the amount of RAM in your computer should
equal at least 14 MB for Setup to complete successfully. After you
change your swap file size, try running Setup again.
NOTE: If your hard disk is compressed, you may have to increase the
size of your host drive before you can increase the size of your
swap file.


text:
The Escapist Presents: Escapist Report: AI Innovation
Pages 1 2 NEXT
Escapist Report: AI Innovation
In depth, expert interviews on where video game A.I. is going.
I've always thought AI could be truely magnificent if there was a great movement towards making it better, like Graphics or Physics have had in the past.
holy cow in the sky, a serious show on the escapist?, really great report and i am truly looking forward to the videogame war where they try to up each others AI and story.
First time I saw the show, but I liked it, felt a lot like a documentary, but from a gamers perspective, which is nice, because I think it may offer some more insight into the "problems" that needs to be overcome to attain any "real" progress with the video game medium.
They should have included S.T.A.L.K.E.R though, that game has some amazing AI, with packs of animals migrating, eating, sleeping etc, human stalkers who organize patrols, search for artefacts, sleep, play guitar and so on, and it's all dynamically generated, nothing is scripted.
Alas, CSG Game World finished the feature, but never included it into the "vanilla" Shadow of Chernobyl, most likely because it risked having important story-characters wander of and get killed, rendering the "main quest" impossible to complete. However, the dynamic AI (A-Life) have been reactivated in several mods, and I think it is present in S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Clear Sky as well.
I've had the sense for years now that the end was nigh for graphics being the all important stage in the development of a game, beyond maintaining the status quo, and it was the opponent a game presented you with that would make the difference in the desirability to play that game. A good opponent makes for a great game and depending on the type of game, it is very desirable to have a variety of opponents to keep things exciting.
Awesome video, but come on....
Terminator much? :(
way too overly dramatic. good concept, but seriously, there was nothing informative about this video. the information included was minimal, and it seemed the video was just a litany of obstacles rather than an expose on AI in games. also talk to the guys over at monolith about the fear AI. it was radically different than normal AI and made that game standout among a million other shooters. its probably the best AI ive ever encountered in games.
This is "in depth"?
The problem is that scientific research into AI has proven tricky too. The idea that we could develop dynamic, complex, unique, good stories through AI without a REAL sentient program inside to design such a world is unlikely at best. Procedural levels/content has and continues to lack anything better than either a cookie-cutter world, or a random world with no real unique feeling/characters/etc.
Spore, though a bad game, might have a glimmer of answer in its use of the players as designers, but the gameplay itself was very cookie cutter.
Nice video, but it would have been cool to hear about some breakthrough instead of how stuck we are in AI development.
Artificial Environmental approach to AI is where it's at with the cool cats.
It would have been nice to report such a breakthrough. Sadly, most AI research doesn't go toward developing better games, and the development that does go toward game AI is grossly underfunded and underappreciated.
I tend to think of AI in games as it relates to the movie industry, and the saddest truth of the world of entertainment (in all forms) is that the blockbuster system dictates "more, faster" rather than "better." Game AI is a lot like practical effects like makeup and puppetry - they are only implemented when the content demands it, and the quality can swing wildly from "amazingly well done" to "slapped together in 20 minutes."
Any chance that transcripts will be made available for these things?
What is up with that narrator? It almost sounds like you used a text-to-speech program to read a script.
Really nice report and a good one too. One of the areas ( AI ) I'm most interested in concerning design since this is what games are lacking but also one of the most challenging parts of it since you challenge a human. It's like building a chess computer to beat a chess master. You're challenging human abilities with a machine and that's most probably the trickiest job you can do. Let's see what future has in stock for us. Hopefully more interesting and better games through better AI.
I know that advances in AI are slow and I really appreciate all the work that goes into making these videos. I just thought that this only covered the current state of AI, which isn't going anywhere fast. I would have had a more documentary- or report-like feel if there was some discussion about the major advances in AI.
