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-- "a MMORPG that launched smoothly, breaks from fantasy character setting, emphasizes PvP, and is the first persistent world space simulator that nobody talks about." ~Scorch
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Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2003 6:53 am
Post subject: Freelancer reporters (pun intended)
Apparently some reporter from Wargamer.com is going to be asking the crew at Freelancer some questions and is getting some really good queries from the USENET population.
Last edited by MajorFreak on Fri Jan 24, 2003 2:03 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2003 1:51 pm
Post subject:
OT: I got the Freelancer beta today! Wohoo! Screenshots Inside!
I am so damned excited, because I just got the beta of a game I've been waiting almost five years for, Freelancer. I just spent about eight hours straight playing the game, something I've not done for a VERY long time, even for Jumpgate. This game is incredibly awesome. I took fifteen screenshots of the game, all of which you can see by clicking
I'm working on a review for the game, so I can't reveal everything, but I'd be happy to answer what I can if anyone has any questions. I'll be busy for a while, so don't expect a quick response. Suffice it to say, I probably won't be playing Jumpgate for a week or two. Thanks.
Brian Rubin
Freelance Writer/Editor
looks like one of the JumpGate resident reporters got on the beat too. gonna check his website too. weeeeeee...
we go. that's his take on jumpgate and rivals
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EU Advisor
Joined: 25 Oct 2001
Posts: 83
Location: germany
Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2003 8:18 pm
Post subject:
one thing is sure:
they have a bigger/better art-department than nd ;)
The famous name whose origin traces back to death
Two maidens that control death
Black hands in fields of green
Please protect the peace
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Joined: 12 Jan 2003
Posts: 3
Location: Canada
Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2003 4:57 pm
Post subject:
Is Freelancer still planning on using a mouse for flight control or have the designers implemented joysticks?
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Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2003 12:04 am
Post subject:
Blackwing wrote:
Is Freelancer still planning on using a mouse for flight control or have the designers implemented joysticks?
Nope, it's all mouse-based, but it works REAL well. Thanks for visiting my site. :)
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Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2003 12:09 am
Post subject:
Also, I've been answering a lot of FL questions
. I'll also be putting together the preview this week, so it'll be up soon. Thanks again. :)
Brian "Veloxi" Rubin
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Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2003 8:29 am
Post subject:
USENET comment
...Probably something like 30% of
their message board database is full of mouse/joystick discussion
threads. Anything you would care to read or write about the topic
has already been written and read many, many, many times. Feel
free to read through some of the old arguments and see if you can
find something to say about the topic that hasn't been said before.
There is really no point in discussing it any more. There won't be
joystick support in the game, no matter how much people ask for
it. The game isn't designed for it, and at this point, it's probably way
too late to change that. If that is going to be a problem for you,
you can always vote with your wallet. Buy something else.
Finally, I would say that it is misleading at best to call Freelancer
a space sim. This is not a game that seeks to simulate the
experience of space flight to any significant degree. Freelancer
is more like an action/adventure game that takes place in space.
People who have played it liken the combat model to playing a first
person shooter. Freelancer is intended to be "the Diablo of space
Personally, I'm planning on buying it just out of curiousity.
Although, I just read a report by someone who played a PR
pre-release copy and said that the mouse flight control is
pitch-inverted and there is no option to flip it over. :-/
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Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2003 8:02 am
Post subject:
Adrenaline Vault Preview
okay, that guy's been hanging around in too many forum flame wars. Why's he so hung up on the lack of joystick support? Is it a point and click or isn't it? doesn't sound like it promotes a "space-sim" reality but only the illusion of such. what a cop out.
anyways, when critiquing a game, don't bloody call it a genre it isn't...(privateer and the wingcommander games were based on joystick support; trying to have your cake and eat it too is dumb dumb dumb)...Also, as far as the removal of said support, WarCraft 3 went through a complete change and nobody bitched (much or long) so what's this crazed fixation on the flame wars as some kind of point of reference??? THAT'S what i don't get.
that's like saying Battlecruiser sucks because Derek Smart is a professional troll. lol. talk about faulty logic...sounds like this reporter got sucked down to the troll level and got beaten by experience. (clarification: BC sucks and all it's variations even without DS' crap)
Remember, i am not required to force myself to read a badly done review more than once or even past the bit where i winced. If some FreeLancer/Avault fanboi flames me for misunderstanding an article/post/whatever that's geared for a "sales pitch"/"marketting tool"/"News Article" they're a hypocrite; A bad review doesn't need to be picked apart and dissected -- it's merely a badly done review
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Joined: 14 Jun 2002
Posts: 27
Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2003 1:30 pm
Post subject:
In tach, it was very much skill-based, but the mouse-users (especially trackballers) ruled the roost.
There's a vocal group of space simmers that use mouse for skill-based sims, and just as many that use joystick. That's why the debate ensues. I've hung out in a lot of flame wars too =)
(And I do NOT fly with a mouse in any flight sim, ever, so I will *not* buy Freelancer. *shrug*)
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EU Advisor
Joined: 25 Oct 2001
Posts: 83
Location: germany
Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2003 1:54 pm
Post subject:
i will not buy freelancer exept i get a "full demo" and like it...
however there is another space-game i will buy for sure without taking a look bevore (X2 annyone?)
The famous name whose origin traces back to death
Two maidens that control death
Black hands in fields of green
Please protect the peace
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Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2003 1:10 am
Post subject:
Martin Eriksson
"Ethel the Ardvaark" <firstname.lastname@example.com> wrote in message
> It's been a long time coming. I hope it was worth the wait. This is
> the *true* sequel to Privateer.
Jeez! It's single player! God damn I thought every one of these new games
were sucky MMOG's. Now it's interesting!
Miles Osborne wrote:
>I think you can do multiplayer co-op.
No its Single Player and Multiplayer. Multiplayer involves either
cooping or just being in the same game as others, PVP and non PVP
options both supported) Multiplayer doesn't have the SP campaign that's
the main difference. The server is persistant.
The beta supported up to 128 players online, previews have been a little
unclear on this dso I guess we will all have to wait to see :)
Oh, BTW, our
came up with a review for WarGamer almost a week ago.
here it is
. In the introduction he repeats this bit, "space sim/role playing game/adventure"...First off, a space sim is supposed to be not unlike a flight sim, right? RIGHT? Secondly, a RPG is supposed to be about attributes & skills, right? *shrug* Lastly, an adventure connotes a pretty much LINEAR scripting. (ie. a SP campaign)
good thing i ever admired about Privateer
was the freeform nature of the gameplay, the space-sim flight model and the lack of crappy RPG elements and linear storyline....Privateer
sucked because it removed the best elements of the game for me.
So...Looks like FreeLancer is the true sequel to Privateer
, which i thought sucked. No offense to the reviewer, because the rest of the article just goes on to prove the game sucks REALLY WELL.
Veloxi wrote:
Ships and equipment are further broken into levels and classes. For example, that heavy fighter a player has had his eye on might be available at level twelve, but those class seven guns won't be available until level sixteen, and would be too big for the size six gun mounts regardless.
now, THAT'S interesting...the same class/level thing could be equivalent to JumpGate's "RPG" levelling requirements, no? Though, the emphasis starts to make me wonder on the level of player skill restrictions that turns the entire game into a "point and click"...
Another thing lacking is the comparison/contrast to O.R.B. and other SOTA rts games out there that allow for true orbital dynamics (asteroids that actually move around a planet or whatever)
and the distances. the distances. how to balance it...in ORB it was just too damned huge and the lack of "time compression x10" sucked -- With Hegemonia (or whatever the hell it was called) the solar system was stupidly laid out with mars right next to saturn and the same distance to earth. dumb ass)
Besides, who really cared about "landing on a planet" if yer confined to a scripted point and click base...hell, E&B's idea was even worse...lots and lots of "freeform" that turned out to be a timesinked point and click. Besides, who's really interested in a sci-fi EQ unless the devs in question can replicate the old "Elder Scrolls 1" feel.
*shrug* Anything less well done will allow JumpGate's lack of sector object dynamics and poorly balanced gameplay to be overlooked...
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2003 2:24 am
Post subject:
WTF seems some "know-it-all" moron on
is arguing about the definition of "Space Sim"...Jeeezuz. talk about waffle city. Where's my maple syrup? He goes to such bloody great lengths to fudge i'm amazed he's avoided making any point at all and still looks like he's crystal clear.
whatta moron. He's fudged so much nobody's gonna blink when he does a 180
Basically, what he's arguing with is people (like me) who think FreeLance is trying to be too much to too many people and are fucking up visibly with the execution (assuming the lack of joystick is a design flaw instead of a concept issue) What's he's insinuating in a rather slimy fashion is that it's not a flight sim at all, but a point&click game -- But has enough leeway to dock a tow sideways -- ie. he's said fuck all but argue semantics
Milo's First Divine Appearance wrote:
The Freelancer team at Digital Anvil added joystick support and took it back out, not once but *twice* during the last four years. So it's obviously not laziness since they actually did invest the time and effort to do the work.
Muffy: (sean connery voice over): "losers always try their best. winners go home and fuck the prom queen"
I think their decision makes a lot more sense when you realize that (at
least in their own minds) they weren't making a space sim. They were
trying to create a new kind of action oriented game that was set in
space, but yet wasn't primarily about the simulation of flying a space
Notice the "primarily" docking port for the sideways tow? moron's not saying ANYTHING that he can't fudge later...I doubt he even cares about making sense as long as he can nay-say anyone replying to him for clarification. Fact is, he's lying so much he's assuming noone's going to be able to keep track of his feet when he's tripping...or really care for that matter.
Shame though. i've learnt nothing new from this tool and his fudge adjectives, beyond losers like using slimy adjectives that appear at first to clarify but on reflection water their post down to mean nothing.
Last edited by MajorFreak on Wed Feb 26, 2003 10:52 am; edited 1 time in total
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EU Advisor
Joined: 25 Oct 2001
Posts: 83
Location: germany
Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2003 7:08 pm
Post subject:
it seems the "full demo" is out there somewhere ;)
The famous name whose origin traces back to death
Two maidens that control death
Black hands in fields of green
Please protect the peace
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Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2003 7:05 am
Post subject:
yo yo. time to check this puppy out! Is it truly just a point&click?
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Sgt 1st Class
Joined: 05 Dec 2002
Posts: 52
Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2003 9:02 am
Post subject:
Been playing it since Friday. It's quite fun.
It's not point and click, but it is mouse controlled. The good thing is that your skill is an important factor in combat (unlike E&B for example). The bad thing is that I cannot use my ubar X45 joystick.
As for SP/MP story, well the SP story is pretty straightforward with some freelancing moments (ie "you'll need $45k before you're contacted by the lead NPCs again") and the story in itself it pretty good and epic (ancient alien races, full scale galaxy war, goverment corruption, true love).
One important thing about Freelancer is that it's not a MMORPG - multiplayer is not centralized, you play on player servers (I think game host companies will host a few popular servers, but any player could basicly set up a FL server). You create a character and play it from there - no background story, just freelancing. There's guilds/squads, PvP, a nice market, lots of enemy AI and lots of ships/equipment.
Because the game isn't released until March 4th, I havn't played much MP yet (lack of servers is a limiting factor). I'm pretty sure OV will be featured on BarryWorlds FL server when/if they set it up. :D
Bottomline: It's a very good game and highly addictive. I'll let you know in a month if there's any lasting appeal. ;)
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EU Advisor
Joined: 25 Oct 2001
Posts: 83
Location: germany
Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2003 11:16 am
Post subject:
its diablo in space ;)
u play it for hours and hours...
i played over 15 hours the first 24 hours i had it, including 5 hours from 1:00am, when the download ompleted, till 6:00am when i fell asleep while using a tradelane...
well, i gona play it untill my cougar arrives then i trash it and go back to stick-controled games...
right now i need more credits to get that barracuda ... and maybe for some better guns and maybe a misile-launcer... a verry heavy fighter wouldnt be bad eiter, gona check out where i can get a hammerhad or a eagle ... a sabre? where can i get that one? its said to be the best...
The famous name whose origin traces back to death
Two maidens that control death
Black hands in fields of green
Please protect the peace
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Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2003 12:36 pm
Post subject:
Playing the demo at the moment. It's not exactly point and click though, and since i was operating under the assumption it was i got immediately reminded that i didn't track targets automatically by either "tailing their six" or "aimbots" (which a pure point and click would be assumed to do, correct?)
Which means it's
a RTS type point,click&manage targets (ie. not point&click)...Actually, the BEST analogy i can think up is playing Diablo and using a bow with shift held down. I have yet to try customizing the "turn left/right" buttons (and mouse-move) - That and maybe a few other tweaks might make this feel more like a 2D-FPS, since the anti-newtonian "space opera" flight model isn't space sim material at all (StarWars movie type maneuvering;
Plus, it's about as 2 dimensional as they come as far as the larger picture is concerned. Which, when one thinks about it is like Privateer1 of olde.
Anyways, the base/planet interfaces are identical to the olde Privateer chatter and NPC ship chatter is as well, but the latter has a MARKED improvement that you get insystem chatter spontaneously not only at you but cross talk, especially base clearance. (now if that doesn't stir the old "immersion" juices then there's always, "fly in formation" icon which allows you to tag along with almost anyone as they chatter away.)
not to mention the political ratings are mindboggling in quantity, though the social dynamics are waaaaay too campy when you do face to face stuff on bases/planets. (you feel like everyone's an extra in an "Arnie" movie; "i'll be back.")
Travel is fun. you have normal speed, afterburner, cruise (hyperdrive) and then theres the "superdrive" conduits and finally jumpgates (see below pic)
As for combat? jeezuz. talk about joke city. it was almost comical how i breezed through missions and i never used missiles/nanorepairs/shieldboosters. (enemy shields dropped like knife through butter and their stupid evasion techniques had me giggling)
c1 squid would have these morons for breakfast
definitely a "Diablo-esque" sci-fi space shoot-em up Action/Adventure with some micromanagement needed (ie. not like EnB)
NO WAY IS IT A SPACE 'SIM' THOUGH, WHICH IS A SHAME BECAUSE IT TRIES TO FAKE IT. (which, i'm betting is going to be a major backbreaker for this game...too much work for too little satisfaction of "skill" - the novelty of which will fade pretty darned quick)
at least with privateer there was immersion in the flight model...sorry, but i can't take the flight model seriously (but i will give marks for the cool NPC immersion)
Ah, yes. i found the mouse-move command. I can see why people wondered about the lack of joystick support when they have such a system. I guess they figured people don't like joystick support because that means the point&click crowd would get turned off. (personally, i think it was a bad call because this is neither point&click nor is it a space-sim...shame is it looks like it could have been both)
with the mouse-move it does feel more like a FPS, and i guess you could call it the ultimate QuakeInSpace
This will please neither the point&click nor the spacesim crowd. This game is a FPS of the 'QuakeInSpace' genre with privateer theme.
which reminds me. they disabled the ability to have a reverse mouse Y axis option...which makes you wonder doesn't it?
Microsoft Marketing Rep (paraphrase) wrote:
saaay...let's remove the joystick because people attach a "sim" stigma to those games and our focus groups don't even buy that idea. Oh wait, just got this in from R&D, remove the mouseYaxis and you'll reinforce that idea the game's "good"
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Sgt 1st Class
Joined: 13 Jun 2002
Posts: 54
Location: Muffy went off on somebody and all i got was this lousy T-Shirt
Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2003 12:44 pm
Post subject:
I just played the demo and I would have to say that's it's a wonderful continuation of the Privateer series (yes, that's what it is) that is plagued by a non-existant flight model and no mining.
Edit - seems I needed to read the FAQ, there's mining
And yes, I'm hooked. The Multiplayer has me intrigued because it seems to allow for both the "Quake-type fragfest" and roleplaying. Anyone need a Pirate? The first reports of "point-and-click" interface had me turned off, but now that I've tried it, I see that it's quite smooth. And the possibility of a joystick-contol patch still exists.
It's like Privateer 1, with better graphics.
Jesus saves, the rest of you take 5d20 damage.
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Staff Sergeant
Joined: 08 Feb 2002
Posts: 47
Location: Indiana
Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2003 5:34 pm
Post subject:
I agree with Razor, it's what Privateer 2 should have been. I can live with the mouse interface, thought I'd rather have use of my JS. Flight model, (what there is of one) reminds me of Priv/Wing Commander. Have had 1 mission that taxed me somewhat (lvl 4 mission) and got pulled out of the trade lanes once by 8 ships and almost died. :) Remember to keep your worth under 26k so the game won't boot you.
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Sgt 1st Class
Joined: 13 Jun 2002
Posts: 54
Location: Muffy went off on somebody and all i got was this lousy T-Shirt
Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2003 7:25 pm
Post subject:
2 things to add:
1) You can play in 1st person view.
2) There is a demo crack available that sets the limit to 1 million credits.
I like hailing cargo ships. They tell you what they are carrying and where they are going. Or at least they did until I lowered my rating with all the Trader Factions and now I am KOS. BTW, Pirates get the best ships and equipment in Freelancer.
Good Beta Tester Review
I'm definitely going to play this one. For those who are adamant about using a joystick: There are a few tools that one MIGHT use to make a joystick work in Freelancer:
Joystick mapping to keyboard:
Joystick mapping to mouse:
Jesus saves, the rest of you take 5d20 damage.
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Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2003 3:23 pm
Post subject:
> So I decided to try the demo, and I don't mind the mouse flight
> mode (the one mode reminds me of the way I played the
> original Wing Commander). But the y-axis is backwards to
> what I've been used to from years and years of gaming. Please
> forgive me if I'm just dense, but I don't see an option anywhere
> to invert the mouse.. Is it in there somewhere that I missed?
> Will the retail version have it?
Oddly, its not bothered me one bit and I always play with an inverted mouse in FPS games. Seems completely foreign not to use inverse to me. I feel that most times the whole mouse thing for clicking buttons in freelancer to be pointless unless I dont have autopilot thingy working right. It doesnt seem to want to auto engage fighters and maneuver unless in mouse flight mode. Its much easier to use hotkeys and damn near necessary in combat. Course, thats my main gripe with the game beyond the somewhat boring and pointless bounty/assassin missions you get (vs hauling cargo which can be UBERprofitable). Why is it that all the baddies must CONSTANTLY be shooting ONLY ME? Getting raped by about 8 rogues in a storyline mission in about 2 minutes of furball combat is rather depressing. At least I took 2 down with me, not that my frelling allies helped at all..
I always mistrust games where I seem to "win" too easily. With this in
mind, I find the combat model is very, very simplistic : I just seemed to
keep prodding my mouse in the direction of a big red arrow and pressing
"fire" and I, well, "win" .....The demo is heavily scripted, but I hope that that is simply a consequence of the single player aspect of the demo. Certainly download it and take a peek : but don't expect an RTS/RPG in
space. Think more of Serious Sam with conversational interludes ...
>> >forgot to mention somethign else : this ga(y)me is SO camp.
>> >
>> >I'm not sure what to think when a mincing barman sporting a walrus
>> >moustache asks if "I'm into it" in an incredibly camp voice. In
>> >fact, come to think of it, all the character voices are, shall we
>> >say, a tad "pink".
>> that's funny, i was thinking the same thing. I've yet to find a game
>> with exceptional voice acting, but the voices in this game kind of
>> threw me for a second.
> And lets not mention the fact that every character likes to wave his
> hands around in a rather, well, queer fashion while they speak.
LOL. Reminds me a little of the Simpsons episode in the steel mill, where
a big macho type gets a spark in his hair and jumps & down flapping his
hands and screaming "put it out, put it out".
Hot Stuff, coming through ...
Artificial Intelligence
Tachyon-like maneuvers
How do i abort/continue a trade lane transit?
Piracy? disrupting trade lanes?
Well, in the demo anyway. It is possible to be a succesful pirate. First you have to get you rep with the Rogues/outcasts/junkers up to neutral or better. Then you can go to either pirate base in the demo and get missions. Unfortunately, they are basically the opposite missions of being a good guy--go to the waypoint and kill all the Navy ships (instead of Rogue ships). There are 2 pirate bases in the demo, Buffalo Base, and Rochester.
Dynamic Trading?
More dynamic trading
I'm a big fan of the X games but I have FL on pre-order import, not because I think FL is an X beating space sim, but because, as you point out, it is a superb action adventure. Once I got out of the mindset and expectations erroneously conjured by years of mismarketing of FL, leading me to expect something entirely different, and once I crushed my joystick reflexes that were making it so difficult to get into the demo, I realised FL was a fun, exciting and enjoyable game. Now i don't mind all the "missing" features, because they ain't missing.
I do think that a lot of people are missing out on the good things of FL because they have not shed their expectations. For me FL is not a space-sim, not even a space-sim lite, just a rollicking action adventure with a great arcade-style space shooter that provides plenty of visceral combat action in an interesting and detailed universe large enough and dynamic enough to engage my role-playing imagination.
On those terms, for me, it was worth pre-ordering as the demo hooked me. If I had kept to the "where's this sim feature, why isn't there that feature" disappointed simmer mentality I'd be missing out on an enjoyable game.Now maybe, even on these terms people can't be drawn in, but I do think it's worth checking in pre-conceptions before checking out the demo. I also think people should express whatever opinion they want so they can be countered by reasoned argument, not the prevalent arrogant fan-boy ranting which just alienates potential purchasers who we need to purchase the product to keep alive hopes for add-ons and follow-ups. I was nearly one of those lost purchasers but I stuck at the demo until I mastered the mouse and accepted it for what it was rather than for what I had hoped it would be.
I found reading this thread about the ENTIRE trade lane being disrupted, lack of reaction on the part of police, etc just feels too disruptive to my willing sense of disbelief (even if you account for deliberate "4th wall" bashing)...I expected to see traffic on-route to pileup, radio traffic to stop other convoys from initiating travel, and increasing police/paramilitary/military attempts to rid the disruption.
I mean, Trade Lanes are a big eyesore. First time i saw them i said, "YUCK!"...in order to justify the aesthetics this sort of thing should really play a pivotal role in the "willing suspension of disbelief" - A reinforcing role at that! I've already pointed out suggestions/obvious, now we probably have to deal with folks continuing to say that trade lane dynamics are irrelevant to the issue of FreeLancer immersion.
BTW, bottom of page2 of that last link is
(a Derek Smart sockpuppet)
EDIT: oh, sorry, here's a good "Devil's Advocate" review by Aye Captn:
Redirect link
Last edited by MajorFreak on Sat Mar 01, 2003 7:51 am; edited 3 times in total
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EU Advisor
Joined: 25 Oct 2001
Posts: 83
Location: germany
Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2003 11:14 pm
Post subject:
woho, muffy trolls the lancersreactor forum ... your signature looks wired there ;)
just found some nice hidden things that might convince me to give some money to the makers of this game ... now back into the game, i need to make some more money oh, and i wanted to try if i can salvage those lvl10 goodies again after i sold em ...
The famous name whose origin traces back to death
Two maidens that control death
Black hands in fields of green
Please protect the peace
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Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2003 4:18 pm
Post subject:
A reply to USENET;
It's not privateer. Noone should attempt using that term to describe this overhyped game that's neither "point&click" nor "space sim"...it's a horrible attempt at pandering to 'Microsoft Focus Groups' who think eliminating joystick support & invert mouse Y option just because most consumers tend NOT to purchase such game, but get's lost along the way while trying to ACT like a space sim + point&click at the same bloody time and not doing either good enough. (It's like they tried breeding dogs and came up with the worse MUTT imaginable.)
might look cool, but it's health is FUBAR
Just wait till you tag along with a squadron of Badlands Rogues (neutral) and watch them attack a 'Trade Lane' juncture and miss 100% of the time cause they're aiming for the empty "centerpoint" ...Besides, crippling space lanes doesn't raise/lower prices at all and supply logistics is pointless. WHICH JUST MAKES YOU WONDER WHY THE HELL THOSE DAMN EYESORES WERE CODED? ANYONE? Lemmie take a wild stab in the dark: it's because they couldn't think up a better way to "intercept" trade convoys using 'Hyperdrive'; what passes for 'Cruise' was probably nerfed a long time ago and replaced with these stupid "Train Tracks from HELL" that whip you really fast - which is cool - along something with the sound effects that would traumatize even the most hardened IRL rail commuter. IT'S THE "HURRY UP AND WAIT" MENTALITY. (whatever happened to the idea that pirates could use 'Anti-Hyperdrive' devices to turn those lumbering space barges INTO LUMBERING SPACE BARGES?)
And let's not even venture to mention the "WingCommander" annoyances that bugged the hell out of everyone. Sure the aesthetics of some of these annoyances were improved no end -- THEY'RE STILL ANNOYANCES -- The problem is i didn't see the cool bits of privateer anywhere. (space sim; police scanner avoidance; lumbering trade ships) now it's just...
Sean Connery (the rock) wrote:
Losers always whine about 'their best.' Winners go home and fuck the prom queen.
BTW, i've gotten a bunch of MODs so you can play the demo tweaked. (all 5 ships purchasable and 1million credit
save game
; hmmm can't get it to work. try
one - just the 5 ships mod - put it in your data/equipment folder)
Join formation with police patrols (or pirates if you are one of them) and hunt for the enemy. Join formation with transports and defend them from attack. Look at the patrol lines on your map and hang out where the enemies patrol and slaughter them. You don't need to do the missions to get enjoyment out of this game, or to make money. In fact I only do job board missions when I need to get a little more cash for shields or missiles or stuff.
Usually what I do to keep costs down in the Defender is to use a seeker mines launcher & about 100 stalker missles.Everytime I take a mission I basically try to use them all so that it keeps my value down & I would have to spend money about 3200 credits for the Stalker missles & maybe some seeker mines for a good bundle.
Another good thing to do is to not always tractor in stuff since that also increases your net worth.
Last edited by MajorFreak on Fri Mar 07, 2003 6:57 am; edited 2 times in total
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Sgt 1st Class
Joined: 13 Jun 2002
Posts: 54
Location: Muffy went off on somebody and all i got was this lousy T-Shirt
Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2003 7:21 pm
Post subject: New Frelancer Hacked Saves
[url=webpages.charter.net/razorx/save21f7.fl]1M credit limit + Level 50 save game[/url]
[url=webpages.charter.net/razorx/save23bf.fl]1M credit limit + Level 50 + 100k cash save game[/url]
Your Current Level has been set to 50, so you can now fly ALL ships available for purchase, and buy ALL the equipment in the system. Including the Cruise Disruptor Missle, which is what I fire at Transports to avoid having to shoot the "Double Donuts".
These have to be placed in the root/My Documents/My Games/Freelancer Trial/Accts/SinglePlayer folder.
Jesus saves, the rest of you take 5d20 damage.
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Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2003 10:07 pm
Post subject:
ohhhhhh...i was looking in the programfiles/ folder instead of mydocuments/ much thanks!
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Sgt 1st Class
Joined: 13 Jun 2002
Posts: 54
Location: Muffy went off on somebody and all i got was this lousy T-Shirt
Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2003 10:47 pm
Post subject:
Hacked .ini files are being worked on to add ALL of the ships the Demo has models for to ship market screens. Something to help us until the Full version becomes available.
And it's done!
Make a backup of your /DATA folder, then unzip this and answer yes to overwrite. It adds lots more equipment and weapons as well.
Also, here is what ships are available where for those looking.
Mannhattan - Dagger, Stiletto, Piranha
Pittsburgh - Clydesdale, Starflier, Startracker
Battleship Missouri - Drone, Bloodhound, Wolfhound
Rochester - Anubis, Humpback, Valkyrie
Buffalo - Defender, Patriot, Rhino
Jesus saves, the rest of you take 5d20 damage.
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Sgt 1st Class
Joined: 13 Jun 2002
Posts: 54
Location: Muffy went off on somebody and all i got was this lousy T-Shirt
Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2003 6:22 am
Post subject:
Well I now own the full version. So after I blast through the Single Player, I will connect to some Multi-player servers and gather some info and insights. BTW, you can't run the server and the client on the same machine. Yay, excuse to buy a new comp! hehe.
Jesus saves, the rest of you take 5d20 damage.
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Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2003 7:10 am
Post subject:
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EU Advisor
Joined: 25 Oct 2001
Posts: 83
Location: germany
Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2003 12:00 pm
Post subject:
i have 50+ hours in sp and its borring now.
i got everything from best ship over best guns and torps to best shild, im even green with most pirates... i think i found over 90% of all secrets out there...
hmm found a demo of "Homeplanet" gona try that now ...
The famous name whose origin traces back to death
Two maidens that control death
Black hands in fields of green
Please protect the peace
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Joined: 06 Mar 2003
Posts: 1
Location: Irvine, CA, USA
Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2003 7:51 pm
Post subject:
MajorFreak wrote:
It's not privateer. Noone should attempt using that term to describe this overhyped game that's neither "point&click" nor "space sim"...
Now do you understand what I was trying to tell you on Usenet?
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The decision has been made, I won't do the 2008 Grafton to Inverell Classic. Sadly, I called my team mate, Aaron, to give him the bad news. Yes, bad news they are as I have been planning to do this race for a couple of years now and had talked him into it.
He didn't take it too badly, in fact he told me he hasn't done the necessary training for it either and was happy to give it a miss. That makes one of us... It made me feel a little better but not completely satisfied with the decision... Yes, complicated!
When I first learned of this classic race, 3 or 4 years ago, it became the subject of many conversations with John Flynn during our training rides. He said that, with the right training I could do well on the 225 km race but also said that if I wanted to do it, I should do it as soon as possible. His reasoning been, it was only going to get tougher as I got older.
Scary but true! Three or four years later and I am postponing it again... As I wrote before, I could do it just for the experience. I could do it to learn about the course, learn how my body would take such a long race, learn about the logistics and find out if my training was of any help.
Good reasons, then came the collision with the van and I am off the bike... The result of the incident was a badly injured shoulder and a deeply bruised leg (I can't see the bruise but it hurts like h..l). Sure I could ride a bike and I did it for a week, perhaps even race with an injured shoulder but, for my surprise, my shoulder and leg got worst in the second week.
Having had a similar injury on my other shoulder four years ago, I know how long it might take to have it back to normal. Firstly, it is a hard injury to treat and secondly, I do a lot of lifting in my job... Well, not for a while now!!! Last time, it was a MTB accident. It took me over 1 and 1/2 years to have my right shoulder back to normal . During that time I experimented with many different types of treatments, the final one been a heavy dose of cortisone, or steroid hormone, injected into the Bursa.
At the end, I think I just learned how to cope with pain. A good thing if you are a cyclist...
Great, but I am not interested in going through that again, this time I want to have it heeled as quick as possible. So far, I have seen 3 doctors, none of them a shoulder specialist and one of them been a vocational health practitioner. I have been given some anti-inflammatory, a few exercises, a referral for a physio and X-ray and Ultrasound requests for a possible Rotator Cuff tear... S..t!
The good news, no broken bones. Next step: X-rays and Ultrasound of left shoulder joint.
This Saturday, I will be a volunteer for the club's 100th year celebration race. I will take the bike and will do a few km to get the legs spinning... that's me in not training and not racing.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Earlier this morning Adobe announced an update to its popular Technical Communication Suite.
The fifth version of the suite is a powerful, integrated toolkit with single-source authoring, rich multimedia integration, and multichannel, multiscreen HTML5 publishing capabilities.
You can create print, PDF, or XML/DITA content with Adobe FrameMaker 12. You can create responsive Help Systems and ePubs with Adobe RoboHelp 11. And you can deliver engaging, interactive eLearning content with graphics, demos, and more using Adobe Captivate 7, and Adobe Presenter 9.


