Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/FCJkJ67gN7U/ireland-has-the-coolest+looking-water-towers
don draper gallagher madmen james cameron liam hemsworth miss canada justin bieber boyfriend
Monday, December 31, 2012
Ireland Has Some Awesome-Looking Water Towers
President Obama pressures Republicans to negotiate fiscal deal
');
if(infobox=='True' && ShowInfoBox_l679440_1==false){
jQuery("#player_infobarl679440_1").trigger('click');
ShowInfoBox_l679440_1==true;
}
};
if (false)
{
$.setup_player(Play_Conf);
}
//info bar setup
jQuery('#player_infobarl679440_1').click(function()
{
var $info =jQuery('#player_info_contentl679440_1');
if($info.text()!=''){
var $content = jQuery('div',$info);
//min heigth
var min = $content.css('min-height');
var max = $content.css('max-height');
$info.slideToggle(600);
ShowInfoBox_l679440_1=!ShowInfoBox_l679440_1;
}
});
});
? To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
WASHINGTON--The fiscal cliff negotiations continue with a little more than 24 hours before taxes are set to go up for virtually every American worker.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell asked Vice President Joe Biden to get involved in a last-minute effort to avert the increases on Saturday night, but top Senate Democrat Harry Reid said "At this point we are unable to make a counter-offer."
Democrats said the Republican proposal called for changing the formula for calculating social security benefits increases.
McConnell said there is no single issue blocking an agreement, but said "The sticking point appears to be a willingness, an interest, or courage to close the deal."
mike trout ryan broyles jerel worthy alshon jeffery miami heat bulls california earthquake
'Souls Of San Francisco' Looks Into The Eyes Of The City's Characters (PHOTOS)
If eyes are a window into one's soul, then Garry Bowden's main goal is to expose the soul of San Francisco.
For more than a year, the SF-based artist has been photographing portraits of the myriad characters he meets throughout town. He plans to turn the striking results into a book this coming winter.
"This project gives me an excuse to stop and meet all the interesting people in this city," he told The Huffington Post. "There's nowhere in the world like the Bay Area, so I'm grateful I get to learn about its culture straight from the people who create it."
Bowden captures young and old, straight and gay, brown and white and every color in between, detailing the poignant few moments he spends with each subject. Through their faces, he tells the stories of a street worker trying to make enough money to cover the debts of her drug-addict mother, an AIDS activist, a bright-eyed transplant ready to tackle her California dream, a homeless man determined not to make his situation a "shituation."
"Despite how we appear to be different on the outside, we all experience the same things in our inner world," Bowden said. "Life is made infinitely easier if we see each other as friends exploring the mystery of life together."
A few pieces from "Souls of San Francisco" are currently on display at D-Structure in the Lower Haight, and highlights from the collection can be viewed on the official website. Take a look at some of Bowden's favorite images below, and if you like what you see, you can contribute to his Kickstarter campaign here.
"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/30/souls-of-san-francisco_n_2386370.html
meryl streep oscar wins sasha baron cohen oscars oscar winners the artist sacha baron cohen oscars the old curiosity shop jane russell
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Former Hawkeye Ryan Bowen is NBA frequent-flier
MEMPHIS ? It was almost surprising Ryan Bowen even knew what city he was in on Saturday night.
The former Iowa Hawkeyes basketball player is an assistant coach for the NBA?s Denver Nuggets. On Wednesday, he was here in Memphis to scout the Grizzlies as they played Philadelphia. On Thursday, he was in Oklahoma City to scout Dallas as the Mavericks played the Thunder.
Denver Nuggets assistant coach Ryan Bowen (Cliff Jette/The Gazette-KCRG TV9)
On Friday, Bowen was with the Nuggets as they played at Dallas. And on Saturday, he was back in Memphis when Denver lost to the Grizzlies at FedEx Forum, 81-72.
When is this man at home in Denver? ?I wasn?t in December, not a whole lot,? he said.
The Nuggets played 10 of their 15 December games on the road, and 22 of their first 32 this season. January will be better.
Bowen spends more time on the road than the team, since he is one of three Nuggets coaches who rotate as advance scouts, watching the teams Denver will soon play.
?I?ll stay with the team 75 percent of the time,? he said. ?I think I?ve missed seven or eight of our games so far this year.?
When Bowen is with the Nuggets, he works with players before games, and before and after practices. Ninety minutes before the game here Saturday, Bowen was on the court throwing different kinds of passes to Denver players to set them up for pull-up jumpers. At 37, he still looked like a player himself.
Bowen played 507 NBA games spread over 10 seasons between 1999 and 2009, the first five of them with the Nuggets. Before that, he had a 120-game career that made him one of the most-beloved Iowa players in the minds of Hawkeye fans. He averaged 14.4 points and 8.7 rebounds in his senior season, 1997-98.
He is Iowa?s all-time career leader in steals, is fourth in blocked shots, and eighth in rebounds. He was a player who hustled, which had a lot to do with why he kept a playing job in the NBA for so long though he never averaged as much as five points per game in a season.
Andre Iguodala of the Nuggets slaps hands with Bowen before the Denver-Memphis Grizzlies game on Dec. 29, 2012. (Cliff Jette/The Gazette-KCRG TV9)
Bowen was in the middle of his second season as the video coordinator for Fran McCaffery?s Iowa program when the Nuggets offered him a job last December.
?I just think it was too good an opportunity to pass up,? he said, ?getting in the NBA and getting the chance to work on court with the guys. Being the video coordinator at Iowa, I wasn?t able (by NCAA rules) to work with the guys. I wanted to do that while I was still somewhat young, more of a hands-on approach working with them rather than from afar.
?I do enjoy it. It?s weird that three years ago I was here playing with these guys. A lot of times I wonder ?How in the world did I do this?? These guys are so good. You see how strong these guys are, how talented they are, yet not too long ago I was playing at this level.?
?
?
?
Source: http://thegazette.com/2012/12/30/former-hawkeye-ryan-bowen-is-nba-coach-scout-and-frequent-flier/
dallas mavericks washington capitals amare stoudemire tallest building in the world the pitch brandon inge freedom tower
Iraqi protesters wounded after warning shots fired
BAGHDAD (AP) ? An official in Iraq's western Anbar province says two people have been wounded after bodyguards for a senior Sunni politician began shooting to disperse angry anti-government protesters.
Anbar provincial council member Talib Hamadi al-Dulaimi told The Associated Press the shooting happened near Ramadi Sunday during a visit by Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq. Sunni protesters have been rallying in the area for more than a week to protest over perceived second-class treatment by the Shiite-led government.
Al-Dulaimi says a dispute broke out and shots were fired after demonstrators insisted the Sunni official show support for their protest by submitting his resignation from the government.
Gunfire continued to ring out and protesters were seen throwing rocks at the entourage as it left the area.
Al-Mutlaq's office had no immediate comment.
Associated Pressalex smith alex smith robert deniro mexico news the talented mr ripley weather new orleans orcl
GLHFCasting ? Taking Care of Your Home's Heating and Cooling ...
duct cleaning salem or If you need to install an updated heating or cooling system in your house, the most important things to think about are purchasing high quality products and trusted service. There are many types of furnaces that all have different advantages and disadvantages. Depending on your home and location, your home temperature and utility bill can improve dramatically if you buy the right furnace. Air conditioning systems are also very different and it is essential to purchase a system that is the most effective. When you meet with a heating and air conditioning specialist, they will evaluate your situation and help select the system that best meets your needs. These specialists can also handle all varieties of repairs on these systems. Experience a large change in your year-round comfort with professional heating and air conditioning technicians by your side.
Source: http://www.glhfcasting.com/taking-care-of-your-homes-heating-and-cooling-systems/
2013 lincoln mkz burger king mary j blige google project glass google goggles one tree hill projectglass stock act
This Milk Production Was Brought To You By A Robot
- Hide caption
Milking Parlor, 2012: Two people are needed to milk twice a day, 300 cows.
Freya Najade
- Hide caption
Milking Robot I, 2012: One milking robot milks three times per day, 60 cows. The cows are in a stable, in which they can move around freely. They can use the robot whenever they need to. No human needs to be present.
Freya Najade
- Hide caption
Lettuce, 2011: Lettuce is grown in a stacking system to provide a maximum use of space. Plants grow inside of plastic trays without soil. A conveyor belt is moving the plants to ensure they get all round sunlight. The whole growing process is computer controlled.
