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Historian Jeremy Adelman is spending this fall teaching "A History of the World since 1300" to more than 50 students at Princeton University — and 80,000 students across the globe.
Adelman is among seven professors debuting classes on the educational website Coursera as the University explores online technology to enhance learning at Princeton and extend its educational resources beyond campus.
"We can learn a lot from experiments in online learning, not just about the potential and limits of the online medium itself, but also about the practice of teaching more generally," Provost Christopher Eisgruber said following the launch of Princeton's first massive open online course (MOOC) this summer.
The University announced in April it would offer noncredit courses on Coursera, which now features content from more than 30 U.S. and international universities. Founded in 2011 by two Stanford University professors, Coursera focuses on interactive learning and concept retention through the use of video lectures embedded with quizzes, collaborative forums and online discussion groups. Users from around the globe may access Coursera for free.
Adelman, the director of the Council for International Teaching and Research, said he is using Coursera to rethink teaching models. Princeton students go online to watch his lectures and interact with external Coursera users. With the class time freed by students being able to access recorded lectures on their own time, Adelman organizes global dialogues between guest speakers and Princeton students. He also oversees the weekly discussion groups, known as preceptorials, for Princeton students held on campus.
"Flipping the classroom really allows more time for active learning. It's less time anchored in a lecture hall and more opportunities for face time with me and interactions with people from around the world," said Adelman, who also is the Walter Samuel Carpenter III Professor in Spanish Civilization and Culture.
"My big objective is to learn about global history within the world. Coursera really opens up the walls of the classroom beyond Princeton," he continued. "I hope there will be tremendous value added for students, but I will watch it very closely and will rethink the approach if there is any sense of loss."
Sociology professor Mitchell Duneier said he was enlivened teaching the first Princeton Coursera class, "Introduction to Sociology," this summer.
"My two principal questions at the start were: Was it possible to provide quality education to students all over the world via the Internet and, just as importantly, could Coursera help augment the learning experience for students at Princeton?" said Duneier, the Maurice P. During Professor of Sociology. "The answer to both was a resounding 'yes.'"
Even with 40,000 students from 113 countries, Duneier said his class was thoroughly interactive due to the online forums and live seminar-style discussions via Google Hangout, the group video chat offered through the social-networking service Google+.
"Within three weeks I received more feedback on my sociological ideas than I had in a career of teaching, which significantly influenced each of my subsequent lectures and seminars," Duneier wrote recently in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Dipendra K.C., who followed Duneier's class from Nepal, said he was surprised at how much he learned, while emphasizing that participants who are proactive will get the most from online studies.
"The Coursera class broadened my understanding of sociology and gave me the opportunity to encounter several kinds of opinions," he said. "Princeton is a dream for millions of students around the globe. The University's participation in Coursera really shows it is interested in expanding knowledge even for students who do not attend Princeton."
Junior Estela Diaz, who has taken other sociology courses at Princeton, sat in on Duneier's summer offering for her personal interest. She said it was her first online learning experience.
"When taking a class at Princeton, you might be able to hear a few perspectives on any given topic. The Coursera class provided the opportunity to read and hear ideas drawn from many experiences from around the world," she said.
Duneier said his Coursera experience altered the approach to the introductory sociology class he's co-teaching at Princeton this fall with sociology professor Paul Starr, the Stuart Professor of Communications and Public Affairs.
"As a result of the summer venture, we asked whether it is possible that the 50-minute presentation designed for a physical classroom is necessarily the best way to teach all of our material," Duneier said. "We're making use of a few recorded lectures, broken up into units that relate to specific concepts."
Like the Coursera videos, each of the recorded segments includes an interactive assessment. Duneier said this is based on the idea that simple self-assessments foster improved learning over passive viewing. Duneier and Starr are experimenting with these video lectures during times when class attendance may be lower, such as the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
Robert Sedgewick, the William O. Baker *39 Professor in Computer Science, also is harnessing Coursera to enrich the Princeton learning experience. His new course "Analytic Combinatorics" will be taught online and on campus starting in February.
"Princeton students will directly interact in a small class with the professor who developed the material, as usual, but will also be able to benefit from the social experience of interacting through the Web with scholars all over the world," he said.
Sedgewick is now co-teaching a two-part Coursera class on algorithms with Kevin Wayne, the Philip Y. Goldman '86 Senior Lecturer in Computer Science. The online medium has engendered educational innovations, he said.
"For example, rather than instructors grading hundreds of exercises with a paper and pen, students take online assessments that provide instant feedback and leave more time for the teaching staff and students to interact," Sedgewick said.
Princeton Coursera classes, which do not result in credits or certificates, also include: "Statistics One," taught by Senior Lecturer in Psychology Andrew Conway; "Networks: Friends, Money and Bytes," taught by Professor of Electrical Engineering Mung Chiang; and "Computer Architecture," taught by Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering David Wentzlaff.
Deputy Dean of the College Clayton Marsh said the University has much to learn as it pursues online approaches to education.
"Each of our classes on Coursera is different and will present new and different opportunities — and new and different challenges," Marsh said. "As each online offering gets under way, we are quickly discovering which types of subjects and online formats are going to be most effective and mostly closely aligned with our educational mission at Princeton."
To that end, Dean of the Faculty David Dobkin has appointed a faculty committee chaired by Gideon Rosen, the Stuart Professor of Philosophy, to examine online learning policies, whether related to Coursera or other platforms.
Jeff Himpele, associate director of the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning, said it will be essential to pause for reflection. The McGraw Center, working under the direction of the Office of the Dean of the College and in collaboration with the Office of Information Technology's Academic Services division, coordinates and supports the development of Princeton content for Coursera.
"It will be important to examine what we achieved on Coursera, but also what we achieved on campus," Himpele said. "We've been contacted by other faculty who do not have classes on Coursera, but have been inspired by the possibilities of online learning for use just in their Princeton classes. It's been fascinating to see how Coursera has catalyzed a conversation about teaching methods across campus."


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PERSONALIZED URLs: Customize Your Campaign and Track Results
An increasingly important component of direct marketing campaigns are personalized landing pages (PURLs).
With PURLs, you automatically generate a custom landing page for each recipient, usually with a web address that includes their name or some other personal information. When they visit their PURL, the page is customized with their name, contact information or other information based on the offer and the campaign.
Not only does a PURL offer your recipients an effective way to respond, it also gives you the ability to do real time tracking. So as soon as someone clicks on the link, or types their PURL into their computer, you know who responded … and you can see exactly what they're doing as they're doing it. It can also be immediately routed to your salesperson for follow-up.
Using PURLS as a response channel gives you the ability to follow up in a timely basis to secure more business. Whether you're a B2B, B2C or nonprofit organization, PURLs allow you to create a more personalized response mechanism for your direct mail and email campaigns.

subset: commoncrawl


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Assessing Achievement with the ELL in Mind
مقدمة من
نبذة عن المقرر
In this course, you will learn how to design assessments around the needs of your ELL students and their language level. You will learn how to incorporate language and content requirements for both formative and summative assessment types. You will learn to assess your ELL students through the use of project and task-based assignments. You will learn to use and modify rubrics to align to and measure student achievement of your language and content learning objectives. The course will also briefly cover strategies for supporting ELL students during standardized testing.
Upon completing this course, you will be able to:
* Conceptualize theories of authentic assessment as they apply to second language learners
* Design formative assessment types incorporating language and content objectives
* Design summative assessment types incorporating language and content objectives
* Incorporate project and task-based assignments as assessment tools for ELLs
* Design rubrics that align to language and content objectives for your ELL(s)
* Apply the use of rubrics, both language and content, to the work of your ELL(s).
* Support your ELL(s) as they participate in standardized testing


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Binding Tutorial Posts
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Basics Post #2 - Bias Binding
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Basics Post #3 - Scrappy Bias Binding
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Single Fold Binding (for mini quilts & small projects)
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Edit 1/31/11
Want to know how to hand sew the binding to the back of the quilt and finish your corners perfectly? I've added a new post that goes over just that! It also includes a video where I show the hand stitching steps of binding.
In addition to this tutorial I have two other binding tutorials.
Binding Basics goes over tips and tricks for binding and includes a video.
Binding Flange shows how to add a flange to basic binding.


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The notebook keyboard is not working properly.
Follow these steps to troubleshoot why the notebook keyboard is not working properly.
- For the SVT112 Series computers, make sure that the wireless keyboard is properly paired with the computer before continuing with the steps below.
- Because each of these steps represents a possible solution to this issue, check to see if the keyboard works after completing each step.
- Download and install all available updates before doing any of the steps below. Downloads are posted on your model support page.
- If you are using a third-party keyboard, refer to the keyboard documentation or the manufacturer's website for information regarding how to properly connect and use the keyboard.
- If model-specific information is required to complete any of the steps in this solution, refer to the operating instructions supplied with the product. Manuals are posted on your model support page.
- Ensure that there are no debris between the keys or nothing has been spilled onto the keyboard.
NOTE: If there are excessive debris between the keys or something has accidentally been spilled onto the keyboard, then service may be required to ensure that the keyboard and computer have not been damaged.  Go to Product Repair.  - Turn off the computer, disconnect all external mouse devices, keyboards, USB devices, and the port replicator or docking station, and then restart the computer.
- If only some of the keyboard keys do not work, try any of the applicable step below.
- If it is only the function keys or hot keys that are not working, there may be applications that need to be updated .
- Verify that the NUM LOCK (NUM LK) feature of the keyboard is turned off .
- Remove all the Ease of Access or Accessibility options for the keyboard .
- Remove and reinstall the keyboard from the Device Manager.
- Reset the BIOS defaults .
NOTE: If the keyboard does not work in the BIOS, the issue is likely a failed keyboard and service may be required.  Go to Product Repair.
- Perform a System Restore to restore the computer to an earlier time.
If you have completed all of the steps above and the issue is not resolved, service may be required.  Go to Product Repair.