Or you could, you know, completely revolutionize the field of artificial intelligence so that you haave some cool stuff for the video. That seems totally plausible.
AI. No matter how well you program it, AIs still get stuck or walk into a wall. AIs can probably be programmed much better then "run here to here, shot people who you see and go to power-ups." With some effort, you could program an AI to recognize its surroundings and calculate what objects are around it and "make" decisions on what to do. Unfortunately this would suck up a lot of processing power. On more advanced modern systems I guess that's possible but it still seems like every time computers each out another section of power, its immediately taken in order to produce slightly more real ripple effects that on a puddle of water. I think before AI can evolve beyond what are still mostly very dumb bots with simple AIs we need to first decide that were not going to funnel all our advances in processing speed on adding to graphics and instead focus more on AIs. Graphics are largely really good now and I hope that really good is good enough and we can work on other things because I foresee a diminishing return value on continued graphic advances. Its getting so good that making it better offers minimal changes in the visuals but takes more power While AI can still be vastly improved and even small advances can make a real difference in how good it is.
I cant belive that this "AI Innovation Report" didint included an interview with BIA, kinda disappointing
I agree here. Overall the video was excellent. The shortcoming stemmed from just presenting us with the problem, as opposed to the problem and how people are working to change it.
The only thing that really got to me was the voice of the narrator. Didn't feel like it fit the overall feeling of the video. Other than those minor gripes, I enjoyed it! Keep it up guys, I'll be looking forward to more :)
No mention of L4D's AI Director?
I almost responded to this with a post about Samus, which would have been really confusing and embarrassing.
Other than that, it would have been nice to compare something like MGS2's last boss fight, where it would read your controller's input and react to that, and the AI that goes into fighting game, for example.
My bro was telling me about a bit of research that was done into making a an A.I. which could edit its programming to adapt to players. Unfortunately the AI kept "choosing" to delete itself so nothing ever came of it. Interesting idea though...
Perhaps it was trying to commit suicide?
On topic, never thought I'd see the day when there came a serious show on The Escapist. That said, great show.
or sabotaging itself from the future?!
Why keep on fighting when your soul purpose is to lose?
I always thought that the enemy group AI in Metal Gear Solid 2 was an almost hideously important branch of game-AI development, which went absolutely nowhere. I play games now where the soldiers don't feel as intelligent as they did in that game.
They walked prescribed routes...unless they heard a noise, or saw something suspicious. They checked in on one another every few minutes; if one fell, and was reported absent, others went to check on him. If they couldn't find him, they conducted a search. If they found him unconscious, they woke him up; if he saw you knock him out, they conducted an alerted search; if he didn't, they took a suspicious look around. If you shot out their radios, they were cut off from the network of communication; they ran for help, rather than engage. They covered around objects, and attacked from multiple angles and sides in unison. If you took enough of them out, they would stop actively advancing and start lobbing grenades from behind cover.
I'm not saying the AI was anythign astounding (especially not when compared to actual military squad procedures), but I feel like it was such a quantum leap forward in that department...and...just...went nowhere.
Gears of War monsters shoot at you until you shoot them to death. And then it's over.
Great point. It reminds me of other moments in gaming where I felt like congratulating the enemy on having more though than just approaching the player like a zombie with ranged weapon in hand:
Good AI, even if only slightly improved on from previous games, makes for a great game. Many games I consider classic in some way stand out not because of their graphics but the challenge presented by the enemy did not appear to be scripted and repetitive.
this actually had very little to do with A.I. The central thesis seems to be that AI has been crowded out by graphics in competition for processor cycles. This is a silly idea, since the biggest obstacle to A.I. in games isn't hardware but programmer attention and ability.
Why didn't you interview an actual A.I. researcher? Game A.I., as it stands now, is only tangentially related to traditional A.I. research. On top of that, you spend a lot of time discussing things like interfaces and procedurally generated content, which has almost NOTHING to do with A.I. whatsoever. I was expecting to see something on the potential applications of existing A.I. technology in gaming; i have to say i'm disappointed.