Freya Najade
-
Freya Najade
- Hide caption
Tomatoes I, 2012: In order to have total control over the nutrients and the irrigation, tomatoes are planted in sterile material such as rock wool and not in soil. By doing so, the tomatoes are, according to the growers, less likely infected by diseases, a smaller amount of pesticide is needed and the yield can be increased.
Freya Najade
- Hide caption
Tomatoes II, 2011: In order to consume locally grown tomatoes in ... the U.K. or Germany, the tomatoes need to be produced in heated greenhouses. ... To produce in more sustainable ways and to keep the cost of energy low, the greenhouse above is heated by the waste heat from a nearby nuclear power station.
Freya Najade
- Hide caption
Apple Tree, 2011: Modern apple growers use apple varieties that are grafted onto Dwarfing Rootstocks. Developed at a research station in the U.K., these ... trees need less water and less space than traditional apple trees, which makes high density planting possible. The fruits are more accessible and easier to pick, because the trees are smaller.
Freya Najade
- Hide caption
Eggplants, 2012: A computer manages precisely the irrigation, the nutrients given to the plants and also the climate inside the greenhouse. Automatically windows open, sunscreens move, and waste, water and nutrients are collected, purified, and recycled.
Freya Najade
- Hide caption
Cress, 2011: Cress, tomatoes, cucumbers, or lettuce are grown in closed systems just with LED lights. There is no sunlight and no direct exchange of air with the outside. Day and night, summer and winter stop existing. Humans are able to determine the shape, taste and color of plants and fruits. They can be grown anywhere from the desert to inside of restaurants and supermarkets.
Freya Najade
- Hide caption
Strawberries II, 2012: Strawberry crops are grown on tabletop-raised beds. The tabletop system makes it easier to pick the fruits and eases the weed and pest control. A leaf and sap analysis determines the nutrient's compound, which is fed with the irrigation water. To accelerate the growth of the plants, growers above add CO2 from a close-by Shell refinery.
Freya Najade
- Hide caption
Mushrooms, 2012: To allow an all-year-round production of mushrooms and to increase the yield, mushrooms are grown in a microclimate inside growing rooms. A stacking system maximizes the production per square meter.
Freya Najade
- Hide caption
Chicken, 2011: Since the mid-1990s the consumption of chicken has increased by 75 percent worldwide. Chicken are often reared in barns. One chicken barn has the capacity to rear 50,000 chickens.
Freya Najade
We all have an inkling of how our food is grown these days, but increasingly we don't really know what it looks like. You'd probably recognize a tomato plant or a cornfield ? but these photos offer a perspective that a lot of us haven't seen.
Photographer Freya Najade is exploring the age-old question of how humans harness nature ? a question as old as agriculture itself. But what she uniquely captures here is the latest chapter in the evolution of food production, in which technology ? in the form of robots and computers ? is the central character.
"It was a bit bizarre, observing cows milked by robots without any humans present," Najade writes from London, where she's based. Bizarre, she says, but not all bad:
"I have seen new technologies that allow, in certain aspects, a more environmentally friendly production. For instance, in a greenhouse in which waste, water and nutrients are collected, purified and recycled, the production becomes more environmentally friendly because less water and nutrients are needed."
The fact is there are just so many of us to feed. And it's going to take some real ingenuity to feed the billions more joining us ? even if that means growing lettuce under LED lights in a building in a desert. Though industrial-scale mushroom production is nothing new, in Najade's photos it looks a lot more like a science experiment than the romanticized agriculture of bucolic farms. But they're both, effectively, always a kind of experiment.
Who's making the decisions about how how we'll be growing the next generation of fruits and vegetables? I hope there's another photographer out there who wants to find out. For now, though, we have Najade, who's forcing us to ask, "Remember when humans actually milked cows?"
Maybe one day we'll be asking: "Remember cows?"
Microsoft Tropical Storm Isaac amber portwood Phyllis Diller Darla Moore newsweek Tony Scott
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Smartest Magazines For Women - Fairchild Family Housing ...
Print lives! Even in our days of Facebook and iPads, printed magazines offer tactile and visual pleasures all their own. Here are five of the most delightful women's magazines available today. Try one next time you'd like to curl up with a good magazine at home at Fairchild Family Housing.
W Magazine
Full of sopisticated takes on style and living, W is a highly sophisticated fashion magazine. Gorgeous photography and great articles fill this elegant, over-sized publication, making it an essential read.
O, The Oprah Magazine
This relatively new magazine by Oprah Winfrey is all about empowering women and encouraging personal growth. Covering a wide range of topics, everything from fitness to career choices, this magazine is a valuable asset for the 21st century woman.
Prevention
With an emphasis on family health, Prevention works off of the basic premise that little changes can yield big results. It offers a friendly voice on issues of health, exercise, and nutrition, and is full of comprehensive and intelligent writing.
Bust
Tapping into women's issues intelligently and with a strong feminist perspective, Bust is a groundbreaking lifestye magazine. Its writing covers pop culture, news, music and book reviews, and a strong editorial voice that a strong, independent woman can read with pride.
Cooking Light
Unlike a lot of other food magazines, Cooking Light matches recipes with smart writing on health and fitness issues. This magazine is very educational and doesn't condescend, making it a good resource for nutritional information.
Source: http://blog.fairchildfamilyhousing.com/2012/12/27/smartest-magazines-for-women/
pro bowl pro bowl 2012 rick santorum daughter gainesville 2012 royal rumble the grey machine gun kelly
Source: http://sakuturug.posterous.com/smartest-magazines-for-women-fairchild-family
heidi klum red tails trailer joe pa dead laura dekker stephen colbert south carolina seal seal and heidi klum
Prospecting to FSBO Sellers | Thoughts on Real Estate Marketing...
Most homeowners trying to sell by owner really do need your help, they just don?t realize it yet.
At first, they think going the FSBO route will save them money ? and that it will be easy.
You, as a professional real estate agent, know better. But you can?t just insult those FSBO sellers by telling them they have no idea what they?re getting into. If you want to gain their trust ? and their listing ? you need to take a gentler approach.
Start by stopping by to get acquainted. Ask if you could see the house ? and ask if they?d be willing to work with you if you had a potential buyer. Then thank them for talking with you and tell them you have some free information that would be helpful to them, and ask their permission to send it.
See if they?d like the information via postal mail, or if they?d prefer email. If email is the choice, be sure to tell them who to watch for in their? ?from? line.
Then start mailing, and don?t stop with just one or two letters. Trust is a fragile thing, and it takes time to develop. Remember that saving money may not be the homeowner?s only motivation. They may be going FSBO because of a bad experience with an agent who took their listing, then forgot all about them. Their attitude toward agents may be one of negativity.
So get ready to stay in touch until they list, tell you to go away, or actually sell the house themselves. (NAR says that about 10% of homes sold in 2011 were FSBO, so it does happen.)
The For Sale By Owner Letter Set I offer on my prospecting letters page includes two ?give-away? items you can use at different stages in your relationship. The first is a ?Getting Started? report. It gives hints on determining the proper price, gathering the necessary forms, taking safety precautions, etc. The second is the same kind of checklist that you?d give any seller ? things to do to get the house ready for market.
Letters 1 through 10 expand on the items listed in the getting started report. Each letter offers a little advice and perhaps a little warning. For instance, the letter that mentions the title report warns that they need to contact the title company and get this ahead of time, because sometimes unexpected clouds on the title can delay (and kill) a sale.
While the letters do indicate your willingness to help, none of them shouts ?You?re wasting your time, list with me today!? The whole point of the letters is to gain that homeowner?s trust while you show them that you DO know your business. Right now you?re paying attention to them and being helpful ? and that?s a good indication of how you?ll behave should they decide to list with you.
Depending upon the time you have to devote to prospecting for FSBO?s, you can call a day or so after you?ve sent a message ? just to ask if they have any questions. And if you happen to be in their neighborhood with a few minutes time to spare, you can stop in to ask how things are going.
At some point you will probably hear some uncertainty in their voice ? and that might be the time to say ?Would you like me to take over this chore for you??
One thing you shouldn?t do ? and you may disagree with me ? is offer a market analysis before they?ve indicated a willingness to list with you. In fact, if you believe price is the primary reason why their home has not sold, you probably shouldn?t do it until after the listing is signed.
If you have the time and like to write, you can write a FSBO prospecting letter set yourself. If not, my set of 10 letters plus the special report and checklist is only $97.
