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This sort of pissed me off. I'm not going to lie. There are somethings he points out that I can agree with. But I think he gave the game a very harsh and unfair review.
What are your thoughts?
marcus* 8:18 wrote:having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?
RyokoTK wrote:Marathon 1 actually does have very bad level design... Marathon is really not a very good game
doctorbenjiphd wrote:I completely agree with Ryoko--Marathon, particularly the first one, is fucking stupid. The level design is god-awful. The animations and artwork is pretty bad. The story, while getting props for actually *existing*, its pretentious and self-important.
patrick wrote:city of godddddd wrote:LORD, make me 4get, but not yet.
philtron wrote:RyokoTK wrote:Marathon 1 actually does have very bad level design... Marathon is really not a very good game
Okay, then, why did you ever come here? Why did you even spend years making a Marathon mod?
kralex wrote:RyokoTK wrote:exists, there isn't much to suggest over Doom, Duke, Quake, Dark Forces, and so forth.
I thought Duke 3D was a 'piece of crap'
philtron wrote:Same question. Why are you even here? It can't be just nostalgia because there's probably dozens of other nostalgic games you've played that aren't "fucking stupid" and "god-awful".
I'm not being antagonistic here. It's just that it doesn't make sense for someone to have such strong, negative feelings about a game while at the same time participating in a nearly dead community devoted to that very game.
kralex wrote:I really think everyone is exaggerating the disparity in quality between Marathon and other comparable games of the time. Games were still going through a lot of growing pains back then and it showed in all of them.
If you took all the levels in the Doom series and compared them to all the levels in the Marathon series then I think the gap in general quality wouldn't be that great. At least Marathon's levels got better over time, while Doom's seemed to devolve. I'm specifically thinking of E4M1: The Hell Beneath and the map in Doom 2 called "The Suburbs". Man, those were really terrible levels from pretty much any angle you consider. "The Suburbs" was so terrible that it's the only map in Doom 2 that I actually remember.
And maybe this is blasphemy, but I'd say that Marathon's weapon design is much better than Doom's.
Duke Nukem 3D, also had some really bad level design. Like, here's a rectangular room with bad guys in it. Here's a couple more. Done. I think what really drew people into Duke were the things like security cameras, shrink rays, freeze rays, jetpacks, and scripted "destructible" environments, all those little side mechanics that gave the game character.
And the first Quake was just all over the place because nobody at id could agree on what game they were making. There's some really terrible, not fun levels in Quake.
RyokoTK wrote:you get the AR right at the start of all three games and it's strong, versatile, and can stun-lock every single enemy in the trilogy except the Juggernaut.
RyokoTK wrote:You can't brush off all the cool shit that made Duke neat and unique in an endless sea of bland Doom clones like that, dude, c'mon.
RyokoTK wrote:Marathon's weapon design...
RyokoTK wrote:Uh, E4M1 is great. It's compact, it's tough as nails, and it flows smoothly enough. It's a great way to kick off a very hard Doom episode.
RyokoTK wrote:Infinity has shit like enemy Vacbobs shooting at you from corridors too narrow to dodge in, any kind of combat in liquids, or generally poor enemy placement that doesn't accentuate their strengths or characteristics well.
RyokoTK wrote:One might think that M1 and Infinity are designed to be less focused on combat than its contemporaries, and more on exploration... Dark Souls...
philtron wrote:So no one responded to my long post. That means I'm the King of Game Design, right?
HelviusRufus wrote:Lack of a convenient save terminals increases the tension. How confident am I that I'll make it through the next room?.......The same with health terminals.
HelviusRufus wrote:When there isn't one at the beginning and you don't know when you'll be able to save, the phrase discretion is the better part of valor takes on real meaning... Though the farther you get from that save terminal, the less reckless you're likely to be.
philtron wrote:so the less reckless you become the slower you play
philtron wrote:You might run back to a save terminal after each battle instead of just going forward.
philtron wrote:backtracking to try and find some save terminal might draw attention to the maze like nature of the level design; going forward you just go to wherever looks new, but going backwards you have to go through all these similar corridors and try and remember which one leads to where you want to go.
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Thank You
Sep 11, 2018
Legacy plates available!
Category: General News
Posted by: chs1pa2
Legacy plates order form posted!
If you are interested in ordering a legacy plate or learning more about the fundraiser, please visit this page, where you will find a description of the plates and a printable order form.
If you have any questions or feedback, please email us at email@example.com
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subset: commoncrawl


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Dominant Louisville lowers the 'boom' on Duke in Midwest Region final
INDIANAPOLIS – The ongoing narrative throughout this college basketball season is that there's no one dominant team in the nation. Coach Mike Krzyzewski and his Duke Blue Devils might beg to differ. For 24 minutes Sunday, they did everything they could to fight, claw and will themselves into position to beat the Cardinals and earn their first Final Four trip since winning the national championship in 2010. Then, just like that … BOOM! In a flash, dynamic guards Russ Smith… Read More »


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Product DetailsWhen the tiny burgh of Keighley lands the rights to host the annual British hairdressing championships, practically every city in the United Kingdom is represented in the competition -- except Keighley itself. It seems the event is team-oriented, and the only suitable local contestants had a huge falling out a decade ago. For Brian (Josh Hartnett), the son of two hairdressers, that falling out had personal consequences: His mother Shelley (Natasha Richardson) left his father Phil (Alan Rickman) to take up with Phil's hair model Sandra (Rachel Griffiths). Since then, former styling champ Phil has settled for training Brian to help run his lowly barber shop, while Shelley and Sandra have opened a salon of their own. But when Shelley learns that she has terminal cancer, she reaches out to her family in hopes that a reunion for the hairdressing contest might help them all find some sense of closure. To complicate matters, Phil's old arch-nemesis, Ray (Bill Nighy), is now a two-time champ looking for a three-peat, and he's brought along his beautiful American daughter Christina (Rachael Leigh Cook) to work on his team. Blow Dry also marks the screen debut of supermodel Heidi Klum.
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Deposits & Commissary Ordering
You have chosen the Chambers County Detention Center in Anahuac, TX
Click here to select a different facility.
Order today and your commissary order will be packaged Monday Mar 25 &
delivered Tuesday Mar 26
Web Deposits & Commissary Ordering available
Web Deposits
Allows you to place money on an inmate's trust fund account.
Order Commissary
Allows you to order commissary and have it shipped to an inmate.
where's my order?
privacy policy
help topics
email support
nmls #1124974


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Through programs and facilities experience building self-esteem, improving health and wellness, learning leadership skills, making new friends, and providing social outlets.
Participation in a fun family atmosphere which helps to strengthen family bonds, promote healthy lifestyles, build community connections, offers opportunity for volunteerism, and creates partnerships.
Provide employment and leadership opportunities for youth to develop, supports individuals and families who have limited resources and creates a community of pride. During peak season, we employ over 300 individuals.
The health risks associated with inactivity include: premature death, heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, adult-onset diabetes, osteoporosis, stroke, depression, cancer, and other health-related diseases. Even moderate amounts of exercise are attributed to:
Customer service is our highest priority. We are committed to providing services and activities that meet your expectations. If you are not fully satisfied with your membership or classes, please see the Member Relations Director and we will work out an amicable solution.


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Mike999907 needed a new other design and created a contest on 99designs.
2 winners were selected from 4 designs submitted by 2 freelance designers.
An Indie Software Co
We are building an application for an ebook reader that will show the current weather and 5 day forecast. It is a simple "at a glance" application similar in concept to what is found on many smartphones and similar devices.
We need your help to make this look really nice, given the constraints of the device with its greyscale screen. We have included a mockup to get you started, along with some specific requirements of the images required (e.g. sunshine, rainclouds etc).
After we're done with this, we will need a cover designed as a separate job. We would like to hire the winner to do that also as an extra item if you agree.
Many thanks! We look forward to your creative entries and, as always, we will provide lots of feedback to all of you.
The target audience is ebook owners that wish to know the current weather and forecast is for a location they specify. They should be able to see at a glance the general forecast as well as see the details (such as predicted high and low temperature).
The goal is design an attractive informative screen that provides basic weather information about a location. The target screen is sized 600 wide by 760 high in portrait orientation. The screen is black and white and supports 16 levels (4 bits) of greyscale.
The final deliverables must include:
1. Final mockup as 760x600 4 bit greyscale gif
2. elements of the mockup - e.g. borders, miscellaneous graphical elements
3. individual files showing the different types of weather per the table above
4. source files (e.g. psd or svg) for the above images
See the attached mockup that illustrates the following elements we require:
1. The location for the weather report shown
2. This sections shows the most recently reported weather (i.e. at 3:29pm today)
3. an image showing the cloudcover and precipitation - see below for the complete list of
possible variations
4. the predicted temperature range (high / low)
5. day of the week for this forecast -- 5 days total: today + 4 ahead
6. Wind direction (N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW) and speed
7. Chance of rain - not displayed if the chance is 0
8. Text description of the weather and/or unusual events
The attached pdf contains the specifics of the 15 small weather images (e.g. sunny, cloudy, cloudy + rain etc) that are needed as part of the deliverable.