Actually I've wondered how to grow a story for a character as opposed to writing one in a game. Take AI elements from different game genres. Take a game like Fallout or Oblivion, create factions with a system of enemies coded in, give the faction AI a goal and reactions to player action. Put in an observation system so you don't have telepathic groups.
The world shapes itself based on the events put in motion by the factions and the player. A cause and consequence system with the AI moving forward and there being no real set ending for the game. In one game, Faction A might be able to get an upperhand. In another A and B are taken out by C. Obviously the player would be able to affect events by having his own reactions to what is going on.
Each faction could have its own moral code. Perhaps Faction A doesn't kill women or children and takes over a village after X number of defenders die, graciously accepting surrender. Meanwhile Faction B loots villages, only kills a few, and then leaves to be able to come back and fleece them again. Then Faction C has no qualms about putting anybody to the sword that raises a hand against them. And so on.
Then the player can make a choice based off his own ethos or play the factions off each other. Possible even do enough acts to become a force unto himself and gather followers.
Instead of a quest system, a chronicle system that details your bigger exploits as well as some of your more daring side adventures. There would be special things in the game that also affect the outcome without being directly tied to a faction. Perhaps an enemy such as a Rogue Bot or Giant Dragon keeps one area in constant dispute because none of the factions can beat it.
Just one of my thoughts on a story that grows to a climax or some sort of endings without it being in stone from the beginning or simply one of 2 options of morality.
I noticed the crap AI when was playing RA3 today. Great game but when built about a defence with towers and what not the ai showed how stupid it really was. On the hardest difficulty level, they started sending troops one at a time towards my towers but they didn't attack them, they were just trying to fulfill some unknown goal or move somewhere. You'd think AI would have advanced at least enough so they don't sacrifice units for no reason.
I fully agree with the statement above. I was under an NDA for the game I was working on at the time of the interview and couldn't elaborate on what we specifically were doing on the AI side. Currently in games 80% of AI is perception, meaning that regardless of backend complexity it's what the player sees that is taken as AI.
Uncharted is a good example of poor or simplistic AI that is accepted because there's enough quality animation variance to be perceived as good. In Ghost Recon we had 3 tiers of AI that the player would never know was active. It was Team->Platoon->Company and other military games follow suit. The problem in a shooter is that the player never sees that top level actions unlike that of an RTS where the troop movement is evident. One team would engage the player and another team would flank. Often the player perception was that we cheated and spawned in AI behind the player.
The key in my opinion is believable AI from the players perspective. L4D for instance has great zombies because they run and look like zombies not because there's some great zombie AI running them. Halflife 2 had great AI with all the ambient characters and the facial animation and response system. Like I mentioned in the interview, the AI is dependent on the embedded metadata in a level to have a toolkit of actions. The metadata can be static (nav mesh, cover or object data... etc) or dynamic (destructible environments, player created content... etc) but it has to be perceived as believable and not get stuck in crappy state loops. We've all seen it in games where AI X gets stuck running into a wall or just repeats the same action loop... and it breaks the whole immersion. As gamers we let a lot of little things slide if the core experience is fun. Unfortunately I'm still under and NDA and can't go into some of the cool shiznit that we're doing.
There's others side of learning algorithms and concepts of neural networks and other data based on the players actions (again dynamic metadata) that I feel people overly complicate. Simple things like having a history of where enemies were killed and having subsequent enemies avoid that area (shoot a guy and the dude next to him runs to the same spot .. wax and repeat). A lot of work goes into making a game and often AI is left to the end by the virtue that the layer of scripting and data for the AI to use in a level is often reliant on the level being in a final state. I think we'll see a number of improvements though AI is not an easy thing to get metrics on since it's the player's perception rather than the elegance of the code behind it.
Yes, R. Michael Young, game graphics have been such a burden on the CPU all this time... Oh wait, no, actually games have been offloading this task onto a seperate processor(s) since the mid-ninties. And people wonder why industry doesn't take (university) games academia seriously?
