text:
Sheriff Ken Fortune has decided not to seek another term. Fortune plans on spending time in North Carolina taking care of his ailing parents. He has a lengthy law enforcement career that includes 14 years with the Highway Patrol and the last 20 as sheriff. Now, he's decided to turn in his badge.
Ken Fortune has gained national attention in his 20 years as sheriff of Jefferson County. In September of 1993, a British tourist was fatally shot at a rest stop on I-10. Fortune was under pressure to solve the crime.
"It drew not only local but international media coverage and just constant bombardment of 24 hours a day for three weeks," says Fortune.
That's one tough part of the job fortune won't soon forget. There are also the more pleasant memories he'll take with him.
"The biggest thing you miss is the people I won't miss a lot of the headache just the people you see everyday that you will miss," Fortune adds.
The bittersweet departure has already taken a toll on those friends who've now become an extension of his family.
"That's what his life is all about being a family man who has given so many years to a county and to its citizens," says Jean Willis, who's worked with Fortune for 15 years.
Citizens say they'll not only miss a great sheriff, but an extraordinary friend.
"Ken is an outstanding law enforcement officer he know the law. The other thing is that he gets along with everyone black, white, purple or pink," says Jim Norton, a Jefferson County resident.
"He treats everyone right here in Jefferson county, so if he's really gonna retire, we really gonna miss him," says Barbara Frazier, a Jefferson County resident.
For now Fortune's name will continue to be on the marquis until January 2005. He'll then go back and forth to North Carolina to care for his parents.
No one has announced their plans or filed to run, but there's plenty of talk in town. That job pays $90,000 a year, so it's likely to draw candidates from Jefferson County and beyond.


text:
Now that it's spawning in every single dungeon, let's talk about it.
Personally, I dislike it. It's great if you are playing a "gold cheeze" build (Fabulous Treasure + Transmutation Seal, for example) which allows you to level up in there while creating tons of popcorn on the main floor, but more or less useless if you aren't. Under normal circumstances, why would I ever want to waste gold on spawning an equal level monster? Perhaps if I found both WONAFYT and a Balanced Dagger this could be an interesting prospect, but I don't think it's worth it outside of these special circumstances. I 90% of the time just see it as wasted potential.
My thoughts are:
1. It's too expensive to spawn one equal level monster for 5g in most runs
2. +1 level enemy would be more useful
While we're talking about subdungeons.. Venture Cave (and possibly others) seems to be spawning 3 of them. Can't remember if that's normal.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Teri Yaad Satandi – Sajjad Ali – Pakistani Sad Songs
For Further Reading,
Watch Pakistani Mujra - Desi Girls Dances - Urdu Naats & Many More.
2008-11 Pakistani Mujra - Desi Girls Dances -Naats. Articles cannot be reproduced without permission from the author.
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text:
94 N. Main Street, Jasper, GA - (706) 253-2457
Will Silvers
Mr. William Eugene Silvers of Canton, Ga., died Friday, Sept. 12, 2008 in Bowling Green, Ky.
Mr. Silvers was a computer broker with Asset Solutions.
Survivors include his daughter, Elizabeth Erin Neves, Acworth; mother and step-father, Marjorie and Gary Priest, Jerusalem Community, Jasper; father and step-mother, James H. and Glenda Silvers, Acworth; brother, Eddie Silvers, Canton; sister and brother-in-law, Jennifer and Chris Guarino, Canton; step-brother, Al Burke, Gainesville; and nephews, Austin and Nic Guarino, Canton, and Jessie and Danny Silvers, Canton. Several aunts, uncles and cousins also survive.
The funeral service was held Tuesday, Sept. 16 at 1 p.m. from the Huey Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Floyd Tenney officiating. Interment was in Rolling Hills Memory Garden, Acworth, Ga.
Jack Veazey
Mr. Jack Donald Veazey, age 81 of Jasper, Ga., died Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008 at his residence following a period of declining health.
Born April 10, 1927 in Alliance, Oh., he was the son of the late Charles Donald and Alvada Thornburg Veazey. He was also preceded in death by his step-father, John Benson. Mr. Veazey was a veteran of the US Marine Corp, having served during World War II and was a self-employed poultry farmer. He was an accomplished stained glass artist, a member of the American Legion Post #149 of Jasper and was a member of Jasper United Methodist Church.
Survivors include his wife of 63 years, Delores Veazey, Jasper; daughters, Karen Veazey, Statham, Ga., and Kim Hernandez, Miami, Fl.; son and daughter-in-law, Kerry and Carolyn Veazey, Jasper; grandchildren, Becky Estes, Ilene and Kimal Hernandez, Erika and Rene Chance and Victor Junior Hernandez; and great-grandchildren, Sam Estes, Ryan Dorsey, Rocky Molino, Kayley Chance, Ramon Vega and Elijah Sabdul. Other relatives also survive.
The funeral service was held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20 from Roper Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Von Hinton officiating. Interment followed in Lake Forest Memorial Park with military graveside rites by Pickens Chapter #47 DAV. Pallbearers were members of Pickens Chapter #47 DAV.
Mable Evans
Mrs. Mable J. Evans, age 62 of Jasper, passed away Saturday evening, Sept. 20, 2008 at Piedmont Mountainside Hospital.
Survivors include her sister, Maggie Young, Jasper. A host of nieces and nephews also survive.
The funeral service was held Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 2 p.m. from Hinton Baptist Church with the Rev. Terry Dean officiating. Interment was in Hinton Community Cemetery. Pallbearers were: Terry, Jessie, Eric and Mike Wyman, Jimmy, Michael, Timothy and Dustin Young. Honorary pallbearer was Jon Clark. Cagle Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.
June Allen
June Boling Allen, age 89 of Canton, passed away on Sept. 20, 2008.
Mrs. Allen was a native of Tate, Ga. She was preceded in death by two husbands, Albert (Yod) Boling and Gordon Allen; and a grandson, Joshua Boling.
Survivors include her children, Sandy Kimbrough, Becki Smailes and David Boling; and brother, J.C. Wood. Ten grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews also survive.
The funeral service was held Monday at 1 p.m. from the Marietta Alliance Church with the Revs. David Hayes and James Sunda officiating. Interment followed in Hayes Cemetery in Bartow County. Donations may be made to the Yod and June Boling Memorial Fund, Marietta Alliance Church, East Piedmont Rd., Marietta, Ga. South Canton Funeral Home & Chapel in charge of arrangements.
Rev. William Martin
The Rev. Doctor William H. Martin, age 78 of Jasper, Ga., passed away Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008.
He was born on May 24, 1930 in Jackson, Mi. William graduated from Savannah High School in Savannah, Ga., Newberry College in Newberry, S.C. and Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, S.C. He was ordained into the Georgia-Alabama Synod of the United Lutheran Church in America on May 22, 1960 in his home congregation of St. Paul?s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Savannah. William received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Newberry College. He served as pastor of Mt. Zion-St. Luke Lutheran Church, Oglethorpe, Ga.; developing pastor of Advent Lutheran Church, Augusta, Ga; St. Paul?s Lutheran Church, Mobile, Al. and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Marietta, Ga from which he retired in 1993 following 22 years as Senior Pastor. During his retirement years, he served nine congregations in the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as an Interim Pastor, including his home congregation of St. Paul?s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Savannah where he was confirmed, married and ordained.
He is survived by his wife, Alice Stevens Martin; daughters, Emilie M. Gudger (Frank), Cecelia M. Munson (Mark), Alison M. Aliff, all of Woodstock, Ga., and Elizabeth M. Weems (Michael), Tampa, Fl.; grandchildren, Phillip Aliff, Chris Aliff ? US Army, Lauren, Kami and Ross Gudger, William, Kendall and Joseph Bennett, all of Woodstock, Ga.; brothers, Raymond, George and John Martin, all of Savannah; sisters, June M. Gnann, Athens, Ga., Marie M. Vardell, Tampa, Fl., and Martha M. Bartl, Loveland, Oh. Many nieces and nephews also survive.
William was preceded in death by his parents, Fred A. and Emily H. Martin, Sr., and brothers, Fred A. Martin, Jr. and Charles C. Martin, Sr.
A memorial service will be held at The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, 731 Peachtree Street, N.E., Atlanta, on Friday, Sept. 26 at 11 a.m. followed by a visitation reception. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church 2922 Sandy Plains Road, Marietta, Ga. 30066-4689. Cremation Society of the SOUTH in Marietta in charge of arrangements.
Faulton Taylor
Faulton ?Pete? Taylor, age 88 of Canton, passed away Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008 at Cameron Hall Assisted Living Center.
Mr. Taylor worked in the textile mills and was employed at Lockheed for 28 years. He was a WW II Army Aircorps veteran, a member of the Holly Springs American Legion and the Civilian Conservation Corp. He was of Pentecostal faith and was a founding member of Holly Springs Wesleyan Pentecostal Church and the South Canton Church of God. He was formerly a long-time member of both Toonigh Church of God and Sunnyside Church of God.
Survivors include his son, Johnny F. Taylor (Nancy), Talking Rock; daughters, Janice A. Horton (Cliff), Canton, and Vickie Y. Kukier (Stan), Kennesaw; grandchildren, Jim Horton (Karen), Canton, and Elizabeth Harper (Matt), Dallas; and great-grandchildren, Ravyn and Zoe Harper. Numerous nieces, nephews and other family members also survive.
The funeral service was held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 23 from the Chapel of South Canton Funeral Home with the Revs. Luke Wheeler, Micah Messer and Lynn Wheeler officiating. Interment followed in Lebanon Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to your favorite charity.


text:
Handling the pressure from society's expectations is challenging enough; add more demands because of your race, gender, immigrant parents, and religion, and it can be nearly impossible to find your own voice. Nikki Toyama-Szeto is co-editor of More Than Serving Tea: Asian American Women on Expectations, Relationships, Leadership and Faith. She describes the struggles and joys of finding one's own calling. Karen Saupe hosts.
Visit the Website: http://www.calvin.edu/innercompass
Episode #408 / Length: 26 minutes


text:
"Thanksgiving is busy for Bobby Vick. While completing his Ph.D. in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering (BAE), he frequently visits Vick Family Farms, his uncle's homestead in Wilson, N.C. That's where the NC State student branch of the American Society of Biological and Agricultural Engineers (ASABE) buys the Covington sweet potatoes that are then sold for $10 per box during its annual sweet potato sale. On Monday, Vick transported 2,000 pounds back to Weaver Laboratories to accommodate around 200 orders."
CALS research, which enabled producing sweet potatoes year-round, and developed innovative food processing methods, enabling new products, help make the project possible and contribute to the strength of the industry in North Carolina.