You can use it as I?ve described, AND you can use it via a capture form on your website. Put it in a sidebar, or write a whole page about selling as a FSBO. Include a little bit of advice, then offer the special report.
You might even title the page something like ?Why FSBO homes sell for less than listed homes.? Then quote the NAR statistics, which say: ?The typical FSBO home sold for $150,000 compared to $215,000 for agent-assisted home sales.? (For this and more statistics from NAR, go here.)
If you do decide to write your own set, do make the time to write all the letters before you start using them. You know how busy life can become when you?re showing homes, listing homes, and working to get transactions to closing. If you put off writing the follow-up letters, chances are that your plans to follow up faithfully could get derailed.
Wishing you success, and dozens of good new listings in 2013!
Source: http://marte-cliff.com/wordpress/2012/12/prospecting-to-fsbo-sellers/
ryan leaf ryan leaf luke kuechly brad miller chandler jones peyton hillis fletcher cox
Friday, December 28, 2012
Ovarian Cervical Uterine Cancer - snippet hatchet - Blogspot
Ovarian Cervical Uterine Cancer
Often called as a silent-killer, ovarian cervical uterine cancer claims a number of lives every year. This particular cancer is prevalent amongst females of all ages. People who have an ancestral history of this disease are at a higher risk. It is thus significant to be knowledgeable about the disease and the different degrees of its intensity.
Symptoms of ovarian cervical uterine cancer
Ovarian cervical uterine cancer symptoms are often misinterpreted as the indications for some other fatal diseases. However, a few of the general symptoms which become perceptible at the initial stages consist of abdominal uneasiness which is lead towards bloating. These intensify with time.
Moreover, there is a pattern of irregular urinary condition even though there is no infection. Digestion and nausea problem also encompass together with inflation and inexplicable pain in pelvic area.
Detection and determination
Screening is the top method for detecting this disease. The detection comprises of pelvic exam including the vagina check up as well as the uterus check up which is performed by a medical expert. The latest technology in the field of examining this condition includes an annual blood-test. Despite the rare detection in the inceptive phases, early diagnosis contributes towards the success percentage of the termination this cancer.
Treatment of ovarian cervical uterine cancer
Ones the certification of this particular cancer is done along with its dispersion all over the patient, the treatment is carried on via surgery to eliminate the malicious tissue. It depends on the grade of the cancer, though the complete elimination from the uterus as well as the ovaries is unavoidable. Post-surgery the radiotherapy gets into effect as it destroys the remaining cancer cells. Another option that is well accepted and is helpful is chemotherapy.
Like other organs of the body, there could be cancer in the cervix as well. It is considered to be the second most prone organ to develop cancer, the first being the breast cancer. The cervix cancer does not have a characteristic of developing quickly. It develops gradually it is only noticeable when a person goes for a physical or screening exam. There are a number of options for cervical cancer treatment.
Different options of cervical cancer treatment
The medical industry has multiple options for treating this category of cancer. Hysterectomy is the most accepted method where the uterus is removed through a surgery. The lymph nodes are also removed together with the uterus if it is observed that the cancer has reached an advanced stage. Women undergoing hysterectomy treatment loose their capability of giving birth to children.
Though there are a number of gentle ways for treating cervical cancer, keeping the maternal capabilities unharmed. For women who want to remain fertile have a number of options to choose for cervical cancer treatment. Loop electrosurgical excision or LEEP is an established process. There are a number of benefits of this kind of treatment, inexpensive, a high degree of success rate, no major surgeries required, and application of local anesthesia are a few to name.
Cone biopsy is another option for cervical cancer treatment. Another method is cone biopsy. The surgical procedure includes eliminating only the cone shaped samples out of the mucous membrane, followed by radiation therapy.
Trachelectomy, a treatment for those on who the Cone biopsy does not show positive results. In this kind of surgery only the effected area is treated, the veracity of the ovaries as well as the uterus is maintained. However, it can only be performed if the cancer has not spread to the other parts of the uterus. There are a very few surgeons who are specialized in performing such intricate and complicated process.
Author?s Bio:
?
Jeffrey Eugenides is an experienced medical practitioner who has been writing a lot of posts related to various medical advancements. You will also find his posts on cord blood banking to be very informative to you.
Ovarian Cervical Uterine Cancer ? Latest Technologies to Eliminate the Silent Killer
Source: http://globehealth.net/ovarian-cervical-uterine
Kara Alongi Sahara Davenport Resident Evil 6 arnold schwarzenegger pirate bay revenge revenge
Like this:
Be the first to like this.
Source: http://pylokelavo.wordpress.com/2012/12/22/ovarian-cervical-uterine-cancer-latest-technologies-to-eliminate/
komen chrome for android hatchet leah messer freedom riders 9th circuit court of appeals gisele bundchen tom brady
Source: http://acioapy.posterous.com/ovarian-cervical-uterine-cancer-latest-techno
dominion power Heather Clem Con Edison LaGuardia Airport weather radar the weather channel tony romo
Source: http://dadanape.blogspot.com/2012/12/ovarian-cervical-uterine-cancer-acioapy.html
gluten free diet barry zito mac virus santorum drops out bby zimmerman website miami marlins
Source: http://claudian-herero.blogspot.com/2012/12/ovarian-cervical-uterine-cancer-dadanape.html
Kanye West sex tape emmys emmys
Source: http://snippet-hatchet.blogspot.com/2012/12/claudian-herero-ovarian-cervical.html
nflx jennifer hudson chicago blackhawks giuliana rancic giuliana rancic elie wiesel temptations
Beyond Structured Settlements: Structured Settlements in 2012 - 2
Compared with the structured settlement primary market, which was characterized by continuing sales declines in 2012, the related settlement planning market appears to have experienced growth and vitality in 2012.
The primary evidence of this growth and vitality consisted of the increasing number of educational conferences addressing settlement planning topics during 2012. These included:
- Society of Settlement Planners (SSP) Annual Meeting
- Risk Settlement Planning Practicum
- Academy of Special Needs Planners (ASNP) Annual Meeting
- Qualified Settlement Fund Symposium
- Various National Academy of Elder Law Attorney (NAELA) Conferences - of which S2KM attended the 2012 Ohio NAELA Unprogram.
One of the challenges for measuring the growth of the settlement planning market is the lack of market metrics. For example, despite continuing market inquiries, S2KM has been unable to identify reliable national market metrics for qualified settlement funds, special needs trusts, settlement trusts, or Medicare set-aside arrangements.
The most valuable market research for settlement planning S2KM has identified has been the Annual Studies of United States Tort Costs published by Towers Watson (formerly Towers Perrin) since 1985. These studies:
- Calculate tort costs resulting from five insured plus uninsured business lines: 1) commercial multi-peril; 2) medical malpractice; 3) product liability; 4) other liability; and 5) commercial auto.
- Exclude: 1) no-fault auto insurance; 2) property coverages; 3) workers compensation; 4) certain extraordinary (one time) costs.
- In 2002, Towers Watson also translated overall tort costs for 2001 into the following categories and percentages: 1) administrative costs (21%); 2) defense costs (14%); plaintiff attorneys (19%); economic loss (22%) and non-economic loss (24%). Towers Perrin discontinued this portion of its analysis in 2002. It was "devilishly difficult" according to Russ Sutter, a Towers Watson principal and actuary who directs their annual tort cost studies, "primarily because we lack reliable information from plaintiff attorneys". These percentages therefore represented Tower Watson's "best estimate" in 2002.
Based upon Towers Watson's most recent 2011 Annual Study and utilizing Tower Watson's 2002 "best estimate" of payout percentages, S2KM estimates, that at least since 2006, more than $160 billion of United States tort costs annually have represented payments to injury victims and their attorneys.
Among many settlement planning issues, S2KM viewed the following as the most strategically important during 2012:
For S2KM's prior annual structured settlement industry reports, see the structured settlement wiki.
Source: http://s2kmblog.typepad.com/rethinking_structured_set/2012/12/structured-settlements-in-2012-2.html
national grid LIPA MBTA Cnn Live Garcinia Cambogia Little Things One Direction Bob Ross
rosetrimble23: humbler shetland: roomaroger: Biology Syllabus ? So
If you?re encountered with biology syllabus assessment in that case he/she really needs to fully grasp the exact objectives to make sure that he/she are able to comprehend the objective. There are 3 well-known objectives concerning learning the field of biology which generally are to have practical knowledge with understanding, ability to actually deal with important information and resolve issues in conjunction with learning experimental skillsets as well as inspections.