As far as I'm concerned, AI innovation in games has been slow because:
With some games where AI is really important, like civ or galciv, you'd think the designers had no clue about the game mechanics at all when they made the AI.
Really basic stuff like specializing cities/planets and protecting transports with combat units is usually missing.
You always end up with drooling opponents having massive discounts before it gets challenging.
"People are seeing that there are other things that sell games besides graphics"
End users have been custom scripting AI for games with less than spectacular graphics (Warhammer 40k Dawn of War, DotA), so it's not that we aren't "capable", it's just that too many people are buying games solely because of the amount of bloom and global illumination rather than the story or actual design elements.
If your main goal is to look at pretty pictures with some level of interactivity, get Nintendo to make some QTE games for you, or just go watch a freaking movie with a controller in your hand.
Otherwise, tell them (with your wallets) that games with deep story lines and intelligent enemies are what will sell more and hopefully we'll see more.
I agree in full. Not a word a lie.
Better explained there. I really can't build on these points, everything of value has been said. Jeez, it's usually me spewing all the hate-bile on this website, but now it seems I have a few apprentices. Remember boys and girls, appreciate nothing, even if it's given for free! Could this site please stick to games critiquing, and stop the pseudo-intellectual look at games development? Want that? Go to www.gamesutra.com
actually the intellectualism is part of the reason i come here. i wouldn't be interested if i wasn't learning anything. honestly i was trying to be constructive but obviously my disappointment got in the way of that.
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Review: Metro 2033
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Despite a load of good ideas, Metro 2033 doesn't quite make the grade.
Uh im getting a 404 on the link
Edit: Its now fixed
Horrid review. Simply horrid. The worst "official" review I've seen on this site, actually.
Metro 2033 has quite possibly the best stealth I've ever seen. It's better stealth than Splinter Cell: Conviction, imo.
Dirty Bullets "laughably weak"?
I don't know what your were playing, but I beat the game on Normal with little trouble. And never fired a single military grade round. Not even once. Towards the end, as a LOOTING MASTER, I had 700 SMG/Rifle rounds. 250 shotgun shells. 200 revolver rounds. And I used a lot of that on the "Librarians". Seriously. Those things suck. I had like 300 SMG rounds left after that level, and a few shotgun shells.
Oh, yeah. I managed to stealth through nearly every area that had human enemies. Often without killing ANYONE. This game doesn't hold your hand. I had to use trial and error to accomplish my stealth.
In fact, the only really bad element of the game were the amoeba...things towards the end.
I disagree with this review strongly. Feeling underpowered isn't a flaw, its a benefit. I'm sick of playing Rambo, vulnerability adds tension. Plus, they had a very famous novel to follow, they couldn't exactly let the player do whatever the heck they wanted.
If you're a narrative driven player, or just one who likes their shooters to be a little more difficult, you should really pick this one up.
EDIT - Also, I agree with Onyx, dirty rounds are all you need if you're careful. But don't spray and pray like you do in most shooters or you'll end up out of bullets altogether.
I don't think this was quite the spiritual successor to STALKER that I was hoping it would be, but it's an interesting experiment nonetheless.
If this review has any relation to my opinion of it, then this shall be a solid rental.
Based on this review, the game sounds a lot like Far Cry. Broken stealth mechanics, underpowered weapons and overpowered mutants do not make a particularly good game - regardless of graphical fidelity and physics engine complexity. The underdeveloped characters and themes just reek of generic shooter to me, so I'll give it a miss.
The source material at least sounds interesting, though.
That would be because the article technically wasn't published. It's up now.
Yeah, Nils first video review (i think, correct me if I'm wrong)
anyways, this seems so... done before. from the look and sound of it it's just another generic FPS, among the many others, nothing makes it stand out.
Spot on.
Metro: 2033 does a very good job of keeping the player feeling edgy and vulnerable, which is important when the whole point of the game is that Artyom has been sent on a mission that he's totally unprepared for.