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Understanding Home Insurance Coverage
May 8th, 2024
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Isa Silva and Lottie Davies are two very different emerging female photographers. Each photographer's work demonstrates both concept and aesthetics, drawing a surprising parallel.
To be a photographer in today's image saturated culture is hard work. Appearing in a variety of forms and contexts – from the pages of glossy magazines and daily blogs to large-scale museum exhibitions, images are the signifiers of our time. There's an explosion of never-ending visuals; some are simply snapshots, while others are looking to be recognised for their artistic merit.
The definition of what it means to be a photographer has altered dramatically in recent years. In one respect, photography must be celebrated for its unique proposal, the equipment is affordable, the technology for post-production is often standard with many computer packages, and it's an artistic medium that is being accelerated as fast as the technology it relies on. On the other hand, there's a darker side to this utopia, because photography is now an art practised by the masses (in September 2010 Flickr reported 5 billion images). How can artists differentiate themselves, prosper and drive contemporary image making in a new direction away from the staid and ordinary? The photograph is being devoured; there are more images than ever before, but what constitutes art, and moreover, what makes a great photograph?
From landscape, fashion, advertising, wildlife, travel, fine art, documentary, architecture and portraiture, the confines of image creation are fluid. Cindy Sherman, Jeff Wall, Thomas Demand, Andreas Gursky, Corinne Day, Sølve Sundsbø, Mario Testino and Rankin are just a few examples of photographers who demonstrate the discipline's amorphous nature. In this issue, we meet Portuguese born, Isa Silva (b.1987) and British born, Lottie Davies (b. 1971) who are both working in photography, but in very different ways. Silva's work primarily focuses on portraiture, but using surrealist concepts, she re-negotiates the boundaries of want and desire. Davies, winner of the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize in 2008, works between fine art, editorial, and photojournalism, however, she is exploring constructed meaning through appropriated memories in her cinematic works. Although their subject material differs significantly, each photographer provides works that are not only beautiful, but also engaging.
Isa Silva in conversation
How did you first become interested in photography?
When I started a personal project, Platonic Shutter, I had the overall goal of capturing human expression by illuminating only small fragments of the image and leaving the rest in the penumbra. Through this project, I understood that photography was more than just capturing moments, but transforming them, and that's when I was hooked.
Your work borders both fashion and portraiture, how would you define it?
I believe that both the portrait and fashion, in a photographic context, have roots in human expression. I have found that the barrier between the two sides is sparse and therefore my work oscillates between both worlds, without defining it or inserting one into the other.
What's the principal message in images like Dumb World?
Dumb World was created to show how intangible desires and frustrations are omnipresent. Through a circus of sad clowns and a numbing of the senses, we transform ourselves into androgynous fragile beings, constantly imbued with a dream. Where the stimuli are artificially incubated, creating desires and anxiety, we are sleepwalking, drunk with the embraces of materialism, submerged in a game of deceit that offers a cure for this own disease at a high price. Dumb World is ultimately an installation, where the observer merges with the characters in the image to create a physical and abstract construction.
Which photographers influences you the most and why?
This is undoubtedly Eugenio Recuenco. I consider him an artist because creating a photo is just a part of his self-expression. I find it absolutely fascinating how he builds the stories through small metaphorical elements. It's amazing how we can see an image several times, and with each observation feel it in a different way. This allows us to extrapolate reality, and travel to a fantasy world that comforts us against the grim reality. Also, Paolo Roversi's construction and deconstruction of his subjects' characters and how he captures the human essence as meaninglessness.
Do you feel it's difficult to be innovative in today's image-driven world?
I feel it is extremely difficult to be original and creative when we are constantly bombarded by images. In a society that is the product of media saturation, being unique becomes an increasingly arduous journey. I think that only someone who is completely oblivious to the world manages to create something entirely new.
Where do you gather your inspiration from?
My source of inspiration comes mainly from literature, in particular, the American author and painter, Henry Miller (1891-1980). His way of seeing the world is absolutely inspiring. However, the greatest source of inspiration is just the world around me.
Finally, where do you feel photography is going with regards to the considerable developments in recent years?
Photography has evolved substantially with regards to digital processes. It has become a way of deceiving the world, instead of capturing its primary objectives. Increasingly, I feel that photography is becoming a construct of one reality, allied to other artistic areas, which will become fully intrinsic because it reflects the changes society has undergone over the past 10 years. It is difficult to refer to the future because technology is changing from day-to-day.
Lottie Davies in conversation
At what moment did you first become interested in photography?
My father bought a basic darkroom kit for my brother when I was 14, and being completely competitive I had to learn how to use it as well.
How do you create a relationship with your subjects?
I work with a mixture of models, experienced actors and students, depending on what look and attitude I need for the characters. I treat each shoot like an improvisation, where each actor has a reasonably good understanding of their character and the situation in advance. I often take the actors with me to the costume house, where as well as fitting the right outfit, we develop the characters and build a bit of background for them in their costume. I have a fairly clear idea of where I want each person to be in the image, but the interaction between them develops as we shoot.
Can you tell me about the wider narratives you create?
I love stories; film, theatre, literature, and the everyday stories we all have. In my journalistic work I began to realise that I was collecting life-stories from the people I was photographing, to illustrate the situations they were living. So Memories and Nightmares is something of an extension of that idea. I wanted to try a different approach, by creating images from an idea in someone's head, rather than the "found" images I often shoot. I've consciously used classical painting, film and illustrations to influence the look of the images, with the intention of tapping into subconscious looking habits.
What's the overriding message in images like The Blue Bedroom from the Memories and Nightmare series?
The Blue Bedroom is about the child experiencing / watching the lives of his parents – as children we have access to our parent's lives, if we're lucky we share them for many hours of the day, but the adults are experiencing those hours in a very different way to the children. You know that moment, years later, when you realise your parents had been talking about you, or that they must have just had an argument but they pretended they hadn't? So the child sees his parents getting ready to go out for the evening, he watches from the doorway and we're not sure if the parents realise he is there. The parents inhabit the adult world where they may be happy and in love, they may be arguing, perhaps she is thinking of leaving – see the suitcase on top of the wardrobe? Years later, the child might suddenly understand what he was witnessing. The inspiration for the image was a intimate statement of my friend Sarah-Jane's earliest memory of watching her father pick out ties through her bedroom door.
How has your work developed and changed over the years?
It's changed enormously. I learnt the craft through assisting commercial photographers – mostly doing editorial work for newspapers and magazines, which led to regular work shooting food for supplements and so on. Then, I began to investigate more journalistic projects as I wanted to "do more" with my work if I could, which led to some trips to Botswana, Guatemala and the Thai-Burmese border, and from those experiences I was able to get more commissioned travel work. So my work is very mixed – I love to take pictures of all different kinds, but I like to think my fine art work is where I produce my best images, or at least the ones which mean the most to me personally.
What photographers influence you the most and why?
Stephen Shore for his sensibility and gentle approach to great vistas and minutiae, Joel Sternfeld for his sense of narrative, especially his book On This Site, which gives me the shivers (in a good way) Taryn Simon – pure genius – I challenge anyone not to be in awed of her An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar, Sally Mann's stunningly beautiful images of her children in Immediate Family, and Mark Power's Shipping Forecast for its gathering of disparate images under a eerily familiar theme.
Do you feel it's difficult to be innovative in today's image-centred world?
I was talking to a photographer friend just yesterday about that very question, and we felt that the problem is not image-saturation but "issues-saturation". He is a photojournalist, and although he takes amazing photographs, it's harder and harder to get them "out there", so it's increasingly difficult for him to highlight those stories he wants to tell people about. I found that was very much the case when I was shooting and writing my journalistic work, which is partly why I chose to concentrate on fine art over the past few years. It's almost impossible to be innovative; everything's been done, probably lots of times, by people more talented than me, so I'm not sure that's something I try to do. I think what I'm trying to do is tell stories which have meaning for me, and interpret them in a way which resonates.
Where do you feel photography is going?
Photography has never been better, and there's no shortage of enthusiasm for image-making. Charities like Fotokids in Guatemala are using photography to help people in numerous ways all over the world. On the other hand, professional photography has taken a massive nosedive and continues to slide ever faster into a place where making a living taking photographs is extremely difficult. The recession has slashed budgets for commissioned photography, the growth of image libraries, especially royalty-free has devalued the worth of images, so it's tough, and I can't see it getting better, certainly not soon. That said, the London art market is catching up with New York and beginning to see photography on a par with painting, sculpture and so on. There are huge changes happening at an incredibly fast pace, I hope that if / when we get out of recession there's still a place for creativity and it hasn't been squashed by the need for "pile them high sell them cheap."
For further information on Isa Silva visit www.isasilvaphotography.com and for Lottie Davies visit www.lottiedavies.com.
Cherie Federico


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According to Nikki Finke , the CGI-based epic "300" is set to earn a record $60 million, the largest ever take for a movie opening in March. I can say that the movie is a hit with teenage boys, who flock to see this in large groups, as I observed at the Sony Metrion in San Francisco. Or rather, I heard some screeming "300 tickets!" as I got off the BART train.
I can't remember a movie that's really connected with this set since Spiderman. But this is more primal and that's due to the story and approach. It's a violent male-oriented movie, period.
Here's a video:


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Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Retrospective: RuneQuest
But then I discovered White Dwarf, which, as I've noted before, contained a surprisingly large amount of material for RQ. This made me think that maybe, just maybe, my feeling that it'd be worthwhile to investigate RuneQuest more fully was a good one. Unfortunately, finding players of the game was quite difficult and I wasn't prepared to blow any money on RQ products without having had a chance to play the game first, even if it was published by the same company that made my beloved Call of Cthulhu. As luck would have it, I chanced upon a group of guys who were playing RQ at a games day at a local library -- those were the days! -- and they took pity on me and let me join them.
I don't remember much about the adventure or my character, but what I do recall are the feelings the the game and its setting evoked in me. It was at once frightened and exhilarated -- frightened because RQ is a lethal, unforgiving game where any combat could kill or maim your character permanently and exhilarated because this was the first fantasy game I'd ever played that felt viscerally different than D&D on almost every level. A big part of that was the game's default setting of Glorantha, which, at this stage (1982 or thereabouts) had a powerfully "ancient world" feel to it, as opposed to D&D's pseudo-medievalism. Being a big fan of Greek, Roman, and Near Eastern history, I was hooked and simply could not understand how many could deem RQ "too trippy" or "too Californian" or whatever other derogatory comments I'd heard about it.
Glorantha has a reputation, like Tékumel, for being arcane and inaccessible to newcomers. I won't deny that there's more than kernel of truth in this reputation, but my experience has been that, also like Tékumel, it's often exaggerated. Certainly one can easily become obsessed with all the minutiae of Glorantha, treating it more as an exercise in fantasy sociology than as an imaginative RPG setting. But it's not required in order to enjoy the setting and I daresay that Glorantha (again, like Tékumel) is best enjoyed as an idea mine for making one's own setting that just happens to use the same maps and place names as those in published products. This not only makes it far less onerous to referee, it also saves one from having to deal with aspects or developments of the setting that simply don't appeal to one's sensibilities.
I have never played in or run a RuneQuest campaign that's last more than a couple of sessions. For one reason or other, the game has never managed to "click" with most of the groups I've been in and, nowadays, my limited gaming time is dedicated pretty solidly to D&D, as it has been for most of my years in the hobby. That's a shame, because RuneQuest really is something special and unique, which is difficult to say about most RPGs, especially fantasy ones. In RQ's case, though, it's true. The game nicely marries a brutally simulationist rules set -- which evolved out of the Perrin Conventions for OD&D -- with a genuinely mythic world and worldview. The result is sui generis, ensuring that, in the annals of our hobby, RuneQuest will forever be remembered as one of its greatest games.
32 comments:
We played Runequest in my group back in the early 80s. I was running it and we played for several sessions before the group moved on. I loved that any character could use any skill if they bought it up. One of the guys had a shaman type character called M'bala B'shanga and he role-played him to the hilt. I really enjoyed the games feel and gritty-ness. Thanks for reminding me of a cool system.
ReplyDeleteGlorantha has a reputation, like Tékumel, for being arcane and inaccessible to newcomers. I won't deny that there's more than kernel of truth in this reputation, but my experience has been that, also like Tékumel, it's often exaggerated.
To be fair, I think it's exaggerated if you're lucky enough to be able to get your hands on the old stuff. But if your introduction to Glorantha comes from products made after the early 80s, I don't think it's too exaggerated to say that it's a bit inaccessible. I tried to get into the Glorantha setting multiple times over the years before I finally stumbled upon an old RQ boxed set where I was finally able to cut down on the information overload to finally appreciate what everyone had been telling me about the setting.I'm with Jer. Runequest was always the cool-sounding game advertised in Dragon that I could never find in local stores--and that was too expensive for me to mail-order. Post-1990 Gloranthan material was never presented effectively. Indeed, it always interested me that Dave Dunham's King of Dragon Pass computer game was a better intro to Glorantha and the conventions of Runequest than any of the actual tabletop products. I've never been able to figure out why Dunham's approach wasn't translated into tabletop terms.
ReplyDeleteI gamesmastered several RQ campaigns, and I began to play it in the '90s. I had both good and bad memories of the game. It was very important to me, because it was my first experience after D&D. I was used to play and to mastering D&D B/X boxed sets, and I moved to RQ before to give a try to AD&D. The reason was simple: I live in Italy, and at that time AD&D weren't translated into italian yet. So, having to choice between two games in english language, I choosed RQ, 'cause I was looking for a totally new experience.
I love the easy-to-grasp system, but I think the combat system is a little too slow for my taste. I am not very interested in realism on a fantasy battle. And usually players doesn't like to see their beloved character being maimed or killed in just a blow.
It was very hard for me, as a gamesmaster, to bookeeping everything during a fight, because in RQ each monster have its "Hit Location Table", Fatigue Points and so on. When the party had to fight against a huge beast it wasn't hard to run... but when they faced a gang of 6 or 7 broos... waaah...what a mess!
BTW, I loved RQ until I had to play it as a player. When this happened, I felt it wasn't the kind of game I wanted to play as a player, and I gave up it.
But I've to say that between my players there were very strong opinions: someone LOVED it, others HATED it: there's no in between.
RQ was surely a milestone in RPG history, but I am much more interested in games with a very simple and quick combat system.RQ seems very popular over here, which I'd imagine might have something to do with Games Workshop pushing it so heavily back in the day; they published their own version of third edition, for example. I would be surprised if it's the more popular fantasy rpg in Britain, as D&D still has its draw over here, but I'd imagine that it's a close second, unless WFRP has eclipsed it.
I've only played it a handful of times, and I like it, but mainly because of the underlying Chaosium ruleset; I don't have much of an affinity for Glorantha, and the few times I did play it, it was in a more generic fantasy setting, which may or may not be missing the point of the game.
I recently picked up the GW edition from eBay, mainly because of my fond memories of how lean it was; it's a very thin hardback, about half the size of Call of Cthulhu, and there's something pleasing about that being the whole of the game. I don't know if I'll ever run it though, as there are lots of fiddly, unnecessarily complicated bits in there; I've been thinking that the streamlined OpenQuest might be better, but then I wouldn't have that lovely slim hardback!- AnonymousFebruary 24, 2010 at 12:40 PM
I picked up RQ way too late, somewhere in it's 3rd edition... and I didn't ever get that many sourcebooks on the game. Something that always has mystified me: how did the ducks fit into the setting? Has anybody ever played them?
ReplyDelete Rob Barrett says: "I've never been able to figure out why Dunham's approach wasn't translated into tabletop terms."
I think Robin Laws' Hero Wars, and then Greg Stafford's re-write, Hero Quest, and then Robin's re-re-write of HQv2 are, in large part, exactly that: an attempt to translate the feel of "King of Dragon Pass" into a paper-and-pencil. Whether that succeeds or not, is a valid question.
Also, it might interest people to know that Moon Design (the publisher currently handling Gloranthan/HQ material) started out, more or less, as a way to Rick Meints re-publish and bring back into print the "core" of RQv2 material. There were four volumes, not the rules (but you can probably still find copies of the red-book on ebay at reasonable prices), and you can probably still get ahold of some or all of them.
I'd suggest that those four reprint volumes probably contain everything that one might possibly want in an "old school RuneQuest" type venture. The amount of detail in those materials is comfortably pitched, with some nice holes and contradictions, and about reminiscent of the level of "background" you might traditionally have found in CoC.Oh, and it might interest people to know that David Dunham himself wrote in a fanzine called "Enclosures" an extensive article called "Pendragon Pass" that published his house rules for using the Pendragon game rules for playing in the Dragon Pass area of Glorantha. I suspect that this might have been rather close to Dunham's take in his computer game as well.
ReplyDelete@Viktor: I bounced off of Hero Wars hard enough that I actually returned the game to the store. I've looked at the subsequent Heroquest versions (admittedly not as closely as I might have done), and I still felt that their presentation of Glorantha was too broad. IIRC, Heortlings were explicitly set up as only one choice among many options in the Dragon Pass area that HQ used as its Gloranthan base--whereas my preference would have been for the basic game to only allow for Heortlings as PCs.
ReplyDeleteRuneQuest has always been "my OD&D." My first gaming experience was the 1977 Holmes Basic D&D, but I played RQ soon after and it rapidly became the center of my gaming. I've played hundreds of games since, but RQ is the one I go back to again and again.
One of the things I loved was the setting. For whatever reasons, most fantasy worlds end up like ours--planets orbiting suns--with a dash of magic added. Glorantha is flat, floating on a an immense ocean, with a sky dome over head. Worse, outside the fragile walls enclosing this cosmos, there is nothing but Chaos howling to get in. Myth, and not physics, govern reality here. The sun rises and sets because Yelm the Solar Emperor was slain, fell into the underworld, and later brought back. Now the gods are doomed to repeat those actions eternally.
The Ducks get too much attention, in my opinion. Being a Bronze Age, mythic setting, Glorantha is full of sentient animals, baboons, beast men, etc. There is even an adventure where the party is hired by a talking fish. I admit, there is a comic element in the Ducks, but since they are a very minor race, you could play an RQ campaign for years and never bump into them. When they do get played there is something "Yoda-esque" about them ("Judge me by my size, do you?"), as they can be a whole can of nasty in a funny little package.I think Robin Laws' Hero Wars, and then Greg Stafford's re-write, Hero Quest, and then Robin's re-re-write of HQv2 are, in large part, exactly that: an attempt to translate the feel of "King of Dragon Pass" into a paper-and-pencil. Whether that succeeds or not, is a valid question.
I'm personally not a huge fan of the non-RQ Gloranthan games, even though I readily acknowledge that they're probably closer to Greg Stafford's vision than was the original game. For me, Glorantha will always have this wonderful dichotomy between the "nasty, brutish, and short" existence implied by the combat system and mythic, even mystical existence implied by its religions, cults, and magical systems. It's heady stuff.
Also, it might interest people to know that Moon Design (the publisher currently handling Gloranthan/HQ material) started out, more or less, as a way to Rick Meints re-publish and bring back into print the "core" of RQv2 material. There were four volumes, not the rules (but you can probably still find copies of the red-book on ebay at reasonable prices), and you can probably still get ahold of some or all of them.
I should probably try to pick these up before they're as hard to find as the originals.The Ducks get too much attention, in my opinion.
Indubitably. It's just that they're a "gimme" for gamers looking to dismiss RQ and Glorantha without thinking. Enough gamers will immediately think a game with anthropomorphic ducks is ludicrous that merely mentioning their existence counts as a black mark against RQ, which is why they come up so often in these discussions.From a gameplay perspective, Runequest suffers from having a what is quite one of the worst skill mechanics ever designed. The mathematics behind opposed skills checks (e.g. stealth versus detection) are horribly broken when the two sides are equally matched but very high level. Essentially, at high levels, probability guarantees that the passive skill will disproportionately win no matter how the characters are built.
Cthulhu unfortunately preserves this broken skill system. However, characters typically do not level very far in that game, which is why it is less of an issue.RQ came with such a good reputation that I tried to get into it as soon as I heard about it. Unfortunately, this coincided with the Avalon Hill 3rd edition, in retrospect a terrible introduction to the game. I struggled through as much of that dry text as I could stand, labored for the better part of an afternoon through the tedious process of making a single character, and never ran a game. But I kept it on my shelf for years, even acquired most of the 3rd ed. Glorantha books to put next to it, because I thought of RQ as something to aspire to, the graduate-level rpg I would one day come back to after my GM'ing skills had advanced past less sophisticated trifles like T&T and TWERPS. Its amazing how serious you think everything is when you're young.
Finally admitted that RQ just wasn't too my taste and sold of that collection, but I still think of it as something refined and exceptional. Partly its the peculiar complexities, ones that didn't suffuse into wider game-media the way those of D&D, Traveller or even CoC did, and so still seem singular. Another is the tight community that surrounds Glorantha lore, dedicated people whose thought on that world is decades old and play with nuances that can't be picked up on without such standing investment. To me, RQ is the Italian Opera of rpg's: sophisticated, drenched in lore, but also inaccessible and baroquely bizarre.I too have a long love/hate relationship with Runequest. Its skill based charecter system without classes and armor asorbing damage always seemed much more organic than D&Ds aproach. Unfortunately both the skill advancement and who wins combat are much more luck driven than D&D. Get lucky and your skills go up quickly, get the first critical in and ounch through all that armor to sever your opponents head, get your dodge up to something horrendous and you are unstoppable. All the parry and armor made the fights last much longer so we only got one fight an evening. However the thing that finaly stopped me was the dificultly of rolling encounters, OD&D once you knew the hit dice and AC you were 90% done, Runequest you had to roll up the skill set for every trollkin. Made for a good aftermarket for pregenerated monsters, but not fun for those who like to imporvise (like me). I am still very fond of the Gloranthain world (Greg Stafford being wildly imaginative). I have been buying Herowars/quest(I'll save my skreed against that game system for another post) supplements just for the background information and King of Dragon pass is still one of my favorite computer games. Overall Runequest still ranks as one of the great innovations roleplaying and certainly worth looking at if perhaps not playing more than a couple times. Its tendancy to maim characters into unplayabilty didn't help to prolong campaign play either.
ReplyDelete@Rob. I agree with you over Heroquest. Being a narrative game it's a totally different kettle of newtlings from a simulationist game such as Runequest. You might find Mongoose's Runequest II to be a better fit. It's been extensively rewritten to conform to the new standards of Glorantha. Well, at least they will be standard until they are Gregged again.
ReplyDeleteWalker wrote;
From a gameplay perspective, Runequest suffers from having a what is quite one of the worst skill mechanics ever designed. The mathematics behind opposed skills checks (e.g. stealth versus detection) are horribly broken when the two sides are equally matched but very high level. Essentially, at high levels, probability guarantees that the passive skill will disproportionately win no matter how the characters are built.
I was wondering if you could clarify this. It always seemed to me the game favored the active rolls;
"...as has been noted in the descriptions, Perception skills take precedence over other skills. A successful roll with the appropriate Perception skill will always spot what was hidden, camouflaged, etc." (RQ2, p. 50)
Likewise, is you made a successful Move Quietly roll you could sneak up on your opponent unless he made a successful Listen. The price of these skills of course was that you could take no other actions that turn.
Sorry if I misunderstood. If this what you meant?James, I also have that GW edition of Cthulhu, and while I never game with it, preferring the layout of the fifth edition, it is lovely to look at.
Walker, having played Call of Cthulhu for almost twenty years, I can safely say that I have no idea what you're talking about. As I mentioned earlier, I don't have much experience with RuneQuest's version of the system, but I've not noticed anything particularly "broken" in CoC's implementation.
Unless you're talking about the infamous "golf bag syndrome" effect, which is a case of slack GMing, rather than a problem with the rules.
imredave, you don't have to roll up every monster. There are "average" examples of each type in the monster section. At least in the edition I have.> RQ seems very popular over here, which I'd imagine might have something to do with Games Workshop pushing it so heavily back in the day... I would be surprised if it's the more popular fantasy rpg in Britain, as D&D still has its draw over here, but I'd imagine that it's a close second, unless WFRP has eclipsed it.
Surprised to hear RQ is still a popular choice that much over here since it was a long way shy of (A)D&D and behind the likes of the Judge Dredd RPG (remember that?), even, before GW killed the market. Admittedly the survival of RQ, CoC and WHFRP was aided by a strong fanbase but I didn't understand that to be particularly numerous.
@James: Yeah, the ducks are way too easy a target but had their logical place. Was easy enough to counter any general scoffing by asking people why their idea of a /fantasy/ game was restricted to a party of human/demi-human adventurers.
Rather sad when SF is accepted to be more "fantastic" than fantasy in that regard...
Agreed with the general trend for fewer long-term campaigns in RQ. Difficult to put a finger on just one reason for that, though.Would be good if the fanbase was still that strong despite all the setbacks, Kelvin.
Even in the past RQ was more talked about than played but interested to know where the player support (/OSR equivalent) is these days.
Might as well add some ducks for good measure - and why restrict 'em to RQ? :) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4066/4389347312_79285ef158.jpgMan, do I love RuneQuest. I came to it through a friend who had a lot of 2nd Ed materials. He used to show me his maps of the Big Rubble. He had some of the rarer variant BRP games, such as ElfQuest and Ringworld.
When 3rd Ed came out, we each saved our allowances to buy matching copies of the Deluxe box. Some didn't like that edition, but I loved it. The main drawback was its poor Glorantha integration, but from that we got some amazing stuff like the Vikings boxed set which I still adore.
And everyone in my gaming group loved Ducks!RuneQuest has always been big in the UK, and indeed in many European countries. It wasn't hard or difficult to get into in RQ2 days, maybe a lot more so in the 90s when it went uber deep (see recent Ken Hite blogs for more on this) but by then AD&D had also gone uber deep in Forgotten Realms. Many people actually play both D&D and RQ, and the latest edition (MRQII, actually RQ6) or OpenQuest are great games with a simple lean feel that can feel very much like your first Orlanthi character battling trolls or fighting the mad Lunar invaders.
Such a shame you never got a long campaign..