The actual Biology Syllabus entails of scientific phenomena specifics hence these particular 3 important objectives are crucial for the main assessment procedure. A few other reasons for assessment are to be capable of making predictions, address issues, manipulate data and locate ideal sources to get knowledge acquisition.
Source: http://www.apodimosstudents.com/reference-and-education/biology-syllabus-so-what-does-the-subject-focused-on/
will ferrell double fine adventure turbo tax katharine mcphee cold mountain valentines day ideas the villages florida
Source: http://roomaroger.blogspot.com/2012/12/biology-syllabus-so-what-does-subject.html
safehouse brown recluse brown recluse front door alyssa bustamante protandim weightless
Source: http://josiahjulian.posterous.com/roomaroger-biology-syllabus-so-what-does-the
morgellons nhl all star draft seal team 6 touch nitrous oxide rihanna thug life tattoo arizona governor
Source: http://humbler-shetland.blogspot.com/2012/12/roomaroger-biology-syllabus-so-what.html
strikeforce davy jones love actually miesha tate vs ronda rousey idiocracy deep impact usssa baseball
Source: http://rosetrimble23.blogspot.com/2012/12/humbler-shetland-roomaroger-biology.html
Home Run Derby 2012 San Diego fireworks steve nash july 4th higgs boson Malware Monday First Row Sports
Source: http://oabuare.posterous.com/rosetrimble23-humbler-shetland-roomaroger-bio
melissa gilbert deadliest catch dwts sean hannity bobby petrino fired buffett rule lollapalooza lineup
Source: http://naturalization-characteristic.blogspot.com/2012/12/rosetrimble23-humbler-shetland.html
temperance world bank kim kardashian flour bomb hunger games box office xavier joan crawford joan crawford
Japan Abe taps allies for cabinet, pledges deflation fight
TOKYO (Reuters) - New Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed on Wednesday to battle deflation and a strong yen, and bolster ties with the United States as he kicked off a second administration committed to reviving the economy while coping with a rising China.
A hawk on security matters, Abe, 58, has promised aggressive monetary easing by the Bank of Japan and big fiscal spending by the debt-laden government to slay deflation and weaken the yen to make Japanese exports more competitive.
Critics worry, however, that he will pay too little heed to reforms needed to generate growth despite an ageing, shrinking population and reform a creaking social welfare system.
The grandson of a former prime minister, Abe has staged a stunning comeback five years after abruptly resigning as premier in the wake of a one-year term troubled partly by scandals in his cabinet and public outrage over lost pension records.
"With the strength of my entire cabinet, I will implement bold monetary policy, flexible fiscal policy and a growth strategy that encourages private investment, and with these three policy pillars, achieve results," Abe told a news conference after parliament voted him in as Japan's seventh prime minister in six years.
Abe's long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) surged back to power in this month's election, three years after a crushing defeat at the hands of the novice Democratic Party of Japan.
CLOSE ALLIES, PARTY RIVALS
Abe appointed a cabinet of close allies who share his conservative views in key posts, but leavened the line-up with LDP rivals to provide ballast and fend off criticism of cronyism that dogged his first administration.
Former prime minister Taro Aso, 72, was named finance minister and also received the financial services portfolio.
Ex-trade and industry minister Akira Amari becomes minister for economic revival, heading a new panel tasked with coming up with growth strategies such as deregulation.
Policy veteran Toshimitsu Motegi, as trade minister, will be tasked with formulating energy policy in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster last year.
Loyal Abe backer Yoshihide Suga was appointed chief cabinet secretary, a key post combining the job of top government spokesman with responsibility for coordinating among ministries.
Others who share Abe's agenda to revise the pacifist constitution and rewrite Japan's wartime history with a less apologetic tone were also given posts, including conservative lawmaker Hakubun Shimomura as education minister.
"These are really LDP right-wingers and close friends of Abe," said Sophia University professor Koichi Nakano. "It really doesn't look very fresh at all."
Fiscal hawk Sadakazu Tanigaki, whom Abe replaced as LDP leader in September, becomes justice minister while two rivals who ran unsuccessfully in that party race - Yoshimasa Hayashi and Nobuteru Ishihara - got the agriculture and environment/nuclear crisis portfolios respectively.
CENTRAL BANK THREATENED
Business leaders welcomed the new cabinet, but the biggest corporate lobby, Keidanren, urged the government to take part in the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, Kyodo news agency said. The LDP has been wary of the pact given the political clout of the heavily protected farm sector.
The yen has weakened about 9.8 percent against the dollar since Abe was elected LDP leader in September. On Wednesday, it hit a 20-month low of 85.38 yen against the greenback on expectations of aggressive monetary policy easing.
Abe has threatened to revise a law guaranteeing the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) independence if it refuses to set a 2 percent inflation target.
BOJ minutes released on Wednesday showed the central bank was already pondering policy options in November, concerned about looming risks to the economy. The BOJ stood pat at its November rate review meeting, but eased this month in response to intensifying pressure from Abe.
Abe also promised during the election campaign to take a tough stance in territorial rows with China and South Korea over separate chains of tiny islands, while placing priority on strengthening Japan's alliance with the United States.
On Wednesday, he repeated his resolve to firm up ties with Washington and his intention to protect "the people's lives, Japanese territory and its beautiful oceans".
China expressed hope that Abe's cabinet would work with Beijing to improve ties, but reiterated that the disputed isles were its territory. "We hope Japan works with China with sincerity and makes real efforts to solve relevant problems through dialogue and negotiations," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying told a news conference in Beijing.
Abe named low-profile lawmakers to the foreign and defense portfolios. Itsunori Onodera, 52, who was senior vice foreign minister in Abe's first cabinet, becomes defense minister while Fumio Kishida, 55, a former state minister for issues related to Okinawa island - host to the bulk of U.S. forces in Japan - was appointed to the top diplomatic post. Unlike many others in the cabinet, Kishida has an image as something of a diplomatic dove.
Abe, who hails from a wealthy political family, made his first overseas visit to China to repair chilly ties when he took office in 2006, but has said his first trip this time will be to the United States.
He may, however, put contentious issues that could upset key trade partner China and fellow-U.S. ally South Korea on the backburner to concentrate on boosting the economy, now in its fourth recession since 2000, ahead of an election for parliament's upper house in July.
The LDP and its small ally, the New Komeito party, won a two-thirds majority in the 480-seat lower house in the December 16 election. That allows the lower house to enact bills rejected by the upper house, where the LDP-led block lacks a majority.
But the process is cumbersome, so the LDP is keen to win a majority in the upper house to end the parliamentary deadlock that has plagued successive governments since 2007.
"Trust in our party has not yet been fully restored and I feel we are still viewed with critically by the people, so I want to get results as soon as possible to restore trust," Abe told the news conference.
($1 = 84.7950 Japanese yen)
(Additional reporting by Stanley White, Kiyoshi Takenaka, Tetsushi Kajimoto, Kaori Kaneko and Chris Meyers and by Terril Yue Jones in Beijing; Editing by Dean Yates)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/japans-abe-set-second-term-tap-allies-cabinet-005235524--business.html
apple tv update new ipad release pregnant jessica simpson international womens day joe the plumber lra lra
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Mysterious ASUS P1801-T visits the FCC, might be the finished Transformer AiO (updated)
The FCC sometimes gets a peek at hardware and reveals nothing but a model number to hint at what's passed through its labyrinth. The latest filing leaving us scratching our heads is for the ASUS P1801-T, a "tablet" which could be the final version of the Transformer AiO prototype we saw back at Computex. How did we arrive at the AiO? Well, the model number is a possible clue -- ASUS' Eee Slate B121 has a 12.1-inch panel, so P1801-T may point to this device having 18 inches of screen. As ASUS' dual-OS prototype all-in-one is the only (sort of) tablet we've seen with roughly that many inches, we assume the company is getting paperwork done before a proper launch at CES 2013. A "P1801" running Android 4.1.1 has also popped up at GLBenchmark, with Tegra3 graphics, a 1,920 x 1080 graphics and a Cortex-A9 CPU inside. If ASUS is keeping two OS's as per the AiO prototype, that processor caters for only one Microsoft product -- Windows RT. We'll just be kept wondering until we hear something official, but at least for us, an 18-inch Android / RT super-tablet and part-time desktop sounds like it could be a hard sell.