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Pietersite Chione Pendantdez-p202p
With its playful, beachy vibe, this Dezso petite venus charm pendant is a hand-carved piece of tiger's eye shaped to resemble a small shell. It is framed in sterling silver and connects to a bale so you can add it to Dezso's Woven Wave Chain (shown here and sold separately) or to your favorite necklace for a surfer chic addition.
total length : 3/4"
carved pietersite chione : 1/2" x just over 1/2"
sterling silver bezel and bale
shown on Dezso's Woven Wave Chain (sold separately)
total length : 3/4"
carved pietersite chione : 1/2" x just over 1/2"
sterling silver bezel and bale
shown on Dezso's Wave Chain (sold separately)
JAIPUR - Designer Sara Beltrán began her career as a fashion stylist in New York City. After years spending time in the industry, she changed her focus to designing jewelry and creating her collection Dezso - the Latin word meaning 'Desire'. Inspired by her love for the beach, ocean and nature, she moved to Jaipur and began creating a collection of jewelry using finds from the beaches of Mexico. Fossilized coral, bracelets woven by Mexican artists, slices of polki diamonds, and semi-precious stones such as kyanite are used to create an eclectic, bohemian, and summer-ready look.


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Apple Inc. is slated to report its latest financial results Tuesday in one of the most widely watched reports of earnings season.
The iPhone maker is expected to report earnings of $1.23 a share on revenue of $38 billion for its fiscal third quarter, according to the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by FactSet.
Because Apple typically reports after the market closes, the stock\'s reaction to the company\'s latest financial results is mostly reflected in the following day\'s trading.
Going back to 2009, Apple stock has averaged a gain of 1.57% on the day following its July results. That\'s second only to the stock\'s average performance after April results, when it\'s averaged a 5% gain.
Apple\'s historic gains between its July and October earnings reports have been spectacular. The stock has averaged gains of 18% between its July report and its October report over the past 5 years. That\'s nearly double the stock\'s next best report-to-report average of 9.9%, for the period between April and July.
Apple shares have typically performed well in the period following the July earnings report because Apple has enjoys huge buzz ahead of new product introductions in the fall.
This year, the stock has seen a big surge since its April report thanks to the company\'s boosted share buyback, and dividend increase. Apple split its stock 7-for-1 during the quarter as well, in a bid to make it more accessible to retail investors.
|Apple Inc. report month
|Average % change on day after earnings
|Average % change to next report
|2009-14 avg.
|Factset data/MarketWatch analysis
— Tom Bemis
More must-reads from MarketWatch:
Last week's action brings a correction that much closer
Here's your second-half investment playbook


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Oracle is planning to sell $10 billion of notes in what would be the second-largest dollar-denominated corporate bond offering this year to help finance the purchase of Micros Systems.
The issue may include $1 billion of three-year and $750 million of five-year floating-rate notes, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction. The company may also sell $2 billion each of 10-year, fixed-rate bonds and securities due in 2019, according to the person, who asked not to be identified, citing lack of authorization to speak publicly.
Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, which may include stock repurchases, dividend payments, refinancing of debt and acquisitions including the company's pending purchase of Micros, according to a regulatory filing.
The offering would rank behind Apple's $12 billion sale in April this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Oracle agreed to buy Micros for $5.3 billion on June 23. The Redwood City-based software maker has announced plans this year to acquire five companies including Micros, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The debt offering may also include $1 billion of 30-year, $1.5 billion of seven-year and $1.75 billion of 20-year debentures, according to the person.
The bond sale would be Oracle's first in almost a year. Last July the company issued $3 billion of securities in a three-part sale, Bloomberg data show.
That offering included $1 billion of 3.6 percent, 10-year notes that yielded 110 basis points more than similar-maturity Treasuries. The bonds traded at 103.3 cents on the dollar to yield 3.2 percent at 12:33 p.m. in New York, according to Trace, the bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
The 10-year securities Oracle was planning to offer as soon as Monday may yield 90 basis points more than government bonds, the person said.
Based on trading prices of Oracle's bonds in the secondary market, its new 10-year issue may pay a spread of about 89 basis points, according to Bloomberg New Issue Analytics. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.


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A renegade Republican teamed up with minority party Democrats on Wednesday to deliver the first affirmative – albeit symbolic – vote of the year for a plan to expand Missouri's Medicaid program to hundreds of thousands of lower-income adults.
House Health Insurance Committee Chairman Chris Molendorp voted with four Democratic members to attach the Medicaid expansion proposal to an unrelated Senate bill pending in his committee. Molendorp said he planned to do the same thing to any other Senate bills sent his way before the May 16 end of the legislative session.
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A Republican from Belton who is not seeking re-election, Molendorp has been at odds with a majority of his GOP colleagues who remain firmly against expanding Medicaid eligibility under the terms of President Barack Obama's health care law.
His committee voted 5-2 for the expansion plan, with the other Republicans on the panel either voting "no" or leaving the room before the vote. An affirmative vote typically would advance a bill to the House Rules Committee and then, potentially, to the House floor for debate. But Molendorp acknowledged that Republican leaders are unlikely to allow the bill to be debated by the full chamber.
The committee vote was intended "to make a statement that the Republican Party needs to do the right thing," Molendorp said. He added: "It's symbolic, I understand that, but someone's got to lead on this issue, and that's what I'm doing."
Under the federal health care law, states that expand adult Medicaid eligibility to 138 percent of the poverty level – about $27,000 annually for a family of three – can initially receive full federal funding for those added to the rolls. That federal aid is then gradually reduced to a 90 percent share, with states picking up the rest.
About half the states have chosen to expand Medicaid eligibility.
Many Missouri Republicans, who hold overwhelmingly majorities in the House and Senate, have raised concerns about the long-term costs of an expanded Medicaid program once the state has to start paying part of the bill.
The House and Senate both have repeatedly rejected Democratic attempts to add funding for a Medicaid expansion to the state budget.
The plan endorsed by Molendorp's committee was developed by Republican Sen. Ryan Silvey, of Kansas City, who has been unable to get it debated by the full Senate. It's been pushed by a coalition of health care and business groups whose lobbying corps includes former Republican U.S. Sen. Kit Bond, of Missouri. Supporters describe the plan as a conservative approach to Medicaid expansion.
Silvey calls the measure a comprehensive overhaul of Missouri's Medicaid and welfare programs. It would use managed care insurance policies administered through the Medicaid program to cover adults living in poverty, with new incentives for healthy behaviors and requirements for some participants to make co-payments. For those living slightly above the poverty level, the state would subsidy premiums through a federally run health insurance website.
Among other things, the bill also would require food stamp recipients to seek work, further their education or engage in community service.
Joe Pierle is CEO of the Missouri Primary Care Association and chairman of the Coalition for Healthy Economic Growth, which is backing a Medicaid expansion. He said the committee action was the "first positive vote since the session started" in January but acknowledged the measure is "tied up in politics" with no clear path to passage.
"How you disassociate this from Obamacare is the biggest obstacle," Pierle said.