text:
IMF: Emerging Markets Greatest Global Risk
A slowdown in emerging-markets economies tops the International Monetary Fund's list of global risks, highlighting the fallout in markets since Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke raised the possibility in May of a pullback in easy-money policies. Prabha Natarajan joins The News Hub.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... the the ... the National monthly fund once the image in markets may see slower growth ... probably not a rockin' ... joins us now to explain for me I faxed us thank you for praying and think this time ... what exactly to the upside ... said the IMF has said that emerging markets will grow at a slower pace ... and the now protected fifty five percent this year from their peak this podcast by twenty percent ... of the high cost of food for Austin in the U S five percent sounds I'm I'm I'm I'm a singer from but one of them ... no not so fast ... the worrying thing here is that this is the fifth downward revision ... this is the end of that we can see more ... I think we're going to see more because the IMF has forecast a five and a half percent that makes him ... that it's unclear if that momentum will ... happen the kids you have a page ... on factor in the U S ... now saying this letter is and that's saying they commit a crime ... and they can stop estimate to test a pullback on the money printing run happily exactly say when that happens it means ... that we've already seen the impact of that and that's can and one in the sense that the IMF has passed that ... it's not in growth projections and said you know when not been assumed it ... initially projected ... and has brought this morning up now ... so what we expect to see is that ... emerging markets are already facing slowing down ... they're already seen fall and demonstrative Kitson said this is ... an indie scene in a fall in commodity prices ... and you've already started seen Social on thanks ... to all this is going to create this Canadean and a bag where ... growth is only going to be so I as most countries struggle to find out what to do ... one thing that I've was been told is that the U S as a quarter of the world's economy is the locomotive for growth as if the US is fine ... then ... we will find loads of goods and services from all around the world and am Apple's everybody along ... if the Fed is pulling back on its money printing ... presumably it's because things are ... going up a ... grown woman I mean that you know will be spending all our money on union of goods from overseas ... the silly Annie eventually acting that's what I did not Emerging market investors expect that in the months that if the U S consumer is going out shopping ... and then going to be buying goods from emerging markets ... that ... can right now in effect ... of the Fed would ... think that all the money is going back home ... from investors to what they're seeing is ... these investors will ... halt capital flight and the aquarium people signed out of mind I want my money back to me my mind ... that can send these people were the ones who are buying the local debt issued by them and that is government across the world ... and is funded projects and based on that pretty much the growth in these countries ... now it's becoming much more difficult for these countries to have half foreign investors who buy these two of the debt and find the stock picks ... and at the same time you also have currencies which has become much weaker ... so it's much more expensive for them to do much of the US ... cents and I haven't done in the Chinese economy and and some more tea towel in hand and the story when we happened to this day I would urge people to breed that's possible time thank you Brian much a problem


