text:
Myst (series)
|Myst (series)
|Basic Information
|Cyan Worlds, Presto Studios, Ubisoft
|Brøderbund, Ubisoft
Myst is a franchise centered on a series of adventure video games. The first game in the series, Myst, was released in 1993 by brothers Rand and Robyn Miller and their video game company Cyan, Inc. Riven, the sequel to Myst, was released in 1997, and was followed by three more direct sequels: Myst III: Exile in 2001, Myst IV: Revelation in 2004, and Myst V: End of Ages in 2005. A spinoff featuring a multiplayer component, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, was released in 2003 and followed by two expansion packs.
Myst's story concerns an explorer named Atrus who has the ability to write books which serve as links to other worlds, known as Ages. This practice of creating linking books was practiced by an ancient civilization known as the D'ni, whose society crumbled after being ravaged by disease. The player takes the role of an unnamed person referred to as the Stranger and assists Atrus by traveling to other Ages and solving puzzles. Over the course of the series Atrus writes a new Age for the D'ni survivors to live on, and players of the games set the course the civilization will follow.
After producing award-winning games for children, the Millers decided their next project would be for adults. Drawing on childhood stories, the brothers spent months designing the Ages players would investigate. The name Myst came from Jules Verne's novel The Mysterious Island. After Riven was released, Robyn left Cyan to pursue other projects and Cyan began developing Uru; developers Presto Studios and Ubisoft created Exile and Revelation before Cyan returned to complete the series with End of Ages. Myst and its sequels were critical and commercial successes, selling more than twelve million copies; the games drove sales of personal computers and CD-ROM drives, as well as attracting casual gamers with its nonviolent gameplay. The video games' success has led to three published novels in addition to soundtracks, a comic series, television and movie pitches, and a feature film adaptation of the second novel, The Book of Ti'ana, that is currently in development.
Story[edit | edit source]
Myst's story begins with the arrival of a people known as the D'ni on Earth, more than 10,000 years ago. The D'ni (pronounced Template:IPA-en) are descendants of an ancient race who used a special skill to create books which serve as portals to the worlds they describe, known as Ages. The D'ni build a great city and thriving civilization in underground caverns. A woman from the surface, Anna, stumbled upon the D'ni civilization. Learning the D'ni language, Anna becomes known as Ti'ana and marries a D'ni named Aitrus; the couple have a son named Gehn. Soon after, D'ni is ravaged by a plague created by a man named A'Gaeris. Aitrus sacrifices himself to save his wife and child, killing A'Gaeris while Ti'ana and Gehn escape to the surface as the D'ni civilization falls.[1]
Ti'ana cares for Gehn until he runs away as a teenager, learning the D'ni Art of writing linking books. Ti'ana also cares for Gehn's son, Atrus, until Gehn arrives to teach Atrus the Art. Atrus realizes that his father is reckless and power-hungry, and with the help of Ti'ana and a young woman, Catherine, Atrus traps Gehn on his Age of Riven with no linking books. Atrus and Catherine marry and have two children, Sirrus and Achenar. The brothers grow greedy and after plundering their father's Ages they trap Catherine on Riven. When Atrus returns to investigate, the brothers strand him in a D'ni cavern before they themselves are trapped by special "prison" books. Through the help of a Stranger, Atrus is freed and sends his benefactor to Riven to retrieve Catherine from the clutches of Gehn.[1] Sirrus and Achenar are punished for their crimes by being imprisoned in separate Ages until they reform.[2]
Atrus writes a new Age called Releeshahn for the D'ni survivors to rebuild their civilization as he and Catherine settle back on Earth, raising a daughter named Yeesha. As Atrus prepares to take the Stranger to Releeshahn, a mysterious man named Saavedro appears and steals the Releeshahn Linking Book. The Stranger follows Saavedro through several Ages (which were used to train Sirrus and Achenar in the art of writing Ages), before finally recovering the book. Ten years later, Atrus asks for the Stranger's help in determining if his sons have repented after their lengthy imprisonment; the Stranger saves Yeesha from Sirrus' machinations, but Sirrus and a repentant Achenar are killed. D'ni is not fully restored until the creatures the D'ni enslaved, known as the Bahro, are freed.
Games[edit | edit source]
|Release year
|Cyan, Inc.
|Mac OS, Saturn, Windows, Jaguar CD, 3DO, CD-i, PlayStation, AmigaOS, PSP, Nintendo DS, iPhone
|The first game in the Myst series was the eponymous Myst, developed by Cyan, Inc. and Brøderbund. Originally released in 1993 for Macintosh and PC platforms, the game was later ported or remade for the Saturn, Windows, Jaguar CD, 3DO, CD-i, PlayStation, AmigaOS, PSP, Nintendo DS and iPhone. In Myst, players travel across Ages using a point-and-click interface, using the mouse to interact with puzzle objects such as switches or gears.[3]
|Cyan, Inc.
|Mac OS/Windows, Saturn, PlayStation, Pocket PC
|Flush with the success of Myst, Cyan moved to a new office and began work on Riven, which was released in 1997. Like Myst, Riven was a commercial and critical success, selling more than 4.5 million units.[4]
|Myst III: Exile
|Presto Studios
|Mac OS/Windows, Xbox, PlayStation 2
|The third game of the series, Myst III: Exile, was developed by Presto Studios and published by Ubisoft in 2001. Exile continued with the frame-based method of player movement, but used a game engine to allow a 360-degree field of view from any point.[5] Exile was a commercial success (though not to the extent of Myst or Riven),[6] selling millions of units.
|Uru: Ages Beyond Myst
|Cyan Worlds
|Uru: Ages Beyond Myst was a departure from the previous games in the series, featuring graphics rendered in realtime and a third-person camera. Through avatar customization, players could create their own character to solve puzzles and uncover story information.[7] Uru was to ship with a massively multiplayer online portion, Uru Live, but the initial release was canceled shortly before the single-player aspect was released. Uru Live was rereleased in several incarnations, being canceled each time. Though initially well-received, Uru was considered a financial disappointment. Its expansion packs and originality earned the title a cult following.[8]
|Myst IV: Revelation
|Mac OS X/Windows, Xbox
|Myst IV: Revelation was produced entirely by Ubisoft, and marked a return to the prerendered graphics of earlier Myst titles.[9] Since the studio had little experience with such games, Ubisoft hired new employees who had experience in the field.[10] The game was seen as an improvement over Uru,[11][12] and was favorably received upon release.
|Myst V: End of Ages
|Cyan Worlds
|Mac OS X/Windows
|Cyan returned to develop Myst V: End of Ages, billed as the final game in the series.[13] As with Uru, End of Ages featured graphics rendered in realtime, allowing uninhibited player movement. Three control methods were offered to players, including schemes similar to those used in Myst, Exile and Uru.[14] The game was judged a fitting end to the series, though a lack of financial backing for new, non-Myst projects nearly caused Cyan to shut down before the release of the game.[15]
Development[edit | edit source]
Myst was originally conceptualized by brothers Rand and Robyn Miller. The Millers had created fictional worlds and stories as young children, influenced by the works of authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien, Robert A. Heinlein, and Isaac Asimov.[16] They formed a video game company together called Cyan, Inc.; their first game, called The Manhole, won the Software Publishers Association award in 1988 for best use of the digital medium. Cyan produced other games, aimed at children; the Millers eventually decided their next project would be made for adults.[17]
The brothers spent months designing the Ages comprising the game,[18] which were influenced by earlier whimsical "worlds" Cyan had made for children's games.[19] The game's name, as well as the overall solitary and mysterious atmosphere of the island, was inspired by the book The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne.[17] Robyn's unfinished novel, Dunnyhut, influenced aspects of Myst's story,[20] which was developed bit by bit as the brothers conceptualized the various worlds.[20] As development progressed, the Millers realized that they would need to have even more story and history than would be revealed in the game itself.[19] Realizing that fans would enjoy getting a deeper look at the story not in the games, the Millers produced a rough draft of what would become a novel, Myst: The Book of Atrus.[20]
After the enormous response to Myst, work quickly began on the next Myst game. Cyan moved from their cramped garage to a new office and hired additional programmers, designers, and artists.[21] The game was to ship in late 1996, but the release was pushed back a year.[22] Development costs were between $5 and $10 million, many times Myst's budget.[23] After the release of Riven, Robyn Miller left the company to pursue other projects, while Rand stayed behind to work on a Myst and Riven franchise.[24]
While Rand Miller stated Cyan would not make another sequel to Myst, Mattel (then the owner of the Myst and Riven franchise) offered the task of developing a sequel to several video game companies who created detailed story proposals and technology demonstrations.[25] Presto Studios, makers of the Journeyman Project adventure games, was hired to develop Myst III. Presto spent millions developing the game and used the studio's entire staff to complete the project, which took two and a half years to develop.[25] Soon after Myst III: Exile was released, Presto was shut down,[26] and Exile publisher Ubisoft developed the sequel, Myst IV: Revelation, internally.[27] Meanwhile Cyan produced the spinoff title Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, which included an aborted multiplayer component allowing players to cooperatively solve puzzles.
Cyan returned to produce what was billed as the final game in the series,[13] discarding live action sequences embedded in prerendered graphics for a world rendered in realtime. The actors' faces were turned into textures and mapped onto digital characters, with the actor's actions synchronized by motion capture. Shortly before release, Cyan closed down development,[28] although this did not impact the release of the game; the company was able to rehire its employees a few weeks later, and has continued work on non-Myst projects[13] and an attempted resurrection of Uru's multiplayer component, Myst Online.
Among the detailed elements of the Myst universe Cyan created was the language and culture of the D'ni. The civilization's numbers and writing first appeared in Riven, and were important to solving some of the game's puzzles.[29] The D'ni language was the language presented in various games and novels of the Myst franchise, created by Richard A. Watson. Several online D'ni dictionaries have been developed as part of the ongoing fan-based culture associated with the game.[30]
Music[edit | edit source]
The music for each game in the Myst series has fallen to various composers. Originally, the Millers believed that any music or sound besides ambient noise would distract the player from the game and ruin the sense of reality; Myst, therefore, was to have no music at all. A sound test eventually persuaded the developers that music heightened the sense of immersion rather than lessening it, and as such Robyn Miller composed 40 minutes of synthesized music for the game.[18] He would also produce the music for Riven, which featured leitmotifs for each of the main characters. Virgin Records bought the rights to the music and produced the soundtracks,[31] which were released in 1998.
For Myst III: Exile and Myst IV: Revelation, composer Jack Wall created the music, developing a more active musical style different from Miller's ambient themes. Wall looked at the increasing complexity of games as an opportunity to give players a soundtrack with as much force as a movie score,[32] and tried to create a distinctive sound that was still recognizable as Myst music.[33] In Revelation, Wall adapted the themes for the recurring characters of Myst,[34] and collaborated with Peter Gabriel, who provided a song to the game as well as voicework.[35]
The music for Uru: Ages Beyond Myst and Myst V: End of Ages was composed by Tim Larkin, who had gotten involved in the series doing sound design for Riven.[36] Larkin stepped away from his background as a jazz composer and musician to create music with less structure and without a definite beginning and end.[37] Larkin created different music depending on the location, giving each setting and Age a distinctive tone.[36] For End of Ages, Larkin was unable to afford a full orchestra to perform his score, so he combined individual instrumentation with an array of synthesizers.[38]
Adaptations[edit | edit source]