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Thursday, December 10, 2009
Face Detection
It sent a chill down my spine because I sensed the emergence of a mind.
My camera switches over to portrait-mode whenever it sees a painting or a drawing with a face in it. It stays in AUTO mode otherwise.
According to Popular Mechanics: "a chip inside the camera constantly scans the image in its viewfinder for two eyes, a nose, ears and a chin, making out up to 10 faces at a time before you've hit the shutter."
I decided to test my camera—it's a Canon Powershot SX120—to see what it decides to regard as a face.
According to my camera, this is a face.
But this is not a face, even though, as Scott McCloud points out, it seems to fit the ideal human cognitive model.
This portrait of Soutine by Modigliani is a face.
And Jawlensky's Woman with a Forelock is a face.
Jawlensky's Medusa is also a face, but my camera wasn't sure. It switched back and forth from AUTO to PORTRAIT a few times.
There are no faces in Oskar Kokoshka's Loving Couple with a Cat.
And there's no face here, either.
Popular Mechanics hints at what's coming: "Sometime soon, face detection may even give way to facial identification, discerning one subject from another. For instance, the camera could retain an image tagged 'Mom' in its memory. Later, the camera would automatically recognize each subsequent picture of your mother and add the 'Mom' tag to it."
Facial identification or recognition is a fast-growing technology that uses 3-D scans or interpolates various 2-D scans to assemble a knowledge of basic structure. Wikipedia says that some of the new algorithms are "able to outperform human participants in recognizing faces and can uniquely identify identical twins."
You can extend these forecasts to imagine future web-enabled smart cameras that can recognize makes of cars, Zagat ratings of pizza parlors, and movie preferences of strangers in your local Starbucks.
The lesson that I took away from this little experiment has nothing to do with taste in art. My thought was this: as we endow machines with more and more intelligence, we will have to get used to the idea that they will not respond to basic things as we do. Their talents and their lapses will be unlike ours.
Their thinking style— their fundamental orientation to the universe—will be different. They will see the world in a way that will seem at once chummily familiar and creepily alien.
Read more about face-detecting cameras at Popular Mechanics. Wikipedia on Face Detection and Facial Recognition tech.
Scott McCloud and the ideal cartoon face on Cognition and Culture.
Added later: Scott's blog reflects further on intelligent machines here.
37 comments:
- Claudio Saes said...
I'd like to tell you I simply loved Imaginative Realism. It is inspiring, and I'm loving going through it.
This is a great post and a great deal of experimentation you did.
Google is investing a lot of time and efforts on image recognition (http://www.daniweb.com/news/post1019118.html#).
They are pretty sure this technology allied to mobility and user's preferences will be the future of web 3.0.
Best regards! - December 10, 2009 at 6:25 AM
- mordicai said...
The Scott McCloud commentary is apt, precisely because the camera didn't pick it up. Abstraction & heuristic remain the strength & weakness of the wet noodle computer sandwiched in the human skull.
- December 10, 2009 at 6:43 AM
- Unknown said...
I found it hilarious when I discovered my brother's cell phone has a "smile detector". It first locks on to the face like any camera in portrait mode, but when you press shutter-release it doesn't take the picture until or unless the person in focus is smiling.
It's far from foolproof, though, side-angles and bad lighting can easy confuse the program.
Still, I hope we can have intelligent robots soon... - December 10, 2009 at 6:44 AM
- Torbjörn Källström said...
As long as we introduce Asimovs laws I'm fine with sentient robots... Wouldn't want another Matrix or Skynet incident...
- December 10, 2009 at 7:08 AM
- अर्जुन said...
Once they photo you for a drivers license, passport or the like (innocuous school yearbook pictures). Your tagged image will forever be in the system.
What's with all the "security" cameras anyway? Feeling safe in your privacy?
Magnus, where are you when we need you? - December 10, 2009 at 7:10 AM
- Darren Kingsley said...
So, according to Google's Picasa face detection algorithms, Scott McCloud's head, the Jawlensky, the Modigliani and your security guard are faces, the others... not so much.
- December 10, 2009 at 7:41 AM
- Super Villain said...
technology is evolving at an amazing rate of speed. its scary. its like the line in jurassic park, "scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should"
it interesting people never think, lets enjoy what we have now, take a year off then invent the next thing in a few years. its always got to be now, immediatly dont sleep the new big thing is coming out...scary.
the thing ive noticed most is how computers and technology are slowly becoming infused with the human body. i wonder how long till we see a human brain hooked to a computer able to live forever, muhahahahahahah!
and as far as the thought that computers will have a different view then humans on different things, i think scientists will try to make them as human as possible. for instance you could possibly upload all comments and emotinal expression recorded on a site like facebook. how people react to loss, friendship, love, jokes holidays. once a computer would have this knowlege i would say he would have the human way of thinking and pattern of feeling down pretty good...scarry! - December 10, 2009 at 9:06 AM
- Michael Chesley Johnson, Artist / Writer said...
When I first came across Google Picasa's face detection utility, I was amazed at what it pulled in - I even found images I that had been in the data banks for years that I'd forgotten I had.
- December 10, 2009 at 9:08 AM
- Super Villain said...
just to follow up my comment, i swear that my teenage neice is half computer already, i can not seen any sepration from her and her laptop/cellphone...they have become one.....
- December 10, 2009 at 9:15 AM
- Paolo Rivera said...
Yes, I've noticed my camera doing the same thing when I photograph my drawings and paintings. Also, I think the new iPhoto already recognizes individual faces. Only a matter of time before it finds John Connor (or his mom) and does what it's really programmed to do.
- December 10, 2009 at 9:54 AM
- Cully said...
Your Popular Mechanics article is already slightly behind the times. It hasn't made it into a camera yet that I know of, but Apple's photo storage program iPhoto has face recognition built in, so that you can tag a person, and it will sort through your photos and find all the photos of that person. The more photos you tag the better it learns the features and starts to recognize people from various angles. It even recognizes and differentiates cats, as I can tell you from personal experience. I'd be curious to try a sketch and a photo of the same person and see if it makes the connection... Hmm...
- December 10, 2009 at 10:35 AM
I wonder if the camera would recognize the "face" of Wall-E? It/he has this head that looks like a pair of binoculars, but is instantly recognizable as a face, capable of showing a lot of expression.
- December 10, 2009 at 11:29 AM
- Sara Light-Waller said...
Fascinating. Thanks so much for posting this entry and all the other wonderful entries here at you blog, I've really been enjoying reading them.
- December 10, 2009 at 11:36 AM
- Rebecca S. said...
GooGoo: My older children's teachers already have a system on their computers from which they upload comments for report cards. It is unnerving to see exactly the same comment about your child from five different teachers!
Thanks, James for the thought provoking post and the great sketch, ear notwithstanding. - December 10, 2009 at 1:07 PM
- Terry said...
"Sometime soon, face detection may even give way to facial identification, discerning one subject from another. For instance, the camera could retain an image tagged 'Mom' in its memory. Later, the camera would automatically recognize each subsequent picture of your mother and add the 'Mom' tag to it."
I just got my first Mac ever, and its iPhoto program does this already. I have no use for it, so I haven't used it, but the tutorial shows you how to do it. I think it's creepy. - December 10, 2009 at 6:43 PM
- Sarah said...
I have recently been playing with Picassa's new face detection capabilities. It is uncannily accurate but still can't tell the difference between my non-identical (but very similar) twins. I actually found it even cooler when it mistook family members for each other. It seemed to recognize similarities between my daughter and my sons that I had missed. I have many sketches and photos of the same people, so far I guess my likenesses aren't good enough to allow it to recognize them though.
- December 10, 2009 at 9:01 PM
- Tyler J said...
This is really interesting, so thanks for posting it.
I have enjoyed reading the comments posted here. It's not surprising to see how sensitively and insightfuly the topic is addressed given the audience.
Your comment about it being simultaneously familiar and strange in regards to computers' reactions reminds me of the concept of "The Uncanny Valley."
You should coin a phrase for the philosophical phenomenon...although I am currently drawing a blank on one =)
@Cully- I would be interested in hearing the results of the sketch test for the facia - December 10, 2009 at 9:04 PM
- James Gurney said...
Splynch, and all with Picasa: have you tried running your hand-drawn or painted portraits of your family members by Picasa? If you got the likeness pretty close, I wonder if it would make the identification.
Does anyone know what metrics it's using for confirming identity? - December 11, 2009 at 5:35 AM
- MaureenHume said...
I love your pure imagination, this is the type of experiment I'd be compelled to do. It's interesting and weird that the basic simple face drawing wasn't recognised but a similar face with smudgey bits added was. I'm not sure what this says but I'm sure I'll think about it for a long while.
Maureen. www.thepizzagang.com - December 11, 2009 at 6:40 AM
- Unknown said...
Interesting post and discussion in the comments!
I agree that the problem resembles "the uncanny valley"; our negative reactions on increasing humanlikeness.
But the problem is that "the uncanny valley" hypothesis doen't give and guidelines for avoiding the negative reactions, other than "make it less humanlike".
I my opinion this isen't satisfying. As our tech get's more and more complex we need to ensure that it's interface get's better and better. More intuitive and easy to use. It's been done with personale computers; I'm glad that I'm not punching commandlines into DOS right now!
We need to do the same with advanced technology that increasingly become autonomous (as the automatic change to "portrait-mode" is an example on). We need to design this technology so that it doesn't trigger a creepy response.
One way to do it is to make the tech more transparent. Make the camera say (visually show or maybe tactically make you feel) "I'm changing the mode to portrait mode". Hereby you made the situation transparent and avoided a negative reaction.
But you could also add "personality" by making the camera say: "hey man, I'll just go to portrait mode". If it's done right you can trigger psychological responses in the user that will avoid a negative reaction and even ideally make it positive! And at the same time you've made the tech more intuitive and analogue; more in the way that we communicate human to human everyday (interesting discusion on this on: http://johnnyholland.org/2009/12/09/does-technology-need-personality/)
The above indicates the limitations of "the uncanny valley" because you've made the tech more humanlike and at the same time more appealing (which in contrary the hypothesis).
Human-robot Interaction is by far more complicated than this, but the above shows an example on how our future design-challenge can be solved.
For anybody is interested, you can read a shot presentation and abstract of my psychology-thesis which examined these exact problems with our increasingly more automated technology on: www.robotspodcast.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=747 - December 11, 2009 at 6:48 AM
- Tyler J said...
Interesting post on the robot forum. I hesitate to broach this topic with you since you have clearly put a great deal of time and thought into the subject.
However, since I am a human with human thoughts and reactions, I figure that I am qualified enough to discuss it =)
The reflective aspect of questioning our humanity and trying to define what it means to be human or even trying to define what is alive can certainly be disquieting. However, I would respectfully submit that this is not what the Uncanny Valley is all about.
Rather, I think that the heart of it is much more primal and ancient. The repulsion reaction is just that, just a reaction. There is an article that shows that monkey's might very well fall into the Uncanny Valley too:
The idea, as I understand it, is that once the robot (or whatever) begins to take on enough realistic qualities our brains no longer think of it as a cute robot trying hard to be human, but instead a human that has some real problems.
Our brains will always search out subtle ques in other people so as to help us understand how to react to them. "Are they a potential mate? Are they a potential threat? Are they unhealthy?" and so forth. This is done almost subconsciously (or at least, I think that it is) and at such a base level that is not something that can be eliminated without re-wiring the brain.
Again, I am a lay person on the subject, but as a person, and an artist of sorts, I find that there is real merit to the theory.
I think that my original assertion was that James's comment reminded me of the Uncanny Valley in the sense that there was something of the familiar and something of the foriegn. As he said, the emergence of a brain from his camera recognizing faces sent "a chill down" his spine. To me, that seems like an ancient-type of reaction as opposed to an unsettling higher brain thought.
I think that I may have rambled myself into asserting no particular point.
So on that note, I will just say thanks for posting your comment, it was fun to think about =) - December 11, 2009 at 3:37 PM
- Unknown said...
Did you see that Scott McCloud linked to this?
http://scottmccloud.com/2009/12/11/the-emergence-of-a-mind/ - December 11, 2009 at 7:40 PM
- Unknown said...
@ Tyler J
Great comment! You are of cause totally right! We have acquired immediate reactions (e.g repulsion) through our evolution that serve to enhance survival.
And this "the uncanny valley" can seem to explain. But the problem with "the uncanny valley" is that it's so simple and research have even indicated that it's wrong (we don't necessarily react negatively to a near humanlike face).
In the HRI-field "the uncanny valley" hypothesis have sort of gone "viral" (like a hilarious youtube video) which the Wired article with monkeys is also an example of. This have had the unfortunate consequence of overshadowing more complex theories of human reactions on robots.
Lately this trend have been broken in the professional field and reactions on many levels have been acknowledged (such as the immediate, cognitive and reflective levels of reactions as I talk about).
Still "the uncanny valley" can be a good introduction to the HRI field, but the abundance of creepy humanlike robots can make it a difficult task to find the "black swan" that falsifies the theory.
And it is precisely such a falsification that is needed so that we can begin to create more complex theories of human reactions to robots. Theories where "repulsion" is one of the many explanations of our reactions on robots.
It's good for me to try to spread and reapply my work in the above way, so I'm very glad for your comment! - December 12, 2009 at 9:33 AM
- James Gurney said...
Johann and Tyler, fascinating discussion. I experienced the Uncanny Valley effect when I visited the Henson Creature Shop years ago. They were working on a full size human baby animatronic with silicon skin, and one of the guys was putting the hairs into it one by one. Creepy, and as you say, repulsive, while cute at the same time.
My personal experience of the smart camera was a little different, perhaps because it was not processed through the the same cognitive/neural pathways. It wasn't a visual experience that triggered it. It was more like a deep feeling or recognition that the machine was "thinking" or "conscious," (which of course it wasn't).
I think this same reaction (for me a mix of delight/surprise and/discombobulation) can operate with the response to verbal GPS directions, or Amazon recommendations. Not something you see that spooks you, but a sense that the machine is working above the level you expected.
The feeling passes instantly as we accept the machine's new powers. - December 12, 2009 at 10:16 AM
- Terry said...
"The feeling passes instantly as we accept the machine's new powers."
And THAT is the creepiest statement so far... - December 12, 2009 at 10:50 AM
- Felicity Walker said...
There used to be this website where you could upload a picture of your face and it would find which celebrities look like you. After trying it with a normal picture of me, I then tried drawings. The website liked the picture of Betty Brandt from the 1960s Spider-Man cartoon and suggested some matches, but did not like a screenshot of Megatron. My drawing of Peter Cushing from Star Wars worked, though the website did not suggest Peter Cushing as a match--I felt artistically slighted. :-P
- December 12, 2009 at 8:37 PM
- John Kaay said...
I was using Google street view in Mexico city (for this months virtual paintout) and noticed that all the faces were blurred! Too bad - it was a great source of anonymous painting subjects. Amazing technology, though.
John Kaay - December 12, 2009 at 10:51 PM
- Making A Mark said...
Nice post James - which I['m highlighting today on my blog. I'd already spotted this happening but you have said it all so much better than I could!
- December 13, 2009 at 5:20 AM
- Thanh said...
Nice post
- December 13, 2009 at 11:23 AM
- Gene Stewart said...
It is not creepy to be able, say, to lock a file and have it unlock ONLY for your face. For instance.
- December 13, 2009 at 10:42 PM
- Nick Woolridge said...
Hi James,
I hate to bring the future even a little closer, but I already have a camera with face recognition. I bought a Panasonic Lumix GH1 last summer; it has face detection, but also recognition. You can register and name individuals. Then when you are framing a group shot, it will recognize them (their names will pop up below the green rectangle framing their face) and it will preferentially expose and focus for them. If you register more than one person, you can even rank them...
Nick - December 14, 2009 at 10:01 AM
- Peter said...
very interesting post! i linked to it on my blog (http://didyougetthatthing.wordpress.com/), so i hope that maybe gets you a new follower or two.
- December 14, 2009 at 10:30 PM
- James Gurney said...
Thanks Katherine and Peter for the link; visitors and new readers are always welcome, and people should check out your blogs as well.
Nick, the tech is moving too fast to keep up! That's really cool that you've got a camera with face recognition. What woud be even more useful for me is blink recognition. Just delay that shot a half second. Most of my once-in-a-lifetime shots are messed up with a doofussy blink-face. - December 15, 2009 at 5:41 AM
- Unknown said...
@ James Gurney
Very interesting that your negative experience is on a "higher" level. It resonates with aspects of my investigation of our reactions on robots.
Just a quick commet on a recent article about "the uncanny valley": http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/11/ff_avatar_movie/2/
On page 2 it is described how Cameron needed to make the quality of his motion-capture so good that the animations "overcame" "the uncanny valley". I think is funny that the article totally neglects that the "Na'vi" (the alien race) are very "humanlike" but NOT creepy looking.
The "Na'vi" are an example of how a negative reaction can be mediated by good character design. - December 15, 2009 at 6:06 AM
- The Chain Hut said...
very interesting post. Now a days Face Recondition cameras are very smart and integrated with many other applications also.
Even there are advance face recognition cameras available in the market which will identify multiple faces even an object wear some colored spectacles or a cloth on his faces.
I have found many other details from here: Face Recognition System Feature
Hope It may help you for more details.
thanx for sharing james..
keep blogging. - January 21, 2010 at 3:59 AM
- Terry said...
The Russian guy is trying to sell an electroshocker.
??? Thought you'd like to know. - February 6, 2010 at 3:36 PM
- James Gurney said...
Terry, sorry you clicked on it. Terry is referring to a spam comment (now gone), which unfortunately affected dozens of pages. I have to go through each one and delete them.
- February 6, 2010 at 3:40 PM