text: Korean Job Discussion Forums :: View topic - Where can I find garlic tablets Speak Korean Now! Korean Job Discussion Forums"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!" FAQ Search Memberlist Usergroups Register Profile Log in to check your private messages Log in Where can I find garlic tablets Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> FAQ View previous topic :: View next topic Author Message MedicJoined: 11 Mar 2003 Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2003 4:54 pm Post subject: Where can I find garlic tablets I need garlic tablets to help me with slightly high bood pressure. I brought some back from New York, but I have run out. Anyone know where I can get some? Back to top ajumaJoined: 18 Feb 2003Location: Anywere but Seoul!! Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2003 6:46 am Post subject: Garlic tablets??? You must not be eating enough Korean food if you still feel that you need garlic tabs! Back to top MedicJoined: 11 Mar 2003 Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2003 3:54 pm Post subject: Where can I find garlic tablets I actually enjoy Korean food, and I think it's very healthy. Unfortunately it's difficult to eat raw garlic which I know would help me with my problem. I tried buying cloves of garlic from the market, and cooking them, but cooking takes out all the nourishment. I like the vinegar garlic too, but that's treated garlic , and the nourishment 's gone from that as well. So please tell me how can I eat raw garlic without it burning out my mouth. The tablets I had were concentrated garlic mixtures, and they were very effective. I'm sure Korea has the equivalent somewhere, but where. Back to top Blue FlowerJoined: 23 Feb 2003Location: The realisation that I only have to endure two more weeks in this filthy, perverted, nasty place! Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2003 8:14 pm Post subject: what about crushing the garlic, and mixing it with honey? My friend used to take that when she thought she might be coming down with something. I think the honey hides some of the strength of the garlic, and makes it more palatable. But please, in respect of your co-workers, eat some fresh parsley afterwards!!! Back to top LiquidSunshineJoined: 31 Mar 2003 Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2003 8:34 am Post subject: u can get garlic tablets in korea. my hagwon director gave a whole bunch of "broiled garlic pills" a few weeks back. i'm guessing you can get them at a local pharmacy. it says..."gou oun to jong ma neul hoan" on the container. i hope this helps. i don't even know if it's the same tihng you are looking for. but it sounds similar to me. Back to top marcyJoined: 18 Mar 2003Location: Seoul Posted: Thu May 01, 2003 9:10 pm Post subject: I have sliced a garlic clove in four and then swallowed it like a pill with water, seems to work for me in a pinch. Back to top MedicJoined: 11 Mar 2003 Posted: Sat May 03, 2003 4:24 am Post subject: Where can I find garlic tablets Thanks for your help everyone. I have tracked down the garlic tablets, and I'm now using them. I'm progressing slowly with the garlic, but I'm getting there. I tried the honey and garlic mixture, but I think I need some better honey. Next it's the water and the garlic. Back to top Len8Joined: 12 Feb 2003Location: Kyungju Posted: Sat May 03, 2003 5:49 pm Post subject: Where can I find garlic tablets Marcy, how many cloves of garlic do you take in a day? I tried doing it the way you sugested and had no problems. Wish I'd thought of it sooner. Cleared up my cold , and my lethargy right away. Back to top marcyJoined: 18 Mar 2003Location: Seoul Posted: Tue May 06, 2003 6:28 am Post subject: Glad I could help Len8. I used to have chronic strep throat, if anyone's ever had strep throat you can imagine what it's like to have it once a month. I got sick of taking penicillin so I started seeking alternative solutions. I discovered that garlic is good for the immune system especially in regards to bacterial infections, so when I felt strep throat approaching I would take .5 - 1 clove every night before bed, (depending on how bad I was willing to let my breath get!), worked like a charm for me too! Currently I am suffering from crazy insomnia, I am new here and though everything is going well I can't seem to get comfortable enough to sleep. Thus the reason I am on the 'puter so late. Herbal remedies anyone? Back to top Dr. BuckJoined: 02 Mar 2003Location: Land of the Morning Clam Posted: Tue May 06, 2003 6:32 pm Post subject: Raw garlic is the only way to go. If cooking takes out the essential nutrients, then what does the pill processing do? Nothing, just a scam, another health food industry racket. I have English pills. I sell them to my students for a large profit. They take them and they think they can speak English better. Raw food is the best and healthiest. There's a whack of garlic cooking websites on the net. Check them out for help. Develop a taste for the raw cloves, once you do, you're in garlic lover's paradise. Drops the pills. Just one more unnecessary expense for you. Get the real stuff at the supermarket on the cheap. Garlic and red wine. Live large and long. Back to top richinkoreaJoined: 22 Jan 2003Location: Gawd Darn Hot and Sunny Arizona ! Posted: Fri May 16, 2003 12:50 am Post subject: Re: Where can I find garlic tablets Medic wrote: So please tell me how can I eat raw garlic without it burning out my mouth. Take the shot of soju FIRST, not after the food. I love raw garlic, the stronger the better. The garlic in Korea (wife says it's called chinese garlic) is stronger than ours ar home. Plus soju cost more in the US. Back to top Len8Joined: 12 Feb 2003Location: Kyungju Posted: Fri May 16, 2003 7:48 pm Post subject: Where can I find garlic tablets I used to have sleeping problems, in fact I still do now and again. I managed to get hold of a natural herb called "catnip". It's a powder you mix with water, and it knocks you out within minutes. Sometimes though it leaves you tired for a while after you wake up. I got it from the seventh day adventists health food shop in Seoul at Hoegiyon dong. It's in the area of the Hunguk University of Foreign studies. Back to top Blue FlowerJoined: 23 Feb 2003Location: The realisation that I only have to endure two more weeks in this filthy, perverted, nasty place! Posted: Fri May 16, 2003 8:14 pm Post subject: Another herb for insomnia is Valerian - I don't know where you can get if from here, but it is widely available in NZ at health food stores. When I can't sleep i give myself a mini reiki treatment, and i just drop right off. Back to top marcyJoined: 18 Mar 2003Location: Seoul Posted: Sat May 17, 2003 3:51 am Post subject: Catnip 'eh? Is that the same catnip that sends our feline friends into frenzies, or is this something else? I will check out the valerien, I have never had insomnia so bad before. Even if I do get to sleep I never make it through the night, it's so frustrating! Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> FAQ All times are GMT - 8 Hours Page 1 of 1 Jump to: Select a forum Forums:----------------FAQJob-related Discussion ForumGeneral Discussion ForumOff-Topic ForumTravel ForumCurrent Events ForumTechnology ForumBuy/Sell/Trade Forum You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling. Contact Dave's ESL Cafe Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved. Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group TEFL International Supports Dave's ESL Cafe