Rand and Robyn Miller both wanted to develop Myst's back-story. After the success of Myst, publisher Hyperion signed a three-book, US$1 million deal with the brothers. David Wingrove worked from the Miller brothers' story outlines. The first three books, entitled Myst: The Book of Atrus, Myst: The Book of Ti'ana, and Myst: The Book of D'ni, were released in 1995, 1996, and 1997, respectively.[39] The books were later packaged together as The Myst Reader. A fourth novel, entitled Myst: The Book of Marrim, is planned.
Cyan partnered with Dark Horse Comics in 1993 to release a limited four-part comic series called Myst: The Book of Black Ships. The series would have focused on Atrus and his young sons, taking place before the events of Myst. The first issue was released on September 3, 1997,[40] but further books were canceled after Cyan decided the first issue did not live up to expectations.[39] Another comic, Myst #0: Passages, was later released online.[39]
After the Myst series' success, various proposals for films and television series based on the franchise were planned or rumored.[29] The Sci Fi Channel announced in 2002 that a TV miniseries would be produced based on Myst, to be produced by Mandalay Television Pictures in association with Columbia TriStar Domestic Television and Cyan,[41] but never materialized. According to Rand Miller, none of the various proposals met Cyan's approval, or were too formulaic or silly.[42] Independent filmmakers Patrick McIntire and Adrian Vanderbosch, themselves Myst fans, took it upon themselves to produce a motion picture based on the story revealed in the Myst novels. In 2006, the filmmakers sent a DVD proposal to Cyan. The developers gave the filmmakers permission to begin production.[43] The film is based on the novel Myst: The Book of Ti'ana.[44]
Reception and impact[edit | edit source]
|Game Rankings[46]
|Myst III: Exile
|Uru: Ages Beyond Myst
|Myst IV: Revelation
|Myst V: End of Ages
Overall, the Myst series has been commercially and critically successful. Rand and Robyn Miller were expecting Myst to perform as well as previous Cyan titles, making enough money to fund the next project.[47] Instead, Myst sold more than six million units, becoming the top-selling PC game of all time until The Sims surpassed its sales in 2002.[48] The first three games in the series have sold more than twelve million copies.
1UP.com writer Jeremy Parish noted that there have been two main opinions of Myst's slow, puzzle-based gameplay; "Fans consider Myst an elegant, intelligent game for grown-ups, while detractors call it a soulless stroll through a digital museum, more art than game."[49] Game industry executives were confused by Myst's success, not understanding how an "interactive slide show" turned out to be a huge hit. Online magazine writer Russell Pitts of The Escapist called Myst "unlike anything that had come before, weaving video almost seamlessly into a beautifully rendered world, presenting a captivating landscape filled with puzzles and mystery. In a game market dominated by Doom clones and simulators, Myst took us by the hand and showed us the future of gaming. It took almost a decade for anyone to follow its lead."[50] Critics from Wired and Salon considered the games approaching the level of art,[51][52] while authors Henry Jenkins and Lev Manovich pointed out the series as exemplifying the promise of new media to create unseen art forms.[53][54]
The series caused a major trend shift in the adventure game genre. Unlike previous games, Myst attempted to keep players immersed in the world by removing all information not associated with the fictional world itself — no explanatory text, inventory, or score counters.[55] Myst has also been cited as the reason for the decline of the adventure game genre; eager to capitalize on Myst's success, publishers churned out mediocre Myst clones, which flooded the market.[56] By Exile's release, games like Myst were considered to be an "antiquated" form of gaming by some critics.[57]
Myst's effects extended to those who played the games and technology. The title was widely credited as one of the first games to appeal not just to hardcore gamers but to casual players and demographics that generally did not play games, such as women.[24] Myst's lack of conventional game elements — violence, dying, and failure — appealed to nongamers and those contemplating buying a computer.[58] The Millers' decision to develop Myst for the nascent CD-ROM format helped boost interest and adoption of disc drives.[59]
The game inspired a CD parody game entitled Pyst, written by comedian Peter Bergman and featured John Goodman in video scenes.[60] Players traveled across the spoiled island of Myst after millions of players walked over it, with the parody game poking fun at elements of the prototype.[61]
Fan conventions[edit | edit source]
The game has spawned annual fan conventions around the world. Mysterium has been held since 2000, which grew out of the plans of a small group of fans who wanted to meet face to face. Word spread, and eventually approximately 200 people attended the meeting in Spokane, Washington, which was held at the headquarters of Cyan Worlds, developers of the game. Subsequent conventions have been more formally planned, involving presentations and live music.[62] Similar to Mysterium, Mystralia is a gathering for Australia and New Zealand and has been held since 2005.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Staff (2004-11-01). 'Myst IV: Revelation': A Family Affair. Apple Inc. Retrieved on 2008-11-09 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "apple-timeline" defined multiple times with different content
- ↑ Castro, Juan (2004-10-04). Myst IV Revelation Review; Is the latest adventure worth the trip?. IGN. Retrieved on 2007-12-19
- ↑ Cyan, Inc (1993). Myst User Manual. "Manipulating Objects" (Windows version ed.). Brøderbund. pp. 5–6.
- ↑ Pham, Alex (2001-05-17). "Game Design; Adding Texture, Detail to Miller Brothers' Legacy". p. T4.
- ↑ Presto Studios (2001). Myst III: Exile - User's Manual. "Playing the Game" (PC/Mac ed.). Ubisoft. p. 4.
- ↑ Odelius, Dwight (2004-01-08). "Game is magical and immersive - and nonviolent". Houston Chronicle: p. 3.
- ↑ Krause, Staci (2003-12-04). Uru: Ages Beyond Myst Review (page 1). IGN. Retrieved on 2008-10-29
- ↑ Jenkins, David (2005-09-05). Report: Cyan Worlds Slims To 'Skeleton Crew'. Gamasutra. Retrieved on 2008-11-04
- ↑ Adams, Dan (2004-05-12). E3 2004: Myst IV: Revelations. IGN. Retrieved on 2008-07-02
- ↑ Lord, Geneviève (2005-04-21). Postmortem: Myst IV: Revelation. Gamasutra. Retrieved on 2007-09-14
- ↑ Staff (2004-11-19). PC Reviews: Myst IV Revelation. Computer and Video Games. Retrieved on 2008-06-11
- ↑ Parish, Jeremy (2004-10-05). Reviews: Myst IV: Revelation - Finally, it's cool to like Myst again. 1UP.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-19
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Sowa, Tom (2005-01-12). "Cyan Worlds ends one story, ponders new one". The Spokesman-Review: p. A8.
- ↑ Chu, Karen (2005-09-25). Myst V: End of Ages (PC). 1UP.com. Retrieved on 2008-07-01
- ↑ Fahey, Rob (2005-09-30). Myst developer Cyan Worlds is back from the brink. GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved on 2008-06-17
- ↑ Gardner, Fran (1995-11-07). "Book by Myst Brothers Unveils Atrus' world before the game". The Oregonian: p. E1.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Carroll, John (August 1994). "Guerrillas in the Myst". Wired 2 (8). http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.08/myst_pr.html.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Miller, Rand and Robyn; Cyan. (1993) (QuickTime movie). The Making of Myst. [CR-RPM]. Cyan, Inc./Brøderbund.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Stern, Gloria (1994-08-23). Through the Myst. WorldVillage.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-02
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Lovece, Frank (1995-11-26). "Read 'Myst'y for Me". Newsday: p. 28.
- ↑ Miller Bros., Cyan, &c. (1997). The Making of Riven: The Sequel to Myst. [CD-ROM]. Cyan/Brøderbund.
- ↑ Carroll, John (September 1997). "(D)Riven". Wired 5 (9): 1–15. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.09/riven.html.
- ↑ Takashi, Dean (1997-08-26). "Can Myst's Sequel Live Up to Expectations?". The Wall Street Journal.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Lillington, Karen (1998-03-02). 'Myst' partnership is riven. Salon. Retrieved on 2008-10-10
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Uhler, Greg (October 2001). "Presto Studios' Myst III: Exile". Game Developer 8 (10): 40–47.
- ↑ Saladino, Michael (December 2002). "And presto... it's gone!". Game Developer 9 (12): 44–49.
- ↑ Castro, Juan (2004-04-05). Myst IV Announced. IGN. Retrieved on 2008-06-12
- ↑ Thorson, Thor (2005-09-06). Cyan Worlds slashes staff, suspends development. GameSpot. Retrieved on 2008-06-21
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 Ficara, Ken (1997-10-31). "Breathtaking Sequel to 'Myst' Lacks Its Sense of Exploration". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB878319987572748000.html?mod=googlewsj. Retrieved 2007-12-08.
- ↑ Pearce, Celia (2006). "Productive Play: Game Culture From the Bottom Up". Games and Culture 1 (17): 17. doi:10.1177/1555412005281418. http://gac.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/1/1/17.
- ↑ Thomas, David (1998-05-08). "Mastermind of Myst, Riven also has a talent for music". The Denver Post.
- ↑ Wall, Jack (2002-01-11). Music for Myst III: Exile - The Evolution of a Videogame Soundtrack (page 1). Gamasutra. Retrieved on 2008-06-02
- ↑ Pham, Alex (2001-05-17). "Game Design; Adding Texture, Detail to Miller Brothers' Legacy". Los Angeles Times: p. T4.
- ↑ Miller, Jennifer. Interview with Jack Wall - Myst IV Composer. Just Adventure. Retrieved on 2008-06-12
- ↑ Ubisoft (2004-08-22). "Myst IV Revelation Features Original Peter Gabriel Song and Voice Talent". Business Wire.
- ↑ 36.0 36.1 Miller, Jennifer. Interview with Tim Larkin. Just Adventure. Retrieved on 2008-10-19
- ↑ Gutoff, Bija. Tim Larkin: Composing Myst's Musical World (page 3). Apple, Inc. Retrieved on 2008-09-12
- ↑ Staff (2005-09-01). Interview with Myst V audio director and composer Tim Larkin. Music4Games. Retrieved on 2008-11-01
- ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 Cook, Brad (2001-04-01). The Lost Ages: Myst 3 Revealed (page 2). Apple, Inc. Retrieved on 2008-06-03
- ↑ Profiles: Myst: The Book of Black Ships #1 (of 4). Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved on 2008-06-29
- ↑ NBC Universal (2002-04-02). "SCI FI Channel Announces Ambitious New Slate of Original Movies and Miniseries". Sci Fi Channel.
- ↑ Sowa, Tom (2008-05-10). "Avoiding Hollywood, Cyan Worlds allows two fans to develop a Myst movie". The Spokesman-Review. http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/txt/archive/?postID=5293. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
- ↑ Crigger, Lara. 'Myst' Opportunity. 1UP.com. Retrieved on 2008-11-15
- ↑ Mysteria Film Group (2008-02-01). ""Defining Cyan's Involvement"". Press release. http://mystmovie.com/defining-cyans-involvement/. Retrieved 2008-02-02.
- ↑ Riven, Exile, Revelation, End of Ages, and URU on Metacritic. Accessed on October 27, 2008. All scores for Windows PC versions of games.
- ↑ Myst, Riven, Exile, Revelation, End of Ages, and URU on Game Rankings. Accessed on October 27, 2008. All scores for Windows PC versions of games.
- ↑ Miller, Robyn (2007). "The Secret History of 'Myst'". Make 8 (1): 54–61.
- ↑ Walker, Trey (2002-03-22). The Sims overtakes Myst. GameSpot. Retrieved on 2008-03-17
- ↑ Myst IV: Revelation Review. 1UP.com. Retrieved on 2008-11-18
- ↑ Pitts, Russell (2008-07-08). A Three-Year History of Gaming. The Escapist. Retrieved on 2008-11-19
- ↑ Miller, Laura (1997-11-06). Riven Rapt. Salon. Retrieved on 2008-04-07
- ↑ Rothstein, Edward (1994-12-04). "A New Art Form May Arise From the 'Myst'". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F07E7DD1030F937A35751C1A962958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
- ↑ Jenkins, Henry; Tara McPherson, Jane Shattuc (2002). Hop on Pop: The Politics and Pleasures of Popular Culture. Duke University Press. p. 494. ISBN 0822327376.
- ↑ Manovich, Lev (2002). The Language of New Media. MIT Press. p. 244. ISBN 0262632551.
- ↑ Wolf, Mark (2007). The Video Game Explosion: A History from Pong to Playstation and Beyond. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 88–90. ISBN 031333868X.
- ↑ Staff (2005-01-12). The Essential 50 Part 33: Myst. 1UP.com. Retrieved on 2008-11-18
- ↑ Hamilton, Anita (2004-08-09). "Secrets of The New Myst". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,994827,00.html. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
- ↑ Staff. History of Myst; 10 years and counting. Tiscali.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-11-09
- ↑ Staff (2000-08-01). RC Retroview: Myst. IGN. Retrieved on 2008-04-21
- ↑ Schwartz, Bruce (1996-10-10). "Seeing through the 'Myst'-tique 'Pyst' pokes fun at hit CD-ROM". USA Today.
- ↑ Eng, Paul M (1996-10-21). "Myst Gets Dissed on CD-ROM". BusinessWeek.
- ↑ "Myst"ified fans find parity in fantastic worlds, Deseret Morning News, Scott Iwasaki, 28 August 2006
External links[edit | edit source]