text:
Interview With Imagination Movers
Imagination Movers Wow Crowds on Tour and Talk About Movie Potential
Disney Junior's dad band, the Imagination Movers are wowing crowds on television and on tour. I recently caught up with the guys (Rich Collins, Scott Durbin, Dave Poche, and Scott "Smitty" Smith) before they zipped into their signature blue jumpsuits to take the stage at the Fox Theater in Oakland, CA.
LilSugar: You film your show in New Orleans to create jobs for locals. Is Louisiana still your home base?
Smitty: We've done three complete seasons of Imagination Movers so that's a decent amount of work for a lot of local people. We also started our tour there. Anytime we can bring the business home, that's what we do.
Scott: Likewise, we filmed a concert special in New Orleans that will be airing on March 6.
LilSugar: Do your kids (the Movers have a combined nine) mind sharing you with the masses now that you are Disney celebrities?
Rich: It's very hard to leave. I get texts and pictures throughout the day when we're on the road. The balance in working is that we have to go a lot, but we also get a good chunk of time where we get to be Mr. Mom between the end of production and the beginning of the tour.
Dave: Now with the technology —Skype, Facetime — being able to send pictures back and forth, it makes it a bit easier. My wife scans homework and sends it to me. Then, I get on Skype with my son and go over his homework with him when I'm on the bus or at the hotel. That makes it a lot more bearable and keeps me in what's going on in the house even though I'm not there physically. I get to participate and parent on the road.
Scott: It helps when they are in school because then they have their routine. If we were touring during the Summer, it would be more felt. We're blessed that we have wonderful wives and a network of friends that help us out when we aren't there.
LilSugar: In terms of revenue, you have the show, merchandise, and the tour. Is anything else on the horizon?
Rich: We're not going to stop until we make the Imagination Movers feature film.
LilSugar: Are you in talks or negotiations with Disney on that?
Rich: We're in the very early stages.
Scott: To be able to create an intelligent G-rated movie for kids is kind of like the Holy Grail because there's so much out there that is just insufficient.
LilSugar: Would you go 3D like everyone is doing now?
Rich: (laughs) We're going to go 4D, maybe 5D — we're thinking big!


text:
Greg Jennings is preparing for free agency this off-season. The almost 30-year old wide receiver has spent his whole career in Green Bay but when news broke that he put his home up for sale, many are assuming his time is up with the Packers.
If it is, the time comes for Jennings to decide where he will want to play next. And at least one destination makes a lot of sense.
Joe Philbin is the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, but before that he was the offensive coordinator for the Packers. A job that allowed him to have a relationship with Jennings that might factor into Jennings wanting to come play in Miami. He had this to say while appearing on Dolphins' radio/web show The Finsiders, via the Palm Beach Post.
"Joe, how you doing. Remember me?", said Jennings when asked about his former coach.I've prepared my family for change," the two-time Pro-Bowler said. "Wherever I end up, if it's outside of Green Bay, we're ready to be great wherever we go.""He was a great coach to play for," Jennings said. "He's one of those guys that you can have a relationship outside of football. As a player you admire a coach when he actually opens himself up like that."
With the Dolphins having up to $40 million in cap space, looks like Jennings to Miami is certainly a possibility.
Be sure to check out other great articles at BlackSportsOnline.


text:
You and your man send sexy texts during the day while you're at work, talking dirty about all the things you are going to do to each other later. It all seems like innocent character-only fun until he replies, "Send me a photo ; )"
As Taio Cruz (of "Dirty Picture" song fame) knows, sending a sexy cell phone photo, if it's done right, can really add some spice to your relationship and get both of you excited and make for a very interesting evening later. Take our tips on getting the most out of your MMS.
1. Choose an appropriate photo: Have you just been dating a short time? A full-on buck naked shot might be a little much. Try something suggestive like sucking on a lollipop and snapping a photo of just your mouth. Been together for years? Spice things up with what you know he likes. Does he have a nurse fantasy? Get a sexy candy striper outfit and snap away.
RELATED: Master The Perfect Red Lip from our partner, Joyus


text: I'm wondering about the two different VPS licenses; I have an OpenVZ VPS with 2GB physical and 4GB total RAM (including burst). Not sure if I should buy the regular 2GB VPS license, or the Ultra VPS license that serves up to 8GB or a 1 core license. Does the VPS license "read" the 2GB actual RAM or the total RAM including the burst RAM? Output of top: Code: top - 13:18:03 up 10 days, 8:24, 1 user, load average: 0.21, 0.30, 0.26 Tasks: 89 total, 1 running, 88 sleeping, 0 stopped, 0 zombie Cpu(s): 0.1%us, 0.0%sy, 0.0%ni, 99.9%id, 0.0%wa, 0.0%hi, 0.0%si, 0.0%st Mem: 4194304k total, 1733364k used, 2460940k free, 0k buffers Swap: 0k total, 0k used, 0k free, 561560k cached Also, while my VPS load is low, I sometimes get widely varying number of connections from the netstat output. Here are various outputs of netstat -an | grep 80 | grep ESTA | wc taken over a few minutes: Code: 1 6 89 4 24 356 16 96 1424 12 72 1068 1 6 89 I'm not sure how to read the output ... is the larger number in the third column the number of concurrent connections, or a cumulative total that doesn't matter?


text:
Tapered End Plug
Diameter = .150
Tapered End Plugs (TEP), work well in place of Vinyl End Caps when you need to fit a spar through a tight channel or pocket. TEP also provide tubular spars with a little extra reinforcement to prevent spar ends from crushing. Available in 3 sizes.


text:
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers insisted the best team lost and blamed mistakes by referee Mark Halsey for contributing to their first defeat to Manchester United at Anfield since 2007.
Rodgers took issue with the sending-off of Jonjo Shelvey, the penalty that Robin Van Persie converted to win the game 2-1 and Halsey's decision not to award Liverpool a spot-kick when Luis Suarez was felled in the second half.
"We are bitterly disappointed with the result, I thought the best team lost," he said. "Of what we could control I thought the players and performance level was outstanding, what we couldn't control were decisions by the referee."
Copyright (c) PA Sport 2012, All Rights Reserved.
Do YOU want to write for GiveMeSport? Get started today by signing-up and submitting an article HERE: https://www.givemesport.com/writeforgms


text:
Animal Law (LAW-795AN-001)
There are no notices at this time.
N/A. Please contact the instructor for further information.
Textbooks and Other Materials
The textbook information on this page was provided by the instructor. Students should use this information when considering purchases from the AU Campus Store or other vendors. Students may check to determine if books are currently available for purchase online.
Title: Animal Law, Author: Wagmen, ISBN: 9781594606724, Year: 2009, Publisher: CAP
First Class Readings
Not available at this time.


text: Unemployment numbers for January have been released. According to the statistics provided by Iowa Workforce Devlopment, Marion County saw an increase in the unemployment rate of more than a percent, to 7.3% compared to the 6% of the final month of 2010. Fifteen-thousand, six hundred-thirty people were employed in Marion County, out of a workforce of 16,870. Marion County's unemployment rate is higher that the state of Iowa as a whole. Statewide, the unemployment rate in January was 6.1%


text:
MX Youth League Training Day Postponed!
The MX Youth League Training Day that was scheduled for Saturday April 14th has been postponed until Saturday April 21st.
The times will remain the same.
11:30 am – Gates Open
12:30 pm – On Track
Please call or email Curt Stewart with any questions.
801-252-9557 Ext. 127 or email@example.com
Thank you.


text:
I Survived H1N1
You may have noticed that I was out for a good chunk of last week with no explanation. (Thanks to all my fabulous Glamour editors for pitching in!) Well, it seems that all the healthy eating and strict hand-washing in the world wasn't enough to protect me and my family from the dreaded swine flu. Now that I'm finally feeling better, I thought I'd give you a first hand account of this often confusing illness...
First off, I missed you guys! It's good to be back!
Alright, so since I first heard about H1N1, it became my life's mission to not get it. (OK, so maybe "life's mission" is too strong of a phrase, but you get the gist.) I washed my hands (and my kids hands) the second we got in the door from any outing--even if it was a walk around the block. I used hand sanitizer after touching things at the grocery store. I kept my immunity up with probiotics and my favorite immune-boosting drink, kefir. I ran the other direction when someone in public coughed and, while I'm in a sharing kind of mood, I'll also confess that I often used paper towels to open and close public restroom doors. And I don't even have to tell you guys about my healthy eating regimen. You already know I'm a nut.
But you know what I think did me in? Lack of sleep. I have two little boys, which means lots of night wakings for feedings/nightmares/lost teddy bears, and I also stay up too late working. Health experts have long warned that lack of sleep weakens our defenses, making us more susceptible to cold and flu bugs. (I've written a little about my sleep troubles, which also include my husband's snoring, here.)
So here I am, on the other side of the swine flu. Is it embarrassing that a health writer got this bug? A little. But CNN health chief Sanjay Gupta got it too, so that puts me in good company, right? OK, let me tell you what it was like:
Day one: Woke up with a sore throat. Me: "Great, I'm getting a cold."
Day two: A little sneezy, headache, feeling icky. Me: "This has to be the worst cold of my life."
Day three: Beginning to feel like I'm turning a corner, whew. Then, at 5:00 p.m.--BAM. It all goes down hill. High fever (102.2!). Chills. Coughing. Body aches. Me: "I think I'm going to die."
Of course, I called my doctor's office, and was told not to come in unless I developed breathing problems (I didn't). They immediately heard my symptoms and made a over-the-phone diagnosis: H1N1. Apparently "99.9 percent" of the flu circulating in my city is H1N1, so there was no need for a lab test and no need for me to come into the office and spread my germs unless I was reaching a critical state (I wasn't). And you know, I didn't really want to leave my bed anyway.
Another key piece of information for anyone wondering if their symptoms could be swine flu: I have been hearing from so many people I know who also had H1N1, and they say that, like me, the fever hit on day three of their sickness. Weird, right? Apparently, and this is only anecdotal, this is the trademark pattern of the swine flu. But, still, everyone's experience is different. Some people experience vomiting and diarrhea, too (thank goodness, I avoided that). Also, another bit of info to note: My sore throat was annoying and painful, but not the straight-from-the-fiery-pits-of-hell sore throat that I expected.
It seems like everyone is getting the this flu these days, huh? And people seem to get it at varying levels of severity. Some have the "mild illness" that the CDC chief talks about, others get hit hard--like Melissa Rycroft (of The Bachelor and Dancing with the Stars fame) who was treated at the hospital and given anti-viral meds, according to reports.
It's been more than a week, and I'm still not 100% back to normal (which means, please forgive me for typos--pretty please?), but I'm getting there. And you know what? It wasn't that bad. I hated that my little boys got it too, but overall, they seemed to be hit lighter than I was.
I won't offer you hugs (I'm still contagious!), but I will send you well wishes and hope that you manage to avoid catching this thing. Be sure to check back tomorrow. I'm going to be posting about my H1N1 "survival kit" (all the things that helped me feel better when I was at my worst).
XO, Sarah
P.S. Tell me, have you gotten H1N1 yet? Have you had any kind of mysterious flu? Is swine flu hitting your city now? And, do you plan to get vaccinated?
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text:
19 U.S. Code § 2551 - Right of action
prev | next
§ 2551.
Right of action
Except as provided under this subpart, the provisions of this part do not create any right of action under the laws of the United States with respect to allegations that any standards-related activity engaged in within the United States violates the obligations of the United States under the Agreement.
(Pub. L. 96–39, title IV, § 421, July 26, 1979, 93 Stat. 247.)
LII has no control over and does not endorse any external Internet site that contains links to or references LII.