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Quick Search
- Turkey
Sunshine Estates is a real estate website designed to market houses for sale in Turkey and other sunny European regions. The aim of the site is to aid prospective buyers to easily find and receive information on a variety of properties across borders. We have identified a reliable network of real estate sales experts waiting to help you find the finest houses for sale in Turkey. Queries and appointments to visit are obtained directly with our listed Estate Agents via e-mail. We offer all types of Turkish homes including: apartments, commercial premises, country homes, land and villas.We offer traditional and new properties to provide you with the widest choice.
Buy your dream home using our sophisticated search engine. The Sunshine Estates directory provides you with unlimited access to Estate Agents across all regions including Calis, Fethiye, Ovacik and Oludeniz. Using our service, you can search by up to 15 different criteria including: price, type, condition, size, number of bedrooms and proximity to ameneties including airports and golf courses.
Compare and contrast with other countries in the Mediterranenan to find the perfect home or investment for you.
At Sunshine Estates our goal is to help you find your dream home! Whether you are seeking a permanent move, holiday home or investment, our aim is to reduce the general hassle of a property search abroad.The Sunshine Estates concept was developed by its founders based on their experience spending many months searching Europe for their own dream holiday home and investment. The missing link seemed to be a practical tool to connect with local and independent Estate Agents who may not have frequent access to English-speaking clients but with a variety of quality local homes on offer.
With properties for sale across some of the most beautiful areas of the Mediterranean, Adriatic and Black Sea coasts, Sunshine Estates web site offers a practical tool to connect with a variety of local agents in the regions that appeal to your tastes and budget! Our local country partners help to ensure that you will have the best information available to help you make the right property decision and meet all your investment requirements. Queries and appointments to visit can be obtained directly with our listed estate agents with no delay!