I don't feel this is a bad game at all, I feel the review has missed the point.
I also completely disagree with this review! I have ONE bad thing to say about this game, and that is the aiming is not as smooth as it could be. But that was MINOR compared to the awesome atmosphere, the (imo) suitably depressed voice overs of artyom, the extremely fast loading times, the awesome graphic, the fantastic! incorporation of gas masks and night vision goggles, the varied gameplay between stealth, shooting and dealing with mutants...
It seems the reviewer is angry because he wasnt particulary good at it. Granted the stealth sections can be hard since there is no quicksave in this game...but that just makes it more exciting! And you dont HAVE to stealth, you can whip out your weapons and fire away if you want to.
I advice people to try it out and dont judge the game on this review, it completely misses the mark.
is the escapist have an office in The UK now? it the first time i heard some one outside the states do a review on this site. (besides zero punctuation)
Woah. Just because you disagree with the review, doesn't make it "horrid". And trust me, you'll find way worse in the User Reviews section.
OT: I haven't actually played the game so I can't really comment on how true the facts are. I wasn't really intending to buy this anyway, and I'm still unchanged.
I'm really sick of constant grey shooters. Imma go play TF2.
I agree with the review.
I really enjoyed the game, but, I do certainly agree with the review...the game could have been done so much better
I loved the inclusion of the Nazi's lol, hilarious
Oh god. I disagree completely. And yes, I meant in the "offical review" capacity. The ones from the "staff".
I've seen MUCH worse in User Reviews.
Except the atmosphere, which is one of the best I've experienced in shooters recently.
It seems to me that the reviewer rushed through the game and focused too much on slight technical things(no prone or lean? seriously, that's a problem?) and missed a lot of the actual game.
FPS elements are admittedly a bit clunky, but nowhere near as bad as the reviewer suggest. Stealth is actually pretty decent, and the game overall is really not hard(I haven't fired a single round of military grade ammo on normal and I only died a couple of times).
Regarding story, I for one think the game doesn't need giant flashing sings or expositions that explain absolutely every single detail of everything that's going on, it's nice to see a game that keeps a little mystery and lets you draw your own conclusions.
So, I guess chalk this comment up as another one in the disagree strongly column.
Nope; they get freelance articles for the weekly issue form across the world, and several news writers from past and present live outside the States.
I'm enjoying the game, but I'm preferring the book. The characters and some situations are the same, but the book has more parts like the Ghosts level, where it's actually the tunnels themselves that are the adversary. There's very little in the way of actual action so far, it's more a psychological journey.
Decent review. You covered a lot of the points that as a whole took away from the game, but the thing that I noticed is that this game is weird in that it looks different to different people, not in a "I dislike X type game but like A" but in a "I see a square while someone else sees a circle" way. For instance another poster mentioned their stealthing the humans (kudos by the way, I got caught every single damn time) was the way they played the game while you said you felt that the game lent itself to more a run and gun type game, but when I played it I got the idea that this went for the slightly more realistic feel, the use of the gas mask, weak ammo and health making this game seem more like a survival or realism game, and since it was released as fps/survival horror game I thought it did this really well. For instance the ammo seemed underpowered to me but I felt that they wanted you to have to fight every battle slowly, using a dart gun to pick off the first few guys silently then going all out with the AK.
Other than that, I felt you got a lot right, I thought the story was a bit iffy as well and totally agree on their misuse of atmosphere, always pushing us forward taking away a lot from what could have been a better game.
As a last point: 2 stars? Ouch. I disliked parts but thats a downright head-butt, specially to a developers first game, maybe not as individuals but as a group its definitely a fantastic first release.
Don't think about this review too much . Try the game . You might love it . I do
Based on the video supplement the reviewer isn't very good at shooters. Standing in wide open spaces and randomly shooting, with very bad accuracy, at the enemies is not the way to survive. No wonder he died as many times as he said he did.
I myself beat the game on hard and only found a few difficult areas which is common. As many others said, you really don't have to use the military grade ammo to beat the game, I used it only at the very end when I ran out of regular ammo.