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To be competitive, some electrical contractors often supply low-voltage (LV) service entrance switchboards and switchgear that meet the minimum safety requirements of the National Electrical Code (NEC). The Code stipulates that a ground-fault relay must be installed on the service entrance for services with a rating higher than 1,000A. This relay shall be set for no more than 1,200A, and it shall trip the service entrance breaker.
As related to safety, this is a great improvement over earlier requirements of the Code, which did not call for any ground-fault relay. However, it must be noted that this level of ground sensing and time delay protection arrangement provides limited coordination with any possible downstream protective devices. As a result, when the main service entrance device trips the entire building suffers a blackout.
So what can you do to improve the overall protection and coordination of the power delivery system? Let's take a look at some other options you have to improve system performance and better serve your customer.
As per Code requirements, all 3-phase, 4-wire circuits, where the neutral is distributed and used for the load(s), must be solidly grounded. As a matter of habit, many designers and installers also solidly ground 3-phase, 3-wire systems. In such systems, the ground-fault sensing relays, which are installed at various levels throughout the distribution network, are time-current coordinated.
Where there are multiple levels (i.e., zones) in the power system, there is a need for coordination of the zones so that, whenever possible, the higher levels are unaffected by downstream faults. The branch circuits are like tree branches, and all of the relays will "see" the fault current in a particular branch when the fault is downstream.
Typically, you achieve coordination by setting protective relay time-delays progressively higher, with upstream relays set to maximum delays so as to prevent nuisance tripping of the breaker. However, should a fault develop at a high level and require the time delay to expire before clearing the fault, this set-up can cause unnecessary damage to downstream equipment.
This design approach raises the cost of the overall system due to the large number of ground-fault sensing relays required. It also brings about longer relay operating times due to the increased time delay settings associated with the time coordination of the multiple protective devices on the system. The source relay has the longest delay in order to prevent the main relay from tripping first.
Fig. 1 shows a time-coordinated system of ground-fault relays in a low-voltage distribution arrangement. Its relay scheme operates as follows:
- GFP-1 responds after a time delay of 12 cycles to any ground fault that hasn't been cleared by GFP-2 or GFP-3.
- GFP-2 responds after a delay of 6 cycles to any fault that hasn't been cleared by GFP-3.
- GFP-3 responds instantaneously to any fault on the branch circuit it protects.
In this scheme, the time delays necessary for conventional time-current coordination may compromise equipment protection. For example, in the event of an arcing ground fault in these solidly grounded systems, the circuit is tripped with delay, resulting in potentially unacceptable damage.
An alternative arrangement is to use zone-selective instantaneous protection (ZSIP), where the ground-fault sensing relays are all set for instantaneous trip protection and the downstream relay will signal the upstream relay in the upper zone that it will clear the fault and block the upstream relay from tripping. This scheme provides coordination with instantaneous clearance of arcing faults, thus preventing major damage at all levels in the system.
Fig. 2 shows a distribution system with ZSIP. This type of system works as follows:
- GFP-1 responds instantaneously to ground faults on the line side of GFP-2.
- GFP-2 responds instantaneously to faults on the load side of its location to the line side of GFP-3 and sends a restraining signal to GFP-1.
- GFP-3 responds instantaneously to faults on its load side and sends a restraining signal to GFP-2.
On 3-phase, 3-wire low-voltage systems where solid grounding is specified, high-resistance grounding may be offered to improve power continuity, eliminate damage due to ground faults, improve coordination and selectivity, and provide a system that enables safe operation and low maintenance costs.
As a designer or installer you can take a proactive approach with your customers and recommend that better coordination and protection of electrical equipment can result in less equipment damage and fewer widespread outages. The choice is yours.
Murray is consultant and technical support manager for IPC Resistors, Inc., in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.


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SOURCE: Southeastern Medical Device Association
October 30, 2012 07:54 ET
ATLANTA, GA--(Marketwire - Oct 30, 2012) - Pat Mackin, Senior Vice President and President of the Cardiac Rhythm Disease Management (CRDM) Division at Medtronic Corporation, will speak at the 2013 SEMDA Conference during the Gala Dinner.
The seventh annual SEMDA Conference will be held on February 19-20, 2013, at the Georgia Tech Global Learning Center. Applications for presenting companies are currently being accepted, and sponsorships are available. The Gala Dinner will take place on February 19 at the elegant Biltmore Ballroom.
"We are thrilled to have Mr. Mackin join us at the SEMDA 2013 Conference as the keynote speaker at our Gala Dinner," said Art Spalding, Chair of the 2013 Conference and Founder of TAMM Net, Inc.
"Whenever there are major changes in a market, like we are seeing in global healthcare, there are tremendous risks and opportunities. Those companies that uncover the largest problems and then solve them in a simple and cost-effective way will create valuable and sustainable businesses in the new world order," said Mackin. "I support industry organizations like SEMDA that help fund and commercialize those seeking to uncover these solutions and look forward to speaking at their annual gala."
Mackin has been responsible for the overall strategic direction for CRDM and its day-to-day operations since August 2007. He first joined Medtronic as Vice President and General Manager of the company's Endovascular business in October 2002 where he was responsible for Endovascular Innovations, which included both Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm and Thoracic Aneurysm/Dissection technologies. In July 2004 he was named Vice President of the company's vascular business in Western Europe where he launched the company's drug-eluting stent, Endeavor. Mackin returned to the United States in November 2006, as Vice President, CRDM Commercial Operations. In this role, he was responsible for the day-to-day activities of CRDM research, product development, quality, operations, and sales and marketing.
Prior to joining Medtronic, Mackin served Genzyme BioSurgery in several leadership and management roles including Senior Vice President/General Manager of the company's Cardiovascular Surgery and Biotechnology Businesses; Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Cardiovascular Surgery; and Director of Marketing for Cardiovascular Surgery. He also held sales and marketing management positions for Snowden-Pencer.
Mackin began his career as an officer with the U.S. Army. He earned his Bachelor's Degree in General Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and a Master's in Business Administration (MBA) from the Kellogg School of Business, Northwestern University.
The SEMDA Conference is specifically designed to meet the needs of the medical device industry and brings together professionals from throughout the Southeast. Other highlights will include:
Early bird registration is available. To register or learn more about the conference, sponsorship opportunities and presenting company applications, visit www.semda.net or contact email@example.com.
About SEMDA
The Southeastern Medical Device Association (SEMDA) is a non-profit trade association that supports and promotes medical device companies in the Southeast. Created in 2004, the association provides a unique resource and networking opportunity for medical device companies, inventors, physicians, and investors interested in accelerating the growth of the medical device industry in the Southeast. Through quarterly and members-only meetings, as well as its highly regarded annual Conference, SEMDA meets the needs of members of the medical device community. Learn more at www.semda.net.
Media Contact:Lynn Hood
Crackerjack Marketing
678-974-2623Email Contact
Media Contact:Lynn Hood
Crackerjack Marketing
678-974-2623Email Contact
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Okay well I will play with the monk a bit eventually
I'm honestly surprised that berserker is not in the top 5. He starts with high resistances against maybe 25% of foes (many more on some maps), and has great leveling potential. Playing him is like a guaranteed win on some maps, even some vicious maps honestly (dragon isles).
Give him a dragon shield and taurog and he has 33% physical res and max magic res immediately. If he runs across a GETINDARE then he has the rogue's damage (against higher level foes) without the health penalty. Honestly he probably ends up with better than rogue damage since you are less likely to play a dwarf and more likely an orc or human.
I honestly don't see how the assassin or paladin can be considered stronger than him. I have to be missing something here.


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One of the most troubling aspects of American history has gone largely unnoticed: the persistent role of the dupe.
Bestselling author Paul Kengor exposes the legions of liberals who have unwittingly aided America's most dangerous opponents over the past century. Based on never-before-published FBI files, Soviet archives, and other primary sources, Dupes shows in frightening detail how U.S. adversaries exploit the American home front.
In this startling, intensively researched book, Kengor shows not only how such dupes contributed to history's most destructive ideology—Communism, which claimed at least 100 million lives—but also why they are so relevant to today's politics.
Dupes reveals:
- Shocking reports on how Senator Ted Kennedy secretly approached the Soviet leadership to undermine not one but two American presidents
- The stunning evidence of the extensive Communist ties of Frank Marshall Davis—mentor to a young Barack Obama
- Jimmy Carter's woeful record dealing with America's two chief foes of the past century, Communism and Islamism
- Today's dupes, including the congressmen whose overseas anti-American propaganda trip was allegedly financed by foreign intelligence
- How Franklin Roosevelt was duped by "Uncle Joe" Stalin—and by a top adviser who may have been a Soviet agent—despite clear warnings from fellow Democrats
- How John Kerry's accusations that American soldiers committed war crimes in Vietnam may have been the product of Soviet disinformation
- The many Hollywood stars who were duped, including Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Katharine Hepburn, Gene Kelly—and even Ronald Reagan
- Soviet records that demonstrate beyond doubt the Communists' expansionist aims and their targeting of American liberals, especially academics and the Religious Left
- How liberals still defend the same Communists who trashed Democratic icons like Woodrow Wilson, FDR, Harry Truman, and JFK—and still attack the anti-Communists who tried to spare them from manipulation
- Details on many other dupes (and dupers), including Arthur Miller, Dr. Benjamin Spock, John Dewey, H. G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, Lillian Hellman, Howard Zinn, Walter Cronkite, and Helen Thomas
Additional Information
|ISI Books
|What They're Saying...
"Nothing short of horrifying . . . In terms of putting the last 100 years in perspective, Dupes may be one of the most significant literary offerings of our time." —Washington Times
"Kengor's illustrations of dupery in his new book are plentiful. . . . Perhaps most importantly, Kengor places the 'dupe' phenomenon beyond its Cold War context, linking it to current events such as Islamic terrorism." —Human Events
"A brilliant work . . . Read Dupes from cover to cover. It's that important." —WorldNetDaily
"Bears witness to how digging for detail can yield not only clues to the past, but insights for the present. . . .With Dupes, [Kengor] has written the most exhaustive and definitive account of Communism's twentieth-century assault on America to date. It is a story that flows with virtual seamlessness into the defining conflict of the new century and millennium—the threat of Islamism." —Townhall.com
"This book masterfully documents dupes in the U.S. from [Capitol] Hill to . . . Hollywood." —Big Hollywood
"A significant addition to our historical understanding of the past hundred years—not to be missed by either the Right or the Left." —Dinesh D'Souza, bestselling author of What's So Great About America
"A book so fascinating and so revealing that I couldn't put it down." —Burton Folsom Jr., author of New Deal or Raw Deal?
"A great contribution . . . Peels back the layers of lies and obfuscation the American Left has used for years." —Larry Schweikart, bestselling author of A Patriot's History of the United States
"An enormously important book . . . that left me amazed and a bit frightened." —Fred Barnes, executive editor of the Weekly Standard
"A detailed, riveting history of those who secretly served the enemy. Not to be missed!" —Peter Schweizer, bestselling author of Clinton Cash and Secret Empires
"Face it. You are going to have to read this book." —Michael Novak, American Enterprise Institute
|Eligible for Readers Club Discount