text:
Victorian and Gay
On at The Hope Theatre (London) until 31st Dec 2015
Another Soup are a lovely, friendly company, with a good ethos and warm heart, and I so wanted to love 'Victorian and Gay' in the same way I had their previous production 'Lovett and Todd' (a musical based on Sweeney Todd on at The Kings Head), however, despite it being an enjoyable evening, the show sadly falls just short compared to Another Soups's previous accolade of theatre awards.
The show describes itself as 'Riotous, bawdy, and raucous' and it eventually lived up to this in moments towards the end of the 90 minute show; Lottie Davies' boisterous Mrs. Winterbottom proving to be a huge hit with the audience, but the first part of the show felt a little underpowered and almost awkward at times. I don't know if the cast were nervous as it was Press Night, but initial moments of their audience interaction felt forced and insecure. The Hope Theatre is a small venue, and the show is performed in the round meaning the cast are, literally as well as metaphorically, on top of the audience, so there's nowhere to hide and sadly their energy didn't quite hit the mark until half way through the show.
Thankfully the second half really was charming and they had totally won me over by the end. The show takes on an alternative festive style, taking the audience on a liquor infused journey through Christmas classic tales from Dickens to the Bronte' Sisters, to a voyeuristic visit into the house of Queen Elizabeth and Albert. Monty Jones shines throughout as Gideon, and this pairing of Jones multi-rolling as Albert and Davies as Queen Elizabeth is one of the highlights of the show.
The piece also explores homosexual relationships in the Victorian times and has some very touching and truthful moments in its uncovering of the protagonist's "bawdiest secret" which juxtapose wonderfully with the farcical, jovial nature of the majority of the show.
Another Soup are well versed in audience interaction, and are proud of their signature style of 'Brechtian Immersion'; the nativity towards the end of 'Victorian and Gay' was a particular delight showing the company's capability and had the entire audience grinning from ear to ear.
Perhaps my expectations for 'Victorian and Gay' were too high, and I have no doubt this show will improve with age… or I at least hope it will. Regardless, it is by no means a 'Bah Humbug' of a show, but a playful, enjoyable evening and I certainly left feeling more stuffed with Christmas spirit than I had on entering the building.
Booking: http://www.thehopetheatre.com/productions/victorian-and-gay/
© Elle Dillon Reams 2015