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The Butterfly Effect
A bit over 45 years ago – on 23 January 1968 – the USS Pueblo was seized in international waters by North Korean forces. It was only the second US Navy ship to be captured by enemy forces since the War of 1812 (the river gunboat USS Wake was captured by Japanese forces on 8 December 1941). It remains on the roster of US Navy ships today.
During the seizure of the USS Pueblo, one crewman – Fireman Duane Hodges – was killed by North Korean gunfire. The rest of the crew was captured alive.
The crew was held prisoner for 11 months in North Korea. Conditions were abysmal, and they were indeed abused and tortured by their North Korean captors. Calling this "a year in hell" isn't much of an exaggeration. Some of the accounts here are disturbing; read them when you can afford to get disturbed – and angry.
However, though captive the crew did not give up. Even when forced to produce propaganda, the crew did what they could to discredit it. This included use of the legendary "Hawaiian Good Luck Sign" for months as a way to show clandestine resistance – until the idiots running Time Magazine decided to blow the whistle on that bit of inspired defiance in their October 13, 1968 issue. And the forced apology of the ship's captain,CDR Lloyd Bucher, is classic as well. (For those who don't know: the term "paean" is pronounced virtually identically with "pee on".)
The crew – and Fireman Hodges' remains – were repatriated on 23 December 1968. A formal investigation into the incident was conducted. The ship's captain, CDR Lloyd Bucher, and the head of the "Research Department", LT Stephen Harris, were initially recommended for courts-martial. The SECNAV rejected this recommendation.
Regarding the USS Pueblo's seizure, no one involved or nearby seems blameless. Nor does higher command, all the way up to DoN and DoD. There's plenty of blame to go around for all. So in that respect, perhaps the SECNAV's decision to "close the books" on the incident from a legal perspective was the best decision.
Given the risk of capture inherent in the USS Pueblo's mission and the possible damage to US interests should she be captured intact, it's fairly obvious that a substantial degree of negligence existed – both on the ship and off. The USS Pueblo carried far more sensitive materials than she should have on her last mission, and had inadequate means, plans, and procedures to destroy same. US forces were available relatively nearby on both land and sea that could have reacted in time to render assistance during the incident had proper preparations been made. No forces were prepared to respond, either at sea or on land – so none did.
And, lastly, higher HQ insisted on conducting the mission under ROE that were overly restrictive and likely unrealistic. This is particularly true given that the incident occurred during a period of near-open hostilities between North and South Korea spanning the years from 1966-1969. Conditions in Korea at the time were so bad that this period is referred to by many as the "Second Korean War". Indeed, conditions were "hot" enough that duty in Korea and surrounding waters/airspace from 1 October 1966 to 30 June 1974 qualified for award of the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.
But questions about the USS Pueblo persist even today, and new questions have arisen since her seizure. She was moved from Wonson to Pyongyang in the late 1990s – via sea, through international waters between Japan and South Korea. Why didn't the US make any attempt to recover her then? Just how badly did the USS Pueblo's seizure hurt US security? And why did the North Koreans capture her?
— — —
I won't speculate on why the US made no attempt to recover the USS Pueblo when it was moved through international waters in the 1990s. Perhaps some former official from the Clinton Administration can shed light on that.
The question how badly the USS Pueblo's seizure hurt US security was assessed at the time. The NSA has now declassified and released a large number of contemporary documents relating to the USS Pueblo's capture. From even a cursory review of these documents, it is clear that the damage to US national interests and security due to the loss of the USS Pueblo was significant.
And those contemporary documents IMO likely grossly understate the magnitude of the damage.
— — —
Part of the reason for the timing of the USS Pueblo's seizure may be due to chance. January 1968 was an exceptionally busy time for the US military. In Vietnam, the siege of Khe Sanh was ongoing; the Tet Offensive would begin in a week. Further, as noted above1966-1969 was a period of exceptionally high tension and near-open hostilities between North Korea and South Korea/the US. The North Koreans were attempting to create a rift between South Korea and the US; they also knew the US was preoccupied with (and militarily stressed by) our commitments in Vietnam and thus might be less likely to risk additional confrontation as a result. Part of the reason for their decision to seize the USS Pueblo may be simply that we placed her at risk and North Korea simply decided to take a chance and grab her under those conditions.
That's plausible, and might have been part of the reason. But I personally don't think it's the primary reason.
— — —
Among members of the US military and intelligence communities, the name "John Anthony Walker" incites anger and disgust. This is fully justified. The bastard sold out his nation to the USSR during the height of the Cold War.
Walker's damage to the Navy, and in particular to the US submarine community, is well documented. Modifications to the Soviet Akula-class submarines started with the fifth submarine of the class; those modifications made them much more operationally effective. These later Soviet Akula-class submarines have sometimes been referred to as the "Walker-class" due to the belief that Walker passed to the Soviets key aspects of US submarine technology, allowing them to modify the Akula design to be more effective.
That's probably the second-worst thing Walker did while spying for the Soviets.
You see, Walker and some of his co-conspirators also had access to cryptographic materials. Specifically, they had access to keying materials and manuals. Give the adversary both key and algorithm and secure communications – isn't.
Losing secure communications can indeed be a game-changer; think ULTRA in World War II. Keeping ULTRA secret was literally important enough that the Allies knowingly let men die to avoid tipping the Germans that their communications were being deciphered.
Only God knows how much we lost to the Soviets due to Walker. We have an idea what he gave them. We don't know what they used the keys he gave them to recover – and read. The worst-case scenario . . . is bad. Catastrophic is not an understatement.
Walker is known to have begun passing keying materials to the Soviets in December 1967. The USS Pueblo was captured roughly a month later. And many, to include the former CIA Historian H. Keith Melton, believe there is indeed a direct connection between the two. Others disagree.
I don't personally know. But it does fit. Though I can't say for sure, count me among those who believe Walker is at least partially responsible for the capture of the USS Pueblo.
I've stated elsewhere that there is only a short list of people on this earth on whom I'd wish a death by terminal cancer. Walker will apparently be eligible for parole on May 20, 2015 – the date on which he will have been incarcerated for 30 years. He also reportedly has stage IV throat cancer as well as diabetes.
I sincerely hope Walker never sees another day outside prison. And yes – IMO he does deserve his current medical plight.
— — —
About this article's title: chaos theory tells us that a small change in conditions can, under the right circumstances, have major effects on distant parts of a large system. The name was coined by Edward Lorentz when describing how, under one particular model for weather prediction, a butterfly flapping its wings at a particular place and time could determine whether or not a hurricane would form several weeks later at a distant location.
Here, it's possible that a single act of treachery may have led to the loss of a ship, a life, and nearly a year in hell for 82 others.
Seems to me like that qualifies.
Category: Historical, Navy


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There's an EDA industry reunion at the Computer History Museum on October 16th. "EDA: Back to the Future" is being put on by EDAC along with several sponsors, and it looks like it will be a night to remember. To learn more about the event and purchase tickets click here.
Part of this event is a fund raising auction. I recently talked with Mike Gianfagna at Atrenta about the auction to understand what that part is all about.
Ed: Mike, I understand that part of the event on October 16th is a fund raising auction. Can you tell me a little about that?
Mike: Sure Ed. The Computer History Museum is working on an exhibit for EDA – one that captures the rich history of this industry and preserves some of its innovation in the form of physical artifacts and some of its pioneers in the form of oral histories, captured on video. It's a terrific project, but we need money to keep the progress going. The auction on the evening of October 16th is focused on raising that money.