Also, the stealth is pretty good and the complaining how once you are discovered everybody will know where you are. Well, that's because they are searching for you, when you know that your opponent is somewhere as opposed to just walking around it is much easier to spot someone. And it was easy to get stealthy kills using the throwing knives or that dart gun.
Though I would have to agree on some of the parts of the review. The story wasn't very well told, could have been much better. Also, most of the inhabited (human) locations were really underdeveloped. You finally fight your way out of the tunnels filled with joy when you see a friendly face and then a loading screen and you immediately have to leave. No chance to do anything except buy stuff for the journey ahead. Aryom is in a hurry but this part could have used more interaction and showcasing as it offers a nice change from the dreary subway.
But definitely not 2 stars.
i noticed that too, im grateful to actually hear another UK voice aside from ZPs. no offence to all the americans, canadians and australians, but they are all i hear
Given that a lot of people are saying they're liking this, it seems like the game reviewer isn't a fan of underpowered heroes in FPSs. While I might have a problem if this were say Crisis where the loaded onto the game trailer has you picking up people in the middle of a hail of bullets and throwing them away when the game itself will have you sneaking around in your power armor instead, I'd say that it may work here. Also, while I didn't really like Fallout 3 (didn't really do it for me) the whole survival element where you have to scavenge and choose what you want and what you need to make it in the world appealed to me, and it looks like this game has something similar going on. I may give it a rental, if only because of the other users here, but that's all I can say I'd do.
The reviewers say its not that great, yet many, many gamers say its great.
Decent reviews, but the things you described sound like they could actually provide a challenge. After all the damn shooters where I'm basically a god, I long for something that will gladly kick my ass. Like S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
If one more person says the librarians take too many bullets to kill, ima smack them.
edit: Maybe I should have specified that if you stare at the faces of the lybrarian without shooting, they don't attack you.
From what I played of it, it really seemed that the game was built around the idea of using that new 3d whatnot. Overall I was pretty meh by it but then again I only got up to the third or fourth level at my friends.
I found this to be a great game. I didn't think too highly of the stealth, but then I'm of the opinion that no game besides the Thief series has done stealth correctly yet. The story was a bit weak and underdeveloped, but was good enough for a FPS. Let's face it, a lot of FPS' have much less story than this game! I actually enjoyed the weaker feeling of the weapons, given that they were supposed to be ancient, primitive and/or cobbled together. I have to admit not understanding what the author was saying about them being incredibly weak, I found a single shotgun blast would do for most of the opponents in the game. It wasn't until later that I started to run into mutants who could take a lot more punishment than that.
So, I find I disagree with the original author a bit, though he has a couple of good points. I'd give it more a 3.5 or so, it's a lot better than a 2 star game. It's not Half-Life, but it's still fun.
This. In fact I've seen from past threads that we sit eye to eye on pretty much everything about this game. It isn't the best game, but it is one hell of a ride. It's a blast to stealth around, because not only is the stealth system fair, it's realistic. Every person you meet is going to be cautious, when they see something or someone they aren't just gonna say "oh he's gone now it's safe." No they will find you and kill you before they relax. Can't tell you how many times I was stealthing through an area, got sloppy and stood in too much light, or got sloppy and stepped on some glass, or over a tripwire. It's fantastic, and quite possibly one of the best stealth systems on the market.
The review is horrid though. Just the line "it feels like you should be able to run and gun" makes this review bad IMO. I haven't actually played the game so I don't know what it actually feels like, but from what I've seen and read so far(which is a lot because I'm strongly considering to buy this game), it definitely did not seem that "run and gun" gameplay was intended.
Good to know, when I first met one, that's pretty much what I assumed, considering he and I had a Chronicles of Riddick staring contest before I pooed my pants and panic shot it with my AK...
I'm at that bit now.
I haven't played for about a week because of those fucking things.
We're an American company. It's really so surprising to hear American accents from the staff?