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Preparing Your Child — and Yourself
If you haven't visited the camp, get as much information about it as possible, including a description of the layout and a video, if the camp has one, and go over these with your child.
Tell your child that you'll be checking in regularly with the camp staff and stress that he or she can always let them know if his or her needs aren't being met. Offer reassurance that you and the camp staff will take every precaution to make sure that all kids stay safe.
Talk about the benefits of attending camp and what some of your child's goals might be, such as to try a new sport, make new friends, or just enjoy a break from doctors' appointments and therapy sessions.
When kids are intimidated by the thought of attending a residential camp or an inclusionary camp, parents might consider starting them in a day camp or a sports team for kids with special needs. This can give them the skills and confidence they need to feel comfortable about going to a residential camp.
Start with regular sports activities and day camp. Then use a special-needs camp to get them used to being away before sending them to an inclusionary camp.
Another option to consider is sending a child to camp with a friend or a sibling. If kids attend an inclusionary or mainstream camp, the buddy doesn't have to have a special need. Going with a friend can reduce stress for both parents and kids, since kids with special needs and their camp buddies will be looking out for each other.
Sharing Information With Camp Staff
Some parents are reluctant to share too much information with camp staff for fear it will have negative repercussions for their child (for example, they may wonder if the camp will still take their child or if they're setting their child up for failure). But good camps will want and need to know as much as possible — the more information they have, the better.
Consult with your child's doctor and other specialists, such as a physical therapist, to make sure you give the camp director and staff all necessary information, and ask the camp staff if they have everything they need from you.
You can help educate the staff by spending time with them and answering and asking questions before you drop off your child. This can be critical. For example, if your child will be attending a mainstream camp, you'll want to make sure that everything is accessible for your child and that the staff understands your child's needs.
Many camps have paperwork you can fill out to share information about things like dietary and medical needs. And regardless of whether your child is going to a day or residential camp, you should give the staff a list of emergency phone numbers and email addresses, and make sure they know how to reach you at all times during your child's camp stay.
If your child takes any medication, include the phone number of your doctor in case the prescription is lost and needs to be refilled by camp staff. Check whether the camp infirmary stocks your child's medication, too. If it doesn't, send extra medicine in case of an emergency.
What to Pack
Try to limit the special equipment your child brings, especially if it's expensive or breakable. Kids going to a mainstream camp are likely to want to be like all the other kids, so do what you can to accommodate that desire. And mark or label everything with your child's name to make it easier to keep track of belongings — that goes for everything from crutches to a retainer case.
If the camp hasn't sent you one, you should call ahead for a list of recommended items. Every camp has different requirements.
You also have the option to provide any support staff your child needs. If your child needs a therapist, you can have that person come in on a predetermined basis to provide care. Or maybe your child needs more intensive, round-the-clock care — ask the camp director what you can do to accommodate these special needs.
Remember, however, that you may want to let your child have a vacation from therapy or other treatments. Before you decide to postpone any treatments, though, consult with your doctor.
Dealing With Anxiety and Homesickness
Many camps don't allow direct contact between parent and child while the camp is in session — they do this to help the campers stay focused on their activities. This can be scary for parents of kids with special needs, which is why it's important that you figure out, ahead of time, how you'll get information about your child's status. Will the camp call you with updates or can you occasionally call or email the supervisor and camp staff?
Like any parent of a camper, though, parents of kids with special needs can write letters to remind their kids that they're loved and missed, and that they can't wait to hear all about their campers' many experiences.
And just like any other child, your kid probably won't want you to cramp his or her style while away at camp. The best thing you can do is respect your camper's need for freedom and independence while enjoying a safe camp environment./p>
Note: All information is for educational purposes only. For specific medical advice, diagnoses, and treatment, consult your doctor.
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Dear Education Stakeholders:On February 17th, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) into law. As part of the nation's economic recovery strategy, this stimulus bill includes a significant investment in Pre K-12 education for Maryland.President Obama clearly articulated the connection between education and economic growth: "Because we know American can't out-compete the world tomorrow if our children are being out-educated today, we're making the largest investment in education in our nation's history." These stimulus funds present Maryland schools with an unprecedented opportunity to boost our state's economy in the short run while increasing student achievement for the long-term. Let me assure you that the State Department of Education is committed to ensuring responsible and accountable management of Maryland's education stimulus funds. Local school system superintendents and local boards of education are now making decisions on how to best use these funds locally. In order to keep you informed of ARRA education news and opportunities, we will regularly update this website. Additional information regarding ARRA funds is available on the U.S. Department of Education's website, and on Governor O'Malley's Recovery website. Sincerely,
Lillian M. Lowery, Ed.D.State Superintendent of Schools