Filed under: Desktops, Tablets, ASUS
Source: FCC, GLBenchmark
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/27/asus-p1801-t-fcc/
2012 ncaa tournament schedule laurent robinson dantoni gillian anderson leah remini desean jackson kyle orton
MIND MELD: Storytelling in Video Games - SF Signal - SF Signal
Video games are an evolution of the human tradition of storytelling. It began as tales told around a fire, progressed into images painted on walls, developed into text printed on paper, and advanced to moving pictures accompanied by sound. Video games take story telling a step farther. The audience is no longer a passive spectator, but is instead an active participant in the story being told. Often authors are tapped to write tie-in fiction for popular video game franchises, and sometimes they are even hired on to help craft compelling stories for the games themselves.
We asked this week?s panelists?
Q: How do you feel about the state of storytelling in video games? What do developers do right? What could they be doing better? What games do you think tell excellent stories?
Here?s what they said?
William C. Dietz
New York Times bestselling author William C. Dietz has published more than forty novels some of which have been translated into German, French, Russian, Korean and Japanese.
If it was easy to write good games everyone would do it.
There was a time when killing aliens, monsters, and bad guys was enough. But not anymore. Now gamers want good writing too!
Yeah, yeah, I know. There are lots of games that don?t involve shooting things. And that?s good. But since I don?t play those games my expertise (such as it is) relates to shooting aliens, monsters and bad guys. And I believe good writing and good game play can coexist.
But before I get into that I should divulge that my perspective has been shaped by writing tie-in novels for franchises like Star Wars, Halo, Starcraft, Hitman, Resistance, and Mass Effect.
I?ve written games too, including Sony?s RESISTANCE: Burning Skies with Mike Bates, and the LEGION OF THE DAMNED? ios game with Conlan Rios. But I have never been a full-time employee of a gaming studio?so my knowledge is limited to what I have seen from the outside looking in.
First, before you write a game you have to have an outline or treatment. Unlike writing a novel, which some people (although I?m not one of them) can do without an outline, a game involves lots of people working in parallel. And they need a plan.
Generally speaking there are two kinds of outlines/treatments. Short outlines that are designed to get a game together by a hard deadline with little regard for possible sequels. And I can relate to that. Take the Legion of the Damned series for example. I planned to write a series so I created a universe large enough to accommodate a number of books. But did I write a nine book story arc? Heck, no. I had no way to know that the first volume would do well enough to pave the way for a second novel never mind all the rest.
And it?s the same for a lot of the game shops. They hope there will be more iterations but have to put all the energy they have into the one they?re working on at the moment. And given the strength of the competition it will have to be awesome in order to survive.
The result is that long term story and character development suffers and I see the results of that when I?m hired to write a tie-in novel. Time and time again I see really interesting characters who were killed off in the first or second game because no one knew what to do with them or to freak players out. (If we kill Carter they?ll figure we might smoke anybody!) The result being that they aren?t around for people like me to feature in books, comics, or secondary games.
And the reverse is true as well. Some characters need to be devoured by a ten story tall boss or fall into the bottomless abyss! But they live on and on. Usually because they are useful in some way or have a substantial fan base.
Long outlines by contrast assume success and incorporate something like a three game story arc. That?s totally cool if three games get made. But what if the first game fails to gain sufficient traction? Then the team is left with a hanger? Meaning characters that aren?t fully developed, a plot was never fully realized, and some disappointed customers.
The point is that to some extent the quality of the writing, or what the writing could be, is determined by the choice of whether to create a short or long outline.
Now this is where things get even more complicated. Some teams have a very vertical top-down management structure that dictates the plot to the person or team who are writing the script. Others are more collaborative and tend to get things done through brainstorming and consensus.
Each approach has definite advantages especially to an outsider such as myself. The top-down people know what they want, and that?s a good thing, except that they are frequently resistant to outside ideas. And, if they are driven by a long form outline/treatment then they have a tendency to sacrifice things to it. As in, ?Hell no, we can?t do that? If we do we won?t be able to blow up the moon in game three.?
The result being that the characters, the plot, and even the dialog is dictated to the writers. Not directly?but through marginalia like, ?Jessica would never say something like this.? And no justification is required because hey, the team leaders have the ability to channel Jessica, and the writers don?t. Another way in which the writing gets skewed.
Meanwhile the consensus driven teams are more open to suggestions, but it can be difficult to get closure, and when you think you have it chances are you don?t. So you pitch your idea to the team, they nod, and you can feel the beginning of a glorious consensus. Then Larry says, ?I think that works Bill? I?ll write it up, share it with the level designers, and check with my wife. She has a lot of good ideas. Then, once we have everybody?s feedback, we?ll move ahead.?
No, I?m not kidding. So the danger here is producing a script that lacks focus, a consistent voice, and a singular style.
I mentioned level designers who, as the title implies are responsible for developing individual levels in a game, often referred to as ?missions? in shooters. First let me say that these poor souls are often as powerless as the writers are and frequently for the same reasons.
However where writing is concerned the designers can be part of the problem. That?s because while they want the overall project to succeed?it?s even more important to them that they create the coolest level that ever was. Because if they can do that they succeed even if the game fails. You can imagine their next job interview. ?Sure Invasion of the Snails cratered, but look at Level Three? It rocks.?
That means they might be vocal advocates for ideas, gimmicks, and dialog that is antithetical to the overall script. As in ?Hey, dude, how ?bout we cap Baxter at the end of level three? The players will never see it coming.? Which would be fine except that Baxter has to throw the lever on the light bridge in level five. Sigh.
Another barrier to good story telling is the almost universal tendency to sacrifice dialog to action. Time and time again I?ve seen management whack character interaction in order to shoehorn some additional action into the mix. The assumption being that players, especially young ones, are mostly interested in shooting things. And if you look at which games make the most money there?s something to be said for that view.
That brings us to the audience and their role in this. Yes, they have a role. If people buy well written games that will encourage management to insist on better writing. And there?s some evidence that we?re headed in that direction. The fact that people regularly create and post lists of the best written games attests to that.
Finally there are process/production issues that limit what a script can or can?t be. You can write it?but can the company afford it? Can the technology support it? And is there enough staff to get the job done? Typically the answer to at least some of those questions is going to be no. And that means compromise.
So given all of the moving parts, all of the ways that things can wrong, it?s amazing that good game scripts ever get written! Fortunately they do. Which ones are they? The ones you enjoy most.
That brings us to the question of what could be done to improve the quality of game related scripts. I think the solution is for management to insist on good writing, interesting characters, and a story that matters. The sort of characteristics that define a good book or a good movie. I believe that will lead to an immersive experience and commercial success.
Oh, and they should be nice to writers! Never mind, I got carried away.
Kameron Hurley
I think video game writers are suffering from some of the same things novel writers are in this biz. Big studios want break-out hits. They want to sell 100 million copies of stuff like Madden and Grand Turismo. To sell in those kinds of numbers, you have to write for a very broad audience. You have to dumb a lot of stuff down. I?ve been following the struggles of game developers like BioWare, who were acquired by EA a couple years ago, and how they?re trying to make these mega-millions sellers games out of what are, to some extent, niche RPG games. It?s a heart-bleeding thing to watch sometimes, but I see some light.
BioWare writes some of the best games around, and that?s in no small part due to the fact that their goal is to create amazing games where storytelling is still held up as core to the game making process, as opposed to something that just strings together big fight scenes or makes sense of slick graphics.
I broke into BioWare games with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and was hooked. It not only has one of the most epic twists of all time, but the characters and worldbuilding are so diverse and complex that you get totally sucked in. I had the same experience playing their Dragon Age: Origins game, where at one point I had to make a decision between continuing a romance with one character and doing the best thing for the party. I still remember the shock I got when a character ended up walking away from the party because of a decision I made. Immersive storytelling means that over a series of games, or even a single game, you get really attached to the outcome of the story ? more so than you would in a traditional point and shoot game. We see this all the time in regular fiction, too ? the more you connect with and empathize with the characters, the more you feel like they?re people you really know, the more involved you become in the story.
And then, of course, there?s the successful Mass Effect games, also put out by BioWare, which give you the opportunity to play the most badass heroine in video game history maybe ever. If you so choose. BioWare does an astonishing job creating characters of all types, including powerful female characters, and that?s still all too rare in the gaming business. I?m a huge fan of the God of War games, too, but I don?t fall head-over-heels for those button mashers the way I do deep, interactive storytelling games.