Hm. Alot of people here praise Metro. It looks damn interesting. I'll have to look into it fast. Looks great and actually seems to pose a challenge. Which reminds me, I have to play STALKER!
Who thought it was going to be a spiritual successor? Even I know they're completely different and I haven't played either.
OT: Well, this is one incredibly harsh review compared to what others have given it. I'm still going to check it out (eventually).
Oh, and for the love of God if a game's primary platform is the PC then can we please review it on that?
The review is missing the banner on the homepage.
Also the review seems to only focus on the bad. I haven't played Metro 2033 and don't plan on doing so, but i hear most of people who did liked it, and loads of other reviewers gave it good reviews weeks ago, so there is something fishy here.
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Guerrero awaiting games to test progress
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Wednesday's Cactus League opener cannot come soon enough for manager Don Mattingly, who is searching for a starting second baseman.
The Dodgers signed Cuban Alex Guerrero to a four-year, $28 million contract in October with hopes of him being their second baseman. But after a hamstring injury kept the former shortstop from playing second during winter ball, his ability to make the transition became questionable this spring.
Mattingly needs the live-game situations to know for sure.
"It's hard for us to tell, to be honest," Mattingly said Sunday. "Everything we've asked of Alex, he's been wonderful. This kid has worked and worked. But I don't think until we get these games going on and get at-bats under his belt that we'll start to kind of see what it's going to look like. So that's the objective, to get him on the field as much as possible."
Guerrero made the only two plays offered him during the team's intrasquad game, including turning a 5-4-3 double play with Yasiel Puig sprinting down the first-base line.
"From the beginning, we talked about him playing second; our guys in international scouting think he can do it," Mattingly said. "But with that we know he's got a lot on his plate right now. He's in a new county; he's trying to get adjusted to us, a new position and all new teammates. He's got a lot going on. We'll be patient with it, but we feel like he's going to do it.
"When someone comes with the right attitude and works like this, it gives you the best chance of success."


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As a healthcare IT zealot and wanna-be policy wonk, I find myself mired in acronyms, and surrounded (and indulged) by those who understand my rapid-fire Klingon-esque rants on BETOS and LOINC and HCPCS. The larger concepts of interoperability and meaningful use lose the forest for the trees of IHE standard definitions and specific quality measures. Have we lost sight of the vast majority of the healthcare consumers, and their level of understanding and awareness of those larger concepts? Could you explain HL7 ORUs or CCDs to your great-grandma?
I recently visited my 90 year-old grandparents, both remarkably healthy multiple cancer survivors who show no signs of slowing down, and have maintained enough mobility to continue bowling 3 times a week. After an evening of pinochle, my grandma asked me to please help her understand what it is that I DO for a living. We've had this conversation before.
"I'm a healthcare technology consultant, Grandma. I work with insurance companies and doctors to help them get all your information."
Puzzled look.
"When you go to the doctor, Grandma, do they write anything down on paper, or are they using a computer when they talk to you?"
"Oh, they're always on those computers! Tap-tap-tap. Every question I answer and they tap-tap-tap."
She illustrates by typing on her lap, and I confirm that she's a hunt-and-peck person. She stops only after I finish asking my next question.
"Do you have private insurance, or do you use the VA?"
"I have Blue Cross. Your grandpa uses the VA."
"How many doctors did you have to see for your blood infection?"
"FOUR! Sometimes two in one day!"
"Did they all have to ask you for your history?"
"No – they already had it, on their computer. They even knew about my mastectomy, 30 years ago. One corrected me on the date; I'd thought it was only 20 years ago."
"Well, Grandma, when you booked your appointment with the first doctor, their computer system automatically requested your medical records from your insurance company. And the insurance company automatically sent your records back to the computer. After the first doctor made notes on your visit, just after you walked out the door, the computer sent an updated copy of your medical records back to the insurance company, and it ordered the lab tests you needed before you went to the next doctor. Then, the lab automatically sent your results to the insurance company AND the doctor who ordered the tests."