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Difference between revisions of "Common Log File System (CLFS)"
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[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Log_File_System Wikipedia on Common Log File System]
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[://..////Common%20Log%20File%20System%20%28CLFS%29.pdf Common Log File System (CLFS) format specification]
[[Category:Logical file systems]]
[[Category:Logical file systems]]
Revision as of 05:24, 18 June 2012
The Common Log File System (CLFS) is a special purpose file (sub)system designed for transaction logging and/or recovery. The CLFS is not a file system in the traditional meaning of a disk file system, but more of a logical (special purpose) file system that operates in combination with a disk file system like NTFS.
A CLFS log consists of a base log file (.blf) and one or more container files.
There are two types of logs:
- dedicated logs; contains a single stream of log records.
- multiplexed (or common) logs; contains several streams of log records.
According to Wikipedia CLFS was introduced in Windows server 2003 R2.
In Windows Vista the CLFS is implemented as a driver named: clfs.sys. User space equivalent functionality is provided by clfsw32.dll, which communicates to the driver by DeviceIoControl calls.
Also see
Windows Internals 5 by Mark E. Russinovich and David A. Solomon
External links
MSDN on Common Log File System
Wikipedia on Common Log File System


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City Auditor
Our mission is to help the City of Seattle achieve honest, efficient management and full accountability and transparency throughout City government. We serve the public interest by providing the City Council, the Mayor, City departments, and the public with accurate information, objective analysis, and useful recommendations on how best to use public resources in support of the well-being of the residents of Seattle.
What the Office of City Auditor Does
Many of our reviews are made in response to specific concerns or requests from City Councilmembers. If resources are available, we will respond to specific requests from the Mayor, department heads, and residents. We will also independently initiate reviews to fulfill our mission.
Our reviews cover the entire spectrum of City activities. For instance, reports we have issued on topics of Citywide influence include: Management of City Trees, District Councils, Span of Control, Citywide Collections, and Special Events Permitting. Reports on department-specific topics include: SMC Citation Processing, Seattle Public Utilities Delinquent Accounts, Department of Planning and Development Code Enforcement, and the Seattle Police Department's Handling of Bias Crimes Enforcement. Reports on general topics include: Cable Customer Bill of Rights Compliance and Indigent Public Defense Services.
Types of questions the Office of City Auditor answers:
- Are City programs being carried out in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and is data furnished to the City Council and the mayor on these programs accurate?
- Are programs achieving desired results?
- Are there better ways of achieving program objectives at lower costs?
- Do opportunities exist to eliminate inefficient use of public funds and potential waste?
- Are funds being spent legally, and is accounting for them accurate?
- Are there ways to improve the quality of service without increasing costs?
- What emerging or key issues should the Mayor and City Council consider?
The office's work is performed in accordance with the Government Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the United States. These standards provide guidelines for staff training, audit planning, fieldwork, quality control systems, and reporting of results. In addition, the standards require that external auditors periodically review our office's policies, procedures, and activities to ensure that we adhere to these professional standards.
Relevant and Timely
We perform work which meets the needs of City Councilmembers, the Mayor, department heads, and Seattle residents. We strive to plan our work so that it is relevant for important meetings and hearings and before additional funds are committed or lost. To determine which reviews we should undertake we assess City departments, organizations, programs, activities, and functions using the following criteria:
- Level of City Council, Mayor, public and media interest
- Relative risk and exposure
- Significant environmental changes
- Service management problems
- Quality of internal controls
- Risk of losing outside funding
- Historical problems or concerns
- Potential of audit topic to benefit more than one department
The type of product resulting from a particular project depends on the project's objectives and the needs of the Mayor, City Council and/or the City's executive managers. We communicate the results of our work in a variety of ways.
- Written Reports. At the completion of each review, we issue written reports. The format of our written products varies according to the content and complexity of the information we need to convey. Our written reports may be brief memorandums, or they may be lengthy, detailed reports. Regardless of the format and length of any given report, the report will cover the objectives of the work we performed, the scope and methodology of the audit or review, and the results of our work. When appropriate, our reports will include recommendations.
- Testimony. We testify at City Council meetings on the content and results of our reviews and projects.
- Briefings. At the request of City Councilmembers, the Mayor, or the City's senior executives, we provide individual briefings on the results of our work.
- Consulting. Our office is staffed with individuals well versed in management controls, accounting standards, performance reviews, and principles of public administration. We are available to advise and assist departments as they set up new systems or review and assess existing systems.
Office of City Auditor Contract Research Policy
At times the Office of City Auditor must contract with external entities (e.g., universities, private consultants) to conduct social science research on topics related to the City of Seattle. It is the policy of the Office of City Auditor to pay no more than fifteen percent (15%) for reimbursement of indirect costs for contracts with external entities involving social science research. (Effective October 1, 2016)


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Many players worked out at Oregon's Pro Day on Thursday, but the one everyone wanted to see was running back LaMichael James, and he did not disappoint.
James stood on nearly all his numbers from the Combine except for his 40, and according to NFL sources, he ran in the low 4.4s on FieldTurf (4.41 to 4.44, depending on the scout SN spoke to). He also showed the explosive foot quickness, balance and lateral agility in drills that he used throughout his college career to make tacklers miss and avoid big hits.
More important, he displayed the natural hands and good all-around receiving skills to prove he can be an impact receiver out of the backfield. According to one of SN's sources at the workout, James showed the athleticism and receiving skills to convince NFL teams that he could line up as a slot receiver and be productive, which adds to his draft value. He caught nearly every pass except for a few deep balls that he had to track over the shoulder.
While James is unlikely to be a first-round pick due to his size (5-9, 194 pounds), he will likely be a second- or third-round pick. Many NFL teams view him as a back who can make a similar impact to that of Darren Sproles.
Meanwhile, linebacker Josh Kaddu, who a number of NFL people view as an underrated prospect, once again couldn't finish his workout. The same left hamstring injury that kept him from working out at the Combine flared up during drills. The injury could mean Kaddu won't be drafted.
NCAA TOURNAMENT: Play Sporting News' free Facebook game, Bracket Insanity


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HANOVER, Md., Oct. 23, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The KEYW Holding Corporation (Nasdaq:KEYW) announced today that it plans to release its third quarter 2013 financial results in a press release after market close on October 30, 2013. A conference call has been scheduled to discuss these results on October 30 at 5:00 p.m. (EDT). At that time, management will review the company's third quarter 2013 financial results, followed by a question-and-answer session to further discuss the results.
Interested parties will be able to connect to our webcast via the Investors page on our website, http://investors.keywcorp.com on October 30, 2013. We encourage people to register for an email reminder about the webcast on the Event Calendar tab, also found on the Investors page of our website. Interested parties may also listen to the conference call by calling 1-877-853-5645. The International Dial-In access number will be 1-408-940-3868. The conference ID for this event is 91002257.
An archive of the Webcast will be available on our webpage following the call. In addition, a podcast of our conference call will be available for download from our Investors page of our website at approximately the same time as the webcast replay.
About KEYW
KEYW provides agile cyber superiority, cybersecurity, and geospatial intelligence solutions for U.S. Government intelligence and defense customers and commercial enterprises. We create our solutions by combining our services and expertise with hardware, software, and proprietary technology to meet our customers' requirements. For more information contact KEYW Corporation, 7740 Milestone Parkway, Suite 400, Hanover, Maryland 21076; Phone 443-733-1600; Fax 443-733-1601; E-mail email@example.com; or on the Web at www.keywcorp.com.
Forward-Looking Statements: Statements made in this press release that are not historical facts constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include but are not limited to statements about our future expectations, plans and prospects, and other statements containing the words "estimates," "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "will," "potential," "opportunities", and similar expressions. Our actual results, performance or achievements or industry results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. These statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those risk factors set forth in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, dated and filed March 12, 2013 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as required under the Securities Act of 1934, and other filings that we make with the SEC from time to time. Due to such uncertainties and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. KEYW is under no obligation to (and expressly disclaims any such obligation to) update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
CONTACT: Chris Donaghey 443-733-1600Source:KEYW Corp.


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Our finance department is here to simplify the process of getting a car loan in Annapolis. We work with multiple financial institutions to secure your low interest car loan. Start the car loan process online by completing our secure online finance application.
We offer professional Subaru car repair at our state-of-the-art service facility. Annapolis Subaru's car repair experts will diagnose your vehicle's problem and make a repair as quickly as possible. Schedule Subaru car repair in Annapolis by completing our online service application. Annapolis Subaru also has a stocked inventory of Subaru car parts to repair your car, truck or SUV. Our authentic parts will keep your vehicle running like new for many more miles to come.
See one of our new or used cars in person by visiting our Annapolis dealership at 149 Old Solomons Island Rd. Give us a call with any questions, and check out our about us page. We are looking forward to serving your automotive needs.