subset: commoncrawl


text:
..and some random ramblings
Spring reminds me of an impressionist painting, as little dots of color start appearing here and there. Seems the color around me is mostly yellow at the moment, as the rabbits have eaten all my purple crocus. I wonder if the purple ones have a sweeter flavor..maybe the yellow is too tart?
Been listening to an old favorite. Debussy seems to go perfectly with Spring and Impressionism.
My little chipmunk friend, Cheeky, has returned. She waits by the deck door most mornings for her handful of peanuts. Sometimes she follows me out to the bird feeder in hopes of catching a few sunflower seeds that spill on the ground.
Amazing how many seeds she can squeeze into those cheeks of hers.
Enjoying these longer days and loving the golden hour light through my dirty windows.
Still avoiding much of the political news on television and social media. Scary and depressing.
Thankful for those little empty spaces in time..
It's Ours
there is always that space there
just before they get to us
that space
that fine relaxer
the breather
while say
flopping on a bed
thinking of nothing
or say
pouring a glass of water from the
while entranced by
gentle pure
it's worth
centuries of
just to scratch your neck
while looking out the window at
a bare branch
that space
before they get to us
when they do
they won't
get it all
– Charles Bukowski
I have loved the last two books I've read recently-
"My Name is Lucy Barton" by Elizabeth Strout
"All the Broken Things" by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer
Just started "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" by Annie Dillard
Perfect timing as it's an exploration on foot in a region of Virginia and we will be heading there and beyond in a couple weeks.
Excited to meet a photographer friend and his family from Scotland this weekend. They will be visiting Boston for a few days. Been following his work on Flickr for a few years now. I find it pretty amazing to think of all the wonderful people – photographers, writers, artists – I've met through photography. An incredible, supportive and generous community.
So I've rambled enough for now…time to catch up with all of you.
Wishing you a wonderful rest of the week.