text:
here to locate the first book
at BARNES & NOBLE
This book presents, to the layperson, wearable, mobile, wireless computing and communication, and personal experiences of inventing, designing, building, and wearing computers for the past 20 years, as well as how these inventions affect society as a whole.
here to locate the second
book at Wiley
This book teaches the fundamentals of wearable computing and mediated reality, the EyeTap principle, the mathematical theory, as well as the practical details of how to design and build these systems.
Some reviews of "CYBORG: Digital Destiny and Human Possibility in the Age of the Wearable Computer" (Randomhouse Doubleday) are now on the Amazon.com site.
but you can get a better price, and better service by actually
it from BARNES & NOBLE instead!


text:
Longerenong College's annual shearing school is in full swing.
The program, which runs over the two weeks during school holidays, aims to give people within the community the opportunity to learn both shearing and fleecing.
The college's development officer Donna Winfield said this year's school had attracted a record number of participants.
"We have run the shearing school for a couple of years and it is always successful," she said.
"The Longerenong College students participated in a shearing program earlier in the year and this program was an opportunity for others in the community to give shearing a go.
"It is mainly young people but we did have a 79-year-old gentleman take part.
"Participants learn how to shear, how to crutch, the safety components of the work, how to grind and care for their handpieces and how to handle sheep.
"They also learn how to fleece."
Mrs Winfield said teacher Stephen Drum led the shearing program, with instructors attending from Hamilton.
She said everyone who had participated so far had enjoyed the program.
"We've had many people go on to become shearers," she said.
"It is one of the hardest jobs you can do and is a bit different now with occupational health and safety regulations.
"We do our best to train them in the best possible way.
"We will run the course again next year and I would imagine the numbers will increase again."
Mrs Winfield said anyone interested in the shearing program could call the college on 5362 2222.
She said people needed to be at least 16 to take part and be physically capable of handling sheep.


text:
(MCT) — NEWTOWN, Conn. — With a lingering gloom in the air, the anguished community of Newtown said final goodbyes Wednesday to more victims of Friday's deadly rampage inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Mourners said goodbye to Charlotte Helen Bacon, who loved tae kwon do and the color pink and who, at 6 years old, could hold her own talking with adults.
And to Caroline Phoebe Previdi, a 7-year-old with a huge grin who some said looked liked Boo, the angelic character from the animated movie "Monsters, Inc."
And to Daniel Gerard Barden, also 7, who loved making s'mores and playing drums in a band with his older brother and sister.
They were among 20 first-graders, all 6 and 7 years old, shot to death in a burst of violence Friday morning. Six educators, including Lauren Rousseau — Charlotte, Caroline and Daniel's teacher — also were killed.
As solemn funeral processions moved through Newtown on Wednesday — with so many more still to come — mourners also gathered in Stratford to honor slain first-grade teacher Victoria Soto, who called her students "my kids" and is credited with saving many of their lives by hiding them in a closet as the gunman closed in.
The Lordship Community Church in Stratford overflowed with friends, relatives and teachers from throughout the state, and dozens sat on chairs outside and listened over loudspeakers.
Soto, 27, had taught at Sandy Hook Elementary for five years. Her cousin, James Wiltsie, a Marine, called her "the rock" of the family and the inspiration for her siblings to attend college. Soto herself was pursuing a master's degree at Southern Connecticut State University.
Guided by a phalanx of Stratford police cruisers and motorcycle officers from several area departments, Soto's long funeral procession snaked from the Lordship area of town into Union Cemetery in Stratford Center, where the wail of bagpipes filled the air.
The procession passed under an arch created by two Stratford Fire Department ladder trucks supporting a giant American flag that flapped and billowed in the wind. A line of firefighters saluted as the hearse went past.
Also Wednesday, hundreds attended a wake in Woodbury for Dawn L. Hochsprung, the revered principal of Sandy Hook Elementary. Among them were U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and U.S. Sen.-elect Chris Murphy, D-Conn. Earlier, Duncan had sent a video message to the educators of Sandy Hook Elementary, expressing his gratitude for their heroism.
The line for Hochsprung's calling hours stretched hundreds of yards beyond the Munson-Lovetere funeral home. Outside, the word "hope" was spelled out in white bags with small candles burning inside. A large American flag hung just above the visitors as they entered the small funeral home.
Grief-stricken visitors from outside Newtown continued to stream into the community Wednesday, many praying beside a makeshift memorial of stuffed animals and flower bouquets and candles in the center of Sandy Hook.
"It is hard to see something so tragic happen to such a loving and welcoming town," said Morgan Dowd, a freshman at the Gunnery, a preparatory school in Washington, Conn., who has visited family friends in Newtown since she was a little girl.
Dowd and a friend, Carley Ferris, a junior at Newtown High School, also stopped at a memorial at the entrance of Sandy Hook Elementary. They were overcome by the sight of a victim's funeral procession driving by the school's entrance.
"This is something I'll never forget," Dowd said. "This is so overwhelming."
The lingering pain in town has also led to growing frustration with what for some feels like an occupation of the town by journalists.
"Would you just go home?" a woman in a car said several times as she drove past a throng of reporters and photographers massed across the street from St. Rose of Lima Church in anticipation of Daniel Barden's funeral.
A large "No Press" sign, yellow caution tape and police officers patrolling the perimeter of the church grounds made it clear that the media were not welcome at the service.
At the calling hours for Hochsprung, drivers rolled down their car windows and swore at members of the media and repeated a familiar refrain.
"You're all vultures," yelled one driver outside the funeral home.
"People are coming in here asking if we have press repellent," Cindy Hendy said as she worked the register at Newtown Hardware. "Residents here have had enough."
Many of the complaints revolved around the accuracy of information and a feeling that the media were exploiting the tragedy and invading the privacy of grieving families. As he visited a burgeoning memorial in a vacant lot just off Exit 10 from I-84, Greg Malafronte of Shelton spoke of a front-page photograph of a funeral.
"Whoever posted that should issue an apology. That's not fair to the family," Malafronte said.
Steve Bigham, who grew up in Newtown and now lives in Southbury, was also at the memorial. Bigham, a former reporter with the Newtown Bee newspaper, said the media's continued presence was a bit of a "Catch-22."
"People are just fed up," he said. "But I want people to come here because it's a symbol of hope in the face of a horrible tragedy."
(Courant staff writers Josh Kovner, Steven Goode and Matthew Conyers contributed to this story.)


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I am offering up for sale a brand new, never used WB Big Mamajamba Spinn UL with doors. I bought it for my wife to use but she's since decided she likes to be close together under one tarp instead of spread out under separate trees (who would have guessed). I was able to get my hands on a BWDD 4-season tarp which should hold me over until I can get my hands on a new Winter Dream.
I'm asking $220 shipped TYD. Thanks.


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CHICAGO (AP) — Joakim Noah had 17 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists to help the Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics 94-82 on Thursday night.
Carlos Boozer added 16 points, Luol Deng 14, Taj Gibson 12, Mike Dunleavy 11 and Jimmy Butler 10 as the balanced Bulls snapped a two-game skid at home. They have two remaining on a four-game homestand.
Noah had nine assists early in the fourth quarter, but couldn't get another and fell just short of a triple-double. Butler missed a jumper with 8 seconds left, Noah's last chance at reaching 10 assists.
The Bulls (13-18) passed the Celtics (13-19) for eighth place in the Eastern Conference. The top eight teams make the playoffs.
Jordan Crawford led the Celtics, who have lost two straight, with 22 points.
The Bulls had dropped six of seven home games to fall to 7-7 at the United Center this season. Worse, five of the six losses came against teams with losing records at the time of the game. That stretch began two days after Chicago scored a 20-point home win against defending champion Miami. The Bulls also have a 16-point home win against Indiana, the club with the best record in the Eastern Conference.
Chicago led 24-21 at the end of the first quarter and 48-45 at halftime. Except for a stretch early in the second quarter, the Bulls were able to hold onto the lead because they avoided the extended scoring droughts that have hampered them of late.
Boozer led the way offensively with 14 first-half points, while Noah played the setup role with six first-half assists, including a nice lob to Gibson for an alley-oop dunk.
The Bulls were able to take a 70-62 edge into the fourth quarter thanks to two big plays in the final seconds of the third quarter by Dunleavy, who blocked a shot by Kris Humphries and had a follow basket on the other end. Noah opened the scoring in the final period to give the Bulls their first double-digit lead at 72-62.
Dunleavy scored the next five points to cap an 11-0 run for a 77-62 advantage with 10½ minutes to play and the Bulls were never seriously threatened after that.
NOTES: Celtics G Rajon Rondo, sidelined nearly a year since tearing his ACL, said before the game he is likely to play a stint in the D-League before returning. "I think that's what it's for," he said. "I'd probably be the first guy to do that, but it doesn't make a difference. I want to make sure I'm healthy and handle it the right way. I haven't had a preseason. I haven't had a training camp." There is no timetable for Rondo's return. ... The Bulls had a full complement of players — other than star G Derrick Rose, who is out for the season — for a second straight game after playing short-handed for virtually all of December. "The challenge is how quickly we can adapt to the moving parts," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "It solidifies the groupings. Your bench is intact, your starters are intact and now you can get a rhythm into what plays you're running with each unit. I think that's a big plus. The games keep coming, so you have to find different ways to win."