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ctilp needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 69 designs submitted by 20 freelance designers.
We are looking for a creative and brilliant logo for our new websoftware.
The logo should reflect a professional product.
Our new websoftware is a Content Management System, that is highly dynamic and userfriendly. We are in need of a creative logo solution for our Content Management System.
- The text should say: "Webkompis". Maybe with a tagline like "Content Management System".
- Advanced typography fonts.
- 3D logosymbol
- Something fresh and with a twist of eyecandy.
- VECTOR graphics.
- Web 2.0 feel
- Something that describes Usability, Dynamic, Flexiable and a Friendly feel to it.
- The logo must work well in negative and aswell in one colour.
- Simple linework.
- Mechanical tools symbols etc.
- Standard fonts. Myriad, Helvetica, Arial etc.
- PIXEL graphics. That means no photoshop.
- Something bevelled or patterned effects.
- Overkill on Web 2.0 feel.
- Old Style Serif fonts
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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Understand Your Business ModelBy Jay Weiss | Posted 2010-04-08 Print
Most business managers don't have an in-depth understanding of how their organizations make and spend money, so they have limited ability to affect their bottom line.
I've often been asked what advice I give my clients in this tough economic climate, specifically with regard to technology. My advice always starts this way: Figure out where—and how—the money's being spent.
Most business managers don't have an in-depth understanding of how their organizations make and spend money, so they have limited ability to affect their bottom line. For example, without being able to analyze how something that takes your firm a half hour instead of 15 minutes is costing you money, it's nearly impossible to make the changes that will help your company run efficiently and effectively. Therefore, your company should begin or continue to invest in analytical processes and supporting tools to provide such information.
If you're an IT manager looking to save money, you also have to understand who is using what and how well it is helping your business: which tools are being used heavily, and how you can make the best of systems that are not being utilized to their fullest capacity. You may want to retire software that is not being used to avoid paying maintenance charges. This will significantly enhance your ROI from technology.
Use What You Have to the Fullest
You'd be surprised at how solutions already in use can actually save your company money when leveraging their full scope of features. Take Microsoft Outlook, for example. Most of us use this program to exchange e-mails, and some of us also know how to use the Calendar feature. But how many of us use Outlook's other options—To-Do Lists, Tasks and Notes—to save time and effort? I'm confident in saying that even fewer users know how to leverage the file-management features, especially with regard to task management.
By implementing policies that will increase your employees' use of existing systems, your company may find dollars in places you've never considered.
If your organization can invest in new systems, there's an alphabet soup of software out there that can be deployed across the enterprise to increase efficiency and save money in the long run. But it's not enough to just purchase these technologies: It's imperative that you take the time to properly implement these systems.
Say that you're a tech support company, and you receive a call from a customer complaining that the CD software he or she purchased a month ago never arrived. In most cases, company representatives simply make note that a delivery error was made, place an order to resend the item in question and then close the account ticket.
What they don't realize is that entering more data (such as the fact that this customer lives in a multilevel building with several different mailboxes associated with that address) will improve the workflow for the next time this customer places an order. By spelling out the delivery instructions, your company will save the expense of a repeat delivery, the physical cost of the replaced item and the sanity of everyone involved.
Make Fixes Now
Let me anticipate your question: "With all the other things that need serious improvements in my business right now, why would I pick business process management as my key focus in this economy?"
The truth is that by correcting workflow problems during a slow period, you can position your company to come out of the downturn more nimbly and more informed about how you operate your business. That's a competitive advantage that can be repeated across the enterprise, one process at a time.
A recent Gartner survey found that many companies plan to "do more with less" by actually increasing their investment in business process management services. In the study of approximately 800 firms, more than half of the respondents acknowledged plans to increase their business process management budgets by 5 percent or more, and a third planned to increase this expenditure by more than 10 percent.
In the end, the best advice I can give you is to look first at what you have and then figure out how effectively it's being used. If you're spending your money on software systems that are not being utilized to their full capabilities, then you might as well be throwing your money away.
Jay Weiss is the Lawson practice director at JGI Consulting, a management consulting firm based in Rochelle Park, N.J. He has advised clients on the best strategies to improve business processes.
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With an annual turnover of $1.8 billion, Logitech is the world's largest manufacturer of computer peripherals and accessories. Its products include computer mice, keyboards, wireless communication devices - virtually anything. The company has over 7,200 employees and is based in Palo Alto.
Specifications can be changed without notice. Images are for illustrative purposes only. Retail Price (MSRP) means the manufacturer's/supplier's suggested retail price.
Link to Manufacturer's Website: Enter link to the external review


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Q: What is the language of PHP?, The programming language PHP is a new language dedicated to the work o
Q: What is the language of PHP?, The programming language PHP is a new language dedicated to the work o
Mar 8 2010, 09:50 AM
Post #1
Group: Members
Posts: 2
Joined: 8-March 10
From: Greetings http://aworld20
Member No.: 47,505
The programming language PHP is a new language dedicated to the work of existing programs on the Web site provider, and are not too high and utility capabilities.
Q: What is the language of PHP?
Is a programming language used to develop Web sites have been invented and created and developed in 1994 by Rasmus Lerdorf.
This was a man following a number of interested Bscarptadth produced by the Perl language and when he saw that there are many interested Bscarptadth started to establish tools for personal pages with a high level as designated by the
Personal Home Page tools (PHP)
After the establishment of the scripting engine and a form interpreter McCann called at that time at php / FI or php2.
Since that time they pass through stages of language development are numerous and strong improvements across hundreds of web developers all over the world.
Working actual competent in this language now consists of 6 persons including the main developer of the Lerdorf.
In the technical term for this language to say it:
Cross Platforms, Embded HTML, Server Side, Web scripting Language
Cross Platforms:
This term we mean that the language of PHP running on computers containing more than one operating system .. For example, we can run on Linux and we can also run on Alondoz perfectly.
Embded HTML:
These language files that contain a mixture of html and language php.
Server Side:
Php files are the provider of the Web supports php they do not have the user to install a specific program on his computer to interact with this language.
Web Scripting Language:
This term we mean that the language of the work of web pages, or rather for the development and business applications (software) for the Web.
In fact, when leafing through the php of the Internet browser such as the Internet or KATHMANDU Navigtor it is not required to have these browsers or any other browser support PHP.
In short, we are not asking the user to see the program-specific web page that we created
|Lo-Fi Version
|Time is now: 20th March 2019 - 04:17 PM


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What does it take to be a champion? World class talent, world class drive, and world class equipment. To develop the best products, we need feedback from the best athletes in the world in order to create podium worthy bikes. Check out how Nino shaped the development of the new Scale and Spark in the latest release of "Hunt for Glory."
Every year, N1NO and Brendan Fairclough find some time to train together. What do the lycra clad World Champ and the downhill world's chief style icon get up to on their bikes? Find out here!
Follow N1NO as he begins to train for the upcoming World Cup Season, and eventually for the Olympics in Rio. Go behind the scenes to see what preparing for an Elite World Cup season really looks like.


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Departed City Manager Leaves Big Mess In Alameda
Nearly two months after Alameda City Manager Debra Kurita resigned, the island city is still trying to sound the depths of the financial crisis caused by her falsely inflated budgets.
Kurita quietly left her job Feb. 26 with little more than a one-paragraph public statement, which was posted on the city's website. What Kurita did not mention in her statement was that she decided to resign after three intense, closed-session meetings to discuss her job performance. At issue, was the city's 2008-2009 budget that suddenly turned up at least $2.1 million short.
Councilmembers have been tight lipped about what was discussed during those meetings, but it's safe to assume there was a lot of conversation about Kurita's questionable accounting skills.
The unexpected budget shortage, coupled with revenue losses due to a nationwide economic downturn, put the city into a financial crisis. In addition, the city may be on the hook for $30 million in lawsuits over the sale of Alameda Power & Telecom and the 2005 death of Dr. Zehra Attari, who inadvertently drove into the estuary on a cold, rainy night because the city had not properly posted warning signage at a boat ramp at the end of Grand Street.
"This was on top of an already grim situation," said Councilmember Frank Matarrese. "There's going to be real impacts. We're going to be cutting services and it's going to hurt."
The council has not yet identified which services will be cut and whether there will be any layoffs of city employees.
The problem occurred when Kurita failed to account for rapidly increasing workman's compensation costs. Alameda's workers' compensation claims had been rising by half a million dollars annually for the last three years, and each year Kurita failed to increase projections to compensate for the increases. As a result, the city's general fund gave a false impression of financial health.
It is uncertain whether Kurita deliberately doctored the budgets to make it appear there was more money in the general fund or if was simply a colossal blunder. Kurita did not return several calls from the Daily Planet to explain what happened.
Interim City Manager Anne Marie Gallant said it is more important to solve the city's financial problems then it is to cast blame. "There are a lot of urban legends about what happened, but the situation is a fact and we need to fix it," she said.
However, some in Alameda are upset that Kurita, to whom the city paid an $180,000 annual salary, was able to leave the city with six months worth of pay and full benefits.
"It's disgusting," said David Howard, chair of the watchdog Alameda Community Group. "It sounds like she was hiding information and misleading the council. Why should she be rewarded for that?"
Deputy City Attorney Terri Highsmith said Kurita was guaranteed the severance pay and benefits according to her contract with the city. "It was a standard contract," Highsmith said. "It's common for city managers to have such contracts because there is a high turnover in that position." Highsmith said. "She is guaranteed six months salary and benefits unless she is fired."
The severance deal was a little hard to take and there may be some policy changes that would prevent similar situations in the future, said Matarrese. "Alameda honors its contracts and it will continue to do so," he said. "But I don't know if we will be making contracts like that in the future."