I think the best games ? like the best novels ? can teach you empathy. And what really great RPG?s like BioWare?s excel at is also teaching you how to deal with the results of your actions. Being an asshole has consequences. So does being a goody-goody. Budget constraints and that whole ?make something that pisses off no one? push for mass appeal have meant fewer real choices and consequences, it?s true, but I have hope for a return to more choices in the future.
That?s because I see some shifts back toward great storytelling. Games like World of Warcraft ? which I don?t exactly play for the deep storytelling ? have placed more emphasis on story and inventive questing with recent expansions in order to appeal to and retain long-time subscribers.
Knowing there are still companies out there willing to take some risks and invest in great storytelling makes me optimistic, as does the rise of indie gaming companies, which may have smaller budgets, but also less pressure for selling mega-millions. Sometimes I think that gaming companies, like many novelists, get so focused on the selling mega-millions part that they forget about why they got into storytelling in the first place.
As players, as readers, we do occasionally need to remind them that we value great stories.
Guy Haley
British writer Guy Haley is the author of Reality 36, Omega Point, and Champion of Mars. He has three books coming out from the Black Library next year ? first of which will be Baneblade and Skarsnik. The Crash, his latest novel for Solaris, is also out next summer.? Guy has been a magazine editor and journalist for 15 years, working for SFX, Death Ray and White Dwarf. When he?s not staring at words on a screen he spends his time trying to train his Malamute to do stuff, shouting at the cat, or drinking beer; sometimes all at once.
Computer games are a difficult medium to write effective stories for. Traditional storytelling is by no means passive ? television, books, films, plays etc all require a significant imaginative effort on the part of those enjoying them, but video games are a different creature. They?re halfway between actual experience and story, and that means a lot of tricks you can use in other formats just don?t work very well.
There are games out there with fantastically detailed backstories that play little part in one?s enjoyment of the game, being just a framework to set a bunch of missions against, and those where the narrative is so all-consuming the player feels like they?re on rails, running through a fairground ride (check out my article here) on MMORGS for more on this). Some games, sandbox 4X games, the better RPGs like Fallout 3 and Skyrim, present you with a story that you can stick to or ignore, but these can be just as frustrating as games-on-rails, as your own meandering quests lose any meaningful framework.
And this is because games need stories, and they need stories mainly because they are limited and limiting. If you were really trying to survive a rad-blasted wasteland or conquer the galaxy, you?d feel invested, but even in an open-ended video game adventure, there are a great many restrictions to what you can do, and many distancing factors between you and the world you are exploring/invading.
Furthermore, there?s none of the subtle shading of emotion and connection with other ?people? that you get in real life, or, for that matter, in books, theatre or cinema. Even in old-fashioned wargames and RPGs, I have a greater sense of connection with the characters, probably because these games, unlike video games, are acts of collaborative storytelling. Perversely, this lack of emotional involvement is even more true of multiplayer online games, where most players? focus on the mechanics of the game (and sheer rudeness, unfortunately) distances you further from the tale.
Some games have brilliant worlds, great scripts, and awesome levels of detail. But I?ve yet to play a game (and I do play a lot of games) where I?ve gone, ?Wow, what an excellent story.? X-Com is probably the closest I?ve come to feeling that, and probably only because of the attachment to my men that I built up through nail-biting missions.
So it?s a question of engagement, and video games are not engaging. I love computer games, I love gaming of all types in fact, and although I have been very impressed by the backgrounds of many, I?ll turn to other forms of entertainment for a genuine story experience every time.
Abhinav Jain
Long-time science-fiction and fantasy geek, lover of all things Star Wars and Warhammer (mostly all things anyway). I currently have several works in progress for both science fiction and fantasy in different formats ? short story, novella, novel. I am also a book reviewer for The Founding Fields and a movie reviewer for Just Beyond Infinity. You can follow me on twitter @abhinavjain87 and through my blog at http://sonsofcorax.wordpress.com/
Storytelling in video games. Now that?s a real bag of tricks to consider. If I?m honest, storytelling has always been much more important to me than gameplay ever has. I believe it?s harder to innovate in game-play than it is with storytelling because, after all, how long can you keep on doing the same thing you always do in a shooter like Doom or Space Marine, or in a strategy game like Homeworld or Age of Mythology? And yet, storytelling is often what I see developers not getting right. I used to play quite a few games in college, not the least of which was Star Wars: The Knights of the Old Republic and World of WarCraft and Zeus: Master of Olympus, but that interest has waned in recent years, especially since I had to stop playing World of WarCraft for financial and personal reasons. In the last two and a half years since then, I?ve only played Space Marine, Dawn of War: Dark Crusade, Sins of a Solar Empire and some free time on Star Wars: The Old Republic and World of WarCraft, alongwith some Mass Effect demos.
That?s not to say that the storytelling or the gameplay is at fault here, just that I?ve changed priorities of sorts, being invested in becoming a published author and my various reviewing gigs and blogging. What hasn?t changed though is that I still pick up games because of the storytelling, and not the gameplay. The only way a video game is going to turn me off with regards to the gameplay is when the gameplay is really, really bad. Storytelling remains the bar with which I judge all video games.
For me, one of the games with the best storytelling out there is the original Homeworld, a space-based Real Time Strategy game, by Barking Dog Studios and Relic Entertainment. In it, you have a society, the Kushan, stranded on a hell-hole of a planet, Kharak, with tons of infighting and everything else that entails. Then, they find a crashed spaceship in a desert and their entire world-view changes. They discover that the planet they have called home for all these uncounted years isn?t actually their home world. And they set out on an epic journey across space to reclaim their true home world: Hiigara. On the way they encounter space pirates (the Turanics), traders (the Bentuusi), and the people who stranded them on that hell-hole in the first place, the Taiidani. The story is simply epic. Through in-game cut-scenes and cinematic videos, we get to explore all the different cultures and learn about the history of this setting. Often times the videos are simplistic, in that they are little more than a series of still images. But they still pack a hell of a punch because of the voice-overs and narration. You get treated to the story in bite-sized chunks and that?s okay, because the writing, the dialogues, the narration and everything is just superb. I was so inspired by the story that for one of my high school English essay assignments I wrote a thousand word flash fiction about how the Kushan people felt when they learned that Kharak had been destroyed by their enemies, in retaliation for the Kushan developing spaceflight, which had been a condition of their exile to that world. In all the missions that the player must perform to help the Kushan reclaim Hiigara and their place in the wider galaxy, the story is extremely immersive. We get last stand type missions, missions where you have to break blockades, missions where you have to survive asteroid fields,destroy staging areas, pass through spaceship graveyards, and so much more. The variety is great. Homeworld: Cataclysm and Homeworld II continue all of this and more, as the stakes keep increasing and the setting is increasingly more detailed and more nuanced. Ancient horrors are brought back, there are prophecies of great apocalypses and resurgences, and more, much more. I would love to read a series of novels based on Homeworld.
Then you have the RPG Knights of the Old Republic, another of my all-time favourite games, this time by Bioware and LucasArts. As a big fan of the Star Wars franchise, this was another epic game that had so much focus on the storytelling aspects, with some really great game play that was so different than what I had seen in Diablo and Diablo 2 (my gaming experience at the time was very limited). The folks at Bioware got me to really invest into the story and the characters. I didn?t like some of the narrative decisions that I was forced to make, but the setting they had created was really diverse. They got the space opera feeling of the setting down, since we had to travel to all these different planets, explore ancient and ?modern? cultures that are all different from each other, like the Wookies and the Rakata for example. And since this was an RPG, the storytelling was even more important than it had been for Homeworld. What Bioware did right was what Barking Dogs did right: diversity in the missions and how they are carried out and actually exploring the backstory of both settings.
And we can?t ignore World of WarCraft either here, which I think has one of the best storytelling experiences out there right now. I started playing towards the tail-end of The Burning Crusade, which was the first expansion, just before Wrath of the Lick King came out. I pretty much burned through the various quest lines until the new expansion came out so I could be ready to step into it as an at-level character, so I don?t remember much of the classic and TBC quest-lines. But there are some that stuck with me. Both the Eastern and Western Plaguelands, the lands that once used to be the Kingdom of Lordaeron, have some of the most haunting questlines in terms of their emotional impact. We deal with big-bad undead enemies and the foot soldiers alike, but there were the little things that really made those zones awesome. I offer this fan-video by noted machinima artist Cranius as evidence: click here for the link. This is the quest line titled ?The Redemption of Joseph Redpath? and begins with the ghost of his daughter. The video always makes me teary-eyed. When players have to get into Stratholme and fight against all the big bads, it?s even worse. Fans of WarCraft III will remember that Prince Arthas slaughtered the citizens of the city when the city was struck by the plague. Just the emotional resonance of that moment, as you stride through the city is immense.