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Download the Forum 69 Preliminary Schedule
For nearly 70 years, the AHS Forum has been the premier event for government, industry and academia to exchange ideas, discuss the latest breakthroughs in theory and technology, and work together to tackle the toughest challenges in vertical flight. Since its inception, the Annual Forum has brought together the best technical minds with the world's leading vertical flight manufacturers and suppliers. This tradition and legacy is still unmatched today by any other event in the world. This year's 69th Annual Forum and Technology Display (Forum 69) returns to the Phoenix Convention Center on May 21-23, 2013 in Phoenix, Arizona.
This year's Forum theme is appropriately, "Advancing Vertical Flight Technology in Demanding Environments." For the vertical flight community, "demanding environments" long meant high altitudes, high temperatures, austere sites and dusty conditions. Today, they include financial challenges facing the world's military and civil operators – budget crises that hobble economies and spur relentless calls for government spending cuts from North America and Europe to Asia and Australia. Forum 69 will explore these opportunities.
With the theme "Advancing Vertical Flight Technology in Demanding Environments," the Forum will include panel discussions among leaders of civil and military aircraft manufacturers and top officials of military aircraft programs. Hear firsthand what to expect in the current budget environment, and the prospects for vertical flight modernization efforts.
Forum 69 will feature some 250 technical presentations on vertical flight research and advanced technology initiatives aimed at meeting these challenges, in disciplines from acoustics to unmanned systems. The Forum will also include special panel sessions, the Vertical Flight Foundation (VFF) Reception, the Grand Awards Banquet, a simulation workshop, industry tours and the Technology Display – the most extensive exposition of cutting-edge vertical flight technologies in the world.
Forum 69 will continue with its new CEO panel format with the chief executives of the international helicopter industry. Moderated by Graham Warwick, Senior Editor for Technology,Aviation Week & Space Technology, the panel will explore how to continue "Advancing Vertical Flight Technology in Demanding Environments."
Prof. Peretz Friedmann, The University of Michigan, will deliver this year's Alexander A. Nikolsky Honorary Lectureship entitled, "On Blade Control of Rotor Vibration, Noise and Performance – Just Around the Corner?" and Mr. Mark Dreier (Bell Helicopter) will provide a Short Course on "Rotorcraft and Wind Turbine Modeling and Simulation."
Major General Tim Crosby, US Army, Aviation Program Executive Officer for Aviation (PEO AVN), plans to lead the US Army Aviation Program Manager Briefings, and Rear Admiral Paul Grosklags, US Navy, Program Executive Officer for Air ASW, Assault & Special Mission Programs, PEO(A), plans to moderate the US Navy/Marine Corps Aviation Program Manager Briefings [both sessions pending final Army and Navy travel regulations].
In addition, three new special session panels will cover Technology Needs for Civil Operations, Subsystems Technologies and Human Powered Helicopters. Each session will be comprised of leaders in their fields presenting the latest developments. Finally, the introduction of a new Micro Air Vehicle Student Challenge will see AHS student members compete in a head-to-head MAV fly-off.
With nearly 1500 attendees annually, Forum 69 offers you networking opportunities with leading researchers and the key representatives from all of the world's important vertical flight technology organizations, including industry, academia and government – U.S. and international / military and civil.
Plan now to be with us May 21-23, 2013 in Phoenix, Arizona. You won't want to miss the biggest and best vertical flight technology conference in the world!


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- Number of children:
- 2
- Age of children:
- 13 and 8
- Relationship status:
- Married
- Parenting advice I follow:
- My kids need to know that, while I may not always love what they do, but I always love them. That, and when your teenage daughter slams her door the first time, go immediately to her room and remove the door. Makes a very strong case for being respectful of you and your home.
- Parenting advice I ignore:
- Keeping a schedule, even on vacations and weekends...life is too short, and the kids grow up too fast not to have a pajama day once in awhile!
- Favorite activity with my kids:
- Talk and laugh, tickle and cuddle. Bookstore trips, play board games. Anything is great as long as it's with them!
From California, United States
Joined 23rd May 2008
My Day Snapshot
mommapolitico.blogspot.com hasn't written a snapshot yet.
My Life To-Do List
Currently on my Life Wish List:
Travel, with or sans kids, through Europe
Write for a living
Run for office
Goals I am working on:
Becoming a principal, or President of The United States, either one
Getting my blog, mommapolitico.blogspot.com
on the map
Raising healthy, happy, educated kids
Projects I am working on:
A date night with The Hubby
Figuring out my place in the blogosphere
Getting through the school year with body and psyche intact
Recent Activity
1 comment so far...
Hey Perry, I'd love to check out Momma Politico (like you I tend to have an opinion about everything). Anyway, you should post a link on your profile:). I'm a moderator for Work it, Mom! If you ever have comments or questions, just let me know. Also, here's a great place to introduce yourself.
And our political group.
Flag as inappropriate Posted by mamajama on 26th May 2008


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Writing Seminar:
Writing Like a Mountain
This writing seminar will climb mountains. Throughout the semester, we'll hike through a range of texts that explore what the significance of mountains is to writers from many different traditions. We'll write analytically about these texts and creatively about the mountains we live amid. Finally, we'll foray to the mountains. Did you know Henry David Thoreau climbed Mt. Wantastiquet while visiting Brattleboro? Have you read fire lookout tower poetry while in a tower? We'll make at least one group ascent of a mountain, adding our voices and footsteps to the peaks.
Professor: Kyhl Lyndgaard (Office: Science 111)
Class Meetings: M/W/F from 10:30 to 11:20am in Apple Tree
Syllabus and Supplemental Course Readings


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Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Anton Khudobin is beginning a conditioning stint with Charlotte as he attempts to work his way back into the organization's goaltending picture.
Since recently returning to fitness following an ankle injury suffered on Oct. 13, the 27-year-old had not been able to crack the Hurricanes lineup ahead of former Checker Justin Peters, who has started each of the team's last three games, and longtime starter Cam Ward. The conditioning stint allows him to play in the AHL for a short period of time without going on waivers.
Khudobin, who joined the Hurricanes from Boston as a free agent this past summer, started the season with a 2-0-0 record, 2.00 goals-against average and .929 save percentage prior to his injury. He joins John Muse and Mike Murphy as active goaltenders on the Checkers' roster.
Should he play for Charlotte, something he is likely to do as the team finishes a three-game road trip in Chicago on Sunday and in Rockford on Monday, Khudobin would become the eighth goaltender used by the Checkers this season, extending a franchise record and tying Oklahoma City for most in the league this season.
Khudobin has played in 156 career AHL games with Providence and Houston, most recently playing 44 games for Providence in the 2011-12 season. He also played 33 for the Checkers' ECHL affiliate, the Florida Everblades, during the 2008-09 campaign.


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Report: Ohio fell short on day care monitoring
- Written by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A federal report says Ohio hasn't always met its own requirements for annual, unannounced inspections of day care centers and could do more comprehensive background checks for employees.
The report Tuesday from the watchdog arm of the Department of Health and Human Services looks at monitoring of licensed providers that get subsidies to care for low-income children through the Child Care and Development Fund.
It analyzed 125 of Ohio's 13,000-plus care providers for the 2010 and 2011 fiscal years. It found some required inspections were missed.
It also says Ohio didn't include sex offender and child abuse registry checks of workers' backgrounds.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services says the state inspects day care centers twice annually. A spokesman says care providers undergo state and FBI background checks.


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Flick 2 Dunk
Mini Putt Garden
&HOTPuzzleMeNEWTo make sure that this is the game you want to play, see here some images of the game that we made for you before clicking the play button-link.
We also prepared for you something new, unique and never seen to have fun on this page before play Mini Putt Garden, the PuzzleMe has arrived. Each image of the game can now be transformed into a puzzle, easy difficulty (6 pieces), medium (15 pieces) and hard (28 pieces). So many puzzles on one page. Then we recommend play the Mini Putt Garden on your device to enjoy it even more. Panda Free Games, always innovating :)
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The Mini Putt Garden was produced with modern technology (html5) and can be played online and immediately (no download)
on mobile devices (tablet and smartphone) and also computer.
It is 100% secure.
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Mini Putt Garden Related Games


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Men's UNDER ARMOUR® TOUCH BOXERJOCK 6" BRIEF :: Layer up with incredible comfort in the Men's Under Armour Touch Boxerjock 6" Brief. Designed to keep you cool the lightweight HeatGear® fabric pulls sweat away from skin quick and keeps odor at bay. Even the waistband feels fantastic. 6" inseam
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(SportsNetwork.com) - The Atlanta Hawks received an extra day of rest because of mother nature and are in south Philly Friday night to take on the 76ers at Wells Fargo Center.
Atlanta's Wednesday matchup with Detroit at Philips Arena was postponed due to inclement weather and the game will be made up on Apr. 8.
The Hawks had won three of four games until dropping a tough 111-109 loss to Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday. Durant, the presumptive favorite for MVP, tallied 41 points and hit the go-ahead jumper with 1.5 seconds left to give Oklahoma City the win.
Paul Millsap, who was named as an Eastern Conference reserve for the All-Star game Thursday night, registered 23 points and eight rebounds for Atlanta, which shot 48.9 percent for the game and made 12-of-25 3-pointers.
Six other Atlanta players scored in double figures. Mike Scott (16), DeMarre Carroll (15), Shelvin Mack (15), Kyle Korver (14), Lou Williams (10) and Dennis Schroeder (10) joined Millsap in a fine offensive performance. Korver extended his NBA record for consecutive games with a made 3-pointer to 113.
"Our group really competed tonight," Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer said. "I think their commitment to each other and their commitment to playing the way we want to play is excellent."
Jeff Teague missed the OKC game with a sprained left ankle and is listed as questionable Friday. He is averaging 16.2 points and 7.3 assists, and hasn't played since Jan. 24 in a loss to San Antonio.
After the Hawks, who are 8-14 on the road, visit Philadelphia, they will return to Philips Arena to face Minnesota and Indiana.
Philadelphia is coming off a last-second win at Boston, as Evan Turner buried a shot in the lane as time expired for a 95-94 win Wednesday. Turner had 16 points and Thaddeus Young added 16 as well, while Spencer Hawes led the Sixers with 20 points and eight rebounds.
"We pulled through and came back from giving up a lead," Turner said.
The 76ers have lost four in a row and 10 of 12 contests at home, and are 8-15 at Wells Fargo Center this season. The Sixers haven't lost five straight in the City of Brotherly Love since Dec. 3-20, 2006.
Philly, which is 3-10 in its last 13 games overall, is the worst defensive team in the league, allowing 109.5 ppg, and will visit Detroit and Brooklyn after hosting the Hawks. The Hawks took the first of three meetings this season with Philadelphia by a 113-103 score on Nov. 15 at Philips Arena.
Teague scored 33 points and handed out 10 assists in that one for Atlanta, which has still lost seven of the last 10 meetings between the teams. The Hawks have lost 13 of the last 18 trips to Philadelphia and will host the Sixers on March 31.