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textlinks needed a new button or icon design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 26 designs submitted by 11 freelance designers.
We are an Internet company looking for really off the wall stuff that will stand out. Think waaay outside the box.
Our taget audience is webmasters who are looking to improve their search engine rankings. This basically defines every webmaster who operates a site. This is probably you. Create a banner that you would actually click on.
Please ignore our logo at textlinks.com when developing the banners (we know it sucks) We may even hire one of the winners to redesign it for us. We also have many other brands, so if we like you work, we have much more. Impress us! We have $$$$
** Feel free to use: (21 day FREE Trial) in the creative. This is our hook for registrations.
Here are the banner specs. Please format your designs it at least six of the specs below
160 x 600
300x 250
728 x 90
468 x 60
250 x 250
120 x 600
120 x 60
234 x 60
125 x 125


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Abortion Clinics Nairnshire provides the best healthcare services in the UK, in sexual and reproductive health sector. We have a large network of clinics all over the country that provides information, advice and professional care for both men and women. We are committed to providing great service to all; an abortion is the medical process of ending a pregnancy so that it does not result in the birth of a baby. Abortion clinics Nairnshire provide the help you need in terms of what choices to make. Abortion Clinics Nairnshire offer online and over the phone counseling services, if you are unsure or need emotional support in regards to the abortion.
Abortion clinics Nairnshire are professional and compassionate at the same time. We provide a safe, friendly and comfortable atmosphere.
Are you Worried!!!. If you are pregnant, make sure you do a pregnancy test using either a home pregnancy test kit or visit your local GP, family planning clinic or Abortion Clinics centre.
It is vital you seek advice as quickly as you can while considering abortion before the pregnancy is too far gone. You can make an appointment with us or contact your GP, family planning clinic or young person's clinic. You can either choose a private or NHS service for your treatment, NHS treatments are free. If you contact your doctor he will be able to give you a referral letter to go to the hospital or clinic. We provide both NHS and private abortion treatments. If you are a private care patient then your cost will depend upon the kind of treatment you opt for. Our Fees and abortion costs are listed on.
Abortion is a difficult decision to make and sometimes you can feel unsure or overwhelm with what you might feel later, we offer counseling services either via the phone or in person. This will help you understand your feelings and make the choice best for you.
If you are unsure what do, we can arrange for you to see a specialist counsellor or talk to one via our telephone counselling service, so you can discuss your feelings and your options. Don't feel you have to make this important decision on your own (equally, don't let others decide for you). We have also designed an on-line counselling guide below to help you analyse your feelings.
At the initial stages you will be seen by a doctor/nurse and they will assess you to check how many weeks pregnant you are and also to find out what treatment options are best suited to you. There are two kinds of abortion treatments one is the quick surgical procedure under local anesthetic and the other is the medical abortion also known as the pill option or abortion pill.
Abortion pill/medical Abortion: This is usually offered during the early pregnancy of up to 9weeks.This type of abortion means taking two sets of pills (orally) over two visits (this can be on the same day or separate days) which causes the passing of the pregnancy.
Surgical abortion: Surgical abortion is a simple procedure where gentle suction is used to empty the uterus. It is possible to have a choice of anesthetic although in the early stages of pregnancy many women choose to have no anesthetic or light sedation.
Daily updates and photos of Abortion Clinics Nairnshire by Dr. Nicolas and Dr.Rubby 02-09-2013.