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An ugly half ended in ugly fashion for the Seahawks.
The Seahawks drove the ball inside the Falcons' 10-yard line as time ran down in the second quarter, but a false start and a sack by Jonathan Babineaux pushed them back with no timeouts left to stop the clock. They didn't try to rush the field goal unit onto the field, leaving Russell Wilson to line up the offense and try to snap the ball before time ran out. He failed and the Seahawks trail 20-0 at the half.
It was the third trip into Falcons territory to end without points for the Seahawks. The Falcons, meanwhile, have scored on four of their five possessions to build their big lead. We've covered some of the highlights, but the moment that lingered above the others was 5-6 Falcons running back Jacquizz Rodgers running over Seahawks safety Earl Thomas on the way to a 43-yard run. He looked like Marshawn Lynch in full Beast Mode, a level that no one on the Seahawks has been able to reach through 30 minutes of play.
Rodgers has 61 yards and Michael Turner has 66 as the Falcons offensive line has overwhelmed the Seahawks defense in the running game thus far. It's been a physical, impressive effort from the Falcons.
The news isn't all good for Atlanta, though. Falcons defensive end John Abraham is questionable to return with the ankle injury he suffered at the end of the regular season. He was questionable to play Sunday after being limited in practice all week.


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CENTERVILLE, Mass. – Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Interim Commissioner Steve Bamford announced the 2013 ECAC East Women's All-Conference selections on Saturday. Earning a spot on the All-Rookie team was freshman goalie Casey Schaejbe (Arlington, Mass.).
Schaejbe became the first Beacon to earn a spot on the All-Rookie team since 2008 and is also the first goalie in program history to earn a spot on the top rookie team.
In her first season with the Beacons, Schaejbe started in 16 of the 25 games played and saw over 916 minutes of ice time. Going into today's conference tournament game at Castleton State she currently sits ninth all-time in saves in a season with 412. Schaejbe closed out the regular season with an 89.8 save percentage and a 3.08 goals against average. She notched a total of four wins this season, with her teammate Kailyn Burke earning the Beacons four other victories.
To date the Arlington native has played in a combined three overtime contests, and recorded a career-best 46 saves in just her third college game in the 2-2 tie with Holy Cross. On the year she recorded a combined six 30+ save games, which included a 30 save showing in the huge 5-3 win over nationally ranked Manhattanville College.


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New Pioneer® Brand Alfalfa Products Now Available for Western Regions
New varieties feature improved disease resistance and adaptability to diverse production
DES MOINES, Iowa, Dec. 4, 2012 - Two new versatile alfalfa varieties from DuPont Pioneer, bred to thrive in high-stress environments or high-yielding irrigated production areas, will be available in western states for 2013.
Tested extensively by Pioneer researchers in university trials and on farms, Pioneer® brand alfalfa varieties 55Q27 and 55VR05 have been selected for disease resistance, adaptability to different cutting systems, winter weathering abilities, versatility and high-yield potential.
"We recognize that a successful alfalfa variety needs to yield under various conditions and these new products help growers obtain high yields, while meeting individual agronomic needs," says Daniel Berning, DuPont Pioneer technical services manager, Lincoln, Neb. Adapted for three-to-four cut and four-to-five cut systems, both products provide high-quality forage and maximum tonnage along with strong agronomic packages.
Both 55Q27 and 55VR05 alfalfa varieties are rated a five for dormancy, which allows the alfalfa plants to grow season-long and improve late-harvest yield potential. Each variety also shows resistance to key diseases, including verticillium wilt, bacterial wilt, Fusarium wilt and phytophthora root rot. 55Q27 is a conventional, broadly adapted variety with specific resistance to the pea aphid and spotted aphid.
55VR05, a medium multi-foliate variety, contains the Genuity® Roundup Ready® trait for additional weed control flexibility. This new variety carries a rating of high resistance for stem nematode. It is also winter-hardy and well-suited to western irrigated areas.
"Our extensive breeding research efforts behind these products should provide growers peace of mind that they have selected the right product for the right acre," Berning says. 55VR05 and 55Q27 will be available nationally in 2014. Contact your local Pioneer sales representative to learn more about Pioneer alfalfa varieties.
DuPont Pioneer is the world's leading developer and supplier of advanced plant genetics, providing high-quality seeds to farmers in more than 90 countries. Pioneer provides agronomic support and services to help increase farmer productivity and profitability and strives to develop sustainable agricultural systems for people everywhere. Science with Service Delivering Success™.
DuPont (NYSE: DD) has been bringing world-class science and engineering to the global marketplace in the form of innovative products, materials and services since 1802. The company believes that by collaborating with customers, governments, NGOs and thought leaders, we can help find solutions to such global challenges as providing enough healthy food for people everywhere, decreasing dependence on fossil fuels, and protecting life and the environment. For additional information about DuPont and its commitment to inclusive innovation, please visit www.dupont.com.
# # #
|Jerry Harrington
The DuPont Oval Logo, DuPont™, Science with Service Delivering Success™, and Pioneer® are trademarks or registered trademarks of DuPont or its affiliates.
Genuity® and Roundup Ready® are registered trademarks used under license from Monsanto Company.


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Ultra-Responsive, Ultra-Sleek.Introducing the world's thinnest Ultrabook: The Acer Aspire S5. The S5 is a razor-slim 0.59" and a featherlight 2.65 lbs. Its fluid design and aerodynamic Mg/Al chassis project elegance while its nimble 13.3" widescreen LED-backlit display delivers vivid images. Enjoy surfing the web, streaming your favorite shows, engaging on social networks and more-all in stunning HD.
Outfitted with 3rd Generation Intel Core i7 Processor, the S5 Ultrabook lets you see and feel the difference in HD or 3D, multitasking or multimedia, for your most demanding tasks. Enjoy the thrill of an automatic burst of speed when you need it with Intel Turbo Boost Technology. Experience your movies, photos, and games smoothly and seamlessly with a suite of visual enhancements built into the processor-no extra hardware required.
Low battery consumption thanks to Acer Hybrid Standby Technology provides up to 15 days of standby power. Plus, you can work continuously for up to 6.5 hours. Accomplish all your tasks with confidence!
Ultra-Seamless ConnectivityAcer Green Instant On resumes your computing session from sleep in less than 1.5 seconds and from deep sleep in 6 seconds. Pop back on your PC, and any websites, emails or documents you had open are instantly restored and ready.
Acer Always Connect gets you onto the Internet within seconds! The Acer Aspire S5 remembers Wi-Fi spots you've used so that, when they're in range, you're instantly connected to the Internet. Just like that, access Instant Messaging, Internet services and email after system resume.
Perfect for data and video, ultrafast Thunderbolt I/O provides up to 20X faster transfer speeds than does USB 2.0. Have small text files you need to move? Connect your external device and use new USB 3.0 for transfers 10X faster than the previous generation.
And connecting those externals is easy. With just the push of a button, the MagicFlip I/O port launcher uncovers all the ports you need through ingenious technology while keeping the PC thin and stylish. And, with just one more button push, you can hide the ports when you're done!
Ultra-Impressive EntertainmentImmerse yourself in vibrant theater-quality sound while listening to movies or music with Dolby Home Theater v4. Enjoy strong beats or soft melodies over the S5's PC speakers, your headphones or a home theater system.
Experience your media and gaming the way you were supposed to. With more execution units, improved shading and greater API support including Microsoft DirectX 11, Intel HD Graphics 4000 delivers crystal-clear images and brilliant color for an exceptional visual experience.
Connect your Acer S5 Ultrabook to an external monitor, projector or HDTV through a single cable using the HDMI port for big-screen enjoyment! Invite friends or family over to share your favorite HD media. Or show off your S5's triple independent display support by throwing images across multiple screens.
Acer clear.fi allows you to manage, store, share and enjoy media among any clear.fi-enabled devices, in any room throughout your home. Have your favorite stuff right on your S5, whether it's stored on your tablet, smartphone, all-in-one, HD media player or home storage unit.
The advanced 1.3 megapixel HD webcam produces amazing video image quality at 24 frames per second thanks to high pixel density. Have crystal-clear chats with friends and family across town or across the country, or snap still pictures to share and save-all in high definition!
Specifications:Processor- 3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3517U Processor (4MB L3 cache, up to 3.0GHz) with Turbo Boost Technology
Display- 13.3" HD widescreen CineCrystal LED-backlit display- 1366 x 768 resolution; 16:9 aspect ratio
Chipset- Mobile Intel HM77 Express chipset
Memory- 4096MB DDR3 dual-channel memory (4GB onboard memory)
Video- Intel HD Graphics 4000 with 128MB of dedicated system memory, supporting Microsoft DirectX 11- Triple independent display support
Audio- Optimized Dolby Home Theater v4 audio enhancement, featuring Audio Optimizer, Audio Regulator, Volume Leveler, Volume Maximizer, Intelligent EQ, Dialogue Enhancer, and Surround Virtualizer (for headphones and built-in speakers) technologies- Two integrated Acer 3DSonic stereo speakers- High Definition Audio Support- Integrated digital microphone
Hard Drive- 256GB SSD drive
Optical Drive- Not available
Digital Media Reader2-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader- Secure Digital (SD), MultiMediaCard (MMC)
Communications- Acer Invilink Nplify 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi Certified with support for Acer SignalUp wireless technology- Bluetooth 4.0 + HS
Interfaces2 - USB 3.0 Ports1 - Intel Certified Thunderbolt port1 - HDMI port with HDCP support1 - Combo headphone / microphone-in jack1 - DC-in jack for AC adapter
Webcam- 1.3 Megapixel HD Webcam (1280 x 1024)
Convenience Features- Touchpad - Multigesture touchpad supporting two-finger scroll, pinch, rotate and flip- Media Keys - Dedicated volume up, volume down keys- MagicFlip I/O Port Launcher - With a push of a button you can uncover the ports you need, and hide them when you're done.
Battery Type- 3-cell lithium polymer battery (2310mAh)
Battery Life- Up to 6.5-hour battery life
Dimensions- 12.77" W x 8.95" D x 0.44"/0.59" H- 324.4mm W x 227.3mm D x 11.2mm/15mm H
Weights- 2.65 lbs. | 1.2kg
Limited Warranty- One-year International Travelers Limited Warranty (ITW)
Software- Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit- Acer ePower Management- Deep Sleep Settings- Microsoft Office Starter 2010- Microsoft Office 2010 preloaded (purchase a product key to activate)- Microsoft Windows Live Essentials- Adobe Flash Player 11.1 and Adobe Reader X- AUPEO!- Bing Bar- Netflix- newsXpresso- NOOK for PC- Norton Online Backup- Acer Crystal Eye- Skype- WildTangent Demo Games- Acer clear.fi- McAfee Internet Security Suite Trial- MyWinLocker