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Welcome to Ultimate Subaru Message Board, my lurker friend!
|Welcome to Ultimate Subaru Message Board, an unparalleled Subaru community full of the greatest Subaru gurus and modders on the planet! We offer technical information and discussion about all things Subaru, the best and most popular all wheel drive vehicles ever created.
We offer all this information for free to everyone, even lurkers like you! All we ask in return is that you sign up and give back some of what you get out - without our awesome registered users none of this would be possible! Plus, you get way more great stuff as a member! Lurk to lose, participate to WIN*!
* The joy of participation and being generally awesome constitutes winning
** Not an actual guarantee, but seriously, you probably won't regret it!
Serving the Subaru Community since May 18th, 1998!
Digital Torque Wrench - Holiday Special
Posted 06 November 2012 - 04:50 PM
We ran this special awhile back, and the response was real good so we are running it again: our Digital Torque Wrench w/ Blow Molded Case for $99 - including shipping. Just go to our website: Brown Line Metalworks, LLC | Professional Grade Digital Torque Wrench and click on the "Buy Now" button. At checkout, enter the coupon code: ultimate
You can see the torque wrench in action in the following video:
Product Specifications
Patented Double Gear Sensing System
Designed, engineered, and tested by Brown Line Metal Works, the patented* D.G.S.S. technology ensures repeatable accuracy of +/- 3.5% both clockwise & counter-clockwise
Accurate from 20 – 100% of full scale (7% accuracy from 10 – 20% of full scale)
Microprocessor Controlled
8-bit electronics ensures accurate readings and simplicity of use
Allows for both Peak and Track mode
Individually calibrates each wrench
Supplies unique serial number for each wrench
Ratchet Head
1/2" drive reversible ratchet
32-tooth gear provides an 11.25º arc while handling high torque loads
Forged from Chromium Vanadium alloy to ensure strength
Conforms to ASME B107.10 2005 standards
15 – 150 ft/lbs
180 – 1,800 in/lbs
20.3 – 203 Nm
Digital Control
Large backlit digital display shows both target torque and current read-out
Intuitive button design makes operating torque wrench simple
LEDs and digital display provide visual feedback when operating wrench
Buzzer creates audible feedback when target torque is reached
Easily switch between ft/lbs, in/lbs, and Nm
Automatically powers off when not in use for 2 minutes
Low battery indicator
Soft-touch overmold provides comfortable non-slip grip
Engineered plastics ensure an impact resistant housing
The offer is valid until Dec. 31st, and is only for the lower 48 states.
We are located in Chicago, IL. Phone is: 312-884-7644. Email: email@example.com
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Top Reasons to Stay at Coral Key Inn
- The inn is just across the street from the beach, and the weather's agreeable virtually all year long—the town has an average annual temperature of 76 degrees Fahrenheit.
- You can go fishing for snapper and mackerel at Anglins Fishing Pier, a 10-minute walk from the inn.
- Its efficiency studios and one-bedroom suites have full kitchens and views of the tropical pool area.
Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, Florida: Barrier Island with Numerous Dining and Shopping Spots
Lauderdale-By-The-Sea is only 7 feet above sea level and surrounded by bright-blue ocean. The entire town sits on a barrier island sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway, about 45 minutes north of Miami and 15 minutes north of downtown Fort Lauderdale. Anglins Fishing Pier is a nice spot to catch snapper and mackerel, and you can buy bait and rent fishing rods onsite. Scuba diving and snorkeling are also popular pastime in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea—just 100 yards offshore are coral reefs full of spiny lobsters, sea fans, and tropical fish. They're some of the only reefs in South Florida that can be reached by swimming.
To explore more of the town, jump on the Pelican Hopper, a free shuttle that runs from the fishing pier and beaches to local shopping centers. There are also a number of food and entertainment options.
Read the Fine Print for important info on travel dates and other restrictions.


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About four hours to go until the Raiders put on the pads for the first time.
Coach Tom Cable's unique approach of having eight "dress rehearsals" stressing fundamentals, alignment and footwork has given today's session a heightened excitement level for not only the players, but the media as well.
You understand why Cable was doing it, but it didn't make the sessions easy to watch.
Other than seeing some of the first individual battles of camp and getting an idea of the depth chart, we'll also get an initial idea of how the approach paid off. If all goes according to plan, there will be none of the confusion in between snaps on offense and defense that has marked camps of years past, in particularly the Art Shell camp of 2006. In theory, it should be crisp and well executed. There are no excuses for not knowing where to line up.
Other thoughts:
— In the limited amount of passing drills we've seen _ against no defenders _ JaMarcus Russell has thrown the ball much better than he did in the mandatory minicamp and OTAs. Will that carry over against live defenders? He's carrying himself like it's his team, and that's a good thing. The next step is playing like it consistently.
— Chaz Schilens has been easily the most impressive receiver so far, and the guess here is he'll continue that way.
— What's up with Jay Richardson? Cable says not to read too much into the rotations during the "learning phase," but Richardson was getting almost no work with the irst team and sometimes not with the second team.
— How will Darrius Heyward-Bey bounce back from a rough second practice Sunday? It's only one practice, and it's way too early to where he's at. I seem to remember Cliff Branch dropping everything in sight when he first arrived and that worked out fine. Same with Jerry Rice. Same with Rickey Dudley. Impossible to know where Heyward-Bey is headed.
— Will Mike Mitchell load up and hit somebody? I remember Eric "Crazy" Johnson getting overexcited in his first practice and crushing Dudley. Cable doesn't want to see any of that from Mitchell, but you've got to think the rookie wants to show why he was drafted in the second round.
— Will Oren O'Neal suit up and hit somebody, or will the Raiders wait awhile longer?
— Derrick Burgess won't be there, and that's a big error on his part. The problem with being out of camp is he is driving his own value down because know one knows if he can still play. Word would get out if he was in Napa and showing a good burst. And Al Davis isn't going to give him away.
Adam Schefter's "tweet" that the Raiders are looking for third and fourth round picks sounds acceptable, but you don't dump him for anything less than that.
— Former Raiders' exec Mike Lombardi had some thoughts on Raiders coach Tom Cable and working for Al Davis in his column in the National Football Post.
I'll check in via Twitter when I get to Napa and have a post-practice blog this evening.