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The Interior Fragrance Specially Made for you! Bella Scents Lifestyle set to Launch the New 'Parfum Collection' | Sunday, June 18th
Bella Scents Lifestyle is an interior fragrance brand created with you in mind!
Featuring a wide variety of exquisite fragrances, Bella Scents Lifestyle adds a final touch of elegance to any room with its luxury scented candles, reed diffusers, burning oils and room sprays.
The fragrance brand allows you to create a style statement either in your home, hotel or workspace with alluring scents that capture the senses every time you walk through the door.
Available in 12 sophisticated fragrances, the new 'Parfum Collection' evokes an aroma of long-lasting memories from perfectly blended rich floral, fruity and spicy notes. These scent notes include Vanilla, Sambac Jasmine, Mandarin, Oranges, Mangoes, Violet, Patchouli, Lemongrass, Coriander and more.
Date: Sunday, June 18th, 2017
Time: 1.00 pm
Venue: The White Space, 58, Raymond Njoku, Off Awolowo Road, Ikoyi.
The Parfum collection includes Sensual, For Him, Hypnotic, Innocence, Indulgence, Mango Madness, Pop Champagne, Luscious Vanilla, Seductive Violet, Le Grass & Ginger, Bubble Gum and Marshmallow.
All items in this collection are housed in elegant and attractively designed vessels suitable for keepsakes and table displays once the scent is finished.
RSVP: [email protected]
For Information please visit: www.bellascentslifestyle.com
Sponsored Content


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It's overwhelming when you sit down to consider your options in the digital world. To ensure you make the correct decision you have to invest hours and hours into research. We can help you fast track the process by picking our brains and using our skills to help you craft a powerful digital strategy.
BTown Web is here to help you sell your products online. We can walk you through the different eCommerce options available and help you make the right technology choice for your company. Take a look below at some of our recent projects and if you want to learn more, contact us for a free consultation!
BTown Web built ContentRunner.com a writing marketplace for connecting users and writers for the creation of unique written content. The project started in January of 2013 and continues to this day - it was a huge undertaking!
HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is the basic markup language for creating websites. Rather than just sending plain text to a server, which would then be viewed as plain text on a website, HTML allows us to annotate website content so that it can be interpreted as headings, paragraphs, links, images and more.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) allows us to add styling to web content. We use CSS to create basic styles like font color or to create spacing as well as more advanced styles like text animations. CSS works hand-in-hand with HTML to not only display content on your site, but to also make that content visually appealing.
PHP is a server-side scripting language that we use for web development. Using PHP, we are able to communicate with a server to dynamically pull information and create a more interactive experience for users.
JavaScript (JS) is a client-side programming language that, along with HTML and CSS, is a standard among almost all websites. We use JavaScript to create effects what would not otherwise be possible using only HTML and CSS.
Liquid is an open-source template language that was created by Shopify. It is used on all Shopify stores and allows us to load dynamic content similarly to PHP.
Laravel is an open-source PHP framework that was created for the development of web applications. It has become one of the most popular PHP frameworks and it is the framework we use when building our web applications like Content Runner.
Stripe integrates with your website using developer-friendly APIs that make enabling payment processing as easy as possible. They also provide Stripe checkout which is a simple embed script that allows you to start taking payments without having to do any coding.
Heartland is a popular payment processor that prides themselves on security. It will also easily integrate with WooCommerce using their WooCommerce SecureSubmit Gateway plugin.
We pride ourselves on excellent customer service, but then again every company says that right?
Talk to our clients to get a 3rd party perspective on how we serve our customers.Request References
We worked with BTownWeb on a multi-month project to migrate complex custom e-commerce flows from Solidus to Shopify. They were outstanding in all phases of the project. The lead engineer that worked with us was utterly professional, wrote great, maintainable code, and was tremendously helpful when the inevitable surprises came up. He had a comprehensive knowledge of the Shopify API and was aware not just of the possible solutions to our problems, but of the hidden pitfalls that could easily have derailed us. BTownWeb delivered on-time, on-budget, and on-quality, and they would be my first call if we need additional help with Shopify.
The Btown team has been everything I hoped they would be: experts at Shopify, competent in web development overall, easy to work with, responsive, and just all around pros. I'd hire them again in a minute. In fact, I already have. I now work with them on an on-going basic.
Hire them.
Working with Matt and BTown Web was a truly amazing experience. We were doing a complete redesign of our Shopify Plus store (healthcare-manager.com) and BTown Web helped us from start to finish.
We have more work to be done since we've been growing (in large part from BTown's help) and we're going to have help us with future custom features for our site. We highly recommend them.
There are not enough characters in this space to express the gratitude we have for Larry at Btownweb. He has become like a friend… In fact, just got off the phone and my husband said, "what a great help he has been to us [in such a short amount of time and at the spur of the moment]!" He has gone above and beyond and did everything we asked for and even noticed little details we hadn't thought about for what our site could use. Thank you so much for your service and support…. We will DEFINITELY be back!
For more than half a year, I've worked directly with Andrew at Btown. Hands-down, Andrew has been an invaluable asset for our company. He's extremely knowledgeable, work is top grade, and the turn-around is amazing. I would highly recommend Btown for UX and back-end work in Shopify.
BTownWeb's strongest suit is that they are small, nimble, and agile. They are willing to work with you to develop the right solution for your business. They were very responsive from start to finish, even when a lot of hand-holding was necessary. They took responsibility for their work all the way through the end and was always available to solve issues.
I would definitely work with them again.
From the initial conversations to the final decision BTown Web was a cut above. They were low pressure, flexible and capable – a combination we find rare and enjoyable in a business relationship. They were also completely transparent both in their capabilities and in their input on our requests which always let us know exactly where things stood. It was just as you want a consultant experience to be, consistent, confident, capable and flexible.
In the end, they helped us get the site we wanted, and helped our team without reservation which is refreshing in an age where some want to keep the "magic" of web design to themselves.
The more I use SS the happier I am. Love the ease of sales reports info at my fingertips. I've never had that before. Plus today I had a order from Europe and the customs form was complete populated with the order content. Yay! I've been needing this in my life so very much but didn't know it.
I also had some time to brows your articles on FB. Your passion for what you do is contagious and that's such a compelling quality in a business owner. I feel really lucky that I opened your email that got me on board. I look forward to exploring my little micro businesses potential over time. I had no idea so much great stuff was out there in a non threatening accessible format, i.e. Shipstation and Mailchimp.
Domain Holdings Group has been working with Chad and his team (mainly Larry and Matt) for at least 3 years. It's been a great pleasure working with them on several projects such as online marketing, web design, and database development. From helping us with our digital marketing strategy, building a website or a database, or to troubleshooting, BTownWeb has always provided us with great knowledge, professional manners, and quick turnaround time.
BTown Web is a lean, mean web developing machine. They've successfully completed several digital projects for us on-time, on-budget and have become a go-to web and SEO resource for us and our clients.
I called Chad with Btownweb.com when my other website designer skipped town and left me in a lurch. He and his staff were able to attend to the damages after hours and I was up and running that night.


text: Mars Express, ESA's first mission to Mars, has been producing stunning results since its first instrument was switched on. The significance of even this very first data became apparent at the press conference on 23 January 2004, where it was revealed that the OMEGA instrument had confirmed the presence of water ice on Mars. Ths information was confirmed by another instrument on Mars Express, the PFS, a high-resolution spectrometer of unprecedent accuracy. Spectacular 3D images of Mars surface produced by another instrument, the High resolution stereocamera, were also shown at the event. Seven minutes A-roll with split audio (english commentary/international sound) adn is complimented by a B -roll with clean international sound


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On 26th November Faculty of Law and Administration of the UW organizes an international conference called "The EU without the UK. Implications and Legal Consequences of Brexit".
In the conference scholars from the University of Warsaw as well as other European universities will be speaking about particular issues concerning, among others:
- legal and institutional implications of Brexit,
- external legal and political implications for the UK and the European Union,
- legal and business implications of Brexit for the United Kingdom and the European Union.
The conference will be open by Professor Tomasz Giaro, dean of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the UW. Professor Jan Zielonka from the University of Oxford will give the keynote speech.
In order to take part one ought to register.
Detailed programme of the conference.
The event will take place on 26th November in the Old Library Aula on the UW Main Campus (Krakowski Przedmieście 26/28).