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In the past, web browser page content like text and streaming video or audio always worked, spare for occasional rendering issues.
It didn't matter if we viewed web content on a Mac or PC, using a preferred browser like Internet Explorer (Windows), Safari (Mac), Firefox, Chrome, or Opera.
Text content followed HTML4 layout specifications, while video and audio streaming was played back using the Adobe Flash player, which was preinstalled on the browsers.
Mobile devices like smart phones and tablets changed all that. Initially, viewing mobile web content, whether static text or streaming video, worked just fine. No one had to give UX a second thought as Adobe supported a mobile version of the Adobe Flash player for all mobile web browsers' platforms.
Then, starting three-plus years ago, viewing identical web content on any computing platform became the expected norm. We expected that content viewing on our desktop computer would render just as well on our smart phone or tablet. Computing platform users observed that viewing content on any device frequently created unacceptable UX.
Those in the computing trade or closely affiliated stated: "No problem, we are moving from content rendering software using Adobe Flash and HTML4 to HTML5 with a new <video> HTML tag to replace Adobe Flash."
The software industry assured computing users, "We'll have a short transition period while websites cease using Adobe Flash while simultaneously moving from HTML4 to HTML5 content layout inside of the web browsers. Soon your inconsistent UX will go away."
Others continued to scratch their heads wondering why the promised consistent content viewing on any computing device was not always there. After all, ubiquitous platform content viewing was promised three years ago. The promised delivery of good UX on any computer platform is still not there and will not be for another year, if not longer.
Plan on web browser standard differences being your annoying rendering issue for a few more years
This issue has led to a considerable amount of frustration, as users do not always know why they can't see sites in the same way they can on their desktop and laptop computers and mobile devices.
Smartphone penetration is already a reality. "Two separate surveys confirmed that smartphone penetration has not only passed half of all mobile subscribers, but has gone well beyond 50% of all adult Americans for the first time," Forbes reported back in June. "The Pew Research Center places the figure at 56%, up from just 35% two years ago while noting the number of adults with no cell phone at all has fallen by half in that time, to just 9%."
The emerging mobile platform—replacing PCs with tablets and smartphones—is driving the need for more care when it comes to rendering all forms of HTML content across all browsers on all platforms. There's more to the story, though. Actually, the software development community unwittingly and unnecessarily foisted this inconsistent content viewing problem on users starting back in April of 2010.
How and Why it Happened
Lets look back to January 2010, when cross-platform viewing of rich—not just plain text—web browser and email HTML tagged content was not an issue. The web browser HTML layout control tags—a.k.a. HTML4—rendered cross-platform text and graphic images just fine. Sure, there were cross-platform rendering and view problems to overcome, with a little extra work for video, audio, and web animation we used Adobe Flash, which was (fortunately) ubiquitously deployed in all web browsers on almost all computing platforms, both PC workstation and mobile devices. Flash videos rendered the same way anywhere without much in the way of video and audio differences.
It was a time when Adobe Flash won for online rendering of video, not because it was the most ideal method, but because a developer could publish a video using the Flash video codec and expect it to be viewable most anywhere. Write once and view anywhere was the norm. Then, suddenly, in April 2010, all hell broke loose when our cross-platform rich content rending was unequivalently forced to take a new platform road for displaying rich content on mobile devices.
The big bomb: Apple, principally Steve Jobs, announced that their mobile device operating system, iOS, would no longer support the running of Adobe Flash on the iOS devices—iPod, iPhone, and the soon to be released iPad. Apple's reasons for no longer supporting Flash on the iOS operating system were covered in Steve Jobs now famous online post: Thoughts on Flash.
Apple's Flash replacement was proposed as:
- Non-existing HTML5 web standard on the Apple Mac OS X and iOS mobile devices Safari web browser
- Video display via the <video> HTML5 tag element using the H.264 (also known as MPEG-4) codec
The dying off of Flash did not leave clear and concise alternatives. This is exactly when and where the UX hell was created that is still with us today. We were moving down a new road, with multiple forks in front of us:
- Use of HTML5 web layout instead HTML4, where the HTML5 standard was basically an idea, far from being a standard specification for consistent multivendor use
- Not all web browser providers were planning to support H.264 as the rich content video (and audio) codec
- Not all web browser providers were ready to move from HTML4 to HTML5
Some readers who have made it this far are probably saying: "The solution is easy, just stop using content encoded in Adobe Flash." But the issue is much more complicated than not using Flash encoded content. These are the forks awaiting us along the new road content developers and publishers are forced to take.
Fork: Nonexistent HTML5 Web Specification
The first fork appeared back in April of 2012: the lack of an HTML5 specification to develop website content against. But wait a minute, isn't the web browser the ubiquitous standard for rendering content across all platforms? That is what we are told, but web browsers are far from being consistent and reliable at rendering content.
The published W3C HTML5 specification is neither complete nor finalized. Working with an ever-shifting HTML5 specification is part of a whole phenomenon, which creates a mix of available web browsers with different content rendering functionality. Your text and video content may or may or may not render to the user properly, depending on the web browser and its respective version being used.
The W3C HTML5 spec release train finalizes the HTML5 spec in 2014. Plan on web browser standard differences being your annoying rendering issue for a few more years.
Graphic courtesy of SD Times
Fork: Adobe Flash to HTML5 <video> Element
This video (and audio) fork in the road is more involved that you might realize.
Missing is an HTML5 <video> tag codec standard. The idea is that you feed streaming video to an HTML5 <video> tag and it will render properly for the user. This is yet to be determined within the HTML5 specification as to which video codec or codecs to support.
Presently each browser provider has a different idea regarding which video codec to support. You can see what I mean by viewing the UX Magazine article, The State of HTML5 Video. In the Media Formats chart, observe that different browsers support varied video codecs. Confusing to say the least.
What this means is that your video is viewable in one browser but potentially not viewable in another. To me, it is unconscionable that the software industry is even allowing this to happen.
One solution is to use adaptive codec publishing (create multiple codec formats) and send a different video codec file depending on the web browser being viewed. Another alternative for video publishing on your website is YouTube. You can optionally embed your YouTube videos on your website. There are tradeoffs with this approach beyond the scope of this article.
So where does the HTML5 <video> codec battle go from here? When will these video codec standards be established? There are no answers yet and we will not have them for another year at least.
Fork: Web Platform Streaming Video on All Computing Platforms
Web publishing just for Windows and Mac OS X workstations is declining and being offset by the explosion of disparate mobile devices. Associated with this is the rapid emergence of BYOD (Bring You Own Device) to work. These are typically tablet devices and sometimes capable smart phones.
We've lived through three-plus years when all web browser providers where each browser supports a different set of video codecs. What this means is a given video will render fine in one browser and not even start up on another web browser. This problem is exacerbated when viewing videos between desktop and mobile devices.
An employee may view video web content on their home desktop. Then take their tablet or smartphone to work only to learn the video is not viewable at work. The same scenario can happen in reverse too, from work desktop to mobile BYOD video viewing. The non-technical computing platform user, of course, does not have a clue as to why this is happening and for that matter "why does this not work?"
The cause of this platform inconstant video rendering problem is most obvious and straightforward. For the W3C HTML5, yet to be released specification, <video> HTML tag there is not a list of supported and unsupported video codecs.
Indeed this is a very bad situation: various web browser providers—principally Apple, Microsoft, and Google—are all vying for their favorite video (and audio) codec to be supported. Today, browser providers are like a bunch of Wild West cowboys. "We have a larger video content installed base than browser provider X, therefore our HTML5 <video> HTML tag should be the W3C supported standard.
As I mentioned, this non-ubiquitous platform-to-platform video rendering problem will be with is for another year or more. First, the final HTML5 specification will not be released until the last quarter of 2014. Second, there will be three-plus years of old published web content in the wild, which will require republishing to the final HTML5 specification.
Content updating will not happen immediately. Video rendering consistency will not happen until the specification W3C HTML5 <video> HTML tag supported list of codecs is finalized and published. There are software development paths around this issue using specially crafted HTML5 <video> tags or the use of what is called video adaptive bitrate encoding, but that's another story for a subsequent article.
Inconstant web content rendering, especially from the desktop to the BYOD smart phones and tablets has been with us now for three years. Expect another year plus of these issues and realize that, despite all your UX design and management, sometimes your content will not render as you desire—especially on BYOD devices—and that this issue is beyond your control for a while longer.
Image of cluttered signpost courtesy Shutterstock.