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Nice computer you got there. Would be a shame if anything were to happen to it. My buddy Vinny here, he sells "protection" against these kinds of problems. You pay every week, and there ain't gonna be no problems, capiche?
This reminds me of a funny trick to play on somebody from back in my mainframe days...
Create a directory with the same name as the home directory inside the user's home directory. Set a login script to place the user into that directory.
So they try to get to their files and there's nothing there. Everything looks normal. Usually, someone with half-a-clue can figure it out pretty quickly, but it does provide that brief moment of terror that gets the blood pumping in the morning.
that reminds me of a trick I used to play back in my mainframe days too. I'd just delete everything a user had in their directory. Man you should have seen the look on their faces. I'll never forget the feeling over power I experienced either....
Here, you dropped this:
You Bastard.
There was a prank going around the Gateway 2000 tech centers that I found quite amusing. Do a screen-shot of the desk top, set it as the background, then move the icons to a folder. I found it really showed the clued from the clueless. Quite a few techs called for some one to fix their system. And no, i wasn't the one doing it, though I was the one to fix it many times.
Did that once, and once only. The butt of the joke hard booted thinking that his PC was non-responsive, fraking up his HKLU (silly registry, why?). "Last Known Working" was my friend that day....
Be careful with this if you are not 100 % sure you'll be around to uncover the prank if it gets out of hand.
I played this once on a half computer tech, half sound tech and things went pretty bad. I hid and locked the taskbar and all the icons (on XP) and stored them in some other folder for easy recovery. But I didn't go to work the following day due to personal reasons. It turns out, this guy and an engineer went nuts over the problem and ended up going back to a recovery point.
I neglected to tell him t
The best way to do this prank is to not move ALL the icons away. Leave a few of them there so they work. It'll puzzle the hell out of them as they can't seem to figure out why some icons work (consistently, too) but others just refuse.
You'll also find out who notices that the icons highlights.
Had this one get on one the computers I administer. Managed to poison the profile and for a brief while I thought the files had been deleted. Of course, I got the inevitable "isn't your AV and anti-malware software up to date", to which I responded "As much as can be, the user is relied upon not to be a simpering moron who clicks on every possible link."
Oh, and by the way, Microsoft, your fucking browser still sucks and is still atrociously insecure. Shape up, Redmond.
This is also why end-users shouldn't have install rights. Period.
"it's like a computer, only useless."
That's all well and good in a corporate environment, but do you really expect every home user to have his own personal IT department?
My relatives certainly seem to think they do.
Here's what works for me. "If I were a plumber, I sure as hell wouldn't unplug your toilet for free. That's my livelihood, and the only person who gets a blank check in my business is my mom."
No, but why should they be running as superuser just to open their email client?
No, but why should they be running as superuser just to open their email client?
Beats me, that's why I have them run Vista (SP1 or later) or Win7.
The people who are going to ignore warnings and click yes on the UAC prompts wouldn't be any safer off on other operating systems, they'd happily type in their user credentials and get their fresh copy of Mac Defender or whatever.
>Oh, and by the way, Microsoft, your fucking browser still sucks and is still atrociously insecure. Shape up, Redmond.
Really? Care to point to some statistics showing me big holes in IE9 that are actively used by malware?
Not much out there. Oh, there's no shortage of Java, Flash, and Adobe Reader holes, and according to stats lifted from crimepacks those are the ones used.
I just looked at that stats on my website. 90% of those users have Java installed. How many of those are the latest version? Maybe 50% Most of the flash installs are not the latest version. Who knows what version of Reader they have.
Plugin security is a nightmare right now. Blame Sun and Adobe for not having autoupdaters like Chrome does for Flash. Joe User has no idea what he's doing with a computer. Blaming MS isn't really helping him.
Plugin security is a nightmare right now. Blame Sun and Adobe for not having autoupdaters like Chrome does for Flash
I do blame MS. Not for vulnerabilities in Flash, Java and other plugins, but for not providing an API that would allow third party programs to plug into Windows update to automatically download (which could be from the vendor's site) and install the update.
How many different updaters does a system need? Then, there are updaters that simply don't work unless you are logged in with admin
If Microsoft opened up Windows Update for 3rd-party applications, how many do you reckon would actually use it?
Yup, it would be sweet to have one central updating facility, and it's one of the few *u*x things I miss in Windows; I just don't see it ever going to work in the Windows ecosystem (an Appstore for phone/tablet might, but that wouldn't cover desktops and legacy software).
A little while ago I was sure I had this malware on my computer. However the actual problem was worse: I had a Seagate hard drive.
There is an upside with Seagate products: they taught me the importance of using RAID and/or backups.
RAID is *NOT* a substitution for backups. Delete a file on the RAID and it's gone. Someone takes the machine, and it's gone.
Backup your computer to offline media, and make sure to keep a (hopefully encrypted) copy of it at some remote location (like a family members house, work, wherever)
Seconded, and furthered:
RAID would do nothing to protect against the thing described in TFA.
RAID only protects against hardware failure, and even then only if the failure is actually detected instead of just silently munging data.
This is not to say that RAID is not useful: It can be a performance boost in some applications. It can provide a clever way to combine many smaller disks into one larger volume, which can also be useful in some instances. To be sure, some of the things RAID does do can be very c
When web apps pop up a realistic looking XP or Win7 windows claiming virus infection... or the need to run an 'exe' to install a missing codec, it's a good day to be running Linux or OS X. Nothing tells you fraud so much as something that's been polished to a fine point to fool the Windows users.
True, but there is nothing here that couldn't be done just as easily on OSX and Linux.
Remove users files in standard Gnome/KDE places and futz with the
>> True, but there is nothing here that couldn't be done just as easily on OSX and Linux.
And tell us how you would do that? How would you make a web page that convinces the user that they should click 'okay' on your installer instead of going to the system app center / repositories?
People that were conditioned to Windows might fall for it, but people that 'learned' Linux would know it's BS.
How would you convince someone to give you the admin ID when they didn't launch an installer or app that needs a
How would you make a web page that convinces the user that they should click 'okay' on your installer instead of going to the system app center / repositories?
There are a lot of people who are used to Windows, so if they switch, especially after hearing that Linux has no viruses/malware they might feel safe clicking on anything.
Also, in my experience not all programs and drivers are in the default repositories, for example, drivers for Canon multifunction devices (the scanner part) are available as a
Next step.. Modify the malware to prompt the user to install Linux?
Good reason to change the default theme in Windows too.
While I believe your advice is well-intentioned, it's really no good.
This only works if the malware isn't using existing Windows widgets for its displays.
If I were I Windows programmer (I'm not) and I were writing malware (good heavens!), I'd use the native toolkit for all of my dealings...just like most other software does. It's easier, that way.
And then: Changing themes, for properly-implemented malware, would also change the look of that ill program to match.
When web apps pop up a realistic looking XP or Win7 windows claiming virus infection... or the need to run an 'exe' to install a missing codec, it's a good day to be running Linux or OS X. Nothing tells you fraud so much as something that's been polished to a fine point to fool the Windows users.
Good reason to not have the default color scheme on your windows box. Makes it easy to spot the fake popups.
Thanks for the Java reminder --I got a this new PC the other day and had meant to ensure the OEM had NOT bundled it. I had a recent Java-initiated spyware on the Vista laptop earlier in the week.
I'd forgotten to dump the Java runtime since I used to play with the SDK. Because enterprise Java has grown ever complex and acronym-ridden, I simply stopped minding it about 2 years ago and forgot to remove its inconvenient attack vector even though I've been hit through it more than once.
On the color schemes, I us
Actually, the summary reads like an April Fool's joke about Windows95.
It certainly takes it a step further than "your system is infected." Ironically, the system actually does appear to have a bad hard drive (bad blocks marked by CHKDSK). Customer had paid someone else to replace the hard disk a little over a month ago and showed me the receipt, but the hard disk in the machine was the same capacity as the OEM disk and had a date code indicating that it was likely not a new drive, but the one that was factory installed.
They're just going to replace the machine since the "in
There was a virus a while back that used an extortion scheme that was similar: Encrypt the data, wipe the original, then outright sell the key. That one's kind of scary. A simple disinfection wouldn't undo the damage, and since it wouldn't depend on permanent infection it might affect any platform. This one is less upfront about it, but won't fool anyone who has any clue about computers or hard drives.
On the other hand, maybe a lot of users are too clueless to be affected. "Help, there are all these error m
How can this still be happening!
I run FF 4.x on a OpenSuse 11.x box and on a windows XP box. I have actually experimented, both FF installs are default. On the Linux box the same stupid screen comes up, "scanning your hard drive you have 99 million viruses clock OK to get rid of them.".
FF on the Linux box you click ok and FF prompts you that such and such a site wants to do some shit with some executable file, tell it no, close the tab and you are ok.
FF on the XP box you click ok and you are off to the r
An elephant is a mouse with an operating system.


text:
Submission + - Woz worries Microsoft is now more innovative than Apple (techcrunch.com) 1
yvajj writes: According to a techcrunch interview, Woz believes that Microsoft is now more innovative than Apple. Per the interview, it seems as though Apple is now just doing newer versions of the Iphone, and are potentially headed into a rut. Another gem from Woz is the fact that he treats all new hardware as something new to learn from and does not approach it with any preconceptions (irrespective of who the manufacturer is / what OS etc.). A great short interview from Woz.


text: My 11 month old is breast fed in the morning before nursery then has breakfast, lunch and a snack, 5oz of milk while at nursery. I pick him up at 4:30 and breast feed him once and then feed him to sleep. Should I offer a snack though or is this enough?


text:
A placebo can take the form of a sugar pill or even a fake surgery. It's often used to test the effectiveness of a trial drug. Ted Kaptchuk, director of Harvard University's Program in Placebo Studies and the Therapeutic Encounter, discusses potential applications for the healing power of placebos.
One Scholar's Take On The Power of The Placebo
By editor • Jan 6, 2012