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Primary targets, including biodiversity features such as species, habitats and ecological process, have been decided with a process of internal and external stakeholder consultations, alignment to the SSME, Coral Triangle and WWF Global Programme Frameworks.
The Peninsular Malaysia Seas Programme is based in WWF-Malaysia's Petaling Jaya Office and has projects in Terengganu and Malacca states. The Terengganu projects focus on green turtles and painted terrapins at two sites (Ma'Daerah and Setiu respectively). The Malacca project focuses on hawksbill turtles on several nesting beaches in the state. Both projects analyze turtle nesting trends, bycatch trends, and foraging areas and migratory routes using satellite tagging and on-board fisheries observer programmes. A national level sustainable fisheries programme is focused on changing fisheries policy through a combined approach of direct management agency action, engagement with the private sector and consumer awareness.
The Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion Programme is based in WWF-Malaysia's Kota Kinabalu Office and has field projects in Kudat-Banggi Priority Conservation Area (PCA) and the Semporna PCA. In both PCAs, WWF-Malaysia works with local communities, local and state government agencies and the private sector to improve management of important and threatened ecosystems and species. A Sabah-wide Live Reef Fish Trade Programme works with fishermen and traders to improve the sustainability of the industry.


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Time to play catch up!
Wow we're behind! It's been a long time since we've posted anything here, I'm realizing, but that's because carrying out China Exchange was exceptionally time-consuming last year, especially with new DOE regulations regarding international travel and a great deal of confusion within the system about who exactly our new superintendent was! Paperwork in a public school is definitely no joke. Yikes.
Anyway, we're still here, and although we may have forgotten to post to our adoring public, China Exchange has been progressing in real life as usual. Our 2013 participants have already begun working towards their fundraising goals and are planning Game Night for December 2013. Over the next month, I'll begin the project of posting old pictures and journal-entries from the 2012 Exchange for your enjoyment. Stay tuned.


text: With help from a rapid manufacturing firm, Echo Laboratories Inc. has introduced a combined upright and inverted microscope aimed at reducing lab equipment costs. Proto Labs Inc. of Maple Plain, Minn., recognized Echo Laboratories with its Cool Idea! Award, a service grant covering machining of aluminum parts for both prototyping and low-volume production to fulfill early orders. Parts included components for the microscope's XY specimen stage, a motorized LED fluorescence module and a precision focus drive. Called the Revolve, the microscope transforms between upright and inverted configurations. It also replaces the traditional microscope eyepiece with an iPad, whose touch screen interface simplifies the gathering of images. Developed by Echo Laboratories, the Revolve combines both an upright and an inverted microscope into one instrument. Courtesy of Proto Labs. Priced about the same as a traditional, research-grade microscope, the Revolve potentially eliminates the need to purchase separate instruments. Because upright microscopes are typically used for viewing glass slides, while inverted microscopes are used for viewing live samples in dishes, many laboratories own both kinds, according to Proto Labs. The Revolve officially went on the market this month, and is being used by researchers at universities, biotechnology and pharma companies, according to Eugene Cho, CEO and founder of Echo Laboratories. For more information, visit www.protolabs.com and www.echo-labs.com.


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As some of you may be aware, Bowsette is something of a thing right now. If you have no clue what Bowsette is then carry on with your day and forget I mentioned it. Run to the hills and don't look back. I'd imagine most of you reading this know what Bowsette is. It's kind of hard not to if you follow the gaming scene. You don't even need to visit those……other scenes……. to have Bowsette up in your face or many other places. This attention is unusual and especially for family friendly Nintendo, they may not be happy about this characters popularity.
As you're probably aware, Nintendo revealed a character specific new item in an upcoming Mario game which when grabbed by Toadette, transforms her into a Princess Peach doppelganger. A user on Twitter, the now internet infamous @ayyk92, posted a comic a few days after showing what would happen to Bowser if he used it.
And that's it! That one comic panel set off a trend that is still going and not only has it provided *unique* images of Bowser as a woman or Bowsette as she has become known, but also now Boo, Chain Chomp and a myriad of other Nintendo characters. My personal favourite is the Waluigi one.
It's pretty funny to see unravel. I find it so surreal what takes off on the internet and becomes the IN meme/joke/discussion/topic. Even the creator of the comic is astonished by what he has wrought.
Which, brings me to Nintendo. Nintendo has an image to keep pure and their own creation has brought down an avalanche of not so family friendly images. Obviously this happens with anything created, that's what Rule 34 is but usually not something on this magnitude and not so early before the products release.
The fact that it's Nintendo is the question. Before Overwatch released there were certain visual aids for individuals and soon after the games release the popular Pornhub.com released a graph showing a massive 800% percentage increase in Overwatch themed searches on their site.
Blizzard, the company behind Overwatch, even tried to get specific sites taken down with DMCA's directed at specific individuals of that field. And this is Blizzard. Diablo, Overwatch, Starcraft creators. So, not a company known for their family centric content.
Whether or not Nintendo decides to act on this is what I'm curious about. This has gone big, even overseas. Lots of famous manga artists like the creator of One Punch Man have chucked online their portrayal of this fictitious beauty.
Will Nintendo tweak the item or flat out remove it from the game? Or will they accept that once something is on the internet, that is it, and just carry on and act as though they haven't helped awaken something that has been dormant since the very first Super Mario Bros. Not fleshed out but 33 years ago a character called Bowser was created. It only took a third of a century for it to reach a new potential.


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Skinny or Fat, but Both at the Same Time?
If you're one of those people who has reached the conclusion that you need to finally knuckle down and attend to your dubious lifestyle, and you weren't brought up in a household that valued exercise, you're probably finding it difficult to come to terms with all the different opinions on how to exercise best.
As with most things in life, exercise and diet are something that everybody needs to feel their way though--unfortunately the nature of commerce is to drive behavior that generates money and not necessarily health. Yes, you heard that right ... "not necessarily health"; sure, there does need to a reasonably-sized kernel of truth to marketed "wisdom" or it would be very quickly exposed as myth. That said, alot of what we are told in the media as "truth" is sometimes far from it.
Take the whole issue of body weight being a great measure of health ... or how about another term that you may have heard: Body Mass Index (BMI). Both of these metrics place an emphasis on overall body weight - if your BMI is within a certain range, you're deemed "healthy". If you ask Ronnie Coleman about his BMI as he's descending the podium after winning a Mr Universe title, you're likely to be pounded into the floorboards--that's because the bodybuilding faternity has a much different idea of what it means to healthy.
We all know what a fat person looks like right? And a skinny person? How about someone who is "fat" relative to their "skinniness"? The muscle-headed fitness elite will call someone who has "too much fat for their muscle" skinny fat. At first blush, that might suggest that there's something abnormal about an "SF'er" but it turns out that if you're skinny fat, you're one of the vast majority of folk who aren't overweight or obese, but at the same time don't look like Brad Pitt on the set of Troy (or for that matter, Angie on the set of Tomb Raider).
Ronnie Coleman scoffs at BMI
OK, so I'm Skinny Fat, do I Care?
You'd probably only care if you're a born narcissist or you're out to improve your chances with the opposite sex. In any case, it turns out that shedding the skinny-fatness label is entirely possible for mere mortals, albeit something that involves hard work.
Some popular wisdom suggests that it's Ok to do cardiovascular exercise and eat reasonably well (taking care to observe calorie intake). It turns out though that being too fanatical about restricting calories can result in your body using your muscles as energy as opposed to your fat layers. Sure, a certain amount of fat is targeted when it comes to a shortage of calories but unless you're careful about how you do things you could be setting yourself on the path to weakling-central.
Making sure that you don't negatively affect muscle mass, whilst at the same time burning fat means paying careful attention to the following principles:
- The key to getting muscle definition is getting your metabolism to go through the roof, and stay there--this can be achieved using a multi-pronged attack;
- "Teach" your body that muscle needs to be maintained and built--do regular resistance training;
- Too much cardio ends up burning muscle. Period. This means that in order to keep your muscle, you should limit your cardio sessions to short intense bouts (known as "HIIT");
- Calorie restriction is a fundamental part of burning fat, but there's an art to this--keep the deficit small, and every now and again spike it above your calorie requirements in order to prevent your body from thinking there's a food shortage and correspondingly putting the breaks on your metabolism;
- Eat foods that take a lot of energy to process (or have a high so-called "thermic effect") but at the same time don't have a lot of calories per unit weight;
- The more regularly you eat the faster you'll spin your metabolic "fly-wheel"--that's because there's a minimum amount of energy that your body has to expend in order to absorb a meal, regardless of the size of the meal.
Whether you're on board with the new wave of muscle-focused fitness wisdom or not, at least you're now equipped to engage in some educated repartee the next time the local gym muscle-head calls you "skinny fat". Of course, it's unlikely that your local muscle-head even knows what repartee is, so for those of you who are content with being skinny fat (or even "fat"), that's probably sufficient consolation.