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Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Real Money AH in Diablo
In case you haven't seen it already, Blizzard has announced a new Auction House feature in Diablo 3 that will allow transactions both in game-gold and real-life currency. For the full details, please look at Blizzards site.
An Attempt at Fairness:
First and foremost, I need to qualify my comments on this subject. As stated above my experience with Diablo is very limited. While I can envision a lot of bad things if this type of feature was introduced in WoW, I can't say with any experience that the same bad things would happen in Diablo. In fact, Bashiok has made some decent arguments as to why having this type of AH in Diablo is different then having the same type of AH in WoW.
It should also be said that Diablo 3 is not WoW. Just because this is happening in Diablo doesn't mean this will be added to WoW as well. Blizzard has said in the past that this type of feature won't be implemented in WoW, and they have also said that real money transactions provide any game advantage. This could be a feature that is only intended for Diablo and will never interact with WoW. I recognize that players who have an opinion similar to mine could be overreacting, because there really is no intention of ever implementing this type of feature in WoW.
That said, it's incredibly hard not to see this as a step down a new road for Blizzard. If you had asked me yesterday if this type of feature would ever be considered I would have given you a complete and confident "NO." This step definitely increased the chances of this type of feature being added to WoW, especially when you consider other features like Race and Faction changes which Blizzard claimed at one time or another would never happen. That is why I think my concern for WoW is justified, when Blizzard adds a feature to another game that could possibly be added to WoW as well, even when the games are unrelated.
I really don't care if this feature is added to Diablo 3 or not, but I do have very strong opinions about if this type of feature should be added to WoW. And when I see posts like Mathew McCurley's on WoW Insider absolutely drooling over a real money AH I feel the need to post an opposing view of why this would be bad for WoW.
Dual Auction Houses are a Lie:
One of the big selling points Blizzard is trying to make is that there will be two Auction Houses that you can use depending on your preference: a Gold AH and a Currency AH. Bashiok has gone so far as to say "I have no doubt that the gold auction house will by-far outweigh the real money auction house in scope and amount of items available."
While I am sure that there will be in fact two Auction Houses, the idea that you can choose which one to use based on preference is an illusion. You can tell by answering one simple question. Which is better, fake money or real money? If you answer real money then you are like 99.9999% of the people who will play the game.
Anyone who thinks about this situation at all will realize that the Currency AH will drive the postings on both auction houses. Bashiok may be right that the Gold AH will be bigger, but all of the prices will be determined by the Currency AH.
For example, let say that the Boots of Uberness are listed for $5.00 on the Currency AH, and 1000g is selling for $1.25. How much gold are the Boots of Uberness worth? Clearly they are worth 4000g in this situation. You can list this item on either AH, but the price is clearly going to be determined by the Currency AH. I could list this item on the Gold AH for 10,000g but why would someone buy it there? They could just sell 4000g for $5.00 and buy it off the Currency AH.
So, as you can see, any suggestion that the Gold AH is an independent auction house is an illusion. This isn't to say that the prices between the two AHs will be in perfect lock-step. The fees charged by Blizzard and the less liquid nature of gold will cause some differences, but don't be surprised when they are fairly close most of the time. If WoW's AH has taught us anything, it has shown that there are a lot of very smart people who can work the system to make fake currency. Just think what will happen when people are motivated to make real currency.
Legitimizing a Shady Industry:
Another suggestion that seems to be popular is that is that this is a big blow to the shady business of Gold Selling. In his WoW Insider piece Mathew McCurley says "Blizzard could remove the profitability of gold farming by making everyone a gold farmer."
Yes, how could the gold farmers possibly be profitable when you can buy and sell gold and other things from anyone in game? Let me think. How could they survive?
Oh, I've got it!!!! THEY COULD BUY AND SELL GOLD IN GAME!!!!
This isn't a death blow to the gray market. This is just legitimizing it. Claiming this is any kind of weapon against the gray market is like a politician saying they won the war on drugs by legalizing them.
Some of you might then argue, that because all players are now allowed to participate in the market this will reduce the profitability and that gold farmer won't make enough money, and therefore leave the market. At first that point of view may sound logical, but it's missing a few key points. First, the gold sellers' biggest problem currently is finding gold buyers. While legitimizing the market will increase the number of sellers, it will also increase the number of buyers, and may not change the profitability of the market at all. It may even increase the profitability of the market.
The other thing proponents of this argument are forgetting is that the gold sellers won't play fair. Gold Sellers are more then willing to bot and hack their way to create their product, and that's not going to change if Blizzard legitimizes their market. Botting will still be the most efficient way to gather trade goods. Since Blizzard tends to allow bots to operate for a few months and then ban them in waves even when the bot is obvious, the gold sellers are unlike to stop using bots. Hacking has a similar issue. It's obviously profitable for them now, and there's nothing about a Currency AH that would make hacking unprofitable on its own.
In short, anyone who thinks that a Currency AH is a silver bullet against the commercial gold sellers is just deluding themselves. It will definitely change their business model, but it's not going to prevent them from doing harmful things like Hacking. In fact, legitimizing the gold sellers could harm the casual player more then botting and hacking ever have. If the gold sellers are significantly more efficient with their gold farming than the average player, then that will push the price of gold extremely low and inflate gold prices on the AH, thus forcing players to play long hours to earn enough gold to buy an item or to buying gold.
The Social Hazard:
Finally, I want you to think about this situation if a Currency AH was introduced to WoW. Let's say you are the GM of a moderately successful guild with 100,000g in the guild bank along with plenty of items. After a while you grow bored with the game or just want to go casual. What do you do?
Of course, there are a lot of GMs that would leave the guild bank intact and step down without issue. At the same time, I'm just as confident that there will be plenty of GMs that will take the money and run. Being the GM of a guild is hard work, and I assure you that fore some people it will be easy for them to justify taking the money by saying they earned over there time as GM in the Guild. I've heard that excuse several times in my 4.5 years of WoW without a Currency AH.
And guess what, you as members of the guild are powerless to stop them. Guild Masters have total control of their guild. They determine who has access to the guild bank and who can be in the guild. They could justify locking up the guild bank by saying they want to protect it from people who might take the items for themselves to sell them. Then the next thing you know, you log in one day with everyone kicked from the guild except the GM and his alts. I can't say how often this will happen, but I guarantee you it will, and you might be surprised what your friendly GM is capable of justifying when several hundred dollars of gold and stuff are on the line.
To be fair, I have very little experience with Diablo, and a real money AH may be perfect and helpful for that game. I also recognize that what Blizzard does with Diablo doesn't necessarily relate to WoW in any way. So, my concern for WoW at this announcement may be an overreaction. However, since they are willing to implement it for Diablo, it's reasonable to assume that they might conceder it for WoW as well. That is why I think it's important to lay out why I think a Currency AH is a bad idea for WoW.
While Blizzard can create and claim to have two separate AHs, it's impossible to have them operate independently. The Currency AH will set the prices for both AHs because gold will aways have a price. Some people are arguing that this is a damaging blow to the gray market businesses that deal in game items for real money, but it is no such thing. It just legitimizes them and makes their business easier in some respects. It also isn't going to prevent harmful activities like botting and hacking in any way shape or form. Finally, if this type of service was added in WoW it would create new hazards for players. Guild Masters and other players with access to community gold and items can easily take them and sell them for personal gain. And if that personal gain can have a real financial impacts expect that activity to become more common.
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Another interesting effect is that in purchasing turbine points or some other artificial game currency which you then use to purchase items in game it is possible to avoid the very clear legal difficutlies that arise from taxation and income issues. You are purchasing an in game service and it just happens that this is used in game for items. That is how all systems up til now have worked. EVE online is very much into this. What happens now though to a player involved in RL money trading here? There appears to be no separation. For professional farmers ... the IRS may be showing up and that will trickle down to the small fry too. Blizzard is opening up a huge can of worms here. This is more akin to running a system like EBAY than the traditional model --- I would argue that it will clearly define some precendents on how these services will go in the future.
- August 2, 2011 at 11:11 AM
- Anachan said...
You're not the only one with concerns about what would happen if it spread to WoW. I wrote a blog post, but kept it in my drafts folder, because I kept hearing so many people saying, "You're overreacting." Maybe I'll post it up, if I can manage to get it to sound as well-reasoned as yours is. ;)
- August 2, 2011 at 12:20 PM
This is such a bad idea for gaming. I wouldn't for a moment doubt that Blizzard is using this as a test platform to see how the community will accept it, all whilst shaving a profit.
What really bothers me most about this system is rather than adding an element to the game it is distracting us from the its fundamental purpose; playing for the love of the game. I can clearly see how this will shift the focus and force player to make profit gaining in-game decisions. In addition to this, I feel like there is an irresponsible delusion that sustainable income could be maintained. What does this message say to our society? I know this thought is a bit far off, but our youth should be engaged in community enriching employment with gaming being an entertainment solution; not a career field.
- August 2, 2011 at 1:47 PM
- Ohken said...
The reason this would help with gold trading is not that gold trading will go away. The reason it helps is that those businesses will be legitimized, and dealing with legitimate businesses is a lot nicer than with businesses that are underground.
For example, if this change happens in WoW, I predict vastly less gold spam. Any spammer that can really undercut the going rate on the existing AH would just use the existing AH. And any spammer that is charging a higher rate would attract no customers.
Regarding the other items you list, I generally agree with them, but they aren't statements about things that will be worse for the game. You're just poking holes at things that other analysts have written.
What exactly goes bad if people can legally buy and sell Warcraft gold? That's the big question. I think it is not too hard to make it go well. With good game design, Blizzard should be able to make it so that people who invest hours rather than dollars will be able to perform at top level.
- August 2, 2011 at 2:53 PM
I think one distinction must be made to clarify the conversation: buying things that are generated through game play is not the same as buying gear/gold from Blizzard. RMAH doesn't increase drop rates or add gold to the in-game economy. What it will do is increase liquidity and make it easier for both buyers and sellers to get what they want. If Bliz started selling gold or items the economy really would blow up; an influx of resources would drive prices sky-high and basically force everyone to buy gold just to keep up.
- August 2, 2011 at 10:27 PM
Maybe not being able to trade gold between characters would help with the gold farmers. Leaving the AH as the only way sell stuff and to move gold around.
You should only be able to buy gold and not sell it, selling gold is what will change WoW as kids will start to use it as a business.
I can just see now, people running 5 mans will be like "ffs noob that wipe just cost me $2. Kick him"
- August 3, 2011 at 7:08 AM
- Graylo said...
Yes, a real money AH would probably eliminate Gold Spam, but in my opinion that is probably the least significant issue with gold selling. If you take the two seconds to report them they are gone.
I am concerned about the much more significant problems like hacking, and botting. Which this would do nothing about.
You're very nieve if you think that just because Blizzard isn't selling the gold directly that it won't add gold to the in-game economy. Take these two examples.
First, between all of my toons (primarily on two servers) I have between 400k and 500k gold. I have no intention of spending it and If I quit I wouldn't give it away. If a Real Money AH is added, I would be stupid not to cash it in eventually. In addition to that, remember that this game is close to seven years old. Think of all the in active accounts with gold on them out there. Old players, who quit the game with a lot of gold now have an incentive to reactivate their account sell the gold deactivate it again.
The point there is that there is already a ton of gold sitting around not being used. If Blizzard assigns a value to it in any way, large chunks of it are going to be dumped on the economy
Second, it provides people with a better reason to farm gold. When I started to play the AH I did so, because, I wanted to see if I could hit the (old) gold cap. When I did, I stopped most of my AH activites because the gold had no real purpose other then that.
I am now playing the AH again, but I'm doing so because I'm on a new server and I want a healthy balance so I can buy what ever I need without worrying about going broke. When I get bored of what I'm doing and or feel that I'm in a good place I will stop.
If the gold I farmed had real value and could possibly pay for this game If I sold it, then I have a new insentive to earn gold. As a result you will see more economic activity which will mean more questing and mob killing which will result in more gold in the economy.
- August 3, 2011 at 9:23 AM
And how many kids are going to tell their parents when the inevitable Form 1099-Misc arrives in the mail (and Blizz better darn well be sending out 1099's or they're in *big* trouble)? Will the parents get in trouble with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)? Yep. What about foreigners, or people that register with a different address? Blizz is opening a huge can of worms in that area also.
- August 3, 2011 at 4:32 PM
- jwenting said...
you suggest that players could start legitimately selling gold through the currency ah. I seriously doubt that would be possible, Blizzard aren't stupid like that.
If they're going to be selling gold for real money, it's going to be in an item mall run exclusively by Blizzard themselves. But as any MMO out there has an inflation problem and needs gold sinks, and Blizzard know that well. Why do you think WoW trainers charge increasingly high prices for every skill and recipe? Or better yet make gold useless by replacing it with something that can't be used to trade between players like jewelcrafting tokens, Tol Barad commendations, Chef's awards, etc.
So it's not going to happen. What is going to happen is that the game gold ah is going to be pretty bare of anything of real use in game. Not initially, but once there's a core of hardcore "professional" players that's going to be the case.
Translated to WoW that'd mean all those firelands drops and pretty much everything crafted using orbs would no longer be available for gold, it'd require you to hand over dollars or euros (or whatever currency the thing would use) instead.
It would encourage goldsellers, rather than get rid of them, though technically it will reduce their number. They'll just stop selling stuff at inflated prices at the gold ah, and sell it for real money in the dollar ah instead.
They'd maybe even stop selling gold in game (except as a sometime byproduct), rather using the stolen accounts they use for farming to continue farming but now farm exclusively stuff that can make a decent profit when sold for real money (as we're effectively already seeing, with stolen accounts being used as the backbone for many if not most firelands trash runs, that's where those 30k+ items on the ah come from, goldsellers using stolen accounts. The few legitimate players doing the runs are doing them looking for something they can use for their own toons more than anything, for the achievements second, and to help friends and guildies third).
In Diablo, which is primarilly single player content, that problem is far smaller.
- August 4, 2011 at 12:21 AM
- jwenting said...
I've played Diablo and Diablo II for years, and never heard of hacked accounts or goldsellers during those years (though maybe by now they do exist).
In a single player game with some multi-player content (mostly what it was in Diablo and Diablo II was being able to group up for what in WoW would be dungeon runs, those same runs you could also solo, so it was almost exclusively social) there's also no problem with "pay to win". If you're too impatient to farm an area for an item you want, noone's going to get disadvantaged when you cash out and buy it somewhere.
In wow of course that's somewhat different. Already we see a lot of problems in places like battlegrounds but also dungeons with toons decked out in full heirlooms being way more powerful than others at the same level without that luxury. Those are (especially in dungeons, because of the exp bonus heirlooms grant) usually toons where the player obviously has little clue as to how to play the class, giving rise to dps classes pulling entire packs with apparent immunity to the damage the elite critters can do, and totally ignoring the tank and healers (or tanks who have no clue what they're doing, charge in, pull entire rooms, but can't generate enough threat to keep the mobs on them, causing wipes).
Heirlooms therefore are a worse problem in WoW than a cash ah would be in Diablo III, yet hardly anyone dares stand up and say so.
In my guild, we've effectively decided on a policy of no heirlooms in guild runs. If you want to wear them elsewhere, up to you, but when doing guild runs they come off and you wear real gear. Does 2 things: 1) everyone has to really play at their actual level, and 2) everyone levels up at the same rate (as not everyone has access to (the same amount of) heirlooms for their toons (as we all have one or more toons that get levelled exclusively in guild runs).
- August 4, 2011 at 12:22 AM
- Jornk said...
Haha, games are already like part-time jobs, now we can finally get paid for them.
Seriously though, Blizz stands to make a TON from this. Putting a fee on real money transactions will only add to the "extras" they have been piling on over the last couple years. Remote features from smartphones, paid server/class/faction changes, and in-game pets/mounts/items were just the tip of the iceberg.
Everyone knows farming is going to take place. Blizz is just taking a piece of that pie.
- August 4, 2011 at 3:55 PM
- Tsuds said...
If I wanted to make real life gold ... I'd get a second job ... If I wanted to blow my hard earned real life money on stuf ... I'd go to a shop.
So now I face the possibility of being belted out of the ball park in bg's not because I am not prepared to pay game currency on twink gear (old school) or drape my toon in heirlooms but because I'm not prepared to donate more of my real world money to a fantastical world....
- August 9, 2011 at 2:03 AM