text:
World of Warcraft is a great example of a game that has evolved beyond anyone's imagination since their Day 1 and will continue to do so to better the player experience for as long as players support the title.
I find it odd that a comparison is being drawn between a stateful monthly payment role playing game and a stateless (allegedly subscription-less) real time strategy game. I definitely see how World of Warcraft is enriched by the spider webbed interaction of thousands of players on a server. However, I fail to see how Starcraft II would benefit from this if you've got a single digit cap on number of players in any given instance of the game.
And can we give up on the piracy concerns? It's just getting embarrassing [gamesites200.com].
Also, if you're going to force everyone to use Battle.net, I hope you have improved its quality since I was last one it several years ago.
Where are you getting this information that Battle.net is blocked from universities?
I told him. And I'm a very reliable source.
Well, think of it this way. I'm a fanboy and I'll buy this game.
I own eleven fucking copies of Starcraft and Broodwars. I can have my own 8 man LAN party and then some. That's how big of a SC nut I was. Will I buy multiple copies of SCII? Fuck no. No LAN party, no reason to.
Blizzard is going to make "fuck-you money" with this game one way or another, but I'm telling you now, that's 7 copies unbought because you're greedy and removing LAN support.
While you purcahsed 8 copies for your 8 computers, someone else purchased one and placed it on all 8 of theirs.
And now instead of buying one copy, they won't buy any at all.
You can still have 8 computers set up in your house to play through battle net if you so desire everyone playing in the same room.
Sure, if you have a fat enough pipe. Of course, then you still have to deal with lag issues, and you won't be able to play at all when the internet connection goes down. Oh yeah, and then there's the fact that it's way more convenient to just set up a LAN.
But hey, if blizzard doesn't want to sell to several million of their potential customers, that's their problem. If they don't want my money bad enough to make a good product, that's their loss
Sure, if you have a fat enough pipe. Of course, then you still have to deal with lag issues,
I keep seeing people say things like this. This is not true. The majority of the packets will be peer to peer and never leave your Local area network. Only the talking to the battle.net servers would go out to the internet, and this will not be happening hardly at all during game play. Having to maintain a connection to battle.net will not lag your game for the people who are connected all on one router,
Two problems with that though:
1) You could play starcraft for free on a LAN legally. They had a LAN copy on the disk which had no single player and could only join.
2) I can't count how many LANs I've been to or hosted that had no internet because of problematic DHCP servers.
3) This thing better not lag like a mother with 8 people sharing a cable modem.
"Blizzard has announced that they will be dropping LAN support for Starcraft II, citing piracy and quality concerns. Instead, all multiplayer games will be hosted through their new Battle.net service. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by this move, but wasn't LAN play how the original Starcraft became popular?
It's the typical "I got mine" ploy. Games, piracy, music, immigration, whatever. Immigrants should be free to come and go, unless my wage will be lowered. Foreign goods should be free to come and go,
There are other MMOs that are like that. For example, guild wars has many people in towns, but where you do most things the number is 8 (or 16 for certain missions). It is not as big as WOW but it has a good number of people. Guild wars has no monthly fee and totally online. No LAN based play.
As for batttle.net, if it is like the diablo II days, they are in trouble. It sucked back then.
It's a lot better than it used to be - the latency is good, communicating with people is easy, stability isn't half bad and it can handle more people.
Still, sudden spikes of latency are a daily problem and the accounts are deleted after 90 days of inactivity. It's better, but it's still not perfect.
Yet another game whose bombing will be put down to "piracy" when in actuality it will be their own asshattery. Starcraft was great for LAN parties, but as other posters have pointed out with the upload speed on the average cable connection that is now deader than Dixie. You watch, when it doesn't sell the kinda numbers they expected because they burnt the LANers they will STILL blame piracy!
It makes me think of the interview not long ago with the head of THQ over the closing of Iron Lore (here is the link [kotaku.com]), where all he did was bitch and moan about how it was everyone's fault but theirs that the company went under. It was piracy and PC having some many different combinations and it isn't our fault..bla bla bla. I tried the demo and it spent more time crashing to desktop than playing, and when it did play it was obviously a lame Diablo ripoff with very little to make it different from it or Dungeon Siege.
I for one am sick of this "it's always piracy" bullshit. Because that is EXACTLY what it is. yes, there are some who pirate games, just as there are those that pirate movies or books or music. i don't see those guys going out of business, do you? How about making a product that doesn't suck with fancy epeen graphics and physics with bad guys dumb as Forest Gump, how about that? All your anti piracy bullshit doesn't hurt the pirates, they get it cracked before the game hits the shelves. It hurts guys like me that won't even buy your games at release anymore because I have to crack them due to the fact your ^%$#%^# DRM doesn't run on my 64bit OS but the games do. WTF?
So to conclude this rant, quit playing the bullshit piracy card Blizzard. We know as well as you it is because you are now Blizzardvision and think every fricking thing should have a WoW constant revenue stream or be able to be rehashed year after year like CoD. You are screwing over the fans that actually bought your fricking product just to try to squeeze them for more cash and probably hit them with ads while you are at it. Well fuck you too buddy. I will not be buying Starcraft II even though I was really looking forward to it. Anyway this guy [metacafe.com] is able to rant about the anti piracy BS better than I can. QUIT SCREWING YOUR CUSTOMERS!!!!!
I'm surprised it took this long for the news to hit Slashdot's main page, it's already a few days old yet it's the kind of thing that we nerds definitely consider "news." Sites BluesNews reported on the initial Lan issue on the 29th and has been feeding details since then.
Personally I don't mind that much, I haven't attended a LAN party is years. However I can definitely see how this will anger SCORES of people.
No, LAN, then I won't buy it.
It is bad enough being the recipient of a Protos carrier storm, or a Zerg rush even on 100Mbut switched LAN. Now you want me to send all of my LAN party's packets over a 2MBline? No F-ing way.
Sorry Blizzard, but you're now out of touch with the people who made you great. Bye.
It would be better for everyone if Blizzard licensed out battle.net software for a price that a small fan community could afford, between $100 and $500, may be? Beats implementing LAN code which almost no one is going to use.
I wish they didn't bring up piracy though. Is anyone really buying this bullshit anymore? Hacking units will rush this title like a swarm of Zerg, they will.
There was an OSS/FS implementation of Battle.net -- Bnetd. Problem is, Blizzard didn't like the idea of that (OH NOES THEY'LL USE IT TO PIRATE OUR GAMEZ! O WOE IZ US!) and sued the Bnetd developers.
There's PvPGN as well, but I haven't had a chance to play with that. Looks like it's still being updated, though.
luckily we have bnetd!
oh wait...
nope, you dont have to wait
http://www.gamesites200.com/wowprivate/ [gamesites200.com]
Makes one wonder if internet connectivity will be required to run the game, period. As in, 'either touch base with your battlenet account, or no game for you.'
God, I thought I was the only one who still remembered what douchebags Blizzard were about bnetd.
What happened to all the wankers who hooted and hollered about boycotting them after that?
What happened to all the wankers who hooted and hollered about boycotting them after that?
Still here... still boycotting... just not as vocally anymore...
What happened to all the wankers who hooted and hollered about boycotting them after that?
Well, we tried, then this happened [penny-arcade.com].
So now, aside from locating a place where you and your friends can setup your computers and play - you now get to find someplace with an internet connection that can handle all of them at the same time.
Or you can just pay $60 per computer per month with a 24-month minimum commitment for mobile broadband, like a lot of proponents of cloud computing on Slashdot have been recommending.
Not exactly true AFAIK. Starcraft is still peer-to-peer once the game starts, so you'll still be interfacing with your lan buddies over your LAN. I'd imagine if everyone in the game is local, the WAN will see very little, if any, traffic
That won't increase the "quality control" as they're suggesting. That only increases the amount of things that can go wrong. Besides, that's a bloody insult to everyone who bought the game. "Let nanny look in on you and decide whether you've been good enough to play the game you paid for!" and btw, nanny has a 5% downtime for scheduled maintenance, and may be discontinued in 7-10 years.
Are they at least going to release a battle.net server clone source/ dedicated servers for private hosting? Similar to how Valve has a source dedicated server they release for all their major games? A lot of large LAN events only allow limited net access, if any.
For the record I think this is really,really dumb idea.
Until I read about this. HOLY crap am I pissed. I used to work somewhere with a 5$/hr gaming machine rental on a lan of about 10-15 machines. Starcraft, Q2, CS, TF were HUGELY popular lan games we allways had people doing group play 2v2 etc. We did tons of tournaments too that were often won w/ a zerg rush or an a carrier warp.
Those were the good ol days!
We're all going to have to wait for Total Annihilation 3?
Effin A.
As mentioned by Rob Pardo in interviews, piracy is a serious problem and often times tie in closely with LAN. At the end of the day, we want the best for the community and fans that support our games, and having chunk of the community pirate the game actually hurts the community.
1) Pirated servers splinter the community instead of consolidating all players who love to play the game. Battle.net will bring players together in skirmishes, ladder play, custom games, and allow everyone the opportunity to share a common experience.
2) More people on Battle.net means more even more resources devoted to evolving this online platform to cater to further community building and new ways to enjoy the game online. World of Warcraft is a great example of a game that has evolved beyond anyone's imagination since their Day 1 and will continue to do so to better the player experience for as long as players support the title. The original StarCraft is an even better example of how 11 years later, players still love and play this title, and we will continue to support and evolve it with patches.
We would not take out LAN if we did not feel we could offer players something better.
If I were to buy StarCraft II or any other title, I know the money I spent would be going to supporting that title. Personally, I would be upset that others were freeloading while others are legitimately supporting a title that has great potential and goals of making this title have 'long legs.'
If you like a song a lot, buy it, and that artist will only come out with more awesome songs for you. If you like a game, buy it, and we will promise to constantly work to make the player experience better at every corner we can.
Support the causes you believe in (This is applicable to all things, not just gaming).
Don't be a leech to society, innovation, and further awesome creations.
Bolding is his.
I think that it's odd that none of the linked articles or well-moderated comments have raised the most salient and powerful issue against this measure: that you can play the game only as long as Blizzard desires to support it or, more pertinently, for so long as Blizzard continues to exist. Blizzard is doing well, but recent events have demonstrated that that can change.
As recent shutdowns or attempted shutdowns of DRM servers have shown (Major League Baseball, MSN Music, Yahoo Music, Wal-Mart Music, Adobe ad-supported PDFs), once a revenue stream dries up, your continued enjoyment of multi-player will be subject to a simple calculation: is the PR cost of cutting off support greater or less than the expense of maintaining the servers and support. The MSN, Yahoo, Wal-Mart servers were only used sporadically in order to shift DRM authorizations from one computer to another. The MLB servers were used every time someone attempted to play a purchased video. The Battle.net servers will be used by far larger numbers of people virtually every time that they want to play (once players exhaust the single player potential). World of Warcraft is the only Battle.net game that generates a continuing revenue stream to justify the expense. Even if there is support for 15-20 years, at some point discontinuation is inevitable -- and there are surprising numbers of people who still play legally purchased 15-20 year old games.
Considering the importance of multi-player in Starcraft 2, players are justified in planning for reality and demanding some form of LAN functionality. Blizzard has legitimate concerns about piracy, but purchasers have legitimate concerns about being able to play the game long after Blizzard has lost interest in it. Blizzard should be willing to develop LAN functionality as a patch, place the code in escrow, and include a contractual provision on the box which automatically authorizes release of patch by the escrow agent if online service is terminated. If it is not, then players should browbeat them with every DRM failure that they can think of, because ultimately they are the only ones who are likely to care.
Who the fuck wants to be consolidated into a community experience? I want to play my game with my friends. Fuck the rest of you. I don't know you, and you're not invited over for whiskey, cigars, poker, and RTS gaming. It's my game when I buy it, and I'll play it how the hell I want or I won't buy it.