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This fragrance is a bit fruity & floral with a hint of salty musk to balance the sweetness.
The Bath Bombs are featured on top of our award winning Activated Black Charcoal Detox. AKA, ABCD
Benefits of Black Activated Charcoal is a supplement with many medical uses. It also has many benefits while bathing in it too. Activated charcoal draws bacteria, poisons, chemicals, dirt and other micro-particles to the surface of skin, helping you to achieve a flawless complexion and fight acne.Charcoal is not metabolized, adsorbed or absorbed by the body, but it can be used to treat some poisonous bites and disinfect some wounds.
If you like the Dozen Assorted Bath Bomb Vessel full of Bath Bombs click here.


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AMA, or Association Motocycliste Alternative, was founded in 1984 and gathers LGBT motorbikers and their friends. Present in several French regions, over 150 members make up the association and organise numerous activities in France and Europe.
Our members come from various parts of France and anyone can fit in.
The passion for motorbikes and everything related to them brings us together, which is why the club is open to anyone riding a motorbike over 125cc and their passenger are also welcome.
Whether a newbie, an experienced rider or a passenger, whatever your style or your taste in motorbikes, come join us!


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Email Marketing Love Stories: Aiming Cupid's Golden Arrows to Increase Customer Loyalty and Drive Revenue
Pink balloons, candy hearts and Cupid ... it's Valentine's Day again. According to legend, Cupid carries two kinds of arrows: shiny, golden points that fill someone with overwhelming feelings of love; or dull tips, leaving a less distinct impression and often a desire to flee. Does any of this sound familiar? It should!
In the world of email marketing, some campaigns inspire consumers to become longtime and loyal customers, falling in love with your brand. Others fall flat, irritating customers and prompting them to unsubscribe from your list and find solace in the arms of your competitors. Gaining new customers, or winning over lost ones, is an uphill battle, costing extensive time, effort and budget to ensure consumers will love and stay committed to your brand.
However, today's companies have a wealth of arrows in their quivers to avoid getting dumped during Valentine's day, or ever. Use Cupid's golden arrows to make your customers fall in love with you over and over again.
Have heart-to-heart talks with customers
As the dominant medium to voice opinions, social media is the norm for identifying consumers' thoughts and motivations, and you need to connect and engage with them accordingly. Pay close attention to what people are saying about your brand. Reward consumers sharing positive messages with an email campaign that provides discounts for their loud and proud loyalty.
Conversely, take advantage of the opportunity to publicly reach out to naysayers. Address their concerns, reiterate corporate messaging and convince them to give you a second chance. Even if you don't win them back, the rest of the social network has seen the strength of your courtship. Connecting and engaging with customers is crucial to help Cupid's golden arrows land (and stick) in the hearts of your target audience.
Steal hearts with a little personality
Even if Cupid's arrow strikes the mark, it won't stick without a solid foundation of personality. This holds true with email marketing communications as well. The personality and voice of a company should resonate across all customer-facing channels. Why? All industry-leading brands embrace a consistent corporate theme from the top down (Zappos: customer service; Google: information; McDonald's: affordability) because who knows what will be the first touchpoint for a customer? Whether a new customer is driven to your site by an ad, email, blog or story in USA Today, your company's personality should be infused within every medium in order to drive positive associations and word-of-mouth referrals.
Find your dream customer
Savvy email marketers implement A/B split testing to find their Mr. and Mrs. rights. This brilliant tool is the best way to validate any new element (design, copy, call to action, etc.) that gets added into an email marketing campaign. Testing which arrow will best hit its mark and prove your campaign's success factors will help improve conversion rates and ensure your campaign generates the most return on investment possible.
From the heart
Most people like cookies, but not cookie-cutter emails. Use that golden sparkly arrow to send messages from the heart! The golden arrow approach is to pay attention to your customers with personalized emails that are relevant based on purchases they've made or how they've interacted with your messages in the past. Show customers the love and you'll make a match made in (shopping dollar) heaven.
Take mobile to heart
If your email marketing campaigns aren't fully mobile optimized yet, guess what? You've got the blunt arrows from Cupid, sending out arrows to your customers and prospects that are shunned every single time. According to a Campaigner survey conducted last year, 41 percent of respondents cited issues related to poor mobile design and user experience as their No. 1 source of frustration with mobile marketing emails. Another sticking point that turns customers off is when a mobile-optimized email leads them back to a nonmobile-optimized website. Why keep shooting yourself (and your email marketing campaigns) with those lead arrows? It's 2014, time to get mobile.
Email marketing campaigns, much like Cupid's arrows, can have an incredibly potent effect on your existing and prospective customers - for better, or for worse. If you're smart about avoiding the duds and put your golden arrows to good use, a vast, loyal and active customer base will achieve that ever-lasting love.
Related story: 5 Ways to Get the Grinch Out of Your Holiday Email Campaigns


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Diamond Jewelry for Women
Diamond Jewelry for Women
Diamonds and women have been renowned best friends since ages. Each one enhances the beauty of the other. The poise, the charisma a woman carries with her is accentuated by the jewelry she flaunts. A diamond jewelry instills in women the savoir-faire and style that captivates the onlookers. The astonishing designs of diamond jewelry from Malabar Gold & Diamonds have been facilitating magnificence to women since years. A diamond that adds beam to your personality and sculpted in intricate jewelry designs is, what every woman aspires and Malabar Gold & Diamonds does that for you effortlessly.
Shine that mirrors your finesse
The shine of a diamond leaves onlookers gawking and your loved ones mesmerized. A perfect complement to your charismatic persona, diamond jewelry is one irresistible investment. The fascinating style of both cut and uncut diamonds sculpted in gold, platinum or silver entices diamond lovers, and a perfect combination of these assimilates your style quotient. The exquisite designs of jewelry in diamond rings, diamond bracelets and diamond bands embossed with stunning diamond add an edge to your finesse.
Versatility bestowed
Pioneered to be the one stop solution for diamond jewelry, Malabar Gold & Diamonds is determined to furnish all your jewelry aspirations at one place. The flair in designs that we cater grace your personality with versatility. Our impressive and sleek diamond jewelry designs are stylish and a fit for every occasion. We at Malabar Gold & Diamonds endeavor to furnish impressive designs sculpted to suit your elegance.
Explicit designs that cater zeal
We understand that everyone's world spins around women, and fostering this epitome of splendor with a diamond is just an effort to show gratitude to her greatness. The diamond jewelry for women from Malabar Gold & Diamonds is a showcase to her poignancy and perfection. Our explicit designs are ornate examples of craftsmanship and are show stoppers in the world of diamond jewelry.
Variant choices peculiar to preferences
Through our latest and explicit designs of Diamond jewelry, we help diamond adorners to wear what suits them best. The exquisitely crafted diamonds from "Mine" collection are a perfect display of splendor and brilliance. Moreover, the vast range and variant patterns from our collection house give you a chance to get acquainted with the latest trends in diamond jewelry.
Dependable Online Shopping
Buying diamond jewelry online is an effortless way to choose from the wide range of variety we provide. The exquisite designs that we furnish online, gives a chance to shoppers to buy jewelry peculiar to your taste.