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For TVs up to 55 inch (140 cm)
The BASE 15 M is a durable TV wall mount, suitable for 32 to 55 inch (81 to 140 cm) TVs weighing up to 30 kg (66 lbs).
Tilt your TV for a great viewing angle
With the BASE 15 M, you can tilt your TV forward up to 15 degrees to get a great viewing angle. That means you can mount your TV higher up on the wall - saving even more space without sacrificing your TV watching experience.
The BASE series: strong and simple
By choosing a BASE series wall mount, you choose a solid, secure solution for mounting your TV on the wall. A sturdy lock release feature clicks your TV safely into the bracket. Mounting the BASE 15 M is easy, as it comes with clear mounting instructions and all the mounting materials you need.
Need to tuck your TV away even further?
Mount it in a corner to save even more space. Check out our full-motion TV wall brackets, perfect for any corner of the room.
Check compatibility by entering your TV brand and model. The model number is usually displayed on a sticker at the back of the TV. For example: 'LG OLED55C7V'
Basic and solid TV wall mounts
TÜV NORD is an independent certification authority for products and manufacturing processes. They carry out independent quality and safety tests and are recognized globally as the label of excellent quality. All certified products for professional use are tested to carry at least 5 times the indicated weight without collapsing (deformation is possible).


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A refreshing, flexible approach to catering for weddings, corporate events & private parties.
catering for "events in tents" since 2002
wedding catering Newry
call the caterers for catered-events, the flexible marquee wedding & event caterers
Catering for a wedding in Newry, a family party or a corporate event, the food on offer is always something people focus on and talk about so it's important to get right, you need a professional caterer with the experience to deliver.
We provide catering for many weddings in Newry each year and more so the 'DIY' wedding. Today's adventurous "brides & grooms to be" want the flexibility to hire their own venue, often a Marquee or Tepee and create the theme they want.
Each wedding is unique but the Festival theme has increased in popularity, a large Marquee tent for the reception, a live band or DJ with an outdoor BBQ & various street foods for guests to enjoy.
Flexible menu options to suit all budgets and tastes. Food tasting is available so come over to our kitchen or we can come to you and see for yourself just how good the food could be.
Our service is totally mobile, meaning that we can cater in just about any location or venue.
Marquee & Tipi tent hire– If you need to hire a marquee or tipi tent for your event then we can help. We have pulled together a list of trusted marquee & tipi companies who you can contact direct depending on your location. We have personally worked in these tents and are happy to offer them as our own.
We have a range of bars available to suit the needs of different events, from our rustic oak effect wooden bars through to our disco-inspired mirrored and light-up LED offerings.
These bars can be erected straight, curved or even circular for that full island effect, so whatever the theme of your event, we can cater for it.
"call the caterers were fantastic every step of the way" "Absolutely top class!" " The night was a great success" "The ideal catering service for the DIY bride to be"
Just a few opening quotes from the many testimonials we receive. A truly flexible approach to event catering, whatever menu you need, wherever you need it call the caterers for menus designed around your theme, a budget or the guest list just pass on your thoughts and we'll do the rest.
A creative team with many years of combined catering & hospitality exposure. Experienced and talented individuals that include very clever chefs, event managers and professional front of house staff. All with a focus on delivering a successful event, every time.
For an informal chat on the needs of your event, give us a call on 01902 456661 or 07973 441 861. Or for a more detailed quotation, please email your specific needs contact page and we will get back to you.


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Netflix's day-old deal to be the exclusive pay-TV home for new movies from Walt Disney Studios is a "game changer" for the streaming video company and was "the highest value deal" possible for the entertainment giant, executives from the two companies said Wednesday.
Speaking at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference in New York, Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said bidding away those rights from premium cable channel Starz beginning in 2016 was particularly valuable to his company because of its large family audience.
"The movies that constantly performed well for us are those big, animated features," Sarandos said. "There's lots of repeat viewing. It's a safe brand halo."
-- Dawn C. Chmielewski and Ben Fritz


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WARREN, Mich. - On the recording, Warren Mayor Jim Fouts is heard explaining his anger.
Fouts is upset over negative items being put on his Wikipedia page. A Warren appointee opted to record a conversation about it with Fouts. That's not a crime.
"If I saw him in the (expletive) street and had a baseball bat I would beat the (expletive) down to the (expletive) ground," Fouts is recorded saying. "It would take me just a little bit to find a (expletive) gun and blow his (expletive) head off. That's how pissed off I am."
Fouts was referring to two former city employees who he blames for his woes online. It was the frequency of the threats that, sources say, motivated the appointee to record the calls and turn them over to the Michigan State Police.
"I have a right to mention him because that (expletive) causes me problems every (expletive) day," Fouts says on the recording. "Every (expletive) day. I'm (expletive) sick of him."
The mayor, for his part, declined an on-camera interview with Local 4. However, he did give a statement which, in part, reads:
"I have not violated any laws and I am affronted by any insinuations that I have violated any laws."
Read: Fouts' full statement
News of the recordings leaked out after the state police called the Warren Police Department earlier this week to alert them about the investigation. Since that time, the recordings are all anyone in an elected position around here can talk about.
Warren City Council President and Mayor Pro-Tem Scott Stevens said he has heard Fouts make threats in the past. He said the recordings don't surprise him.
"Too often lately these things have been pooh-poohed and put aside and some terrible consequences have come out of things," Stevens said. "At minimum it is worthy of an investigation."
Mayor Fouts said he finds this a violation of privacy and utterly outrageous. He says he has called MSP and will talk to them.
Copyright 2013 by ClickOnDetroit.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Modified Mustangs & FordsNews & Views
Roush Phase 3 Mustang in The Valet [VIDEO]
The 2014 Roush Phase 3 Ford Mustang is the star of this video by Roush Performance dubbed The Valet featuring Justin Pawlak.
There must be a certain fear when handing the keys over to your high-horsepower vehicle and tossing them to a young valet guy to park at his leisure. What if the valet guy was drift guy Justin Pawlak? Sure, the scenario is unlikely, but it does make for one awesome video.
The 2014 Roush Phase 3 Ford Mustang – one of our previous and super-worthy feature cars – is the star of this video by Roush Performance dubbed The Valet. While parking at The Petersen Automotive Museum, the driver hands the keys over to none other than Justin Pawlak, the valet guy.
As we are sure you have figured out by now, JTP isn't going to just casually drive the Roush Phase 3 Ford Mustang – and all 675 horses -- and park it nicely in some open parking spot. Shenanigans commences with JTP sliding the loud green Roush Phase 3 Mustang sideways through a parking garage complete with the normal obstacles such as massive pillars, narrow passageways, and concrete walls.
Honestly, the Roush Mustang is in better hands with professional drift driver JTP than with some young valet guy who might not know the power that the Roush Phase 3 Ford Mustang has to offer.
We must add that this sweet Ford Mustang Phase 3 will be given away to one lucky winner! This mean and somewhat green Roush Phase 3 Mustang can be yours, just visit www.RoushContest.com and submit your entry.


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Event Recap: Broaden Your Horizons in LiverpoolMartyn Davies
On January 16th, Sound City, Digital Advisors and ACME/Liverpool Vision, teamed up to host a Futureproof Routes to Market session: Broaden Your Horizons–a motivational event for the burgeoning local creative sector in Liverpool.
The workshop's mission was to:
"Look at life outside games, how the skills of game developers and digital companies are applicable to sectors in areas such as music, brands, social media, gamification and meta games and how other sectors and industries are looking to games and services as the new way to engage customers. [And to] examine how digital companies can increase their commercial opportunities by leveraging their skills and knowhow in different ways or in new areas."
My fellow speakers were Mike Haigh, a Creative Director Consultant with expertise in mobile and free to play games, Stephen O'Railly, Director of International Sales at Mobile Roadie, and Clemens Wangerin, Co-Founder of Setgo Ltd.
The reaction to my talk was extremely positive, given I was asked to essentially talk about myself and how I've pivoted my career and broadened my horizons. It resulted in several more speaking offers at exciting Liverpool events and I met some excellent entrepreneurs and event organizers who sought advice on everything from product design to running hack days.
The biggest takeaway from the event was seeing the Liverpool City Council finally embracing and nurturing the talent in the city. Also, seeing the efforts that Liverpool is putting into creating a hub for technical innovation and creative output, including a new school for technical education and several new co-working spaces. A great step forward.
A big shout and "thank you" to Enda and Lindsey who organized the event and are running many more in the city all the time. Also, props to Sony Computer Entertainment Europe for closing down their Liverpool office and spilling a ton of potential entrepreneurs and hardcore game developers out into the streets who are ready to take Liverpool's digital industry to the next level.