Maybe if BNet is just used for a quick auth and lobby, then a LAN game is started, that might not be so bad, but it's not looking that way.
Blizzard will obviously be doing it this way, they're just being unnecessarily cryptic. Not doing so is a surefire way for Blizzard to piss off everyone involved in E-Sports/competitive gaming.
Also, the piracy issue isn't small scale piracy at private LANs, but large scale piracy in China:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=96603 [teamliquid.net]
A few thing about Haofang: It is biggest gaming site in China, it has millions of users for many games including SC and WC3. It is free and using LAN(TCP/IP protocol) to allow players to play.
How Haofang works: You download a small program for Haofang, run it, tell it where your SC folder is. You join a room(max 255 players because TCP/IP can handle max to 255)then hit RUN, the little program will load your SC up and instead of log on to Bnet you go to LAN, and can find many games their to play since 255 players in the same room is a lot.
Why it is bad: Cos millions of players in China were/are/going to using pirated SC/WC3 to play without any limitation.
Why Blizzard cares: Of course they care, if even SC2 is going to last only half the life of SC the next big market is definitely China(cos Korea is given). If things going on like SC/WC3 Blizzard is going to lose tons of money.
Did Blizzard do anything about it: Yes they did but failed. A few year back Blizzard sued Haofang but lost and Haofang is continue to grow and now become the most recognize site in China(among gamers of course).
Why is Haofang able to sneak pass Blizzard: Haofang told that they only allow players play via LAN(TCP/IP) they do not do anything to mess with Blizzard Battle.net and thus can not be judged. I know it is bullshit since it allows players with pirated copies play multi play which is the life SC, but it holds true in the EULA and Blizzard can do nothing about it.
There was some thought that Blizz isnt completely stupid and will have client to server authentication over the net, and then P2P the clients on the LAN. At least with this method you could have as many LAN stations as your power will permit.
No, Blizzard, you wouldn't take out LAN support (which is obviously popular) unless you thought you could make money by forcing everyone to use battle.net.
Or maybe requiring battle.net allows you to check everyone's serial number without generating a bunch of bad publicity by using SecuROM.
Now I'm gonna have to let all the LAN-party machines access the public Internet. Oh, goody!
As a purely coincidental side effect, I'm sure, this will make sure that everyone on the LAN has their own copy, as battle.net will only allow one CD key on at a time.
Quite a reversal of the "Ghost Copy" feature or whatever of StarCraft 1 that allows many people to use one copy over the LAN.
It was called spawning. To spawn a copy.
but it definitely won't keep it's longevity without LAN support, I mean the best thing about games like Starcraft or even FPS like BF1942 was the LAN aspect of getting your friends together ordering a pizza, talking shit and zerging each other. Sure, I can throw on a headset and play with friends, but what if battle.net is down? What if I'm getting a lot of lag...fast paced game players don't have the tolerance of players who are into mmo's exclusively. I think Blizz is making a poor decision.
You've never been to Korea, have you.
We would not take out LAN if we did not feel we could offer players something better.
How is connecting all the computers in the room to a server across the state going to ever be better than connecting all the computers in the room to each other? This man just told everyone that his bullshit is going to start tasting better than icecream. He just needs a neon sign over his head that says "Do not trust this man or anything he says."
In 11 years (present age of SC), will Blizzard still be running SC2 servers so you can play against your friend next door? I can do that with SC today - pop in the disc & play a few rounds head to head, no trouble.
Look at what happened to people who'd bought music from MS or Yahoo when they shut down the DRM servers. This sort of DRM only harms the customer - if the server goes away, the software you've purchased (yeah, I know it's only a license, blah blah) becomes crippled or completely non-functional
You induce an interesting point... Maybe they're thinking of starting to charge for Bnet and are worried that VPN will eat their lunch...
Then again...
"While this was a difficult decision for us, we felt that moving away from LAN play and directing players to our upgraded Battle.net service was the best option to ensure a quality multiplayer experience with Starcraft II and safeguard against piracy."
THis is the result of a great gaming house bought by a corporate whore. Good job Blizz, not only are you selling the integrity right out from under WoW, you are going to let them fuck up your other franchises too. I still dont understand why Starcraft II has t
Not only did Blizzard's RTS games gain popularity as LAN games, but they capitalized on casual LAN gaming (in offices, etc.) by allowing multiple players players on a single purchased copy of the game. That feature became standard for other RTS games for awhile, but at first it certainly helped Blizzard propel over the crowds (and it certainly was a crowded genre).
So I'm contrasting the old "free" partial copies of the games to gain popularity, to the server = copy-protection methods now that they have the
Everyone on planet earth is going to buy the game the day it hits the shelf.
Therefore they don't give a shit.
This sounds like it might make playing as a group from behind a household NAT router much more difficult, no? There at least will be a speed penalty.
That takes a lot of the fun out of it for me.
At least it'll have local campaign play, right? You can still play that forever and ever.
I continue to play Warcraft III fairly regularly, mostly in the form of the custom map DotA [wikipedia.org]. My thoughts:
Battle.net has failed to evolve and I feel is discouraging to communities rather than promoting it. I've seen nothing really appreciable since War-III came out with the sad "clan" system. Bots are officially disallowed, but required to develop any sort of reasonable group. The new Warden service makes running a bot far more of a challenge.
The necessity of the bots is this: you can't functionally setup an organized game any other way. There's no mechanism for taking a private game public once you get your friends in it. Game names can't be changed. Custom (non-ladder) games without an external mod have no disincentive to them to deal with the burgeoning population of juvenile tools who like to bail on their first loss in a team game, or worse find a way to actively ruin the game. Blizzards clan system itself is lacking and hasn't been improved upon at all. It's nearly useless outside of ladder games. Players end up creating new accounts with clan tags in the name to "fly their colors." Simply being more prominent in displaying the affiliated clan would have gone a long way.
And come on... the game came out 7 years ago. Fix the damn pathing issues! Blizzard makes amazing games, but their handling of B.net lately has been horribly disappointing.
I couldn't agree more. I'm a bot author (the chat and channel-management type, not the game hosting type), so I have a front row view of how Blizzard has created a market for these third-party programs by keeping Battle.net outdated and stagnant. Chat bots allow you to perform really basic tasks, like keeping someone you don't like permanently OUT of your channel, or disseminating more than one line of information to your guildmates; Battle.net does not support any of this.
In the world of custom game hostin
More and more companies are dropping co-op games (except for strategy games), pushing off PC onto consoles (or at least developing on consoles so the control schema sucks), and now droping LAN games?
It seems like the industry is trying desperately to get me to stop playing games.
Oh, and it won't really do much to damp piracy, just shift it from stolen images to stolen keys, thus increasing the harm to legit gamers. Not having a whole "way to go" moment here.
Recently got UT3, BTW, which is so buggy as to be
Whenever a company does something that hurts the consumer in the name of "fighting piracy", it seems to me to be taken by the community as an open invitation to pirate their game. Given the choice between pirating and buying the game, frequently the reason the individual consumer chooses to pay money for the game is the impression one has of the company. Sure, no one is going to pay for a crappy game, but look at the difference between Spore and Starcraft. Spore was seen as a slap in the face of the consumer and consequently was one of the most pirated games in history. The original Starcraft, despite the fact it is easily pirated, is still profitable enough to be sold for $20 in stores.
You want to insure piracy? Piss off your users. Removing LAN and telling LAN users they're nothing but pirates seems to be going down that road pretty nicely.
We would not take out LAN if we did not feel we could offer players something better.
If Blizzard were offering something better, they would not have to remove the game's LAN capability. Customers would just use the "better" thing, right?
Oh wait. Better for Blizzard. Ah, now it makes sense.
I was a big fan of RTS from the early days with Dune 2 up to Total Annihilation. But Starcraft was where I finally started to ask "Is there nothing else?" Sure, it was an incredibly polished game and I would have been astounded by it five years before. But the thing is, it really was little more than Orcs in Space. Snazzy voice acting, high production values, but the gameplay was little more advanced. Now I'm sure that there are a million South Koreans who are ready to flame me on this so fine, let's say it's the pinnacle of RTS gaming, we'll run with that for a second. Has anyone done better since then? No.
No matter how advanced the graphics have become, no matter how much more bling has been shoved onto the disc, at the end of the day the AI's still suck and the controls are maddeningly primitive. Here, five units I want to move! Select, click move, watch them run into each other and eventually form a ragged column and then approach a target one at a time, allowing themselves to be crushed in detail.
I've been away from PC gaming for a few years and am catching up on demos of games that have come out in the meantime. So far there's little evidence of any advancement in all these years. The videos for Starcraft 2 look like 3D representations of exactly what went on in Starcraft 1. I suppose if Starcraft was the pinnacle of RTS design for you then a graphics buff is all you need.
From battle.net forums; Karune is a Blizzard Poster.
Q u o t e:
I think the reasons starcraft has lasted so long as a game and community are because:
1) Well designed and fun to play game.
2) Free battle.net - Having a place where gamers can come together and play the game 24/7 helps to foster a bolster and lively community.
3) Continued support for the game even after 11 years, they still patch it when it needs a patch.
4) Pro-Starcraft gaming. This is a big deal to serious starcraft players or to anyone that enjoys competition. These games are fun to watch and makes casual players want to play the game.
5) Lan support. - Lan parties are fun.
If you take away LAN support you will still have the 4 other pillars for a strong starcraft community. Plus if LAN support helps rid battle.net of hackers, cheaters and piracy because the network traffic is harder to decipher then all the better. That only strengthens the spirit of fair competition on battle.net.
The first 4 pillars are ALL being made better.
1) Development time for StarCraft II have far exceeded the original StarCraft in both the standard of quality and duration, to ensure the highest in quality RTS experience we can possibly create.
2) Not only is it free to play online for people who purchase the game, Battle.net 2.0 is designed with the new generation of online community and eSports in mind.
3) As long as there are people playing our games, we will continue to support them, and we have continued with this tradition with our legacy titles like the original StarCraft.
4) StarCraft II was created with eSports as a cornerstone in design philosophy. StarCraft evolved into an eSport. Preview Options Submit Continue Editing Preview Cancel Get More Comments Reply Prefs Search Everything will be just tickety-boo today.
5) Map Editor will be better than any we have ever released.
6) ??? - will have to wait and see
For me personally- I loved LAN parties, but the direction in which Battle.net is headed, I would always choose to play on Battle.net > 99% of the time and even if for whatever reason I did decide to lug my computer to a friend's house in this day of age (<1%), I would still be playing with them on Battle.net against others at their place.
[ Post edited by Karune ]
No Lan support for Stacraft 2 (or Diablo 3) then I wont be buying it.
I advise you all to do the same, and I don't even have to tell my friends not to as we all only play LAN.
Blizzard games I own.
1 Warcraft 1
1 Warcraft 2
1 Diablo 1
1 Warcraft 2 Bnet
2 Starcraft
2 Broodwar
2 Diablo 2
2 Diablo 2 LoD
2 Warcraft 3
2 Warcraft 3 frozen thrones.
Oh, and try playing with a few people behind 1 router/firewall. It doesn't work so well on most game patch levels and on most routers/firewalls.
Thufir's a Harkonnen now.


text:
Who Said That?
Florida's quote of the day
"I am a 92-year-old with a wife and a brain. I am able to drive, but don't venture too far."
Anita Edgell wants to win another $50 Visa gift card.
"I give them to my grandchildren," Edgell says, as black bars and sevens pop up on her screen at Play It Again senior arcade in Davie. "They make great presents."
Like many South Florida seniors, Edgell likes to pass a couple of hours every now and then at an arcade. She says playing the low-stakes games, which charge as little 8 cents per bet, costs her less than what she'd spend at a casino.
"This is my time off," says Edgell, 70. "I don't smoke. I don't drink. But I can come here and see friends."
Edgell and thousands of other South Florida seniors may soon need to find another way to socialize. A bill is cruising through the Florida Legislature to eliminate the two largest forms of low-stakes gambling: Internet cafes and senior arcades.
Read more at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.