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Epilepsy12 - national reports from 2009-2014
Rounds one and two of Epilepsy12 ran between 2009 and 2014 with paediatric services across the whole of the UK taking part. You can download reports for both rounds, including the full national reports and versions adapted for parents, carers, children and young people.
National Neonatal Audit Programme - Your baby's information
NNAP (National Neonatal Audit Programme) helps neonatal units to improve the care they provide to babies who need specialist treatment. This includes infants who are born too early, with a low birth weight or who have medical conditions requiring specialist treatment. We use information about your b...
National Neonatal Audit Programme Annual Report 2018 - on 2017 data
This report highlights the key findings and recommendations from the analysis of the data provided by neonatal units on the admissions of babies for neonatal care in England, Scotland and Wales in 2017.
NNAP Online
This tool displays the results from the National Neonatal Audit Programme on data from 2014-2016 at a hospital, neonatal network (regional) and national level. It allows the neonatal community and the public to view and compare the results of our analysis.


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Mount Olivet Conference & Retreat Center provides an ideal setting and expert support for Christian weddings. As you enter into the sacrament of marriage, your ceremony deserves attentive preparation. The Mount Olivet Pastors, Wedding Coordinator, and Center Staff offer special care to each and every wedding couple. Our Center offers a stunning backdrop for your special memories.
- Three amazing wedding venues
- Seasonal gardens for gorgeous wedding photos
- Dining room with expansive views of the lake and woods, featuring chef-prepared midwest cuisine
- 18 guest rooms with private gathering space
We want to thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts for making our wedding a spectacular success! We've had so many appreciative comments from our guests, and as guests ourselves we had such a lovely time! The wedding day events were so well managed & so beautifully implemented that we were able to focus on our own special journey for that day - the vows & the celebration!
Mr. & Mrs. Duval
Ceremony Venues
Chapel Sanctuary
Our beautiful chapel overlooking the rolling prairie, woods and lake accommodates up to 180 family members and guests. Expansive windows and the vaulted ceiling give the space an open and airy feel. The chapel features a built-in sound system, grand piano and organ. The sacristy serves as a staging area for the bride and attendants.
Outdoor Patio
Our beautiful, new patio offers a comfortable, casual backdrop for your outdoor wedding. Nestled amongst mature evergreen trees, the patio features a 12' brick fireplace. Outdoor seating capacity is for 80 family members and guests.
Outdoor Chapel
Just a ten-minute walk through the woods, our outdoor chapel offers a natural cathedral of trees with only the forest for walls and wooden benches for seating. Seating capacity is 75 guests.
Arrangement Considerations
- A Mount Olivet Pastor must serve as the primary Officiant. You may have a co-Officiant of your choice as well.
- A Mount Olivet organist/pianist is required to be at all weddings and may assist other musicians or soloists.
- Chapel and outdoor patio arrangements are made with the Mount Olivet Conference & Retreat Center directly. Due to retreats in session, weddings are booked for Sundays, Mondays, or Tuesdays and select Fridays or Saturdays. Friday and Saturday arrangements may require overnight accommodations and meal service.
- Our 150 acres of natural beauty and our seasonal gardens offer stunning backdrops for family and wedding photos.
Reception Options
Our guests have told us time and again that dining at Mount Olivet Conference & Retreat Center is exceptional. Delicious midwestern cuisine is freshly prepared by our staff. Locally sourced food is used whenever possible. Call for menu selections.
Our Trillium dining room offers expansive views of the lake, woods, and rolling hills. Ambience is heightened by the warmth of the fireplace and our vaulted ceiling. Enhance this beautiful setting with your personal touch. Table decorations and linens are arranged by you.
Treat your guests to an intimate social hour while you engage in wedding pictures. Our outdoor patio or Showy Orchis meeting space provide comfort for guests to mingle as they indulge in punch and appetizers.
Dining capacity: 155 guests in the main dining room and adjacent meeting room
120 guests in the main dining room only
Capacity in the Showy Orchis is 40 guests
Capacity in the Outdoor Patio is 70 guests
Guest Rooms
Your guests will be well-taken care of in one of the 18 guest rooms at the Ruth Cornell House. Each room offers two double beds, a private bath and complimentary wireless internet access. A hot breakfast and use of our walking paths, pool, whirlpool, and sauna are included in your stay. Please call for availability and pricing.
Venue Rental Details
Ceremony: The venue rental fee includes chairs, audio visual equipment, the sacristy, a table or podium for the guest book/unity candle, and piano or organ. Guest book, unity candle, and all decorations are the responsibility of the families.
Reception: Included in your banquet fees are our regular inventory of tables, chairs, glassware, dishes, flatware, blue linen napkins, set up, clean up and meal service.
Catering: Mount Olivet is proud to provide on-site catering for all events taking place on the property. Please call for menu options and pricing. Please note: no alcohol is allowed onsite.
Deposit Policies: 50% of your total venue rental and reception fees must be received no later than 90 days prior to the event date.
Final Billing: The total contract amount must be paid in full 30 days prior to the reserved date. Within 30 days of the event, add-on guests must be paid for at the time of confirmation.
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This week on the Acid Pop Cult Podcast, Jeremy and Jason delve deep in a slew of new films they have immersed themselves over the past week. From rock documentaries "Attack of Life: The Bango Tango Movie" to "I Am Thor" to Eli Roth's "The Green Inferno" and "Knock Knock," they leave no stone unturned. Jeremy offers up some timely updates on Adam Rifkin's "Director's Cut" hitting the festival circuit, his latest WWE Live experience and a rekindled love for Cannon Films. Jason gives us the run down on the latest set of interviews for the wildly popular Icon Vs. Icon (www.iconvsicon.com) and his thoughts on the crime drama, "Sicario" starring Benicio Del Toro and Emily Blunt. Spread the word, leave a review and be sure to tune in each week for the latest and greatest!
Episode 183: Get Flicks and Chill
by Acid Pop Cult in Podcast and tagged Acid Pop Cult, Adam Rifkin, Attack of Life: The Bango Tango Movie, Benicio Del Toro, Cannon Films, Director's Cut, Electric Boogaloo, Eli Roth, Emily Blunt, Finn Balor, I Am Thor, Icon vs Icon, Jason Price, Jeremy L. Morrison, Knock Knock, Not Quite Hollywood, Sami Zayn, Sicaro, Slamdance, The Green Inferno, WWE, WWE NXT | Leave a comment


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Software engineering is the study and an application of engineering to the design, development, and maintenance of software.[1][2][3]Welcome
Typical formal definitions of software engineering are:
- "the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software";[4]
- "an engineering discipline that is concerned with all aspects of software production";[5]
- and "the establishment and use of sound engineering principles in order to economically obtain software that is reliable and works efficiently on real machines."[6]
- Teacher: teacher2 teacher11