The entirety of Wrath of the Lich King also has some epic questlines, and my favourite zone is Storm Peaks, a land steeped in the mysticism of Azeroth?s history. Discovering everything there, like the instance of Ulduar, allying with the various tribes of dwarves and giants that call it home, was a great experience. That zone underscores what for me is an undeniable fact: Blizzard knows how to do some great epic questlines. Despite what people may have you believe, it?s not all just kill twenty goblins, collecting ten red wolf meat and so on. Wrath of the Lich King brought with it vehicle combat. That had an incredible effect on how the quests could be done. I could fly gnomish copters and bomb the hell out of enemies. I could ride young drakes and fight off a big bad dragon. I could ride in tanks and destroy other tanks. The possibilities really were endless. That?s how Blizzard innovates. Wrath of the Lich King was an incredible experience for me as someone who is invested in storytelling. I even wrote up some pieces of fan fiction about my character, a human paladin who has sworn revenge on Arthas and all Orcs. I think I still have that somewhere on my hard drive.
In more recent memory, Space Marine by the folks at Relic and THQ has been another awesome experience. Based on the Warhammer 40,000 franchise of tabletop games by Games Workshop, the game is about a Captain of the Ultramarines chapter as he and his warriors defend an Imperial world from the ravages of the Orks, the galactic menace. The storyline in the game is great and has some truly epic moments (such as a female senior officer of the Imperial Guard, and fighting off enemies in gunships), the game combines elements of both the RPG and shooter genres for a really interesting hybrid. Again, there is a great diversity in mission types and locations, etc, but where the storytelling fails is in its denouement, in the epic battle that?s been building up from the get go. It also underscores how painfully short the whole game is. The Warhammer 40,000 setting one of the grandest and most epic settings out there in science fiction, with an incredible amount of depth and nuance to it, no matter which faction it is. But it seemed that the developers went for the safe and short route. It?s a very different sort of approach than what we got in the first three Dawn of War games, which are RTS games based on the same franchise. A lot of potential for character development was simply left unfulfilled. And that?s my main criticism for the game. I do have to say though that the opening, when the fate of the world is being discussed by the bigwigs of the local Imperial authorities, that is exactly the kind of opening I wanted for this game. It highlights the merciless and ?grimdark? feel of the setting.
As you can tell, I?m a big fan of the grand, epic storylines, where both the focus and scope of the game is huge. I think those are trickier stories for developers to get right. Whether its dialogue, or narration, or quest text there is something inherently compelling in such stories. I find them much more inspiring than the Halos and Call of Duty?s out there.
Myke Cole
As a secu?rity con?tractor, gov?ern?ment civilian and mil?i?tary officer, Myke Cole?s career has run the gamut from Coun?tert?er?rorism to Cyber War?fare to Fed?eral Law Enforce?ment. He?s done three tours in Iraq and was recalled to serve during the Deep?water Horizon oil spill. All that con?flict can wear a guy out. Thank good?ness for fan?tasy novels, comic books, late night games of Dun?geons and Dragons and lots of angst fueled writing.
I started in the video game stone age with the 8 bit graphics of Hunt the Wumpus and Ultima I and the text reels of Zork. They helped form the bedrock of love-of-fantasy that eventually grew into my desire to write for a living. Infocom, for reasons I don?t fully understand, always treated the Zork storylines as a lark, as if the medium of gaming somehow precluded taking the story seriously (we like games? Nah. We?re only KIDDING!). Anyone remember Leather Goddesses of Phobos?
But the graphic based games had only a veneer of a storyline. In Karateka, an 8 bit classic that sucked up WEEKS of my childhood, a bad guy kidnapped your girlfriend, and you had to fight your way through a castle to rescue her. Not much of a story.
But, here?s the thing. I *miss* those days. This is because I filled in the blanks. I knew that Akuma had a backstory. Maybe he was part demon? I knew that his castle ruled over a fiefdom, full of peasants suffering under his rule. Maybe there were other resisters among them? Maybe some of them had stories? I knew that princess Mariko wasn?t just a weak woman, waiting to be rescued. At the end of the game, if you stayed in your fighting stance and got to close to her, she?d kick you in the head and kill you. She must have some training of her own. Was she also a karateka? Had she kept this secret from you? Why?
These questions formed the bedrock of my nascent storytelling skills, as I drifted off to sleep at night wondering about Iolo and Shamino. Who were they? Where did they grow up? What was that like? The 8-bit rendering of the Wumpus didn?t satisfy. I had to paint the picture in my head. The Grue comes to eat you in the pitch black, but you never *see* it. My mind worked to fill in the blanks.
And that, just as much as fantasy novels and comic books, made a writer out of me.
Don?t get me wrong, today?s video game storytelling is *outstanding* (the original Deus Ex and Thief series, anyone?) Modern game stories have absolutely inspired my writing. But there?s something about the early days, a gap in the picture, that I will always miss.
I had to work to fill in those blanks. And I came to love that work.
I still do.
Jason M. Hough
Jason M. Hough (pronounced Huff) is a former 3D Artist and Game Designer (Metal Fatigue, Aliens vs. Predator: Extinction).? His first novel, The Darwin Elevator, will be released in July 2013 by Del Rey, followed by books two and three of the trilogy in August and September.
Robert McKee, the great lecturer on plot structure, said ?There?s only one story: the hero?s journey.?? And, other than a handful of possible exceptions, most video games are exactly that: A hero, usually you, on a journey of some sort.
Games are an interesting beast though because there?s really two stories trying to be told: the one pre-programmed in (sometimes no such thing exists), and the one the player creates through their actions.
The massive challenge facing game designers is to make us feel that we?re making the decisions, that this really is our story being told.? This often must be an illusion, but the great games will make us forget that (Grand Theft Auto comes to mind).? The worst of them, and I feel this is happening more and more as story complexity in games increases, will feel to us like nothing more than a string of pre-recorded scenes we?ve simply been given the tedious task of unlocking.? In these cases, either the gameplay or the story must be uncommonly good for players to put up with it.? Uncharted pulled this off.? Mass Effect, too, though the feeling of not being in control is well masked here because much of the story unfolds in gameplay rather than cinematics.? On the other hand, most movie-based games fail in this area for reasons I hope are self-evident.
Portal is a great example of a game that could have eschewed a pre-programmed story.? At its core Portal is a linear collection of clever physics-based puzzles.? If it went no further it would have been pretty good, too.? But it would have been sterile.? I think what made Portal so great, beyond the brilliant play mechanic, was the story layered on top of it.? It tied the whole thing together and added a wonderful momentum, all without getting in the way.? Players remember ?thinking with portals? as much as they remember ?the cake is a lie.?
In fact this illustrates another challenge in conveying story in a game: the nature in which we play them.? Short sessions over the course of a few weeks, occasionally with multiple-day gaps in between.? The odds are stacked against complexity and characterization.? How often have you picked up an RPG after a long break and racked your brain to try and remember what the hell was going on?? I feel this way with books when there are years between releases in a series, but if I?m away from an RPG for even a few days I sometimes feel lost.? Games also are likely to get repeat visits, often with players going through the same game but as a different character.? All of this stacks up against the game designer who is striving to tell a complex story, and in the past has been the primary reason for light stories that put most of their focus on high-impact moments (first and last level, typically).
My favorite game this year was FTL.? The wonderful thing about FTL is that it has no preconceived story line.? Instead it has an elegant, simple plot motivator: unseen bad guys are coming for you.? They get closer with each passing moment and your goal is to stay ahead of them so that when they do catch up, you?re ready.? The story, though, the journey that you go on to get from beginning to end, is yours.? It comes through organically.? And it is different every time and even though you basically never win, it?s almost always an amazing, gut-wrenching, tension filled extravaganza.? And the further you get, the higher the experience soars.? It?s brilliant, and the best part is that your decisions, every damn little one of them, ends up helping or haunting you right to the bitter end.