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3 3/4" MoW Cardinal Rosewood Modern Staunton Chess Pieces
Product Code: 22-W01Description
Chess Piece Details
Mark of Westminster Chess Pieces are the paradigm of perfection in wood staunton chess piece design. The premier chess pieces by Mark Of Westminster have been known for their heirloom quality. Each chess set is exclusive, with a printed certificate of authenticity that serves as a lifetime warranty for natural defect. Each chess piece is hand-carved, has leather-bottoms, extra queens, and the signature Mark of Westminster Logo beneath the king.
These chess pieces are Cardinal Rosewood and Boxwood, which can suit virtually any board color, however Mahogany, Macassar, and Walnut chess boards are most popular.
Cardinal Rosewood Chess Pieces vary from medium to dark brown, and is preferred due to is handsome, elegant appearance and strong grain variation. As a midrange wood, it is more affordable than some of the more exotic rosewoods, but still has a suitably rich appearance.
Boxwood Chess Pieces are the near universal standard for 'white' chess pieces in hand-carved sets. It is a fairly easy wood to work with, and shows off good detail.
Chessboard Not Included. Deluxe humidor style storage box optional.
- King Height: 3 7/8"
- King Weight: 2.2 oz
- King Base: 1 1/2"
- Recommended Square Size: 1 3/4" - 2 1/4"