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Re: What methods have worked to help promote awareness and adoption?tmaurer Dec 15, 2010 11:45 AM (in response to mdcrocker)
If you have a geographically diverse workforce, local community managers. And I'd have to say the most important element is to get it populated with content that people need, and that they are driven to use in only that location. For example:
- Benefits documentation - links to tools used for expense reports, time/vacation tracking, healthcare websites and forms. etc. All of this kind of stuff should be loaded in Jive, and your HR staff shouldn't spoon feed people. Have them send links to where the documents are located.
- Product documentation - if you sell products or services, have sales, training and support information regarding those services loaded. Again, have the product managers send links and review the documentation as it exists on the site. Don't recreate the wheel in every email or phone conversation.
- Use the Org Chart functionality, and enforce managers setting their direct reports. If you have a separate org chart, get rid of it in favor of your Jive instance.
If you can offer a "photo booth" similar to what Jive did at JiveWorld, where people can get more professional and/or fun photos taken to be used as their platform image and/or avatar, this makes it more fun and gets people excited about interacting. They often don't want to have a photo cause they don't like ones they have or they have to find it, or it was a standard corporate mug shot. Make it interesting, where they might even get compliments on how good it looks, and they are more likely to bite.
If you have people who use it as part of their daily workflow, have them explain why in a Jive document. Spotlight examples on your main page for people to see, so they get the "why" of using it; that it doesn't have to be a job "extra", but can be a work saver.
Re: What methods have worked to help promote awareness and adoption?Michelle.Lavoie Dec 15, 2010 12:09 PM (in response to tmaurer)
Hello all, I've found it very helpful to reach out to different organizations to align the work they are doing with the content available on an internal community. For instance, I do a weekly 'widget promotion' of whatever is going on in the world. Last week it was Human Rights Day, this week is Winter Solstice.
But there was a Great Smoke Out week. I created a widget and a corresponding document, but I also engaged our Human Resources team to determine if they were offering any smoking cessation programs or other types of support. I think the key is aligning to other parts of the company, and also ensuring that you represent events internationally (ie. I didn't title anything "The Great American Smokeout" just the "Great Smokout."
I reply to every email message I receive announcing an event and suggest that our internal community might be a better option than a blanket email message. I have numerous conversations scheduled to begin the process of alignment.
Hope that helps!
Re: What methods have worked to help promote awareness and adoption?mdcrocker Dec 15, 2010 12:14 PM (in response to Michelle.Lavoie)
Thanks. How successful have you been at getting folks to move from email to a community? Since the email folks want to push things in front of people, do you still end up with an email telling them to visit the community or just rely on people having notification?
Re: What methods have worked to help promote awareness and adoption?Michelle.Lavoie Dec 15, 2010 12:22 PM (in response to mdcrocker)
I'm just in the beginning phases of this alignment process. I can tell you though, without any doubt, that mass emails (particularly from corporate) are discarded as quickly as they arrive. Offering an alternative way to communicate with targeted audiences is being well received; we'll have to wait to see if the results have an impact on the number of email messages.
Another example, our corporate education group sends out a large monthly newsletter with all of their class offerings. Most folks simply delete. I contacted them and suggested that they try to place their course announcements in appropriate communities (ie. a Project Management certification course announcement posted in a Project Management space). They had never thought of that and are now trying it.
Time will tell, I'll keep you posted!
Re: What methods have worked to help promote awareness and adoption?mdcrocker Dec 15, 2010 12:38 PM (in response to Michelle.Lavoie)
I will pass that tip along to the education folks. I have gotten a number of newsletters to move to communities. One answer does not fit all. We have some that post all the items in the community and only send a reminder to go look. This changes it into a newsfeed since they can publish items when they get them and not need to wait until the end of the month. Works out great for local news like a road closer or building shut downs. Some use it as a way to collect the articles and create the full, graphic emails with the summaries of the articles that link back.
Re: What methods have worked to help promote awareness and adoption?Rachel.Happe Dec 15, 2010 12:47 PM (in response to mdcrocker)
There are a couple things that I would recommend:
- Think about time bound programming from within the tool (i.e. chat with an executive, market analyst, etc) - if you do that on a consistent, regular basis you will start to set expectations about when there will be people online and in the tool. Programming/content cadence sets the expectation of how often people will think about visiting. Similarly but on a more casual level, you could do virtual Friday afternoon happy hour/networking hour.
- Identify projects and/or tasks that are done exclusively in the community (obviously you need to identify some managers/biz owners who are willing to have this done) - if core business is too sensative to inititially approach this way you can do things like do holiday party planning exclusiving in the community or something like that
Re: What methods have worked to help promote awareness and adoption?corey.richey Dec 15, 2010 12:55 PM (in response to Rachel.Happe)
Holiday planning works well. We have an inline document for our potluck and people attach a note to the document under Side Dish, Appetizer or Main Dish with what they are bringing to the potluck.
Re: What methods have worked to help promote awareness and adoption?tmaurer Dec 15, 2010 1:09 PM (in response to mdcrocker)
Along the lines of what Corey suggested, we had an office manager put up a document for people to post to about problems with office equipment. She included a table with columns for the information she would need, along with a current example.
And the location of this document is key - it is in a group that is all about that office. The group provides a location for the locals to talk about their favorite restaurants, post pics from the recent office pancake breakfast, etc. But it doubles as a place for other employees traveling to the office to find out the preferred hotels to stay at, any details on local transportation, weather.
Re: What methods have worked to help promote awareness and adoption?josephdarmi Mar 30, 2012 3:35 AM (in response to mdcrocker)
Many social applications tend to replace email broadcast with in-context publishing. This is a vast improvement, but the real power of social is to crowd source solutions to business issues. I think many companies and practitioners lack either the imagination or techniques to make this leap of faith. I've had some success getting management buy-in, then allow users to redefine the problem from their perspective to explore where participation would give them personal benefit.