"But the other doctors had the test results."
"Yes, ma'am. Each time you made an appointment with a new doctor, that doctor's computer requested your medical records from the insurance company, and the insurance company sent out the most recently updated information. It only takes a minute!"
"Goodness. So, do you build the computer programs that make all that work?"
Eyes wide. THIS impresses her.
Puzzled look again, so I quickly continue.
"But I make sure those computer programs can talk to each other, and that the insurance company can make sense out of what they're saying."
"Because if they couldn't talk to each other, I'd have to haul a suitcase from doctor to doctor with my chart?"
"Yes, ma'am. That's called 'interoperability'. There are new rules for how doctors' computers should talk to each other, and to the insurance companies. And I get to work with the insurance company to do other really cool stuff. I take a look at LOTS of people's medical records to find patterns that might help us catch diseases before they happen."
"And what's that called?"
"Clinical informatics. It's my favorite thing to do, because I get to study lots and lots and LOTS of information. That's called 'big data'."
"Sweetheart, you lost me with the computer words. But I'm just so happy you're happy!"
She hugs me and grins, and I finally feel like I've found the right way to talk about my passion: through use cases. Although, Grandma would call them stories.
And there you have it: the importance of interoperability and clinical data, through the eyes of The Greatest Generation. Check in next year for an update on whether my definitions stuck!


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Following the departure of former director of fundraising and comms Rachel Kirby-Rider to CSR agency Good Values, the charity has made Borromeo director of comms and promoted Lucy Chapman to director of fundraising from head of individual giving.
Borromeo, who previously headed up PR on an interim basis at UNICEF UK, said the decision to split the roles was "a recognition of the need for both comms and fundraising to be able to support the organisation".
With the charity's current six-year strategy finishing next year, she also pointed to the importance over the coming months of developing thinking for the future.
"In a 24/7 world we need to understand who our audiences are and where they're communicating," she said.
"We will start a new six-year plan next year and ultimately it is about making the biggest impact we can when it comes to reducing suicides and increasing access of support to people who are struggling to cope."
Borromeo, who in the new role has been leading comms efforts following the death of comedian Robin Williams, added that work would also continue on a brand revamp that took place in 2012.
"We did a lot of work to make the brand and the way we talk about our services as clear and accessible for people as possible, and though the revamp has been a success it's shown us there is much more to be done."


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U.S. Bank provides competitive, low rate loans and flexible payments for all types of new or used boats or other personal watercraft.
Take advantage of our competitive rates and payment plans and apply for a U.S. Bank Boat Loan today. To calculate your rate and monthly payment, enter the information below and select "Go".


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Suspend operations if it will prevent mishaps, Fleet Forces Command chief says.
The head of the U.S. Fleet Forces Command told naval officers on Wednesday to maintain operational safety even as they begin to execute and manage across-the-board budget cuts from sequestration.
Adm. Bill Gortney said it was the responsibility of officers "to assess if and when [their] command is approaching the limits of safe operation" and encouraged them to "exercise [their] authority to suspend operations to prevent mishaps."
"One hundred percent of fleet mishaps in the past six months have been a result of human error," Gortney said. "It is imperative that you keep your people focused on the tasks at hand and eliminate distractions from those things they are unable to influence, like the fiscal climate."
Gortney also emphasized that the possibility for civilian furloughs at Fleet Forces Command remained real and that sequestration would affect many elements in the service.
Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, wrote in an August 2012 paper that sequestration would force higher than normal cuts on the military's operations and maintenance budget because that money is usually spent in the same fiscal year it is appropriated. Military leaders have long argued that sequestration would affect money allocated for military equipment and repair.
In February, Gortney told the Fleet Forces Command that "the vast majority of deployments will be unaffected" in fiscal 2013 by budget sequestration, but noted that changes might be necessary. Already, fiscal uncertainty forced the Navy to postpone the deployment of a carrier strike group, and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus outlined other actions the service was taking to help manage the budget gap.


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