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NEWS - Monday, February 11, 2013
(RUMOR) - Will the next Xbox require Kinect 2.0 to function?
The next Xbox, codenamed Durango, will not only include an updated version of Kinect--it will require it. "It must be plugged in and calibrated for the console to even function," a new report on Kotaku reveals.
According to the site, Microsoft will include both Kinect and a hard drive in their next-gen console (both were optional accessories on Xbox 360). By making their use mandatory, developers will be able to make games with both peripherals in mind.
The camera has been greatly improved, being able to track up to six skeletons at once, versus two in the current-gen model. In addition, the new Kinect can keep track of five additional joints per person. According to Kotaku, the improved resolution of the camera will allow it to "instantly identify a person," making "automatic player identification" a part of the Xbox experience. While the convenience of not having to log-in will be nice, it could also lead to restricting content based on who Kinect identifies--something Redmond had patented many months ago. Using this tech could restrict the "number of user views, a number of user views over time, a number of simultaneous user views, views tied to user identities, views limited to user age or any variation or combination thereof."
In terms of hardware spec, Durango has been rumored to be largely identical with Orbis, the next PlayStation. Digital Foundry offers a comparison, detailing the slight differences in approach the two companies are taking with their next consoles.
Source: www.shacknews.com


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Take out the trash, eat your broccoli – who needs moms, anyway? Nine-year-old Milo finds out just how much he needs his mom when she's nabbed by Martians who plan to steal her mom-ness for their own young. Milo embarks on a quest to save his mom – a wild adventure that involves stowing away on a spaceship, navigating an elaborate, multi-level planet and taking on the alien nation and their leader. With the help of a tech-savvy, underground earthman named Gribble and a rebel Martian girl called Ki, Milo just might find his way back to his mom – in more ways than one. (Source)
Download: 480p, 720p, 1080p
MP4 Encode: 1080p
Find more trailers and clips on our homepage.


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Do you accept orders on "Cash on Delivery" payment method?
Yes, we do accept cash on delivery as a payment method. You shall find the option to select the same after entering your pincode in your shipping information.
*Some pincodes are not compliant with COD as per our logistics partners and in such cases you shall be prompted to pay online at checkout.
How do I know the correct size to order?
When selecting your product, you will find a size chart under each product in every category. It is an accurate representation of the product you will receive. In some cases, products may be a different fit i.e. regular vs. relaxed, please refer to size chart accordingly.
How do I know that my order is confirmed/shipped?
On placing your order, you will receive an email on the email ID you mentioned while placing the order with an order confirmation number. You will receive another email from us which will include a tracking number once your order is discpatched.
What payment methods do you accept?
We accept all major credit and debit cards, bank transfers and payment wallets. We also accept cash on delivery (may vary based on your pincode).
What can I do if the product I want is out of stock?
If a product is out of stock, you may leave us your email address in the fill out form to receive an update for when it is restocked.
Is there any fee beyond purchase?
All orders are inclusive of relevant taxes and shipping.
How do I modify my shipping address?
You may modify your shipping address within 24 hours of placing your order by writing in to us at firstname.lastname@example.com where a customer care executive will be able to help you out.
Do you provide international shipping?
Coming soon.


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One neighbor says a naked woman was seen crawling on her hands and knees in the backyard of the house a few years ago. Another neighbor says he heard pounding on the doors and noticed plastic bags over the windows.
Police showed up at the house both times, the neighbors say, but never went inside.
Now, after three women who vanished separately about a decade ago were rescued from the peeling, rundown house Monday in a discovery that exhilarated and astonished the city, Cleveland police are facing questions about their handling of the case and are conducting an internal review to see if they overlooked anything.
Police Chief Michael McGrath said Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight had apparently been held captive in the house since their teens or early 20s.
Authorities arrested three brothers, ages 50 to 54. One of them, former school bus driver Ariel Castro, owned the home, situated in a poor neighborhood dotted with boarded-up houses. No immediate charges were filed.
The break in the case came when the 27-year-old Berry kicked out the bottom of a locked screen door at the home and used a neighbor's telephone to call 911. Choking back tears, she breathlessly told the dispatcher: "Help me. I'm Amanda Berry. I've been kidnapped and I've been missing for 10 years and I'm, I'm here, I'm free now."
Police arrived to find the two other women, along with a 6-year-old girl who authorities said was believed to Berry's daughter. Police would not say who the father was or where the child was born.
"Prayers have finally been answered. The nightmare is over," said Stephen Anthony, head of the FBI in Cleveland. "These three young ladies have provided us with the ultimate definition of survival and perseverance. The healing can now begin."
He added: "Words can't describe the emotions being felt by all. Yes, law enforcement professionals do cry."
Authorities would not say how the women were taken captive, whether they were restrained inside the house or if they had been sexually assaulted. Police said they were trying to be delicate in their questioning of the women, given their ordeal.
Cleveland police came under heavy criticism in a separate case a few years ago following the discovery of 11 bodies in a man's home and backyard in another poor section of the city. Neighbors had long complained about foul odors, and the victims' families charged that police didn't take the reports of missing women seriously.
As for whether police this time overlooked hints about the women's fate, city Safety Director Martin Flask said Tuesday morning: "At this point, I can confirm that we have no indications that any of the neighbors, bystanders, witnesses or anyone else has ever called regarding any information, regarding activity that occurred at that house."
However, he said authorities were still checking all databases of calls to police, fire and emergency services.
Two neighbors said Tuesday that they were alarmed enough by what they saw at the house to call police on two occasions.
Elsie Cintron, who lives three houses away, said her daughter once saw a naked woman crawling on her hands and knees in the backyard several years ago and called police. "But they didn't take it seriously," she said.
Another neighbor, Israel Lugo, said he heard pounding on some of the doors of Castro's house, which had plastic bags on the windows, in November 2011. Lugo said officers knocked on the front door, but no one answered. "They walked to side of the house and then left," he said.
Neighbors also said they would see Castro sometimes walking a little girl to a neighborhood playground. And Cintron said she once saw a little girl looking out of the attic window of the house.
In the murder case from four years ago, the homeowner was eventually sentenced to death. In the wake of public outrage over the killings, a panel formed by the mayor recommended an overhaul of the city's handling of missing-person and sex crime investigations.
The three rescued women appeared to be in good health and were briefly evaluated at a hospital and reunited with relatives. A photo released by Berry's family showed her smiling with an arm around her sister. Police said they were taken to an undisclosed location in the suburbs.
A sign outside the home of DeJesus' parents read "Welcome Home Gina."
Her aunt Sandra Ruiz told reporters that she was able to see all three. She asked that the family be given space.
"Those girls, those women are so strong," she said. "What we've done in 10 years is nothing compared to what those women have done in 10 years to survive."
Investigators celebrated the news almost as much as the families.
The disappearances of Berry and DeJesus never left the minds of police. Investigators twice dug up backyards looking for Berry and continued to receive tips about the two every few months, even in recent years. But few leads ever came in about Knight, who was the first of the three to disappear, in 2002.
Police said Knight disappeared at age 20 and is 32 now. Berry vanished at age 16 on April 21, 2003, when she called her sister to say she was getting a ride home from her job at a Burger King. About a year later, DeJesus was last seen at age 14 on her way home from school. They were found just a few miles from where they disappeared.
Police identified the three suspects as Ariel Castro, 52; Pedro Castro, 54; and Onil Castro, 50. Attempts to reach Ariel Castro in jail were unsuccessful.
Police did go to the house twice in the past 15 years, but not in connection with the women's disappearance, officials said.
In 2000, before the women vanished, Ariel Castro reported a fight in the street, but no arrests were made, Flask said.
In 2004, officers went to the home after child welfare officials alerted them that Ariel Castro, a school bus driver, had apparently left a child unattended on a bus, Flask said. No one answered the door, according to Flask. At some point in the investigation, police talked to Castro and determined there was no criminal intent, he said.
The women's loved ones said they hadn't given up hope of seeing them again.
Berry's cousin Tasheena Mitchell told The Plain Dealer newspaper: "I'm going to hold her, and I'm going to squeeze her and I probably won't let her go."
Berry's mother, Louwana Miller, who had been hospitalized for months with pancreatitis and other ailments, died in 2006. She had spent the previous three years looking for her daughter, whose disappearance took a toll as her health steadily deteriorated, family and friends said.