Another game I?ll mention is Minecraft.? A very different game from FTL, but similar in the sense that the story is what you make it. And though it can often have a story no more interesting than ?I dug a ditch?, I guarantee you when you have a truly epic hardcore survival-mode run that ends in a desperate clash with a slew of monsters pouring through the dungeon stronghold you accidentally breached, you will never forget that.? And you know what, when you tell another player about it they will listen with rapt attention to your story.? Story, see? I bet you didn?t know Minecraft had one.? Sure, sometimes it doesn?t. Sometimes it is boring.? But try telling another Uncharted player how you beat the final level.? They?ll probably cut you off halfway through and say, ?yeah, I know, I played it? (or maybe ?dude, no spoilers?).? Nothing against Uncharted, by the way. I played it and enjoyed it, but since setting down the controller I hadn?t spent a moment thinking about it until now.? The focus is on a pre-programmed story (a great one too, with fine writing) but there?s virtual zero opportunity for the player to make their own story.
My advice to game designers today: Design your game to let the player?s actions tell a great story.? Don?t treat the player as a mule who is just carrying the camera gear from pre-rendered scene to pre-rendered scene.? I say this, by the way, as a former game designer who is guilty of every sin mentioned above.? I also realize this is a tall order in this age of movie-sized budgets and risk-averse executives.? They want to see every dollar on the screen, as the saying goes, and so they want designers to force the player down one path, allowing all the focus to go there.? Resist!? Or do what I did, and write books instead.
Paul Kirsch
Paul Kirsch thinks way too hard about science fiction, steampunk, and video games, and treats every Twilight Zone marathon like a national holiday. He reviews books and writes about writing at paul-kirsch.com
I used to think that we could do no better than games like Baldur?s Gate or Planescape: Torment, where reading a novel?s worth of dialogue and description was as vital to the game play experience as combat. Those are like The Godfather of gaming ? fantastic, but they would prove a hard sell today, when gamers could just as easily flick an angry bird across the screen. That said, I would argue that the potential for quality storytelling is every bit as genuine today as it was yesterday, and that gamers have some of the biggest hearts in the creative world.
Whether putting together a book, a film, or a piece of music, the artist has to think beyond their vision of the masterpiece and factor how the product will engage the audience. Game designers face this challenge every day. They need to craft a convincing environment with (often) a quality score, sound, graphics, narrative flow, and dare I even mention a fun and challenging game mechanic. I can only imagine that they?re pulling their hair out over audience engagement during every stage of the project.
When the game is done, gamers are left with nothing but the rattling in our heads. The quest is over. No one left to guide them through the world. This is where the story of a game is tested: with the question of where it left its audience. Did it tie up every loose end, or leave us wondering what we did wrong? Was the ending consistent with the rest of the perceived narrative? How did the gameplay inform the story itself, if at all? The story becomes the emotional anchor that weighs the game in our minds long after we play it. Bastion is a fantastic example of a game with emotional girth. A combination of narrative, music and overall tone make the player feel nostalgia for a world that was already dead. That game is laden with resonance before even approaching the question of play. Portal and Half-Life are instances where the designers value the intelligence and insight of players, and craft resonant experiences where the limitations and puppet strings are nearly invisible. Alan Wake, Assassin?s Creed, and the classical Omikron: The Nomad Soul utilize the meta tools of great literature and force the player to confront their own sense of reality, with the game?s journey as symbolic of an interior quest for self-discovery.
Telling a story in a game is both simpler and more complicated. We have the tools to craft gorgeous worlds on a massive scale, but a greater responsibility to make the story as compelling.
I save the lion?s share of optimism for the independent game world. Steam has leveled the playing field to give modest games the audience they once lacked, using the same model as iTunes or ebook self-publishing. Even if the big companies went morally bankrupt overnight and started to grind out Call of Duty clones, it would take a lot more to destroy the creative endurance of gamers. The games we want to play are being made because we?re the ones making them.
Zachary Jernigan
Zachary Jernigan?s debut novel, No Return, comes out on the 5th of March, 2013, from Night Shade Books. His short fiction has appeared in Asimov?s, Crossed Genres, and Escape Pod, among others. He promises/hopes that he is better at writing fiction than he is at playing video games.
When the kind and august ? not to mention muscular ? Nick Sharps asked me to be part of this discussion, my first thought was, He should get Paul Kirsch to contribute! (This was literally thirty seconds before Paul, knowing his own strength in this department, volunteered.) Though I was interested in the topic and agreed to contribute, my knowledge of the current state of storytelling in gaming is? sadly lacking.
But Paul ? Paul?s a gaming guru, a vocal supporter of the art form. His enthusiasm is often infectious. He has, for a couple years now, been encouraging me to play video games more. In particular, he has raved about the storytelling in Mass Effect. One evening, he told me with ever-growing enthusiasm how immersive and complex the game was, completely ignorant of how much the very idea of the game stressed me out. You see, I?m the kind of gamer (though that term is too select; occasional and completely bumbling controller-masher is more appropriate) that worries over every little detail, making sure that every corner of aroom is explored, until giving up in a huff five minutes after starting.
Dude, the games of today are hard. And the more complex they are, the closer I come to a heart attack. I mean, goodness, my favorite game series of all time is Mario Kart. That?s my speed, man.
So why on Earth am I part of this discussion? Well, because, other than the fact that Nick was kind enough to ask me and I?m just enough of an attention-junkie to accept, I really love the concept of storytelling in video games. While I?m sitting, neurons barely firing as I watch some dumb TV show, there are millions of gamers immersing themselves in virtual worlds, solving puzzles and building skills ? contributing, in a far from passive way, to sophisticated storylines. It?s awesome. I, interested if uninvolved party that I am, lament how little respect is granted to an art form that contributes so much to our narrative culture.
All of this begs the question, though: If I can see the virtue in these games, why don?t I make a more concerted effort to play them? And my answer is? Laziness? Stupidity? I don?t really know the exact reasons. I do know, however, that I?d be thrilled to have my own novel turned into a game ? of course I would; No Return: The Game would be so much cooler than No Return: The Movie! ? but I also know that I?d stink at playing it. I?d go to L.A. to visit Paul, where I?d watch him play, reveling in how he contributes to the story I helped create. And then I?d visit my bosses, Jason and Jen (both huge gaming advocates), and watch them play.
I?d be a bystander, thrilled and jealous by turns.
It probably won?t happen, of course, but it gives me shivers just thinking about how cool it?d be.
Now, I realize that I haven?t contributed too much to the issue, here. I only touched on the first of Nick?s questions. But? I do hope I?ve made it clear that, even to the non-player, the virtues of video games as a narrative medium are obvious. In other words, some of us may be intimidated by how mature the art form has become, but this doesn?t mean we can?t appreciate it in our own way.
Thanks for asking me to contribute, Nick. Thanks for reading, readers!
David J. Williams
David J. Williams is author of the 22nd century espionage/future war Autumn Rain trilogy as well as this year?s steampunk novel The Pillars of Hercules; he is also credited with story concept for last century?s Homeworld.
I think there?s been some fantastic stuff in recent years?the Bioshock and Fallout franchises come to mind?but really, I think it?s just getting started.? What?s possible now is so beyond what was do-able at the outset of the video game era that it?s as fundamental as the shift from silent to sound in cinema.? Yet all too many of the attempts to take advantage of that bring to mind the maladroit 1947 adaptation of Raymond Chandler?s classic The Lady In the Lake (in which the entire movie was shot from Philip Marlowe?s point of view, to disastrous results).? Immersive storytelling demands a different set of rules, and I?d have to say that the twin gods of programming and art continue to draw the bulk of the attention of the folks running the industry.? This is understandable, but also unfortunate.? Because if the New Aesthetic applies to anything at all, it applies to video games; Borges? ?The Garden of Forking Paths? might just be the ur-template here, with its (seemingly) endless chains of possibilities?though the challenge for video-game narrative is to control those in a way that Borges? narrator did not, integrating the virtual with implicit expectations from the ever-more-elusive real one.
Though in the spirit of full disclosure:? this is in many ways still my favorite game evah.
Tagged with: Abhinav Jain ? David J Williams ? Guy Haley ? Jason M. Hough ? Kameron Hurley ? Mind Meld ? Myke Cole ? Paul Kirsch ? video games ? William C. Dietz ? Zachary Jernigan
Filed under: Mind Meld
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Source: http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2012/12/mind-meld-storytelling-in-video-games/
soul train nevada caucus ufc 143 what time does the super bowl start super bowl 2012 josephine baker ben gazzara
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)