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hansen needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 74 designs submitted by 22 freelance designers.
I'm looking for a logo that grabs attention and lends inspiration to people who are trying to become more confident communicators. This logo will be used in the header of my blog and e-zine and should also lend itself well to becoming a logo for a book series.
The Speak like a Star! series focuses on helping individuals become more confident communicators who can speak clearly, correctly and considerately in every situation.
I currently run the Speak like a Star! blog, send out a monthly e-zine with the same title, and plan to publish 4 books/e-books under the Speak like a Star brand. I need the logo to look great in website headers and on the covers/binding of books.
My market is extremely broad and international. Should appeal to everyone everywhere.
- something fresh, original and fun
- should be clean and clear
- looks great on screen and in print
- need color and grayscale
- I am open to any color combinations, as long as they make sense and there aren't too many colors
- title and graphic
- graphic should be able to work alone
- vector file and jpg
- Would be great if it didn't look too out of place alongside my six icons (see my currently running contest for 6 workbook icons - $300 prize)
- nothing too busy
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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I just had an strange idea.
What if you go into Naga City on Vicious Mode and take the Titan Guitar with you. And then use it on every boss in the arena oO
Is this beatable? Or completely broken?^^
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I previously wrote about the fundamental issue in the Peikoff/McCaskey controversy; namely that McCaskey's viewpoint is inconsistent with the principles of Objectivist epistemology and therefore Dr. Peikoff was right in demanding McCaskey be removed from the board of ARI. This addendum discusses another issue that deserves attention as well. For reference, see Peikoff's private email to Arline Mann of the Ayn Rand Institute that was subsequently made public.1 The issue is a premise underlying the attacks leveled against Peikoff for making the statement "…I hope you still know who I am and what my intellectual status is in Objectivism…." The premise in these attacks is altruism and, by implication, a lack of understanding what objectivity is.
As Objectivists know, justice demands judging a man's character and actions objectively and granting to each that which he deserves. What Peikoff's detractors don't understand is that this principle applies equally in judging oneself. These detractors are demanding that Dr. Peikoff deny his own achievements. It is objectively verifiable that he is the pre-eminent living Objectivist scholar. Peikoff's lifelong commitment to learning, teaching and writing about Objectivism has earned him this status. To validate this, one can listen to his lecture courses and read his works, including; The Ominous Parallels, The Analytic-Synthetic Dichotomy, Fact and Value, and most importantly Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand. These works (and many others) make it clear that he understands Objectivism down to the root. And, as further evidence, he was considered by Ayn Rand as the person most knowledgeable of her philosophy and so she chose him as her intellectual heir.
Now let's turn to the email referenced above. It is clear that Peikoff and some board members of ARI (I do not know who, or how many) had prior discussions over McCaskey's continued presence as an ARI board member. The details of these discussions are not known, however, the evidence indicates the issue was not resolved in a timely manner. Whether the board's inaction was a result of outright disagreement with Peikoff, an indifference to the issue, or pragmatism on the part of some members, or something else, is not known. What is known is that a resolution was needed on a very important issue, and one was not forthcoming.
Peikoff identified a fundamental philosophical disagreement between McCaskey's position and Objectivism. In addition, while advancing Objectivism as a board member of ARI, McCaskey disagreed with the essence of Objectivist epistemology, thereby endorsing a breach between thought and action. This shows a lack of integrity and is an instance of the mind/body dichotomy; a dichotomy that Objectivism emphatically rejects.
Knowing that McCaskey's position was inconsistent with Objectivism and that allowing him to remain would be equally inconsistent, what should Peikoff have done when faced with reluctance on the part of the board to removing McCaskey? For a clue to the answer, I refer to the following quote from Ayn Rand's article The Age Envy:
As a rule, a man of achievement does not flaunt his achievements…If, however, he encounters an envious hater who gets huffy, trying to ignore, deny or insult his achievements, he asserts them proudly. 2While I'm not suggesting the board members of ARI were "envious haters" this quote does identify an important principle; one must stand up for oneself and proudly assert one's achievements when appropriate. Note that Peikoff gave ARI an ultimatum; choose either him or McCaskey. Peikoff, like everyone else, has a right to remove support from an organization if he thinks that organization is inconsistent with the ideals he upholds. Think about how much more important this is for Peikoff when the organization in question is one he founded, and one that has a mandate to spread the ideas of a philosophy that he is more familiar with than anyone else. A decision had to be made regarding McCaskey and when agreement could not be reached, Leonard Peikoff had every right to assert his status as the pre-eminent Objectivist scholar.
To suggest that Peikoff not assert his status when it is appropriate to do so, is to demand self-denial, self-abnegation, and self-sacrifice on his part i.e. altruism. If Peikoff had acquiesced on this issue, as many of his detractors are suggesting he should have, he would have been inconsistent with the virtues of justice, integrity, and pride as defined by the Objectivist ethics. And, as noted by Peikoff in his book Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand, when a person abandons even one virtue, this would lead to a compromise on all the Objectivist virtues, and to the eventual loss of the values one is trying to gain. In the midst of this entire controversy and all the criticisms of Peikoff, it is he who has been the most consistently objective.
This whole McCaskey incident has been disturbing to many Objectivists, but to a large extent for the wrong reasons. What is disturbing to me is that the attacks on Leonard Peikoff show that some very prominent Objectivists lack a thorough understanding of epistemology and ethics. It is interesting that these two areas are where the lack of understanding is, because there is a common concept uniting the two. Just as concepts in epistemology are objective, so too are values and the virtues required to attain them. Objectivity pertains to the relationship between existence and consciousness. It means adhering to reality and accepting reason as one's only means of acquiring knowledge of reality. If one understands and accepts objectivity, one's concepts are tied to reality and are formed in accordance with the requirements of man's conceptual faculty; one chooses values and practices virtues with man's life as the standard; and one judge's people according to whether or not their ideas and actions promote man's life. Objectivity leaves no room for dogma or whim when acquiring knowledge, choosing values, or judging people.
But, if one fails to grasp what objectivity is, one falls into the intrinsicist/subjectivist trap. Typically, a person like this embraces Objectivism as dogma, then recognizes conflicts in the two positions, but cannot resolve them objectively. They then swing to the subjectivist side. To such a person, the only alternatives when judging people are either dogmatic authority, or tolerance for all viewpoints. They will view the disagreements between McCaskey and Peikoff/Harriman as merely a "difference of opinion" between scholars. And they will condemn Peikoff as "authoritarian" for his stance against McCaskey. The possibility of an objective condemnation does not occur to them.
And, as Dr. Peikoff states in Fact and Value:
…if you grasp and accept the concept of "objectivity," in all its implications, then you accept Objectivism, you live by it and you revere Ayn Rand for defining it. If you fail fully to grasp and accept the concept, whether your failure is deliberate or otherwise, you eventually drift away from Ayn Rand's orbit, or rewrite her viewpoint or turn openly into her enemy.3If Objectivism is to have a future, anyone who admires Ayn Rand and wants to promote her philosophy must fully understand objectivity and apply it consistently. This includes passing judgment objectively, and never granting equal status to truth and falsehood. But if they don't grasp what objectivity is, they will either abandon the movement, or, in their attempts to rewrite Ayn Rand's viewpoint, they will empower the enemies of Objectivism. This can only lead to failure in their goal of trying to gain a world wide influence for Objectivism.
(Thanks to Brian Phillips for very valuable suggestions in writing this article.)
1) http://www.johnmccaskey.com/resignation.html
2) The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution, page 152
3) http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=objectivism_fv


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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- LinkedIn Corp. shares jumped sharply late Thursday after the company beat Wall Street's estimates on surging revenue, particularly in its hiring services business.
LinkedIn US:LNKD shares were up more than 9% to around $135 in after-hours trading — on track to set a new high for a stock that has already surged nearly 60% over the past 12 months.
The company reported a fourth-quarter profit of $11.5 million, or 10 cents a share, compared with a profit of $6.92 million, or 6 cents a share. Revenue was $303.62 million, from $167.74 million. Adjusted profit was 35 cents a share.
Analysts polled by FactSet on average were expecting the professional-social-networking company to report a profit of 19 cents a share, on revenue of $279.93 million.
For the current quarter, LinkedIn said it expects revenue in the range of between $305 million and $310 million. Analysts polled by FactSet on average were expecting revenue of $301 million.
LinkedIn said it now has 202 million members, up 39% year-over-year.
As expected, the company's businesses geared to helping companies in finding and recruiting talent posted strong growth.
LinkedIn's talent solutions business posted revenue of $161 million, up 90% from the year-earlier period. Its marketing solutions business had revenue of $83.2 million, up 68%.
In a statement, Chief Executive Jeff Weiner said, "2012 was a transformative year for LinkedIn. We exited 2011 having successfully revamped our underlying development infrastructure."
Needham analyst Kerry Rice said the company's results were also driven by strong growth internationally, saying LinkedIn posted "great numbers" and "great guidance."
"International was great as it looks like the company is improving its monetization in international geographies," he told MarketWatch. "The company keeps raising the bar and then beating it solidly."
In fact, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter noted that the company's revenue guidance is "in-line with consensus, so given their track record, the market likes that."
The report, he said, was a "normal blow away quarter."
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The Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network strives to assure that each member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.
Letter From GLSEN Hawai'i
GLSEN Hawai'i is a chapter of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).
Nationally, GLSEN works to ensure safe schools for ALL students, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. There are over 35 Chapters around the country, which work closely with the national staff of GLSEN to implement programs, and to keep national staff informed of local events. The work that chapters do covers a variety of subjects and issues, from public policy to teacher training to supporting students and educators around the country.
Chapters like ours play an important role in bringing GLSEN's programs and visions to local communities. While some chapters have full-time or part-time staff, most are entirely volunteer-based. We're always looking for new volunteers to help us ensure safe schools for all students.
Please explore our website to find out more about our work and to learn about how you can get involved in local and national events. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions that are not answered on this site. Thank you for you interest and we're looking forward to hearing from you.